"I'll be straightforward, I'm willing to cover all of your resource expenses before the Martial Arts Exam, and ensure the cultivation resources you enjoy are even more advanced than those of the scions of Ancestor Star.
Moreover, I'll find a way to let you engage in Visualization Collection Dao ahead of time, and find a way to help you close the gap with other candidates."
Li Hu ticked off his fingers as he elaborated on the benefits he could offer Su Tu.
"So, Su Tu, are you tempted?"
He lifted his head and flashed a broad grin, revealing his white teeth.
The sight was... damn, a bit of an eyesore.
Imagine this: a muscular man nearly two meters tall, asking you with a beaming smile if you're tempted. What kind of scene is that?
Yet, the terms Li Hu proposed indeed made Su Tu quite intrigued.
Leaving aside talent and perseverance, the most crucial aspect of a martial artist's cultivation is spending money.
According to Su Tu's findings on the forums, the expenditure needed to nurture a high-level martial artist even exceeds the total market value of some publicly traded companies.
Food, clothing, shelter, and transportation all consume money voraciously.
The basic version of the Asia-Pacific Particle Suit, which enhances the vitality of the physical body, costs at least 60 million.
A meal from a Starry Beast package that replenishes bodily deficits and boosts cell metabolism is priced at 20 million.
A sleep in a Permanent Sleep Pod, which induces deep sleep to enhance heart and spirit aptitude, costs 100 million per night.
And these are just the tip of the iceberg of daily expenses for a martial artist, with numerous other costs for techniques, visualization, potions, supplements, and more.
The length of those figures was something Su Tu hadn't even encountered in advanced math, yet now they were real expenditures.
Although Su Tu, at his current realm, doesn't require such extravagant expenses, he still needs a substantial amount, at least one that his family cannot bear.
But now, Li Hu is willing to bear these expenses and ensure that Su Tu receives better treatment than those scions.
One can imagine, behind Li Hu's casual words, the kind of capital accumulation that Su Tu had never witnessed in his life.
Su Tu admits, he is indeed a bit tempted at the moment. This is an unprecedented opportunity—if the Martial Arts Dao is a mysterious world he has never touched, Lin Feiyang gave him the key to enter, Zhou Wuliang led him into that world, and now Li Hu is pulling him onto a shortcut!
However, he was not overwhelmed by greed at this moment; his breathing remained steady, and his gaze was clear.
There is no such thing as baseless kindness in this world, let alone when such kindness involves immense wealth.
Su Tu's impression of Li Hu is not bad. The other person not only helped him choose a Basic Skill but also preemptively mitigated an unwarranted trouble for him yesterday.
But after all, they've only known each other for a few days.
His talent is indeed quite good, but Li Hu is from New Star, one of the fifteen new stars in the Federation, encompassing fifteen star systems and countless trillions of people. With such a population base, it's no surprise to have a martial arts prodigy emerge.
Su Tu is not narcissistic enough to believe that his talent alone is sufficient for Li Hu to make such a decision.
"Brother Hu, why make such a decision?" Su Tu looked up at Li Hu, his voice clear.
Noticing Su Tu's calm demeanor, Li Hu's appreciation deepened. He thought to himself, "Damn, this calm demeanor, resembling those Celestial Beings Venerables, going back, I'll draft an outline, my Venerable Junior Brother is going to be a hit!"
"Because I want to share in your qi fortune." Li Hu solemnly explained to Su Tu.
"Every cosmic being that comes to Ancestor Star is under severe suppression. Humans fare slightly better, with only martial arts realms being suppressed. For beasts, their blood and vitality are drastically weakened."
"But humans from Ancestor Star are not affected at all. Your martial arts cultivation on Ancestor Star faces no suppression. A Celestial Being Grandmaster observed that Ancestor Star holds qi fortune, which only protects the local humans of Ancestor Star, allowing them to exhibit their normal strength.
Beasts need to devour humans to recover their blood and gain some qi fortune, while New Star humans need to latch onto qi fortune."
"Simply put, this means forming connections with the locals. For example, by being friends with you, I gain a part of your qi fortune, reducing the suppression on me.
