Chapter 83: Well Now, That’s Quite Something—Just Like That!
After transferring four hundred thousand to Cai Hu, Zhang Ze did not return to Heyue City immediately. In fact, given Cai Hu’s current situation, he still felt quite anxious on his behalf.
…
Where he lived didn’t matter much to Zhang Ze. Compared to that, what occupied his mind most these past two days was still this unreliable system.
It had been a full two days!
Yet Zhang Ze’s system panel showed no sign of recovery.
Wealth: 12,340,000
(System upgrading…)
He stared at the system panel for a long time, unable to help but wonder if this thing was actually some product of modern technology. After all, those six dots appearing one after another, endlessly looping, were truly enough to break anyone’s spirit.
“What are you thinking about?” Ma Cheng approached, carrying a lunch box.
After spending the past two days together, Zhang Ze had gotten to know this older brother a bit.
“It’s nothing, just feeling a bit irritable,” Zhang Ze replied casually, taking the meal from Ma Cheng.
Suddenly, a thought struck him: “I’m a proper multimillionaire now, aren’t I? Yet day after day, all I eat is takeout, and somehow I’m always surrounded by men? Where are the women in my life?”
But before long, these thoughts were drowned out by the aroma of braised pig’s feet from the lunch box.
He had only taken two bites of rice when the long-awaited notification sounded in his mind.
Suddenly, the pig’s feet didn’t smell so good anymore. He shoved the meal back into Ma Cheng’s hands and rushed out of the room.
“Brother Ma, something came up. You go ahead and enjoy the pig’s feet.”
His voice echoed from the hospital corridor.
Ma Cheng stared at the half-eaten pig’s foot in the box, falling into a momentary daze.
…
Arriving on the rooftop of the medical staff building, Zhang Ze was greeted by a new system panel.
Wealth: 12,340 points
Cell Strength: 457S
Cell Spirit: 136/159
Skills: Shield (11%), Investigate
Meridians: 12 (90%)
Bone Tempering: 0
Draw: 66 points per try, 648 for ten tries
The system panel after its first upgrade filled Zhang Ze with exhilaration.
First, the wealth system had changed from RMB to points. Even though Zhang Ze hadn’t spent many years in school in either of his two lives, it was obvious that each point was now equivalent to one thousand RMB.
But what surprised him most were the last two entries added to the system: Bone Tempering and Draw!
Bone tempering aside for now—after two months of martial training, Zhang Ze knew that after reaching the fourth rank, a martial artist’s cultivation focused on tempering the bones. As a second-rank martial artist, it was still a bit early for him to be concerned with that.
Naturally, his gaze was irresistibly drawn to the last entry: the Draw!
…
As his consciousness focused, a disk the size of a dinner plate appeared on the system panel before him.
But to Zhang Ze’s chagrin, the entire disk was rendered in gray.
“This probability is outrageous,” he muttered. “Who knows what kind of prize comes out of the gray area?”
Muttering to himself, Zhang Ze noticed a thin golden sliver at the top of the disk, no wider than a pinky finger.
Aha! In an instant, Zhang Ze understood the reward mechanics of the draw.
To put it plainly, the vast gray area was the equivalent of “Thank you for participating”—prizes that were essentially nothing. The real rewards were all concentrated in that tiny golden sliver.
“This draw costs me sixty thousand a go, and almost guarantees nothing. System, you’re a real scammer!”
“Only a fool would try it!”
Even as he cursed out loud, Zhang Ze stared at his 12,340 points and fell deep into thought.
…
Thank you for participating~
Thank you for participating~
“You’ve got to be kidding me!” Zhang Ze couldn’t help cursing as he watched 132 points vanish.
“One last time—if you don’t give me gold, I’ll tear this system apart!”
Thank you for participating~
The slap in the face came quickly.
Wealth: 12,142
In just a short while, 198 points had evaporated. That was two hundred thousand, plain as day!
To put it pitifully, Zhang Ze had never seen so much money even in his past life.
But that pain was for another time. Right now, Zhang Ze wasn’t about to back down.
“Ten draws, let’s see a miracle!”
With a sudden clench of his teeth and a determined heart, his wealth dropped to 11,494 points.
At once, the system’s draw disk spun rapidly.
Thank you for participating~
No big deal, that was just the first round!
…
Thank you for participating~
No worries, there are eight more chances!
…
Thank you for participating~
I’ll endure!
…
Thank you for participating~
I’m about to cough up blood!
…
Thank you for participating~
Thank you for participating~
…
In a matter of moments, all ten draws were complete.
Zhang Ze suddenly felt the rooftop turn cold.
He looked at the nearby edge and thought, perhaps he should be the one to jump.
“Damn it all—” He even blurted out a curse in Japanese.
After all, that was a loss of 846 points—eight hundred and forty-six thousand—just gone like that?
“Ding—”
Just as he was drowning in frustration, a familiar notification chimed.
“Ten-draw consolation prize: First-grade Body-strengthening Pill~”
Zhang Ze’s eyelid twitched as he stared at the pill in his hand for a long while, before finally gritting his teeth and swallowing it.
And honestly, an eighty-four-thousand-point Body-strengthening Pill did taste a lot better than the three-thousand-point variety.
…
“Ring ring ring—”
Still brooding, Zhang Ze’s phone began to ring.
Seeing the caller ID, his frustration was momentarily forgotten.
“Hello?”
Upon answering, Li Sanqing’s voice came through.
“Congratulations on entering the Martial Bureau ahead of schedule.”
Zhang Ze responded with a polite chuckle. “Nothing worth mentioning, really—just a matter of time.”
Hearing this, Li Sanqing was briefly speechless. After a moment, he continued, “Let’s talk about your own progress. You’re a second-rank martial artist now. Do you think you can reach third rank before starting school in September?”
Surprised for a moment, Zhang Ze thought it over and replied, “My cultivation of post exercises is still lacking, but breaking through shouldn’t be too difficult.”
“But there’s one thing…”
Sensing Zhang Ze’s hesitation, Li Sanqing said, “If you’re having difficulties, just say so. I should have some free time coming up.”
Receiving such a response, Zhang Ze continued, “After the martial arts exchange tournament, I realized that cultivation is only part of it—the key is still martial skills.”
“Even though my cell strength is approaching the five-hundred mark, my martial techniques and combat skills are sorely lacking!”
Li Sanqing laughed on the other end. “It’s impressive you can see that at your stage.”
“How about this: I’ll put together some training materials and instructional videos from the Martial Bureau and send them to you later. Training with those should help.”
“That would be fantastic. Thank you so much!”
Zhang Ze was genuinely grateful.
After his match with Duan Hong, he’d already become aware of this issue. His subsequent sparring with Cheng Ren and Duan Wuren had only hammered the realization home.
Just as he was about to hang up, Zhang Ze added, “Regarding systematic explanations of martial cultivation and the effects of common elixirs, I may also have some understanding.”
“I’ll help prepare those for you.”