The Gu Family Coughs Up Blood: The Weight of First Place in the Secret Realm

Fifty million in Great Xia Currency! Plus ten third-tier top-grade spirit vein cores!

The moment Su Bai said it, the entire basin fell so silent that even the sparrows made no sound.

Even Chen Tianxing and Qin Wan froze. They had thought Su Bai would take this opportunity to demand that the school punish the Gu Family severely, or have Gu Qingshan thrown straight into the City Appearance Bureau's prison.

Instead, at a moment when swords were drawn and crossbows cocked, this brat was openly extorting them?!

"Y-you're dreaming!" Gu Qingshan trembled all over with rage, nearly spitting out a mouthful of blood. "Fifty million? Ten third-tier cores? Why the fuck don't you just rob us?! My Gu Family will never bow to trash like you!"

Third-tier top-grade spirit vein cores were strategic resources that had a price but no market. A single one was worth over ten million, and they simply couldn't be bought. With that demand, Su Bai was practically carving a huge chunk of flesh out of the Gu Family!

"Rob you? Great Elder, that's where you're wrong. How could robbery bring in money this fast?" Su Bai rolled his eyes and shrugged unconcernedly.

He turned to Chen Tianxing and said with an innocent look, "Principal, look how generous I've been. I'm willing to settle this privately and give the Gu Family a chance to turn over a new leaf. But they don't appreciate it."

"Since that's the case, let's go through official channels. I'll call Captain Bai Lan of the City Appearance Bureau right now and have her bring her people to examine these Blood Wolf Mercenary Corps corpses. I'll also call over those elite-class students I saved to testify."

Su Bai took out his phone and made as if to dial.

"Oh, right. I've heard that if the charges of deliberately murdering several thousand students and attempting to awaken a high-tier Anomaly are proven, then under the laws of the Great Xia Nation, all the Gu Family's businesses in Linhai City will be seized, and every core member of the family will be exiled to the contaminated mining district, right?"

With every sentence Su Bai spoke, Gu Qingshan's face grew a shade paler.

He knew perfectly well that Su Bai wasn't bluffing. Once the matter reached the City Appearance Bureau, that impartial madwoman Bai Lan would definitely turn the Gu Family upside down in her investigation. When that happened, even if the Gu Family's ancestor stepped in, he wouldn't be able to protect them!

"W-wait!"

Just as Su Bai's finger was about to press the call button, Gu Qingshan finally broke down.

He collapsed onto the ground like a puddle of mud, his eyes full of humiliation and resentment, and squeezed out a few words through clenched teeth.

"I... I'll pay!"

"Now that's decisive, Great Elder!" Su Bai immediately put away his phone, his smile more brilliant than a flower. "Bank transfer or check? When will the spirit vein cores be delivered? I'm an impatient man, and I don't like late payments."

With a trembling hand, Gu Qingshan pulled a black, unregistered crystal card from his robes and threw it to Su Bai.

"There's fifty million on it. I'll send someone to deliver the ten third-tier cores to the school's academic affairs office tomorrow. Su Bai, don't celebrate too soon! My Gu Family will remember this debt!"

Su Bai caught the crystal card neatly, blew the dust off it, and happily tucked it into his pocket.

"Go ahead and remember it. Your Gu Family's account book is probably almost full anyway; one more debt won't make a difference." Su Bai waved a hand. "All right, you can take your people and get lost. Stop spoiling the fresh air for us."

Gu Qingshan shot Su Bai a venomous look. Supported by his subordinates, he slunk aboard the psionic airship and fled Mist Canyon in disgrace.

Wang Hai, who had come with him, had long since wet himself with fright and was huddled in a corner, trembling. Chen Tianxing glanced coldly at him. "Committee Member Wang, go back and submit your resignation to the Education Bureau yourself. If I still see you in Linhai City tomorrow, you'll bear the consequences."

As if granted a pardon, Wang Hai scrambled away on hands and knees.

A crisis that had nearly caused an earthquake in Linhai City was resolved by Su Bai just like that, in a way that was utterly mercenary yet exceptionally effective.

Chen Tianxing looked at Su Bai and couldn't help shaking his head with a wry smile. "You brat, you've got more schemes than a hornet's nest has holes. Fifty million plus ten third-tier cores—you're going to drain the Gu Family's liquid funds dry."

"Principal, I did it for our school's sake too," Su Bai said unabashedly. "Without money, the Gu Family can't hire killers to make trouble at school anymore. That's called eliminating a safety hazard at its root."

