Chapter 96

96. Chapter 96: Drawing Attention

Nine o’clock in the morning.

Li Yi took a taxi back to Peace Financial Tower.

After receiving forty million, his purse was full, his confidence soared, his posture straightened, and he thought that once he secured this building, he’d use the move to replace his parents’ medical pods.

The best medical pods on the market cost over ten million each; two would cost Li Yi at least twenty-five million.

After deducting the building’s renovation costs, the remaining sum wouldn’t be much.

These were just basic expenses—if Li Yi bought a top-tier medical pod for himself, his fifty million probably wouldn’t suffice. Fortunately, he’d learned the White Bone Contemplation technique and no longer needed the pod, saving him a fortune.

But there was another kind of cultivation pod suited for Li Yi.

That device was even more absurdly expensive—likely over a hundred million per unit. So while becoming a cultivator brought more income, it also brought higher spending: if you wanted to advance, the market always had a product ready to precisely drain your wallet and turn you into a rich pauper.

As Li Yi stepped out of the taxi, he saw a man standing in the plaza below Peace Financial Tower.

It was a woman, around twenty-six or twenty-seven, her jet-black hair coiled high, revealing a beautifully made-up face. Though dressed in ordinary business attire, her curvaceous, mature figure was impossible to conceal.

“I’m Li Yi. You must be Zheng Lan, the lady I spoke with on the phone,” he said, striding over.

“Hello, Mr. Li. Yes, I’m Zheng Lan. I didn’t expect someone so young to have the strength to take over this building—you’re truly gifted,” Zheng Lan smiled, her eyes narrowing slightly as she studied Li Yi.

Tall, strong, yet with an aura of ruggedness tinged with detachment—impressive, impossible to ignore.

This must be the allure of a powerful cultivator: instantly distinct, striking and unforgettable.

But Li Yi cut straight to the point: “Miss Zheng, you were recommended by my colleague Zheng Gong. I’ve been on missions with him—I trust his judgment. So, to cut to the chase: I want to move in as soon as possible. Any suggestions?”

“Peace Financial Tower has thirty floors. But beyond living space, Mr. Li, do you have other needs? Soundproof cultivation rooms, training grounds, storage, secure rooms?” Zheng Lan smiled. “I’ve renovated buildings for cultivators before—I have some experience and can meet any requirement you have.”

Li Yi paused, startled.

He hadn’t thought that far.

Cultivators could have so many facilities—cultivation rooms, training grounds. Clearly, poverty had limited his imagination.

Though he’d never used such things before, if he intended to cultivate seriously, they’d all be useful, practical additions.

Zheng Lan continued: “Before you arrived, I researched the building’s layout and drafted a rough plan for each floor. Take a look.”

She pulled out a tablet, tapped a few times, and a 3D rendering appeared before them.

“For instance, the top floor—thirty—could be your cultivation zone. We’d use soundproofing and thermal insulation materials to ensure quiet and stable temperature. The twenty-ninth floor could serve as your personal rest area.”

Before she finished, Li Yi interrupted: “No need for all that. Leave the other floors empty—I won’t use them for now. If I need them later, I’ll contact you. Just ensure basic living conditions.”

“I understand,” Zheng Lan said, her eyes flickering with surprise. “So we delete all other plans and keep only the most basic living facilities. But you’ll keep the top-floor cultivation zone, right?”

“Keep the cultivation zone,” Li Yi nodded. “How soon can you finish?”

Zheng Lan calculated quickly: “Even with most floors idle, we still need basic equipment—elevators must be replaced, floors need basic solidification, windows and doors require inspection and replacement, plus other items—”

After a long pause, she smiled: “If you want to move in within three months, you’ll need to spend at least five million.”

Li Yi frowned: “Three months is too slow. I don’t want to wait that long.”

“If you increase your budget, I can shorten the timeline,” Zheng Lan said after a moment.

“I’ll give you ten million. Can you finish within a month?” Li Yi didn’t hesitate, holding up one finger.

Zheng Lan shook her head with a smile: “You don’t need that much. Labor is cheap now. To finish in a month, you only need to add one million to your budget.”

“Use the rest to improve other areas,” Li Yi said.

“Understood,” Zheng Lan smiled. “Rest assured—I’ll deliver a result you’re satisfied with within a month. I won’t let you down.” In truth, she never intended to profit from this job—even planned to subsidize it herself.

