Chapter 47: A Boring Daily Routine in the Dormitory

A moment later.

Meng Chunqiu held the "Great Xia Poetry and Prose" and sat silently in the corner of the sofa, appearing to be reading seriously.

Jiang Lai also sat on the sofa, his face covered in injuries.

Chen Shu glanced at his appearance while feeling very curious about it:

"Where do you fight in the Arena?"

"The Underground Arena outside the city."

"Why? Can't the classmates in your department satisfy you?"

"It's true that it's a bit..." Jiang Lai said very embarrassedly, "but it's mainly to earn money."

"Did you win or lose?"

"I won."

"You won and still got beaten up like this?"

"It's very normal; the spectators love it this way. But with a Martial Artist's physique, these superficial wounds won't be visible by tomorrow, and they'll be fine in a few days."

"Do you go fight often?"

"Just about."

"When did you start?"

"Fifteen years old."

"Fifteen? Are you that short on money?"

"..." Jiang Lai was silent for a moment, "Just consider it sparring; the practice effect in the Arena is better."

"That's true, anyway Martial Artists have to spar normally, might as well go fight in the Arena, it's more realistic and you can earn money." Chen Shu said while eyeing his expression, then paused, "Then haven't you been fighting for five years? You must have saved up quite a few fans, right?"

"Not that many..."

"Is this a quick way to make money?"

"Very quick."

After answering, Jiang Lai glanced at him, knowing that he also practiced martial arts: "If you look handsome, you can go fight in exhibition matches; there are many wealthy women, and you can earn a lot too."

"Really?"

"Really."

"Is the intensity of exhibition matches high?"

"Not high, but sometimes you still have to get hurt; it's just getting hurt for the sake of getting hurt." Jiang Lai said honestly, "When I first started, I fought in exhibition matches. Some older sisters loved watching, and when they saw me get hurt, they would throw a lot of money at me."

"So do you earn more now, or did you earn more when you fought in exhibition matches before?"

"More now."

"That's good then." Chen Shu eyed Jiang Lai, whose clothing and style clearly didn't look wealthy, "But you really were beaten up a bit miserably..."

"My skills are inferior to others."

"It's because you don't have any Runes engraved on you, right? I've always been curious, why don't you get them engraved?" Chen Shu pointed out the root of the problem and asked while blinking his eyes, "Everyone else has so many Runes engraved on them, with the support and protection of Rune power; if you're the only one not getting them engraved, you're at such a disadvantage when fighting."

"These are very expensive."

"You have to know how to invest. You've been fighting in the Arena for so many years, saving up that money is useless; you might as well use it to engrave Runes." Chen Shu said, "You have talent; if you had Rune support, your strength could go up at least one level, and you'd earn more money, right? Wouldn't that form a virtuous cycle?"

"I just don't understand these things..."

"See, you're just wasting your good talent."

"I want to wait until later to get them..."

"Sigh..."

Chen Shu sighed. Seeing that Jiang Lai had been made a bit uneasy by his questions, and his bruised baby face looked somewhat aggrieved, he stopped putting pressure on him:

"Doesn't your department provide help?"

"Sophomore, junior, and senior years each have one free Rune engraving opportunity." Jiang Lai answered honestly, "But the school only provides standard Runes for us to choose from. The teachers say these standard Runes are relatively basic, and a small portion are even a bit outdated, so they suggest we bring our own Runes and have the department pay to hire an Engraver to engrave them for us."

"Are there restrictions?"

"The teacher said the department has rigid regulations on the level of the Runes, but if our grades are good, the department can also accept us bringing our own high-level Runes."

"The funding is quite sufficient."

"Maybe."

"You could find a Rune Designer to customize them for you; using standard ones isn't very good."

"The price for that is very expensive, and the higher the level of the Rune, the more expensive the design fee. If you don't do high-level ones, after you advance, the original Runes might not be of much use, and you'd have to scrape them off and redesign and re-engrave them; it's such a waste of money."

"Then let me design them for you. I'm best at handling these Runes. Once I study them, I guarantee they will perfectly fit your overall constitution and fighting habits."

"This..."

"Trust my ability..."

"That's not what I meant..." Jiang Lai said hurriedly, "Then how, how much money would that be?"

"No money." Chen Shu waved his hand, "You've already brought me to tag along for several classes, and I've learned quite a bit, saving a lot of monthly fees for martial arts gyms."

"Thank you, thank you!"

"When you have time, take me to the Arena to see, to broaden my horizons." Chen Shu touched his own handsome face, "Look at this handsome face of mine, and I have such charisma; would it work if I went to fight in exhibition matches?"

"Brother Chen, I can't tell..."

