"I believe in you"? While those four words moved Fang Yu, he remained rational.
The man on the other end was Wang Xundao, not some benevolent saint handing out free charity.
"Fang Yu, your rate of improvement is far faster than I expected," Wang Xundao said with a faint smile. "Right now, the branch offices of the Eight Great Martial Artist Groups in Wuling City are unwilling to sign you because of that lunatic Xia Kaishan, but that's also because they only view you as having the caliber of a typical Earth Academy student from Huguang Martial University."
Fang Yu nodded slightly.
Students of the Earth Academy all aimed to become Earth Martial Artists... In other words, many students in the Earth Academy ultimately failed to become one. And the gap between a newly minted Earth Martial Artist and a top-tier Earth Martial Artist like Xia Kaishan was equally vast.
That was the real reason the branch offices of the Eight Great Martial Artist Groups in Wuling City were unwilling to sign him.
"But I see things differently."
"Three months ago, you couldn't even qualify for a guaranteed Junior-College-to-Undergraduate Upgrade," Wang Xundao continued with a smile. "Yet now, you're capable of battling level-30 fierce beasts."
"In my eyes,"
"That lunatic Xia Kaishan may be suppressing you, but he can only hold you down for so long. You're bound to rise eventually—at most, it'll just be delayed by a year or two," Wang Xundao remarked with emotion. "On top of that, there's your character... Xia Tao deserved to die, and the fact that you dared to take action earns my respect."
"I've also spoken with your martial uncle, Jiang Wei. You were actually willing to shoulder the responsibility for your teammates, and that is what I value most." Wang Xundao explained his reasoning.
He could tell that if he didn't lay it out clearly, Fang Yu might not accept it with peace of mind.
Many thoughts crossed Fang Yu's mind. Wang Xundao spoke sincerely, but whether every word was genuine didn't change the reality: the man's assistance and the funds he offered were tangible. It truly was timely help in his hour of need.
"Alright," Fang Yu nodded. "However, Uncle Wang, Shengchuan Group only needs to pay me 16 million Star Coins. I've only awakened a Middle-Rank Star Aspect."
According to the contract, awakening a Middle-Rank Star Aspect yielded an endorsement fee of six million Star Coins per year.
"Haha."
"Your university records state quite clearly that your efficiency in absorbing star force matches that of an Upper-Rank Star Aspect," Wang Xundao said with a genial smile. "Therefore, it should be calculated according to an Upper-Rank Star Aspect."
"This..." Fang Yu hesitated.
"Old Fang, just take it," Wang Mo chimed in. "This money comes out of the company's annual 'marketing budget.' If my dad doesn't spend it on this, he'll just blow it on something else anyway."
The corner of Wang Xundao's mouth twitched.
"Alright, then thank you very much, Uncle Wang." Fang Yu stopped declining. He genuinely needed money for cultivation, and refusing any further would only seem overly distant.
Wang Mo returned to his own room. Just as he was getting ready to head out and relax, Wang Xundao placed another video call.
"Dad, what is it?" Wang Mo answered right away.
"I gave Fang Yu thirty million. You don't hold any resentment over that, do you?" Wang Xundao asked with a chuckle.
"None at all," Wang Mo replied, shaking his head. "Old Fang is our brand ambassador, and he earned every cent. I just found it a bit strange—since when did you become someone who hates evil like an enemy? You even said you admired his actions."
Wang Mo knew his father very well. He wasn't an evil man, but he was certainly not someone driven by righteous indignation... For Wang Xundao, profit always came first.
"No one knows me better than my son," Wang Xundao laughed. "Of course I don't admire Fang Yu's recklessness. However, his temperament and style of doing things are precisely what our Wang family needs."
"What do you mean?" Wang Mo frowned.
Wang Xundao shifted the topic. "Reflecting on this conflict between Fang Yu and Xia Kaishan, what have you realized?"
"Xia Kaishan is a piece of trash," Wang Mo said.
