Chapter 9: Upgrade Funds Secured

"Two light spots... He really did reach Intermediate Body Tempering!"

"Su Lang was pretending to be incompetent. He could have broken through to Intermediate Body Tempering long ago."

"But wait, why did he only come now to collect the allowance for Primary Body Tempering?"

"Who wouldn't rush to collect the allowance right after breaking through? How could he endure it? It must be fake!"

"But the fluctuations he emitted earlier were indeed those of a breakthrough. I've seen enough of these to not mistake them."

"So, he really did just break through to Intermediate Body Tempering! Yang Shi is done for!?"

"Yeah, Yang Shi's luck is terrible. To think he encountered this."

"But if Yang Shi hadn't mocked him, none of this would have happened."

"Haha, that's true."

...

The crowd discussed in disbelief, their gazes all falling on Yang Shi.

"Young Reserve Warrior, are you going to renege on your word?"

Su Lang gave Yang Shi a cold smile. "Please give me the 50 gold coins for the bet and then fulfill the second part of our wager!"

"Damn it! Even if you reached Intermediate Body Tempering, so what?"

"At twenty years old, breaking through to Intermediate Body Tempering still makes you average!"

"Before me, Su Lang, you're still a waste, hmph! No need to look any further!"

Yang Shi, feeling a mix of pain and shame, took out a spiritual stone from his pocket and fiercely smashed it into Su Lang's chest before walking away without looking back.

As for stripping naked and running three laps around the Martial Union building, shouting 'I'm a genius'—he didn't have the face to do it, nor the courage. If he did, not only would his own reputation be ruined, but his entire Yang family would become a laughingstock. When that happened, Yang Shi's fate would be truly miserable.

So, he would rather compensate Su Lang with a lower-grade spiritual stone worth 100 gold coins than fulfill the second part of the bet.

"For the sake of this stone, I'll spare you for now. Don't let me catch you again."

Su Lang watched Yang Shi's departing figure with disdainful amusement.

Immediately after, Su Lang turned back to the heavily made-up woman behind the service window. "Hey, old hag, hurry up and give me the allowance and identity card for Intermediate Body Tempering!"

This whole incident was instigated by this heavily made-up woman. Although Su Lang made 100 gold coins, he still found her quite annoying.

"Hmph!"

The heavily made-up woman threw 20 gold coins and Su Lang's identity card at him. "You're just an average talent. You've offended Young Master Yang; you're dead meat. Now get lost and stop blocking the line!"

"Tsk, this attitude of yours will be the end of you sooner or later!"

Su Lang sneered, gathered up the spiritual stone, gold coins, and identity card, and swiftly left the Martial Union hall.

"It seems that Yang Shi has some status."

Walking on the road, Su Lang turned over the spiritual stone in his hand.

Spiritual stones were peculiar energy crystals produced after the resurgence of spiritual energy, treasures of heaven and earth. They were vital resources for martial artists' cultivation. Additionally, they could be cut and polished into standard sizes and used as high-end currency.

In general, spiritual stones circulated among martial artists and higher-level practitioners. They were categorized into grades: Lower, Intermediate, Upper, and Peak.

The spiritual stone in Su Lang's hand was a Lower-grade spiritual stone, valued at 100 gold coins.

"Once I exchange this half-piece of spiritual stone into gold coins, I'll have 161 gold coins. That's enough to upgrade my One-Click Cultivation function to level 2. Hahaha!"

Just thinking about how his cultivation speed would soon be twice as fast as that of a flawless talent, Su Lang felt excited enough to want to roar to the sky.

Suddenly.

"Host, the system can provide free storage, exchange, and withdrawal functions for currency."

"What!?"

Su Lang's eyes lit up instantly.

This way, he could save himself a lot of trouble and avoid paying unnecessary fees.

"System, immediately exchange this spiritual stone into gold coins!"

Su Lang's mind moved, and the spiritual stone in his hand disappeared instantly.

In the upper left corner of the mysterious black space, a currency symbol appeared, followed by the number 100.

"Ding! Exchange successful. Would you like to deposit the remaining gold coins on your person into the system?"

"Deposit!"

Su Lang nodded. The gold coins on his person disappeared instantly, and the number next to the currency symbol changed to 161.