Book 3, Chapter 6: Trade

After listening through the suggestions, Chen Chuan noticed the final and most important line in Hongfu’s analysis.

He had a 35% chance of reaching the Third Limit.

He mulled over it. He was the third of the way there. The odds didn’t seem low, but they weren’t high either.

It was the conclusion Hongfu got based on the abilities he showed and not knowing that he had the Furnace Breathing Technique, though. With that and his damage-absorbing second self, Chen Chuan was sure that his chances were higher.

Still, he wasn’t going to ignore her suggestions. If there were ways to improve, he wasn’t going to miss them.

“Light-assisted training, huh?”

This was yet another thing he hadn’t heard before, so he looked into it and soon found his answers.

The light was known as Radiant Light, and it was bioluminescence emitted from a special group of living organisms, a unique deep-sea fish that lived in Central City. This training, of course, was paid as well. Even the cheapest version was at four digits an hour. It was really expensive.

He couldn’t capture any fish by himself either. They weren’t gregarious animals and only gathered together to emit the light necessary for the training when fed with medicine and kept in specialized aquaculture environments. Normal people were unable to create that sort of environment.

The prices he saw were just the tip of the iceberg. Since there was a limited amount of places available, even if Chen Chuan had the money, he would have to queue up for it with no guarantee he’d ever get through.

Sensing that he wouldn’t be able to go for this training for the time being, Chen Chuan decided to set it aside for now and think about it in the future.

The entrance exam showed up to be quite valuable. The suggestions Hongfu gave were highly targeted, letting him know where his weaknesses were and what he should work on.

If he didn’t follow the suggestions and conducted his own training...

He searched for the available courses, and the portal immediately showed him a packed list of recommended courses. Each subject was highly specialized, with each mutated organ having its own corresponding training method.

Whenever he checked a course, he received a notification telling him the number of days it would take to finish the course with his current level as a base. It also told him the medicine he would need to use, along with what sort of effect he was likely to achieve at the end, making everything clear at a glance.

Since the estimates were made based on a lot of data, they were slightly better than the judgment lecturers made based on their experience.

That didn’t mean that the lecturers were useless. After all, when it came to the training itself, the evaluations couldn’t replace in-person teaching. The deep understanding and mastery over a technique was something only those who had truly practiced it would get.

However, the training methods available didn’t suit Chen Chuan, because all of them focused on developing mutated tissue in another area of the body with the mutated tissue in the main area serving as the foundation. Chen Chuan practiced the All-Encompassing Force, whose focus was on developing mutated tissue all over the body and which placed emphasis on having the mutated tissue act as one unified whole.

As he scrolled to the bottom, he found that the university also provided consultation services and suggestions to external martial artists, such as providing a few fixed learning models for them. Each step required, the details, and the medicine dosage were all stated clearly.

The martial artists would then only need to follow the instructions to train. As long as they weren’t terrible, they wouldn’t end up amazing, but they wouldn’t be awful either.

At this point, Chen Chuan noticed the portal talking about things to note when training transplanted mutated tissue.

His gaze became fixed on it, and he quickly tapped on that option to read up on it.

Transplanted mutated tissue meant getting another martial artist’s mutated tissue transplanted into one’s own body in order to achieve full-body coverage of mutated tissue

While it wouldn’t be as strong as the mutated tissue grown within the body and would have negative side effects, this operation could make up for some weaknesses.

At the end, it was stated that transplanting mutated tissue could only be performed with the permission of the law. Privately transplanting mutated tissue was a violation of government and corporate regulations.

Chen Chuan shook his head at that. While there were strict regulations over this, having this surgery available in the first place was already a problem.

After swiping the page away, he reached the last important item of his research of the day—medicine. It was what concerned Chen Chuan the most.

As he read through the list, he found that each medicine had a price tag, and none of them were free. It seemed like the main campus didn’t provide anything free, unlike Yangzhi City, where students received a limited amount each semester. Even though the prices didn’t seem that high, he was going to need a large amount of medicine, so he was going to have to spend a lot of money in this area.

Chen Chuan pondered over this. He wasn’t naturally gifted, so he needed a lot more medicine than the average person. Even if he had the money to pay for them, his purchase record being on the platform was going to be an issue.

According to the university rules, the students weren’t allowed to sell medicine to outsiders for profit, and those who broke the rule got expelled. If he needed to buy medicine at quantities much higher than the average, he was going to need an explanation for it.

The main campus was absolutely going to check on him, and that would be problematic. He didn’t want his real condition to be exposed.

Just then, he received a message.

[Your browsing history indicates a preference for lower-priced medicines. If your balance is insufficient, loan services are available. Please check the following options—]

Chen Chuan shook his head and deleted the message without hesitation.

But he was going to need to think of something to solve his medicine conundrum...

If he got his medicine through official channels, it would leave traces, and he couldn’t do that.

However, Central City’s government stated that the private act of buying and selling medicine was forbidden.

If it was forbidden, there was bound to be a market for it. The government couldn’t completely ban it. If they did, the rule would serve no purpose. That was why Chen Chuan considered getting his medicine through there. While the price was definitely not going to be the same, at least his purchases wouldn’t be tracked.

Chen Chuan thought about the feasibility of it. While he had saved up some money, it wouldn’t last long if he was going to use it like that. He had to think of something.

And he did have an option—taking up supernatural-related missions.

If the supernatural existed in Central City, he could capture a supernatural being with a ritual and use it as his “training resource.”