"That's all?" Wang Xundao stared.
"And Old Fang is awesome. That's it." Wang Mo spread his hands. Seeing his father's expression stiffen, he suddenly broke into a grin. "Dad, I'm just kidding."
"I understand what you mean," Wang Mo said solemnly. "Money cannot beat martial might."
"Mm."
"It's good that you understand this truth. For ordinary people, wealth caps out once you reach our family's level," Wang Xundao said in a low voice. "Across the decades from your grandfather's time to mine, even when great opportunities presented themselves, why has Shengchuan Group always been reluctant to expand? Precisely because we don't have powerful martial backing... With a corporate group worth around ten billion and a family fortune of several billion, Earth Martial Artists and Sky-Patrolling Martial Artists can still keep their greed in check."
"But if our wealth climbed by another order of magnitude... without a Sky-Patrolling Martial Artist backing us, our Wang family wouldn't be able to hold onto it." Wang Xundao sighed softly. "Powerful martial artists are the ultimate deciding factor."
Wang Mo listened.
In the past, he understood these principles in theory. But having come to the Primordial Star and witnessed more powerful martial artists—especially seeing Xia Kaishan turn clouds to rain with a casual flip of his hand—Wang Mo truly understood how ridiculous it was to only have money.
In terms of sheer wealth, the Wang family was definitely not inferior to Xia Kaishan, and might even be richer.
However!
When the other party set his sights on Fang Yu, Wang Xundao didn't even have the courage to openly confront him.
"A martial artist gathers the mighty power of heaven and earth into a single body, standing truly supreme. Just look at the Blue Moon Alliance—in reality, it's that group of Star-Sky Martial Artists who call the shots," Wang Xundao continued. "Over the years, our Wang family has continually sponsored and nurtured Earth Martial Artists, but we've never met with much success... While we've befriended several Earth Martial Artists, none of them would walk through fire and water for the Wang family."
"Fang Yu won't walk through fire and water for the Wang family either," Wang Mo remarked with a frown.
"But he's willing to do it for you," Wang Xundao smiled. "If we compare all of this to trading stocks, Fang Yu is currently at rock bottom. He can't drop any lower... This is the prime moment to buy the dip and build a position."
"Giving him thirty million now is more effective than giving him three hundred million in the future."
"He was willing to step forward and take the fall for teammates he'd known for less than a month. When you take the helm of the Wang family in the future, if he truly matures, he will become our family's most crucial pillar of martial might," Wang Xundao said with a smile.
"Dad, I help him because we're good brothers," Wang Mo said, shaking his head.
He didn't like his father's transactional framing.
"Yes, exactly. That's precisely what he likes about you," Wang Xundao chuckled knowingly. "Just keep treating him in the future exactly as you have in the past."
While father and son spoke, Fang Yu, Bai Chen, Qin Yang, and Xiong Meng had already taken their returned spoils directly to the Commodity Sales Center.
A humanoid robot removed the fiery-eyed black wolf pelts, wolf claws, and other loot one by one for inspection.
"14,555 Star Coins."
"20,500 Star Coins."
"8,400 Star Coins."
Because they had run into a wolf tide, Scarlet Flame Squad hadn't collected an enormous quantity of spoils on this trip—only a few dozen pieces—but their individual values were fairly high. The most valuable fiery-eyed black wolf pelt fetched 110,000 Star Coins.
In the end, the total price of all their spoils reached 634,640 Star Coins.
"Confirmed for sale," Bai Chen said directly. "Convert it all into Primordial Points."
"Understood!" the robot replied. "The total conversion comes to 132.92 Primordial Points. How would you like them distributed? Should they be credited directly under the squad leader's name?"
"Fang Yu, we secured these spoils mainly thanks to you. You take sixty percent, and the remaining forty percent will be split equally among the four of us. Xia Yao is injured and resting in her room, so I'll transfer her share to her when I get back." Bai Chen looked at Fang Yu, and the others looked over as well.
