Chapter 221: We Meet Again (3.5k)
“Such an ancient aura.”
Looking up at the building that strongly resembled a Chinese pagoda, Su Jiu felt an inexplicable sensation. She gently pushed open the training room door, and the scent of air freshener greeted her.
To her surprise, the room inside was exceptionally spacious and bright, with some green dill casually climbing towards the window. The surroundings felt very modern, and there was even a huge LCD display showing a dense list of student names and their corresponding usage times.
At the center of this room was a massive black iron door. At the service counter to the left, three people, two men and one woman, stood quietly. Behind the table in front of them, a middle-aged man wearing a black robe with a school medal on his chest was slowly flipping through documents. The entire room was enveloped in a silent atmosphere.
The three people in the room wore bright smiles. Su Jiu noticed the special White Water Society medals on their chests and understood the reason for their happiness. One girl held a black card, waved it at the other two, and smiled at the middle-aged man, shouting, “Give us each a superior training room for one day, a total of 1500 credit points. Swipe card!”
“Ding!”
The middle-aged administrator took the credit card, swiped it at the machine beside him, and then threw out three keys, returning the credit card. He asked with a smile, “White Water Society again? Have you struck it rich? Why are you all here today? You’re quite generous, you know, this isn’t cheap. It’s 500 credit points a day, which translates to over 50,000 yuan in RMB.”
The girl took back the credit card and chuckled at the black-robed middle-aged man, “It’s all thanks to a junior schoolmate. Enough said… we’re going in now.”
With that, she jingled her keychain and led the way towards the black stone door in the center. The two behind her thanked the middle-aged man in the black robe and followed suit.
Seeing the girl leave, Su Jiu and the other person stepped forward, their gazes falling on the middle-aged man in the black robe. Su Jiu waved her phone and asked softly, “Teacher, could you get us two top-tier rooms? I need them for a week.”
From the novels, Su Jiu knew that training rooms were divided into five categories: beginner, intermediate, advanced, top-tier, and penthouse suites.
“White Water Society management?”
The middle-aged man glanced at the two of them, his gaze lingering slightly on Su Jiu’s White Water Society crystal medal. His eyes narrowed, and then, with a hint of a smile, he asked, “Due to the skin rot disease, a group of Battle Generals above intermediate level are out on missions. There are indeed vacancies in the top-tier rooms, but I advise you not to go. Not only is it expensive, but it’s also not cost-effective.”
“But is there a reason for that?”
Seeing his attitude, Su Jiu was a bit confused and asked.
“In the top-tier rooms, the student council president just arrived. Judging by her demeanor today, she seems to have had gunpowder for breakfast. Aren’t your White Water Society and her at odds? Going there might lead to trouble.”
The black-robed middle-aged man pinched a cigarette with his fingers, snapped his fingers to light it, and his gaze slowly moved from Su Jiu’s face to the black stone door, saying softly,
“The design of this pagoda relies on the energy array at the top continuously channeling downwards, so the higher you go, the more energy you receive. As you go down, it gradually decreases. Our school encourages duels, so the top-tier areas and above have no fixed locations. The stronger individuals determine their positions… that’s the plaza-like area over there.”
Having said that, the black-robed middle-aged man paused, exhaled a light blue smoke ring, and said lightly, “Some areas in the top-tier section not covered by energy are inferior to the advanced sections. Do you understand what I mean?”
Su Jiu nodded gently, raised the QR code on her phone, and blinked, asking, “Do you accept cash payment? I don’t have any credit points on me right now.”
The middle-aged man in the black robe took out a payment code from his drawer and said indifferently, “Advanced rooms are 500 credit points each, which is about 50,000 yuan per person per day. If you two stay for a week, it will be 700,000.”
“Advanced rooms?”
Su Jiu raised an eyebrow at him, wondering if this uncle had misunderstood something.
Seeing Su Jiu’s expression, the black-robed middle-aged man frowned slightly, thinking she hadn’t understood him. He then stated his words more seriously, “What I mean is – you will be targeted there. Not only will you have wasted money, but you will also be targeted by the student council.”
“You know, top-tier rooms are 1,000 credit points a day, which is 100,000 yuan in RMB. Even if you’ve reached the War General level, you are still students. This is not a small sum for you.”
He clearly had a favorable impression of more civilian organizations like the White Water Society, otherwise, he wouldn’t have emphasized it so much.
“Help me extend the time for a week. Chairman Hu Ling doesn’t need to be so afraid of her.”
Knowing his intentions, Su Jiu still smiled lightly and scanned the QR code beside her.
According to Bai Ming, classes would officially start in a week, and there would be an entrance exam during the official start of classes. However, unlike an assessment, it would test professional knowledge and stuff.
Su Jiu was in the medical school. If it were just about testing professional knowledge, it would be easy. However, judging by Bai Ming’s tone, these assessments would be crucial in distinguishing top students from ordinary outstanding students. How difficult they would be was not something to consider at the moment.
“Ding, 1.4 million yuan received.” The counter announced a few seconds later.
This sound startled the black-robed middle-aged man beside her. He then looked at Su Jiu speechlessly, took out two different key cards from the drawer, and threw them to Su Jiu and the other, saying lightly, “Here are the keys. Just find your room numbers inside. However, I need to tell you two that others can freely kick down doors. If there’s no response within half an hour, the supply in the room will be immediately cut off.”
Su Jiu nodded gently, thanked him with a smile, and then pulled Bai Nisi’s soft and boneless small hand towards the huge black stone door. She suddenly stopped, falling silent for a moment. She seemed…
She didn’t know how to open it. She hadn’t paid attention to how those people opened the door just now.
