’I have to be mentally prepared?’

Jiang Qiu’s heart skipped a beat. He furrowed his brow and asked, "About how much will it cost?"

During the last practical training hunt, he had received about nine million. He transferred 5.1 million to Teacher Wu Shan, spent another million on a Black Flood Dragon bow, restocked dozens of bottles of Blood Boiling Liquid, and bought a few extra sets of the black school uniform.

His current balance was only around 2.9 million. It seemed like a lot, but it was nowhere near the five million in startup funds he had initially given Teacher Wu Shan.

For Wu Shan to tell him to be mentally prepared, the cost was definitely something that five million couldn’t cover.

’In other words, I have to pin all my hopes on the kill count I just earned from the Military Department’s test.’

As this thought crossed his mind, Jiang Qiu took a sharp breath. His palms felt warm and slick with sweat.

"Well, I hadn’t factored in some extremely precious auxiliary materials. The Su Fragrance expert’s individual plans each cost less than five million, but there are thirteen plans in total. Under these circumstances..." Wu Shan took a deep breath. "The preliminary estimate is forty-two million."

"What the hell?!"

The words escaped Jiang Qiu’s lips before he could stop them. His eyes went wide as he stared blankly at the ’Unknown Number’ displayed on his phone screen.

’Forty-two million, for fuck’s sake... With that much money, you could... you could probably open a small supermarket in the Inner City, couldn’t you?’

’Martial Arts was certainly expensive, but this was outrageous. Was developing a batch of Advanced Su Fragrance really this costly?’

’Or was it that the so-called mutated pebble from the Red Flame Spider Mother was just that difficult to go through Refinement?’

Countless thoughts swirled through Jiang Qiu’s mind, tangling together.

After a moment of silence, a helpless voice came from the other end of the line.

"Advanced Su Fragrance is priceless to begin with, and the expert I found is no ordinary individual. If we miss this opportunity, you’ll regret it for the rest of your life."

"There is another option. You can give me a portion of the funds first. I’ll buy the materials for the cheaper plans, and we can have the expert try the Refinement."

"If we’re lucky, the first plan will succeed. If not, we’ll have to keep pouring more money into it..."

Wu Shan sighed softly. "What do you think?"

"Since I’ve already invested five million, I can’t just give up halfway." Jiang Qiu clenched his fists, his teeth gritted, and his gaze burned like a torch. "I got a lot of kills in the Military Department test. That might be enough to try a few more plans. If it’s still not enough, I’ll figure something out!"

"Good."

Wu Shan bit out the single word, his tone firm. "As for your shortfall, I’ll help you make it up by borrowing from Director Zhao. He hasn’t left the city in years, so his savings from killing Demon Beasts during the war are probably mostly gone. But he should have some left. A few tens of millions shouldn’t be a problem."

"!!!"

Jiang Qiu’s heart lurched.

’And here I thought you were going to lend me the money...’

"Oh, you must not be familiar with the Military Department’s reward calculation for killing Demon Beasts. It’s all based on the number of kills and the tier of the Demon Beast. I can run the numbers for you. As long as you killed fifty or sixty Demon Beasts, getting a few million Xia Coins shouldn’t be a problem."

Jiang Qiu immediately activated the Recording Ring still on his right wrist, reading the display word for word. "Hmm... I killed 1,991 Low Tier Demon Beasts, 108 Middle Tier Demon Beasts, and one One-eyed Owl..."

"You what?!"

A thunderous shout suddenly exploded from the phone’s speaker, making the whole lounge feel as if it had been struck by lightning. "You got 2,100 kills by yourself! And you killed a One-eyed Owl!"

"That’s right."

For some reason, an image popped into Jiang Qiu’s head: Wu Shan, his one eye wide with disbelief, staring intently at his phone screen. He looked as if he’d just heard the news that an ant had devoured an entire elephant, utterly and completely stunned.

An inexplicable warmth welled up inside him. Jiang Qiu asked in a low voice, "So how much money will I get?"

"What was the total kill count for everyone, for each tier of Demon Beast?"

