The Entry-plundering Demon Hunter

The news of Chen Hao’s transfer from Dormitory Zone 1 to Zone 9 caused a bit of a stir in a small circle.

But it only took a single night.

For the commotion to disappear.

The entirety of Xingwu University returned to its usual hustle and bustle.

The atmosphere at a Martial Arts University is completely different from that of an ordinary university.

Although it’s true that Martial Arts Universities have very few scheduled courses,

every student is constantly busy.

They are either on a mission or on their way to one.

And during the downtime between missions, they are all immersed in cultivation, focused on raising their level.

An unspoken, intense competition had sprung up among them.

「The next day.」

Lin Yi stepped out of his room.

He was greeted by the faint scent of incense.

He quickly glanced into the living room and saw a single stick of incense burning in a censer.

A wisp of smoke drifted gracefully upward, a continuous, unbroken stream.

"You’re awake?"

Wei Shang, who was sitting on the sofa, glanced at Lin Yi with a smile.

Lin Yi nodded. "What’s the special occasion? Why are we burning incense?"

Wei Shang laughed. "No special occasion. This is called Calm Spirit Incense. It helps you calm your mind and spirit."

"Calm Spirit Incense?"

Lin Yi had never heard of it.

He had heard from Qin Zhaoxue before that incense with special properties like this was never cheap.

Having grown up in the Old District, he had naturally never encountered such things.

He didn’t think much of it and simply sat down on the sofa.

Just then, the door to Wei Nan’s room flew open.

He rushed out, phone in hand, shouting, "Holy crap, is this incense really that expensive?"

"Hm?"

Lin Yi glanced back at Wei Nan.

The moment their eyes met, Wei Nan quickly grinned. "You’re awake?"

"Lin Yi, come check this out! This Calm Spirit Incense is divided into low-grade, mid-grade, and top-grade!"

"The brown kind is low-grade, and a box costs around 100,000 to 150,000!"

"The yellow one is mid-grade, starting at 200,000. And this dark red kind is Top-grade Calm Spirit Incense, which costs over 350,000..."

"Holy cow, so this one stick must be worth tens of thousands, right?"

Wei Nan stared at the stick of Calm Spirit Incense with a look of theatrical shock.

The price gave Lin Yi a huge shock as well.

He only knew that incense with special properties was on the expensive side.

But he never imagined it would be *this* expensive.

A box of incense contains about ten sticks.

If the price of Top-grade Calm Spirit Incense started at 350,000, like Wei Nan found,

’Then does the stick burning before us cost 35,000?’

Wei Shang smiled and nodded. "Those prices you found are from six months ago. They haven’t been updated."

"Prices are fluctuating now. A box of Top-grade Calm Spirit Incense has already gone up to 410,000."

"And it’s still not a fixed price. It’s still fluctuating. The final price will probably settle around 450,000."

Wei Shang said it as if he were discussing something completely ordinary.

He didn’t even blink at an item costing hundreds of thousands.

Wei Nan’s mouth twitched. "I’d heard that all the cultivation resources were concentrated here in the New District, but I never really understood what that meant."

"I just thought it meant things like composite potions, which at most just don’t have any side effects."

"Today I finally realized that’s not it at all... Cultivation aids aren’t just limited to composite potions!"

"There’s an endless variety of things to enhance all your physical attributes!"

"They even have Calm Spirit Incense to steady your mind..."

After letting out a soft sigh, Wei Nan fell silent.

But then, his eyes suddenly grew incredibly determined.

It was as if he had just made a momentous decision.

Wei Shang smiled. "It’s true. All the best cultivation resources are concentrated in the New District."

"The prices might be higher, but it’s also easier to make money here than in the Old District."

"Unless you plan to just coast, give up on any ambitions, and live a quiet, stable university life."

"After graduation, you could find a high-paying job. It’s no problem for a Xingwu University graduate to land a job with a monthly salary of several hundred thousand."

"That’s more than enough money to live comfortably on."

Hearing this, both Lin Yi and Wei Nan nodded.

The prices for daily goods in the New District weren’t much higher than in the Old District, so the basic cost of living was quite low.

A salary of several hundred thousand a month was more than enough to live a life of comfort and plenty.

Of course, that was only if you had no further ambitions and no desire to advance your cultivation.

You just had to avoid buying any cultivation resources.

But if you were determined to pursue the higher realms of Martial Arts,

and if you wanted to make something of yourself after graduation, then you had to constantly cultivate, break through your limits, and throw yourself into the rat race during your university years.

And the amount of money that would consume was simply astronomical.

Thus, earning money while cultivating,

had become a mandatory course for every student.

This was true for everyone, except for those from wealthy families, or even the scions of the great cultivator clans.

They didn’t need to toil for pocket change to afford their cultivation resources.

Most students from ordinary backgrounds were essentially on a work-study program, juggling jobs and their own cultivation,

all to achieve their own personal goals.

"By the way, Lin Yi, what are your plans for later?"

Wei Nan asked, turning his head.

Lin Yi thought for a moment. "Isn’t there a library in Dormitory Zone 1? I was thinking of checking it out."

"Alright, you head to the library then. I’m going to the Cultivation Field with Wei Shang and the others."

"I’m going to try and break through to 2-star before our mission downtime is over!"

