Chapter 292: Underground Mana Trade

"Pay money?" Zhang Yu asked curiously. "Is that true?"

Yu Xinghan sneered, "That old man, as expected, gives everyone a different price."

Thinking of this, he had already contacted Li Xuelian through his device.

Yu Xinghan: Senior Sister, there's something I need to tell you...

Li Xuelian: I know. What do you want to do?

Yu Xinghan: He is my teacher, after all, so it's fine to give him some spirit coins as a token of respect, but his asking price is too high. I'll give him 0.1 spirit coins at most as a referral fee.

Yu Xinghan: Doesn't Master have a student who works as security on a construction site? Can you ask about his connections?

Li Xuelian: Ever since Father had his accident, all his students have been avoiding him. I'm afraid they can't help you.

Yu Xinghan: It's just to ask. This civil engineering teacher of mine is taking advantage of new students like me who have no channels to understand the market. As long as we can get more price channels, it shouldn't be hard to push his price down.

After finishing the conversation with Yu Xinghan, Li Xuelian asked again, "The three months of basic courses are over. What are your and Zhang Yu's current rankings?"

Upon hearing their results, Li Xuelian smiled with satisfaction and replied, "Your scores are quite good. I found a friend who can help you improve your magic power quality."

Yu Xinghan's heart stirred, and he asked, "Not through the platform?"

Li Xuelian: An underground transaction.

Hearing the news from Li Xuelian, Yu Xinghan informed Zhang Yu, who was nearby.

Zhang Yu knew that transactions conducted through the magic power platform were legal and formal, with every bit of magic power inspected and guaranteed by the platform, but they also incurred significant processing fees. However, direct private transactions with others could save on fees but lacked guarantees and might even lead to magic power fraud, such as low-quality magic power being passed off as high-quality, or magic power that was indeed higher quality but not as high as claimed.

Furthermore, underground magic power transactions violated school rules. If caught, students would face fines and a deduction in their overall score, leading to a drop in their ranking. Zhang Yu had once considered finding someone for a transaction, but lacking connections on the second level and trustworthy trading partners, he eventually gave up the idea.

Now, hearing it was Li Xuelian's recommendation, he immediately nodded and said, "It's worth a try."

Zhang Yu thought to himself, "It's not just Le Mulan's Dao seed that needs my assistance with higher magic power quality. Improving magic power quality itself can also enhance the effects of many of my cultivation techniques and increase training efficiency."

So, following Li Xuelian's directions, the two arrived at the empty streets of the 85th floor of Ten Thousand Laws University City.

Yu Xinghan said, "Is this the Mortal Zone? Why isn't there a single mortal here?"

Zhang Yu looked at the empty street before him and shook his head. Although he often came below the 100th floor to practice cultivation techniques, he had yet to see a single mortal on these streets. The mortals here seemed to always stay in their rooms, never needing to go in and out. The entire street below the 100th floor was always desolate, with no one in sight.

Zhang Yu thought, "With no one on the streets and a lack of surveillance, the area below the 100th floor is indeed suitable for underground transactions. But given Ten Thousand Laws University's capabilities, it shouldn't be hard to thoroughly monitor the area below the 100th floor. Why..."

A moment later, Li Xuelian appeared before them and said, "It's me. Today is your first transaction, so I'll take you."

Li Xuelian led the two to the agreed location, where a dark figure appeared before them. The figure was completely shrouded in a layer of black mist, entirely concealing their appearance. Of course, Zhang Yu and Yu Xinghan were the same. Under the guidance of Master Xinghuo, they had diligently practiced techniques to control their muscles and alter their appearances. At this moment, one had transformed into the likeness of Gongshu Jin, and the other into Ji Yuanzhu. Li Xuelian, even more so, had transformed into the appearance of a strange man, with no trace of her original self.

Watching Li Xuelian exchange secret signals with the figure, Zhang Yu used the power of his detection ritual to sense the area, confirming there were no cameras.

After exchanging the secret signals, the figure nodded slightly and said, "My rule here is money first, then magic power."

Yu Xinghan asked, "How many spirit coins for 100 units of magic power?"

The figure sneered and said, "Minimum sale is 10,000 units."

Yu Xinghan frowned and said, "We can't take that much at once, and do you even have 10,000 units of magic power?"

The figure seemed accustomed to this, stating calmly, "Of course, it's a batch transaction. I can transfer 100 or 200 units at a time..."

After the final negotiation, the figure's offer was 1 spirit coin for 10,000 units of magic power. Zhang Yu thought, "It's indeed much cheaper than the platform price."

Li Xuelian then said, "I need to inspect the goods."

The figure, accustomed to this, projected a stream of magic power into Li Xuelian's palm. Li Xuelian's eyes lit up. "Such pure magic power."

