Chapter 18 - Great Cheat, Truly Ruthless

Time swiftly moved on to 1:30 in the afternoon.

Su Mu put on his newly made special effect qi refining pills and prepared to head out.

Just before leaving, he reminded Xiao Yezi, “Make sure you rest well. Don’t overwork yourself trying to rush the work. We can deliver the goods slowly; there’s no need to hurry. After all, no one dares to rush us.”

Luckily, those classmates who pre-ordered the special effect qi refining pills didn’t hear him say this; otherwise, they would surely be in tears.

They say the customer is always right, but in Su Mu’s case, these customers were more like grandsons who, no matter how upset, could only hold it in. It was truly pitiable.

Who else had the special effect qi refining pills but Su Mu? He deserved to be called awesome.

“Mhm, I understand. Don’t worry, I won’t overwork myself,” Xiao Yezi obediently nodded and agreed.

Leaving the residential community, Su Mu hailed a taxi and rushed to the hospital.

On the way, he turned off the silent mode on his phone and checked the messages in the WeChat group and private messages sent to him.

He had anticipated the plight of Zeng Yuan and the other two and felt no sympathy.

They had dared to spend money without even understanding the effects of the alchemical pill; it was simply a case of bringing disaster upon themselves. What was there to sympathize with? Not to mention, in order to attract business and snatch customers, these three had slandered him, calling him a black-hearted profiteer.

What a joke, I'm quite conscientious, thank you very much!

The special effect qi refining pills, which were originally priced at fifty thousand for five boxes, I only charged twenty thousand. Isn't that conscientious enough? The city government should give me an award for being a conscientious citizen!

Although he didn’t sympathize, Su Mu didn’t kick them while they were down. After all, they were classmates, and there was no deep hatred.

“Ah, this damn, unplaceable kindness of mine.”

Upon arriving at the hospital, Su Mu first called Doctor Ma and, learning that he was in the inpatient department, went to find him. He asked for a hospital admission form, then went back downstairs to pay the fees and completed the hospital admission procedures for his sister.

Since they came for the marrow washing and blood exchange surgery, Xiao Yezi didn’t need to stay in the hospital too early. She just needed to come a day in advance to do the necessary checks and preparations for the surgery.

After finishing the procedures, Su Mu took the payment receipt to Doctor Ma.

Doctor Ma, after checking that the documents were correct, was impressed that Su Mu actually had three million but didn't ask further questions.

He went straight to the point, “At noon, I inquired for you and found out that next week, there will be several alchemical pill experts from the Capital City at our hospital for technical guidance. They will also see patients during that time, including one who is skilled in marrow washing and blood exchange surgery. I will contact that expert for you. If there are no issues, Xiao Yezi could have her first marrow washing and blood exchange surgery next week.”

“Thank you, Doctor Ma,” Su Mu was overjoyed, eager for his sister to have the surgery and recover quickly.

Doctor Ma waved his hand, “No need to thank me. I’ll call you when I have news.”

He was busy with his work and didn’t chat much with Su Mu, who was also in a hurry to get to school, so they parted ways.

Leaving the hospital, Su Mu took a deep breath of relief.

His sister’s illness finally seemed to have a cure in sight, and to him, that was even more joyous than obtaining the Golden Finger.

From the hospital to school, Su Mu didn't call another taxi, but instead scanned a shared bicycle on the roadside.

He had heard that there was a new shared flying sword service recently, but unfortunately, it consumes too much spiritual qi, and there are certain requirements for piloting skills. Only true cultivators or seasoned drivers could afford to use it. For novices like them, even if they managed to get on, they wouldn't last more than a few seconds.

"If only there were flying swords that ordinary people could use... I've heard that in Europe, some countries have introduced shared griffins, which are well-trained and easy for the general public to ride. I wonder if we'll see shared cranes or qilin as mounts here in the future? Riding a spiritual beast, just thinking about it is cool, definitely cooler than a shared bicycle."

Su Mu thought to himself while invoking the information about the Qi Cultivation Technique and the special effect qi refining pill.

His sister's surgery fee was already paid, and he still had about a million left. He could make some more money with the special effect qi refining pills.

It was time for a breakthrough experiment.

Data appeared before Su Mu's eyes like a torrential downpour, quickly converging into two lines of text.

As he focused on the Qi Cultivation Technique and silently thought 'breakthrough,' a mass of new data appeared in his vision, constantly rolling and changing.

"Is it possible?!" Su Mu was invigorated, becoming tense.

A few seconds later, the snowflake-like data turned into a line of text:

【Breakthrough unsuccessful. Missing the following materials: "Foundation of Cultivation Theory," "Principles and Applications of Spiritual Qi," "Human Physiology."】

"This..."

At this moment, Su Mu felt both frustrated and excited, his emotions quite complex.

He was excited because cultivation knowledge truly could be broken through!

But frustrated because the conditions for the breakthrough not only required spending money but also grinding through basic knowledge.

Both spending and grinding1, this was a rhythm that took people's lives!

However, thinking about it, the mobile games he planned in his last life were all about grinding, spending money, and relying on luck...

So, this was karma.

With a deep sigh, Su Mu refocused on the qi refining pills, repeating the previous operation.

Sure enough, the qi refining pills couldn't be immediately broken through either, as they lacked the basic knowledge of "Basics of Alchemical Pill Refining," "Study of Spirit Herb," and "Formulary Studies."

Suddenly he remembered something, quickly stopped the bicycle at the side of the road, and pulled out his phone to check the balance.

His face darkened as he cursed softly, "Just as I thought, they deducted money. I knew it, this lousy cheat is definitely not that charitable!"

Not only had he been charged, but he had also been deducted two hundred thousand!

The fee for the prompt of the necessary materials for the breakthrough was as high as one hundred thousand per item!

This was the definition of a ruthless profiteer, practically jumping up to bite someone!

Compared to this cheat, Su Mu could indeed be considered a conscientious merchant.

Su Mu was in a gloomy mood.

With that much money, he could have bought his sister a lot of tasty and nutritious things.

But the money was already taken by the cheat, and there was no use in feeling upset; he had to accept reality.

The idea of breaking through the Qi Cultivation Technique and the qi refining pills had to be temporarily set aside.

After all, the pressing matter was the examination for cultivation. If the breakthrough only required spending money, he could manage, but this required both spending and grinding, and he really didn't have that much energy to spare.

What if this impacts the examination for cultivation? Wouldn't that be a loss not worth the cost?

At least, until he gets into a cultivation university, Su Mu wouldn't have the time to deal with breaking through the Qi Cultivation Technique and the qi refining pill.

Su Mu sighed, comforting himself: "At least I know that cultivation knowledge can be broken through, and I’m aware of the conditions needed for it. It's not like I've gained nothing..."

Although that's what he said, he still felt the sting of losing those two hundred thousand as a fee for the cheat’s clues.

Cheating through a cheat, truly a ruthless move!

But... irresistibly alluring.

Footnotes:

Both spending and grinding(又氪又肝): refers to the practice common in many online and mobile games where players can progress by either investing real money ('paying') or by spending a significant amount of time performing repetitive tasks ('spending'). In this context, "又氪又肝" suggests that to achieve the desired breakthrough, one must both invest money (often referred to as 'whaling' in gaming slang) and put in a considerable amount of effort, which can be exhausting and time-consuming.