"Alright, understood!"

"I'm sorry..."

"Your apology has hurt me!"

"I'm sorry..."

"..."

Meng Chunqiu sat silently on the other side of the sofa, uninterested in the crude and barbaric topic the two were discussing, but he couldn't focus on the poetry book he was holding either. Only when the two finished speaking and he saw the sky outside the balcony gradually turning dark did Meng Chunqiu finally find an opportunity to interject:

"Brother Jiang, have you had dinner yet?"

"Not yet."

"Brother Chen made Winter Melon and Pork Rib Soup and Boiled Meat Slices tonight, and there's quite a bit left in the fridge. Go heat some up and eat," Meng Chunqiu said. "What Brother Chen makes is always much better than takeout from the cafeteria."

"Oh, okay..."

Jiang Lai prepared to stand up with difficulty.

Seeing this, Chen Shu had no choice but to stop him, saying helplessly, "Just sit there, I'll go heat it up for you."

"I, I'll do it myself."

"I'm afraid you won't be able to hold the bowl steady and will drop it."

"No, I won't, I won't."

"Just sit."

"Then thank you."

"Small matter."

Chen Shu stretched his neck; it really was a hassle.

He hated these troublesome little things the most.

When Jiang Lai sat down at the dining table and picked up his chopsticks, he looked at the steaming food and inexplicably felt a strange sensation, something a bit unfamiliar.

The light of the television lit up the living room.

A voice kept coming from it.

It was the evening news.

"With our country's military assistance, Puluo has basically been pacified internally. This has also thwarted the conspiracies of foreign forces, and the people of Puluo have ushered in long-awaited peace..."

"The maiden flight of the Hunter-34 Fighter Jet has received close attention from the vast number of netizens. As our country's future main Hunter Aircraft model, whether it can be deployed on a Sky Carrier and exactly when it will begin mass production and delivery to the troops are the topics netizens are most concerned about..."

"The 21st World Environmental Conference was held in Yujing. At the conference, our country's representative proposed..."

"According to records in the 'Classic of Strange Beasts' unearthed from the Yuanzhou Fangti, the time of the appearance of strange beasts, which scholars around the world have debated for a long time, has been determined. A history professor at Ling'an Academy stated that this is likely the greatest discovery in the archaeological world in recent years..."

"His Majesty the Emperor visited Yunlai and was welcomed by the people of Zhouye City, the capital of Yunlai, lining the streets. At the Yunlai Royal Palace, the King led his officials in kneeling to welcome him..."

Chen Shu held a glass of milk, sipping it slowly, staring at the images on the Yujing news.

The current Emperor of Yiguo is already very old.

Is it over two hundred and eighty years old?

Has he been on the throne for nearly forty years?

Among the successive emperors of Yiguo, that counts as a long life.

This is because the Imperial Family made a trade-off in their Cultivation Spiritual Method—

It's not the Dayi Imperial Family anymore; it's the Cultivation Spiritual Method researched by the previous dynasty's Imperial Family. Chen Shu doesn't know the principles of this spirit method yet because it still hasn't been opened to the public. He only knows that the advantages of this spirit method are that cultivation is fast and simple, and advancing is relatively easy. Its existence helped the previous dynasty and the current Imperial Family produce many Nine-Tier Cultivators. In fact, if you count the successive emperors of Dayi, you will find that at least two-thirds of them are Nine-Tier Cultivators.

This data is terrifying.

Even if the founding emperor's genes were good, it wouldn't be to this extent.

Most of the credit must go to this spirit method.

But its disadvantages are also obvious; it offers much less of an increase to lifespan—

Excluding those who died in battle, Dayi emperors usually start to experience Spirit Decay at around two hundred and eighty years old as Nine-Tier Cultivators. In ancient times, this lifespan was probably only at the level of an ordinary Seven-Tier Cultivator. Speaking only of Ancient Cultivators, Modern Cultivation Spirit Methods have improved greatly; exactly how many years one can live will only be known in at least a few hundred years.

This spirit method is equivalent to sacrificing the lifespan of an individual emperor to choose the continuation of the entire imperial dynasty.

For the continuation of a dynasty, this is very necessary. In such a world, especially in ancient times, if the ruling Imperial Family lacks High-Tier Cultivators, it is very difficult to last long.

Great Xia is an example.

The emperors of Yiguo are even more competitive.

If your cultivation is not enough, even if you are the only prince, it is very difficult to become emperor.

Just to give an example—

Dayi emperors usually have to wait until Spirit Decay to abdicate, or they die unnaturally or are deposed midway for the crown prince to inherit the throne; they do not support a system of abdication.

