The Loan Has Been Disbursed!

"Senior Sister Si Jing, same as usual. Could I trouble you for two more e-cigarettes and one Essence-Replenishing Injection? I'll settle everything once my loan comes through." Two months later, Chen Zhuo sent a sincere message to his venerable Senior Sister Si Jing, asking for another advance on credit. Upon seeing the message, Si Jing broke into a cold sweat, two literal droplets dripping down her face. Wiping the sweat from her brow, Si Jing suddenly realized, "Oh, it's just sweat! I thought I'd peed myself. I was going to say, a message like that shouldn't literally scare the piss out of me." In truth, Si Jing really had nearly wet herself. Over the past two months, Chen Zhuo had bought over two thousand spirit coins' worth of goods from her on credit. Factoring in the Azure Dragon from Senior Sister Dong, he had run up a tab of nearly three thousand spirit coins. At first, Si Jing had been quite willing. By now, she was sweating buckets. Every day after finishing her cultivation, wild thoughts would plague her mind—wondering if Chen Zhuo was maxing out microloans everywhere, borrowing every last spirit coin he could get his hands on, only to smuggle himself across the border to Daluo Domain. There was no extradition treaty between Daluo Domain and Taiqing Domain. Desperate cultivators often borrowed whatever they could from every friend and relative around them, then paid snakeheads to smuggle them into other domains. Though the Five Domains and Nine Heavens were technically a single entity, each place retained a heavy degree of autonomy. In the past, the Immortal Mansion had been able to reign supreme over the world because five Divine Monarchs presided over it at its founding. Today, however, the Immortal Mansion only had two Governing Divine Monarchs. Meanwhile, the leading corporations in the four domains—Daluo, Taiqing, Yuqing, and Shangqing—all had Divine Monarchs serving as board chairmen, not to mention prominent rogue cultivator Divine Monarchs. The Immortal Mansion could no longer exert truly overwhelming dominance. Thus, while the Immortal Mansion nominally ruled each domain, in practice, local autonomy held sway behind the scenes. Once someone escaped to another domain, the Immortal Mansion might put out a wanted notice, but expecting the local corporations to cooperate was practically out of the question. Taking a deep breath, Si Jing gritted her teeth and typed: "Junior Brother, it's not that I don't trust you, but could you maybe... put up some collateral first? Injecting drugs at such an intense rate really makes me worry about you." Soon, Si Jing received Chen Zhuo's reply: "Senior Sister, I get what you mean. I have a magical artifact here that I can put up as collateral." Si Jing: "..." "Forget it. Keep it yourself." Letting out a long sigh, an exhausted Si Jing packed up the medicine Chen Zhuo needed and sent it via courier. Then, gritting her teeth, she decided to pull some personal strings to find out when this loan would finally be approved. The very moment it was approved, Si Jing would show up at his doorstep to demand payment! Even if Chen Zhuo really did smuggle himself away, she would at least recover her principal! *** "Getting drugs on credit is getting harder and harder." Inside his cave dwelling, Chen Zhuo looked at Senior Sister Si Jing's reply and could only let out a heavy sigh. There was no helping it; he didn't want to do this either. The main issue was that his loan still hadn't come through! Over the past two months, Chen Zhuo had cultivated diligently, at most stepping outside each day to harvest a couple of centuries-old bamboo stalks to exchange for spirit coins before immediately buying medicine to keep cultivating. Just like that, over the span of two months, Chen Zhuo had become exceptionally rich in spiritual energy even among those at the fifth layer of Qi Refining. At the same time, he had racked up over three thousand spirit coins in personal debt. On top of that, Chen Zhuo had an official debt of 5,500 spirit coins. Chen Zhuo was now on the verge of being in debt by over ten thousand spirit coins. An achievement like owing over ten thousand spirit coins wasn't something just anyone could pull off. From a certain perspective, Chen Zhuo could even be considered a successful man. Except... "Exhausting. Borrowed over eight thousand spirit coins, spent more than ten thousand in total, and only managed to reach the fifth layer of Qi Refining." Cultivation wasn't easy. Chen Zhuo sighed. "If I want to reach Foundation Establishment, it'll probably take over a hundred thousand spirit coins, and forming a Golden Core will likely cost millions... Cultivating really burns through money." Of course, Chen Zhuo didn't run up debts on purpose. It was simply that the loan hadn't come through yet—their administrative efficiency was terribly sluggish. No choice: Si Jing would just have to bear the hardship, and he would shoulder the blame. Right now, he had to go all out preparing for the Qiwu Sword Sect's disciple recruitment ceremony; everything else had to be put on the back burner. He hadn't even taken his appraisal classes seriously over the past two months! Just as Chen Zhuo took the newly credited injection and prepared to return to the ancient