Chapter 45: Mutual Nemeses

Chen Shu conducted a preliminary examination of the few members—

The group owner is "Haoran Zhengqi"; his avatar is the calligraphy of the four characters "Haoran Zhengqi," elegant and natural yet without losing a sharp, imposing edge—it must be the work of a master.

Besides that, the most active people in the group currently are "Grandma Always Says" and "Nameless Person."

The avatar for Grandma Always Says is a landscape photo of Zhang Xianfeng; he claims to be a senior at Yuda. His personality seems quite extroverted, very much like a senior student in a freshman group teasing his junior female schoolmates.

But it cannot be ruled out that he is only like this online and is actually very introverted in reality.

There is also another detail—

Senior student and senior brother.

Strictly speaking, both men and women can be called senior students, but people usually only use it to address senior brothers, that is, male upperclassmen; females are addressed as senior sisters.

These two terms have roughly the same meaning, and either can be used; ordinary people are not too particular about it when chatting.

But people have a habit—

They are easily influenced by others.

Generally speaking, if you have been saying senior student, but the person chatting with you keeps saying senior brother, you are very likely to subconsciously follow along and use the term senior brother as well. In most cases, one party will accommodate the other.

Chen Shu and Nameless Person have both been saying senior brother; they have two people cross-referencing each other, so they did not change their wording, and Grandma Always Says has also never changed his wording.

This immediately made him think of sect disciples.

Sect disciples often regard their lineage very seriously and would not easily call others senior brother or senior sister when outside.

It is just a possibility.

Retain this speculation for now.

Nameless Person also gives the impression of being a male; his avatar is a cartoon picture of a handsome guy, which, to be honest, looks a bit greasy. And he is indeed extremely enthusiastic toward Chen Shu, who is "a girl," even more so than Grandma Always Says. He is a bit like a lecher, yet he doesn't seem very good at chatting.

He calls people by their names in every sentence and adds punctuation marks very formally, which reminds him of a certain uncle in the family group.

These are all just preliminary impressions.

One must not take preliminary impressions too seriously, as it is easy to end up with colored glasses or even prejudice.

Moreover, these could all be the result of the group members deliberately putting on an act.

There is also "Just Call Me Luo Huaian."

The avatar is blank.

The name is also very casual.

Like the group owner Haoran Zhengqi, he only came out to say one sentence and then never made a sound again.

Besides, everyone seems very busy; there are many lurkers.

Chen Shu did not forget the main business—

Qingcai Keke: Two senior brothers, what is this group for? Oh right, Nameless, you are a senior brother, right?

Nameless Person: I am a senior brother, hello junior sister!

Grandma Always Says: For making friends and dating.

Nameless Person: Junior sister Qingcai, don't listen to him.

Haoran Zhengqi: This is a communication platform, mainly for exchanging information on ancient cultivation content that is regulated and suppressed. The members who have joined are all students in University City who have excellent talent and also have inclinations in this area. I hope this platform can help everyone grow and avoid detours.

Qingcai Keke: Thank you, group owner boss, *ying ying ying*.

Chen Shu laughed like a goose while typing.

Haoran Zhengqi: You're welcome.

Qingcai Keke: Why doesn't anyone else in the group talk?

Grandma Always Says: They just don't want to talk.

Nameless Person: Since some people have already graduated and others are busy with their own affairs, there is basically no one talking in the group usually.

Such a formal answer.

So formal it doesn't look like an online chat.

Qingcai Keke: Thank you, Senior Brother Nameless~

Qingcai Keke: By the way, group owner boss, did you build this group?

Haoran Zhengqi: I didn't build it, but I am responsible for management. I can perform operations such as muting or removing members. At the same time, I can also provide credit guarantees for you all. In short, if you have anything, you can call me for help. You don't need to avoid me; I know everyone's identity.

"..."

I was having such a good time pretending.

This is a bit awkward.

Fortunately, I have a thick skin.

Qingcai Keke: So, an administrator?

