Chapter 212: Zhang Yu's Plentiful Harvest

Chapter 212: Zhang Yu’s Bountiful Harvest

Watching Zhang Yu’s air of treating money like dirt, Zhou Chechen knew that this fellow’s appetite this time must be enormous.

“Father and uncle will certainly bleed a fair amount to satisfy that sixth-rank true god.”

“But as for the parties directly involved here, Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen… they too need to be appeased.”

Though Zhou Chechen had anticipated this, the thought that he now had to apologize and admit fault to the likes of Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen, and also part with his own flesh, made a stifled anger churn within him.

He never imagined that a year ago, these two paupers, mere ants in his eyes whom he could press down and force into contracts with a flick of his hand, would have grown to such heights in less than a year.

“Is this the power of having a sixth-rank true god backing you?”

Zhou Chechen suddenly recalled some secret tales his father had mentioned—how among the truly wealthy above, their meticulously bred bloodline descendants, at the very moment of birth, already held shares and became company shareholders, born as believers of faith level five.

He sighed inwardly: “In this world, what matters in the end is background. The Zhou family is still too weak.”

Zhou Chechen shook his head slightly, forcing away the distracting thoughts and resentment, and continued speaking to Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen in a gentle tone: “I know that no amount of money can truly heal the wounds you two have suffered this time.”

“I’m willing to give each of you 500,000, as a token of my feelings…”

Zhang Yu waved a hand and said, “I told you, this isn’t about money.”

Bai Zhenzhen added coldly, “Do you think money lets you do whatever you want, even break the law?”

Zhou Chechen wanted to slam the table and shout, “And what if it does?”

But thinking of the losses the company was suffering every second due to the lockdown and shutdown, recalling his father’s earnest instructions, and remembering the family resources he had consumed since childhood… Zhou Chechen’s stiff neck finally gave way.

He bowed again and said, “I’m sorry, both of you. I really didn’t mean to imply that money could buy you off.”

“This 500,000—no, I’ll give each of you one million—is merely to express my apology. I don’t need any response from you.”

Having said this, Zhou Chechen, feeling utterly humiliated, suddenly kicked Yue Jincheng hard in the chest and said coldly, “Take a good look at the trouble your madness has caused Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen.”

“Give me both your phones.”

Hearing this, Yue Jincheng and Si Zhouyu’s faces twitched as they reluctantly handed over their phones.

Zhou Chechen took the two phones and said, “Today, I’ll make the call. They’ll each compensate you with another 500,000 as an apology.”

Yue Jincheng and Si Zhouyu’s expressions stiffened, feeling their hearts bleed.

Si Zhouyu shot Yue Jincheng a look full of resentment, regretting more than ever that he hadn’t stopped him back then.

Zhang Yu’s heart stirred. Zhou Chechen’s one million, plus the 500,000 from those two, meant he and Bai Zhenzhen would each receive 1.5 million—three million in total.

Though he was already anticipating how to use this cash windfall, Zhang Yu’s face remained impassive as he stared coldly at Zhou Chechen, as if utterly uninterested in the 1.5 million.

Zhou Chechen continued, “I know I’ve cost you both a lot of training time. Once I’m back at school, I’ll find a way to make it up to you immediately…”

According to Zhou Chechen’s proposal, Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen would not have to follow any school discipline and could arrange their class schedules freely.

Not only could they come and go as they pleased from general courses like math and Chinese, but they could also skip martial arts, physical education, Dao arts, and mana classes altogether. Zhang Yu’s after-school Dao arts tutoring would be canceled outright…

In addition, all school welfare benefits would be prioritized for them.

For example, they would receive three doses of the potion given in PE class every day, they could borrow the school’s spirit roots for free for 100 hours each month, they could request any martial arts teacher to provide free sparring sessions for a set time, and they would also qualify for the school’s spirit realm training…

Though she knew Zhou Chechen was using school resources to offer perks, Bai Zhenzhen’s heart still stirred at the thought of one-on-one training with martial arts teachers.

She thought to herself: “If I can spar daily with those Qi Refining peak martial arts teachers before fighting Yun Jing, it will definitely boost my combat ability.”

Zhang Yu, too, couldn’t help raising an eyebrow at the mention of free spirit root borrowing for 100 hours a month and the spirit realm training qualification.

For Zhang Yu, who had no spirit root of his own, any extra spirit root support was always welcome.

And the spirit realm training was exactly what he needed now, given his lagging Dao heart.

Especially since these things were offered for free, they were even more tempting to Zhang Yu, who was currently dirt poor.

Zhang Yu said flatly, “Are you sure all of this is free until I graduate?”

Faced with Zhang Yu’s skepticism, Zhou Chechen naturally swore on his chest that these resources, though expensive to outsiders, were merely a matter of allocating existing resources for the school itself.

Since Songyang High School was a school under the Wanxing Group, Zhou Chechen, with the backing of the Zhou family, could certainly interfere in resource allocation.

He thought to himself: “Anyway, the idle spirit roots are just sitting there. I’ll just lend them both for free.”

