Zhao Chi accepted Yang Xiong's friend request.
Yang Xiong immediately made a system voice call.
"Hey, Zhao Chi, how are things on your end?"
Zhao Chi replied:
"Not bad. You?"
"Hehe, I'm doing okay too. The Beastmen are really great, just as strong as I imagined. The only downside is that today I got three female Beastmen and only two male ones. I hope more male Beastmen show up tomorrow."
"Is your Beastman Hero male or female?"
"Male, of course! He's tall and buff, and his pecs... they're like two giant watermelons!"
Giant watermelons...
That metaphor...
Zhao Chi couldn't help but glance at Gu Qing.
It was a very fitting metaphor.
She also had two small watermelons.
Heavy, yet they didn't sag.
The ones on Tang Ruan next to her were two extra-small watermelons.
'How did I end up staring?'
Zhao Chi averted his gaze and typed: "Sounds impressive."
Yang Xiong's voice was full of pride: "Of course! One swing of his club, and a bandit was flattened."
"You've already started clearing the area around your territory?"
"Yeah, it's already the afternoon. I finished clearing a while ago. You haven't started yet?"
"Oh, I got delayed for a bit while establishing my territory."
"What? You dared to get delayed on the first day? Hurry up and clear it out, you can get a lot of Supplies. Fight what you can now, or you won't sleep well tonight."
"Yeah, I know."
"Know my ass! If you knew, why would you waste time? I'll come over and help you!"
As he spoke, Yang Xiong sent a visit request.
The system sent a notification at the same time:
[You have received 1 visit request]
Zhao Chi opened the details page:
[Visit Request]:
[Visitor] Yang Xiong
[Accompanying Personnel] 3 total: Beastman Hero x1, Beastman x2
Zhao Chi knew he meant well.
But... Zhao Chi looked at the women beside him.
All of them, with their fair, delicate skin, were busy working.
Although they were all wearing shorts.
But they were *really* shorts—very, very short shorts.
Their upper bodies were completely bare.
Pairs of oranges, peaches, coconuts, and watermelons swayed back and forth.
It really wasn't a convenient time for outsiders to visit.
Besides, Zhao Chi didn't want to expose his new Race just yet.
Although the instructors would most likely find out after the school term test.
But the later, the better.
So he clicked "Reject."
Yang Xiong asked, confused: "Huh? Why'd you reject me, you punk?"
Zhao Chi replied: "Bro, thanks for the offer. I appreciate the thought. I can handle these early-game mobs on my own."
"I know you can handle it, I just wanted to help you speed things up, you know?"
"I get it, but don't let me slow down your progress. Don't forget there's a test in seven days. You should focus on developing your own territory. Don't worry about me, really."
"You sure? But you've got a point. I really shouldn't have wasted time chatting in the group. I'll hang up then. If you need help, just ask."
"Okay, thanks."
"Nothing to thank me for. Bye."
Yang Xiong hung up the call.
After Yang Xiong's call, Zhao Chi finally noticed in his communication tab that the class group chat was about to explode with messages.
There were two class group chats.
One was the official group with the instructors in it.
It was basically only used for posting announcements, or for certain students to suck up to Li Ruanyu.
The other was a private group, with no instructors, just students.
The private group was much more unrestrained.
Right now, the private class group chat had 99+ unread messages.
Zhao Chi opened it.
Instantly, a flood of messages filled his screen.
It was all chat messages from his classmates.
Yang Xiong had been chatting up a storm in there too.
These chat messages weren't just text.
There were also voice messages, pictures, and even videos.
These students hadn't yet been beaten down by the harsh realities of the world.
Many of them were sharing their experiences.
Others were posting pictures of their Heroes.
Some even posted videos of battles.
Zhao Chi clicked on the newest video.
It was from the class beauty, Lu Yi.
On the screen, two towering Giants stood ahead.
They were nearly 2.6 meters tall.
Although slightly smaller than standard Giants, their Combat Power was still very high.
Both Giants were holding a Stone Axe in each hand.
They could fight in melee or throw them.
In the video, Lu Yi's quiet voice could be heard asking:
"Can 5 Elves and 1 Elf Hero shoot these 2 Giants to death? Without any of my units dying? There are no trees around, it's a rocky, hilly area."
