85: Chapter 89

3

Jiang Haojie and Su Qingxue had only taken a few steps when their communicators vibrated.

It was Liu Jinglong.

“President Liu.”

A smiling voice came from the other end: “Jiang Haojie, congratulations on taking first place in this year's school competition.”

“It was just luck.”

Jiang Haojie's tone was calm.

“You kid, you've actually learned how to be humble.”

Liu Jinglong laughed and scolded him, then his voice lowered slightly. “The Old Chairman from headquarters has already personally gone to Su City.

You don't need to worry about that trouble anymore.”

Jiang Haojie was stunned.

He hadn't expected that his business would actually alarm that old man from headquarters who hadn't shown his face in a long time.

“Thank you for your trouble, President Liu.”

“No need to thank me,”

Liu Jinglong's tone was relaxed. “I didn't put in much effort; it was mostly the higher-ups pulling strings.

If there's a chance in the future, you should thank the leadership in person.”

“Jiang Haojie—!”

A sharp female voice suddenly pierced the air.

Jiang Haojie frowned and looked over to see Xu Qing rushing towards them, her cheeks flushed from the haste.

“President Liu, I have some trivial matters to attend to right now. I'll contact you later.”

He briefly ended the call, put away his communicator, and looked at the newcomer expressionlessly.

“Jiang Haojie, I know I was wrong before... Let's start over, okay?”

Xu Qing's voice trembled.

Before Jiang Haojie could speak, Su Qingxue had already reached out to hook her arm into his, meeting Xu Qing's gaze calmly: “Xu Qing, have you still not figured out the situation? He is my lover now.”

“Su Qingxue, it's all because of you! If you hadn't interfered, how could Jiang Haojie and I have—”

Xu Qing's eyes were red, but before she could finish, she was cut off by Jiang Haojie's cold voice.

“Enough, Xu Qing.”

There was no ripple in his eyes. “I warned you long ago not to come pestering me again.

You really have a short memory.”

“No... Jiang Haojie, you still have me in your heart, don't you?”

Xu Qing shook her head and took a step forward. “I'm willing to come back to your side, let's start everything over from the beginning...”

“Xu Qing,”

Jiang Haojie suddenly gave a light chuckle, but the smile didn't reach his eyes. “I know exactly what you're planning.

No need to act anymore—it's impossible.”

He didn't say anything more and turned to leave with Su Qingxue.

“Jiang Haojie! You can't treat me like this—I know I was wrong!”

Xu Qing's cry tore through the air behind them, but the figure ahead didn't pause for a second.

People standing around exchanged looks, and whispers spread like a tide, wrapping this drama in a heated gaze.

Everyone had long heard about the past entanglement between Jiang Haojie and Xu Qing.

Back then, when Jiang Haojie failed his test, Xu Qing had turned and left without hesitation. Now that she saw him making a name for himself, she was pestering him relentlessly like this.

The gazes coming from all around were full of undisguised contempt.

Xu Qing seemed not to care at all, walking straight up to Jiang Haojie with a desperate determination in her voice: “Jiang Haojie, I'm only giving you two paths: either we get back together, or you give me the Holy Academy invitation letter.

Otherwise, I will never give you peace.”

Low boos rang out from the crowd.

So after going through all this trouble, this was what she was truly plotting.

Bai Yang stood in the crowd, his face already ashen.

He never thought that Xu Qing could trample on her dignity to this extent just to achieve her goal.

A strong surge of disgust rose in his heart. He didn't want to stay for another second, turning to leave, having already decided to completely cut ties with this person.

“Jiang Haojie, if you don't give it to me, I'll go to your house and tell your parents I'm pregnant with your child.”

Xu Qing's voice suddenly rose, almost screaming.

A teacher from Beihua University finally reached the end of their patience and stood out with a dark face to scold her: “Xu Qing! Do you have no sense of shame!”

“What do you know?”

Xu Qing raised her chin, her eyes flashing with a near-obsessive light. “I, Xu Qing, was born to stand at the top. Only the Holy Academy is worthy of me! You people don't understand at all!”

“Teacher, let's go.”

Several students couldn't bear to watch any longer and forcefully pulled away the teacher who still wanted to argue.

This scene was truly too embarrassing; Xu Qing's words and actions had brought shame upon the entire Beihua University.