Qin Wan shot him an exasperated glare. "Stop playing innocent after getting such a bargain! You were lucky to survive this time. Come on, the assessment is over. All the students are gathering at the teleportation array to tally their points."

Half an hour later.

At the temporary camp on the outskirts of Mist Canyon.

Several thousand surviving senior-year students were lining up at the point-tallying desk to check their results.

After the mercenary infiltration and the brief rampage of the exotic beasts, nearly a tenth of the students were dead or injured. Those who remained were all dusty and disheveled, still shaken by the ordeal.

"Elite Class One, Li Ming's team: fifty first-tier exotic beasts and two second-tier exotic beasts killed. Total points: 150!"

"Ordinary Class Three, Zhang Qiang's team: thirty first-tier exotic beasts killed. Total points: 30!"

As the results were announced one by one, the team currently in first place was a full five-member team from the elite class. Its captain was a rich second-generation heir who had awakened a B-rank talent, and their total had reached 320 points.

"Looks like first place is bound to go to Young Master Zhao this time."

"Yeah. Young Master Zhao's team hunted down a second-tier intermediate Venomspike Boar. That was a big monster worth a hundred points!"

As the students discussed the results, Su Bai, Lin Que, and Shen Yueli strolled up to the tallying desk.

The teacher in charge of tallying glanced at Su Bai, a complicated look in his eyes. He had heard about the earth-shaking things this brat had done in there.

"Su Bai's team, please present your point bracelets."

Su Bai handed his bracelet over, and Lin Que and Shen Yueli did the same.

The teacher placed the three bracelets on the scanner.

Beep-!

The numbers on the screen began to climb wildly.

100... 500... 1,000... 3,000... 5,000!

Finally, the number stopped at an astonishing 8,500 points!

The whole place fell deathly silent.

Every student stared at the number on the big screen as if it were a monster, their eyes nearly popping out of their sockets.

8,500 points?!

Had they gone in for an assessment, or to stock up on goods?!

A first-tier exotic beast was worth only one point, an initial second-tier beast ten points, and an intermediate second-tier beast a hundred. Eight thousand five hundred points meant they had hunted at least eighty-odd intermediate second-tier exotic beasts or stronger!

But how was that possible? There were only three of them!

"Teacher, is this machine broken?" Young Master Zhao, the rich second-generation heir who had originally been in first place, shouted indignantly. "How could the three of them possibly score over eight thousand points? They definitely cheated!"

The teacher wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and pulled up the detailed point records.

"The records show... Su Bai's team killed fifty initial second-tier exotic beasts, converted from mercenary dependents... ten intermediate second-tier exotic beasts... five peak second-tier exotic beasts..."

The teacher swallowed, his voice trembling.

"And... one initial third-tier exotic beast, the Blood Shadow Wolf King, worth 3,000 points!"

Uproar-!!!

The entire camp erupted in an instant.

A third-tier exotic beast?!

These three high school students had hunted down a third-tier exotic beast equivalent to a Demigod in the secret realm?!

This was beyond anything cheating could explain. It was practically a myth!

Listening to the cries of astonishment around him, Lin Que proudly puffed out his chest. Although he had only been running errands the whole time, that didn't stop him from enjoying the feeling of being the center of attention. Shen Yueli maintained her cool demeanor, though a barely perceptible smile appeared in her eyes when she looked at Su Bai.

Su Bai tapped the desktop at the tallying desk and smiled at the dumbstruck rich second-generation heir.

"Classmate, these days, strength is what really counts. Is eight thousand points a lot? If we hadn't run out of time, I could have farmed another ten thousand."

Principal Chen Tianxing stepped onto the platform and quieted the crowd.

"The results are genuine and valid! I hereby announce that first place in this Mist Canyon preliminary assessment goes to Su Bai's team!"

"The top ten teams will represent Linhai No. 3 Middle School in the Provincial Divine Battle Tournament qualifiers two months from now!"

With Chen Tianxing's announcement, Su Bai's name was once again engraved at the very pinnacle of Linhai No. 3 Middle School's history, in an overwhelmingly dominant manner that left no room for dispute.

But at that moment, first place was the last thing on Su Bai's mind.

He touched the fifty-million crystal card in his pocket, his mind filled with one thought:

I've got money now. It's time to get Mom a bigger house, and buy Hongdou some new clothes while I'm at it.