"Um... 21,099 Low Tier Demon Beasts, 428 Middle Tier Demon Beasts, and 1 One-eyed Owl."

"You were number one in kills, right?"

"Yes."

After the rapid-fire exchange, the sound of furious tapping on a calculator’s touch screen came from the other end of the line, as frantic as a torrential downpour. Jiang Qiu could almost picture Wu Shan breaking into a sweat.

Staring at the rapidly climbing numbers on his screen, Wu Shan’s pupil dilated. His heart, which had been calm for years, began to pound against his ribs as he recalled the Military Department’s various rules and regulations.

’For students of the Prodigy Project, when they participate in Demon Beast killing tests or operations, the rewards are pooled. It’s calculated at a standard of 20,000 per Low Tier Demon Beast and 50,000 per Middle Tier Demon Beast, and then distributed according to each person’s kill ratio.’

’By that logic, with a total of 21,527 kills, the total reward pool would be 443.38 million! Based on Jiang Qiu’s kill ratio, he would get 43.25 million!’

’And that’s not all. The first-place winner gets an additional 10% bonus. That means Jiang Qiu would get 47.57 million!’

Hiss—

Wu Shan hissed, drawing a sharp breath through his teeth. His finger froze over the screen as he murmured, "No, it’s more than that. The killer of a High Tier Demon Beast gets an extra share of the pool. And that was a One-eyed Owl... if handled correctly, that could add several million more..."

"Huh? Killing one High Tier Demon Beast is worth several million?" 𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ𝓋𝑒𝑙.𝑐𝘰𝑚

Jiang Qiu swallowed hard, his mouth suddenly feeling dry.

’From the sound of it, the payout from this Military Department test is going to be huge. Maybe I can give the Su Fragrance expert more money for the research after all.’

The voice on the other end took a deep breath, then spoke slowly. "Jiang Qiu, you don’t have to worry about the funds for the Advanced Su Fragrance anymore. You’ll be getting at least 47 million Xia Coins. That’s more than enough to try all thirteen plans."

"At least 47 million?!"

Jiang Qiu’s eyes flew open. He sucked in a sharp breath, hissing as he clenched his fists, his heart pounding in his chest.

’I underestimated myself, and I underestimated the value of killing Demon Beasts in a Military Department test.’

’With this, the research for the Advanced Su Fragrance is back on track.’

’And I’ll even have a few million left over!’

"Okay, calm down. It’s not every day you earn this much money. Why don’t you tell me how you passed the Military Department test."

Hearing this, Jiang Qiu took a deep breath, gathered his thoughts for a moment, and began. "It was already getting dark when I arrived at the foot of Dongqi Mountain yesterday. Later on..."

He recounted the story, starting from his arrival at the assembly camp with Liu Qi, meeting Sun Yongsheng and a few prodigies from the Outer City, and then entering the mountain around midnight, where he disturbed the Iron Feather Birds nesting in the Iron Forest.

His calm tone, like someone who went looking for a rabbit and stumbled into a bear’s den, belied the turbulent crises he described.

Jiang Qiu’s narration was matter-of-fact, but for Wu Shan on the other end of the line, every word was like a clap of thunder.

’At first, he didn’t know about the Iron Feather Birds’ method of concealment and wandered into their habitat. He got away "by luck." That’s normal.’

’Then he said that after seeing the High Tier Demon Beast, the One-eyed Owl, injuring people from high in the sky, he comprehended a Bow Skill on the spot and killed it with two arrows. A bit outrageous, but this was Jiang Qiu, a genius who had comprehended a Spear Skill on his own. Maybe his Talent in the Archery Dao was just as heaven-defying. Understandable.’

But...

"When King Niu escaped from the main battlefield and charged into the crowd, I felt an immense life-or-death crisis. As its powerful fist came smashing down, I erupted with all my Qi Blood, comprehended a Spear Skill, and crippled its right arm."

’What was that supposed to mean?’

’What level of Spear Skill did he comprehend that he could cross a major realm to cripple the arm of a Top Tier Demon Beast?’

’Oh, right—how is he in the Steel Bone Realm?!’