cultivation world to administer it, his spiritual communication jade slip suddenly vibrated. [Counselor Yuan]: @All Members: Following multiple rounds of screening and adhering to the principles of fairness, justice, and openness, congratulations to our class's @Chen Zhuo, @Meng Yan, and @Xie Yunling for being selected for this term's tournament reserve roster! Those who weren't selected shouldn't be discouraged; over the next four years, as long as your performance is sufficiently outstanding, you'll have additional chances to join the reserve! Chen Zhuo looked at the message sent to the department group chat on his device, expressionless. Xie Yunling was a possessor of an innate spiritual root, at the sixth layer of Qi Refining. Among their classmates, Xie Yunling was considered quite advanced in cultivation, on par with Department Representative Peng Ju—both were at the sixth layer of Qi Refining. Yet what Chen Zhuo hadn't anticipated was that Department Representative Peng Ju hadn't been selected; the other slot had actually gone to Meng Yan. What was going on here? Indeed, this news caused quite a stir. In the official department group, dead silence reigned. In the private sub-groups, however, chat messages were flying like crazy. "Wait, what? Chen Zhuo and Meng Yan? Didn't both of them have implanted spiritual roots? What's the deal? How did the two of them get picked?" "Chen Zhuo is at the fifth layer of Qi Refining now, and word is he owes over ten thousand spirit coins out there. His immortal cultivation potential is immense, so him being picked makes sense, but what about Meng Yan?" "Huh? Chen Zhuo owes that many spirit coins?! Terrifying! If he owes another few tens of thousands, even Foundation Establishment cultivators would keep their distance, and Golden Core True Persons would have to think twice before crossing him!" "What's the deal with Meng Yan?" "I know about that. Word has it Yuan arranged some 'College Student Entrepreneurship Fund' and 'Outstanding College Student Interest-Free Loan' for him, and he gave Yuan a sixty-percent kickback to secure an inside track." "What about Peng Ju? Isn't Department Representative Peng going to raise hell?" "Look at what you're saying. Teacher Nangong from Academic Affairs and Director Sun from the department both took kickbacks. You think anyone dares pick a fight with Foundation Establishment cultivators?" "..." The various small group chats Chen Zhuo had been added to after defeating Wang Heng were all abuzz with whispers. Seeing this, Chen Zhuo figured things probably weren't so simple. Still, it had little to do with him. The only rumor was that he owed over ten thousand spirit coins. To clarify: it was only eight thousand and change. Still, what they said afterward was entirely true. If he owed tens of thousands, Foundation Establishment cultivators really wouldn't dare mess with him. If he died, it would become bad debt, and whichever Foundation Establishment cultivator killed him would have to face the wrath of the bank. Owe tens of thousands, and Foundation Establishment steps aside. Owe millions, and Golden Core yields the path. Owe hundreds of millions, and Nascent Soul flees in fright! Chen Zhuo shook his head. Immediately after, a new message popped up. [Taiqing Bank: Greetings, Fellow Daoist Chen Zhuo! The 'Outstanding College Student Interest-Free Loan' (totaling 5,500 spirit coins) you applied for has now been disbursed!] Seeing this message, Chen Zhuo felt a surge of joy. Holy crap! 5,500 spirit coins—I'm rich! Even with a ten percent kickback, who cared? Thank you, Immortal Mansion! Thank you, Taiqing Bank! Thank you, Taiqing Vocational and Technical College of Alchemy! Before Chen Zhuo could celebrate for long, however, the next text arrived right on its heels. [Taiqing Bank: 3,740 spirit coins were transferred into your account on April 17. Your current balance is 4,385 spirit coins!] Chen Zhuo: ? How was it 1,760 spirit coins short? Wasn't it supposed to be only ten percent? Chen Zhuo hastily sent a message to Counselor Yuan. This was no small amount of money! Soon, Counselor Yuan replied unhurriedly: "Little Chen, that ten percent was just my personal cut. Teacher Nangong from Academic Affairs has to take a share, and the bank clerk handling the paperwork has to take a share too—ten percent each. Our department director was quite generous and only took two percent. In cultivation, one must learn to be content." Chen Zhuo: "..." OK. I'll remember this. Chen Zhuo didn't have much to say. Yuan Mingde had secured this loan for him in the first place, which was already beyond expectations; originally, he wouldn't have been eligible for it at all. Still, irritation was irritation. The reason was simple. This was a damn loan, not a scholarship! It had to be paid back. "Whatever. There are twenty years to repay it anyway. I should convert these spirit coins into resources first, boost my immortal cultivation potential, and enter the Qiwu Sword Sect—that's what matters most!" Chen Zhuo took a deep breath to steady his emotions. Teacher Nangong from Academic Affairs, right? Department director, right? Little Counselor Yuan, right? The bank clerk... Never mind the bank clerk; he might need to do business with them again later. The three of you just wait!