vstars Ch. 165 - You're Looking Less and Less Human
Ch. 165 - You're Looking Less and Less Human
Zhou Cheng shook his head. Since the other party wouldn't say, he wasn't going to press.Besides 666 Potion Company, every other potion company in the city had their eyes on Chen Shu too.
The free compounding service had already eaten into their potion sales, but this sort of thing wasn't something they could raise a fuss about.
If you can't beat 'em, join 'em!
And so, one company after another came knocking, requesting his compounding services.
Some even offered him salaries of several million yuan a year, hoping to make him their in-house pharmacist.
Too bad. Chen Shu turned them all down.
...
November flew by in a blink, and suddenly it was late December.
Autumn was over. Nanjiang City had stepped into the bitter cold of winter.
Though the south didn't get snow, plenty of people had already switched to warm clothing.
Chen Shu was no longer rocking the alpaca t-shirt on its own. In weather this cold, even a military-grade constitution couldn't tough it out.
The alpaca shirt now hung at the shop's entrance — more of a symbol than anything.
The alpaca represented class! And class represented the Public Toilet Potion Master!
"Finally got all my potion proficiencies up to Grandmaster Level!"
Grandmaster Level meant he could absorb an extra 25% potion dosage.
More importantly, it also unlocked the effects of Black Iron tier potions within the same category.
Chen Shu had already auto-unlocked Black Iron tier Body-type Potions, Defense Potions, and more...
The only problem was Slime's level wasn't high enough to consume them yet.
But the moment it hit Black Iron, Slime's potion bonuses would once again be 25% higher than everyone else's.
If he could open up a gap at every tier, Slime's raw power would stay ahead indefinitely.
So what if the potential rating was low? He'd just make up the difference with drugs.
"Time really flies. New Year's right around the corner."
The streets were full of people hurrying along. Chen Shu made his way back from the black market to school, and had Wang Tianbao's crew take down the wooden sign out front.
The era of free potion compounding was officially over!
Sure, the last two months had been exhausting, but Chen Shu had walked away with potions worth over thirty million yuan, plus a solid reputation to boot.
Most importantly, though — the potion proficiency. That was priceless.
December 20th, nighttime.
Nanjiang Second High. Room 102.
"Huh? Chen Pi's back?"
Xu Xingxing and Xie Sunan had just wrapped up a grueling day of cultivation and returned to the dorm.
The moment they opened the door, they spotted the bathroom light on.
The only person who could get into the dorm was obviously Chen Shu.
"Chen Pi, I broke through to Level 8 today! We're the same level now!"
Xu Xingxing announced proudly. He'd officially become a Level 8 Beast Tamer.
Xie Sunan, meanwhile, was at Level 7. His talent and resources both fell short of Xu Xingxing's.
And then — Xu Xingxing's eyes went wide. His expression froze solid.
An aura was radiating from the bathroom. Not THAT kind of emission — this was the aura of a Beast Tamer breaking through.
Xu Xingxing's face filled with horror as he rushed to the bathroom door.
Right on cue, the door swung open. Chen Shu had just flushed the toilet and was fastening his belt.
"You broke through to Level 9 Beast Tamer?!"
Xu Xingxing's eyes bulged so wide you could've stuffed a mini Slime in his mouth.
"Is that a problem?"
Chen Shu's face was perfectly placid — the exact same expression he'd worn when he broke through to Level 8.
"What the f*ck! No heavenly justice! There's no heavenly justice!"
Xu Xingxing wailed so loud that anyone passing by would've thought the dorm was slaughtering a pig. Which, to be fair, was plausible — Xie Sunan did just so happen to have brought a butcher's knife...
"We bust our asses every single day like dogs, and we STILL can't catch up to you?!"
Chen Shu shrugged. Completely within expectations.
He'd long since finished the forty million yuan worth of Beast Taming Pearls from before, then bought another ten million's worth on top of that.
Add in the Beast Taming Power he accumulated every time he slept, and it had been just barely enough to push him to Level 9.
Now Chen Shu understood why Black Iron rank Beast Tamers were considered powerhouses in society.
Going from Level 8 to Level 9 alone had cost fifty million yuan in resources. The consumption was genuinely terrifying.
