Chapter 15: The Warriors' Black Market

"You're here!" As soon as Zhang Chu pressed the doorbell, a crisp, lively girl's voice sounded from inside.

It was common, but full of warmth.

When the door opened, Zhang Chu was stunned.

Huang Lili had changed into comfortable home clothes, donned a cute apron, and was holding a spatula. The youthful aura that greeted him almost struck Zhang Chu, a single man, right in the heart.

"You didn't need to bring anything, just come," she said. "Did the security give you any trouble?"

Huang Lili quickly took the milk and fruit basket from Zhang Chu's hands and pulled him inside.

"It was fine," Zhang Chu replied, changing into slippers, feeling a bit awkward.

His host body had been an orphan since the age of ten, never knowing the feeling of home.

Now, Zhang Chu finally felt it.

Spacious, luxurious, three stories tall, newly decorated in modern Chinese hardwood style.

And a playful hostess.

This was the taste of home.

"Grandpa, this is my friend," Huang Lili led Zhang Chu into a living room of over thirty square meters, where an elderly man approached.

His gaze was profound, his expression kind, moving with the vigor of a dragon and tiger.

Zhang Chu glanced at him, feeling a sense of familiarity, as if he had seen him somewhere before.

"Thank you for saving Lili," the old man said, "I'm sorry to invite you to our home so abruptly. My identity is a bit special; dining out is inconvenient. I hope you don't mind."

Huang Wenzhan smiled.

Zhang Chu nodded slightly, not speaking.

He was still searching for the old man's identity—it really felt as if he'd seen him somewhere.

Huang Lili was an excellent cook.

Zhang Chu had barely sat down and taken a sip of tea when the dishes were already served.

"I haven't asked your name yet," Huang Wenzhan inquired.

"Zhang," Zhang Chu replied, intending to keep a low profile.

A Level 1 martial artist had considerable status in Binzhou, but among people living in the A District villa area, it was nothing remarkable.

Humility, caution, and slow development were Zhang Chu's principles.

"My name is Huang Wenzhan, Lili's grandfather," the old man introduced.

Upon hearing the name, Zhang Chu was dumbfounded.

"Don't make that face. My grandfather is very approachable," Huang Lili said, used to such reactions.

Huang Wenzhan was the president of Binzhou University, a Level 4 martial artist, with immense social status and countless disciples.

"What a coincidence?"

Zhang Chu was utterly bewildered.

After all the twists and turns, he had ended up saving the president's granddaughter.

According to the world's rules for martial artists in public positions, gatherings of more than two were prohibited—meant to prevent martial artists from monopolizing the ordinary population.

As president, Huang Wenzhan naturally set an example.

Zhang Chu nodded, saying little.

Now that he had dropped out, whether or not he acknowledged the president was irrelevant.

But what shocked Zhang Chu was that Huang Wenzhan's granddaughter was still not even a Level 1 martial artist.

She even had to work as a scalper to earn money to buy Blood Qi Pills.

On second thought, it proved Huang Wenzhan's upright character—even his own granddaughter didn't cut corners, which reshaped Zhang Chu's view of the world.

For the next half hour, Zhang Chu focused on eating, leaving everything else to fate.

Huang Wenzhan didn't pry into Zhang Chu's background.

It was a matter of basic respect.

However, what made Zhang Chu uneasy was that Huang Wenzhan asked his age and whether he had a girlfriend.

Something felt off, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it.

Huang Lili shot her grandfather a glance, her cheeks flushed, and she retreated into the kitchen to wash fruit.

Ding dong!

As dinner drew to a close, Zhang Chu was preparing to find an excuse to slip away when the doorbell rang.

Huang Lili went to open the door.

Zhang Chu had no choice but to sit down for the moment.

He had tasted the benefits of devouring a core.

He needed to check the Martial Artist's Home forum to find strategies for hunting exotic beasts in the forest.

With the Kowei Institute's drug trial and hunting exotic beasts for their cores, breaking through to a 2-star martial artist was just a matter of days.

Having been reborn, why not cultivate? Was he supposed to stay for romance?

"President, I've brought you a few things," a man entered carrying large packages in both hands, standing awkwardly in the hallway.

"There's a guest?"

"Sorry, I'll be on my way then."

The man, clearly a seasoned bureaucrat, was quick to read the room. Glancing at the figure on the sofa, he set down the items and prepared to leave.

"Grandpa Huang, since you're busy, I'll head out," Zhang Chu said, eager for a way to escape, and rose to leave.

Turning around, Zhang Chu was stunned.

The man opposite was equally bewildered.

"Zhang… Zhang Chu?"

The late-night visitor bearing gifts was none other than homeroom teacher Li Feng.

Failing to locate the anonymous genius was one thing, but after repeatedly failing to get Zhang Chu to return to school, the director of the teaching department had applied pressure.

Even President Huang Wenzhan had called personally, issuing a three-day ultimatum.

Li Feng was here to seek forgiveness and to request a few more days.

He never expected to look up and find Zhang Chu, bowl in hand, sitting in the president's home.

"I'm leaving," Zhang Chu said, unwilling to deal with a snob like Li Feng.

Before Huang Wenzhan and Huang Lili could react, he had already slipped out the door and hurried into the single apartment building.

"Lili, go after him quickly!" Huang Wenzhan finally realized.

Zhang Chu!

Someone whom Li Feng recognized at a glance—he had gone from a patient with ALS to a Level 1 martial artist, whose virtual hunting videos had taken the forum by storm, the pride of Binzhou University!

"This guy was hiding so well! He's the one Grandpa was searching for!"

By the time Huang Lili chased outside, Zhang Chu was nowhere to be found.

She called, but his phone was switched off.

Returning disappointed, she reported her failure.

Li Feng trembled in fear.

Huang Wenzhan slammed the table, ordering Li Feng to leave immediately.

"Lili, you must help Grandpa arrange a meeting with him. He's the key to today's martial arts assessment at our school!"

Huang Wenzhan's last hope rested on his granddaughter.

...

That night, Zhang Chu saw dozens of messages from Huang Lili.

Shock, envy, questions, and finally a request to meet.

Zhang Chu didn't reply.

He had more important things to do now.

After spending two hours browsing forums at home, Zhang Chu discovered two ways to obtain a core.

The first was to hunt exotic beasts in the forest.

The second was to purchase them for a high price on the black market.

He finally managed to add a girl with an F-cup avatar in the comment section, arranged a meeting time and place, and hurried out with the items he'd collected on Laji Mountain.

The martial artist black market was a gray area. Early on, the Martial Artist Administration Bureau cracked down hard, but in recent years, they'd simply turned a blind eye.

Zhang Chu had only heard of it, never been.

He wanted to test whether the cores bought on the black market could actually boost his Blood Qi value.

Following the agreed location, Zhang Chu arrived at an old commercial street in the outskirts.

This was the Binzhou martial artist black market, open every night from ten to three in the morning.

The F-cup beauty he'd arranged to meet turned out to be a fat man.

When they approached and saw each other, both were stunned.

With the fused memories of his host, Zhang Chu remembered clearly—this guy was his brother Wang Peng, who had grown up with him in the welfare home: "Damn, since when did you become an F-cup?"