After finishing his discussion with Wang Yanran and securing the payment, Ye Chuan returned to the classroom.
As soon as he sat down, he felt a pair of eyes quietly watching him from the side.
Turning his head, he saw the girl next to him resting her head on the desk, her cheek pressed against her arm. Her beautiful eyes seemed to want to say something, but in the end, they just drooped slightly.
When their gazes met, Luo Xi’s eyelashes fluttered.
"Chuan Chuan," she called out softly, shifting her face slightly closer to his, her expression dimming a little. "What did you two talk about outside? You looked really happy."
"Wang Yanran also wanted to buy my medicine, so we just went out to discuss it," Ye Chuan explained with a smile. Seeing the unusually subdued girl, he reached out and poked her soft cheek.
"What’s wrong? Didn’t I tell you there’s nothing between us? Are you jealous?"
"You’re different from all those other girls."
Hearing his words, Luo Xi’s mood instantly brightened. The corners of her lips curled upward uncontrollably as she buried her face against his arm. "Hmph, no. I’m just a little sleepy."
During class, after the money had come in, Ye Chuan pulled out his phone and started tinkering with the matter of the Core Formation Pills.
Now that he had suddenly come into wealth, he naturally wanted to seize the momentum and push his cultivation to the Core Formation realm. Otherwise, he wouldn’t be able to continue passively leveling up.
"Within third-grade quality, I won’t ask for more," Ye Chuan muttered to himself. Considering he had no idea about the success rate of refining Core Formation Pills, he figured it was better to be a little conservative.
But then another thought struck him—he had nine million in hand now. Why couldn’t he aim for a first-grade Core Formation Pill?
Spend!
Spend like an immortal!
To cultivate immortality, one must first go mad.
No spending, no success.
Ye Chuan immediately started refining.
After tossing over a million into the process, he stared silently at his inventory—rows of fifth-, sixth-, seventh-, and eighth-grade Core Formation Pills.
Not a single one was even fourth-grade, let alone within third-grade.
"Is it really this rigged?" Ye Chuan’s lips twitched. This was a million yuan—enough to buy a house—gone without even a splash.
If money weren’t so easy to come by now, his heart would’ve been bleeding.
"Twenty-four thousand a day, seven hundred twenty thousand a month. A million is like a month and a half of rental income," Ye Chuan sighed, then silently consoled himself that this was just pocket change.
He needed to broaden his horizons. With greater strength, wouldn’t he earn even more?
It was just a measly month and a half of spending money!
Gritting his teeth, Ye Chuan dumped two million worth of materials into the refining process.
He was already in this deep. Backing out now would mean pure loss.
As Ye Chuan kept accelerating the cauldron’s refining speed, the interface suddenly flashed with golden light!
It’s here!
[Congratulations! You have obtained a second-grade Core Formation Pill. It has been placed in your inventory.]
Second-grade!
"Second-grade is fine, second-grade is fine." Ye Chuan let out a long exhale. His goal was within third-grade, and getting a second-grade pill from thirty batches of materials could be considered lucky.
Time to step into the Core Formation realm.
Just as Ye Chuan was about to use the second-grade Core Formation Pill, his gaze fell on the dozens of other pills in his inventory, and his hand paused.
You only live once.
What if the next batch hits the jackpot?
With a long lifespan ahead in immortal cultivation, laying the foundation was a one-time opportunity. Once his strength improved, wouldn’t money come easily?
Why not let the money grow?
"..." Ye Chuan fell silent. He glanced at his remaining balance, then back at the cauldron in front of him.
Go big or go home!
Ye Chuan immediately upgraded the cauldron twice.
[Cauldron: Nine-Flame Liyan Cauldron (Supreme-Grade Tier 2)]
[Core Formation Pill Refining: 100% success rate, 0% failure rate, 0% explosion rate, 5% chance of pill quality upgrade (Success rate depends on pill quality, cauldron quality, and refining level.)]
Spend!
Ye Chuan threw in more materials, nearly exhausting the money Wang Yanran had given him.
As the notifications kept popping up, Ye Chuan silently watched the colors flashing on the screen.
The materials dwindled, but not a single second-grade pill appeared.
Ye Chuan’s heart grew colder with each glance.
Had he lost it all?
This was eight million.
"Give me something!"
Finally, in the last few attempts, the cauldron erupted with dazzling golden light!
[Congratulations! You have obtained a first-grade Core Formation Pill. It has been placed in your inventory.]
[Congratulations! Your Nine-Flame Liyan Cauldron has successfully triggered the pill quality upgrade. The first-grade Core Formation Pill has been upgraded to Nine-Flame Core Elixir (Supreme-Grade).]
Huh?
Not only did he get a first-grade pill, but the cauldron’s upgrade chance had also landed on it?!
Ye Chuan nearly jumped out of his seat.
Holy—
"What’s wrong, Chuan Chuan?" Luo Xi asked, confused by his sudden reaction.
"Nothing."
Ye Chuan steadied his breathing and immediately checked the pill in his inventory.
[Item: Nine-Flame Core Elixir (Supreme-Grade)
Using this will allow you to break through to the Core Formation realm and comprehend an additional divine ability.]
[Requirements met. Ready for Core Formation.]
This was it. This was the real deal.
An extra divine ability.
But this wasn’t the right place to break through. Every time Ye Chuan advanced to a major realm, he attracted the heavens’ wrath.
Going back to the high-voltage tower was an option, but Ye Chuan had a better idea.
The Tianxuan Continent!
