You Should Call Me Senior Uncle

3.7 million Star Coins. The figure made Fang Yu hold his breath... He had spent heavily over the past month or so, making it seem as though hundreds of thousands of Star Coins were nothing.

But there were reasons for all of it.

Fang Ping'an had put up everything the family owned to provide treasures for Fang Yu's final push toward the junior-college-to-university examination... The Fang family counted as a household with some savings.

The million Star Coins provided by Wuling City Martial Arts College were, in essence, also a form of encouragement from the school.

Someone who could make it from a junior college into a university was, in a sense, already more worth cultivating than the average martial arts undergraduate.

The school also hoped that these elite students would grow strong and give back to their alma mater. If even one Earth Martial Artist emerged from several dozen of them, it would be worth it.

Fang Yu was actually short of money now. He had less than 100,000 Star Coins in his bank account... He had previously worked hard as a teaching assistant for a year, earning only a little over 100,000 Star Coins in total, not counting the severance payment at the end.

As for martial artists,

unless they went to fight on Primordial Star, they couldn't earn money very efficiently on the wages from ordinary jobs alone... After all, order within the Blue Moon Alliance was stable, and a martial artist's great fighting power wasn't much use.

Most Advanced Martial Artists who worked ordinary jobs earned around a million a year.

Of course, the main reason Fang Yu had spent 500,000 Star Coins in the previous year was that he couldn't absorb Star Power... If he could awaken an Astral Aspect and absorb Star Power to temper his body, maintaining the same rate of progress would cost much less.

3.7 million Star Coins.

It was a staggering fortune, enough to give an ordinary person basic financial freedom. It would also ease the burden of Fang Yu's future cultivation needs and even allow him to give back to his family to some extent.

But Fang Yu didn't let the joy go to his head.

"Associate Professor Tang," Fang Yu said, "may I take a look at the contract?"

The female teacher beside them wanted to speak up and remind him.

It was a standard contract; there wasn't much difference between reading it and not reading it.

"Sure, go ahead." Associate Professor Tang didn't mind in the slightest.

Fang Yu stepped forward and quickly read through it. There weren't many clauses, and none were open to misinterpretation. Several caught his attention.

"During enrollment, barring major force majeure events, the student must participate in the annual 'Primordial Star combat exercise' and meet the minimum requirements (see appendix), and have their Civilization Points credited to 'Huguang Martial Arts University.' If the student fails to meet the minimum requirements, they must return the additional cultivation funds..."

"During enrollment, if the student awakens an Upper Astral Aspect, they may be unconditionally upgraded to an 'Earth Contract' and enter the Earth Institute to cultivate."

"Before the end of the senior-year final assessment, if the student ranks in the top 50 in any quarterly assessment and fulfills the Primordial Star combat exercise requirements, they may be upgraded to an 'Earth Contract' and enter the Earth Institute to cultivate."

"Before the end of the senior-year final assessment, if the student's ranking in the final quarterly assessment falls below 500th place, the Elite Contract will be terminated..."

"During enrollment, if the student is invited to join another martial arts university, they must pay a breach-of-contract penalty of '50 million.'"

"During enrollment, if the student passes the undergraduate-to-graduate examination and is admitted to a graduate program at Crescent Moon Martial Arts University or one of the ten key martial arts universities, the contract will be terminated unconditionally."

There were benefits: annual cultivation funds, better teachers at the university, and so on.

There were responsibilities: he had to participate in combat.

The breach-of-contract penalty was also very high.

But likewise, if Fang Yu performed well enough, the contract would be upgraded further... From Fang Yu's perspective, it was a very reasonable contract.

He raised his head.

"Associate Professor Tang, the upcoming combat mission starts on August 20, right?" Fang Yu asked. "Do I have to participate too? A lot of courses weren't offered at the junior college."

"You do."

Associate Professor Tang said calmly, "Not just you. All new junior-college transfer students who sign an Elite Contract have to take part... If you're afraid of combat, you can choose not to sign the contract and enroll as an ordinary student instead."

"Whenever Huguang Martial Arts University invites a student,"

"the contract is signed on the principle of fairness and mutual consent," Associate Professor Tang said.

Fang Yu thought to himself.

Associate Professor Tang's words seemed harsh, but they were all the more convincing for it.

She had no reason to deceive him, but Fang Yu still hesitated a little.

Combat on Primordial Star... was extremely dangerous.

In Fang Yu's original cultivation plan, he really hadn't expected to experience combat so soon.

"Associate Professor Tang," Jiang Wei, the middle-aged teacher, said with a smile, apparently noticing Fang Yu's hesitation, "how about letting me have a few words with Fang Yu alone?"

Associate Professor Tang glanced at Jiang Wei and nodded. "All right, but we only have 15 minutes left. We have to leave for the next junior college after that."

"I know." Teacher Jiang Wei nodded and looked at Fang Yu. "Fang Yu, come with me."

Fang Yu immediately followed him out of the office.

Soon, the two arrived at another empty martial arts room a fair distance from the office and closed the door behind them.

"Teacher Jiang." Fang Yu hesitated.

