Chapter 29: Level Skyrocketing!
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“What sin... I have no idea what you’re talking about. What happened here?! I truly know nothing...”
Luo Hong knelt on the ground, looking utterly wretched and pitiful.
Even the hardest of hearts would have felt some sympathy upon seeing her.
But Lu Li remained unmoved.
Because he remembered all too clearly the hatred he had carried over from his previous life!
He knew that this very woman, who now kept proclaiming her innocence, had personally driven nail after nail, each as thick as a thumb, into his mother’s body!
“Stop howling! Repent properly!”
As though sensing the dark mood emanating from Lu Li, Chen Hao hooked his foot and viciously kicked Luo Hong in the mouth.
After a scream of agony, several bloodstained teeth lay scattered across the floor.
Lu Li paid no attention. He raised his hand and summoned his Soul Guard, Xing Anlin.
“Help me put these Essence Crystals into the solvent. I’m a little overwhelmed.”
“No problem, Boss Lu Li!”
Xing Anlin gave an oddly comical salute.
But he soon noticed that the atmosphere at the scene was off. He awkwardly lowered his hand at once and got to work with swift efficiency.
With Xing Anlin’s help, the Essence Crystals dissolved twice as quickly.
In less than half an hour, every Essence Crystal had been placed into the solvent.
Just then, Xu Xiao sent over another batch of Essence Crystals.
There were more than thirty thousand of them.
Lu Li was somewhat surprised.
He had originally expected one hundred thousand Tier-One Essence Crystals.
Xu Xiao had clearly exceeded that target—and by quite a margin.
Curious, Lu Li asked, “You exchanged for a total of one hundred and thirty thousand, far more than I expected. How did you manage that?”
“By monopolizing the market, obviously~~~”
Her smugness showed clearly between the lines:
“When I was collecting Tier-One Essence Crystals earlier, I deliberately left a profit margin. The idea was to lure other players into thinking they could make money by buying from me and reselling elsewhere.”
“Once the transaction was nearing its end, they realized that I was the only one actually buying Tier-One Essence Crystals. Afraid of being stuck with them, they dumped everything on me regardless of the price.”
Lu Li raised an eyebrow.
“Truly worthy of being the class monitor. You’re remarkably skilled at schemes and trickery.”
“Get lost, get lost, get lost! You’d better be polite to me now. I’m still holding a debt note for fifty thousand Essence Crystals!”
“A debt note?”
This time, Lu Li was genuinely stunned.
Only after Xu Xiao mentioned it did he suddenly remember that the Global Trading Market allowed people to issue debt notes.
A debtor could use their own life as collateral and issue a debt note with a repayment deadline agreed upon by both parties.
The generated debt note would automatically be sent to the creditor, while the debtor would be required to repay the debt within the prescribed period.
If the debt was repaid on time, the note would automatically disappear.
But if the deadline passed without full repayment, the debtor’s status panel would vanish immediately, and their life would be taken at once.
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Because of this coercive mechanism, very few people issued debt notes through the Global Trading Market.
Lu Li had never imagined that Xu Xiao would discover this mechanism and put it to use.
“Who issued those debt notes to you?”
Xu Xiao looked at the message that had appeared in the chat window and replied, “Several players. But they all claimed to be members of the Zhao Family, saying that their family’s honor guaranteed they would repay everything within three days.”
After a while, when Lu Li still had not replied, the smugness on her face gradually turned to unease.
“Um... Was I wrong to let them issue debt notes?”
“No. You did very well...”
Lu Li replied, admiration evident in his words.
“If you weren’t such a bleeding heart, I’d genuinely want to maintain a long-term partnership with you.”
A smile blossomed in Xu Xiao’s eyes once more, and the corners of her lips lifted.
“Oh? So it’s not a business relationship anymore?”
“Oh, right, that was a slip of the tongue. A long-term business relationship.”
“Drop dead!! I’ll send you the debt note. When the time comes, just go collect from the Zhao Family yourself. I’m off to level up.”
With that final remark, Xu Xiao sent Lu Li a trade request.
Smiling, Lu Li accepted it and received the debt note for five thousand Essence Crystals.
The remaining three thousand Essence Crystals were also poured into the solvent.