Death there wasn’t permanent, and after unlocking the full-dive adventure mode, he could attempt his breakthrough there. Even if he couldn’t withstand the heavenly tribulation, he wouldn’t actually die!
"Suddenly, buying the full-dive adventure doesn’t seem like a waste anymore."
Putting down his phone, Ye Chuan felt immensely satisfied.
The eight million didn’t feel like a loss anymore.
"Have I been conditioned too much? Why does this feel like money well spent?" Ye Chuan mused silently. Still, he figured he should invest in some assets and enjoy life a little. Otherwise, the money would just tempt the universe’s money-sucking beasts.
First, a car. A house could wait.
With over a million still left, Ye Chuan decided to upgrade his ride.
That way, Luo Xi wouldn’t have to walk to school anymore.
"Chuan Chuan, what are you thinking about?" Luo Xi asked curiously, noticing his daze.
"Nothing. Just remembering the days when I was broke and borrowed your bike to get to school," Ye Chuan chuckled. Back then, Luo Xi had a bicycle, and she’d let him ride it to carry her to school.
But one day, they accidentally crashed into a stone pillar and wrecked it. Too scared to tell their parents, they spent the next half-year walking to school together.
The memories made him sentimental.
"That Phoenix-brand bicycle? You still remember that?" Luo Xi smiled. It had been years, and she’d even taken the blame back then, afraid her parents would scold Ye Chuan.
] [Lone Wolf, No Male Gaze] [Protagonist is pursued early on; extreme protagonist-stans, stay away!] The "Carnival Paradise" descends and slowly devours the real world in the form of a game. By chance, Zhu Yan awakens the talent [Roleplay], becoming one of the first beta players. He thought he could develop safely, but after clearing the first instance, he is branded by humanity as the chief culprit behind the game's spread—a traitorous villain. A villain? Who would ever... become one! He'll be the villain! From then on, Zhu Yan is not only a player but also a lackey for the Carnival Paradise. Between the straight path and the crooked path, he chooses the con. With his left hand, he dons the villain's mantle, staging scenes within instances, infuriating players who decry him as a despicable traitor, all while the game happily promotes him. With his right hand, he joins the non-human organization "Fangcun Mountain," which opposes the Carnival Paradise, transforming into a mysterious player who slaughters game bosses, earning cheers of "Long live the expert!" from fellow players. Gradually, Zhu Yan rises to become an S-rank human player in Fangcun Mountain's archives, while also being the Carnival Paradise's certified top game Boss. But when the final war erupts and both major factions place their hopes in him— Players tag his various aliases: "Experts, this offensive depends on you." The Carnival Paradise's supreme Boss throws an arm around his neck: "Bro, you're the iron, I'm the steel; you can't let me down again!"
agon king storylines. At the start, I obtained the "Ultimate Lackey System" - the more I act as a lackey, the stronger I become. What else could I do? I chose to become the personal henchman of the ultimate villain, Su Muwan. I provoke all sorts of chosen ones, snatch away their opportunities, and commit every evil deed imaginable. You ask who's behind me? Hmph! You're not worthy of knowing my lady's name! ...... ....... I am Su Muwan, the eldest daughter of the Su family. Since childhood, I've possessed extraordinary talent in martial arts, which led to my arrogant and domineering personality in my past life. I was even foolish enough to repeatedly challenge those favored by heaven, ultimately resulting in a tragic death. In this life, I must behave and absolutely cannot walk the same path again!! However... SLAP!! "So you're the Dragon King, huh?!" When I saw my little lackey swagger over and viciously slap the Dragon King who was hiding his identity, I felt my heart sink. Su Muwan's suspended heart finally died as she watched Qin Luo, her utterly loyal lackey, standing before her. She fainted on the spot from shock. Heaven is determined to destroy me!! (Pure love 1v1, light-hearted, no angst, single female lead, villain, reincarnation, lackey)
ut it can buy an entire year of absolutely perfect training results! Su Yu stared at his empty wallet and decisively opened up various online loan platforms. “Borrow a thousand bucks! Recharge my vitality!” Boom! His vitality broke a hundred points, shattering the limits of the human body! “Borrow ten thousand bucks! Recharge my combat skills!” Boom! A basic punching technique so common it was everywhere instantly maxed out, revealing the ultimate assassination technique of Five Elements Unity—Inner Force! When a rich kid hired assassins for a midnight ambush, aiming to break both of his legs, they instead ran headfirst into a monster—a human-shaped tyrannosaur, brimming with dragon-like vitality. With just two fingers, Su Yu snapped a steel staff reinforced with alloy. Staring at the killer’s stash of stolen cash—a staggering quarter-million dollars—he showed a corporate-sincere smile: “Thanks for the pre-exam gift pack, Mr. Zhao! I’m gonna go re-invest this!” Three days later, at the National Martial Arts College Entrance Exam, while everyone else struggled just to reach the passing line, Su Yu threw a single punch—and more than a thousand vitality points literally detonated the entire arena!
ing gift was a patch of barren land, and disciples were all picked up along the way. He spent fifty years diligently building three "ramshackle little sects," thinking he could finally live a carefree life relying on his disciples. But right at the fifty-year mark, he was suddenly swept away by a spatial rift and exiled to the Chaos Desolation, the Disorderly Ruins. There was no spiritual energy there, only slaughter. Relying on the cultivation feedback from his disciples, Gu Changyuan hacked his way through a sea of blood for eleven hundred years. When the system finally fished him back out, he discovered the ramshackle little sects he'd built back then had developed a rather... unusual style. Hold on... I vanished for a thousand years, so how did my ramshackle little sects become holy lands?!