"Alright." Fang Yu did not decline.
Just like that, Fang Yu received 79.75 Primordial Points from the spoils.
Of course, the bulk of Fang Yu's Primordial Points from this excursion to the Wilderness Zone came from slaughtering the pack of wolves, which had earned him several hundred Primordial Points.
The thirty Primordial Points deducted for Xia Tao's death amounted to virtually nothing for Fang Yu.
Next, the group brought out the heavenly materials and earthly treasures they had gathered on this expedition—mainly a dozen or so stalks of Crimson Star Grass and that astonishingly valuable piece of Star Jade.
"These stalks of Crimson Star Grass are worth 132,000 Star Coins."
"If this piece of Star Jade is sold to the Sales Center, it can be priced at 11.6 million Star Coins," the humanoid robot stated. "Would you like to proceed with the sale?"
Everyone's eyes lit up.
The price of the Star Jade was substantially higher than Bai Chen had initially estimated.
"Sell it," Bai Chen decided decisively. "Fang Yu, obtaining this Star Jade was almost entirely your doing. My recommendation is that you take ninety percent, and the remaining ten percent will be split equally among the four of us."
Xiong Meng and Qin Yang had no objections whatsoever.
Taking only 2.5 percent seemed small, but it still amounted to two or three hundred thousand Star Coins... If Fang Yu hadn't stepped up with that explosive display of power, they would have perished in the Wilderness Zone long ago.
"I don't agree."
"Squad Leader, if we hadn't run into Xia Tao, I could accept that distribution with a clear conscience," Fang Yu said in a low voice. "But we did encounter Xia Tao, and the entire conflict started because of this Star Jade."
"Everyone suffered substantial losses, and you've even been restricted from signing higher-grade contracts," Fang Yu added somberly.
"Fang Yu, we were never going to sign higher-grade contracts in the first place," Bai Chen replied, shaking his head. "Was I ever going to land an Earth Contract? This doesn't even count as a punishment for us."
"Right," Qin Yang chimed in.
"Brother Fang, we're not like you," Xiong Meng laughed heartily. "I know my own limits. I'll be lucky just to graduate smoothly—why would I dream about an Elite Contract?"
"No!"
"You might not care, but I do." Fang Yu's voice carried an unquestionable resolve. "My proposal is simple: the five of us split it equally."
"We were tried together. I shouldn't take the lion's share."
"Everyone takes over two million!"
Ultimately, at Fang Yu's strong insistence, the equal five-way split was carried out. Each member of Scarlet Flame Squad received 2,346,400 Star Coins.
Although Bai Chen, Qin Yang, and the others kept protesting that "Fang Yu, you shouldn't do this," Fang Yu could still sense their heartfelt joy.
With the thirty million Star Coins gifted by Wang Xundao, along with his remaining savings, taking several million more wouldn't fundamentally change Fang Yu's circumstances.
However, dividing this money among the Scarlet Flame Squad members, who had just undergone trial, would completely eliminate any lingering resentment they might have held toward him...
"Until my strength is great enough..."
"I must ensure that Squad Leader, Xia Yao, and the rest will never leak the truth about Xia Tao's death," Fang Yu thought to himself. Even though they were all grasshoppers tied to the same string, he still had to nip any potential trouble in the bud.
"Binding interests to emotion is the only path that lasts." Fang Yu sighed inwardly. This was just a fraction of what he had gleaned from Wang Xundao.
Returning to his room, Fang Yu received a notification that thirty million Star Coins had been credited to his account, sent by Shengchuan Group.
"Account balance: 38,356,400 Star Coins."
Looking at the massive sum sitting in his account, Fang Yu couldn't help but marvel inwardly: "I can actually be considered a rich man now."
At the same time, Fang Yu pondered: "What treasures should I purchase to put this wealth to its most efficient use?"
Chapter 78