The hypnotic hawking echoed throughout the black market.
Passersby stopped in their tracks, gazing toward the Strength Potion Shop.
Outside the storefront stood a wooden sign: "High-Grade Strength Potion! Only 28,888 per bottle! Limited to ten per day!"
In no time, quite a crowd gathered.
Someone spoke up. "Is this really genuine High-Grade Strength Potion?"
Chen Shu shouted back, "Absolutely authentic! If it's fake, I'll pay you ten times! Ten times!"
"You wouldn't just give me eleven fake bottles, would you?"
"Oh, come on! Absolutely genuine, personally guaranteed by Wang Qian of the Spirit Suppression Bureau!"
Chen Shu had once again recruited Wang Qian as his free brand ambassador. If anyone got a fake, they could report it directly to the Spirit Suppression Bureau.
Besides, this was a proper shop—far more credible than some street stall!
What Chen Shu hadn't anticipated, however, was that even though everyone believed him, not many people were rushing to buy.
The reason was simple: no money!
To reach maximum efficacy, you needed to consume forty bottles of High-Grade Strength Potion—over a million yuan total. Ordinary people simply couldn't afford it.
And those who could afford it? Why would they care about saving a measly thousand yuan?
They'd rather buy from legitimate stores in the city proper. At least those were guaranteed authentic!
After an entire night, Chen Shu had sold exactly one bottle...
"Damn it, I miscalculated..."
He'd assumed the stock would fly off the shelves. Clearly, he'd been naive.
"Tomorrow, drop the price. Twenty-five thousand per bottle! Limited to five!"
Chen Shu grabbed a new wooden sign and scrawled two lines. The handwriting was sloppy, but still legible.
"Today, I'm making a decision that betrays my ancestors—High-Grade Strength Potion, 25,000 per bottle, limited to five![1] Why limited? Because I don't want my ancestors haunting me at midnight!"
Chen Shu nodded in satisfaction. This should attract some customers.
He was just a small shop—no way he could compete with those legitimate century-old establishments. The only option was a price war.
Five bottles of potion entering the market daily shouldn't cause any waves.
"This'll do for now. Once the shop builds up its reputation, I'll increase the quantity and raise the prices!"
Lure customers with discounts first, then jack up the prices later—standard business tactics...
---
Nanjiang No. 2 High School, Dorm 102.
Xie Sunan spoke up. "Chen Pi, what have you been doing every night lately? You always come back exhausted. Don't tell me you've been..."
"Of course I've been making..." Chen Shu paused dramatically, then continued, "...money!"
"..." Xu Xingxing advised, "It's senior year now. Beast Taming results are what matter most."
Chen Shu curled his lip. "Don't talk to me about that Beast Taming Power crap. Right now, all I care about is making money!"
With that, Chen Shu washed up and immediately collapsed into bed.
Xie Sunan sighed. "Chen Pi's wasting his talent."
Xu Xingxing let out a breath. "Yeah. At this rate, I feel like within a month, everyone in class will surpass him."
"Looks like we're the only ones with both talent AND work ethic."
The two exchanged knowing smiles and prepared to begin cultivating their Beast Taming Power.
Just then, an aura suddenly emanated from the sleeping Chen Shu, subtly transforming his entire presence.
"Hm?"
Both of them stared wide-eyed, faces filled with disbelief.
Xu Xingxing swallowed hard. "Old Xie... did he just... break through?"
Xie Sunan wore the same expression of someone who'd seen a ghost. "I think so..."
Chen Shu had already been a Level 7 Beast Tamer. Breaking through now meant Level 8—making him the undisputed number one in the Special Training Class.
"But... but he's ASLEEP?!"
Their shock gradually morphed into despair. Their faces took on the look of people who'd lost all will to live. Every shred of their earlier motivation to cultivate had evaporated.
When someone better than you works harder—that stings.
But when someone who doesn't even TRY is still better than you who tries every day? That's soul-crushing.
"Old Xie, should we still cultivate?"
"Cultivate my ass. Sleep! I'm breaking through too!"
Xie Sunan flopped down to sleep, his heart thoroughly wounded by Chen Shu.
Xu Xingxing wore the same dejected expression, gazing at the moonlight outside the balcony, his heart filled with sorrow.
He was even considering having his family spend ten or twenty million to force a breakthrough...
---
Early the next morning.
"Ahh, that was refreshing!"
Chen Shu felt invigorated, full of energy.
"What's up with you two?"
Chen Shu immediately spotted Xie Sunan and Xu Xingxing, sporting panda eyes and looking severely sleep-deprived.
Though they'd flopped down to sleep, they'd actually lain awake all night.
Some things are like that—the more you think about them, the harder they are to let go...
Xie Sunan asked expressionlessly, "Do you know what happened last night?"
Chen Shu glanced around the dorm. "What? Did that python come back?!"
Xu Xingxing sighed and shook his head. "Did you... break through?"
Chen Shu checked himself and instantly realized he'd successfully advanced to Level 8 Beast Tamer.
He said matter-of-factly, "Yeah, broke through. So what?"
"You're not even surprised?"
Both stared at him wide-eyed, feeling their souls take another critical hit.
Chen Shu shrugged. "What's the big deal? Level 8 Beast Tamer? Come on—that's anyone-with-hands difficulty."
The two wailed toward the heavens. Life was unbearable. They cultivated every single day, only to be outpaced by someone taking a nap.
Chen Shu said with a straight face, "I told you—sleeping and squatting on the toilet are both forms of cultivation. Believe me now?"
---
The three headed to the Beast Taming Arena.
Xie Sunan and Xu Xingxing looked utterly exhausted, their resentful gazes fixed on Chen Shu, drawing puzzled looks from everyone else.
Shen Wushuang arrived at the front, about to speak, when someone suddenly raised their hand.
"Hm? Du Long, what is it?"
"Teacher! Today I want to challenge Chen Shu!"
Du Long's eyes brimmed with confidence as he shot a provocative glare at Chen Shu below.
"Since you've said the strongest person gets to be class monitor, I believe that title belongs to me!"
Du Long instantly summoned his Earth Sub-dragon, looking every bit the imposing figure.
"Chen Shu, what do you say?"
Shen Wushuang turned to Chen Shu, a faint smile playing at her lips.
The Special Training Class was supposed to be full of competition. Only through rivalry could students truly unlock their potential.
Chen Shu raised an eyebrow. I just broke through and already someone wants to run into the gun—no wait, the cannon's mouth?
"I could accept, but we need to set some standards. What, any random cat or dog can challenge me now?"
Chen Shu spread his hands with a sigh. "I need time to study too, Teacher!"
"Fair point." Shen Wushuang nodded. "How about using one Beast Orb as the wager?"
Students in the Special Training Class received one High-Grade Beast Orb every month to accelerate their cultivation.
"No objections!"
Du Long nodded slightly, confidence glinting in his eyes.
Though only a week had passed, his understanding of skills had undergone a qualitative leap.
Options materialized before Chen Shu's eyes.
[Option 1: Refuse the match while asking with a straight face: "Are you even worthy?" Completion Reward: Medium Beast Taming Power]
[Option 2: Accept the match and beat the Earth Sub-dragon senseless! Completion Reward: Five Power Flowers]
[Option 3: Pretend to refuse, then launch a sneak attack—strike first to demonstrate true bandit style! Completion Reward: Skill "Rebound Force" +1]