Chapter 26: Handling Earth Assets

Liang Zhishi was now extremely frustrated and in a bad mood.

At the end of each year, disciples of the Profound Heaven Sect must undergo cultivation base assessments; those who fail will be expelled from the sect.

Each dormitory in the outer sect houses ten outer sect disciples; if more than half fail the year-end assessment, it will negatively impact the dormitory’s Zhishi’s evaluation score.

Originally, Liang Zhishi’s dormitory had only nine disciples, with roughly four or five guaranteed to pass the year-end assessment—barely meeting the halfway mark.

All he needed to do was apply some pressure, or even pay for elixirs himself, to ensure more than half passed.

But now, someone has suddenly been added—and not only that, why is this one so useless?

At twenty-two, he’s only at Warrior Third Level? If he hadn’t used connections or pulled strings, he’d have been expelled long ago.

“Sigh!”

Liang Zhishi sighed again, gave Cang Luo a dismissive glance, offered a few half-hearted words of encouragement, then went off to complain to other Zhishi, having no interest at all in guiding them.

Cang Luo felt disappointed; he sensed Liang Zhishi seemed to dislike him—was it because of his low cultivation base? Poor talent?

Hmph! Underestimating me.

I reached Warrior Third Level from Warrior First Level in just one hour; I’m sure I’ll surpass Cang Feng and Liu Xuande soon...

Cang Luo quickly let it go, not dwelling on it, only remembering the monthly tasks Liang Zhishi had just assigned.

Outer sect disciples must submit a set amount of cultivation materials each month: demon cores, yuan stones, spirit herbs, or elixirs.

For demon cores, disciples at Warrior Level N must submit N first-tier demon cores.

Cang Luo is now at Warrior Third Level, meaning he must submit three first-tier demon cores this month—or equivalent other cultivation resources.

After Liang Zhishi left, Liu Xuande and Li Zhan deferred to Cang Feng, who said: “Let’s train on our own.”

Saying this, Cang Feng glanced around and finally fixed his gaze on a Warrior Sixth Level disciple from the neighboring dormitory.

The disciple seemed to be waiting for Cang Feng; as soon as Cang Feng approached, the two immediately clashed, fists landing hard on flesh.

Liu Xuande looked at Li Zhan and Cang Luo and said: “You two spar together. I’ll find someone too—Brother Cang said real combat is the fastest way to improve.”

After Liu Xuande left, Li Zhan turned to Cang Luo, eager: “Cang Brother, shall we?”

Cang Luo instinctively stepped back two paces, watching Li Zhan cautiously: “Shall we?”

Clarify, please—what exactly do you mean? Sparring or something else?

Three hours later.

“Stop! Stop! Stop!”

Li Zhan was knocked down again by Cang Luo’s palm strike; he sat on the ground, begging: “Cang Brother, you still have yuan force left?”

Cang Luo scratched his head, slightly embarrassed: “Uh... almost gone. Come on, let’s go a few more rounds.”

Cang Luo wasn’t telling the truth—he still had abundant yuan force in his dantian. When he fought Chen Da Hu, he’d noticed his dantian seemed to absorb yuan force even as it consumed it.

But it felt different from absorbing yuan stones; he couldn’t figure it out yet.

Li Zhan quickly shook his head in refusal; he was terrified of Cang Luo. He glanced at the sky, weakly: “It’s almost dark. We need to eat before night training. No more sparring.”

“Fine.” Cang Luo was reluctant—he’d sparred with Li Zhan all afternoon.

At first, Cang Luo was completely dominated by Li Zhan—this was normal.

After all, Cang Luo had zero martial arts foundation: no footwork, no power techniques, no combat experience whatsoever.

Not to mention yuan force application—he’d beaten Chen Da Hu at noon purely through cheating and the other’s underestimation.

But after being dominated for two hours, Cang Luo gradually grasped some power techniques and yuan force usage, slowly gaining the upper hand.

Combined with Li Zhan’s reckless depletion of yuan force, Cang Luo ultimately defeated him while still at full health.

Cang Luo pulled Li Zhan up and looked toward Cang Feng, still sparring.

Cang Feng continued fighting the Warrior Sixth Level disciple from the neighboring dormitory; though his cultivation was lower, the battle was evenly matched, and he was even slightly dominating.

“Cang Feng Brother is so strong! Fighting above his level...” Cang Luo was astonished, recalling Cang Feng’s palm strike against Chen Da Hu—had he not even used his full strength then?

Li Zhan proudly said: “Of course. Brother Cang is incredibly strong—he has vast combat experience and unpredictable techniques.”

