Chapter 20: Goddess, You Have Been Defeated
Swiping his student card, he entered the school.
Zhang Chu skillfully avoided the cameras, wearing a mask and a hat as he made his way into the testing center.
It was class time, and the testing center was almost deserted. The drowsy administrator paid no attention to Zhang Chu—after all, it was the midday shift, and having a clueless student show up to test his blood force was hardly welcome.
152!
Zhang Chu glanced at the leaderboard. Su Mingyue had claimed the top spot for blood force at Binzhou University, accompanied by a scrolling banner: “Congratulations to our fourth-year student Su Mingyue for achieving Level 1 Martial Artist certification, creating new glory for Binzhou University.”
Anyone with half a brain could guess: Su Mingyue had certainly bought a Blood Force Pill.
One Blood Force Pill cost 19,000.
Su Mingyue’s family was comfortably middle-class; they could afford it, though certainly not every day.
“Brother, no matter what, I’ll never let the woman who trampled on your dignity rule over you!” Zhang Chu clenched his fists, gathering his strength.
He needed to control himself, not overdo it.
Otherwise, Su Mingyue would have no chance to surpass him, and how could she ever insult him again?
“Ding! Detected that the host has consumed a Level 2 low-grade core. Blood force +150!” The system’s voice sounded in his mind.
Just now?
Zhang Chu breathed a sigh of relief.
It had been twenty-four hours since he’d consumed the core of the Overlord Tiger yesterday. Zhang Chu had worried that the energy of the Level 2 core was too immense, and the system couldn’t handle it.
Now it was clear.
A Level 1 martial artist who consumes a Level 2 core requires the system to absorb and digest it, at least twenty-four hours.
With a thought, Zhang Chu summoned his personal information panel:
Name: Zhang Chu
Level: 2
New blood force: +150
Total blood force: 707/1500
Martial Skill: Skyrocket Cannon (Level 1 low-grade)
Skill Proficiency: Intermediate
“Well then… let’s give Goddess Su a little surprise.”
Zhang Chu slowly opened his eyes, and struck the blood force testing panel with his fist.
***
Binzhou University, the girls’ dormitory.
Su Mingyue had painted herself beautifully today, dressed in a student-style JK uniform with white accents and exquisitely polished black leather shoes.
“Wow, Mingyue, you look stunning,” Zhao Panpan hugged Su Mingyue’s slender waist, full of envy. “After we get certified as Level 1 martial artists at the Warrior Center, let’s go sing karaoke!”
Su Mingyue nodded slightly, her fair face lit up with a smile.
Though she had taken out a 40,000 online loan to buy the Blood Force Pill at a high price—
As long as she could become number one at Binzhou University, crushing Zhang Chu.
Paying back 1,000 a month seemed like a good deal to Su Mingyue.
Today.
Today was the day she would officially be certified at the Warrior Center.
Once she was certified, she’d receive a reward of 50,000, and the loan would be no big deal.
“Panpan, let’s go.”
Beautifully dressed, the two stepped out.
“Why does that look so much like Zhang Chu?”
Just as they left the campus gate, a chauffeured Maybach drove by.
Su Mingyue didn’t hear Zhao Panpan’s muttering; she was nervous and excited: “Zhang Chu, once I’m certified as a martial artist, you’ll be the first to know. I, Su Mingyue, am not inferior!”
***
Meanwhile, Zhang Chu had already left the school, heading toward Li Dashan’s hotpot restaurant.
Arriving at the entrance, Wang Peng was waiting.
The hotpot restaurant was impressive, spread over three floors.
The third floor had high-end private rooms, reserved for martial artists.
Once inside, the rich aroma of hotpot made Zhang Chu’s stomach rumble. “Uncle Li, you really are talented—I’m starving.”
“If you’re hungry, eat. Eat your fill.”
They ate hotpot and drank wine.
After the meal, Wang Peng broke the ice: “Xiao Chu, you mentioned on the phone that you had something to sell to Uncle Li?”
