Chapter 108: Jiang Chu

"A Grade-A cultivation resource, a fifth-grade Ningxin Pill, increased my mental strength by 50—that’s equivalent to 500 ability points. Not bad."

Xu Jingming nodded in satisfaction.

Five hundred ability points—that’s what he’d need to accumulate by killing dozens of second-rank ferocious beasts in the wilderness.

After taking the pill, Xu Jingming immediately prepared to transfer the items inside the two one-cubic-meter space rings.

Since items inside space rings couldn’t be directly transferred between each other,

Xu Jingming had no choice but to first lay all the items on the floor of the training room.

There wasn’t much—only three bottles of S-grade Earth Spirit Spring, plus some healing pills, antidote pills, and other medicines.

Also, some rare flowers and herbs, and two photos of Jiang Chu.

One official, one personal.

"Almost forgot—I haven’t sent those photos to Hao yet."

He checked the time on his phone—it wasn’t even ten at night.

Knowing Zhang Hao well, Xu Jingming was certain he was still awake, so he promptly called him.

"Ding, ding, ding......"

After four rings, the call was answered, and Zhang Hao’s voice came through:

"Hey, A-Ming, what’s up?"

It was clear he was using speakerphone, accompanied by the rapid clatter of multiple keyboards.

"Playing a game? Should I call back later?"

Xu Jingming recognized that intense keyboard rhythm instantly.

"No problem, doesn’t affect me—I can operate blindfolded."

"Alright, then I’ll tell you: I got the autographed photo you wanted. Send me your address—I’ll courier it to you tomorrow."

"What autographed photo?"

Zhang Hao paused, then immediately realized:

"Holy shit! You actually got me Jiang’s autographed photo?!"

His excitement was palpable—even the frantic keyboard sounds faded beneath it.

"Forget it—I’ll treat you to a great meal when I come back to Jiangcheng for winter break."

"Then it’s settled. Don’t back out."

"Compared to Jiang’s autographed photo, a meal is nothing—eat as much as you want!"

"Alright, then we’ll meet during winter break. Don’t worry, I eat very little."

"......"

After chatting with Zhang Hao for a while and declining his invitation to team up in the next game, Xu Jingming ended the call.

"Games... I feel like I haven’t touched one in ages," Xu Jingming murmured, a hint of nostalgia on his face.

Like most college students, in his past life, he’d spent most of his free time gaming during university.

He only deleted the games during his senior year, to prepare for the graduate entrance exam.

But his graduate studies turned out to be so hectic that he never picked them up again.

After crossing over to Blue Star, he’d been constantly busy.

He barely had time to rest, let alone play games.

Honestly, the ordinary college life of his best friend Hao was what Xu Jingming truly longed for.

But he was naturally insecure.

With ferocious beasts existing, a leisurely ordinary college life had long been ruled out for him.

"It’s ten at night—I can train for two hours before sleeping."

"Also, I need to deal with this batch of rare flowers and herbs."

"Looks like tomorrow I’ll need to visit both the Equipment Department and the Alchemy Department."

Xu Jingming’s gaze sharpened slightly; he changed into a loose training suit in his bedroom,

then picked up the Dark Cloud Gale Spear and entered the training room to begin his workout.

Early the next morning, after completing his usual morning training,

Xu Jingming went to the courier station to send the autographed photo to Zhang Hao, then headed to the Magic University Equipment Department.

Since these two one-cubic-meter space rings weren’t produced by Magic University,

the Equipment Department wouldn’t accept them for academic credits—only for Xia currency.

Each ring was worth 35 million Xia currency in buyback value; together, that totaled 70 million.

Compared to the official retail price of 50 million per ring on the open market, this was far lower.

But Xu Jingming knew such buybacks could never match official retail prices.

After all, even if you bought an item from a store and resold it untouched, its value would still plummet.

He’d also checked online last night—most private buyers offered around 33 million.

This price was fairly reasonable.

So when he left the Magic University Equipment Department, his bank balance had soared to a staggering 95 million!

Plus, his student account still held 1,903 academic credits from yesterday’s reward.

If converted entirely into Xia currency, his assets totaled over 110 million!

"Finally saved up a small goal."

Xu Jingming thought silently.

Of course, for an adept, strength was the most important thing.

So these funds and resources needed to be consumed quickly.

In his view, having ten million in the bank was more than enough to handle most situations.

"I’ll head to the Alchemy Department, offload these rare flowers and herbs, and maybe buy some suitable pills."

Like the Equipment Department, the Alchemy Department was a separate building.

After explaining his purpose to the receptionist, he was led up to the third floor.

"The third floor handles purchases of rare flowers and herbs. If you want to buy pills, take the elevator to the fifth floor."

The staff bowed respectfully.

Xu Jingming nodded slightly, understanding.

He stepped out of the elevator and walked into the third-floor lobby.

As soon as he entered, a rich herbal aroma filled his nose.

At the same time, Xu Jingming’s gaze swept the room—he took in everything at a glance.

It resembled the ferocious beast material acquisition area on the sixth floor of the Yuan Shui Supply Base.

There were several rooms for buying rare flowers and herbs, plus sofas for waiting.

But instead of queuing, they used a numbered call system.

Xu Jingming took a queue number from the machine and sat down on a sofa to wait.

It was only ten in the morning—early—but nearly thirty to forty people were already waiting.

He even spotted a team of adventurers in bloodstained battle suits, clearly just returned from the wilderness.

"Only up to number 14—I’m 43. I’ll probably wait over an hour."

Xu Jingming frowned slightly—he hadn’t expected so many people.

Of course, he could go upstairs and browse, but no matter how much he browsed, he couldn’t kill an hour that way.

"But I could train a bit."

After a moment’s thought, Xu Jingming closed his eyes.

He immediately began practicing his Ability Training Method, absorbing ambient Yuan energy.

In fact, many adepts in the lobby were doing the same—those playing with phones were the minority.

He trained like this for over half an hour, when a voice filled with surprise sounded beside him:

"Huh? Junior, you’re here too?"

Hearing the familiar voice, Xu Jingming slowly opened his eyes.

Sure enough, Jiang Chu stood nearby, elegant and poised.

Seeing Jiang Chu, a teasing smile appeared on Xu Jingming’s stern face:

"If it isn’t Senior. Did you finally sober up from last night’s wine?"

"I sobered up long ago."

Jiang Chu’s cheeks flushed red—she clearly remembered last night’s scene where she’d insisted he support her as she walked.

That strong, steady arm—she still remembered it vividly...

She paused, then asked curiously:

"By the way, are you here to sell the rare flowers and herbs you found in the cave?"

"Not entirely—if I can find an alchemist willing to refine them into pills or potions, that’s fine too."

Xu Jingming nodded slightly.

Although having an alchemist refine them into pills or potions required processing fees and additional materials,

it was still better than selling the raw herbs directly for credits or Xia currency.

"You’re looking for an alchemist? Don’t you think you already have one nearby—someone outstanding and stunningly beautiful?"

The white-haired girl Jiang Chu’s eyes lit up.

She coughed lightly and puffed out her chest, as if the fact that she herself was the alchemist were written plainly on her face.

“You? Aren’t you just an amateur?” Xu Jingming frowned skeptically.

“Who said I’m an amateur? I’ve even earned my Second-Rank Alchemist certification—I can easily brew Second-Rank pills.”

Jiang Chu quickly retorted, “Besides, I’m not planning to film in the Wild Zones anymore—I’m going full-time as an alchemist.”