What impresses me and Old Liu most is his encyclopedic knowledge—he can instantly name any spirit herb or demon beast, its effects, and its weaknesses during missions.”

As he spoke, Cang Feng deliberately left an opening, luring his opponent in, then swept his leg and sent the man flying, winning the match—and still helping his opponent up with elegant grace.

Cang Luo marveled: “So cool! Is this combat wisdom?”

“Combat wisdom? Hmm, that’s a good term. Brother Cang always quickly identifies an opponent’s weakness and defeats them.”

The speaker was Liu Xuande—he’d just finished his own sparring.

At that moment, Cang Feng walked over and said: “Let’s go. After dinner, we begin heart method cultivation. Don’t slack off—especially you, Zhan and Cang Brother.”

As Cang Feng passed Cang Luo, he patted his shoulder in encouragement; Cang Luo nodded firmly and followed behind him with Liu and Li.

Recalling the afternoon’s training, Cang Feng had periodically come over to offer advice, acting like an elder brother.

Cang Luo thought this fifteen-year-old cold boy must have the mental age of at least thirty.

Not only is he powerful, he’s also handsome and mature—how envious!

After the noon incident, the four quickly ate dinner and returned to the dorm to begin heart method cultivation.

This was the daily routine of outer sect disciples: train martial arts by day, heart methods by night, and go on missions when required.

The other six in the dorm were out on missions and hadn’t returned yet.

Since mission locations were far and travel inconvenient, they usually stayed overnight.

A mission could last from two or three days to half a month—normal.

After returning to the dorm, Cang Feng, Liu Xuande, and Li Zhan entered cultivation, absorbing yuan force to form yuan wheels and refining the day’s accumulated energy.

Cang Luo didn’t start immediately. He feigned a bathroom break, slipped out of the dorm, found a secluded spot, and pulled out his phone.

Tomorrow he’d enter the demon beast forest for training—life-or-death combat, facing unknown dangers and future enemies. Cang Luo wanted to handle some matters first.

Put bluntly: he wanted to make arrangements for his death.

He turned on his phone—the lock screen showed a photo of him and Xiang Yunjiao.

In the photo, Yunjiao stared with wide, watery eyes, curious and adorable as she gazed at the lens.

Cang Luo smiled warmly, remembering how she’d risked her life to save him from Chen Da Hu—his gratitude ran deep.

“Angel...”

Cang Luo murmured, then grew melancholy.

Cang Luo realized he’d fallen for Yunjiao—he wanted to protect her.

But he knew he lacked strength, so he’d revealed the truth about the Soul-Sealing Mirror and decided to cut off all contact with her.

He knew the coming days would be turbulent—he couldn’t drag Yunjiao into this...

“Sigh.” Cang Luo sighed, a wave of sadness washing over him.

He shook his head, pushing Yunjiao from his thoughts, unlocked his phone, opened contacts, found the number labeled “Cousin Yang Yongshan,” and dialed.

“Hello, Cousin?”

Cang Luo called out tentatively, unsure if it was really still the same person.

He’d crossed over—this might have caused relatives to be monitored by Feng Lin Huo Shan, or even imprisoned like his family.

A few seconds later, a familiar voice came through: “A Luo! Damn it, what’s going on over there?!

Where are Uncle, Auntie, and Xiao Ling? No one answers their phones—where are you now?”

Cang Luo’s heart lifted—his cousin hadn’t been harmed.

“Uh... we went to the capital for Labor Day, forgot our phones at the hotel. What happened to my place?”

Cang Luo made up a quick excuse—luckily, yesterday had been Labor Day, so it was plausible.

“What happened?!” came the incredulous voice from the other end. Yang Yongshan asked: “You haven’t seen the news?”

Cang Luo was confused: “Didn’t I say? Phones were left at the hotel. Just got back, no time to check—tell me, what happened to my house? Did someone get murdered?”

Cang Luo thought his family had been taken by Feng Lin Huo Shan—they’d mentioned a battle with Eden Society and Chuyun Society.

Had the battle happened at his home? Destroyed it?

Damn it! That house was Dad’s life’s work!

When I return to Earth, I’ll exterminate every last one of you!

Yang Yongshan said: “Probably not murder, but worse. I’ll tell you—your neighborhood was sealed off by armed troops. Not even a fly can get in.

All two hundred households were forcibly evacuated. It’s insane—did someone in your area secretly manufacture weapons?”

Yang Yongshan marveled, continuing: “A Luo, your family’s going to get rich. Every household gets cash compensation plus a new apartment nearly identical to the old one.”