“As for the spirit realm, I’ll have to reluctantly give up my and Lan Ling’s spots.”

“The teacher part is simple—just schedule more sessions for guiding Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen.”

Zhang Yu said, “Your word alone isn’t enough. Let’s sign a contract.”

Zhou Chechen was momentarily stunned. He never thought that while he had once failed to force Zhang Yu into a contract, now he would be the one forced to sign one by Zhang Yu.

He forced a smile and said, “No problem.”

Just then, Fuji reminded him, “Haven’t you been wanting to learn more techniques? Make him hand over all the techniques that Songyang High School has the teaching rights to.”

Zhang Yu’s eyes lit up, and he quickly made this request.

He knew that Songyang High School had many expert-level techniques that were only taught to outstanding students in the second half of sophomore year or in junior year.

Not only could these expert-level techniques enhance his strength, but he also remembered that when he studied the basic techniques, he had glanced at other copyrighted techniques the school held, some of which could be used to light up chain diagrams and form set effects.

Zhang Yu thought to himself: “I remember one of them can be used to form the Martial Saint Embryo, and another to form the Dragon Bloodline.”

Zhou Chechen nodded and said, “No problem. Whether it’s freshman, sophomore, or junior year technique materials, you can learn whatever you want.”

Fuji reminded again, “You need to specify which spirit roots. You and Bai Zhenzhen won’t need much time before your mana and physique reach Qi Refining peak. Many spirit roots will become useless to you.”

“Especially if he fobs you off with low-level spirit roots, they’ll be completely useless.”

Hearing Zhang Yu’s repeated demands, Zhou Chechen reluctantly listed all the school’s heaven-grade spirit roots for Zhang Yu to choose from, then wrote them into the contract.

Zhou Chechen introduced, “The most famous, useful, and valuable one at Songyang High School is, of course, the Primordial Yang Spirit Root.”

“The Primordial Yang Spirit Root can refine the primordial yang essence within a virgin male’s body into mana, greatly enhancing mana efficiency…”

Hearing about mana enhancement, Zhang Yu lost interest, since his mana was already close to 100 points.

Especially when he recalled that this so-called Primordial Yang Spirit Root had been passed down at Songyang High School for nearly twenty years, handled by generations of seniors, and tainted by the primordial yang essence of thousands of students.

The remaining heaven-grade spirit roots also focused mainly on enhancing mana and physical strength. Zhang Yu looked them over and wasn’t satisfied. “Is that all?”

Zhou Chechen gritted his teeth and had to say, “My family also has some heaven-grade spirit roots usually rented out to clan members. See if any interest you.”

“Of course, also free for 100 hours per month.”

Looking at the new list Zhou Chechen provided, Zhang Yu’s eyes lit up, finding many rare spirit roots.

Zhang Yu: “What’s this Death Spirit Root for?”

Zhou Chechen replied, “It can absorb the death qi from corpses. It’s specifically used to cultivate our Zhou family’s hereditary techniques. To make full use of the Death Spirit Root, you’d best have a large stock of corpse assets, the older the better.”

Zhang Yu asked again, “And this Winter Spirit Root?”

Zhou Chechen answered, “It can absorb freezing energy and alter the nature of your mana. It needs to be used with a low-temperature cryo-chamber.”

Zhang Yu went through all the heaven-grade spirit roots one by one and finally settled on…

“This Resentment Spirit Root is quite interesting.”

Zhang Yu chose the Resentment Spirit Root for a reason. He clearly remembered that among the techniques needed to form the ‘Martial Saint Embryo,’ there was a relatively cheap expert-level Resentment Fiend Technique, costing only 500,000.

The reason it was cheaper than the other techniques in the Martial Saint Embryo was that this technique required refining resentment energy to temper the body.

Because the training threshold was high, fewer and fewer people practiced it, and the technique’s price had been dropping ever since.

Zhou Chechen said, "This Resentment Root is a spiritual root that extracts the resentment of the dead; ordinary cultivators find it useless."

Fuji said, "Heh, this young man is feeling stingy. This Resentment Root isn't only for extracting the resentment of the dead—he's tricking you."

Zhang Yu glanced at Zhou Chechen and said flatly, "As I recall, the Resentment Root can also refine the resentment of the living?"

"Speaking of which, how could the resentment of the dead compare to that of the living?"

"Especially in high schools and companies—aren't those among the places with the most resentment in the world?"

Zhou Chechen hadn't expected Zhang Yu to be knowledgeable about the Resentment Root. He nodded helplessly and said, "If you hadn't mentioned it, I would have forgotten."

"But if you want to refine resentment at school, there will be a fee."

"Huh?" Zhang Yu exclaimed in surprise, "Even this requires a fee?"

Zhou Chechen reminded him, "You may have forgotten, but in the contract every student signs before entering school, there is a clause stipulating that the school has the first right to dispose of resentment, death qi, excrement, and other resources generated during cultivation on campus."

"Of course, I can have the school waive this fee as an apology to the two of you."

(End of this chapter)