Chapter 114: Chapter 114: Free Just for Signing In?

Fang Chen followed Fan Yutong away from the bustling recruitment area. They passed through several main teaching buildings before arriving at a relatively low but expansive structure nearby.

The architectural style was simple and practical. An inconspicuous wooden plaque hung at the entrance, engraved with three words: "Liuyun Society."

Stepping inside, they found that the space was much larger than it appeared from the outside. The interior was divided into four spacious areas, each about the size of a basketball court. Silhouettes flickered within, accompanied by faint shouts and the sharp whistling of energy piercing the air. Clearly, people were training. There were also several smaller cubicles, seemingly used for administrative or meeting purposes.

"This is where our society usually trains and gathers," Fan Yutong introduced.

Fang Chen looked around and asked, "What is the academy’s attitude toward our societies? They even carved out such a specific area for us?"

Fan Yutong smiled. "Oh, this? This building wasn’t allocated by the academy. An alumnus from the Liuyun Society bought it from the academy a long time ago and left it for future generations to use.

"Basically, every society with a bit of scale has its own fixed territory within the academy. It’s perfectly normal to either buy or rent."

She lowered her voice. "As for the academy’s attitude... it’s actually quite delicate. The existence of these societies certainly gives the academy’s management a headache, what with the scrambling for resources and private duels.

"But on the flip side, the academy only needs to manage the presidents of a few societies. The presidents then keep their respective members in check, which actually saves the academy a lot of trouble when it comes to trivial disciplinary issues.

"After all, anyone who can pull together a society and become its president in this academy either possesses formidable strength or has a profound background.

"Furthermore, many leaders and instructors in the academy are closely tied to the major families of Cyan Yang City... Sigh, you’ll slowly understand the hidden complexities here in the future."

Fang Chen nodded, gaining a clearer understanding of this semi-autonomous, cliquish ecosystem within the academy. This was different from the entirely official-led environment he had previously envisioned. It was more like a miniature arena where various factions played out their struggles under the academy’s rules.

Fan Yutong led him through the training area to a room labeled "Logistics and Resource Management."

Several senior students were busy inside. Seeing Fan Yutong bring Fang Chen in, a gentle-looking male student wearing glasses looked up, adjusted his frames, and smiled. "Oh? It’s Fan Yutong. I assume this is Junior Brother Fang Chen, this year’s strongest newcomer?"

"Hello, Senior Li," Fan Yutong greeted. "Fang Chen, this is Senior Li Su. He’s in charge of the society’s resource management."

Li Su nodded amiably at Fang Chen. "Welcome to the Liuyun Society. Fan Yutong really did a great job this time. Go ahead, there are some public resources stored in the small warehouse inside.

"Yutong, take Junior Brother Fang to have a look. According to the rules, new members have one chance to claim basic supplies for free. As for anything else, it requires Contribution Points to exchange or money to purchase."

"Will do," Fan Yutong replied, leading Fang Chen into a small inner room.

The room was not large, but it contained several rows of meticulously categorized shelves. There were physical books and a few Jade Scrolls, small piles of milky-white or pale-blue Crystal Stones emitting a faint glow, and neatly folded Combat Suits alongside standard weapons. There was even a separate small glass display case showcasing several accessories, such as rings, necklaces, earrings, and scent sachets.

Fan Yutong pointed at the glass case. "Those are Treasure Tools. They can provide effects like Spiritual Resistance, Elemental Enhancement, or a Spell Shield, but they aren’t cheap."

Fang Chen glanced at the price tags beneath the accessories and, sure enough, saw long strings of numbers. He immediately extinguished any thoughts of buying them. His gaze then fell on the Cultivation Technique notes and equipment.

"You can browse through these True Martial Level Martial Skills at will, Junior Brother Fang, but the High Martial Realm Martial Skill Jade Scrolls are single-use consumables, so they need to be exchanged for or bought."

Fang Chen nodded. He casually flipped through a few Cultivation Technique books and notes, finding that most of the content was largely identical to what he had seen in Jinchuan City and the Cyan Yang Martial Arts Academy’s Library Pavilion. While some Martial Skills had unique aspects, they were not entirely compatible with the ones he was currently practicing. Forcing himself to dual-cultivate them would likely yield half the result with twice the effort, or even cause them to interfere with each other.

In contrast, Fang Chen cared much more about the High Martial Realm Combat Suits and weapons.

Seeing Fang Chen’s lack of interest in the Martial Arts Secret Manuals and his focus on the equipment, Fan Yutong understood. "Are you interested in these Combat Suits and weapons, Junior Brother Fang? That makes sense. Given your deep understanding of the True Martial Realm’s Martial Dao, these basic Martial Arts Secret Manuals would hardly be of much help to you.

"A good set of equipment can make up for a lot of disparities. These sets of Combat Suits and weapons are considered quite good within the society; they’ll last you until the Yellow Rank of the High Martial Realm."

Fang Chen nodded. During his previous "free shopping spree" at the Jade Dew Hall, he had also browsed a few legitimate equipment and weapon shops in Cyan Yang City. A standard Yellow Rank High Martial Realm Combat Suit was generally priced at around thirty million. In comparison, the Spiritual Crystal Stones equipped on the Combat Suits were much more affordable; a single piece cost a little over four million.

Fang Chen already possessed High Martial Realm Spiritual Crystal Stones, but he was pairing them with a True Martial Realm Combat Suit. It was like installing a high-performance engine onto a fragile chassis—he couldn’t run it at full speed.

He checked the price tags next to the equipment:

[Liuyun Standard Combat Suit]: 2,000 Contribution Points, or 20,000,000 in cash.

[Flowing Cloud Cyan Blade Sword]: 2,000 Contribution Points, or 20,000,000 in cash.

The prices were indeed cheaper than the shops outside. This was likely an internal welfare benefit of the society. However, the ten million Su Man had given him was only enough to buy half a Combat Suit...

Sure enough, the further one progressed on the Martial Dao, the more insatiable the demand for resources became. Without money and power, even the highest talent would struggle to take a single step forward.

Reading the room, Fan Yutong noticed Fang Chen’s predicament. She smiled and said in a relaxed tone, "Actually, Junior Brother Fang, if you have your eye on this High Martial Realm Combat Suit and weapon, you don’t necessarily have to buy them outright. Our society has another benefit for certain members—they can be rented out for internal use."

"Rent?" Fang Chen looked up.

"Yes, rent," Fan Yutong explained in detail. "Combat Suits and weapons can be rented separately. The rent is three million a year per item upon signing a rental contract. If the equipment is damaged during that period, you have to bear the repair costs yourself.

"However, these standard pieces of equipment are made from solid materials. As long as you don’t get drawn into battles that far exceed their endurance limits, they generally won’t have any major problems for a few years.

"Many members rent them first. Then, once their strength improves and they save up enough Contribution Points, or they earn enough money after graduation, they consider buying them outright or upgrading to better ones."

Fang Chen quickly calculated in his head. At three million a year, renting the Combat Suit and weapon would total six million. He currently had ten million on hand, which was more than enough to cover the rent. Moreover, what he lacked the most right now wasn’t Potions or Cultivation Techniques, but rather these exact weapons and equipment.

He thought, "Six million for a year is actually a pretty good deal."

"In that case, Senior Sister Fan, I’ll rent this Flowing Cloud Cyan Blade Sword and this red-and-white Combat Suit for a year!

"Additionally, I’ll buy five Spiritual Crystal Stones to use interchangeably as backups."

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