At that thought, he began searching for urban legends in Central City. There were no blatant statements that supernatural beings were behind certain situations, but Chen Chuan soon noticed several suspicious events, along with missions related to them.

But when he wanted to look into it further, he saw a message showing that this was a specialized field, and he would only be able to read up on these missions if he was an agent or belonged to an agent company.

Chen Chuan checked. As a Martial Valor University student, he only needed to pay a certain amount of money to register as an agent. However, for every mission, he would need to have to interact with the client, obey all sorts of rules, and communicate with the Tax Department. As an independent agent, he would need a lawyer to take care of these things for him.

Of course, he could also join an agent company. They would take care of these troublesome things, so he could focus on his missions. However, if he wasn’t a high-ranking agent, the company would take most of his earnings, and he would be basically working as their employee.

Chen Chuan thought about Gao Ming. His cousin had said that he was going to come to Central City later. He should ask him about it.

So, he picked up the phone and called Gao Ming.

The call went through quickly, and he said, “Gao Ming, is that you? It’s Chen Chuan. I’m already at the main campus. How are things going for you?”

Gao Ming’s light chuckle entered his ear. “I told you that my true value will only show after you go to Central City, didn’t I? I’ve already received an invitation to work at a law firm in Central City, and I’ll be joining them as an independent lawyer. Once I’ve sorted out the paperwork, I’ll be going there.”

Chen Chuan was happy for his cousin when he heard this. “That’s great. I need your help with something.”

“Give me the details so that I can prepare, then,” Gao Ming said.

Chen Chuan told him what he read just now. Of course, he didn’t tell his cousin that he wanted to mainly take up supernatural-related missions, just that he wanted to get money.

Gao Ming fell into contemplative silence for a moment. “I’ve read up on how to take up missions in Central City a while ago. By the time I’ve sorted out the paperwork and gone to Central City, it might already be February. If you’re in a hurry, you might be able to get through this via another method before I get there.”

“What is it?”

“Since there’s no distinction between supernatural-related missions and other missions, you’ll have to find a trustworthy agent, or one you can control. Work with him in private. He takes up those missions, while you do them. You will then split up the reward. This will be beneficial for him too,” Gao Ming said.

Chen Chuan immediately understood what Gao Ming was trying to say. Some agents definitely had channels to take up private work without going through their company. If he joined hands with someone like that, he could avoid all the problems.

Of course, that was if he wasn’t worried about getting taken advantage of.

Still, Chen Chuan did have one candidate in mind. So, he thanked his cousin, “Thanks, Gao Ming.”

“No problem. Just call if you run into any trouble.”

After the conversation, Chen Chuan put down the phone receiver and began planning.

***

Qi Gao entered an area filled with ruined buildings. It looked like it was forgotten by the city itself with vines covering the broken walls. The roads were filled with water-covered pits, road barriers were toppled over, dense vegetation pervaded the area, and broken-down cars were everywhere.

This was no illusion.

It was the Skeleton Gang’s territory. They refused to use Yin-Yang Devices and cultivated a large amount of mutated algae that could effectively disrupt the biofield here, thereby interfering with the Fu-Mu Entity’s judgment of the place.

Many of such places existed in Central City, though they varied in terms of size. They were like holes that punctured the membrane formed by the Fu-Mu Entity. These places couldn’t be monitored or controlled, but the authorities of Central City had decided that unless something special happened, they weren’t going to waste any resources to do anything to them.

Qi Gao didn’t dare to travel deep into the area and stopped soon after driving inside. He then got out and pressed down on the car horn.

A few moments later, someone landed on the roof of an abandoned car and squatted there. He wore a jacket that was made of feathers and a skeleton mask. His exposed skin was pale and shriveled, as if it had been a long time since he was exposed to the sun.

When Qi Gao looked over, he saw other people with skeleton masks in the ruined buildings and crawling out of the sewer. Some had already trained their crossbows and guns at him.

Qi Gao reigned in his nervousness and slowly took out a metal disk from his SUV before lifting it up high in the air. “I brought you what you wanted.”

He opened the disk, revealing fragments inside. Among them were red threads that shone with a faint light.

If Chen Chuan were present, he would have found them similar to the shattered tiles Ren Xiaotian had retrieved from Smoked Hills during their first mission together.

“It’s fresh.”

The Skeleton Gang member who first landed licked his lips and said, “Pay him.”

Someone immediately jumped down on the SUV’s roof, and Qi Gao winced.

He grabbed the metal disk from Qi Gao’s hands, inspected it, and threw him a metal can. Qi Gao hurriedly grabbed it and found that it was stuffed full of cash. Just as quickly, he shut the can and put it in his SUV.

“As usual, if you find more of that stuff, you can trade it with us. We’ll take however much you can find.”

Qi Gao nodded.

Once the Skeleton Gang member finished speaking, he jumped off the car, and the others also went back into their hiding places. Silence returned to the area, as if there was never anyone nearby.

Qi Gao sighed in relief and returned to the SUV, then reversed out of the place. Once he was on the main road, sunlight shone on his SUV again. As he gave a quick glance at the can of cash, he grinned.

Right then, a red light suddenly appeared ahead of him, along with a warning, “Driver of the SUV ahead, you were detected entering an abandoned area earlier and are suspected of carrying an unknown virus. Pull over immediately for inspection and disinfection.”

Qi Gao’s grin froze.