What mattered more than one contract was that Zheng Gong could establish himself in the Investigation Bureau and gain access to oddities for cultivation.

Without a cultivator backing you, a business never grows.

Meanwhile, as Li Yi negotiated his new home, the results of his cultivation value test from yesterday had quietly spread through Tianchang City’s cultivation circles.

A cultivation value of 420 percent sparked considerable discussion.

Most people had no connection to Li Yi and merely found it amusing—but when the number reached Yang Yilong of Anding District, someone grew uneasy.

“Yang Yilong, still practicing your fists? Did you hear the news from yesterday? That Li Yi—the one who taught you fists—he took his cultivation value test at the Investigation Bureau’s training base. Guess the result?”

“Four hundred twenty percent. Higher than yours.”

“This kid’s a genius.”

At that moment, a middle-aged man named Yang Ye rushed into the underground training hall, ignoring Yang Yilong mid-punch.

Yang Yilong stood motionless in his stance, eyes closed, lost in thought.

Though he’d mastered fist power, deeper practice revealed something wrong: multiple parts of his body were injured.

Was his stance flawed? Had he missed the essence?

Or had Li Yi never learned the full technique to begin with?

But Yang Ye’s arrival snapped Yang Yilong from his thoughts. He opened his eyes and lowered his stance.

“Four hundred twenty percent?” He frowned. “So what? What does that have to do with me?”

Yang Ye was frantic: “Of course it does! We forcibly took a fist technique from him—and injured Lin Yue, who defended him. We’ve made him a sworn enemy. Before, he was just a nobody, no threat. But now it’s different.”

“Li Yi joined the Investigation Bureau and helped Captain Zhang Lei recover a damaged oddity. I hear they plan to build twenty cultivation rooms using it—and Li Yi gets two permanent slots. Think about it: 420 percent cultivation value plus the energy field of a damaged oddity—what does that mean? You know exactly.”

“Right now, Li Yi’s only a Spirit Medium. But he’ll catch up fast—he’ll reach your level as a Spirit Awakened cultivator. And with his personality, he’ll definitely seek revenge. Yang Yilong, he’s a major latent threat. You can’t ignore this.”

Yang Ye sensed Li Yi would become a deadly enemy in the future—he couldn’t be treated like a minor player anymore.

Yang Yilong turned, his gaze calm: “Four hundred twenty percent doesn’t meet the Golden Academy’s special admission standard. Even with my cultivation pod, I can reach 350 percent. Li Shaoqing is higher—he exceeds 380 percent. But you must understand: after Spirit Awakened, advancement involves the soul’s mysteries. No matter how high your cultivation value, you’ll hit a wall here.”

“Li Yi just opened his Spirit Medium. He has a long road ahead. You’re overreacting.”

“Still, we can’t afford to be careless,” Yang Ye said. “If we hadn’t offended him, it wouldn’t matter. But we did—we’ve completely and irreversibly angered him. You don’t want the Yang family to gain such a dangerous enemy, do you?”

Yang Yilong’s expression shifted. “What do you plan to do?”

Yang Ye had already thought it through. He gritted his teeth: “No half-measures. Let this potential enemy die before he grows. I’ve investigated Li Yi—he also angered Wei Bin from the Ruined District during his last mission. We’ll pay him to act.”

“Wei Bin won’t kill Li Yi—not unless he wants to be hunted by the Investigation Bureau for life,” Yang Yilong said. “Yang Ye, don’t be foolish. If you hire a killer and it gets exposed, the Yang family is finished. Li Yi is Investigation Bureau now—if he dies mysteriously, Zhang Lei won’t let it go.”

“Leave Li Yi to me. I’ll find a chance to talk to Lin Yue—get her to broker peace. If that fails, I’ll hand over the Guidance Technique.”

“Enough. Drop it. Don’t disturb my fist training.”

Yang Yilong waved him off.

Seeing this, Yang Ye had no choice but to leave silently.

Without Yang Yilong’s backing, Wei Bin would never cooperate.

After all, Yang Yilong was the recognized head of the Yang family. Yang Ye had no voice before Spirit Awakened masters.

But

Yang Ye suddenly had another idea.

If he couldn’t find a Spirit Awakened cultivator to help, why not approach a Spirit Awakening cultivator?

Among the vagrants, there were plenty of Spirit Awakening cultivators—strong enough to handle a mere Spirit Medium like Li Yi.