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[1] 听懂掌声 (tīng dǒng zhǎng shēng): Internet catchphrase from viral motivational speeches, used sarcastically when someone drops "wisdom" so absurd it loops back to sounding profound. Chen Shu's spending logic gets the narrator's standing ovation.
Gazing at the light shining in Wang Qingxue's eyes, Chen Shu knew his words had already taken effect.
"Oh, right — make sure Qingxue enrolls at Nanjiang Second High," Chen Shu said.
He could picture Principal practically laughing himself awake from his dreams — look at the talent he'd recruited for the school.
The group settled into their final dinner of the year, faces brimming with joy and excitement.
"Chen Shu, what university are you planning to apply to?"
Xu Xiaoyu asked — not because she was worried about Chen Shu, but because she was worried about the school...
Whether a school descended into chaos was entirely up to the Bandit!
"Huaxia Academy, obviously!" Chen Shu declared without hesitation.
If he was going to stir up trouble, he might as well do it at the best school in the country!
Chen Shu's contract spirit was only F-rank. By any reasonable standard, there was no way he'd get into Huaxia Academy.
But that was for normal people. It didn't have much to do with Chen Shu...
Chen Shu speared a slice of fatty beef with his chopsticks. "What about you guys? Which universities are you going for?"
Xu Xiaoyu thought for a moment. "Probably one of the prestigious universities in the Capital."
She'd been the former top student in their grade, even hailed as Huaxia Academy material.
But deep down, she knew the chances of actually getting in were slim.
Huaxia Academy admitted roughly five hundred students a year, yet there were over six hundred cities across the country.
That meant some smaller cities wouldn't produce a single Huaxia Academy student.
Unfortunately, Nanjiang happened to be one of those small cities.
Not to mention, the big cities had vastly superior educational resources — most Huaxia Academy students came from there.
The last person from Nanjiang to get into Huaxia Academy was Fang Si, and that was already three years ago.
Barring some miracle, this year would be no different.
Xu Xiaoyu was genuinely talented, but there were plenty of others at her level — Wang Qinghan, Tang Lie, Xu Xingxing, among others.
Everyone else shared more or less the same plan: shoot for a prestigious university in the Capital.
It wouldn't be Huaxia Academy, but as long as they excelled, the training would still be top-notch.
Aside from Chen Shu and his grand ambitions, the mood around the table had dipped a little.
Who didn't want to attend the best university?
Chen Shu offered his consolation. "Cheer up, everyone. Since someone's destined to be trash, why can't it be us?"
"Come on, repeat after me!"
"We are trash!"
"..."
Everyone stared at Chen Shu. Is this your idea of comforting people?
By nine o'clock, the group's first dinner together came to an end.
The mood had dipped briefly in the middle, but it bounced back quickly. Huaxia Academy was always a long shot anyway.
"We're heading out."
The three guys bolted with not an ounce of gentlemanly grace between them, vanishing the moment the meal was over.
"Old Xie, why don't you walk them back?"
"I need to go sharpen my knife..."
"What about you, Xiao Xing?"
"It's getting cold. I need to go order some custom fleece-lined pajamas."
"You are genuinely insane!"
Chen Shu flipped Xu Xingxing the middle finger, then added, "Oh — order me a few sets too while you're at it."
"..."
Xie Sunan spoke up. "Chen Pi, what are you off to do?"
"Me? I'm going to buy medicine."
At that, the two of them actually burst out laughing. They asked with exaggerated "concern":
"Medicine? Are you sick? If it's really that bad, maybe don't waste the money, yeah?"
"???"
Chen Shu's mouth twitched. "The hell are you two thinking? I'm buying medicine for the Slime!"
So they're already eyeing the funeral feast, huh?
Chen Shu left them behind and headed straight for the potion shops in the city center.
"Good evening, sir. What potions can I get for you?"
Chen Shu pointed at the shelves. "Forty bottles of Basic Fire Resistance Potion. Ice Resistance Potion. Balance Potion..."
He proceeded to buy up most of the potions in the entire store.
The Slime had already maxed out on the major potions, but there were still plenty of lesser ones it hadn't consumed.
Those secondary potions wouldn't do much for the Slime individually, but it could still take them. Every little bit counted.
Right now the Slime was at Basic Perfect, but Chen Shu intended to push it all the way to Super Perfect.
Useful or not — max it out first, ask questions later.
He currently had fifty million in Huaxia Currency sitting in his account. If he didn't spend it, he probably wouldn't be able to sleep.
Beast Taming Pearls didn't do much for him anymore, and Lord-tier materials were a matter of luck — you couldn't just buy those on demand.
So the only option was to pump the Slime full of every potion known to man.
A normal person would save the money.
At Black Iron rank, you'd need to cultivate two contract spirits, and Black Iron-grade materials cost several times more.
But Chen Shu's thought process was clearly different from a normal person's. If he could easily earn tens of millions, he could earn even more.
Money that isn't spent has no value!
Applause, if you please![1]
"I'm sorry, sir — we don't have enough stock..."
The clerk's face was a mask of apology. She'd finally landed a big customer, only for the store to come up short.
"You could wait just a bit — we can have everything ready within two days!"
"No need. I can't wait! I'll take however much you've got!"
Chen Shu whipped out his bank card on the spot and handed it to the clerk.
Then he summoned the Golden Slime.
A golden sphere over three meters wide materialized, snoring away. If no one disturbed it, the thing could probably sleep until the heat death of the universe.
Chen Shu cracked open bottle after bottle and poured the potions straight into the Slime's mouth.
Passersby couldn't help but stare, eyes wide with shock.
There's no justice in this world!
Potions worth thousands — even tens of thousands — per bottle, and he was going through them like cabbages at a supermarket.
"Holy sh*t! Spending this much money to cultivate an F-rank contract spirit — so this is what life's like for the rich?"
Chen Shu blew through several million in one go, then recalled his Slime and hurried to the next potion shop.
Over the course of one evening—
Chen Shu visited nearly ten shops, ultimately spending over forty million yuan.
Normally, forty million was enough to cultivate a Black Iron-rank contract spirit. He'd spent it all on a single Level 9 spirit.
Most people only fed their contract spirits the potions they actually needed.
Fire-type spirits got fire potions. Strength-type spirits got power potions.
The wealthier ones might add defense potions or cell regeneration potions for extra vitality.
But Chen Shu didn't care whether a potion was useful or not. He fed the Slime everything.
Apart from a handful of rare potions that were simply out of stock, the Slime had consumed every potion available.
It had truly reached Super Perfect.
"No more potions for now!"
Chen Shu dusted off his hands, recalled the Slime into his Beast Taming Space, and headed home.
"Mom, Dad, I'm back!"
Back in his room, Chen Shu began packing for the trip to Daxing City.
The urea bag was an absolute must — standard Bandit-issue equipment!
Half an hour later, he had everything sorted.
He burrowed into bed and started scrolling his phone, when he suddenly noticed the time.
Midnight!
New Year's Day had arrived, which meant it was now Revival Era Year 981.
A new year had begun, and well-wishes were in order.
His eyes darted around. He pulled every single classmate from elementary school, middle school, and high school into one massive group chat.
"Happy New Year, everyone!"
Chen Shu typed out the message and immediately left the group.
Hundreds of bewildered people remained.
"???"
"Chen Shu, are you out of your mind?! You made a group chat JUST to say 'Happy New Year'?!"
Chen Shu closed his phone with a contented grin. Mass-messaging was too much hassle — this was way simpler.