97: Chapter 97 Earned Over 300 Billion

Back then, the private savings the two had scrimped and saved over several years added up to a mere five hundred million credit points. Placed in the resource gamble of top prodigies, it was insignificant—laughably minuscule.

But no one expected that this mere five hundred million in principal, bolstered by extreme odds, would create a miracle of sudden, miraculous wealth.

"This time, from the City Tournament to the State Competition, you went on an absolute rampage against the odds, all the way from the group stage to the finals. In every single round, your odds were terrifyingly high!" Wang Hu grew increasingly excited as he spoke, his words tumbling out rapidly as he endlessly calculated this astronomical sum. "Especially the final match competing for number one in Quanzhou—no one on the entire net favored you, so the black market betting pool pulled your odds directly to a terrifying one-to-three!"

As the odds stacked round after round and the payouts doubled with every turn of the tables against the odds, the five hundred million credit points of principal—so insignificant before the tournament—snowballed like mad, doubling repeatedly and soaring higher step by step.

"I got the black market settlement statement earlier and finished full settlement overnight! Not a single cent withheld, not a single cent delayed!" Wang Hu took a deep breath, repressing the bursting ecstasy in his heart before blurting out the terrifying final figure. "Our five hundred million capital has completely multiplied by hundreds of times, becoming over three hundred billion credit points!!"

Over three hundred billion!

Even Lin Ye, who was long accustomed to high-tier resources and rare secret cards, could not help but have a flash of surprise pass through his eyes at this moment.

Turning five hundred million into over three hundred billion was a full six-hundred-fold increase or more—this level of return was truly terrifying to the extreme.

One had to know that adding up the entire assets of an ordinary city-level prominent family might not even break the hundred-billion mark. Yet, with a single pre-tournament gamble, they now held three hundred billion in liquid funds, completely achieving financial freedom.

"I know credit points are just a universal currency, not worth mentioning compared to high-tier cultivation resources or Divine Kingdom secret cards, and hard to exchange directly for top-tier cultivation foundations." Wang Hu remained exceptionally clear-headed, not losing his mind to the massive sum as he continued to explain seriously, "Hardly anyone in the Federation is silly enough to use massive amounts of credit points to exchange for faith points and faith liquid because the discount rate is severe. But that doesn't matter when our base amount is so huge!"

faith liquid was one of the Federation's most precious origin materials. It could nourish soul-spirits, purify Dao foundations, and stabilize Divine Kingdom laws. Priceless and almost impossible to buy on the open market, ordinary prodigies might spend years of military or battle merit without necessarily being able to exchange for a single drop.

"According to the latest discounted exchange rate on the black market, over three hundred billion credit points—even if we suppress the market price and exchange at a full discount—can get us at least twenty drops of pure faith liquid!"

At this point, Wang Hu could not help drawing in a cold breath, his eyes filled with shock and disbelief.

"Twenty drops of faith liquid, Brother Ye! What kind of concept is that?!"

"My father is an active war general in the military with generous pay and military merit to his name. Fighting to the death year-round on the border and completing missions, his annual salary converted at most comes to two drops of faith liquid! These twenty drops are equivalent to my father's entire salary for ten whole years combined!"

The earnings from ten years of bitter cultivation and ten years of bloody battles were inferior to the return on their single pre-tournament gamble.

This gap in wealth was enough to crush the vast majority of mid-tier Federation cultivators. Even senior mentors at No. 3 High School or city-level cultivation officials would look on with envy and greed.

Wang Hu gripped the virtual bill tightly in his hand, his chest heaving violently, burning all over with excitement. "Before, we were still worrying about insufficient cultivation resources and shortages of advancement materials for our dependent races. Now we don't have to worry at all! With this foundation backing us up, our cultivation path for the next several years will be smooth sailing—we'll never have to worry about resources again!"

Lin Ye listened quietly, a faint smile slowly curling up the corners of his mouth.

When he insisted on emptying their savings to bet on himself, it was never blind gambling on luck, but supreme confidence. He knew his own combat power, his own Dao path, and even more clearly, he knew he could take the final championship.

