Yan Pingsheng's roommates were all astonished by his transformation, with An Dafu expressing particularly intense envy.
“Your arms got this thick in just half a month? Are you eating precious meat like it's regular food? My family can only afford to feed me a meal of it once a week.”
“Holy crap, Pingsheng, you're already as tall as me now! And how did you end up looking so much more handsome? Is this 'precious meat' stuff really that effective? I should buy some to try one of these days.”
“The cheapest precious meat costs over ten taels of silver,” An Dafu muttered quietly.
“What? How much?!”
The apple in Zhang Tie's hand almost dropped to the ground. “No way, Pingsheng, does your family own a gold mine? How can they afford to let you eat like this every day?!”
Zhuang Xun chuckled and brushed it off, claiming it was all the result of his own hard work, which naturally earned him eye-rolls from An Dafu and Zhang Tie.
However, this conversation set off alarm bells in his head.
After all, if even An Dafu could tell that Yan Pingsheng's changes were due to eating precious meat daily, others certainly would too. The amount of silver required for this was no small sum, and someone might harbor malicious designs and target him.
“It's fine in the short term. Yan Pingsheng's father is a famous hunter, so it's understandable for him to have some savings.”
“But over the long run... Wait, what am I afraid of? Once I drop the name of my main account, Bai Yujing, who would dare to target me?”
Zhuang Xun felt that because he had lived at the bottom of society for too long, his mindset hadn't fully adjusted yet.
Now that he had the status of the Chief Disciple of the Wanxing Martial Academy, he could afford to be much bolder in his actions.
“But I need to fabricate a relationship between my two clones. Otherwise, if there's no connection at all, people won't necessarily believe Yan Pingsheng if he brings up Bai Yujing's name when he gets into trouble.”
“Childhood friends? Hmm... that works well.”
“Even though I don't have to worry about being targeted, Yan Pingsheng should still eat less precious meat in the future. Otherwise, becoming a glutton will affect his health. His current physique is perfect—high defense, explosive power, and decent speed.”
“From now on, Yan Pingsheng will only eat precious meat once every three days.”
Zhuang Xun thought to himself as he walked into the lecture hall.
Suddenly, he overheard some people in the front row talking about going up the mountain to hunt during their day off. As he passed by, he kindly offered a word of warning: “You guys are going up the mountain on your day off? I heard that the northern mountain hasn't been safe lately. There are bandits roaming around.”
The four who had been chatting happily fell silent for a brief moment.
“Huh? There are bandits on the northern mountain?!”
One of them suddenly cried out in alarm.
“Thank goodness! It's a relief you warned us, Brother Yan. Otherwise, the four of us would have been in danger going up tomorrow.” A second person patted his chest with lingering fear, standing up to thank Yan Pingsheng.
The person whose conversation had been interrupted, however, smiled and waved his hand dismissively. “That happened ages ago. The bandits already finished looting and went back to the southern mountain.”
“Brother Yan, when did you hear this news?” He tilted his head toward Yan Pingsheng.
“It seems to have been a month ago,” Zhuang Xun said, then walked away.
In any case, he had already given his warning. Whether they listened or not was their own business. If they still insisted on going, he wouldn't stop them. As a saying from the internet in his previous life went—respect individual destiny.
“See?”
Zeng Yingcai clapped his hands and looked at his three roommates with an “I told you so” expression.
“The bandit issue was from a month ago. The mountain is perfectly safe now. I heard that many people have recently dug up rare precious herbs on the mountain and sold them for a handsome price!”
“Let's go up the mountain tomorrow and search too. As long as we dig up one or two stalks, we won't have to worry about the resources needed to become a Martial Artist!”
The person who had thanked Yan Pingsheng earlier said, “Wencai, I don't think going up the mountain tomorrow is safe. What if those bandits from the southern mountain make a sudden comeback?”
“We should still wait and see if the mountain is truly safe before we...”
