Chapter 91: I Heard About You at the Martial God Academy
Afternoon.
The basement of Villa No. 10, Xisha Garden.
Zhang Chu gazed at the mountain of cores piled before him, his eyes burning with excitement. “That brother Luo is really efficient, even if he was a bargain of a mentor.”
He had just seen off Huang Lili, who had helped him draft a speech, when the delivery personnel from Binzhou Storage had personally arrived.
A thousand three-star cores lay there in the basement.
Zhang Chu estimated that if he sold these on the black market, he could easily fetch three hundred million.
Steadying his excitement, Zhang Chu began to use the “Passive Devouring” skill.
His mental power enveloped five hundred of the three-star cores.
In the blink of an eye, the cores visibly lost their luster, turning into nothing but a pile of debris.
A surge of immense power poured endlessly into his body.
This sensation... it was more exhilarating than anything he’d experienced before.
“Ding, detected that the host has devoured one three-star core, Martial Force +15.”
“Ding...”
The system’s voice rang manically in his mind, as if its CPU was about to overheat.
Just one simple hour.
Surveying the ground now covered in fragments, Zhang Chu finally opened his eyes in satisfaction and looked at the blank wall. “System, pull up my personal info panel.”
Name: Zhang Chu
Realm: Four-star
Martial Force: 20,111/50,000
Martial Skills: Skybreaker Cannon (Low Four-star), Iron Mountain Shield (Low Four-star), Thirteen Flaming Swords (Low Four-star), Flash Silver (Low Four-star)
Mental Power: 22,100/50,000
Psychic Martial Skill: Electric Vine Bind (Low Four-star)
Psychic Battle Technique: Speed Domain (Low Four-star)
Psychic Battle Technique: Gravity Domain (Quadruple)
Having broken through to four-star, Zhang Chu returned contentedly to the study to organize his speech for the night.
He had to admit, Huang Lili’s writing was truly masterful.
She’d simply summarized six key points, each highlighting the qualities of a visiting professor.
Around half past five.
Zhang Chu had just finished his shower when the doorbell rang.
Iron Egg’s holographic projection activated automatically, and Zhang Xueying appeared at the door, carrying a large bag.
“Xueying, what brings you here?” Zhang Chu greeted her with a bright smile as he opened the door.
“Dean Luo gave strict orders. There’ll be a special commissioner from the Martial God Academy at your speech tonight, and he insisted I personally pick out a high-end suit for you at the mall.”
Zhang Xueying produced a white suit.
Zhang Chu glanced at the price tag. His heart nearly stopped.
Eight hundred thousand for a suit—utterly extravagant.
Aside from the Martial Arts Administration and the Martial Arts Research Institute, there probably wasn’t a third organization in the world this lavish.
“Try it on.”
“I’ve never picked out clothes for a man before. No experience at all,” Zhang Xueying admitted, her heart racing.
From childhood, apart from buying clothes for her father, this was the first time she’d carefully selected an outfit for a man.
“It’s truly an honor,” Zhang Chu joked, taking the suit into the bedroom.
Hearing the soft rustling within, Zhang Xueying’s mind couldn’t help but conjure up an image of eight sculpted abs.
“Hey, Zhang Xueying, get a grip. He’s way younger than you,” she chided herself, pinching her blushing face, trying not to swoon.
“Do I still look dashing?”
Just then, Zhang Chu stepped out of the bedroom.
A fitted white suit, black shirt, and white bow tie.
His tall, broad frame cut a striking figure.
Sunset streamed through the window, casting a golden glow across him.
He slipped on a pair of half-rimmed black glasses and pinned on the badge signifying his position as a professor at the Martial Arts Research Institute.
Zhang Chu was, without exaggeration, a heartbreaker.
His handsomeness struck Zhang Xueying’s heart like a psychic’s sigil—direct and unyielding. “Quite... quite handsome, I must say. I have a good eye for clothes.”
“Do you have a boyfriend, Xueying?” Zhang Chu adjusted his glasses with his middle finger.
That move sent her heart into a frenzy. “Why do you ask?”
“You have such impeccable taste—wonder which lucky guy benefits from it.”
Strapping on his leather watch, Zhang Chu grabbed his car keys. “Xueying, it’s about time. Let’s go.”
Watching his dashing figure from behind, Zhang Xueying bit her lip and muttered, “Who calls themselves a lucky bastard?”
What a pity.
At that moment, Zhang Chu was on the phone with Luo Zhidong and didn’t hear her whisper.
He opened the door, got in the car, and drove off.
On the way, Zhang Xueying, in the passenger seat, couldn’t help but steal glances at Zhang Chu, who seemed to glow with confidence.
When Zhang Chu was changing, she’d been reminded of a classic internet gesture from her past life—the “middle finger glasses push”—and every time he did it, her heart skipped a beat.
...
The inaugural speech by the new visiting professor, Zhang Chu, was a major event for the Martial Arts Research Institute.
The entire school was abuzz.
Especially among the martial artist ranks.
After all, he’d entered a star beast’s lair and secured a psychic’s memory pearl.
That legendary accomplishment alone surpassed 99% of the Dual Force Society’s members.
In fact—
Just recently, Qiao Changnian, the president of the Dual Force Society, had personally issued a red-letter decision: “On the Promotion of Professor Zhang Chu to Vice President of the Dual Force Society.”
This move by the society was nothing short of chasing the latest trend.
For a time, the Martial Arts Research Institute shot to the top of the Martial Artists’ Forum hot topics.
The speech was scheduled for seven in the evening.
By six, the grand hall was already packed with faculty and students.
At this moment—
Following Luo Zhidong’s instructions, Zhang Chu and Zhang Xueying got out of the car.
Passing through the sea of admiring students and teachers, they headed straight for the office behind the hall.
Entering, they found several high-level officials from the institute, including Wang Shirong, one of the vice deans and Zhang Xueying’s uncle.
“Dean Luo. Uncle,” Zhang Xueying greeted with a nod.
Zhang Chu’s eyes, however, landed on the middle-aged man beside Luo Zhidong. “Damn, could this be a psychic? His spiritual power is overwhelming—even the system is going crazy!”
The moment he stepped into the office, the dormant system popped up a notification: “A psychic has been detected near the host. Would you like to use ‘Electric Vine Bind’ and ‘Passive Devouring’ together to absorb spiritual power?”
What the hell!
Zhang Chu double-checked the white pop-up to be sure the system wasn’t malfunctioning. After advancing to four-star dual force warrior, a new function had unlocked—he could now absorb a psychic’s spiritual power with his combined skills!
“Absorb?”
The system prompted him incessantly.
“Absorb my foot! Are you trying to get me killed? Shut up!” Zhang Chu cursed inwardly.
To drain a psychic’s power in front of everyone—success or not—would make him no better than the madmen from the Divine Fall Alliance.
Damn system! Its morals were slipping—it needed some discipline when he got home.
“Xiao Chu, let me introduce you. This is Mr. Huo Yuanqi, special commissioner and head of the inspection team from the Martial God Academy,” Luo Zhidong said, quickly making introductions as he saw Zhang Chu dazed.
“Team Leader Huo took time out of his routine inspection here in Binzhou to attend your speech tonight.”
“Team Leader Huo,” Zhang Chu responded politely, opting for humility in the presence of a psychic.
“Zhang Chu, is it?” Huo Yuanqi approached, appraising Zhang Chu from head to toe and nodding approvingly. “I’ve heard your name at Martial God Academy for quite some time.”
Wait a minute?
Zhang Chu felt something off. “Since when did I get so famous at Martial God Academy?”