Haoran Zhengqi: Pretty much.

Nameless Person: Junior sister Qingcai, you still haven't posted a photo!

Are you a discipline committee member?

Chen Shu twitched the corner of his mouth.

Qingcai Keke: I can't reveal my identity. If we get familiar later and meet offline, I can show you.

Nameless Person: I hope I can wait for that day!

Qingcai Keke: Definitely, definitely~

Nameless Person: Thank you!

Nameless Person: /hands pressed together

This person's chatting style is so strange. Could it be that, like me, he is establishing a persona for himself?

Chen Shu exited the chat window, entered settings, changed the software name to "One-Click Skip Splash Ads," found a more suitable icon online, and exited the software. Sure enough, the software icon and name on the main screen had both changed.

Try logging in, deliberately entering the wrong password.

【Version too low, disabled】

The software automatically exited the main interface.

"Not bad!"

Chen Shu leaned back against the backrest, very satisfied.

He opened the Ancient Cultivation Group again.

Qingcai Keke: Seniors, does anyone have a high-damage Spell? /pitiful

Grandma Always Says: I have some, which kind do you want?

Qingcai Keke: What do you have, Senior Brother?

Grandma Always Says: I have everything. There is nothing you can't imagine, only things I can't find. For example, the Sword Sect's Sword Control Technique, the Royal Court's Ultimate Sword Dao, the Ming Sect's Undefeated Sacred Body, the Daoist sect's Summoning God Technique, the Buddhist Sect's Three-Headed Six-Armed Subduing Demon Golden Body, and the Ancient Spirit Sect's Blazing Sun World-Extinguishing Divine Art—I have them all here.

Qingcai Keke: Senior Brother is so amazing! You can even get these forbidden techniques!

Chen Shu, in front of the screen, was expressionless—

Do you take me for a fool?

What a great act of posturing!

Qingcai Keke: I don't need anything that powerful, though.

Grandma Always Says: That's true, I forgot you're a newcomer. Then tell me, what do you want? I have everything; consider it helping you grow.

Qingcai Keke: Do you have the Spirit Sect's Confinement Technique? A relatively new version. I don't need the newest, but nothing too old either. I'll make do with that.

Grandma Always Says: I have one from five years ago; that counts as a next-to-new version.

Qingcai Keke: That would be best!

Qingcai Keke: Thank you, Senior Brother~

Grandma Always Says: 20,000 /cool

"？?"

You have to pay for it? I thought I could get it for free.

After all, I acted cute!

Truly disappointing.

Qingcai Keke: It's so expensive.

Grandma Always Says: You couldn't even buy it outside for 200,000. This is the internal price for our group.

Qingcai Keke: But my monthly living expenses are only 2,000.

At this moment, Nameless Person popped up again—

Nameless Person: Isn't it 1,500?

Qingcai Keke: That's 1,500 apart from school; my family gives me an extra 2,000.

Nameless Person: Is 1,500 not enough to spend?

Qingcai Keke: Girls are just better at spending money than boys.

Nameless Person: You're right!

Qingcai Keke: ……

Grandma Always Says: Then come find me when you've saved enough.

Qingcai Keke: Do you have it, Senior Brother Nameless?

Nameless Person: Regrettably, I cannot help you! Sorry!

Qingcai Keke: Then can it be cheaper, Grandma Senior Brother—ah no, Always Says Senior Brother. Ugh, that's so awkward to say.

Qingcai Keke: /pitiful

Grandma Always Says: 15,000, that's the lowest.

Qingcai Keke: What about a normal Spiritual Barrier?

Grandma Always Says: Anywhere from 5,000 to 10,000.

Qingcai Keke: Thank you, Senior Brother, I'll find you when I've saved enough money.

Grandma Always Says: /cool

Chen Shu closed his Mobile Phone, pondering while humming meaninglessly: "I am a girl, a pretty girl..."

It seems this group is still quite useful.

The Confinement Technique is a relatively high-level restrictive barrier, and it can be considered upper-middle tier among all Confinement Techniques.

