Chapter 46: Shameful Flower

It’s time to eat!

Spicy stir-fried mushroom soup, clear-simmered Qiong fish, and braised pork elbow stew!

Another staff member entered the central control room carrying meals.

He smelled the aroma.

The earlier man swallowed hard.

But he still felt uneasy inside.

He double-checked the room’s array.

Only after confirming the array was functioning normally, with no issues, did he turn around and force a smile: “Thanks!”

“You’re on duty, so I bring you meals—that’s only natural. No need to thank me!”

Thank goodness the machine butler is too stupid to handle this job, or we’d both be out of work already.

As they joked around,

the two had already set up the table and begun eating.

Inside the cultivation chamber,

Jiang Jian naturally didn’t know.

The room’s array had long been at its limit.

He continuously swallowed spirit herbs and activated the Pure Spirit True Method.

His Level 3 “Art” talent provided such a powerful foundation that it was pushed to its absolute peak!

Divine-gifted weapon, Wish Jade.

Tech equipment, Qi-accumulating wristband.

The medicinal power of the cultivation herbs.

And the endless supply of spirit energy provided by the cultivation chamber.

All these enhancements stacked together,

causing Jiang Jian’s cultivation speed to reach an astonishingly terrifying level!

Spirit energy surged and crashed.

Even the talent orb in his Shenque point, “Dark Fragrance,” had gained new insights!

“Good.”

“I’ve only bound one divine-gifted weapon: the Wish Jade.”

“It purifies the spirit energy, removing impurities.”

“So I’m not hindered by muddled spirit energy during cultivation.”

Jiang Jian cultivated with all his might, his mind churning.

His Shenque point’s spirit energy cap was slowly, incrementally rising!

Every thirty minutes,

Jiang Jian would pick up a paper packet and swallow a spirit herb.

Five hours passed.

Ten portions of spirit herbs.

All consumed!

Boom!

Jiang Jian suddenly opened his eyes!

The aura around him sharply trembled!

Invisible ripples radiated outward from him in all directions.

The aura swept past,

even causing faint impacts against the chamber’s walls!

Jiang Jian stood up, and deep within his pitch-black pupils, a strange dark-red flame burned quietly.

“My spirit energy cap has increased significantly.”

Jiang Jian sensed the spirit energy in his Shenque point.

He was very satisfied with the campus cultivation chamber.

“But,”

“spirit herbs can be bought with Alliance coins.”

“Academic credits, however, are extremely limited.”

“Their acquisition channels are very narrow.”

“Right now,”

“I only have 1,100 academic credits left.”

Jiang Jian silently calculated, picked up his bag, and stepped out of the cultivation chamber.

Five hours of cultivation.

Jiang Jian felt no fatigue whatsoever.

The surging spirit energy in his Shenque point had instead sharpened his hearing and vision, cleared his mind, and enhanced all five senses.

Beep!

His identity device received a new message.

Jiang Jian stepped into the elevator, opened the message, and activated privacy mode.

A girl’s clear, pleasant voice reached his ears.

“Jiang Jian, I’ve started cultivating!”

“But the spirit herbs are expensive.”

“500 Alliance coins per portion!”

“Luckily, Anhe Academy gave me a shopping allowance of 10,000 Alliance coins.”

“Jiang Jian, do you have enough spirit herbs?”

“If not, I’ll use my allowance to buy some and send them to you.”

Jiang Zhao’s voice was bright and clear, sounding genuinely happy.

Anhe Academy was the divine-gifted university of Anhezhou.

Anhezhou was geographically remote and lacked educational resources.

Many department heads just went through the motions.

Students had no competition among themselves.

Even,

this local divine-gifted university

had become a place for wealthy merchants and noble families to expand their social networks.

Jiang Jian stared at his sister’s message, calculating the time in his mind.

“It should be about right.”

For ordinary citizens, a sudden large sum in their citizen account triggered continuous monitoring for several days.

During monitoring, transfers in or out were extremely troublesome.

Although Jiang Jian’s identity device permissions had been upgraded,

he remained cautious at all times.

Thinking of this,

Jiang Jian opened his citizen account and checked his balance.

“Your balance: 950,109 Alliance coins.”

