NOVEL NEXT Chapter 33: Are you up to it?
Lan Zhi understood her feelings, but was a bit puzzled and said, "What does it matter if no one teams up with you? You're not short of money. Why don't you just hire guards?" Jin Yuman sobbed and said, "The teacher said that the filth-removing task is both a task on the Xingling Scroll and a task of the Star Academy. We should learn to be independent and can't ask for help from people outside the Star Academy, or we'll be punished. So we usually secretly ask senior brothers and sisters in the Star Academy to do it in the name of forming a team. I wanted to do it like this before, but no one was willing to take it." Speaking of this matter, Jin Yuman was full of grievances. "Generally, hiring a team of five people only costs 500,000 star coins. I even raised the price to one million, but they still refused. They thought I was rich and all wanted rare ores." Lan Zhi was astonished and asked, "How high is your cultivation level?" Asking about someone's cultivation level was actually as impolite as asking about their age, but Lan Zhi was really surprised. The higher the cultivation level, the heavier the filth-removing task would be. If she was at the eighth realm of the fifth star meridian, it would be understandable to spend 500,000 to hire people for the task. But if her cultivation level was only at the first star meridian... Jin Yuman was immersed in her own emotions and didn't care about Lan Zhi's rudeness. She replied, "I should be able to reach the eighth realm of the first star meridian next year." Lan Zhi: "..." Cultivators had eight major star meridians. Each star meridian reaching the eighth realm was considered full. When all eight meridians reached the eighth realm, it was the so-called full realm of eight meridians. Being able to reach the eighth realm of the first star meridian next year meant that Jin Yuman hadn't even reached the full realm of the first star meridian yet. Roughly speaking, she had just introduced qi into her body. The filth-removing task at this stage was the simplest. It didn't require killing filthy beasts of any high level. One could complete it by casually stabbing to death two ordinary animals contaminated by filthy qi. And for such a simple task, it was outrageous that it cost at least 500,000 to hire people in the Fengtian Star Academy and no one would take it even when the price was raised to one million! However, Lan Zhi understood it after thinking for a while. The children of noble families who could enter the Fengtian Star Academy wouldn't be short of money. Besides cultivating in the Fengtian Star Academy, eighty percent of them also shouldered family tasks and needed to win over certain forces and so on. Once they showed kindness to the bullied targets, they would be regarded as traitors and even become the targets of bullying themselves, which was something they definitely didn't want to see. That's why no one could be found even with such a high price. Lan Zhi patted Jin Yuman's shoulder sympathetically and said, "Forget it. I'll help you." Jin Yuman was stunned and said, "But you're not from our Star Academy." Lan Zhi didn't explain but instead asked, "Is the punishment of the Fengtian Star Academy very severe?" Jin Yuman said, "It's not that severe. It's just a public notice of criticism in the whole academy and a fine of 200,000 star coins." Speaking of this, she finally understood what Lan Zhi meant. In the past, she would rather spend one million to hire people to do the task than be punished. Firstly, she thought that she could try to do the tasks that others could do, and then she wouldn't have to ask others for help every year when she had experience. Secondly, the public notice in the whole academy would make her situation in the Fengtian Star Academy even worse. She didn't think she was a poor student in her heart and didn't want to bear the title of a poor student. But after this time, it was obviously impossible to ask the students of the Fengtian Star Academy to help with the task anymore. She only had two choices: either being rejected by the star qi and unable to cultivate, which would lead to expulsion, or accepting the punishment of the Star Academy. Anyone who wasn't a fool would know which one to choose. But the problem now was— Jin Yuman asked suspiciously, "Are you up to it?" She wiped away her tears and looked Lan Zhi up and down. Seeing that Lan Zhi was so slender that she seemed as if she could be blown away by a gust of wind, she couldn't help being skeptical and asked, "Can you help me with the task? Are you majoring in attacks? Are you a sword cultivator or a saber cultivator?" Lan Zhi shook her head and said, "Neither, but I can kill filthy beasts." Jin Yuman became even more worried. Many people in the Fengtian Star Academy who were close to the eighth realm of the second star meridian didn't dare to say that they could kill filthy beasts.