Chapter 50

Chapter 50: Wealth, Resolve, and Guts!

“Of course. With connections, talent, and real strength, he definitely got in without taking the exam.”

Bai Kai Xin spoke around a steaming bun, his words slightly muffled. “This is really good. Hurry and try some.”

Su Yan took a bite.

It was fine—soft and warm, the filling pleasantly savory—but nothing worth remembering. Nowhere near as interesting as Rong Wu.

The system was still updating. Without Little Mei to consult, it looked like this time she would have to lean entirely on herself.

“When can we take the exam?” she asked.

Su Yan looked to Bai Kai Xin.

He swallowed, wiped his fingertips on his sleeve, and said, “A month from now. That’s when admissions officially start. Before the exam, I want to find a job.”

Su Yan had already paid off his gambling debt, along with the money he owed the townsfolk.

She had even promised to cover his tuition, but he couldn’t keep letting her shoulder everything forever.

“A job, huh.”

Back on Earth, Su Yan had worked plenty.

She’d tried more trades than she could count—hard ones, dirty ones, the kind that left your hands smelling like soap and sweat no matter how much you scrubbed.

“What do you want to do?” she asked.

“I don’t really have any skills,” Bai Kai Xin admitted. “I can only take bottom-tier work. A restaurant dishwasher, a circus cleaner, a porter… things like that.”

“Then do this.”

Su Yan lifted her chin and pointed.

An inn stood not far ahead with a weather-worn signboard: Ten Thousand Directions. A notice hung crookedly near the entrance, swaying in the breeze—For Sale.

“I’ll buy it,” Su Yan said. “You’ll manage it.”

“Sister Su… what did you just say?”

Bai Kai Xin stared at her like he’d misheard.

Su Yan didn’t blink. “Think about it. We need somewhere to stay anyway. And the Divine Beast Academy’s recruitment season is coming up. When that happens, people will flood into the Imperial Capital to take the entrance exam. Where there are people, there’s money. This inn will earn.”

Bai Kai Xin listened, more and more stunned—especially by how quickly she’d thought it through, like she’d been turning the idea over in her mind long before she ever said it out loud. “Sister Su… you’re incredible.”

Not just her wealth.

The sheer nerve to act.

And—let’s be honest—the guts to flirt with every handsome male in sight.

Before making an offer, Su Yan asked around. She learned the going rates for nearby inns, then dug up everything she could about Ten Thousand Directions. Once she’d done her homework and had a number in her head, she took Bai Kai Xin and knocked on the door.

It opened with a reluctant creak.

A middle-aged man stood there, hair wild, eyes bloodshot, clothes rumpled like he’d slept in them for days. He had the look of someone whose life had been yanked off its rails and dragged through the dirt.

Su Yan smiled, polite and composed. “Are you the owner?”

The man’s gaze snagged on her beautiful face. He blanked for a heartbeat, then nodded. “Yes.”

“You’re selling this place?”

Su Yan kept her tone easy, like she was asking about the weather.

Understanding her purpose, he hurriedly tried to tame his mess of hair. “Yes, yes. Honored guest, please, come in.”

The lobby swallowed them in dimness. Dust lay thick on the floor; the air carried a stale, shut-in smell, like old wood and cold ash.

Su Yan’s eyes moved once, slow and measuring. “Someone died here.”

The fragile spark of hope in the man’s face collapsed. Color drained from his cheeks.

Bai Kai Xin pointed to a long crack slashed through the wall, the jagged line sharp as lightning. “Wind element?”

“One wind-element expert at peak Profound Rank,” the owner said hoarsely. His voice scraped, as if every word cost him. “One wood-element beginner at Profound Rank. One dead, one injured. And it dragged the lodgers into it—seven more died.”

When he said seven, his throat bobbed. His hands curled and unclenched, helpless.

Su Yan’s voice stayed calm. “What about the one who survived?”

“Exiled to the Bloodsand Sea,” the owner said. “He paid some compensation, but it wasn’t nearly enough to cover what I owed the guests. My wife ran off with someone else. Now it’s just me left in this place.” His mouth twisted into something that might have been a laugh if it hadn’t sounded so broken. “Once I sell it, I’ll go wander. So, honored guest—if you like it, give me whatever you want. I just want it gone.”

He didn’t care about money anymore. He only wanted the weight off his back.

“Two mid-grade crystal coins,” Su Yan said.