After Lu Yi posted this video, all other conversations stopped.
Everyone started giving her advice.
Someone suggested luring them to an area with trees to shoot them down.
Someone else suggested buying some Poison and coating the Arrow tips to help poison them.
Others were discussing the Giants' weaknesses or tactical arrangements.
Over a hundred related messages popped up.
Finally, the vice class president, Cao Feng, put an end to Lu Yi's plea for help.
Cao Feng also posted a video.
In the video were five sleek, jet-black leopards.
They were clearly two sizes larger than normal leopards.
They were lying quietly on the ground.
Letting Cao Feng stroke their heads.
Cao Feng's voice in the video was loud:
"Lu Yi, I'll go help you draw the Giants' attention. My Shadow Leopards have high agility. Watch me toy with these 2 Giants until they're dead."
Lu Yi quickly replied with a voice message:
"Wow, Cao Feng, are Shadow Leopards your starting Race? A pure combat Race, that's really impressive."
Hearing this, Cao Feng was clearly very pleased.
But he pretended to be nonchalant and said:
"It's nothing, I just relied on my family. But these Shadow Leopards really are powerful. If anyone else needs help, feel free to ask."
Shadow Leopards were indeed powerful.
Like Skeletons, they couldn't perform production or construction tasks; they were a pure combat Race.
The Shadow Leopard was an animal-type Race.
They couldn't equip Weapons, only Armor.
However, a dedicated Beast Tamer could use materials to strengthen their claws and teeth, which was basically equivalent to strengthening a weapon.
And an Enchanter could also apply Enchantments to their claws and teeth.
All in all, they weren't much worse off than having weapons.
Their speed was indeed very fast.
In a charge, they could outrun Elves.
They were very good at ambushes and Pursuit.
Shadow Leopards' Night Vision Ability was extremely strong, giving them a huge advantage in night battles.
You could say it was a Race with decent melee capabilities and strong tactical potential.
It seemed Cao Feng's family did have some resources.
Zhao Chi didn't know the exact prices.
But buying a Shadow Leopard "Racial Bloodline" should cost at least a hundred Gold Coins.
Although this price was high, most families could afford it if they gritted their teeth and saved up.
But few families were willing to make the investment.
Especially commoner families.
After all, a Race like the Shadow Leopard, while excelling in certain areas, was still considered an Ordinary Race.
It was a bit stronger than the five starting Races, but not by a huge margin.
In some aspects, it was even weaker.
Overall, the cost-performance ratio wasn't high.
So, families willing to spend money on an Ordinary Race indeed had some financial strength.
But only *some* strength.
After all, the truly wealthy would just buy a high-tier Racial Bloodline directly.
High-tier Races were very expensive.
They cost thousands, or even tens of thousands, of Gold Coins, which an average family could never afford.
Besides, Zhao Chi's Class 4 was a commoner class.
In fact, the entire Eighth Lord Academy was a commoner academy.
The nobles weren't here at all.
Nor were the mega-rich.
The investments those people made were something these commoners could only dream of.
But then again...
Even for commoners, a high initial investment could still boost a Lord's power and reduce the risk of dying in battle.
However, family ties in this world were a bit different.
A woman could be married to multiple men at the same time.
A man could also marry multiple women.
There were even cases of Lords marrying their subjects.
The result was that emotional bonds were weaker, and self-interest was stronger.
In this environment, large families prioritized political connections, and unfavored offspring received very little investment.
Yang Xiong was the son of his father's seventh concubine, which was why he wasn't valued.
Smaller families, or commoner families, found it even harder to invest too much.
After all, the Lord Profession was very dangerous.
The income was high, but it required fighting Magical Beasts directly, so the danger was also high.
It was easy to die in battle.
Even if one didn't die and managed to escape the territory in time, the territory would still be destroyed.
The World Stone would be stolen or destroyed.
The Racial Bloodline would also disappear along with the territory.
Commoners could hardly bear such a loss.
They would lose their entire investment.
If they hadn't invested in the first place, at least they'd still have their savings.
That's why most ordinary families chose to hold onto their savings.
Instead of investing heavily.