“By then, all the opportunities on the mountain will have been snatched up by others!” Zeng Yingcai clicked his tongue impatiently. “I already told you the mountain is safe, so what are you so afraid of? A sudden comeback? How could bandits dare to show their faces so frequently?”
“I just think there's nothing wrong with being cautious. Bandits are a cunning bunch, so perhaps...”
“Sigh, you're such a blockhead, there's just no reasoning with you. It won't happen. How could there be so many dangers in the world waiting for you to run into?”
The two of them began to argue over this. The other two roommates eventually joined the debate as well, and their words clearly indicated they did not support going up the mountain either.
“Seriously, why are you all so spineless? An outdated piece of news from an outsider scares you into this pathetic state, to the point where you don't even dare to go up the mountain?”
Seeing the three of them remain silent, Zeng Yingcai grew even more irritated. “Hmph, I am truly ashamed to be associated with you! Just wait until you see me return from the mountain with my pockets overflowing with wealth. You'll regret this, and even if you beg me then, I won't bring you along!”
With that, he walked toward the back row, unwilling to sit with them.
In the evening, Zhang Tie also brought up the matter of someone making a fortune on the mountain while they were in their dormitory.
“It's said that someone dug up a precious herb that was several decades old. A manager from the Zhou family bought it on the spot, earning them a whopping thousand taels of silver!”
Lying in bed, Zhuang Xun put down the storybook in his hand and glanced at Zhang Tie, who was spitting spit as he spoke. The more Zhuang Xun thought about it, the more he felt something was off.
Why is everyone talking about this today... Hiss, could someone be fishing?
Zhuang Xun instantly grew alert, deciding he wouldn't go anywhere on this day off.
It just so happened that the weaving of Bai Yujing's flesh-and-skin neural network was almost complete, and he was on the verge of breaking through to the Seventh Rank. He would simply stay in the academy and cultivate quietly.
He remembered the Principal saying that once he reached the Seventh Rank, he would be taught a weapon technique.
Soaking his feet, An Dafu chimed in casually, “This news must be fake. How could a precious herb several decades old sell for so cheap? It should go for at least tens of thousands of taels of silver.”
Zhang Tie retorted, “How could a single herb sell for tens of thousands of taels? Your version is the one that sounds fake.”
“Hey, are you guys interested? Let's go up the northern mountain tomorrow to try our luck too.”
Li Zigeng said, “Um, our manager warned us a few days ago that the mountain is dangerous and told us not to go up there lately.”
Zhang Tie said, “Ah, Zigeng, don't believe him. None of those wealthy folks have good intentions. They just don't want you guys to earn money and escape their control.”
“Pingsheng, are you going? I really feel like we can dig up some precious herbs if we go up tomorrow!”
Zhuang Xun shook his head. “I'm not going. The mountain hasn't been safe lately. I heard a while ago that bandits appeared on the northern mountain.”
“Huh? So there really is danger on the mountain?” Zhang Tie was surprised.
Wait, so everything Zigeng and I just said to you was a complete waste of breath? An Dafu complained inwardly.
It really was.
Because in Zhang Tie's mind, An Dafu and Li Zigeng were on the same level as him, perhaps even slightly below him, so there was no way they could know more than he did.
Yan Pingsheng, however, was different. Not only did he possess formidable talent and a mysterious background, but most importantly, he lacked the annoying habits common among wealthy young masters when dealing with others. His words were absolutely trustworthy.
Zhang Tie sighed in disappointment. “Ah, I really thought we could make a fortune by going up the mountain. I didn't expect it to be fake.”
Any path to wealth that even people like us can easily find out about is bound to have issues if you think about it... Zhuang Xun recalled his green, naive self when he had first crossed over two years ago.
Back then, he had also listened to some rumors, fantasizing about making a fortune, and eagerly rushed up the mountain. In the end, he woke up only to find that his teammates had sold him into a mine.
Sigh, that's how my heart was darkened by this world, step by step.
Rate on N.U.