Seeing the two of them standing in front of the stone door for a long time, the black-robed middle-aged man raised an eyebrow and walked over with a chuckle, asking, “What? Do you want to exchange the card?”
“No… it’s just that it’s our first time using this thing, and we don’t know how to open it…” Su Jiu said softly. Even her thick-skinned face, as thick as a city wall, felt a little hot when she said she didn’t know how to open it.
“First time here? Have you just advanced to Battle General?”
The black-robed middle-aged man approached the black door in front of Su Jiu. He tapped a few raised bumps on the door, and a low rumbling sound echoed. Then, a dark passage appeared before the three of them.
“Something like that. Teacher, could you trouble yourself to send us sisters up to the designated area?”
Su Jiu looked at the dark passage ahead. She actually found traces of energy fluctuations, and the air rippled slightly. This was clearly from alchemical artifacts, and it seemed that this entire tower was an alchemical item.
“Follow me. Sigh, with your newly broken-through strength, you’ll just be squeezed to the edges if you go there. It’s really not as good as going to the advanced rooms.”
He waved at the two of them and continued into the dark passage with some helplessness. Su Jiu pulled Bai Nisi along, looking around, and gently entered the dark passage. It felt as if her surroundings were already filled with more energy.
“Woooo—”
The stone door behind them suddenly closed. At this moment, the small light bulbs on the surrounding walls abruptly lit up, casting a faint glow that illuminated the passage dimly. However, this bit of light was enough for a Battle General’s vision.
The atmosphere in the passage was quiet, with only the faint sound of footsteps rustling. Su Jiu could already see some doors along the way. At the top of the doors, they were labeled “Huang – 001,” which was probably a retro naming convention – “Tiandi Xuanhuang” (Heaven, Earth, Black, Yellow).
After walking in the passage for about ten minutes, a point of light finally appeared at the end of the passage. The black-robed middle-aged man’s voice suddenly sounded, “We are about to reach the high-level rooms. Ahead will be a spacious plaza-style design. The duels on the top floor also happen here. You should see quite a few of your White Water Society people when you go in.”
Hearing the black-robed middle-aged man’s voice, Su Jiu in the passage subtly sensed and thought to herself:
“The energy is getting more and more abundant now. If I combine it with that cold grass, I should be able to break through to intermediate Battle General in half a month even without using Magic Crystals. However, the rooms inside should be even more powerful.”
The two of them quickened their pace. After a moment, they finally reached the end of the passage and stepped out.
The dazzling white light from the ceiling shone down, causing Su Jiu and the others to instinctively squint their eyes. After a while, they slowly opened them and were slightly surprised by the scene before them.
At that moment, Su Jiu was in front of a vast arena filled with modern metal. People were dueling in the arena, the sounds of weapons clashing constantly. There were sparse onlookers around. The three people from the White Water Society were also there, their gazes unfriendly towards the woman holding a whip opposite them.
And this woman was Hu Ling, who had lost a lot of money on the APP!
At the very side of the arena, an old man with a flattened nose, dressed in white, kept drinking and shouting as he watched the exchanges on stage, as if he feared chaos would not ensue.
As if noticing Su Jiu and the others’ arrival, he swept his gaze over the three of them, pausing on Su Jiu and Bai Nisi, and chuckled softly, “Interesting… a demon and a half-human?”
He then got up, tied his wine pot, and looked at the black-robed middle-aged man, asking with some confusion, “Why did you come up here, kid?”
Seeing the elder speak, the black-robed middle-aged man dared not delay, clasping his hands and saying, “Elder Xiao, these two young ladies are lost, so I specially brought them up. They are going to the top-tier area next, so I hope you can help send them.”
As the two spoke, all eyes turned towards them. The three from the White Water Society quickly recognized the medal on Su Jiu’s body and looked at her in astonishment, “A White Water Society administrator?!”
The girl looked at her companion and asked with confusion, “Do any of you know this administrator?”
Her companions also shook their heads, but they looked at Hu Ling opposite them with concern and whispered, “Hu Ling is already a high-level Battle General. Our administrator might be in for a beating.”
“Let’s see who from the White Water Society dares to ascend to the fourth floor today!”
Gently swinging her long whip, Hu Ling heard the conversation of the girls and snorted coldly. Then, her gaze fell on Su Jiu and the other, and it slightly constricted…
Why is she here?
At this moment, all eyes in the venue were drawn to them. They weren’t watching the match; they were all veteran students who were working hard on their cultivation, but they wouldn’t miss an opportunity for entertainment.
Their gazes shifted back and forth between Su Jiu and Hu Ling, anticipating a confrontation between the two.
“Senior Sister Hu, we meet again.”
Su Jiu looked at her and smiled, greeting her, then walked towards the old man. Hu Ling, however, to everyone’s surprise, just stared intently at Su Jiu, as if she wanted to devour her.
But she couldn’t even raise her whip…
Seeing Su Jiu and the other’s unfazed demeanor, the old man with the flattened nose could guess about seventy to eighty percent. He rubbed his lower back, chuckled, and turned towards the stairs at the edge, saying, “Come with me, little girls. I’ll pick out the two best rooms for you.”
Watching Su Jiu and the other go upstairs, and then looking at Hu Ling’s chest heaving with anger, the people on the field were somewhat bewildered. At this moment, a male student who was browsing on his phone suddenly shouted:
“Isn’t that the Class of ’24 valedictorian who just walked past?! I heard she defeated a Peerless Battle General!! And that Peerless Battle General seems to be Hu Ling’s brother!”
Upon hearing the boy’s words, everyone on the scene first froze, then looked on in disbelief. They looked again at the cowering Hu Ling, their eyes filled with pity and understanding.
