Chapter 376

379. Chapter 379: The Wretched Fan

Fan Zhizhou was still recounting his experiences during his time in Tianchang City.

In order to cultivate, he joined a meditation room, spending over three million in total—nearly all the money Li Yi had previously given him. In a modern city, one can be said to be unable to move an inch without money, and this was the beginning of Fan Zhizhou's true nightmare.

"Damn it, I drank three bottles of cultivation water in total, yet I still haven't opened the path to cultivation. Is my, Fan Zhizhou's, aptitude really that poor? People from my same period have already begun cultivating. Although their cultivation speed isn't fast, I can feel that those people are transforming every day, and it won't be long before their strength surpasses mine."

＿￠O

"After an ordinary person cultivates, they can quickly surpass my twenty years of bitter training. Brother Li, you were right; the experts in this world are truly as numerous as crucian carp crossing the river."

Fan Zhizhou sighed, also showing his unwillingness to accept this. He hadn't expected the first step into another world to be so arduous.

Li Yi said: "Since your money was all spent in the meditation room, how have you been maintaining your survival during this time?"

"Without money, the teacher at the meditation room suggested I take a job to earn some. I didn't want to work, so I indicated I could hunt fierce beasts and demonstrated my strength as a Meridian Cultivation martial artist. That teacher immediately said he could help introduce me to teammates to venture into the danger zone together. However, before that, I needed to pay a 500,000 introduction fee and a 1,000,000 security deposit, with a promise that if he couldn't introduce teammates within ten days, he would provide a full refund."

Fan Zhizhou said: "Because I didn't have enough money on me, I used a portion of my elixirs to pay."

"That teacher quickly told me to go back and wait for notification, but I waited in the hotel for a full twelve days without any news. When I returned to the meditation room, I discovered it was already empty, having closed down, and that teacher had completely lost contact."

"Damn it."

Fan Zhizhou slammed the table hard at this point: "He promised that if he couldn't introduce teammates within ten days, he would provide a full refund. He actually lied to me! Aren't they afraid of retribution from ghosts and gods? How can they be so evil? Their words are like farts, with no credibility at all. My gold membership, which was promised to allow me to listen to lectures for life, ended up being gone in an instant."

"Cough, cough!" Li Yi couldn't help but cough twice.

That teacher from the meditation room had fleeced Fan Zhizhou for millions and taken a batch of valuable elixirs; he was definitely going to run. By now, he was likely no longer in Tianchang City. As for this meditation room thing, one could open one by simply renting a room; there was basically no cost, at most a few tens of thousands for renovation.

"Brother Fan, there is no such thing as retribution from ghosts and gods on Earth. I warned you before: Earthlings are inherently evil, and their words cannot be trusted," Li Yi said.

"Brother Li's warning is reasonable in every word. It was my carelessness; I didn't know human hearts could be so sinister to this extent." Fan Zhizhou felt extremely angry every time he brought this matter up.

Because he knew later on just how much wealth four million really was. To have it all taken by the meditation room in one go made his heart ache just thinking about it.

Li Yi said: "After the meditation room closed and ran away, where did you go?"

"At that time, I thought that if I wanted to turn things around, I definitely couldn't work for others. If I could go to the danger zone and hunt a fierce beast, I could earn back millions. So, with the determination to risk my life, I headed to the danger zone, thinking of scouting a weaker fierce beast to hunt and sell," Fan Zhizhou said. "I lurked near the abandoned city area for nearly a month and finally waited for an opportunity, finding an injured and isolated fierce beast."

"I fought it, and after a narrow escape, I hunted it down. I was happily carrying the beast's corpse back, intending to sell it, when unexpectedly, just as I was about to reach the city area, someone suddenly jumped out and said this beast was one they were hunting and told me to hand it over. Brother Li, isn't this robbery? I couldn't swallow my anger and fought the other party, but my skills were inferior, and I didn't win."

Fan Zhizhou said, looking very wretched.

Li Yi looked at him with a strange expression. Entering and leaving the danger zone alone with a fierce beast—if they didn't rob you, who would they rob? He and Zheng Gong had been robbed before too.

There was no law in the abandoned city area. In the past, a group of people had entrenched themselves there, doing all kinds of evil, and even the Investigation Bureau had no way to wipe them out.

"I, Fan, accepted that I lost the prey after failing to beat the other party. So, after I recovered from my injuries, I went back to the danger zone. Having had the experience of being robbed last time, I was much more cautious. I lurked near the danger zone again, preparing to hunt another fierce beast. That time, my luck was decent; I found an isolated fierce beast on the third day. But when I rushed up, I was slapped away by that beast."

Fan Zhizhou stood up excitedly at this moment: "That fierce beast was actually a transcendent creature, playing the pig to eat the tiger, fishing there and luring people into the trap. It was truly too treacherous! The people here have no integrity, and the beasts are extremely cunning. In the end, I took a Great Elixir to unleash my potential and escaped with my life. For this, I spent another month healing."

"During that period, I exhausted all the resources on me. Being penniless, I had no choice but to work."

"I, a dignified disciple of a noble family, never expected to be reduced to working to make a living. But Brother Li, do you know? I worked desperately for twenty-nine days, bearing the burden without complaint, only to be fired by the foreman. He said that within the thirty-day probation period, there is no salary, and since I worked twenty-nine days, I wasn't qualified to get paid."