But no property rights—only forty-year usage rights. Still, that’s enough—free rent for forty years.”

Cang Luo breathed easier—his house was safe. He replied casually: “Oh, I see.”

He knew they’d sealed the neighborhood to investigate the white light that summoned him—possibly suspecting it might reappear in the same spot.

On the other end, Yang Yongshan asked: “You’re just ‘oh’? Hey, why aren’t you excited?”

“Excited? Of course I’m excited!”

Cang Luo raised his voice, feigning shock, then quickly calmed and said seriously: “Cousin, I need a favor.”

“Go ahead.”

Yang Yongshan agreed readily—among all his peers, Cang Luo was his closest relative, which was why Cang Luo had called him.

Cang Luo hesitated: “I’ve made a bit of money recently. I want you to handle it—start a company, invest in real estate, anything.”

Cang Luo had over twenty million in his bank account—all gifts from global elites. He’d planned to enjoy it on Earth—but nearly died today, so he can’t enjoy it.

So he wanted to dispose of the money: part to his family’s accounts, so even if he died in this world, they’d live without worry.

The rest he’d entrust to someone trustworthy to invest—money runs out, after all. Too bad his family was “imprisoned,” or he wouldn’t need to rely on others.

Yang Yongshan asked curiously: “You’re serious? Did you quit your job because you got rich?

How much? I’m planning to start a factory too—looking for partners.”

Cang Luo said casually, “About fifteen million.”

“Puh...”

Yang Yongshan, who was drinking water, choked at the number Cang Luo named, then laughed and scolded, “Are you messing with me?”

“Even the compensation for your apartment wouldn’t cover a fraction of that—say it again.”

Cang Luo replied calmly, “I’m not joking. It’s fifteen million RMB—not yen, not won.”

“Send me your account number. I’m busy right now and can’t spare the time—do whatever you want with it. When things grow bigger, I’ll invest more.”

“You’re not pulling my leg?” Yang Yongshan still couldn’t believe it, because all their relatives were ordinary people.

No one had struck it rich, no one held office—eight generations of laborers and farmers, and only their generation had even made it to university, yet still achieved nothing remarkable.

Under these circumstances, how could Yang Yongshan believe Cang Luo had fifteen million in cash?

He didn’t believe fifteen million—he wouldn’t even believe one point five million.

Cang Luo snapped, “Stop wasting my time. Send me your account number. You’ll know the truth soon enough.”

“Alright, alright, I’ll see how long you can keep blowing this bubble. But tell me—can a bank even transfer that much in one go?”

Yang Yongshan sent the account number, eager to see how Cang Luo would keep up this lie.

“Don’t worry about that. I’m hanging up—my phone’s about to die.”

As for whether such a large transfer was possible, Cang Luo wasn’t concerned at all—his bank account had been upgraded to a special account; transferring massive sums was trivial.

Besides, Feng Lin Huo Shan were surely eavesdropping on that call—would they really refuse to help with something this simple?

In fact, Cang Luo didn’t know that not just his bank account, but all his records had been classified as state secrets by Feng Lin Huo Shan.

Feng Lin Huo Shan would fulfill every reasonable request of Cang Luo’s, after all—he was the one entrusted with leading China’s Fifth Scientific Revolution...

A few minutes later, Cang Luo successfully completed the transfer via mobile banking, sending fifteen million to Yang Yongshan’s account, and another five million to his parents’ account.

Looking at his remaining balance of just over two million, Cang Luo felt no regret.

The money had come too easily—he was certain that if he opened his mouth and sold intelligence from the Yuanwu Continent, countless people would rush to hand him cash.

“Vibrating...”

His phone buzzed—it was Yang Yongshan calling. Cang Luo pressed answer and smiled, “Received it?”

“B-B-Brother, I—I got it! Where did you get all this money?!”

Yang Yongshan was so excited he could barely speak—he never imagined Cang Luo had been serious, and had trusted him enough to transfer the money outright.

Cang Luo smiled, “Good. I can’t tell you the source yet, but it’s all legal.”

“Go ahead and do what you want with it. This money is my investment in you—we split profits three to seven. If you make money, I’ll invest more.”

Cang Luo hung up without asking how Yang Yongshan planned to use the money—he simply didn’t care to ask.

All Cang Luo cared about now was his own strength. Earthly money meant nothing to him.

He turned off his phone, returned to his dorm, and began cultivating his heart method, slowly absorbing Yuan energy to form his Yuan Wheel...