Li's parents thought that once their son, Li Shiji, became a formal warrior, they wouldn't have to spend much money on him anymore.
How laughable; they had no idea how much cultivating in martial arts would burn through their money.
Li Chuxi almost wanted to sarcastically point out that spending money had only just begun.
"Ah, the [Divine Weapons and Elixirs] section is great, but alas, I'm broke. All I can do is covet them."
She opened up other sections of the warrior forum.
"New Monarch-Class Beast, the Wanshan Dragon King, suspected to have appeared in the Hengduan Mountains. Who will join me in slaying the dragon and gaining immortality?"
The post was filled with extravagant, passionate language, stirring one's blood to a boil.
Li Chuxi checked the level of the original poster.
Oh wow, it's only a bronze mark.
The user level on the forum was based on the user's martial rank, with no relation to spamming posts for experience points.
It was clear the original poster was just a formal warrior.
The replies were mostly from other formal warriors as well.
"Spam post, fifteen words to gain experience—oh, gaining experience doesn't matter anymore." (Right at fifteen words)
"We've formed a team, come join us (1/1000)!"
"Count me in, 2/1000!"
"3/1000!"
"LOL, do these people really think a thousand formal warriors can slay a dragon?"
It was just an attention-grabbing spam post, yet it had garnered over a thousand replies.
Li Chuxi found it amusing. She left a comment:
"Dragon King of Wanshan, huh? Let it live a bit longer. When the day comes, I will return to slay the dragon!"
Not long after she posted, someone replied.
She was about to engage in a conversation but decided to focus on more important matters and left it at that.
"Seems like spam posts are kind of fun."
But still, business came first!
She returned to browsing more posts, most of them about some martial grandmaster rumored to be dating a popular celebrity.
Time passed by unnoticed, and half an hour had slipped away.
Li Chuxi logged out of the [Legends and Tales of the Martial World] section and opened [United We Stand].
This section was for posting and taking on tasks.
There were all sorts of tasks posted.
"Urgent: Escort a group of merchants through the Yellow River Wilderness. Requires ten Martial Grandmasters and two Martial Generals. Payment: Private message."
"Seeking the body of an Elite-Class Beast, the Fierce Flame Lion. Payment guaranteed."
"Anyone have rare spiritual herb, Nine-Star Summoning Grass? Will exchange for a similar value of treasure."
There were tasks for everything imaginable.
Li Chuxi skimmed through the task rules and then posted one herself.
When posting a task, you could hide your user level and name, ensuring privacy.
"Looking for a Mantis Shrimp and an Electric Eel. Payment: Private message."
She posted it and waited for responses.
Before long, she fell asleep.
The next day, Li Chuxi opened her phone and entered the warrior forum.
There were several messages.
Some people said they had electric eels, others said they could catch a mantis shrimp.
They all asked how much she was willing to pay.
Li Chuxi thought for a moment and replied with three thousand yuan, then prepared to put her phone down.
Unexpectedly, the other person replied immediately.
It was just a smiley emoji.
Li Chuxi raised an eyebrow.
The other person messaged:
"Are you kidding me? What can three thousand yuan buy me?"
Li Chuxi thought, is an electric eel really that expensive?
The person replied:
"I'm in a coastal survival base city. Sending it to your base city won't be cheap!"
In this world, each human survival base city was isolated, like scattered islands in a vast sea.
Beasts acted as barriers between the islands, making transportation costs skyrocket.
An electric eel wouldn't be too costly, but the shipping fees were high.
Moreover, goods from the coast were rare in inland cities.
Li Chuxi responded: "Nine thousand."
The person replied with a string of ellipses.
"Do you want it, or not? Don't waste my time."
"Yes."
"One price: Two hundred thousand!"
Li Chuxi gasped.
Two hundred thousand?
That's a serious rip-off!
"Ten thousand."
"Ten thousand max. If not, I'll find someone else. I'm sure there's someone willing to pay that price."
The person went silent.
Li Chuxi didn't rush to push, knowing that bargaining was about patience.
She put down her phone and went to have breakfast.
When she came back and picked up her phone, she saw the person had indeed replied.
"Ten thousand is fine, but I can't guarantee the electric eel's survival."
Li Chuxi smiled.
As long as it was an electric eel, she had no particular preference for whether it was alive or dead.
She repeated the same process and bought the mantis shrimp from another person for ten thousand yuan.
In total, twenty thousand yuan was gone.
Li Chuxi's entire savings were wiped out.
"I'm out of money."
"Looks like when my Bronze Medal comes through, I'll need to head out to the hunting grounds and hunt some beasts to earn some money."
There were several ways martial artists could make money.
They could be recruited by large groups, earning generous salaries, but with little freedom.
Joining the military was another option, offering decent pay, but again, not much freedom.
One benefit was that family members could move into military housing, making it safer.
In case of emergencies, the military families could evacuate first.
Another way was to venture into the hunting grounds, hunt beasts, and sell the valuable parts to the Martial Artist Association.
Weapons and armor often used materials from beasts.
Alternatively, one could take on tasks posted on the warrior forum.
This method was high risk but high reward, and most importantly, it was free.
"Once I'm strong enough, making money will be faster. But for now, the priority is to increase my strength and evolve my cells!"
Li Chuxi tidied up and prepared to head out to find some tardigrades.
This book comes from：m.funovel.com。