Chapter 273: Ways to Earn Credits
“Earn credits? How? Is it legitimate?”
Earning credits was way more exciting than earning money!
As for whether the method was legitimate, Xu Zhi only asked casually.
Meng Chuanling’s otherwise unremarkable features took on a mysterious expression when she heard Xu Zhi’s question. “All the legitimate ways are written in the school regulations. How could there be any extra opportunities?”
So it wasn’t legitimate?
“But don’t worry,” Meng Chuanling added. “Even though it’s not written in the rules, the academy tacitly approves of it. They won’t interfere.”
“Oh?” Xu Zhi grew interested. “So what exactly is the method?”
Meng Chuanling didn’t keep her in suspense. “At the Light Academy, the best way to earn credits is through competitions. That’s true for legitimate methods—and naturally true for illegitimate ones as well.”
Underground black boxing?
The phrase instantly popped into Xu Zhi’s mind. It wouldn’t be strange for something like that to exist in the real world—but among students too? And the school turned a blind eye?
Then again, recalling the many competitions mentioned in the Light Academy’s regulations, Xu Zhi found it somewhat understandable. Most competitions only became available starting in the second year. In the upper grades, the competitive atmosphere was intense. Compared to that, first-year students were practically living in a greenhouse.
She couldn’t quite understand the academy’s teaching philosophy—nurture them carefully in the first year, then throw them into brutal competition starting in the second. Weren’t they afraid the drastic shift might cause psychological problems?
“So what do they compete in?” Xu Zhi asked curiously.
“Only one thing: 1v1 arena battles.”
…That’s it?
Just ordinary arena fights for credits?
Why make it sound so mysterious?
Perhaps seeing the blatant “That’s all?” written on Xu Zhi’s face, Meng Chuanling raised an eyebrow. “Of course, our way of making credits isn’t by simply fighting normally.”
Oh?
Xu Zhi gestured for her to continue.
“As everyone knows, first-year students almost have no chance of defeating upperclassmen in one-on-one fights—especially in arena battles. The upperclassmen who participate are mostly competition fanatics. Even if there are geniuses among the first-years, this is the inner academy of Light Academy. If first-years are geniuses, do you think upperclassmen aren’t?”
That made sense. No matter in terms of knowledge or combat experience, freshmen couldn’t compare to upperclassmen. Naturally, they wouldn’t usually enter arena battles.
“Therefore, first-year students rarely appear in the arena.”
At this point, Meng Chuanling’s expression turned excited. “You should know—arena battles allow credit betting!”
“Normally, in regular arena matches, people might just bet one or two credits for fun. Among well-known upperclassmen, the strength gap is often obvious, so fewer people bother betting.”
“Unless—there’s a match with unclear strength, or a newcomer appears!”
Her eyes sparkled as she looked at Xu Zhi, filled entirely with longing for credits.
Xu Zhi raised an eyebrow. “So, what exactly are you planning?”
Meng Chuanling spoke excitedly, “At the beginning of the semester, there were a few dissatisfied first-years who tried challenging the arena. But now, almost no first-years go there anymore. Based on what happened at the start of the term, every time a first-year appears, upperclassmen are very willing to bet on the upperclassman’s victory.”
“And the bookmaker who sets up the betting pool won’t allow one side’s odds to drop to an extreme. They’ll step in to balance the betting proportions. Even though it’s like throwing meat buns at a dog, they have to maintain the balance. So the bookmaker won’t invest too much—just enough to prevent the odds from becoming too skewed.”
“Even if upperclassmen win their bets, they don’t earn much. But this is the only chance each year to fleece the bookmaker. So in these matches, many upperclassmen place heavy bets—just to squeeze out as much as possible!”
Xu Zhi began to understand.
“So you want…” She left the sentence unfinished, waiting for Meng Chuanling to say it.
“Every year, those who enter the inner academy are geniuses—but even among geniuses, there are differences! Xu, do you have the confidence to challenge a second-year student?”
Of course she did. In terms of combat experience, she wasn’t inferior to upperclassmen at all. But—
Xu Zhi looked at her. “You want to bet on me winning and earn the upperclassmen’s credits?”
Meng Chuanling nodded. “Exactly.”
“That’s odd,” Xu Zhi said. “How can you be sure I’ll win? To earn more, you’d have to bet more. If I lose, you’ll lose everything.”
The plain-looking girl blinked. “Xu, I’m a specially admitted student of the ‘Qi’ attribute. My strongest ability is insight.”
Xu Zhi tilted her head slightly in confusion. Then Meng Chuanling looked at her meaningfully and said, “From my observation, your aura feels much stronger than that of most upperclassmen.”
Xu Zhi hadn’t sensed any overt use of Transcendent ability—was this something close to intuition?
Come to think of it, Teacher Qin had once mentioned that the most suitable attribute for his discipline was “Qi.”
“I see.”
Sometimes a Transcendent’s “intuition” really was this unreasonable.
“I can participate,” Xu Zhi said. After all, she was short on credits. “But—”
That single “but” hooked both girls’ attention.
“I have no credits to bet on myself. That means I gain nothing from this. So I want seventy percent of your profits.”
If this were Cloud City, she would have unhesitatingly raised it to ninety percent. But here at Light Academy, Xu Zhi chose not to appear overly greedy.
Struggle flashed across Meng Chuanling’s face, while the red-haired girl looked incredulous. “Seventy percent? Why don’t you just rob us!”
Xu Zhi smiled. “Isn’t that exactly what we’re doing—robbing the upperclassmen of their credits?”
“By her calculation, even if I take seventy percent, the remaining thirty percent should still be substantial, right?”
“That’s true,” Meng Chuanling nodded. “But that leaves us with too little…”
“How about fifty-fifty?” she suggested tentatively.
Xu Zhi shook her head. “Seventy percent.”
Then she looked at Meng Chuanling with a half-smile. “Since your insight is so sharp, you must be quite intelligent too.”
“Why not give me seventy percent—consider it the price of making a friend?”
The red-haired girl’s expression twisted even further. Meng Chuanling’s pupils trembled for a brief moment before she quickly said, “Fine. We agree.”
“Besides the two of you, is anyone else involved?” Xu Zhi asked.
Meng Chuanling shook her head. “The fewer people who know about this, the better. I had this idea the day I met you. Over the past few days, I’ve already borrowed quite a few credits. Once everything’s confirmed, she and I will use our student IDs as collateral to borrow another sum. That’ll be enough to place the bet.”
Inner academy students were allowed to use their student IDs as collateral to borrow credits from the academic office.
“So how many credits are you preparing in total?”
Meng Chuanling looked up at Xu Zhi. Her once-ordinary eyes now seemed to burn with fanaticism—or perhaps the determination of someone making a desperate gamble.
“Six thousand.”
Even Xu Zhi couldn’t help but inhale sharply. Two first-year students producing six thousand credits—such boldness made her see them in a new light.
