The Path of Martial Arts Spending

His face was gaunt, his temples faintly gray.

He looked like nothing more than an ordinary scholar.

But the moment he appeared,

the entire world seemed to revolve around him, slowly spinning!

Martial Emperor realm!

His words shaped reality as trod through empty air.

Nie Changkong looked down from above, his icy gaze sweeping across Chu Kuang and the other two.

"The head of the Jingwu Department,"

"for the sake of a new student, throws a massive brawl by Weiming Lake."

"And even spews such nonsense as 'resource conversion'!"

"What have you turned Jinwu's rules into?!"

"Have you reduced the education funds that the Daxia State allocates to martial arts universities into bargaining chips for poaching students?!"

His voice boomed like a great bell.

Every word cut to the bone.

Chu Kuang and the others were drenched in cold sweat from the reprimand, not daring to breathe too loud.

In front of a Martial Emperor, they—mere Grandmasters and Great Grandmasters—had no room to talk back.

After dressing down the three,

Nie Changkong slowly shifted his gaze downward.

Finally,

it landed on Su Yu.

That one look seemed ordinary at first glance,

but Su Yu felt as if he were locked in place by a blazing sun!

Every bone in his body, every meridian, even the thousand points of martial artist blood essence hidden in the deepest recesses—

all lay completely exposed under that gaze!

Absolute pressure!

An intensity even stronger than what Lin Zhengtian had given him!

Nie Changkong stared at Su Yu.

On his otherwise stoic face, a rare flicker of barely concealed shock surfaced.

"Such solid foundations..."

Nie Changkong sucked in a sharp breath inwardly.

Like Lin Zhengtian before him, as a Martial Emperor, he saw through Su Yu's true condition in an instant.

A thousand points of blood essence.

Forged like steel!

Heavy as a mountain!

Not a trace of instability!

"This kid has polished his martial artist foundation to such flawless perfection?"

"And he's only eighteen!"

"More terrifyingly, he's even comprehended the Soul-Suppressing Spear Intent!"

Nie Changkong's heart pounded violently twice.

Chu Kuang and his men saw only Su Yu's talent.

But what Nie Changkong saw was the boy's almost inhuman restraint and mindset.

A youth who could refine his blood essence to such perfect state before eighteen must have endured brutal training beyond ordinary imagination.

A prodigy like this—if Chu Kuang had truly "bought" him off with money, that would have been Jinwu's greatest tragedy.

"You're Su Yu?"

Nie Changkong slowly descended from the air.

He stood before Su Yu,

withdrawing his oppressive aura,

his tone softening.

"Yes."

Su Yu answered without humility or arrogance.

"You're strapped for cash?" Nie Changkong looked at him.

"Yes." Su Yu remained frank.

"Martial arts resources are more useful than money," Nie Changkong tried to correct the genius's misguided thinking.

"For me, money is more useful." Su Yu stood his ground.

The system only accepted cash.

No matter how good heavenly treasures were, they couldn't be directly converted into credit.

Nie Changkong gazed into Su Yu's deep, stubborn eyes.

He was silent for a moment.

Then,

he suddenly laughed.

"Fine."

"Since you love money so much,

I'll give you a chance to make it."

Nie Changkong turned to face Chu Kuang, Lei Jue, Liu Ruyan, and all the students in the distance.

His voice carried across the entire Weiming Lakeshore.

"Su Yu."

"Specially recruited freshman."

"Gifted talent, comprehending the Soul-Suppressing Spear Intent."

"With special approval from the school council,

Jinwu hereby awards Su Yu the title of 'Special Freshman'!"

The moment these words fell,

a dead silence settled over the crowd.

Chu Kuang and the other two jolted their heads up, their faces full of disbelief!

Special Freshman?!

In the hundred years since Jinwu University's founding, this title had been granted to only one person before—

the invincible Martial God who now guarded the Northern Abyss!

"Su Yu will not be assigned to any single department,"

Nie Changkong continued his announcement.

"He may freely attend all classes and access all treasure vaults of the Weapon Institute, Combat Institute, and Support Institute.

No instructor may restrict his training path."

"As for the money you want,"

Nie Changkong turned back to Su Yu.

A glint of fox-like cunning flashed in his deep-set eyes.

"What Chu Kuang promised you in resource conversion would be at most a few billion, max."

"An astronomical sum to ordinary students, but in my eyes, unworthy of your talent—too cheap."

"Since you love money so much, I'll point you to a truly lucrative path."

Nie Changkong's voice suddenly rose.

"As a Special Freshman, you'll have unlimited access to Jinwu's highest-level bounty missions! You'll even qualify for confidential high-value bounties from the military and the Martial Alliance!"

"Killing high-level mutated beasts, exploring uncharted underground caverns, hunting down corrupted martial artists, collecting rare materials..."

"Jinwu will buy back all the spoils you bring in with cash at a premium!"

"As long as you've got the skill,

the task hall at Jinwu holds bounty pools worth thousands of billions. Go ahead and drain it dry—there's no cap on how high you can go!"

Nie Changkong clapped Su Yu on the shoulder.