Fan Zhizhou clenched his fists at this moment, gritting his teeth: "How can there be such logic in this world? At that time, I really wanted to punch that foreman to death, but thinking that I, Fan, am destined to roam the eight continents and bring glory to my ancestors, how could I throw away my bright future for a few thousand dollars because of a foreman?"

"I endured it, so I stopped working. I decided to find my own way. I understand calligraphy and painting, so I could sell paintings to earn money. I spent a lot of effort to set up a stall, preparing to show my skills, but it was confiscated before I could even set it up for a morning."

By the end, he couldn't help but shed tears again: "Brother Li, is life really this arduous?"

"Life is indeed this arduous," Li Yi nodded, feeling the same way.

Fan Zhizhou wiped his tears and said: "I couldn't cultivate, hunting fierce beasts didn't work, working didn't work, and even setting up a stall to sell calligraphy and paintings didn't work... At that moment, I really wanted to go home, but I didn't even have the ability to cross the danger zone. And if I went back like this, how would my parents and relatives in the clan mock me?"

"I thought I would just muddle along in the city, living one day at a time. At least my clansmen don't know I'm in such a wretched state. So I did some day-labor jobs, barely filling my stomach. When tired, I found a place to stay in the abandoned city area; when hungry, I bought some dried noodles and boiled them with water. As for martial arts, as for cultivation, they have nothing to do with me anymore."

"When even living is so difficult, where would I have the time and energy to cultivate? My Qi and blood are declining severely, and I'm almost unable to maintain even the Meridian Cultivation. If I hadn't been driven to a dead end, how would I have had the nerve to come to Brother Li for help?"

Li Yi said: "You should have come to find me sooner."

"I did come sooner, but the robots at your house, Brother Li, kept pointing guns at me. If I had rushed in rashly, I would definitely have been shot dead," Fan Zhizhou said, shedding wretched tears again.

Li Yi thought of the several armed robots he had deployed in the building. They held high-energy sniper rifles; even a Spirit Perception Realm expert would be finished if hit, not to mention the three high-energy beam cannons on the roof, which were things used to deal with Spirit Power Realm experts. Under such security, people who hadn't been identified by the intelligent system really wouldn't dare to approach.

"Hearing you say this, I feel I still have some responsibility. I originally thought about letting you venture out alone to grow and progress, but I didn't expect it to be such a situation." He shook his head helplessly.

"It's not Brother Li's fault. It's that I am wretched and incompetent, failing the Fan family," Fan Zhizhou said, slightly lowering his head with a decadent look.

Li Yi asked: "Then what are your plans for the next step? If it really doesn't work, I'll send you back to the Four Seas and Bazhou. At least after going back, you can still be a young master of a noble family and won't be reduced to a beggar."

"No, I'm not going back."

Fan Zhizhou immediately refused: "Going back like this would be more painful than dying. Moreover, I've recently discovered that I've gradually become able to cultivate and can perceive cosmic energy. It's just that I'm financially strapped and unable to fill my stomach, because cultivation is something that easily makes one hungry, leading to my inability to progress. So I wanted to ask Brother Li to lend me some money to tide me over. Once I pass this difficult hurdle, I will definitely repay it a hundredfold."

A single penny can stump a hero.

Fan Zhizhou's body had already been baptized by Earth's cosmic energy and was gradually beginning to adapt to and accept it. He was already able to cultivate, but he was penniless, relying on odd jobs to make a living, and couldn't even eat his fill, so there was no way to cultivate. Lacking the initial startup capital led to the current awkward situation.

This point was the same as Li Yi's back then.

Working every day to maintain his parents' nutrient supply, how could he have the conditions to cultivate?

In the end, he risked his life, obtained a defective mystic object, and with Sister Lin's help, entered the door in a short time. Then he became a guide, earned his first pot of gold, and only then did things start to go smoothly.

If there hadn't been that first pot of startup capital, even if you were a genius, your spine would have been broken by reality, and you would have been lying on the ground obediently.

"Brother Fan, your situation isn't something that can be solved with a sum of money. The path of cultivation requires a large amount of resources. Even if you cultivate martial arts as well, it's very difficult to achieve anything in a short time. Moreover, the situation in this world isn't very good; there isn't that much time for you to grow slowly."

Li Yi said: "Since that's the case, I'll just help you to the end. From now on, you come here to cultivate. I'll provide you with a cultivation pod and nutrient solution for free. Once you open your Spirit Medium, I'll give you a bottle of gene serum to make you a gene warrior. As for what achievements you can have in the future, it depends on your own ability."

He was giving away gene serum to everyone he met now. If the hundred-plus bottles of gene serum stored in his storage magic treasure weren't used up as soon as possible, if the Golden Academy were to have a nationwide gene evolution one day, then his gene serum wouldn't be worth anything.

"Brother Li is truly righteous." Fan Zhizhou was so excited he was about to cry. He grabbed Li Yi's hand and said: "I have nothing to repay you with. When I have the ability to return to the Four Seas and Bazhou, I must introduce my beautiful cousin to Brother Li. No, I'll introduce that mature cousin of mine to Brother Li as well."

"What kind of joke is that? What do you take me for? I cultivate the White Bone Contemplation," Li Yi pulled his hand away and said sternly.