The gap between a next-to-new version of the Confinement Technique and the latest version is already very small, making it very suitable for modification; if one isn't too demanding of perfection, it can even be used directly. At the same time, this price is much more cost-effective than buying an old version from "Wide and Narrow Alley" to modify.

If he were truly short on money, he could also ask Teacher Shi Qian.

But Teacher Shi Qian would only give him versions from twenty or thirty years ago, which would be much more troublesome to modify; not only would the structure need changing, but the design philosophy of some parts would already be outdated.

Ten or twenty thousand isn't that much, though...

Chen Shu opened his computer and plugged in the Crystal Disk.

He logged into "Wide and Narrow Alley".

Mao Xiansheng hadn't sent him a message for once, and he was actually a bit unaccustomed to it.

He browsed the website casually to see if any reputable and familiar sellers were selling good small Spells or other interesting knowledge. He had already spent several hundred of his initial deposit of over a thousand Black Gold Coins on various miscellaneous small Spells over the past few days.

He hadn't known about this group back then.

Now he felt it was a bit of a loss.

But on second thought, he couldn't obtain everything through this group; having two channels to assist each other and acquire knowledge together was the better choice.

……

Zhang Suannai lay flat on the bed, her two legs kicked high up, and whenever she got excited, she would kick wildly at the air—

This person is also from Ling'an Academy!

And she's a junior student too!

She's probably in the same grade as Ning Qing; I wonder if she's pretty.

Zhang Suannai couldn't help but want to laugh out loud.

It's a pity that in the eyes of the little junior, she is a student from the neighboring Yujing Academy; she surely could never imagine—that she is not only not a man, but also from the same school as her!

Thinking about how everyone in the group chat had been deceived by her, played for fools, and how there was a little junior constantly calling her "Senior Brother" and playing along with her showing off, Zhang Suannai, lying on the bed, couldn't help but let out a "hee-hee-hee" laugh.

She couldn't control herself for a moment.

Thinking further that if one day they were to meet in person, and the group members suddenly discovered that this lecherous senior was actually a girl, and an incredibly good-looking one at that, their expressions would surely be spectacular.

"Honk honk honk..."

Zhang Suannai couldn't help but laugh like a goose.

As she laughed, she suddenly covered her mouth and glanced toward the door—

Her roommate had been very strange lately, always loving to stare at her from afar; the more she acted differently than usual, the more her roommate loved to stare at her, which made her feel uneasy.

She mustn't let her roommate hear her laughing, otherwise, she would definitely show that expression again.

That expression...

It wasn't easy to describe.

It was like someone going to the zoo and discovering, "Hey, this monkey is sitting there contemplating life," and then the person starts guessing, "What is this monkey thinking about?"

Zhang Suannai didn't like this feeling.

Wait!

Zhang Suannai had a premonition.

She immediately rolled off the bed, put on her shoes, and opened the balcony door in one motion.

She saw her roommate standing quietly on the balcony, hands on the railing, gazing into the distance in a trance, but she strongly suspected that this person was actually pricking up her ears to listen to the movements in her room—from this position, she could hear her laughter perfectly clearly.

"Ning Qing!"

Ning Qing turned her head quietly and looked at her.

Zhang Suannai felt a bit uncomfortable, but she still happily leaned in: "I just discovered a tongue twister, recite it with me: red carp and green donkey... pfft!"

"Red carp and green carp... that's not right either!"

"Red carp and standing carp and donkey... eh, that's it! You recite it, let's see if you can say it smoothly!"

"..."

"Oh, I forgot you can't talk."

Zhang Suannai shrank her head back, as if wanting to avoid her roommate's gaze in this way, and said: "Then remember it, when you can talk, you recite it for me, let's see if you can say it smoothly!"

Ning Qing had no expression.

Zhang Suannai fled back to her room, feeling that it was happier to pretend to be a boy in the group chat.

At least in the group chat, there was no Ning Qing observing from the shadows.