Chapter 6: Spending Money, Borrowing Money

If you don't spend money, how can you become stronger? And as for how to spend it, that's a skill in itself.

To guard against his parents settling accounts with him later, he must leave himself a way out. The best approach is to spend all the money on his studies.

Maybe, he could really sign up for some tutoring classes—not for runes, alchemy, or forging, but for the academic subjects.

He’d originally wanted to cram for the academic courses, so this money would be put to good use.

Tutoring classes were never in short supply. Chen Meng returned to school and found a place nearby called Spark Tutoring Center. He registered for all six of his academic courses, and there were quite a few students there as well.

Chen Meng enrolled in courses taught by gold-medal teachers, which were quite expensive. From Monday to Saturday evenings, he would attend three hours of tutoring each night until the college entrance exam. The cost for one subject was 2,400 yuan, totaling 14,400 for all six. In the end, the tutoring center manager, seeing Chen Meng as a super VIP student, gave him a 400 yuan discount, charging only 14,000.

Registering for six subjects at once was rare.

But academic tutoring itself was cheaper. For runes, alchemy, and forging, the prices were nearly double, and most people signed up for tutoring in those three subjects. Few chose to supplement their academic courses.

Six thousand yuan remained. Chen Meng already had a plan: he would sign up for fitness or combat training.

Before officially using the advancement potion for a first-tier divine body, strengthening his physique would increase the success rate and speed up the absorption of the potion. And once he began divine body cultivation, combat skills would still prove useful.

Thus, in the current high school, physical education was much more important than in the previous world. There was even a physical exam before the college entrance test; if you failed, you might still get into a junior college or a second-tier school, but top universities would never accept you. Although most people passed the physical exam, Chen Meng had to guard against the possibility of failing.

He wandered nearby but found no gyms at all. It seemed this world wasn’t interested in fitness.

Perhaps, since most people exercised regularly, gyms weren’t necessary.

As for combat clubs, they were scarce. After searching for a long time, he finally found a place far away called Sentai Combat Club.

Besides that, Chen Meng unexpectedly discovered several martial arts academies—three right at the school gate.

Maybe he could sign up for a martial arts academy.

Hong’s Ancient Martial Academy!

Chen Meng arrived at the academy. The reason for choosing it was simple: he was curious about ancient martial arts.

Inside, he found the decor rich with antique charm and unique style.

“Looking to learn martial arts, student?” At the entrance, a man in loose training clothes spoke.

The man's arms were bare, muscles bulging with strength. His feet were staggered at a forty-five-degree angle, ready to attack or defend, exuding confidence.

Chen Meng nodded, feeling he’d come to the right place.

“Great! Come here, let me introduce our academy. We specialize in teaching various ancient martial arts, such as Southern Fist, Long Fist, Xingyi Boxing, Taiji Boxing, Eight Trigram Palm, and Twelve Tan Legs. Even in this divine body era, I guarantee these ancient martial arts will still be useful in combat. By the way, my name is Mo Xiaoyi, and I’m a freshman at Jiangzhou University…”

Mo Xiaoyi was enthusiastic, explaining the benefits of ancient martial arts.

Chen Meng was hesitant at first, but upon hearing from Mo Xiaoyi that next semester he could obtain a divine body advancement potion and ascend to a first-tier divine body, Chen Meng agreed without hesitation.

“I can only come to study on Saturdays and Sundays. Is that okay?”

“No problem.”

“What about tuition?”

“We charge monthly—two thousand per month, including a lunch and two sets of training clothes.”

“Alright, I’ll start with three months.”

Mo Xiaoyi was stunned—he’d wanted to offer a discount, since Chen Meng could only attend weekends, but Chen Meng was so straightforward.

“Excellent! Clearly you have a passion for martial arts. Come, let’s sign the training contract and you can pay the fees.”

“Hmm, quite professional.” Chen Meng remarked.

Mo Xiaoyi chuckled, “I’m just afraid you’ll change your mind.”

Seeing Chen Meng sign the contract and pay, Mo Xiaoyi finally breathed a sigh of relief. “Now that you’ve joined, we’re brothers. The master can’t always be here to guide you, so most of the time it’ll be me. At the moment, besides you, there are four other students…”

“Wait, only four other students besides me?” Chen Meng was shocked, thinking he’d misheard.

“Yes.” Mo Xiaoyi nodded. The money was paid, the contract signed, no need to worry about Chen Meng backing out.