So as a crown prince, by the time your father experiences Spirit Decay, you are usually already over two hundred years old.

What do you do before inheriting the throne?

Cultivate hard!

Otherwise, you won't live longer than your father.

So, has there ever been a direct descendant of the Imperial Family who, relying on their peerless talent, did not cultivate this spirit method but instead switched to an ordinary spirit method to obtain a longer lifespan?

This situation has not yet occurred.

It's probably not possible either.

It would disrupt the order.

One must know that three feet above one's head, there are gods.

The news began to play footage of the current emperor visiting the country of Yunlai. Yunlai is currently still a small country with an absolute monarchy. It is said that the prime minister has to kneel every time he reports government affairs to the king, but now the king has led his officials to kneel on the ground before the Yiguo emperor.

This scene is still very surreal.

At least Chen Shu thinks it's surreal.

Yiguo has long since abolished the kowtow ritual, and the emperor basically no longer interferes in government affairs; this Majesty doesn't even enjoy this kind of treatment in his own country.

It's just that the Dayi Emperor is still very formidable.

Currently, fourteen countries in Zhongzhou still recognize Dayi's status as a suzerain state, considering themselves vassal states, and nominally still respect the Yiguo emperor as their leader, with themselves as subjects. Putting that aside, the current emperor of Yiguo is also a genuine Nine-Tier Cultivator. His personal combat power alone can rival a major power's fleet carrying Zhan Lue Wu Qi, and destroying a small country is not a problem.

Only superpowers possess the military strength to kill a Nine-Tier Cultivator using modern weapons without deploying another Nine-Tier Cultivator.

In addition, the Imperial Family has at least several other Nine-Tier Cultivators, and there are other Nine-Tier Cultivators who do not belong to the Imperial Family who pledge loyalty to the emperor. To put it bluntly, most of the Nine-Tier Cultivators of this age are several hundred years old, and a hundred years ago, the Imperial Family still had an absolute status in this country; most of them had bowed their heads before the Imperial Family.

Everyone must give the Yiguo Imperial Family enough face.

And because national policies differ, the Yiguo Emperor sometimes receives better treatment when visiting abroad than he does domestically.

But Chen Shu estimates that he is about at his limit—

At most, a few more years?

Then the Spirit Decay begins.

It is just that the public cannot see the Emperor's Spirit Decay; in order to maintain the Imperial Family's reputation, once an Emperor begins to suffer from Spirit Decay, he usually never appears before the public again.

Chen Shu drank the milk in his cup in one gulp and licked his lips; the taste was very rich and fragrant.

He set the cup on the coffee table and looked beside him; Meng Chunqiu was no longer focused on his book, but was instead looking at the news broadcast.

"Brother Meng."

"Hm? What is it, Brother Chen?"

"Since you're so awesome, could it be that you're a member of the Imperial Family?"

"Hm?"

Meng Chunqiu was stunned for a moment, then said: "Is that strange? Yujing is full of Imperial Family members; there is even one active in the entertainment industry right now. A few days ago, to encourage a lecherous examinee, she wore a short skirt and performed a hot dance, only to be called back by her grandfather later and given a sound thrashing."

"I feel like that examinee was quite serious; just looking at his eyes, he is an upright person."

"Is that so?" Meng Chunqiu did not care about this. "Actually, most people in Yujing with the surname Meng have some connection to the Imperial Family, more or less. Honestly, it's nothing special."

"That is true..." Chen Shu paused. "You wouldn't happen to be direct lineage, would you?"

"You must have guessed that because you saw my extraordinary bearing and overflowing talent, right?" Meng Chunqiu suddenly became happy. "Although, you have a good eye."

"Fine, you aren't."

"Tch..."

The news content changed again, and Meng Chunqiu withdrew his gaze from the television.

He leaned his head back, resting it on the top of the backrest, stared at the ceiling, and said quite leisurely: "Actually, what does the Imperial Family matter, what does the Emperor matter, what do power, wealth, and beauty matter? How much are they worth to me? And what do they have to do with me? Anyway, I can't become the Emperor, so that heavy burden won't fall on me. In this life, I just want poetry, wine, songs, and tea, to be a carefree recluse; it would be best to be a wandering poet. Those messy things, all of them, everything, have absolutely nothing to do with me, Meng Chunqiu."

As he spoke, he paused, full of emotion: "It's a pity that there are very few people like me in this world..."

"So, just an unemployed drifter?"

"Brother Chen."

"Hm?"

"Talk less."

"Fine."

Chen Shu stood up from the sofa, glanced at Jiang Lai, who was still eating, told him to just leave the bowl there when he finished and he would wash it himself tomorrow morning, then got up and returned to his room.

Daily Cultivation.