"That’s the only way I won’t hold you back when we go to Jail City!"

Lin Yi nodded with a smile. "Alright, then. Let the grind begin!"

The two of them exchanged a smile.

Wei Shang just sat there, watching them.

’In that moment, he felt he had found an opening.’

’The key to truly befriending Lin Yi and earning his trust.’

’And that key was Wei Nan.’

’Based on his observations over the past few days, Wei Shang had realized that while Wei Nan appeared carefree and boisterous,’

’and often seemed a bit goofy and unreliable,’

’he was actually very perceptive, and he observed things with more detail than most.’

’Even if he appeared absent-minded and uninterested on the surface,’

’he actually had his own plans and personal goals.’

’Despite all his talk about wanting to ride Lin Yi’s coattails and cling to his strong leg,’

’what he truly felt was the complete opposite of the words coming out of his mouth.’

’In fact, his biggest fear was holding Lin Yi back.’

’He was afraid the gap between them would grow ever wider.’

’He didn’t need to catch up to Lin Yi, much less surpass him.’

’As long as he wasn’t a burden, that would be enough...’

That was why he set a small goal for himself: he hoped to break through to 2-star.

In just three short days,

unless you were someone with heaven-defying talent,

nobody could possibly jump from 1-star, Rank 3 to the 2-star level.

Even someone like Lin Yi couldn’t make such a huge leap all at once.

So, this was just a personal goal Wei Nan had set for himself.

Even if he couldn’t reach 2-star in three days,

he had to at least advance to 1-star, Rank 4.

He could achieve the rest during the next mission downtime.

A short while later, Feng Lei returned with breakfast for the four of them.

The moment he saw him carrying the breakfast,

Lin Yi realized that Wei Shang and Feng Lei were usually together,

but he hadn’t seen Feng Lei at all this morning.

After a few polite exchanges, the four of them sat down around the coffee table in the living room to eat.

Meanwhile, Xiaoqi was in its own room, enjoying its personal demonic beast feast.

...

After breakfast,

Lin Yi, Wei Nan, Wei Shang, and the others all went their separate ways.

Wei Nan, Wei Shang, and the rest went to the Cultivation Field.

Even Shen Mengyi, Zhou Qi, and Sun Tao, determined not to hold Lin Yi back on their next trip to Jail City,

all chose to join the grind and focus on raising their cultivation levels.

In contrast, Lin Yi was the only one left with nothing to do.

He arrived at the Zone 1 library.

He had previously heard from Qin Zhaoxue that the dormitory zones were different.

Their libraries were completely different as well.

For example, there were some books that students in the lower-ranked dorm zones had to spend academic credits to read.

However, for students in Zones 1, 2, and 3,

they could read them for free, no credits required.

Of course, there was still a section of books that required credits.

However, these books were typically mid-grade or higher martial arts and Cultivation Techniques.

Essentially, you were using credits to purchase them.

Any books below mid-grade could be read freely.

The only drawback was that you couldn’t check them out.

As soon as Lin Yi stepped into the library, he was struck by its immense size.

Rows of three-meter-high shelves were arranged neatly throughout the grand hall.

Some books were so high up you’d need a ladder to reach them.

The entire library was incredibly quiet.

So quiet you could hear your own heartbeat.

Lin Yi tried his best to move without making a sound, not wanting to disturb the other students.

He walked before the towering shelves, tilting his head back to look at the neatly arranged rows of books.

For a moment, Lin Yi felt as if he were standing in an ocean of books, about to be buried by their sheer number.

As he searched for any books that might interest him,

he suddenly came across a section labeled "Martial Arts Curiosities."

Lin Yi walked over to it.

As soon as he entered the Martial Arts Curiosities section,

he looked up at the books lining the shelves.

What he saw left him utterly stunned.

Because these so-called "Martial Arts Curiosities" were all secret manuals from the wuxia novels he had read in his past life.

Titles like the Eighteen Dragon Subduing Palms, the One Yang Finger, and the Six Meridian Divine Sword were all there.

In addition to those, there were all sorts of Sword Techniques and saber techniques.

There were staff techniques, spear techniques, fist techniques, and leg techniques.

All of them were straight out of wuxia novels.

Lin Yi randomly pulled out a few books, and they turned out to be the Prajna Palm, the Demon-Subduing Palm, and the Tathagata Divine Palm.

Each book contained detailed instructions on how to cultivate these legendary techniques.

The only thing Lin Yi couldn’t figure out was,

if all these techniques came from wuxia novels,

why had they been classified under "Martial Arts Curiosities"?

’Could it be that these so-called techniques are completely unsuitable for cultivation?’

Lin Yi was quite curious about it.

He glanced back at the dazzling array of shelves.

In the end, he picked out a few manuals that caught his interest.

One was the Eighteen Dragon Subduing Palms, a technique he had tried to copy from TV ever since he was a kid.

He had always treated it as a legendary, divine technique.

It wasn’t until he grew up and matured that he stopped trying to learn all that nonsensical stuff from television.

Now, seeing the Eighteen Dragon Subduing Palms again seemed to stir up those old memories.

Besides the Eighteen Dragon Subduing Palms,

Lin Yi also selected the Tathagata Divine Palm and a few other manuals on fist and leg techniques.

With his selections made, Lin Yi carried the manuals

over to the reading area.