Chapter 291: Underground Magic Power Trading
“Transfer funds?” Zhang Yu asked, curious. “Is that a thing?”
Yu Xinghan sneered. “The old fox really charges different prices for everyone.”
With that thought, he used his Bionic Eye to contact Li Xuelian.
Yu Xinghan: “Senior Sister, I need to talk to you about something…”
Li Xuelian: “I know. What do you want to do?”
Yu Xinghan: “He’s still my teacher, so I don’t mind giving him some Spirit Coins as a token of respect. But his price is outrageous. I’m only willing to pay him 0.1 Spirit Coin as a referral fee.”
Yu Xinghan: “Master has a student who works security at a construction site, right? Could you ask about his channels for acquiring magic power?”
Li Xuelian: “Ever since Dad’s incident, all his students have been avoiding him like the plague. I doubt they can help you.”
Yu Xinghan: “It’s just a question. Teacher Tu is taking advantage of us newcomers who don’t know the market. If we can find better priced channels, it shouldn’t be hard to negotiate him down.”
After discussing the matter with Yu Xinghan, Li Xuelian asked, “The three-month basic course is over. What are your current rankings?”
Hearing their scores, Li Xuelian smiled with satisfaction. “Your results are quite good,” she replied. “I’ve found a friend who can help you improve your magic power quality.”
Yu Xinghan’s heart stirred. “Not through the platform?”
Li Xuelian: “Underground transactions.”
After hearing Li Xuelian’s news, Yu Xinghan immediately informed Zhang Yu, who was standing nearby.
Zhang Yu knew that transactions conducted through the Magic Power Platform were legitimate and compliant with regulations. Every strand of magic power was inspected and guaranteed by the platform, but the service fees were substantial.
Private transactions, on the other hand, bypassed these fees but lacked any guarantees. They risked magic power scams, such as low-quality magic power being passed off as high-quality, or magic power that was indeed higher quality than usual but not as high as claimed.
Moreover, underground magic power transactions violated school rules. Students caught engaging in such activities faced fines and deductions from their Comprehensive Points, leading to a drop in their rankings.
Zhang Yu had once considered seeking private transactions himself, but his lack of connections on the Second Layer meant he couldn’t find a trustworthy trading partner. In the end, he abandoned the idea.
Hearing Li Xuelian’s introduction, he immediately nodded and said, “It’s worth a try.”
Zhang Yu thought to himself, “It’s not just Le Mulan’s Dao Seed that needs my help with higher quality magic power.”
“Improving the quality of my magic power will also enhance the effectiveness of many of my cultivation arts and accelerate my cultivation progress.”
Following Li Xuelian’s guidance, they arrived at a deserted street on the 85th floor of Myriad Laws University City.
Yu Xinghan asked, “Is this the mortal district? Why isn’t there a single mortal in sight?”
Zhang Yu shook his head, gazing at the empty street. Although he often came to the 85th floor to practice cultivation arts, he had never seen a single mortal on these streets.
The mortals here seemed to remain perpetually indoors, never needing to come or go.
The streets below the 100th floor were always eerily deserted, devoid of any human presence.
Zhang Yu mused, “With no one on the streets and a lack of surveillance, this area below the 100th floor should be perfect for underground transactions.”
“But given Myriad Laws University’s capabilities, monitoring this area shouldn’t be difficult. Why…”
A moment later, Li Xuelian appeared before them, saying, “It’s me.”
“Since this is your first transaction, I’ll guide you through it.”
Li Xuelian led them to the agreed-upon location, where a dark figure materialized before them.
The figure was completely shrouded in a black mist, concealing their appearance entirely.
Zhang Yu and Yu Xinghan were similarly disguised. Under True Person Starfire’s guidance, they had diligently practiced techniques to manipulate their muscles and alter their appearances. One had transformed into Gongshu Jin, while the other had become Ji Yuanshu.
Li Xuelian, for her part, had assumed the form of an unfamiliar man, leaving no trace of her original self.
As Li Xuelian exchanged code phrases with the figure, Zhang Yu activated his Detection Ritual to scan for hidden cameras.
After the exchange, the figure nodded slightly. “My rules: payment first, magic power afterward.”
Yu Xinghan asked, “How many Spirit Coins for 100 units of magic power?”
The figure scoffed. “Minimum sale is 10,000 units.”
Yu Xinghan frowned. “We can’t handle that much at once. And do you even have 10,000 units of magic power?”
The other party seemed accustomed to this, replying casually, “Of course, we can trade in batches. I can transfer 100 or 200 units at a time…”
After further negotiation, they agreed on a price of 1 Spirit Coin for 10,000 units of magic power.
Zhang Yu thought to himself, “As expected, much cheaper than the platform price.”
Li Xuelian then said, “I want to verify the quality.”
The other party, unfazed, channeled a stream of magic power into Li Xuelian’s palm.
Li Xuelian’s eyes lit up. “Such pure magic power!”
