Five minutes of leisurely walking later, Director Xiao and I finally arrived at his office.
The office was a spacious, cozy room done in warm tones. A sturdy wooden desk stood at the far end, centered against the wall. The free space along the other walls was filled with bookshelves holding, as I knew, mementos dear to the director.
On the wall behind the desk hung portraits of past directors of Mingzhu University. If the portraits moved, I'd have thought I'd stumbled into another magic universe.
The director settled into his carved armchair with soft padding and gestured for me to take the one opposite, which I did without hesitation. I wasn't planning to play silent before talking, so I jumped right in with the question on my mind:
"So, when do I get my honestly won resources?" My blunt question drew only a weary sigh from the director. Apparently, his quota for interesting reactions was tapped out for the day.
"I'm not denying your achievements, of course, but why would a rich, powerful mage like you need resources for Initial-level mages?" He made a tentative jab to slash my reward.
"Don't play poor, Director. The standard prize for beating 200 classmates might not catch my eye, but considering I'll get the resources for all ten thousand students of the green campus..." I lifted the corners of my mouth and went on.
"As I found out, each green campus student gets resources worth five hundred thousand yuan annually. Seems modest, but multiply that by ten thousand students, and I'm looking at the equivalent of five billion yuan. That's enough for five top Spiritual Seeds—even a mage of your caliber wouldn't turn that down, let alone a simple backwater student like me." I showed him I knew the jackpot I'd hit and wouldn't let it go easily.
Director Xiao wearily rubbed the bridge of his nose after my words. He realized he couldn't get away with minimal effort; I'd latched onto those resources like a dog on a juicy steak. No equivalent "treat" would pry my jaws open.
"Mu Bai, I'll be frank with you." He started from afar.
"Our university can't leave students without resources. That's essentially why they come here. If word gets out that the promised entry resources can be easily stripped away, no one will show up next year. It'd tank the university's prestige." He first tried to evoke my understanding of the situation.
"So what?" My universal reply with a blank face told him that ploy had flopped.
"Understand, most of our students are commoner mages like you. Clan ones mostly go to the Imperial University. By taking all the green campus resources for this year, you'd rob those kids of their biggest hope. For fifth-years, this is their last shot to break through to Mid-level and move to the main campus. Your actions could harm an entire generation of mages." Now he leaned on pity and responsibility.
"I don't see the problem—just buy more resources. Considering my sugar mommy could drop two billion on me alone, I doubt the government would balk at paying two and a half times that for ten thousand mages." I showed no comprehension again.
"Ahem, even if they emergency-fund it, gathering such a vast array of Initial-level mage resources quickly would be tough." The director started dodging a direct answer.
After all, the government might boot him from his director post for such freelancing—awarding a Mid-level mage the equivalent of five billion yuan. So he'd have to source the money off-books. He probably didn't have that much on hand, meaning debts or selling gear, which he clearly wanted to avoid.
"I get it, Director." I nodded as if truly repentant. As he sighed in relief, thinking he'd at least gotten installments, I continued:
"So, to spare you the trouble, I'll trade those five billion yuan in resources for just ten years of cultivation in the Three-Step Tower. Five hundred million yuan per year seems a fair price." Director Xiao choked on his words, staring at me in silent shock at my audacity.
"Mu Bai, even as head of the Three-Step Tower, I can't freely grant access..." His message was crystal: "You're asking too much—let's haggle." But to Director Xiao's dismay, who first offered three months in the Three-Step Tower, I came prepared. Though he claimed time on the magic source was priceless and three months his max, I'd dug up a juicy precedent from university forums three years back.
A main campus mage named Fan Jie, who'd topped the light element faculty then, sold his reward week in the Three-Step Tower to a friend for twenty million yuan to buy a Spiritual Seed for his second element.
On other faculties, topping the ranks with one Spiritual Seed would've been near impossible, but light faculty ranks by defense strength, not duels, and the guy had a natural talent for boosting it. Bottom line: Three-Step Tower time got sold. Precedent set.
Now, cultivation time in the Three-Step Tower wasn't "priceless"—it had a clear rate: twenty million yuan per week. Recalculating, my five billion yuan earned me 4.7 years on that magic source. The director had no comeback, and real bargaining began.
In the end, we settled on this: Officially, I forfeit my winnings, and Director Xiao, for my sacrificial spirit and kind heart, hands me a Three-Step Tower pass with a two-year-and-two-month limit.
Others I give it to can use it too. As long as our total time on the magic source doesn't exceed two years and two months. No other limits.
We shook hands, both pleased. He was happy to cut my stay from nearly five years to two years and two months. I was thrilled to slip in the clause letting others use my pass so easily.
After all, I didn't need that much personal time on the magic source. The excess would justify Ai Tutu's future rapid cultivation jump and buy loyalty from a few mages who'd owe me.
Finally, pocketing the fresh Three-Step Tower pass, I bid the director farewell. Each convinced we'd fleeced the other. That's a win-win deal.
Smiling with the pass in hand, I stepped into the university courtyard, planning to find Ai Tutu, apologize for messing up her hair, and thrill her with long-term magic source access—even her family couldn't swing that.
But my smile vanished, my healthy color draining to pale, as Ai Tutu met me at the exit with red eyes. Glancing at me, she asked two simple questions:
"What's with you and Tang Yue? Were you just playing with me before?" She sniffled.
Damn, now I felt like a total asshole.