The teacher was most likely here to persuade him to sign the contract.

"There's no need to call me Teacher Jiang."

"Through your mother, you can call me senior uncle." Jiang Wei smiled.

Fang Yu's eyes widened.

My mother? Senior uncle?

"Teacher Jiang, you know my mother?" Fang Yu couldn't help asking.

He could hardly believe it.

"I know her, but not very well." Jiang Wei smiled. "Your senior brother Dong Xin called and told me about your situation. He asked me to come to your school and take a look at you, to see if I could help you out."

"If you don't believe me, you can call Dong Xin," Jiang Wei said.

At that moment, Fang Yu was already mostly convinced.

Quite a few people knew he and Dong Xin knew each other... But few knew he called Dong Xin senior brother. A teacher from Huguang Martial Arts University had no reason to lie to him.

"Senior Uncle, I, Fang Yu, greet you." Fang Yu bowed respectfully. "Thank you for this, Senior Uncle."

Fang Yu understood now.

It wasn't because Jiang Wei thought he was highly talented.

If not for this connection through their masters, he wouldn't have been able to become a direct-admission student.

"I didn't show favoritism. If your saber skills hadn't reached Subtlety, I couldn't have used a special-approval slot, and Associate Professor Tang wouldn't have agreed either," Jiang Wei said with feeling. "Your mother and I aren't very close, but she calls me senior brother. Since I ran into you, I thought I'd give you a hand. The slot would have gone to waste anyway."

"I won't forget your kindness, Senior Uncle," Fang Yu said solemnly.

Jiang Wei made it sound simple, but why hadn't the other teachers argued with Associate Professor Tang? Clearly, his so-called "talent" fell into a category where they could take him or leave him. With Associate Professor Tang opposed, most teachers didn't want to offend an associate professor.

"Mm."

"You hesitated just now. Were you worried about combat?" Jiang Wei asked.

"Yes." Fang Yu nodded. "I've never been to Primordial Star."

"That is a problem. Ordinary martial arts university students take part in a combat assessment once they reach level 15. That way, they won't be too restricted when they go into combat..." Jiang Wei said. "Junior college students really are weaker in that respect."

"But I still recommend that you take part."

Fang Yu listened attentively.

"Undergraduates get preferential treatment when they take part in combat," Jiang Wei said. "The Starry Sky Base on Primordial Star has many special instruments and treasures that aren't available on Blue Star or even New Moon. You can try them at a discount or even for free now... Once you graduate and become a martial artist in society, you won't get that benefit."

"Instruments that even New Moon doesn't have?" A trace of doubt flashed through Fang Yu's mind.

Hadn't the Starry Sky Base on Primordial Star been established by the Blue Moon Alliance? How could it have things that even New Moon didn't?

"In any case,"

"Primordial Star is more wondrous than you can imagine. There are many things that, never mind me, even an Earth Martial Artist like Associate Professor Tang might not fully understand," Jiang Wei said. "Combat carries risks, but in a sense, it's also an opportunity."

Fang Yu was inwardly startled.

That young-looking Associate Professor Tang was actually an Earth Martial Artist? He couldn't tell at all.

"There are four days left."

"As long as you sign, I'll help you enter your identity information into Huguang Martial Arts University's campus network ahead of time tonight," Jiang Wei said. "Then I'll send you the files for some courses you have to study, such as an introduction to the Starry Sky Base, an overview of Primordial Star, an illustrated guide to the myriad beasts, team composition, and so on... Go through them all quickly so you won't be completely in the dark."

"Also,"

"I'll arrange to find you a suitable team. It'll be much safer," Jiang Wei said. "When fighting on Primordial Star, unless they're extremely strong, most people form small teams and work together with assigned roles, ensuring their safety as much as possible."

"You freshmen are all assigned to teams at random by the university system unless special arrangements are made," Jiang Wei explained.

"Senior Uncle, I'm willing to sign the contract," Fang Yu said of his own accord.

Jiang Wei had already gone this far to help him.

If he still refused, he'd be failing to appreciate the gesture.

"Haha, you don't want to think it over some more? If you're really worried that combat is too risky, it's fine not to sign," Jiang Wei said with a smile. "Perhaps you should discuss it with your father first?"

"There's no need."

"I trust you, Senior Uncle," Fang Yu said solemnly.

"Good." Jiang Wei smiled. "This is my 'Civilization Warrior identification number.' Write it down... Once you establish your 'Civilization Warrior profile' at the Starry Sky Base, send me a friend request. I'll transfer you 200 Primal Points."

"Consider it a gift from your senior uncle for our first meeting."

Fang Yu quickly wrote it down, though he was a little puzzled.

A Civilization Warrior profile? Primal Points? What were those things?... But judging by Jiang Wei's attitude, Fang Yu guessed that those 200 Primal Points were probably quite valuable.

Soon,

the two returned to the office.

"Associate Professor Tang, I'm willing to sign," Fang Yu said of his own accord.

"Good." Associate Professor Tang glanced at Jiang Wei, then stepped forward of her own accord for the first time and held out her hand to Fang Yu. "Fang Yu, welcome to Huguang Martial Arts University."