Taking the eighty percent discount into account, the Essence Crystal Dissolution Mixture now contained a total of 104,156 experience points.
More than one hundred thousand experience points!
That was enough!!
...
At the same time.
The capital, the Zhao Family residence.
Azure light filled the entire room.
Zhao Quan paced back and forth, occasionally stroking the curling beard on his cheek as though waiting for something.
At last, after the holographic projection flickered several times, Zhao Jin’s figure appeared within it.
Zhao Quan frowned slightly and spoke.
“What happened? Why are you dragging your feet so much? How is the collection of High-Tier Essence Crystals going?”
Zhao Jin’s expression was not pleasant either, and his tone was somewhat stiff.
“There was a slight mishap, Elder. Luo Hong was captured. To ransom her, I used the High-Tier Essence Crystals from our reserves.”
“What?! Luo Hong was captured? Which family did it?”
Zhao Quan’s expression changed drastically as he demanded the answer in a sharp voice.
“Not a family... It was an independent player named Lu Li.”
“Lu Li?” Zhao Quan drew a deep breath, wariness appearing in his eyes. “His surname is Lu. Could he be from the Lu Family...?”
Zhao Jin shook his head.
“I looked into it. Although this Lu Li is an orphan, he grew up in an orphanage in Yong City.”
“If he were the surviving heir of that family, how could the Lu Family possibly have stood by and done nothing?”
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Hearing this, Zhao Quan relaxed slightly.
“As long as he has nothing to do with the Lu Family. Even in decline, a colossus like that is not someone we should provoke lightly.”
“Luo Hong’s abilities are special, and her value far exceeds that of High-Tier Essence Crystals. Your decision was not unreasonable.”
“Since we don’t have enough High-Tier Essence Crystals, we’ll alter the plan for now. Your branch will first absorb Tier-Two Essence Crystals and collectively reach Level 3. As for the remaining Tier-Three Essence Crystals, send them to your elder brother.”
At those words, Zhao Jin’s expression grew even darker.
“All the Tier-Three Essence Crystals go to Zhao Mou? Why, Elder? I’m short on Essence Crystals too. Shouldn’t he at least share some with me?!”
Zhao Quan snorted coldly.
“Share some Essence Crystals with you? What use would they be?! The only remotely useful person in your branch, Chen Hao, is dead. Giving you Tier-Three Essence Crystals would only be a waste!”
“It would be far better to give them all to Zhao Mou. He has unearthed plenty of promising prospects in Hang City. If they all advance tonight, the Zhao Family’s strength will surely increase dramatically!”
“But...”
Zhao Jin was about to argue again, but Zhao Quan cut him off with a wave of his hand.
“That’s enough. You have Luo Hong’s Corpse Condensation Crystalization. You won’t have trouble increasing your level. It’s settled. Hurry and have your people absorb the Essence Crystals!”
...
In an unfinished building on the outskirts of Yong City.
Nearly an hour had passed since the last transaction.
Qi Zeyu clutched the only Tier-Two Essence Crystal in his hand, yet still felt a suffocating tightness in his chest.
He had never imagined that Xu Xiao would be the only person in the entire trading market actually buying Tier-One Essence Crystals.
Everyone else wanted to exchange Tier-One Essence Crystals for higher-tier ones.
As a result, Qi Zeyu had no choice but to exchange every Tier-One Essence Crystal he had earned with Xu Xiao!
And Xu Xiao was the one who set the price!!
Qi Zeyu had considered keeping those Tier-One Essence Crystals for himself.
But the thought was dismissed almost the instant it arose.
How could he keep them?
There were simply too many Tier-One Essence Crystals to carry conveniently!
And so, in the end, Qi Zeyu’s gains amounted to this—
He had paid one Tier-Three Essence Crystal to obtain one Tier-Two Essence Crystal.
Not only had he failed to make a profit, he had actually lost money!
“Damn your rotten pineapples, Xu Xiao. I’ll remember this...”
Qi Zeyu mechanically scrolled through the World Chat channel, trying to ease the frustration in his heart.
Ding! The Level Rankings have changed!
The notification from the Level Rankings drew his attention.
As if they had arranged it beforehand, a large number of players had increased their levels and squeezed onto the rankings.
...
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