The Special Training Class currently had only three Level 8 Beast Tamers, and the vast majority wouldn't even reach Level 9 before the college entrance exams.
And they were the Special Training Class — the cream of the crop among the younger generation. One could only imagine how much harder it was for ordinary Beast Tamers to level up.
"Don't slander them like that..."
Chen Shu's mouth twitched. "How could dogs possibly be as tired as you?"
"..."
Xu Xingxing had officially entered shutdown mode. He'd thought the gap between him and Chen Shu was closing. Turned out it was wider than ever.
"Just get your family to prepare a few tens of millions in Beast Taming Pearls. You'll catch right up."
Chen Shu patted him on the shoulder, consoling him.
"Yeah, right. Who'd blow that kind of money?!"
Xu Xingxing shook his head. It wasn't that his family couldn't afford it — there just wasn't any point.
With his cultivation talent, he'd reach Level 9 before the college entrance exams no problem.
Breaking through early didn't help much. It wasn't like he could hit Black Iron no matter how hard he tried.
Rather than waste the resources, better to invest them elsewhere.
"My autumn break is finally over!"
Chen Shu sighed and flopped onto his bed.
"Your what?"
"Summer has summer break. Winter has winter break. So autumn obviously has autumn break. Makes perfect sense!"
"Autumn break my ass! And who the hell gets autumn break?!"
Xie Sunan and Xu Xingxing had completely lost the will to fight, utterly crushed by Chen Shu.
Chen Shu spoke up. "Old Xie, Xiao Xing — you guys gotta keep pushing harder. Otherwise how will you ever know the true meaning of despair?"
"Screw you!"
The two of them had already tasted despair firsthand. No matter how hard they worked, they couldn't keep pace with Chen Shu.
"Let's sleep. Tomorrow I'm heading to the Beast Taming Dojo for an inspection. Old Shen's probably been missing me."
...
Early the next morning.
"Chen Pi, get up!"
Xie Sunan and Xu Xingxing woke right on the dot — miss the shuttle to the Beast Taming Dojo and you were out of luck.
"Five more minutes..."
Chen Shu mumbled groggily. Sure, he'd been compounding potions at the shop this whole time, but he'd never once gotten up before noon.
International convention: vacations don't have mornings!
Xu Xingxing tried again. "What about the inspection?"
The thought of heading to the Beast Taming Dojo to show off instantly filled Chen Shu with motivation.
He wrestled with his bed for a full ten minutes before finally getting up.
"Did you two put glue on my bed as revenge? I couldn't peel myself off!"
"Oh, give it a rest!"
The three of them grabbed a quick breakfast at the cafeteria and headed for the bus parked at the school gate.
Shen Wushuang sat at the front of the bus, checking his watch.
"Xu Xingxing's group is late?"
He raised an eyebrow and signaled the driver to wait.
Then, through the rearview mirror, he caught sight of Xu Xingxing and company.
The moment he spotted the person walking between them, his heart leapt into his throat.
"DRIVER! GO! FLOOR IT!"
"..."
Chen Shu had his arms draped over his two roommates' shoulders, strolling toward the bus without a care in the world.
VROOM!
In an instant, the bus that had been sitting perfectly still slammed on the gas and tore off into the distance...
Leaving three figures standing in the wind, utterly dumbfounded.
"WE HAVEN'T GOTTEN ON YET!"
All three struck the exact same pose — arms spread, palms up, expressions of pure bewilderment.
"What the f*ck! Old Shen, that's too much!"
Chen Shu's mouth twitched as he stood there, staring after the bus. He was still holding a youtiao...
Xu Xingxing looked completely lost. "Old Xie... did we just get dragged down with him?"
Before Xie Sunan could respond, Chen Shu beat him to it.
His brow furrowed. "Did YOU guys piss off Teacher Shen? He didn't even give ME face!"
"..."
Xie Sunan turned to look at Chen Shu. "Why do you think the bus left? You don't know?"
"Know what?"
Chen Shu spread his palms. "Anyway, you two owe me. Taxi fare's on you!"
"Two months away and you're looking less and less human!"
Both of them flipped him the internationally recognized gesture in perfect unison.