He paused to think.

Jiang Jian swiped his finger, withdrew 50,000 Alliance coins, and transferred them to Jiang Zhao’s account.

“Transfer successful!”

“Your account has sent: 50,000 Alliance coins.”

“Your balance: 900,109 Alliance coins.”

A few seconds later,

Jiang Zhao sent a real-time message.

Jiang Jian stepped out of the elevator, hailed an unmanned aerial shuttle, and tapped to answer.

“Jiang Jian.”

On screen, Jiang Zhao wore Anhe Academy’s uniform: “Where did this money come from? Explain.”

Jiang Jian had anticipated her reaction: “I terminated my contract with Zhao Jianxue and received a large payment.”

Hearing this,

Jiang Zhao tightly pressed her lips and asked, word by word: “When?”

Jiang Jian whispered: “Before the Divine-Gifted Exam.”

The aerial shuttle launched, heading toward the dormitory complex.

A silence stretched for dozens of seconds.

The girl finally spoke, her tone calm: “Jiang Jian, was this your own choice—or did the Zhao family force you?”

Jiang Jian smiled and said, “The Divine Covenant is backed by the Temple of Prayer; even the Zhao family dares not tear it up.”

In the communication screen.

Jiang Zhao frowned, bit her lip, and asked, “But you told me you really liked Zhao Jianxue—you wanted to marry her.”

She brushed her slender, pale fingers along the strands beside her ear, “Jiang Jian, it doesn’t matter if we’re poor.”

“When it comes to money.”

“I’d rather see you with someone you truly love.”

Hearing this,

Jiang Jian fell silent for a moment, then spoke, “At the time, I did say I liked her.”

“But.”

Jiang Jian blinked, “I was lying. I have no feelings for her at all.”

“I said that only.”

“So I could one day trade the Divine Covenant for money.”

Jiang Zhao frowned skeptically, “Really?”

Jiang Jian gave a light laugh, tone certain: “Of course it’s true. I’ve never lied to you.”

The girl’s mood slowly shifted.

A few seconds later,

Jiang Zhao seemed to finally realize, holding up her identity device, nearly jumping with joy: “Fifty thousand Alliance Coins! So much money!”

Jiang Jian said, “This amount isn’t much. Try to spend it on cultivation.”

Joy filled Jiang Zhao’s beautiful brows and eyes: “This is the first time I’ve had so much money in my account!”

She hesitated briefly.

She lifted her face to look at Jiang Jian, “By the way, Jiang Jian.”

“Can I buy some Divine Tech toiletries?”

“They’re cheap—a full authentic set costs only a few dozen Alliance Coins.”

“All my classmates use them—they’re great for the skin. I’ve never dared to buy them.”

As she spoke, the girl seemed to recall something, her tone growing quieter: “A few dozen Alliance Coins isn’t cheap—it could feed me for a whole week.”

Through the communication screen,

Jiang Jian looked at the girl across from him.

She was walking.

Her identity device swayed slightly.

The golden-red glow of sunset spilled over her hair, gently staining it, illuminating her pale, exquisite profile.

“I have plenty of money.”

Jiang Jian gazed at her for a moment, then looked away, lowering his eyelids to whisper, “Buy whatever you want. When it’s gone, ask me again.”

“Try to buy some cultivation herbs.”

“If you don’t understand anything about cultivation,”

“Send me a message anytime.”

Saying this,

Jiang Jian ended the communication.

The airship halted.

They had arrived at the dormitory complex.

“Fifth floor: Simulation Testing Hall, Assessment Hall.”

Jiang Jian glanced at his identity device and stepped directly into the main elevator.

This was merely the dormitory complex of the First Courtyard.

Only a few students passed by.

Nothing compared to the campus cultivation chambers.

“Ten herbs consumed, five hours of cultivation chamber time.”

“Let’s go check the Testing Hall.”

“How much has my Qi ceiling increased?”

Jiang Jian’s thoughts churned.

The elevator had stopped at the fifth floor.

“Left: Testing Hall.”

“Right: Simulation Assessment Hall.”

“Please choose.”

Light flashed; a mechanical voice spoke.

(End of Chapter)