Call Her Daoist Scholar Dong

In the end, Chen Zhuo still chose to take out the loan. After all, a bank was a formal lending platform. While scandalous incidents like temporary workers embezzling spirit coins occurred on occasion, it was generally fairly trustworthy. Just wait—as soon as the five thousand spirit coins were credited to his account, Chen Zhuo would immediately go experience the first few dragons of Nine Dragons Coffin Bearers to see what it was really all about. In the meantime, Chen Zhuo did not sit idle either. He chatted a bit with Yu Xia and found that the Talisman Crafting Academy was in a similar situation, which completely set his mind at ease. He then subtly dropped a hint that he had an ancestral, three-hundred-seventy-year purple spirit bamboo stalk. Unsurprisingly, Yu Xia immediately transferred three hundred spirit coins, saying she wanted it. "Flipping spirit bamboo back and forth isn't a bad gig either..." Chen Zhuo remarked with a sigh. This ancient cultivation world truly was his personal paradise and blessed land—limitless resources, and spirit coins practically begging to be made! Dharma, wealth, companions, and land. Dharma took first place without question; without cultivation methods, even rolling in immense wealth offered nowhere to flex one's muscles. And wealth held the second spot! With the Boundary-Breaking Bead in his possession, Chen Zhuo's wealth already stood unmatched throughout junior college! "Next up..." Chen Zhuo pondered for a moment. Looking at the balance in his account, without any hesitation, he used these three hundred spirit coins to pay off his three-hundred-spirit-coin loan on Xiuxiutong! First of all, Chen Zhuo wanted to make one thing clear: He was no deadbeat; he was not the type to default on debts. He just stalled whenever he could, dragging it out until the twenty-year post-graduation term was up before worrying about it. So why didn't Chen Zhuo wait twenty years to pay it off this time? Because Chen Zhuo intended to take out another loan on Xiuxiutong. If this one wasn't paid off, he couldn't borrow the next one! The early stage of Qi Refining allowed a loan of three hundred spirit coins, but the middle stage of Qi Refining unlocked five hundred! Pay off the three hundred, and borrow five hundred more! [You have applied for a microloan: 500 spirit coins.] [Good credit history detected. Application approved!] Nothing more to be said—immortal Dao potential, come to me! Chen Zhuo glanced down at his spiritual communication jade slip. [You have received a loan of 500 spirit stones from Xiuxiutong. Current balance: 645.3 spirit coins.] Pure bliss. Watching his balance rise, Chen Zhuo now felt his immortal Dao potential had soared to unprecedented heights! On top of that, in the storage bag he had hidden away, he still possessed a whole ninety-plus physical spirit stones! Ah. What sheer potential! With loans and spirit stones in hand, even a Nascent Soul True Monarch could hardly compare to me! His musings aside, Chen Zhuo spent 0.2 spirit coins to send the three-hundred-plus-year purple spirit bamboo to Yu Xia at the Talisman Crafting Academy via paper crane courier, and then set off for the meeting spot he had agreed on with Senior Sister Si Jing. The appointed location was an open plaza on the South Campus, not far from his immortal's cave. Usually, a few students gathered here to practice spells, but today was somewhat different. Roughly twenty-odd people were scattered across the plaza, most of them students from the Alchemy Department. Judging by their auras, their cultivation levels were generally at the seventh layer of Qi Refining or higher—the late stage of Qi Refining—which meant they were likely senior students in the second or third college cohorts. However, what caught Chen Zhuo's eye the most was that more than half of these senior students had brought someone along. To be precise, each had brought a subordinate whose cultivation looked rather low. Most of these subordinates were in the middle stage of Qi Refining, with some even in the early stage. They followed behind their respective seniors somewhat stiffly, not daring to pry or ask questions. Among them, Chen Zhuo even spotted a familiar face. Liang Ningwan! Yo, she's here too? Chen Zhuo was a little surprised. He saw Liang Ningwan standing beside a towering senior who was two meters tall, yawning as if bored. Liang Ningwan noticed Chen Zhuo as well. After locking eyes with him, she merely gave a slight nod in greeting, making no move to chat further. Chen Zhuo nodded back. In a venue like