Battle Net Explodes, Trading Credits

"Really?! What kind of stuff are we talking? As long as what you've got is decent enough, your senior won't let you walk away short-changed!"

The moment Maige heard that Lu Yuan actually had something useful for him, his eyes lit up and he leaned in a little closer.

Just as Lu Yuan was about to speak, a roar suddenly erupted from upstairs.

"Holy shit!! Brother Yuan!! Brother Yuan is a legend forever!!"

Lu Yuan and Maige exchanged startled looks and snapped their heads toward the upper floor.

Maige's expression turned strange. He said, not quite sure of himself: "That voice... is that Yang Ping?! What's gotten into him?!"

Lu Yuan was equally baffled. "No idea."

*How did I suddenly become a legend?*

Moments later came the sound of doors slamming — then heavy footsteps thundering down the stairs.

A figure came charging into view. Yang Ping.

He swept the common room with a wild gaze, spotted Lu Yuan at the dining table, and his eyes lit up. He launched himself across the room, dropped to his knees, and wrapped both arms around Lu Yuan's leg.

"Brother Yuan!! My own flesh and blood!! Take me with you!! Carry your little brother, please!!"

Lu Yuan: "???"

Maige: "???"

The two looked at each other. Both faces wore the same bewilderment.

Maige said, somewhat at a loss: "Lu Yuan, what did you do? Yang Ping was always a bit of an idiot, sure, but not to *this* level."

At that moment, a blur swept through the room and resolved into a figure standing in the dining area.

Si Tingfeng.

He looked at Yang Ping's state and stared in open disbelief.

He glanced between Lu Yuan and Maige, puzzled. "What happened to Yang Ping? I could hear him wailing from my room."

Maige shrugged, spreading his hands. "Don't ask me. Ask Yuan."

Seeing both Si Tingfeng and Maige looking at him, Lu Yuan's expression darkened.

He tried to shake Yang Ping loose from his leg. It didn't work — Yang Ping had a death grip and simply swung along with every movement, clinging for dear life as he was jostled up and down.

Lu Yuan stood there, thoroughly at a loss. His face went black.

"Yang Ping! I'm giving you one chance to talk like a normal person. Don't test me."

Yang Ping released Lu Yuan's leg at that — though the reluctance on his face was plain.

Lu Yuan stared at him, and came dangerously close to landing a kick.

Yang Ping got to his feet. Seeing the confusion on everyone's faces, he spoke up.

"You haven't heard?! Battle Net has completely exploded — and it's all because of Brother Yuan!"

"What? What happened?"

Si Tingfeng and Maige both startled at that, shifting their gazes toward Lu Yuan with curious interest.

And Lu Yuan, hearing those words, felt sudden understanding settle in.

*The Aier Mechanical Ruins. It must be about that.*

Yang Ping pulled out his phone and flicked a holographic screen open in the air. "See for yourselves."

He opened Battle Net and pulled up a post blazing at the top with the trending marker.

《Two Human Lord Grade Warriors Eliminate King Grade Prodigies Inside the Aier Mechanical Ruins!》

*Today, your correspondent brings you a massive piece of news. The Aier Mechanical Ruins have been on everyone's mind lately — after all, the vast majority of next-generation geniuses from every race across White Cloud Continent enter them to compete and claim resources. This time around, three King Grade prodigies went in: Cat-kin Tianming Empire Princess Yeye; White Frost Race Holy Son of the Frost Sacred Hall, Bai Lin; and Green Demon Young Palace Master of the Savage Underground Palace, Barton. As Innate King Grades, all three possess talent and power that needs no elaboration from me. Yet, according to reliable information your correspondent has obtained, two of the three — Bai Lin and Barton — were swept out of the Central Floating City. And you've already guessed it: the ones responsible were two human Lord Grade warriors and Tianming Princess Yeye! As for the full details of the incident...*

Lu Yuan finished reading the post quickly. He had to admit the author had talent — both Lu Yuan and Amy had been talked up as if they were rarities born once in a generation.

*Lord Grade warriors who eliminated King Grade prodigies. Destined to reach Battle Emperor, maybe even Battle Saint.*

Only Lu Yuan knew the truth: the two of them had barely lifted a finger. They'd simply used a wave of Second-rank peak Lord Grade Mechanical Guardians and explosives to flatten everything in their path.

Lu Yuan glanced at the poster's username.

Huo Tianhua.

He didn't recognize the name.

At the very end of the post, Huo Tianhua had attached footage of Lu Yuan and Amy. It had been captured on a Communication Crystal — probably saved by some human genius who was inside the Aier Mechanical Ruins at the time and had received word of what happened.