"Magic power quality of 175." The figure smiled and said, "I always provide good quality. You'll understand once you use it."

Li Xuelian nodded to Zhang Yu and Yu Xinghan, signaling that there was no problem, then messaged them: "Transfer the money to me. I'll handle the transaction with him to reduce your risk of exposure."

Although they were somewhat worried about being scammed by handing over the spirit coins all at once, after Li Xuelian's repeated assurances, Zhang Yu and Yu Xinghan, trusting her, paid the money. Each of them paid 0.5 spirit coins, totaling 1 spirit coin transferred to Li Xuelian. Li Xuelian, under the figure's guidance, then used 1 spirit coin to buy a few books from a second-hand market.

Next, under Li Xuelian's supervision, the figure extended both hands, placing them on Zhang Yu and Yu Xinghan respectively. The next moment, Zhang Yu felt an incredibly dense yet non-aggressive high-quality magic power surge into his body. Under the figure's precise control, it remained perfectly still. Zhang Yu quickly circulated his own magic power, using it to impact this high-quality magic power. With each impact, he could feel his magic power becoming more resilient. At the same time, high-quality magic power continuously mixed with his own. Although it was quickly diluted and dispersed, the remnants still made Zhang Yu feel his magic power becoming more concentrated.

In a blink of an eye, the mass of magic power infused by the figure had completely dissipated. Zhang Yu felt the changes in his own magic power and thought to himself, "If I had such an expert continuously infusing me with this high-quality magic power every day, my magic power quality would surely improve by leaps and bounds." Zhang Yu wished he could enjoy this service constantly, but he knew how often he could afford it depended not on his desire, but on his bank account.

He checked his account balance. In the three months since starting university, apart from a 2.5 scholarship and the 5 spirit coins Bai Zhenzhen gave him, he had no other income. Although he had been living frugally every day, factoring in monthly rent, internet fees, communication fees, transportation, food, the cost of purchasing cultivation techniques, and the 0.5 spirit coins for this high-quality magic power purchase, Zhang Yu now had just over 11.4 spirit coins left.

"I'll need at least 7 or 8 spirit coins to purchase the Earth and Wood Saint Body and Qi Meridian Flow cultivation techniques later. Plus daily expenses..."

Zhang Yu sighed inwardly. Finally, after discussing with Yu Xinghan, they decided that each would pay 0.5 spirit coins, totaling 1 spirit coin per month, to purchase 10,000 units of magic power, with the figure infusing it into each of them once daily. Zhang Yu thought that since their current performance was quite good, a slower improvement in magic power quality was completely acceptable.

The figure, however, said, "Only a little over 333 units of magic power infused between the two of you daily? That's only a 2% or 3% increase in magic power quality per month. And the higher your magic power quality gets, the less effective it becomes, requiring even larger infusions. Given your aptitude, you could definitely get more infusions daily. I think 5 spirit coins a month could greatly accelerate the improvement of your magic power quality."

Rejecting the figure's sales pitch, Zhang Yu and Yu Xinghan accepted the remaining magic power infusion for the day and returned to their dorms, intending to slowly digest it through cultivation.

But before entering the dorm, Yu Xinghan said, "You go back first. I have something to do."

Zhang Yu glanced at him curiously and asked, "Aren't you going back to digest it quickly? Where are you going?"

Yu Xinghan said impatiently, "It's none of your business."

He shot out like lightning, the image of Li Xuelian before and after her transformation constantly appearing in his mind. He felt his incredibly strong body gradually heating up as his blood flow accelerated, and his mind began to wander wildly. Yu Xinghan thought to himself, "It's been a while since I last saw Senior Sister. Why does she feel more and more... I can't take it anymore. I need to release this, otherwise, I won't be able to settle down for meditation." Thinking of this, a trace of shame involuntarily rose in Yu Xinghan's heart. "This is unpaid overtime." Sometimes he wanted to kneel and beg himself not to do such unpaid work, but found that he could continue even while kneeling.

Soon after Zhang Yu and Yu Xinghan left, the person in the black mist looked at Li Xuelian and said, "Boss, shouldn't you give your friends a discount?"

Li Xuelian said calmly, "You can give them a discount once, but can you give them a discount for life? Let's go, it's time for work."

With a flash of their figures, the two sped off towards the lower levels of the university city.

The next day arrived. It was the first day of the official school year in September. Zhang Yu checked his class schedule and found that the three basic courses—Dao Heart, Magic Power, and Body Refining—were largely the same, though the number of classes had slightly decreased. In contrast, the number of specialized courses had greatly increased, with many new classes on construction and inspection, aiming to train them to effectively use the various civil engineering skills they had learned over the past three months.

During today's construction class, Zhang Yu was seen activating a basic-level cultivation technique called "Concrete Aura," using the method of "controlling mud with qi" to pour large amounts of concrete into a target location several meters away.