Not far away, Sun Wanyu and the others walked out of a hidden observation room, happening to catch this farce.

They exchanged looks, and all turned to look at Principal Yuan Changqing beside them, their gazes carrying a hint of watching a show.

Principal Yuan Changqing's face was as black as the bottom of a pot.

He silently pulled out his phone and quickly dialed a number.

As soon as the other party picked up, he spoke coldly: “Issue an announcement immediately. Xu Qing is expelled from the school effective today. Give her three days to leave the campus.”

After speaking, he hung up the call decisively.

To be fair, with Xu Qing's natural talent, if it were just an ordinary mistake, he might have been tolerant.

But today's matter had crossed the line.

A person with a crooked mind and distorted values, no matter how high their talent, was destined to be a curse rather than a blessing and was not worth any cultivation.

Jiang Haojie, at the center of the storm, knew nothing of the subsequent waves.

At this moment, he had already returned to his temporary residence with Su Qingxue.

According to custom, although the school competition had ended, the host academy would hold a banquet on the final night to entertain all parties, and everyone had to wait until the next day to officially leave.

The room was warm and cozy. Jiang Haojie and Su Qingxue were talking in low voices when there was a soft knock on the door.

Qin Qinglan pushed the door open and entered, a knowing smile in her eyes as she teased: “You two really aren't willing to waste a single moment.”

“Sister Qinglan!”

Su Qingxue's cheeks instantly turned bright red. She gave a flirtatious huff and looked away uncomfortably.

Normally, she wouldn't be so bashful, but just now they really were... This made her feel a sense of embarrassment as if being caught on the spot.

Jiang Haojie cleared his throat and changed the subject: “How do you have time to come over? Isn't the banquet about to start?”

“What?”

Qin Qinglan's brows rose slightly, her smile deepening. “Are you annoyed that I came at a bad time and disturbed you?”

“Not at all.”

Jiang Haojie laughed and shook his head.

Qin Qinglan put away her joking expression, her tone becoming serious: “I'll stop joking with you. I came this time because I want to ask you to transfer that invitation letter to me.

Of course, I won't let you lose out. You can name a price; I'm willing to buy it.”

Jiang Haojie was somewhat surprised to hear this, not expecting that Qin Qinglan's goal was actually this invitation letter.

But on second thought, this invitation letter was extremely rare. It was the first time in many years the school had offered such a spot, so it was only natural for her to be interested.

As if afraid Jiang Haojie might misunderstand, Qin Qinglan immediately explained: “I'm not an unreasonable person.

Knowing you still have an extra invitation letter in your hand, I've come to ask shamelessly.”

“Jiang Haojie, since you're keeping the other one, why not let Sister Qinglan have this one.”

Su Qingxue, who was beside him, also spoke softly.

Jiang Haojie looked at Su Qingxue with a bit of surprise: “Don't you want it?”

He had originally thought Su Qingxue herself would be interested.

Su Qingxue smiled slightly: “Don't you know? Support-type Awakened can apply directly to enter the Holy Academy when they reach their senior year, as long as their talent level is S-rank or above. They don't need an invitation letter.”

Jiang Haojie had indeed never heard of this rule, but he didn't look into it further.

With a flip of his palm, the exquisite invitation letter appeared in his hand.

He looked up at Qin Qinglan.

“What price do you think it's worth?”

Even though his relationship with Qin Qinglan was decent, business was business. It was impossible for him to give it away for free.

“You set the price, I'll accept whatever it is.

Only, if the amount is too large, I'm afraid I won't be able to pay it all at once and will need to pay in installments.”

“Then let's say one hundred million.”

Su Qingxue was startled, not expecting Jiang Haojie to actually dare to ask for such an astronomical price.

Even the Su Family she came from was considered prominent in Dragon City, and their total assets were only around one billion.

With one opening of his mouth, Jiang Haojie had actually asked for a tenth of the Su Family's wealth.

What surprised her even more was that Qin Qinglan actually agreed without hesitation.

“Deal.”

Qin Qinglan took the invitation letter, then took out her phone and efficiently transferred the money to Jiang Haojie. “This is all the capital I can currently mobilize, a total of forty million.

As for the remaining sixty million, please give me two years. I will pay it off in batches.”

“No problem.”

Jiang Haojie nodded.

He had no doubt about Qin Qinglan's credit.