"If you want money,

head out into the wilderness and earn it with your fists and your spear."

"You dare?"

A dare.

Su Yu looked at Nie Changkong.

His eyes, hearing the words "thousands of billions in cash bounties,"

finally ignited with a blazing light at their depths.

Thousands of billions!

Even if he earned just a tenth of that, it'd enough to ride the pay-to-win path straight through Martial Lord and even Martial Emperor!

This was the stage he truly wanted.

This was the ultimate form of playing the prodigy's game—openly hacking the system under the guise of natural talent!

Su Yu didn't hesitate.

His spine straightened like an iron rod.

Locking eyes with the Martial Emperor-level vice-chancellor,

he declared,

"Why wouldn't I?"

Four words.

Weighty and resolute.

Exuding a confidence born from mountains of corpses and seas of blood!

"Excellent!"

Nie Changkong let out a booming laugh.

"Come to the chancellor's office tomorrow at nine in the morning.

I'll handle your Special Freshman paperwork personally."

With that,

Nie Changkong took one step, and his form instantly merged into the void, vanishing without a trace.

All that was left behind by Weiming Lake was a crowd of dumbfounded instructors and students—

and Su Yu, standing in place with a slight curl at the corner of his mouth.

Chu Kuang, Lei Jue, and Liu Ruyan exchanged glances.

After a brief moment of shock, the eyes of these three "old foxes" practically lit up in unison.

"Not assigned to any single department"?

So what!

As long as the kid was at their institute every day for classes and training, what difference did it make? He might as well be their student!

Specially recruited freshman or not—as long as he was on their turf, the fame and glory he earned would still count for their department!

Understanding dawned on them. Chu Kuang changed his face faster than turning a page, his expression blooming into a full-fledged smile. He strode forward and clamped a hand on Su Yu's shoulder, casually slipping a dark gold card into his palm.

"Kid, the chancellor's right. Bounties pay well, but you'll be putting your life on the line for every cent."

"Sharpen your tools before you start! This card has fifty million—call it a private welcome gift from me."

Chu Kuang lowered his voice, his tone coaxing.

"After you handle your paperwork tomorrow, come straight to our institute first! I'll open my private weapon vault to you. As long as you attend classes here every day, I'll cover all the gear you need for bounty hunting, all expenses paid!"

“Get lost! Five million? Are you trying to bribe a beggar?!”

Lei Jue saw Chu Kuang’s shameless attitude and immediately got agitated. He shoved him aside, puffing out his chest with heroic grandeur.

“Su Yu! Come to our academy! Not only will the top-tier gravity chamber and blood energy pool be open for you 24/7, free of charge!”

“I swear on my honor, as long as you attend classes, we’ll give you an extra hundred million per month as a ‘combat allowance’! Cold, hard cash—no delays!”

“Oh my, you two big brothers sure are generous with your money.”

Liu Ruyan swayed forward with her snake-like waist, casting a flirtatious glance at both men. Then, smiling warmly at Su Yu, she quietly slipped a delicate space ring into his hand.

“Little man, all that fighting and killing is so easy to get hurt doing,” she said, breathing softly, her voice seductive.

“Come to our academy, and I personally will teach you.”

“Inside this ring are a batch of high-grade blood energy potions—not something you can buy on the open market even with money. You can use them all you want. What you don’t use, you can sell on the black market however you please—I’ll pretend not to notice.”

Su Yu looked at the bank card and the ring filled with potions that had suddenly appeared in his hands.

He was stunned for a moment.

Then the smile on his face gradually grew brilliant.

So this was what it meant to be a top-tier genius?

Even deciding which academy to attend meant people were throwing tens of millions—even billions—in resources just to beg you to join?

“Three directors, you’re all too generous.”

Without any hesitation, Su Yu stuffed the card and the ring into his pockets, his face not even flushing as he said seriously,

“Actually, I’m the hardest worker. I thirst for knowledge.”

“I’ll attend classes every day, never skipping a single subject!”

Hearing this, Chu Kuang and the other two couldn’t help but twitch their mouths in unison.

What a guy. Not only was his talent monstrous, but his shameless, money-first skin was also unbelievably thick!

Still, as long as he agreed to come, that was enough!

After bidding farewell to the three scheming, hopeful directors,

Su Yu turned around.

Ignoring the fearful, jealous, and fanatical gazes around him,

He slung the faded, worn old canvas backpack over his shoulder,

Hands shoved into his pockets,

He strolled unhurriedly back through the gates of Kyoto Martial Arts University, retracing the path he had come.

The lingering rays of the sunset stretched his shadow long behind him.

A bounty pool worth tens of billions.

Unlimited privileges for a Special Freshman.

The extortionately priced “welcome gifts” he had just freeloaded in his pockets.

Along with a black card containing a hundred million.

Su Yu’s eyes grew brighter and more fervent than ever.

“Kyoto.”

“This place—I didn’t come here for nothing.”

Tomorrow.

Official registration begins.

His path of cultivation fueled by cold, hard cash would officially begin here, pulling back the curtain.