According to that Celestial Being Grandmaster's analysis, the protection of Ancestor Star's qi fortune varies per person; the stronger one's martial talent, the more qi fortune they receive,
I see great potential in your talent, believing that the qi fortune around you is extraordinarily significant. By supporting you, I aim to strengthen our connection. If you become one of the ten in the future, not only can I lift Ancestor Star's suppression on me, but I may also receive qi fortune's blessing,
Moreover, to enter this impressive relic I'm telling you about, one must bear qi fortune. That is my desire!!"
Upon hearing Li Hu's explanation, Su Tu understood much, such as why Kashashitsu said his strength was less than one percent upon arriving on Earth, why Zhou Wuliang wanted to recruit Blue Star students—all ultimately aimed at reducing Ancestor Star suppression.
If, as Li Hu said, he wishes to share in Su Tu's qi fortune to enter the relic, accepting his investment would be wholly advantageous and indeed worth considering.
"Alright, Brother Hu, I'm willing to accept your investment. I will do my utmost to vie for that position among the ten!" Su Tu ultimately chose to accept Li Hu's support.
Hearing this, Li Hu beamed with joy.
"Great! Whenever you want something done, just tell Brother Hu, he's got you covered, and even if I can't, we've got our teacher!"
Li Hu, in a great mood, placed the other two unopened boxes on the coffee table.
"I promised to find a way to help you engage in Visualization Collection Dao ahead of time. Actually, I kind of bluffed. To be honest, even if you hadn't agreed, I planned to help anyway. See? I've got the things with me."
Li Hu said to Su Tu with an earnest grin.
Su Tu, touched, responded: "Brother Hu, you treat me just like your own younger brother!"
"Of course!" Li Hu laughed heartily.
Nobody cared whether that statement was true.
"Martial arts cultivation is all about mind-body techniques; the physical body can be honed, techniques can be refined, but the heart and spirit is the realm of geniuses!" Li Hu said.
"The Martial God pioneered Visualization Collection Dao, focusing on subduing the heart and spirit, as within our heart and spirit lies immeasurable divine power. Humans have this treasury yet remain unaware. Visualization Collection Dao aims to mobilize the hidden power within the heart and spirit."
"Our teacher uses studying to enhance the mind and spirit's height, typically only martial artists with over a hundred opened acupoints within their body can barely engage in Collection Dao."
"But I've looked into it; Su Tu, you're a straight-A student—your mind and spirit height should be decent, and with several auxiliary methods, you should be able to engage in Collection Dao ahead of time."
"What do I need to do?" Su Tu inquired.
"First, we need to assess your heart and spirit aptitude, and then see; height can be supplemented, but aptitude cannot. The heart and spirit is the realm of geniuses, an individual's future limit is dictated by their heart and spirit talent; there's a popular saying: 'From birth, it is determined who is divine and who is ordinary.' Li Hu took out an object resembling a pebble from one of the boxes.
"This is the Heart and Spirit Stone; it reacts differently based on your heart and spirit aptitude." Saying this, he handed it to Su Tu.
Su Tu took the Heart and Spirit Stone, but it showed no change.
"Now imagine a scene in your mind, any scene will do; just by imagining, the Heart and Spirit Stone will react. This stone is quite interesting; it lights up—the stronger your heart and spirit aptitude, the more extravagant the color, and the more intense the brightness."
Holding the Heart and Spirit Stone, Su Tu found it intriguing. He closed his eyes, and the scene he imagined was of his daily Visualization Collection Dao practice.
Two moons in the sky, strange rocks on Heishan, the White Tiger crouching, the Cyan Snake transforming into a dragon. For some reason, these usually static scenes seemed to come alive in Su Tu's mind today.
"I remember when a prodigy on Heavenly Star was assessed for aptitude; that guy was so red, he resembled a giant lantern. Now he's almost a celestial...."
Recalling a prodigy he met, Li Hu's words trailed off as he paused in shock.
His dark face was illuminated by multi-colored lights filling the entire room; these lights seemed to shimmer with countless phantoms drifting and wandering beneath them.
"The book title needs to be changed.... It can't be 'My Venerable Junior Brother' anymore...."
"It has to be... 'My Junior Brother Martial God!'" Li Hu muttered, dumbfounded, his throat dry.