Chapter 293: Underground Dharma Power Transaction

Chapter 293: Underground Mana Transactions

“Pay up?” Zhang Yu asked curiously. “Is that really a thing?”

Yu Xinghan sneered coldly. “That old man really does charge everyone a different price.”

Thinking this, he had already contacted Li Xuelian through the Eye Socket.

Yu Xinghan: Senior Sister, there’s something I need to tell you…

Li Xuelian: I know. What do you plan to do?

Yu Xinghan: After all, he’s my instructor. It’s fine to offer him some spirit coins as a token of respect, but his asking price is too high. At most, I’ll give him a 0.1 spirit coin referral fee.

Yu Xinghan: Didn’t Master have a student who worked security at a construction site? Can you ask about his connections?

Li Xuelian: Ever since Father had that incident, all his students have been avoiding him. I’m afraid they won’t be able to help you.

Yu Xinghan: I’m just asking. My earth instructor is banking on the fact that freshmen like me have no way of knowing the market rates. As long as I can get a few more price references, it shouldn’t be hard to negotiate him down.

After finishing this discussion with Yu Xinghan, Li Xuelian asked: The three-month basic course is over. What are your and Zhang Yu’s current rankings?

Upon hearing their results, Li Xuelian revealed a satisfied smile and replied: Not bad. I’ve found a friend who can help you improve your mana quality.

Yu Xinghan’s heart stirred. He said: Not through the platform?

Li Xuelian: Underground transaction.

Upon hearing Li Xuelian’s news, Yu Xinghan immediately informed Zhang Yu, who was beside him.

Zhang Yu knew that transactions conducted through the mana platform were all legal and compliant formal transactions. Every strand of mana would be inspected and guaranteed by the platform, but it also required paying a not-insignificant handling fee.

If one directly contacted others for private transactions, they could save on the handling fee, but there would be no guarantees. They might even encounter mana fraud, such as low-quality mana being passed off as high-quality, or mana that was indeed of higher quality but not as high as claimed.

Moreover, underground mana transactions violated school regulations. If caught, students would not only face fines but also have their comprehensive scores deducted, leading to a drop in rankings.

Zhang Yu had also considered finding someone to trade with, but lacking connections on the second floor and having no trustworthy trading partners, he eventually gave up on the idea.

Now, hearing that it was Li Xuelian’s referral, he immediately nodded and said, “It’s worth a try.”

Zhang Yu thought to himself, “Not only does Le Mulan’s Dao Seed require me to assist her with higher mana quality.”

“Improving mana quality itself can also enhance the effects of many of my techniques and increase the efficiency of my cultivation.”

Thus, following Li Xuelian’s directions, the two arrived at the empty streets of the 85th floor of the Ten Thousand Techniques University City.

Yu Xinghan said, “This is the mortal district? Why isn’t there a single mortal in sight?”

Zhang Yu shook his head as he looked at the empty street before him. Although he often came below the 100th floor to cultivate techniques, until now… he had never seen a single mortal on the streets here.

The mortals here seemed to stay in their homes forever, never needing to come and go.

The streets below the 100th floor were always this desolate, with not a trace of human activity in sight.

Zhang Yu thought, “But with no one on the streets and a lack of surveillance, the area below the 100th floor is truly suitable for underground transactions.”

“However, with the capabilities of Ten Thousand Techniques University, it shouldn’t be difficult to fully monitor the area below the 100th floor. Why…”

A moment later, Li Xuelian appeared before them and said, “It’s me.”

“Today is your first transaction. I’ll take you there.”

Li Xuelian led the two to the agreed-upon location, where a shadowy figure appeared before them.

The other party was shrouded in a layer of black mist, completely concealing their appearance.

Naturally, Zhang Yu and Yu Xinghan were the same. Under Starfire True Person’s guidance, they had both diligently practiced techniques to control their muscles and alter their appearances. One now resembled Gongshu Jin, while the other looked like Ji Yuanshu.

Li Xuelian had transformed into the image of an unfamiliar man, with no trace of her original appearance visible.

Watching Li Xuelian exchange passcodes with the other party, Zhang Yu used his detection ritual power to sense the surroundings, confirming there were no surveillance devices.

After exchanging passcodes, the other party nodded slightly. “My rule: payment first, mana later.”

Yu Xinghan asked, “How many spirit coins for 100 units of mana?”

The other party scoffed and said, “Minimum purchase is 10,000 units.”

Yu Xinghan frowned. “We can’t take that much at once, and do you even have 10,000 units of mana?”

The other party seemed accustomed to such questions and replied indifferently, “Of course, it’s a batch transaction. I can transfer 100 or 200 units to you at a time…”

After some negotiation, the other party’s offer was 1 spirit coin for 10,000 units of mana.

Zhang Yu thought to himself that it was indeed much cheaper than the platform price.

Li Xuelian added, “I want to inspect the goods.”

The other party was unfazed by this request and channeled a stream of mana into Li Xuelian’s palm.

Li Xuelian’s eyes lit up. “Such pure mana.”