The footage didn't show Lu Yuan's face directly, but it was clear enough that most people watching could still recognize what he looked like.

Lu Yuan scrolled down to the comments. There were already over ten million replies.

**SowingMelody:** *Holy crap! All three people in this footage are absolutely stunning. Is that young Lord Grade guy more handsome than an Elf?! And the girl Lord Grade is so adorable — she looks like an angel. Those eyes are so pure! And Tianming Princess is breathtaking too. Does good looks give a bonus to talent or something?!*

**WanderingYears:** *Does the first commenter not even recognize Tianrao City's little princess Amy Algaibi?! What kind of Great Qi Star citizen are you??*

**FaceIsAbstract:** *I know Princess Amy, but who's the guy?! I've never seen him before. Is he some hidden prodigy from one of the great families?*

**BackToBack:** *Right, I've never seen him either. But seriously — are our human Lord Grade prodigies really this strong? Working alongside a Tianming Empire princess AND eliminating two King Grade geniuses? That's practically unheard of in the entire history of the Aier Mechanical Ruins.*

**BlankMemories:** *I'm calling it right now — those two young prodigies both have Battle Emperor potential!*

**SoftHum:** *If Great Qi Star actually produces two Battle Emperors, that'd be wonderful. At the very least, our cities would be safer — fewer Feral Beast attacks.*

...

Lu Yuan scrolled through the comments with great enjoyment. People were calling him handsome, which was nothing but the truth — it still put him in a fine mood.

But then someone called him a future Battle Emperor.

That dampened things considerably.

*Battle Emperor? That's the ceiling you're giving me?*

*Please.*

He felt distinctly underestimated.

Just as he was enjoying himself, he became aware of something off about the atmosphere in the room. Three pairs of eyes were boring into him.

Lu Yuan blinked and snapped out of it.

He looked up to find Maige, Yang Ping, and even Si Tingfeng all staring at him wide-eyed, riveted in place.

Silence had settled heavily over the room.

Lu Yuan was puzzled. "What's wrong?"

The three came back to themselves. Maige swallowed, pointed at the footage on the screen, and asked in a voice that came out slightly strained: "Is... is that you?"

Lu Yuan smiled and nodded. "That's me, yeah. Didn't I say the haul this time was pretty good?"

Maige's eye twitched violently. He nearly choked.

"'Pretty good' — *that's* what you're calling it?! How was I supposed to know that 'pretty good' meant eliminating King Grade prodigies?!"

Si Tingfeng looked at Lu Yuan with open admiration.

"Yuan, I can only say — I'm genuinely impressed. When I went to the Aier Mechanical Ruins back in the day, there were King Grade prodigies too. I was Lord Grade at the time, and all I could do was steer well clear of them. The thought of actually eliminating two of them — I couldn't have managed it. You've surpassed me."

Faced with Si Tingfeng's sincere admiration, Lu Yuan felt a flicker of embarrassment.

He smiled and said lightly: "Honestly, it was mostly luck. The timing and the terrain both happened to be on our side."

If he was being truthful — without Mechanical Control, without Black Bear No. 1, without the Evolution Cube, the best he and Amy could have managed was to team up with Yeye and scrape together some gains in the Central Floating City. And with Yeye being far more powerful than either of them, any fair division of spoils would have left him and Amy with significantly less.

It really had been luck, nothing more.

Si Tingfeng listened, then shook his head with quiet conviction.

"Whether it was luck or hard work — both are part of who you are. And besides, luck only finds people who have the talent and effort to meet it. If you hadn't built up enough strength beforehand, you never would have acquired that aircraft, or the treasure that lets you command mechanical lifeforms."

Lu Yuan paused at that, and found he couldn't argue.

He smiled and nodded. "Senior is right."

When opportunity came knocking, you needed the strength to answer the door. And that strength was something you built yourself, one day at a time.

Lu Yuan had always considered himself reasonably hardworking. This was one of its rewards.

Well — the biggest piece of luck, of course, was the Evolution Cube he'd somehow stumbled into.

*That thing is genuinely absurd.*

Just then, Yang Ping cleared his throat with great solemnity and said: "Alright, set the luck debate aside for a moment. I just have one question for Brother Yuan."

Lu Yuan raised an eyebrow. "What question?"

"Can gender be a little more... flexible? I feel like I could work for you too."

And then Yang Ping let slip a coy, bashful expression that no one in the room had asked for.

Lu Yuan's face went pitch black.

Beside him, Maige's mouth convulsed. "Yang Ping, you almost made me sick. Stop it. Please."