A smile blossomed on Qin Qinglan's face, and her tone became light: “Then it's settled. I won't disturb you two anymore.”

She carefully put away the invitation letter and was about to leave when she was called back by Su Qingxue.

“Sister Qinglan, wait for me. I'll go with you.”

Watching the two women leave, Jiang Haojie shook his head slightly and turned his attention back.

He hadn't forgotten that the reward given by the system had not yet been claimed.

The reward this time was actually an item labeled as a 'Mysterious Gift Box'.

He didn't know what was hidden inside; even the system was being so vague about it.

Hmm?

The moment Jiang Haojie's consciousness sank into the system space, he suddenly noticed a different crystal next to the floating talent crystal.

It didn't look like an ordinary talent crystal, but more like an exquisite glass bead, completely clear and transparent, and at its core, there was a liquid-like substance slowly flowing and moving.

Jiang Haojie was certain that this object had definitely not existed in this space before.

Just as he was feeling suspicious, a line of clear information quietly appeared before his eyes.

Jiang Haojie stared at the crystal in his palm that was flowing with a deep blue luster, which seemed to contain stars flickering in and out.

The text on the system panel was cold and clear—this creation called the 'awakening crystal' could actually grant a living being an additional talent, and there was no limit to the rank for its use.

However, the conditions for its birth caused a chill to pass through his heart: it required the fall of a human of the fifth rank or above as the price.

He took a silent breath.

The talent crystals he had obtained before were already considered miraculous, but he hadn't expected there to be such an object that even further defied common sense.

If he could use it properly, not only would his own future be promising, but perhaps even his closest relatives could benefit... At this thought, his heart pounded heavily twice against his ribs, and he quickly reined in his mind.

This kind of secret treasure must never be known by the outside world.

After carefully storing the crystal, his attention turned to the 'Mysterious Gift Box' that had quietly appeared in his perception.

.

It was solid black, bound only by a dark red ribbon, its shape ancient to the point of being eerie.

With a thought, Jiang Haojie chose to open it.

[Obtained God-level Talent: Nirvana. Reborn in fire from the brink of death.]

[Obtained Life Source Spirit ×1. A companion spirit that grows with its master.]

[Obtained marrow cleansing pill ×10. Refines tendons and bones, elevates aptitude. Note: The host cannot consume these.]

Three successive clear chimes rang out in the depths of his consciousness.

Jiang Haojie was stunned for a moment, digesting the information line by line. 'Nirvana' was no different from a second life; although it didn't specify the number of uses, it was already an unexpected joy.

As for what the 'Life Source Spirit' was, he still needed to figure that out.

Regarding those ten marrow cleansing pills, although he himself couldn't use them, they meant he could shape ten assistants with extraordinary potential. He had to be extremely careful in choosing whom to give them to.

He withdrew his consciousness from the internal view, and as soon as he opened his eyes, his gaze froze—on the bed, at some point, a giant egg half the height of a person had appeared.

The eggshell had patterns of dark gold interwoven with crimson, like solidified lava, with a faint brilliance flowing beneath it.

Although he had never seen such a huge egg, the subtle but clear resonance coming from deep within his bloodline made him instantly realize: this was the Life Source Spirit.

Just then, the prompt sounded again:

[Please drop blood onto the Source Spirit Egg to unseal it.]

Jiang Haojie did as instructed, biting his fingertip and pressing a drop of bright red blood onto the surface of the eggshell.

In an instant, a warm pulse came from beneath the shell, as if a sleeping life was joyfully responding.

Fine cracking sounds followed, and lines of cracks spread from where the blood had touched. A light of interwoven red and gold spilled out from the gaps, illuminating his focused eyes.

The cracks spread like a spiderweb, and finally, the giant egg made a crisp sound and completely broke apart.

Fragments scattered all over the floor, but the inside was empty; there was nothing.

Jiang Haojie had just stood up to get closer when he saw a small creature no longer than a thumb and as thin as a pen refill struggling to emerge from the broken shell.

It was crimson all over, wriggling slightly among the debris.

Jiang Haojie was stunned—such a large egg had actually hatched such an unremarkable little thing?

It looked exactly like a gecko, only with a pair of small golden horns on its head, which barely made it look different.

Ding!

[Congratulations to the host for obtaining the Life Source Spirit: Five-Clawed Fire Dragon.]