Chapter 60 – Brothers

Su Xing pondered this thoughtfully, planning to try a few more times to verify when he had the chance.

Seven days passed in the blink of an eye, and it was once again the day for his weekly trade with Jin Congxue.

Su Xing handed over the three hundred Beauty-Preserving Pills he had prepared in advance to Jin Congxue, and Jin Congxue in turn delivered the 120,000 white-quality pieces of equipment she had prepared over the week.

During their meal, Jin Congxue hesitated for a moment before saying to Su Xing:

“Someone came to sell equipment to our Tarot Society today. Can you guess who?”

Su Xing shook his head slightly. Jin Congxue continued:

“It was Yu Yan. He’s your roommate, right? He came to the Tarot Society today and sold a Master-stage piece of equipment.”

Su Xing frowned slightly upon hearing this. Why would Yu Yan be selling equipment? And Master-stage equipment at that.

If Su Xing remembered correctly, Yu Yan should still be at Master-stage right now, which meant Master-stage equipment was undoubtedly very important to him.

Jin Congxue continued:

“And from the look of him, it seemed like he wanted to sell more than just one piece. If I’m not mistaken, he’s probably run into some kind of trouble.”

Su Xing was taken aback. Selling equipment this desperately—what kind of trouble could it be? It was obviously nothing more than a lack of money.

Su Xing had previously borrowed over fifty million yuan from Yu Yan in order to quickly acquire energy. And since the Tarot Society had just been established at the time and needed capital, Su Xing had figured Yu Yan wasn’t in any rush for the money, so he hadn’t hurried to pay it back.

But if Yu Yan had been reduced to selling his equipment, he must truly be strapped for cash.

And yet, even so, Yu Yan still had no intention of pressing Su Xing to repay the debt.

If Jin Congxue hadn’t mentioned it today, Su Xing would still have been completely in the dark.

Thinking of this, Su Xing felt a wave of emotion. Even in such dire straits, Yu Yan still hadn’t asked him to repay the money.

Yu Yan probably assumed Su Xing was also in a tough financial spot right now…

With that thought, Su Xing said to Jin Congxue:

“Congxue, take out a hundred million yuan from the association’s funds for me first. I need it urgently.”

Jin Congxue looked at him knowingly. “Is this for that Yu Yan?”

Su Xing nodded without hiding anything and said:

“Back when I was going through a rough patch, Yu Yan lent me fifty million, and I still haven’t paid him back… Even now that he’s the one in trouble, he hasn’t brought it up with me.”

Jin Congxue nodded after hearing this. Fifty million might not mean much to her, but for Yu Yan—a student—it was definitely no small sum. If he hadn’t lent that fifty million to Su Xing, Yu Yan probably wouldn’t have been reduced to selling his equipment.

So Jin Congxue said:

“Alright, I’ll transfer a hundred million to you first. As for the equipment Yu Yan sold, should we return it to him as well?”

Su Xing shook his head and said:

“Hold onto the equipment Yu Yan sold for now. Once I pay him back, he’ll most likely go redeem it himself. Just sell it back to him at the original price when that happens.”

If Su Xing directly returned the equipment, it would be hard to explain how he knew about the situation.

Besides, Fatty Yu was the type who cared a lot about saving face. Bringing it up directly would only make things awkward.

After the meal, Su Xing returned to the dormitory, and as it happened, Yu Yan was also there.

Su Xing grinned and punched Yu Yan on the shoulder, saying:

“Fatty, last time I was short on cash and borrowed fifty-five million from you. I just closed a little business deal recently, so let me pay you back now!”

Yu Yan’s heart skipped a beat, and a look of puzzlement crossed his face. He happened to be short on money right now—how was it that Su Xing chose this exact moment to pay him back? But he couldn’t read anything from Su Xing’s expression, so he chalked it up to coincidence and said:

“Ahem! We’re brothers—who keeps score? I’m not short on cash! You can pay me back whenever… Actually, do you need me to lend you some more?”

Su Xing was all smiles on the surface, but internally he was rolling his eyes. This guy really did care about his pride! So Su Xing didn’t beat around the bush and transferred fifty million directly to Yu Yan’s account right then and there, saying:

“Fatty, I’m paying you back fifty million first. For the remaining five million, let me make it up with an item that dropped in a dungeon!”

“This stuff is seriously good. Make sure you use it yourself and don’t let anyone else see it.”

With that, Su Xing took out a bottle of budget-version Essence Nurturing Pills containing thirty pills and handed it over.

Yu Yan accepted the pills but still said hesitantly:

“I’ll take the item, but as for the money, you can owe it to me for now! I really don’t need it!”

The corner of Su Xing’s mouth twitched involuntarily. Looking at Yu Yan’s utterly convincing performance, if Su Xing hadn’t learned the truth from Jin Congxue, this fatty might have actually fooled him.

But Su Xing pretended not to know. “It’s fine! If I need money later, I’ll come borrow from you again! Just think of it as your brother keeping a deposit with you!”

Only then did Yu Yan accept the money. Suddenly remembering something, he said:

“Ahem, Su Xing, I’ve got something to take care of. I need to head out for a bit…”

With that, Yu Yan rushed out of the school in a frantic hurry.

Watching Yu Yan’s hastily retreating figure, Su Xing couldn’t help but laugh out loud. Nine times out of ten, the guy was heading off to redeem his equipment.

Su Xing was genuinely grateful to this good brother of his from the bottom of his heart. Without Yu Yan’s early financial support, how could Su Xing have had enough energy to develop so quickly? He wouldn’t have achieved what he had today.

That was why Su Xing had chosen to give Yu Yan thirty budget-version Essence Nurturing Pills.

Budget-version or not, they were still worth a considerable sum.

Because even budget-version Essence Nurturing Pills could increase the mana of Golden Core stage cultivators, and for Class Users, even a Master-stage magic-type Class User could gain a direct boost to their spirit attribute.

Anyone who had played games knew that attribute points were extremely precious. Aside from bonuses from levels and equipment, only the rarest of items could permanently increase one’s attributes.

For Yu Yan as a flame burst mage, the budget-version Essence Nurturing Pills would undoubtedly be tremendously beneficial.

Su Xing estimated that once Yu Yan finished absorbing all thirty Essence Nurturing Pills, he would be ready to attempt advancing to Grandmaster-stage Class User.

If one had to put a monetary value on the budget-version Essence Nurturing Pills, Su Xing figured each pill would cost at least two to three million—and that was only if Su Xing was willing to sell.

Su Xing clearly had no intention of selling Essence Nurturing Pills on a large scale. After all, unlike Beauty-Preserving Pills, once Essence Nurturing Pills hit the market, they would very likely attract the attention of the Great Xia Military.

That would still be manageable. What Su Xing truly feared was drawing the attention of the Advent Cult. The psychological trauma that old dog Zong had inflicted on Su Xing in the last simulation was no joke.

So Su Xing only planned to give Essence Nurturing Pills to those closest to him, helping them boost their strength.

People like Yu Yan, Jin Congxue, and Wang Qingxuan, for instance. In a little while, Su Xing also planned to send some Essence Nurturing Pills to his little sister.

Seeing that no one was around, Su Xing turned and entered the Blessed Spirit Field dungeon.

New Era 2024, January 21st, afternoon—Su Xing began his twentieth simulation right on schedule.