Shu Feng raised an eyebrow and said, "Ma Jin, the two cases hold twenty million! I can only take one!"
"You did most of the work hunting down those scumbags. I only provided the intel. If I took both cases, the captain and the others would laugh me to death if they found out."
Ma Jin shook his head slightly, his voice full of pride. "I have a lot of businesses in Lei Jiang City. Thirty percent of all the entertainment venues—bars, karaoke clubs, dance halls, you name it—are mine. I also have shares in many of the others. Every year, my income is no less than fifty million."
"Many experts in the Spirit Master Realm don't have an annual income as high as mine! That's the secret to how I was able to advance to Spirit Warrior. For people like us with ordinary talent, if you want to advance, you need money!"
"Ah Feng, this is all just a windfall. Twenty million won't last long. All sorts of Spirit Pills cost money, and Top-Level Secret Techniques cost money too. You have to remember, if you want to keep climbing, don't miss any opportunity to make money. Find a way to set up some businesses. You can only continue your cultivation if you have money," Ma Jin said with a serious expression.
Shu Feng insisted, "I know! Ma Jin, ten million is more than enough for me."
Ma Jin asked, "Can you cultivate a Spirit Warrior Level Void Demon and then let me bind with it?"
Shu Feng replied, "Not right now, but it might be possible in the future!"
Ma Jin laughed heartily. "Good, then consider the other ten million my investment in you. In the future, once you can cultivate a Spirit Warrior Level Void Demon, just give one to me."
Shu Feng pondered for a moment before saying, "In that case, thank you, Ma Jin!"
'A Spirit Warrior Level Void Demon... just its Extraordinary trait of being an Invisible Void Demon is already terrifying. If used properly, a living Void Demon is worth more than ten million.'
'My aptitude is very ordinary, and my cultivation speed is too slow. Only by constantly taking pills like the Basic Spirit Cultivation Pill can I cultivate quickly and grow stronger. The stronger I get, the faster I can earn money. To create that virtuous cycle, this first pot of gold is crucial. It was hard for me to refuse that ten million.'
"There aren't many young Spiritualists in Lei Jiang City. Once you get into Shuijing High School, you'll meet many geniuses from all over the Qianyuan Republic. At that point, Shuijing High School will be divided into the Regular Class, Honors Class, Elite Class, Genius Class, and Celestial Pride Class."
"Upon entering your first year, those with the cultivation of a Third-level Spirit Warrior Apprentice can directly enter the Honors Class. A Fifth-level Spirit Warrior Apprentice can get into the Elite Class. Level 7 gets you into the Genius Class. And only Spirit Warrior Apprentices at Level 9 or above can enter the Celestial Pride Class!"
"The higher the level of the class you enter, the more training and resources you'll receive in the future. So, you absolutely cannot afford to slack off."
"Back in my day, I only got into the Regular Class, so the training I received wasn't very intensive. I had to take so many detours to get to where I am today."
"As for the geniuses from the Celestial Pride Class in my year, several of them are already Spirit Sect Level experts, true big shots. And here I am, still just a mere Level 9 Spirit Warrior. My strength, status, and wealth can't even be mentioned in the same breath as theirs."
Ma Jin took out a cigar, lit it, and took a deep drag. He let out a soft sigh, his expression full of melancholy.
Shu Feng said, "I'll work hard!"
Ma Jin took a puff of his cigar and blew out a smoke ring. "Shu Feng, our line of work might seem glamorous, but it's also incredibly dangerous. If I die someday, remember to help take care of my family."
Shu Feng hesitated for a moment before saying, "Ma Jin, it doesn't seem like Void Demons appear all that often."
A flash of terror crossed Ma Jin's eyes. "That's because you've never encountered a truly terrifying Void Demon. I was on a mission once. A Great Spirit Master led a team of seven Spirit Masters and twenty-three Spirit Warriors to eliminate a Ghostly Void Demon. In the end, only one Spirit Master and two Spirit Warriors made it out alive. I was one of them."
Ma Jin said, "It's one thing if nothing major happens in a third- or fourth-tier city like ours. But if a powerful Void Demon were to wander in, we wouldn't stand a chance of stopping it."
Shu Feng said with great seriousness, "Ma Jin, rest assured. If I achieve anything in the future, I will never forget the help you've given me."
Ma Jin laughed heartily and clapped Shu Feng on the shoulder. "Haha, I knew it! I wasn't wrong about you! Let's go!"
Back home, Shu Feng lay on his bed, tossing and turning, filled with excitement. 'Twenty million! I have twenty million, what should I use it for? That's right, buy a house! The house here is terrible!'
Xinyuan District was a low-end residential complex with no property management. Security was a mess, petty theft was rampant, pyramid scheme recruiters congregated there, and the general environment was poor.
Wang Juan had always dreamed of moving into a big, spacious, and bright house.
'Mom and Dad's jobs are too tough. I could open a convenience store for them to run. That would lighten their load.'
'Basic Spirit Cultivation Pills... with twenty Spirit Cultivation Pills, I could secure a spot in Shuijing High School's Honors Class! I might even be able to make a push for the Elite Class.'
The next day, Shu Feng went to Beiling Street and placed an order, spending 2.1 million and 21 Contribution Points to buy twenty-one Basic Spirit Cultivation Pills in one go.
That night, Shu Feng swallowed a Basic Spirit Cultivation Pill and activated his Spirit Cultivation Technique 2.0 to begin absorbing the Spiritual Power within it.
'0.66... A single Basic Spirit Cultivation Pill can raise my Spiritual Power limit by 0.66.'
As soon as he finished cultivating, Shu Feng immediately entered the mysterious Base Space to check his stats. This visible progress filled him with motivation to continue cultivating.
A flash of regret appeared in Shu Feng's eyes. 'My aptitude seems to have improved a lot, but compared to a real genius, I'm still worlds apart.'
According to the cultivation guides on the official Guardian Flame network, the most monstrously talented geniuses didn't need any pills. In the Spirit Warrior Apprentice Realm, they could increase their Spiritual Power by two units a day. If they did use a Basic Spirit Cultivation Pill, these monstrous geniuses could even increase it by six to eight units a day.
However, those monstrous-level geniuses rarely took pills like the Basic Spirit Cultivation Pill. This was because taking such pills would build up a resistance.
For each pill in the Spirit Cultivation Pill series—Basic, Mid-Level, and High-Level—one could only consume 100 of them. The effects would also diminish with each one taken. After the 100th pill, they would have no effect at all.
Those monstrous geniuses would only take a Spirit Pill or Magic Potion when they needed to break through a bottleneck.
The Spirit Cultivation Pills were developed specifically for Spiritualists with ordinary talent, like Shu Feng and Ma Jin.