“175% magic power quality,” the other party said with a smile. “I only deal in top-grade goods. You’ll understand once you use it.”
Li Xuelian nodded to Zhang Yu and Yu Xinghan, signaling that everything was fine, and sent a message: “Transfer the Spirit Coins to me. I’ll handle the transaction to minimize your risk of exposure.”
Though somewhat apprehensive about handing over the Spirit Coins all at once, Zhang Yu and Yu Xinghan trusted Li Xuelian’s repeated assurances and transferred 0.5 Spirit Coins each, totaling 1 Spirit Coin. Following the other party’s instructions, Li Xuelian then used the 1 Spirit Coin to purchase several books from the secondhand market.
Under Li Xuelian’s watchful gaze, the other party extended both hands, placing one on Zhang Yu and the other on Yu Xinghan.
In the next instant, Zhang Yu felt an incredibly dense yet utterly non-aggressive surge of high-quality magic power flood into his body. Under the other party’s precise control, it remained perfectly still and silent.
Zhang Yu immediately circulated his own magic power, channeling it to clash against this foreign energy.
With each collision, he could sense his own magic power growing more resilient. Simultaneously, small amounts of the high-quality magic power gradually mixed with his own. Though quickly diluted and dissipated, the remaining traces left Zhang Yu’s magic power feeling noticeably more refined.
Before long, the foreign magic power had completely dissipated.
Sensing the changes in his own magic power, Zhang Yu thought to himself, “If I could receive this kind of high-quality magic power infusion from an expert every day, my magic power quality would undoubtedly improve by leaps and bounds.”
Zhang Yu desperately wished he could enjoy this service constantly, but he knew how often he could afford it depended not on his desires, but on his account balance.
Checking his account, he realized that in the three months since starting university, he had received only 2.5 Spirit Coins from a scholarship and 5 Spirit Coins from Bai Zhenzhen. He had no other income whatsoever.
Despite his daily frugality, after accounting for monthly rent, internet fees, communication costs, transportation, food expenses, the cost of cultivation arts, and the 0.5 Spirit Coins he had just spent on high-quality magic power, Zhang Yu now had just over 11.4 Spirit Coins remaining.
“I need to save at least 7 or 8 Spirit Coins to purchase the Civil Engineering Sacred Body and Qi Meridian Everflow cultivation arts.”
“And that’s not even counting daily expenses…”
Zhang Yu sighed inwardly. After discussing it with Yu Xinghan, they decided to each pay 0.5 Spirit Coins per month to purchase 10,000 units of magic power from the other party, with daily infusions.
Zhang Yu figured his current progress was decent enough, so a slower improvement in magic power quality was acceptable.
The seller countered, “Only 333 units of magic power infused daily between the two of you? That’s just a 2-3% improvement in magic power quality per month.”
“And as your magic power quality increases, the effect will diminish, requiring even larger infusions.”
“With your potential, you could easily handle multiple infusions daily. I recommend 5 Spirit Coins per month to significantly accelerate your magic power quality improvement.”
Rejecting the hard sell, Zhang Yu and Yu Xinghan accepted the seller’s remaining magic power for the day and returned to their dormitory, intending to circulate their energy and slowly assimilate it.
But before entering the dormitory, Yu Xinghan said, “You go back first. I have something to take care of.”
Zhang Yu gave him a puzzled look. “If you’re not going back to digest the energy, where are you going?”
Yu Xinghan snapped impatiently, “None of your business.”
He shot off like lightning, his mind racing with images of Li Xuelian’s transformation earlier that day. His powerful body felt increasingly hot as his vital energy surged, and his thoughts grew restless.
Yu Xinghan muttered to himself, “Senior Sister… it’s only been a while since I last saw her, but she feels more and more…”
“I can’t take it anymore. I need to release this energy. I can’t even meditate properly like this.”
A pang of shame struck him.
“This is unpaid overtime, for crying out loud!”
Sometimes he wanted to kneel and beg himself to stop working for free, but even on his knees, the urge persisted.
Shortly after Zhang Yu and Yu Xinghan left, the figure in the black mist turned to Li Xuelian. “Gang Leader, shouldn’t we offer your friends a discount?”
Li Xuelian replied coolly, “If we give them a discount once, will we have to give them discounts forever?”
“Let’s go. Time to get to work.”
With a flash, the two figures shot down toward the lower floors of University City.
The next day arrived.
It was the first official day of classes in September.
Zhang Yu glanced at his schedule and noticed that the three foundational courses — Dao Heart, Magic Power, and Body Refinement — remained largely unchanged, though the number of sessions had been slightly reduced.
In contrast, the number of specialized courses had significantly increased, with many new modules focused on construction and testing. These courses aimed to train students to effectively apply the civil engineering skills they had acquired over the past three months.
During today’s construction class, Zhang Yu demonstrated the basic-grade cultivation art Concrete Gang Qi, using his qi to manipulate mud and pour large quantities of concrete into target locations several meters away.