He truly felt it wasn’t worth it.

1,050 Merit Points. If he could get a 20% discount, he’d save over 200 points.

Exchanging them now...

It really wasn’t worth it!

Gao Neng walked away quickly without a single glance back.

"..."

The old lady and the students were all stunned.

This guy had been dawdling at the logistics department for nearly two hours, asking a ton of questions and even making a full list of things to exchange.

But when it was finally time to make the exchange, he just said, "It’s not worth it right now."

And then, he ran off?!

He ran off!

More importantly, did Gao Neng just say he was going to fight his way onto the Battle Rankings in a couple of days?

A freshman who just enrolled is already thinking about getting on the Battle Rankings... Who gave him that kind of confidence?!

"Fools rush in where angels fear to tread!"

"Ignorance is bliss, I suppose. Once he finds out how strong the people on the Battle Rankings really are, he’ll probably learn that there’s always someone better."

"Hahaha..."

The students chuckled but didn’t say anything more.

Meanwhile, Gao Neng was already on his way back to the dorm, lost in thought as he walked.

The logistics department had a lot of things, but they really weren’t cheap.

He had a few million in savings now, but what would he do when that ran out? According to Gui Zian, replenishing energy was the most fundamental method for continuous cultivation.

To put it simply...

You could only cultivate if you had energy. Without energy, his progress would stagnate.

Gao Neng’s magnetic core had already turned pale red, which meant that magnetizing his arm, on top of the heavy consumption from this morning’s battle, was taking a huge toll. ’What do I do if the energy in my magnetic core runs out?’

Be prepared for danger in times of peace.

Getting on the Battle Rankings would give him a 20% discount on exchanges. That was a way to cut costs.

But Gao Neng felt he didn’t just need to cut costs; he also needed to open up new sources of income. Without a stable "revenue stream," he’d be truly finished once his 1,100 Merit Points were gone.

The cost of cultivation was immense!

Just now at the logistics department, Gao Neng hadn’t just been asking about prices. He had also noticed something: some students were selling ore and energy materials.

And besides them, other students were buying ore and energy materials.

It was a very subtle detail.

But thinking back on it now, Gao Neng felt there was something strange about it.

The ones selling...

They all seemed to be wearing War Academy school badges.

The ones buying...

They were wearing Manufacturing Academy school badges.

’Wait, does that mean... so that’s how it is!’ Gao Neng instantly understood. Students from the War Academy collected materials from outside, sold them to the school for Merit Points or money, while students from the Manufacturing Academy bought those materials to process them into weapons, armor, or Energy Pills...

’So the Eastern Capital Military Academy’s logistics department is a small-scale "trading platform."’

’In that case...’

’If I can gather the materials myself and then manufacture my own weapons, armor, or Energy Pills, doesn’t that mean I can cut out the "middleman"—the logistics department?’

’No middleman taking a cut. I’d be completely self-sufficient!’

’That sounds pretty great.’

’But why hasn’t anyone else thought of this seemingly obvious loophole?’

’Wait!’

’I think I missed a detail somewhere.’

’First, where would I go to gather materials? Second, I don’t think I know how to manufacture weapons and Energy Pills, do I?’

’Finally, even if I learned to manufacture weapons now, I’d probably have to learn them one by one. For example, if I learned to make swords, I’d just keep making swords. If I really made ten swords, I couldn’t use that many. I’d still have to sell them.’

’And then...’

’It seems I’d end up back in the hands of the "middleman," the logistics department.’

’Ugh!’

Gao Neng gave a wry smile.

’The dream is beautiful, but reality is cruel, as expected.’

Back at the dorm.

Gao Neng first took a shower. He heard some noise from upstairs; Fang Tangtang was probably rolling around up there.

He paid it no mind and started to sing while cultivating. Before long, he felt the muscles in his arm beginning to magnetize.

’Cultivating by singing is really fast!’

Gao Neng was delighted.

But this joy didn’t last long, because he soon discovered that the color of his magnetic core had changed again. The red hue was now almost invisible.

And besides that...

He found that the speed of magnetization had actually slowed down.

"The energy really is about to run out!" Gao Neng opened his eyes and stopped cultivating. He was starting to feel genuinely anxious now.

’I have to fight my way onto the Battle Rankings as soon as possible!’

’Otherwise, I’ll have to exchange things at full price... and that would be a huge loss.’

’Also, I have to find a way to make money. But how? Ore, energy materials? Where do I even go to collect this stuff?’

Just as he was thinking about this, he heard a knock on the door.

"Who is it?" Gao Neng’s heart skipped a beat. ’Could it be that someone is here to beat me up because of my singing?’

"Death God Fang Tangtang," a crisp voice answered from outside.

"Uh..." Gao Neng opened the door.

It was Fang Tangtang, just as he’d expected.

She was still wearing a green frog onesie with a big-eyed frog hat, but she looked rather sleepy.

"Why did you stop singing?" Fang Tangtang asked right away.

"What do you mean?" Gao Neng was confused.

"Sing a little longer. I was just about to fall asleep..." Fang Tangtang said, yawning again as she prepared to head back upstairs.