“How does this academy stay open? The rent here isn’t cheap, is it?” Chen Meng was speechless and curious.

“Rent? The building belongs to the master—no rent needed. As for staying open, it’s obvious: the more students we recruit, the more retirement money the master earns…” Mo Xiaoyi realized Chen Meng was right there and quickly stopped.

Chen Meng chuckled. So he was the ‘big sucker.’

The money was spent, the knowledge acquired; Chen Meng was half skeptical about the academy, but he’d practice if he could, and let it go if he couldn’t.

“When will I meet the master?” Chen Meng thought for a moment—six thousand yuan spent, he should at least meet the person.

“You won’t see him for the next couple of days. His son has returned from out of town, so the master is at home enjoying family time.” Mo Xiaoyi replied.

Then, Mo Xiaoyi began teaching Chen Meng ancient martial arts—not immediately fists or legs, but basic movements.

For example, leg techniques included front kicks, side kicks, back kicks, downward chops, hook kicks, spinning back kicks, and push kicks.

Chen Meng struggled, but Mo Xiaoyi was patient. By evening, Chen Meng’s legs were cramping.

…

Returning home, Chen Meng reviewed his day and felt fulfilled.

He focused, and a line of data appeared before his eyes.

Knowledge Points: 200

Page Count: High School Runes (6/862)

With a thought, he watched the floating High School Runes book in the starry sky quickly flip pages, jumping from page six to two hundred and six.

A wealth of rune knowledge flooded his mind. Having mastered nearly a quarter of the high school runes, he was no longer an idiot in this field.

“Runes are routes for energy flow and also energy formulas. The secret techniques of divine body cultivation are derived from runes.”

Chen Meng gained a sudden insight: the name ‘rune’—though translated from ancient language—was apt, as the energy flow resembled a mysterious, cryptic symbol.

“But it’s far from enough. I need to work harder and find ways to get more money.” Chen Meng recalled the tier-five prehistoric lifeform, the Dragonrock Lion, he’d seen at the Science Pavilion—a Lion with only one head still living well. The shock overturned his understanding of divine body life.

If tier-five divine body lifeforms were already like that, what about tier six, seven, or even nine?

He could hardly imagine.

“I want to become a divine body lifeform like that.”

Chen Meng silently resolved, feeling more motivated than ever.

He opened his phone, found his relatives’ group, selected a few ‘fat sheep,’ and sent messages. Since his grades were poor and everyone knew it, whatever he sent wouldn’t surprise them.

“Second Uncle, lend me some money! I’m dating a girlfriend and really need cash! Oh, and don’t tell my parents or they’ll kill me.”

“Big Aunt, I’m dating a girlfriend—please support me! And keep it a secret!”

“Cousin, can you lend me some money? It’s urgent!”

…

He sent over a dozen messages. The reasons varied, some without explanation, but Chen Meng was confident he’d get some money.

He believed in casting a wide net—there’d be a catch.

After a while, replies came in. Chen Meng sweet-talked them and finally managed to collect nearly ten thousand.

“Heh, having relatives is great!”

Chen Meng didn’t care about anything else now. With only three months left, if he couldn’t flip through the High School Runes, Alchemy, and Forging books, most of his life would be over.

As for the consequences of borrowing money, once he got into a top university, it wouldn’t matter.

Just then, another message arrived.

“What trouble have you gotten into?”

“Cousin?” Chen Meng checked the remark—it was Zhang Yi, who was studying at Jiangdu University. “It’s like this, cousin. I’m dating a girlfriend…”

“Did you cause a disaster?” came the reply. “Just say how much you need.”

“Twenty thousand—or ten thousand!” Chen Meng knew his cousin misunderstood, but it didn’t matter. He just needed money.

“I’ve transferred it. Study hard, don’t mess around. Try to get into a good university. When you’re in college, you’ll understand how important learning is.” Zhang Yi said, and then there was silence.

“This cousin is pretty cool, even told me to study hard.” Chen Meng checked his phone balance—there was indeed an extra twenty thousand. “Cousin, rich and generous!”

He thought for a moment and changed Zhang Yi’s nickname to ‘Wealthy Cousin.’

…

Early the next morning, Chen Meng got up to greet another beautiful day.

With a balance of twenty-nine thousand five hundred, he saw hope—the top university was within reach.

But how to spend the money again? Such a headache!