Chapter 52

Chapter 52: The Senior Qian Qi, Li Hong Sheng, Loses!

If it had been any other student, Li Hong Sheng might have pulled rank as a dean. But the Principal had just warned him over and over not to threaten Qian Qi, so he hesitated, unsure how to make her lower the price.

He cleared his throat and chose a gentle start: “Classmate, I will be direct. Ten million is too much for me.”

Then he revealed his identity in a roundabout way: “I am the Dean of the Magiplant Research Institute. You may know that people today still see Magiplants as useless and even reject them. Because of that, our institute is always short of money. Running it is very hard.” He sighed deep and added: “But I have always believed Magiplants can help humans. We just have not found the right way yet.”

He paused, then tried another angle: “Even if they do not help humans, if they help Contract Beasts, that is still good. If Contract Beasts grow stronger, humans will have a much easier time fighting Magibeasts, and the world will be safer.”

He pressed the point with feeling: “You chose the Magiplant major, so you must believe this too, right?”

Qian Qi thought for two seconds and answered with honest calm: “No. I am just poor, so I had to choose Magiplant.”

[Huh?]

She tipped her chin toward the Principal and said with a big hint: “If I could transfer for free to the Magibeast Department or the Beast Taming Department, I might already be handling both Magibeasts and Contract Beasts.”

[Yeah right. Like I would believe that. You are not going to go ruin other departments.] The Principal kept a straight face.

Seeing that reason and emotion were not working, Li Hong Sheng decided to go for broke. He slapped the table and tried hard bargaining: “Can’t you make it cheaper? Ten million is too expensive. And who can prove your planting method works? What if it is fake?”

He had spent years chasing investors, even tricking more than a few rich people to keep the institute alive. He did not believe he could lose to a student at bargaining.

Too bad he had met his match.

When it came to haggling, Qian Qi had never lost. As the only seller, she still had one final trump card: “Buy it or don’t.” She picked at her ear and said without care: “If you do not buy, I am leaving.”

[No. You cannot leave. I still have 365 bargaining tricks I have not used yet!]

She waved him off: “Get ten million ready and come back. Relax, I will save it for you and not sell to anyone else.” With a firm tone she added: “If there is nothing else, I am going. Hope you both have a great day.”

She patted the dust off her clothes and walked out.

Stunned, Li Hong Sheng pointed a shaking finger at the door, then turned on the Principal: “Little Zheng, what is with this kid? Why is he so stubborn? Does he even know that with one word, I can make him unable to stay in the Magiplant Department?”

The Principal corrected him softly: “She is a girl. A girl.”

“A little girl?!” Li Hong Sheng pointed from the door to himself, still in shock. He had never seen a girl with such a rough, streetwise edge. Her small, scruffy face and cocky grin were like armor. She did not put him or the Principal in her eyes at all.

“Do not treat her as a normal student,” the Principal said as he took a box from the drawer. He opened it to show a glossy bead-like fruit. “Do you know what this is?”

Li Hong Sheng glanced over and said without care: “Chocolate beans?”

[Are you kidding me?] The Principal held back the words and said aloud: “This is the fruit of a Magiplant.”

Li Hong Sheng blinked, then lifted the fruit and examined it for a long time. His brows knit. “What Magiplant is this from? I have never seen it.”

The Principal’s gaze turned meaningful: “Not only that. This Defense Fruit can be eaten directly. It has no side effects.”

“What?” Li Hong Sheng jerked up, startled. “Eaten directly? Do you mean by Awakeners, or by normal people? No, wait.” He caught the name. “Defense Fruit? What does that mean?”

The Principal explained slowly: “After swallowing it, for a short ten minutes, a person becomes immune to all damage from D level Magibeasts, both physical and elemental. Only mental attacks still work. I tested that yesterday.”

[What kind of blessed fruit is this?] The Defense Fruit suddenly felt hot in his palm. His old eyes lit with excitement and hunger. He asked in a shaky voice: “Little Zheng, do not lie to me. Is this real?”

“It is real.” The Principal tapped the projector and played the students’ recording of the test: “Qian Qi held a showcase match just to display the fruit’s effect. You can see she did not cheat.”

Li Hong Sheng stared at Qian Qi on the screen. When the Iron Bear Beast slammed both arms down on her and she was unharmed, he shot to his feet: “A juvenile Iron Bear Beast is a quasi D level Magibeast of Strength Path and Earth Skills, yet she is completely fine?”

So the Defense Fruit was truly this amazing.

He had always believed Magiplants could produce products useful to humans, but a fruit that you could eat as is and that helped this much was far beyond his expectations.

“Little Zheng, could I take this Defense Fruit back to study?” he asked, holding it like it burned.

“Of course,” said the Principal with a mild smile: “One hundred fifty three thousand. Transfer the money.”

“…What?” He choked on the last word.

“Little Zheng!” he cried. “Do not do this. I was planning to borrow money from you to buy the Fire Qilin Lotus planting method!”

[Huh?]

“You see how useful Magiplants can be now,” he hurried to persuade. “Once I grow this Defense Fruit, money will come easily. I will be able to pay back, unlike before.”

[Except I do not think you can grow it.] The Principal kept that to himself.

“If you really worry, I can cut you in on the profits,” Li Hong Sheng pressed on. “For that profit, help me talk to Qian Qi. Ask her to share the planting method of the Defense Fruit. I have a feeling this girl knows how to grow it.”

The Principal’s mouth twitched. He finally understood why he had been so tolerant of Qian Qi and had not gotten mad even when she tricked him: sitting in front of him was the “senior version of Qian Qi,” counting every coin and trying to rope him in.

Still, the offer tempted him. The value of the Defense Fruit and the Fire Qilin Fruit was hard to measure at this early stage, not to mention…

He leaned to Li Hong Sheng’s ear and whispered: “Actually, she also has…”