She reached into her system space and produced a money pouch.

The faint clink inside was soft, but in the dusty silence it sounded like a bell.

The owner froze.

Bai Kai Xin patted the man’s shoulder, awkwardly gentle. “Boss… is that enough?”

Su Yan had already asked about the currency. In the East District and West District, crystal coins and red coins were both used. Crystal coins came in low-, mid-, and high-grade; only the exchange rate varied slightly between districts.

One low-grade crystal coin could be exchanged for 10,000 red coins.

One mid-grade crystal coin could be exchanged for 100,000 red coins.

One high-grade crystal coin could be exchanged for 10,000,000 red coins.

And on the Beast World Continent’s East District side, crystal coins were scarce.

Because people had discovered they could be refined.

Once refined, a crystal coin became a talent-boosting potion. For someone whose talent had already reached its peak, it offered a chance to break through their limit.

That was why the market mostly circulated low-grade crystal coins. Mid-grade were uncommon. High-grade were practically priceless—something you heard about but couldn’t buy.

As for Su Yan’s stash…

She had the most mid-grade, and a shocking number of high-grade. Low-grade were what she had least.

“Yes,” the owner whispered. Then his face crumpled. “It’s more than enough.”

He started to cry—quiet, ugly tears that looked like they’d been waiting for permission.

Plenty of people had come to “buy” the inn. Most offered a few hundred red coins, maybe a few thousand. Some tried to snatch the property with empty promises.

And Su Yan had walked in and dropped two mid-grade crystal coins like they were spare change.

It was absurd.

Su Yan had Bai Kai Xin go with the owner to complete the paperwork. She also told him to find a renovation crew—she wanted the whole inn redone, inside and out.

The front hall had been wrecked by the fight, but the back courtyard was surprisingly lovely: a garden, a fish pond, and pavilions tucked among rocks and greenery. Even in neglect, it had bones.

Those two crystal coins were worth it.

Then she thought of Rona—a thin cotton dress that had cost 200 crystal coins.

If the beastmen of the East District heard that, they’d probably faint on the spot.

Once again, Su Yan mourned the fact that she hadn’t been bound to a business system. If she had, she’d be making a fortune hand over fist.

“Ah…” She sprawled on a lounge chair by the fish pond, staring up at a sky so blue it looked unreal. “Is there no male who can let me finish my task in one shot?”

And, as always, her mind drifted back to that blue-haired, blue-eyed beauty.

Rong Wu.

Bai Kai Xin returned soon after. He’d found a beastman renovation master, and the man was already inspecting the damage and sketching out a plan.

Su Yan noticed the paper bag in Bai Kai Xin’s hands. “What’s that?”

“Pastries,” he said, handing it over. “Females like sweet things, so I thought… maybe Sister Su does too.”

“Thank you.”

Su Yan took one out—a flower-shaped flaky cake. It was rich enough to leave a faint sheen on her fingertips, but she ate it anyway.

“I asked the renovation master,” Bai Kai Xin said. “Even if they work fast, it’ll take at least half a month. So I want to take temporary work at other inns during that time. Learn how everything runs. Get familiar with the whole process.”

“Go,” Su Yan said. “Do what you want.”

Then she added, “I’m going to go into seclusion for a while too. I want to raise my talent.”

Bai Kai Xin stared. “You have talent?”

Su Yan blinked. “Did I never tell you?”

A small fireball bloomed at her fingertip—bright as a firefly, steady as a heartbeat.

It drifted, wavering, toward the weeds on the far side of the pond. In moments, the dry grass crackled and vanished, leaving only a thin layer of black ash and the sharp scent of smoke.

“Fire-type?!” Bai Kai Xin’s jaw nearly hit the floor.

Su Yan nodded and took another bite of pastry like she hadn’t just proved she could set the world on fire.

“Then you can take the entrance exam too!” he blurted.

“I’m only Green Rank,” she said, shrugging.

“Even Red Rank would pass without trouble. The Divine Beast Academy hasn’t had a fire-type student in five years.” Bai Kai Xin had clearly dug for every scrap of information he could find. “If that’s true, then… we take the exam together?”

Su Yan smiled. “Sure. And if I fail, I can still be your attendant. Better to have a backup plan.”

Bai Kai Xin looked at the scorched patch of ground again, like he still couldn’t believe it. “Sister Su… your talent is terrifying.”