Earlier, when Xu Yuan had told Fatty to create an alternate account and put it in the group, he had wondered why they needed to go to all that trouble.
Now, he finally understood Xu Yuan's intentions.
His admiration for Brother Yuan grew another three notches.
Smacking his lips, Fatty operated the alternate account named Zhao Zhipeng and started bidding.
[Zhao Zhipeng: Xu Yuan's right. I bid ten thousand!]
On the other end, Xu Yuan immediately played along.
[Xu Yuan: Zhao Zhipeng bids ten thousand. Any higher bids?]
He wasn't worried about anyone discovering that Zhao Zhipeng was a shill who didn't even exist.
There were five high schools involved. Who knew everyone from the other four schools?
Forget different high schools-even students in two classes at the same high school didn't all know one another.
Things went exactly as Xu Yuan had predicted. No one suspected Fatty's alternate account at all, and someone soon raised the bid.
[Lu Tao: Twelve thousand!]
[Wang Yuan: Thirteen thousand!]
[Feng Jinyang: Fifteen thousand!]
Martial arts students really did have money. The price was soon driven up to twenty thousand.
But once it reached twenty thousand, no one bid any further.
Xu Yuan wasn't quite satisfied. His fingers danced rapidly across the screen.
[Xu Yuan: Twenty thousand. Anyone want to raise the bid?]
[Xu Yuan: Really, no one? This is a grade-B cultivation room we're talking about!]
[Xu Yuan: You guys, are you sure you don't want to fight for it a little more?]
[Jiang Yong: ...Xu Yuan, twenty thousand isn't a small amount. Any higher and nobody can afford it. Just wrap it up.]
This Jiang Yong was the person who had bid twenty thousand.
Seeing Xu Yuan keep asking in the group, he couldn't help sending a message in exasperation.
Xu Yuan sighed. His auctioneering skills weren't up to scratch. He had only managed to sell it for twenty thousand.
Still, twenty thousand was probably good enough. It was a business with no overhead, after all.
He waited a little longer, and when he saw that nobody was bidding, Xu Yuan announced the end of the auction and sold the right to challenge him to Jiang Yong.
This No. 1 Middle School student named Jiang Yong was straightforward, too. He transferred twenty thousand straight to Xu Yuan.
Seeing how readily he paid, Xu Yuan took the initiative to do him a favor.
[Xu Yuan: Before you challenge me, remember to have someone challenge you first. That way, you won't get challenged by someone else after your challenge succeeds.]
[Jiang Yong: Holy shit, your brain really works fast. Thanks!]
One corner of Xu Yuan's mouth lifted.
[Xu Yuan: No need to thank me. You might not beat me anyway.]
In a sprawling single-floor apartment in a residential complex somewhere in Yang City, Jiang Yong couldn't help laughing when he saw the message.
[Jiang Yong: I'm at the Skin-Polishing Fifth Stage, Xu Yuan. You're way too confident!]
Xu Yuan saw it but didn't reply. He simply closed the chat window with a grin, then opened the [Leeks] group and sent a message.
[Xu Yuan: @Everyone, don't rush to leave the group. We might still have a use for it next week. I don't think Jiang Yong can necessarily beat me, so the rest of you still have a chance.]
[Jiang Yong: ...]
[Zhang Chao: Holy shit, so arrogant. Jiang Yong, if you don't beat the crap out of him on Saturday, you'll be letting down your twenty thousand yuan!]
[Yang Xiaoyu: Beat him hard. Fuck, he's made so much money off us!]
[Zhang Chao and Yang Xiaoyu have been muted.]
Xu Yuan smacked his lips. Why didn't these two brats check whose group they were in before mouthing off here all day?
But he genuinely didn't think he would lose now.
There wasn't even the slightest chance of it.
Once tomorrow's deal was done, he would have ample provisions, and breaking a thousand in punching power by Saturday would be set in stone.
Meanwhile, punching power at the Skin-Polishing Fifth Stage was only a little over a thousand.