Even Si Tingfeng's face twitched, his expression deeply pained.

Seeing the withering looks aimed at him from all three directions, Yang Ping seemed to realize he may have miscalculated.

He snapped back to attention immediately: "Joking! That was a joke!"

Maige gave Yang Ping one long-suffering look, then turned back to Lu Yuan.

"Yuan, so — what was it you said you had that I could use? Let me take a look. I've been stacking credits. Should be able to afford it."

Now that he knew Lu Yuan had actually eliminated two King Grade prodigies, Maige's anticipation had jumped to a completely different tier.

Si Tingfeng, too, had perked up with some interest.

He was already at Third-rank Battle General peak, right on the cusp of breaking through to Fourth-rank Battle Venerable. Second-rank items would normally be a bit beneath his level.

But some things didn't really hinge on grade.

Lu Yuan smiled. "Senior Maige, you're already close to peak, aren't you? Getting ready to push through to Third-rank?"

Maige blinked, then nodded. "That's right. Why?"

"I was wondering — have you sorted out your Origin Stones or Rare Natural Materials for the breakthrough yet?"

Maige's eyes went wide.

"Don't tell me you have something to shatter Gene Lock chains?!"

Lu Yuan smiled and drew out a vial. Dark blue liquid shimmered faintly inside.

Maige took it — and his breathing faltered. His face lit up with barely contained excitement.

"This... now *that's* a treasure!"

What Lu Yuan had given him was a vial of Second-rank Gene Evolution Fluid.

Just like the First-rank version, it could shatter ten Gene Lock chains.

It had come from the ten-thousand-meter towers. After clearing every one of them, his group had collected a total of twenty-eight vials. Lu Yuan had taken ten for himself; Amy and Yeye had each taken nine.

Of his ten, he intended to keep three — enough to break through thirty chains. His Gene Chains were now three Lord Grade strands, and there was no way of knowing how many lock chains each might carry. Better to have a surplus and not need it.

If he didn't end up using them, he could always sell later. Items like this never lost value — everyone needed to break through Gene Locks eventually.

Watching Maige's quickening breaths and hungry eyes, Lu Yuan smiled.

"That vial will shatter ten Gene Lock chains. What do you think, Senior?"

Maige considered for a moment, then nodded. "Excellent. Name a price."

Lu Yuan hesitated, then admitted with a slight grimace: "Honestly, I don't have a great feel for credit values yet. Why don't you make an offer? If it sounds fair, we've got a deal."

Maige was torn. Si Tingfeng, who had been watching quietly, stepped in with a smile.

"Let me work out the numbers for you, Yuan. A Second-rank Origin Stone runs four thousand credits each. This Gene Evolution Fluid is equivalent to ten Second-rank Origin Stones — so the base value is forty thousand credits. That said, as you know, selling outside the official school marketplace means a standard discount compared to platform prices — usually around ninety percent. That puts this vial at thirty-six thousand credits. At that price, you'd be getting the most honest deal available anywhere on an open market."

Lu Yuan felt his pulse jump.

*One vial is worth that much?*

The ten vials of evolution fluid in his hands alone came out to a full three hundred and sixty thousand credits.

And he had other treasures too — some worth more than the evolution fluid, some worth less. But added together, he should be able to pull in around two million credits.

*Two million. Enough for the Flicker Transcendent Gene.*

His eyes filled with quiet anticipation.

Maige studied Lu Yuan's slightly distant expression and asked eagerly: "So, Yuan — how does that sound?"

He was right on the edge of his breakthrough and genuinely needed that vial.

Lu Yuan came back to himself. He looked at Maige's barely-contained excitement and smiled.

"Since it's for Senior Maige, let's call it thirty-five thousand."

Maige's eyes went wide. Delight spread across his face.

"Are you serious, Yuan?!"

Even Si Tingfeng glanced over with mild surprise.

"A thousand credits is no small thing for a new student — ranks eleven through a hundred on the Combat Rankings only earn a thousand credits a month. You're sure about this?"

Lu Yuan looked at Maige's barely-suppressed excitement, and nodded.

"It's for Senior Maige. Of course."

A genuine flicker of warmth crossed Maige's face. "I'll take you up on that, little brother. I owe you one."

He immediately produced his student card and transferred thirty-five thousand credits to Lu Yuan.

Nearby, Yang Ping watched the whole exchange with vacant eyes, completely lost.

They'd all come here together. How was Lu Yuan this far ahead?

"Brother Yuan!! Sponsor me!!"

Yang Ping let out a howl and lunged for Lu Yuan's leg again — and Lu Yuan, face dark as a storm cloud, booted him clean across the room.