Chapter 55: Becoming a Top Student Starting Today

After leaving the house, Chen Meng headed straight for the Chongyuan Divine Body Supplies Chain Store.

He already had a list of items to buy in mind, and this trip would certainly cost him a fair sum. To save time, Chen Meng took a cab, but even so, it took him nearly two hours, with the fare exceeding a hundred yuan.

Stepping out in front of the store, Chen Meng walked right in.

"Hey, it's you again?"

Chen Meng was somewhat surprised to find that the clerk was the same twin-tailed girl from last time.

She seemed to recognize him as well, smiling slightly. "I wasn't supposed to work today, but another clerk called in sick, so I had to cover the shift."

Chen Meng nodded. Since they were already familiar, there was no need for small talk.

He thought for a moment and said, "I need to buy a few things. First, combat gear. The suit I bought last time—I checked, and it’s the lowest, D-grade. What about the next level up, C-grade? How much for a full set—vest, trousers, and combat boots?"

The girl pondered briefly. "Basically, C-grade costs three times as much as D-grade. Right now, in our store, that’s ninety thousand yuan."

Chen Meng didn’t bargain immediately, but said, "I also need a dagger."

His own dagger had pierced Jiang Lan’s arm and ended up in Jiang Lan’s hands. Now, he was left without one.

The clerk thought and asked, "Do you want C-grade as well?"

Before Chen Meng could respond, she continued, "A C-grade dagger costs around fifty thousand yuan, also roughly three times the price of D-grade."

Just these two items would cost about one hundred forty thousand yuan. Divine body supplies were outrageously expensive.

"Show me first," he said.

He wasn’t in a rush to buy. Though this money felt almost like a windfall to him, he couldn’t spend it carelessly.

The girl nodded. "Alright, let’s go upstairs to the second floor."

Chen Meng followed her up. As they arrived, he saw a man on the second floor playing with his phone. Seeing them, the man headed down to the first floor—someone had to man the counter below.

The second floor was decorated much like the first, just with higher-grade items for sale.

Chen Meng recalled the store had three floors in total; the top floor must sell even more advanced goods.

"Here are the daggers," the clerk said, opening the display case. Inside were just over a dozen daggers. She picked up one similar to what Chen Meng had bought last time. "This is the upgraded product of the Shadow series, a C-grade weapon. This dagger easily slices through D-grade protective gear and pierces the skulls of second-tier divine body beings. It’s pretty much the standard close-combat weapon for second-tier beings. As for the runes inscribed on it, there are as many as six. I’ve got the manual here—you can have a look."

A manual?

Chen Meng was quite surprised. He hadn’t expected a dagger to come with instructions.

The girl rummaged through the counter and found a two-page manual, handing it to Chen Meng.

"Let me see," Chen Meng said, curiosity piqued.

He learned that the Shadow series comprised five daggers, the highest reaching S-grade, though the store didn’t carry those, nor did it list prices—Chen Meng guessed they must cost over a million.

As for the C-grade Shadow dagger, it came with four runes: Sharpness, Invisibility, Tenacity, and Lightness—a pleasant surprise, since most C-grade daggers only had three runes.

"Besides these, do you have any medicines for treating external injuries?" Chen Meng asked.

"This?" The clerk reached over and took a box of ointment from the shelf—the name on it was Immortal Injury Balm.

Chen Meng was speechless. The patch Mo Xiaoyi bought for him was clearly a simplified version of this balm.

Indeed, the clerk continued, "We also have Immortal Injury Patches downstairs—five hundred yuan each, same price as at school. But the balm is definitely more effective."

Chen Meng nodded. "How much for a box of Immortal Injury Balm?"

"Each box is 100 grams, priced at ten thousand yuan. If you buy more—over ten boxes—it's nine thousand each," the clerk replied after thinking.

Chen Meng shook his head. He wasn’t like Mo Xiaoyi, unlikely to get beaten up often. One box for emergencies would suffice.

He calculated the costs—just about right. Chen Meng said, "One set of C-grade combat gear, one Shadow series C-grade dagger, and one box of Immortal Injury Balm. Total them up for me."

"C-grade combat gear: ninety thousand. Shadow series dagger: fifty thousand. Immortal Injury Balm: ten thousand. Altogether, that's one hundred fifty thousand. I can give you a discount—three thousand off, so one hundred forty-seven thousand," the clerk smiled. For her, this was a major sale, and the commission would be substantial.

Chen Meng had less than one hundred sixty thousand in total, and spending so much at once made him wince.

"Too expensive. Give me a bit more of a discount—I'm a regular customer."

"I remember this is only your second visit—doesn't really count as a regular," the clerk replied mercilessly. "One hundred forty-five thousand. Can't go any lower. You’d have a hard time finding that price elsewhere."

"Deal!" Chen Meng stopped haggling. He might squeeze out a bit more, but it wasn’t necessary.

He picked out a C-grade suit, tried the feel of the dagger, and was impressed—it truly was worth every penny.

Outside, Chen Meng checked his balance—about twelve thousand yuan left.

"Since I’m here, I’ll buy something for Mom and Dad. I took their money before; this can be my apology," he decided, heading to two well-known clothing stores to buy outfits for his parents, spending another three thousand.

Afterward, Chen Meng took his purchases home first—it wouldn’t do to bring his parents’ clothes to school.

By the time he got home, it was already noon. He grabbed a quick bite and planned to nap before heading to school; classes didn’t start until two-thirty.

But before his nap, he had one more thing to do—flip through all his high school alchemy and high school artifact refining materials.

He first checked his stats:

Knowledge Points: 1510

Pages Flipped: University Runes (0/1998), High School Alchemy (602/909), High School Artifact Refining (0/712)

Analysis Progress: Ghost Step Lotus (6%)

With a thought, Chen Meng saw his high school alchemy pages rapidly turning in the void; a flood of alchemy knowledge poured into his mind, which he digested and absorbed.

About fifteen minutes passed before he exhaled slowly. The influx of knowledge seemed to affect his brain—it felt as though his mind had shifted from low gear to overdrive.

But he had no choice; there was a high school artifact refining test that afternoon. Gritting his teeth, he flipped through artifact refining as well.

"High School Artifact Refining, flip pages!"

As he willed it, the pages in the void turned swiftly. Waves of artifact refining knowledge entered his mind, and the deeper he went, the more fatigued he felt, until finally, he drifted off to sleep.

At two fifteen, Chen Meng awoke slowly.

He rubbed his brow, savoring the new knowledge in his mind, feeling rather content.

High school runes, alchemy, artifact refining—he had mastered them all. Jiangdu University was within reach.

"From today, I’ll be a top student. Time for a change," he murmured, smiling. But glancing at his phone, he panicked. "Oh no, I’m late!"

He hurriedly dressed, grabbed his bag, and dashed downstairs. With time so tight, he didn’t bother with the bus—he hailed a cab straight to school.

Still, he arrived at the school gate at two forty.

Seeing the dean standing at the entrance, Chen Meng was speechless. It seemed he was about to become the example student for tardiness.