When the time came, he might not lose even in a straight fight without martial techniques. And if he used martial techniques, heh, his opponent really wouldn't stand a chance.
But Xu Yuan had already decided that even if he won, it had to be a narrow victory. He had to let the other students see hope, or how could he keep this business going?
Twenty thousand might not seem like much, but that was because Xu Yuan had seized an opportunity and was making a windfall. In reality, twenty thousand was no small sum.
Not to mention that it was twenty thousand a week!
With that thought, he opened his chat with Zhang Juye.
[Xu Yuan: Old Zhang, why didn't you come find me today? Not learning Savage Bull Heart-Shattering Butt anymore?]
He had been waiting for Zhang Juye to come find him during the day, but Zhang Juye never showed up.
This was worth tens of thousands, too, so naturally Xu Yuan had to ask.
Zhang Juye didn't reply right away, but Xu Yuan didn't mind and went on to open the next chat.
[Xu Yuan: Teacher, when are the cultivation subsidies for the top ten being paid?]
Lin Yuan, on the other hand, replied quickly.
[Lin Yuan: Have you fallen into a money pit, brat? Why is it money, money, money with you all day?]
[Lin Yuan: You even found a way to play tricks with the right to challenge you. Just how short of money are you?]
Xu Yuan froze. How did Lin Yuan know?
But he quickly relaxed.
Someone had probably discussed it in the group.
[Xu Yuan: Teacher, my family's poor, and my talent's bad, too. How am I supposed to cultivate without money?]
[Lin Yuan: ...Do as you like, then. Just don't take it too far.]
[Lin Yuan: Also, don't worry about the subsidy. It'll be paid in the next few days. You'll get your share.]
After finishing his conversation with Lin Yuan, Xu Yuan suddenly realized there was a problem.
Was there anything wrong with him buying body-tempering liquid like crazy at the base?
Would other people notice something unusual about him?
After all, ordinary people who cultivated with body-tempering liquid didn't absorb it anywhere near as fast as he did.
After pondering for a few seconds, Xu Yuan came up with an idea.
He could go to the Cloud-Soaring Pavilion and buy in bulk, saying he was buying it to resell. He might even get it a little cheaper!
"Damn, why didn't I think of that before? What a loss."
Xu Yuan muttered to himself, then set the matter aside for the moment.
Everything had been dealt with. Next, it was time to practice his martial technique.
He took out the electronic slip he had collected that morning and plugged it into his phone. Savage Bull Mountain-Treading Strike soon loaded.
It wasn't edited text, but images photographed from the original manual.
The camera used was amazing, though. The images were so clear that even the fine texture of the old paper was visible.
Xu Yuan sat cross-legged and practiced breathing for a few minutes. Only after his mind had settled did he start swiping through the screen and reading the manual.
Unlike other people, he didn't need to memorize any of this. He only needed to transmit it to the Martial God's Brain as he read.
Inside his mind, the Martial God's Brain soon stirred, its cerebral cortex beginning to squirm faintly.
Soon, insights into Savage Bull Mountain-Treading Strike flowed like a murmuring stream from the Martial God's Brain into his mind.
As expected, without Xu Yuan needing to think at all, the martial technique automatically reached minor attainment.
The insights for major attainment, perfection, and the Transformation Realm, however, still took the form of individual questions he needed to think through.
It was just that there were considerably more questions to ponder than with Savage Bull Heart-Shattering Butt.
Previously, it had taken him three hours to comprehend Savage Bull Heart-Shattering Butt from minor attainment to the Transformation Realm. This time, after gauging it, Xu Yuan figured he probably wouldn't finish in less than five or six hours.
Of course, that was already a speed fast enough to make other people's eyes pop out!
Training a second-tier martial technique to the Transformation Realm in six hours-who would dare believe it if he told them?
"Let's get started. If I finish comprehending it early, I can still get a few hours of sleep."
Setting down his phone, Xu Yuan exhaled a breath of stale air and immersed himself in contemplation...