Li Dashan’s interest was piqued.
The martial artist black market was his main business. If he could get something good—
One deal could earn a year’s income.
“Uncle Li, take a look—how much is this worth?”
With a thought, Zhang Chu summoned the corpse of the Overlord Tiger from his storage ring and placed it in the private room.
“You rascal—is that a storage ring?”
Li Dashan was shocked.
That thing was worth at least 300,000. Even he couldn’t bring himself to buy one.
Wang Peng grabbed Zhang Chu’s hand, studying it closely.
A storage ring—the ultimate status symbol!
“It was a gift,” Zhang Chu said, quickly steering the conversation back. “I still owe you 40,000, Uncle Li. See what the Overlord Tiger corpse is worth? Let’s settle the debt, and I’ll use the rest to buy some things from the shop.”
Li Dashan finally focused on the Level 2 exotic beast, Overlord Tiger.
As an expert buyer in the black market,
He quickly appraised the corpse and declared its value: 180,000!
Zhang Chu didn’t haggle.
With Li Dashan’s reputation, he wouldn’t lowball like other black market bosses.
Settling the 40,000 debt, Zhang Chu had 140,000 in hand.
Add to that the 60,000 earned in the virtual hunting ground that morning, plus the one-time 100,000 reward for Level 2 martial artist certification—
Zhang Chu now had a net worth of 300,000.
***
“Uncle Li, can I exchange all 140,000 for Blood Force Pills?”
To obtain higher-grade exotic beast cores, he needed martial skills with greater proficiency.
He still hadn’t figured out how much blood force would trigger the skill proficiency module.
But consuming pills definitely improved proficiency.
“Xiao Chu, you know the black market price—30,000 for one.”
Li Dashan said.
Zhang Chu agreed without hesitation.
In total, he spent 150,000 and got five Blood Force Pills.
With the remaining 150,000,
Tomorrow, he needed to visit the furniture market and buy some essentials.
The Level 2 martial artist villa was well-furnished, but some household items still needed to be added.
Leaving the hotpot restaurant, it was already five in the afternoon.
Zhang Chu hurried home.
On the way, he signed the certification contract for the villa district via the backend.
Arriving at the apartment entrance, the property manager personally delivered the villa’s water and electricity cards, keys, and address plate.
Taking the keys, Zhang Chu entered Building 66, Row 12, Area A.
A two-story townhouse with massive floor-to-ceiling windows, much more spacious than the apartment—at least three hundred square meters.
After touring the place, Zhang Chu decided to celebrate in his new home by consuming Blood Force Pills.
Five pills down.
The system quickly detected an increase of 75 blood force.
He looked at his total blood force: 781/1500.
Zhang Chu waited half an hour but didn’t see the white pop-up window: “Looks like 75 blood force isn’t enough to upgrade from Intermediate to Advanced proficiency.”
He pondered for a long time, deciding to visit the Warrior’s Home after settling his furniture tomorrow.
He would soon venture into the exotic beast forest for training, which was fraught with dangers.
Relying solely on an offensive skill like Skyrocket Cannon wouldn’t suffice; he needed a defensive martial skill as well.
With the medicinal effect of the Blood Force Pills,
Perhaps the defensive skill he bought tomorrow could immediately reach basic proficiency.
As dusk fell, Zhang Chu grabbed a quick bite outside, then returned home.
He was just about to browse the forum on his phone when the class group started exploding with messages:
“@Everyone: Damn, the anonymous dog-head’s blood force has updated—now it’s 162!”
Class monitor Wang Xiaochuan posted a photo that instantly set the group ablaze.
“Seriously? Su Mingyue only just claimed the top spot—not even a day! This is a slap in the face!”
“@Su Mingyue: Goddess, stop singing at the KTV and check the group chat—you’ve been dethroned!”
Watching everyone tag Su Mingyue, Zhang Chu felt quite pleased.
Just then,
His phone rang. It was a strange number.
“Zh—Zhang Chu, this is Su Mingyue!”