"Wait a minute, Fang Tangtang, do you know how to make money?" Gao Neng’s eyes lit up slightly as he looked at the departing Fang Tangtang.

"What? Do I have to pay to listen to you sing?" Fang Tangtang seemed surprised, then tilted her head and thought for a moment. "How about 1,000 Alliance Coins for a full night of singing?"

"..." Gao Neng was speechless.

’She’s treating me like a street performer, isn’t she?’

’Still, 1,000 Alliance Coins for one night...’

’That’s like an unexpected windfall.’

"Not satisfied? How much more do you want? Or how about this: you sing it again, I’ll record it, and I’ll pay you a 10,000 copyright fee. How’s that?" Fang Tangtang blinked.

"Didn’t you want to start a team?" Gao Neng, seeing Fang Tangtang’s drowsy state, decided to switch to a more stimulating topic.

"A team... Huh? That’s right! Are you going to join my Death God Team?" Fang Tangtang paused for a moment, then immediately snapped awake, her eyes shining brightly.

"No, the name ’Death God Team’ is too tacky. I want to change it!" Gao Neng genuinely thought the name was mediocre. He felt that if they were going to form a team, the name had to be elegant, grand, and most importantly, imposing.

"Tacky? Then what do you want to change it to?" Fang Tangtang blinked again.

"Invincible Team!" Gao Neng said with a serious expression.

"Invincible Team? Invincible..." Fang Tangtang fell into deep thought, but her eyes soon lit up again. "Good name! Let’s call ourselves the Invincible Team!"

"I’ll be the captain," Gao Neng added.

"You, the captain? That’s impossible! I, Fang Tangtang, would rather die than let someone else be my captain! I have an ultimate move, you know. When I use it, I can take an enemy’s head from miles away!"

"In two days, I’m going to fight my way onto the Battle Rankings. If you won’t join, then I’ll just find someone else," Gao Neng said with a wave of his hand.

"Two days?! Are you sure?"

"I’m sure!"

"Alright then, I, Fang Tangtang, am willing to make a small sacrifice and join your Invincible Team. But I have to say this upfront: if you can’t get us onto the rankings in two days, then I, Fang Tangtang, will quit. Also, a team needs four people. Who are we going to find for the other two spots?"

"Let’s go with Kong Kun and Feng Qingqing." Gao Neng could only think of those two, since he didn’t really know anyone else.

"Okay, I’ll call them right now!" Without a moment’s hesitation, Fang Tangtang immediately called Kong Kun and Feng Qingqing, telling them to rush over for a top-priority meeting.

Gao Neng didn’t stop her.

Only after Fang Tangtang finished her calls did he start asking about ways to make money, as well as how to acquire ore and energy materials.

"There are lots of ways to make money! Students in the Manufacturing Academy buy raw materials, manufacture things, and then sell them for a profit. But not everyone can make money that way. If your manufacturing skills aren’t good enough, your success rate will be very low."

"A low success rate means no profit, and you might even lose money."

"As for students from the War Academy, they basically just mine ore and gather energy materials. There are two ways to mine. One is right here in the City of Hope. Our Eastern Capital Military Academy has a dedicated mine shaft. However, the mines under the City of Hope are pretty much depleted, so you can’t dig up much good stuff."

"But it’s a different story outside. Leaving the City of Hope to mine on the battlefield, now that’s exciting! Plus, there are more energy materials out there, and best of all, you can kill enemies. Kill enemies, get good stuff. You know what I mean, right?"

"The last way is to be a model student here at the academy. Every instructor has the authority to grant a certain amount of Merit Point rewards. For example, didn’t Bald Shark just hand out 200 Merit Points last time?"

"Merit Points can be exchanged for anything. If you can butter up Bald Shark, he might give you some Merit Points, and that’s as good as earning money!"

Fang Tangtang explained a great deal all in one breath.

Gao Neng didn’t interrupt; he was soaking up all the information.

After listening to Fang Tangtang, he had a much better idea of the situation. It was more or less what he had figured, though he hadn’t expected there to be a "success rate" for manufacturing things in the Manufacturing Academy.

’But it makes sense, when you think about it.’

’It’s just like running an experiment—there are always successes and failures. If you could really just casually create good items, the Manufacturing Academy’s doors would probably be broken down by all the applicants.’

’To create a high-grade weapon, you need extremely fine control. Besides that, I heard the Manufacturing Academy has requirements for the *number* of talents one has, unlike the War Academy, which only requires one’s talent to be high-level.’

’The requirements for the Manufacturing Academy are actually the opposite of the War Academy’s. The Manufacturing Academy values quantity more. For example, if you have 10 talents over 40%, you’d be considered a genius in the Manufacturing Academy.’

’But a person like that in the War Academy...’

’...would be pretty average, actually.’

’Speaking of which, doesn’t that make me a pretty good fit? Not only are all my talents at 100%, but the key thing is I have a super-duper lot of them!’ Just as Gao Neng thought this, a familiar mechanical voice sounded in his ear.

"DING! System evolution complete!"