“175% mana quality,” the other party chuckled. “I only deal in high-quality goods. You’ll understand once you use it.”

Li Xuelian nodded to Zhang Yu and Yu Xinghan, indicating there were no issues, then sent a message: Transfer the money to me. I’ll handle the transaction with them to reduce your risk of exposure. Although somewhat worried about being scammed after paying the spirit coins upfront, after receiving Li Xuelian’s repeated assurances and trusting her, Zhang Yu and Yu Xinghan still handed over the money.

Each contributed 0.5 spirit coins, totaling 1 spirit coin, which they transferred to Li Xuelian. Under the other party’s guidance, Li Xuelian used the 1 spirit coin to purchase a few books on the second-hand market.

Next, under Li Xuelian’s supervision, the other party extended their hands and placed them on Zhang Yu and Yu Xinghan’s shoulders.

In the next moment, Zhang Yu felt an incredibly dense yet non-aggressive stream of high-quality mana flow into his body. Under the other party’s deliberate control, it lay quietly without moving.

Zhang Yu quickly circulated his own mana, using it to impact this stream of high-quality mana.

With each impact, he could feel his mana becoming slightly more resilient. At the same time, some of the high-quality mana mixed into his own mana. Although it was quickly diluted and dissipated, the remnants still made Zhang Yu feel his mana becoming more condensed.

In the blink of an eye, the cluster of mana infused by the other party had completely dissipated.

Feeling the changes in his own mana, Zhang Yu thought to himself, “If I had an expert like this constantly infusing me with such high-quality mana every day, my mana quality would improve by leaps and bounds.”

Zhang Yu wished he could enjoy this service at all times, but he knew how often he could indulge depended not on his needs but on his account balance.

Checking his account balance, he realized that in the three months since entering university, apart from the 2.5 spirit coins from his scholarship and the 5 spirit coins Bai Zhenzhen had transferred to him, he had no other income.

Despite frugal daily living, accounting for monthly rent, internet fees, communication fees, transportation, meals, the cost of purchasing techniques, and the 0.5 spirit coins spent on high-quality mana this time, Zhang Yu now had just over 11.4 spirit coins left.

“For my next purchase of the Earth-Wood Sacred Body and the Qi Vein Long Flow technique, I need to ensure I have at least 7 or 8 spirit coins.”

“Add in daily expenses…”

Zhang Yu sighed inwardly. After discussing with Yu Xinghan, they decided to each pay 0.5 spirit coins, totaling 1 spirit coin per month, to purchase 10,000 units of mana from the other party. The other party would infuse them once daily.

Zhang Yu thought that since his current results were decent, he could accept a slower improvement in mana quality.

The other party, however, said, “Only 333 units of mana infused for two people combined per day? That would only improve your mana quality by 2–3% per month.”

“And the higher your mana quality becomes, the less effective it will be, requiring even more infusions.”

“Given your potential, you could easily handle several infusions per day. I think 5 spirit coins a month would significantly accelerate the improvement of your mana quality.”

Rejecting the other party’s sales pitch, Zhang Yu and Yu Xinghan accepted the remaining mana infusion for the day and returned to their dormitory, planning to slowly digest it through cultivation.

But before entering the dormitory, Yu Xinghan said, “You go back first. I have something to do.”

Zhang Yu gave him a puzzled look. “Aren’t you going back to digest the infusion? Where are you going?”

Yu Xinghan replied impatiently, “None of your business.”

He dashed off, his mind repeatedly flashing images of Li Xuelian before and after her transformation. He felt his exceptionally robust body gradually heating up as his blood quickened, and his thoughts grew increasingly restless and unfocused.

Yu Xinghan thought to himself, "It's been a while since I last saw my senior sister, but why does she seem more and more..."

"I can't hold back anymore. I need to release some tension, or I won't be able to meditate peacefully."

At this thought, a faint sense of shame rose in Yu Xinghan's heart.

"This is unpaid overtime, after all."

Sometimes he wanted to kneel down and beg himself not to work for free like this, only to realize that even kneeling wouldn't stop him.

Not long after Zhang Yu and Yu Xinghan left,

the figure in the black mist turned to Li Xuelian and said, "Boss, shouldn't you give your friends a discount?"

Li Xuelian replied calmly, "You can give them a discount once, but can you give them a discount for a lifetime?"

"Let's go. It's time to get to work."

With a flash, the two figures shot toward the university town on the lower level.

...

Time moved to the next day.

It was the first official day of the school year in September.

Zhang Yu checked his schedule and found that the three foundational courses—Dao Heart, Magical Power, and Body Refinement—remained largely the same, though the number of classes had decreased somewhat.

In contrast, the number of specialized courses had increased significantly, with many new classes on construction and inspection, aimed at training them to apply the various civil engineering skills they had learned over the past three months.

In today's construction class, Zhang Yu was seen operating a foundational technique called Concrete Aura, using the power of qi to control mud, pouring large amounts of concrete into target locations several meters away.

(End of Chapter)