this, it truly was not suitable to make idle chatter. Still, Chen Zhuo had pieced a few things together. Most of the people here were probably the pharmaceutical-representative lackeys of these senior students. Much like the relationship between him and Senior Sister Si Jing. I get it now—all the drug pushers from the same block gathered to pay respects to the general distributor. "Quite an impressive lineup." Chen Zhuo nodded slightly. Just as Chen Zhuo was surveying his surroundings, a familiar figure came dashing over from the distance in a rush. "Junior Brother Chen! Sorry about that! Something came up at the last minute, so I'm late." Senior Sister Si Jing's figure flickered and appeared right in front of Chen Zhuo. She was not tall, only about 1.5 meters, wearing slightly oversized alchemy protective gear. Her hair was tied into a high ponytail, and she looked rather hurried, as if she had just stepped out of an alchemy room. Seeing Si Jing take the initiative to explain herself to Chen Zhuo, the other senior students around them looked at her in utter astonishment. What the hell? Why is Si Jing apologizing on her own initiative? Could the kid she brought have an extraordinary background? Wait, that's not right. They're attending a junior college—how great could his family background possibly be? Could he be the descendant of some Golden Core True Person who "lost their cultivation faith, betrayed the Immortal Mansion's mission," and got arrested by the Immortal Mansion? If so, he'd definitely be worth buttering up. After all, even if the person was locked up, the connections remained on the outside. Si Jing could not be bothered to waste words on this bunch of fools who had no idea how fast Chen Zhuo could move pills. Instead, she pulled Chen Zhuo by the sleeve and led him to a secluded corner. "Junior Brother, listen to me. When you meet Senior Sister Dong in a moment, you must remember one thing, no matter what." Si Jing lowered her voice and said in an extremely grave tone, "Do not call her Senior Sister Dong under any circumstances, got it? If you address her, call her Daoist Scholar Dong!" "Huh?" Chen Zhuo blinked in confusion. "Why?" "Senior Sister Dong upgraded from vocational to undergraduate over half a year ago. Her real junior brothers and sisters are the future freshmen of Qingwu Immortal Dao Academy. We've already been cut off from that circle—do you catch my drift?" Si Jing said. "Those of us with past history and ties who have always helped Senior Sister Dong sell pills can say it in private without an issue, but don't you dare call her that." Chen Zhuo: ... The academic credentials discrimination here was extraordinarily steep. Is our junior college truly so completely worthless?! Chen Zhuo clenched his fists... and forgot the rest, but whatever—thirty years east of the river, thirty years west! Chen Zhuo asked in bewilderment, "Then why call her 'Daoist Scholar'?" "Because after undergraduates graduate, the Immortal Mansion's education department confers the 'Daoist Scholar' degree upon them. We junior college students don't get that degree," Si Jing said. "So Senior Sister Dong is technically a future Daoist Scholar. Calling her Daoist Scholar ahead of time is our way of flattering her." Understood. Chen Zhuo felt so exhausted. Sigh. I really wish I could suddenly become a Golden Core stage doctor and slaughter every single one of them. After letting out a long internal sigh, Chen Zhuo asked, "By the way, Senior Sister, who are those seniors here today? Who's that brawny senior over there?" Chen Zhuo naturally pointed to the guy standing beside Liang Ningwan, who was over two meters tall. "Him? That's Liang Ninghong from the Physical Cultivation Department. He's the son of Deputy Director Liang from the Investigation Division of the Immortal Mansion's Taiqing City Law Enforcement Bureau. The girl next to him should be his sister—what was her name again? I forgot. You should know her, right? I recall she was there when I went to give that artificial spiritual root lecture." While Senior Sister Si Jing was speaking, a sudden commotion arose across the plaza. Senior Sister Si Jing clamped her mouth shut at once and turned with Chen Zhuo to look toward the plaza. Everyone in the plaza had struck a "\\o/" pose. Chen Zhuo: ? In the next moment, a voice drifted down from the sky. "Long time no see, everyone. "Since I became an undergraduate and went to Qingwu, our Yixin Society hasn't gathered like this in quite a while. Time truly flies, and the years slip right by." Hold on a second. What society?!