Now that the dust had settled and the massive fortune was safely secured in his pocket, added with the vast amount of top-tier resources issued by the school, the city, and the military, his cultivation foundation, Divine Kingdom base, and dependent race growth capital were thoroughly stacked to a height unattainable by his peers.

Three hundred billion credit points, a guaranteed minimum of twenty drops of faith liquid, plus two Class-A Divine Kingdom buildings, various high-tier secret cards, three thousand intelligence genesis fruits, and three major dependent races with Primordial potential—at this moment, he had truly achieved invincibility among his peers, with an unhindered, boundless road ahead.

Looking at Wang Hu, who was dancing around in ecstasy before him, Lin Ye shook his head helplessly and let out a soft laugh.

"You certainly have guts, trusting me blindly the whole way. Weren't you afraid that all five hundred million of our capital would go down the drain, leaving us with nothing?"

He wasn't teasing; these were sincere words from the bottom of his heart.

Apart from himself, no one knew the pressure and danger he faced along the way.

Throughout the State Competition, he was surrounded by formidable foes. Every match was an uphill battle to the death; the loser was eliminated directly with no chance to try again. Even Lin Ye himself, when facing Bai Ruoxue—who possessed astronomical background and pure, flawless bloodline—in the finals, had felt a moment of apprehension and uncertainty in his heart, not being one hundred percent certain he could win the championship.

Back then, the situation was treacherous, victory and defeat hanging by a hair. Even he, the protagonist, lacked absolute confidence, yet Wang Hu had held nothing back, emptying all his net worth to bet heavily on his victory. This trust was so profound it warmed one's heart.

Hearing this, Wang Hu chuckled, scratched the back of his head, and gave a simple yet firm look. "I don't trust others, but as for you, Brother Ye, I've never doubted you for a second! Even if the whole world doesn't favor you, I know you'll definitely win!"

Seeing the young man's pure trust, Lin Ye felt a slight warmth in his heart. He then reined in his smile, adopted a more solemn tone, and cautioned, "Alright, don't get ahead of yourself. Sudden wealth is just external after all; our cultivation foundation is what truly matters. Make sure not to let it go to your head."

"It just so happens that the competition is over now and the school rewards have been handed out. In the short term, there are no matches or academic pressures, so we have plenty of free time."

Lin Ye's gaze was calm, a plan already taking shape in his mind. "Taking advantage of this gap, let's settle down and properly organize our respective Divine Kingdoms, reorganize the layout of our dependent races, and activate all the new resources and new cards in our hands. We'll thoroughly solidify our foundations and raise our combined strength up by another major step."

Upon hearing this, Wang Hu immediately reined in his restless ecstasy and nodded heavily. He knew Lin Ye was right—sudden wealth was merely a temporary opportunity, while the advancement of one's own strength was the ultimate reliance for standing tall in the cultivation world.

The two of them briefly finalized their subsequent cultivation plan, bade farewell to the noisy campus side by side, and returned together to Wang Hu's home.

Ordinarily, Lin Ye spent most of his time cultivating alone, but recently he had been staying at Wang Hu's house. Besides, Wang Guo had also left home because of him, so by all rights and reason, he should go visit his aunt.

Night slowly fell, dusk enveloping the main city of Nantan Prefecture as lights from ten thousand homes lit up one after another, filled with cozy warmth.

Wang Hu's home was brightly lit, the rich, tantalizing aroma of food wafting out through the crack in the door.

Wang Hu's mother, Liu Yun, had long received the good news of Lin Ye's return and spent the entire afternoon busy preparing a lavish feast covering the whole table. With meat and vegetable dishes piping hot, it was specially prepared to celebrate Lin Ye's success and welcome him back.

The table was packed with various rare spiritual delicacies, high-tier demon beast meats, and several kinds of precious spiritual fruits that nourished soul-spirits. Every single item was meticulously prepared with utmost sincerity.

After sitting down, Liu Yun looked at her son whose face was filled with uncontrollable excitement, then at Lin Ye beside him, whose aura had grown increasingly poised and transcendent. With eyes curved in a warm smile, she spoke gently, "You two little fellas, why are you so happy today? I know you got good results in the competition, but it shouldn't make you this overjoyed. Is there some other good news?"