158: We've made a fortune!

In the bright and spacious conference room, Lu Yuan sat in the main seat.

"Based on your rank, you normally wouldn't be qualified to discuss matters with us, but we're making an exception today," Chen Yaozong said to Lao Qiyuan.

"Are you done yet?" Lao Qiyuan retorted irritably.

Chen Yaozong smiled and stopped teasing.

The atmosphere became serious!

Chen Yaozong tapped the table, and a video began playing on the large screen behind him.

It was none other than the battle at Starry Sky City!

The battle was extremely fierce, and Lu Yuan saw his own silhouette.

"According to the analysis by the Seven Alliances and One Hall, Chinese soldiers are leading the elites of the Great Shun Dynasty in all aspects." Chen Yaozong distributed documents to everyone, which contained detailed analysis and comparisons.

From wearing combat armor and using Spirit Skills to the coordination between soldiers, and so on.

Only the line regarding close combat was marked with a red exclamation mark!

"When the distance to the enemy is too close during battle, using a Spirit Skill could hurt oneself, or the enemy might not give you time to cast a Spirit Skill..."

Chen Yaozong paused for a moment after saying this.

"This is where the advantage of close combat becomes apparent. In the battle at Starry Sky City, two thousand and five Chinese soldiers died, with one thousand eight hundred dying from cold weapons, and most of the eight hundred injured were also caused by cold weapons!"

Lu Yuan listened intently to one detailed statistic after another.

He had been at the scene in Starry Sky City and witnessed the close combat capabilities of the Great Shun Dynasty elites.

"Although I don't want to admit it, these Ancient Professionals are indeed better at close combat than us!" said Zhang Hetong, the principal of Lincheng University.

Nowadays, in all universities in China, close combat is basically an elective course.

"The Supreme Alliance Leader's intention is that we must attach importance to close combat, turn it from an elective course into a compulsory one, and start with our Five Great Top Academies!"

Chen Yaozong stated the topic of this discussion.

"That's easy to say, but..."

Realizing he was about to curse, Zhang Hetong shut his mouth in time and glanced at Lu Yuan without leaving a trace.

He felt uncomfortable holding it in and didn't want to expose his true personality in front of Lu Yuan.

If he exposed it and word got out, his fate would be the same as Lao Qiyuan's.

"Don't hold it in; Lu Yuan won't go spreading it around," Lao Qiyuan said to Zhang Hetong with a smile.

He wanted Lu Yuan to see that these principals also cursed in private and had their own joys, angers, sorrows, and joys.

Lu Yuan shrugged, thinking it was quite normal.

"That's easy to say, but what about the money? Where are we going to get the money to teach students close combat!" Zhang Hetong complained.

The Five Great Top Academies are backed by the Seven Alliances and One Hall, and the annual funding has a set limit.

Treating close combat as a compulsory course now means hiring professionals to teach the students.

The problem is paying their salaries!

Take, for example, a Practitioner whose Sword Technique has reached the pinnacle; a single class costs tens of thousands, and some even more!

The conference room was filled with sighs, and Lu Yuan finally understood.

The theme of this discussion was raising money!

Who would have thought that the Five Great Top Academies would also be short on money, and that this problem would leave principals at the God Emperor Realm completely helpless.

Two of the principals didn't look so distressed.

They were Chen Yaozong, the principal of Imperial Capital University, and Xiao Shouzheng, the principal of Modu University.

The former had sufficient funds; Imperial Capital University was the top of the Five Great Top Academies, and it was backed by the wealthy Thunder Alliance.

The latter, Xiao Shouzheng, already placed importance on close combat; Modu University had much less pressure compared to the other four universities and already possessed a complete teaching system.

"What should we do?" Chen Yaozong asked.

However, no one answered. If they had a way to make money, they would have done it already.

Why would they be gathered here discussing it?

"There are too many restrictions. If only we were Ancient Professionals of the Great Shun Dynasty, we could ignore all the rules and do whatever we wanted!" Zhang Hetong sighed.

"Nonsense, if I could act lawlessly, I could make hundreds of billions in a minute just by visiting the Cangqiong Chamber of Commerce," Chen Yaozong said.

The five of them each had the power to destroy a city with a wave of their hand.

The key point is that it's not allowed.

The final battle between China and the Demon and Monster Races is approaching, and the Five Great Top Academies play an important role.

They must cultivate batch after batch of pillars of talent, either to stabilize the rear or to go to the battlefield.

Lu Yuan yawned.

Having stayed in the conference room for over half an hour, the five principals hadn't reached any meaningful conclusion.

The discussion continued, and Lu Yuan slipped away.

In a month, he wouldn't be a principal anymore, so it was better to leave the difficult problem to Old Lao.

The sun was shining brightly.

At the girls' dormitory, Lu Yuan stood downstairs, waiting patiently.

Not long after, Li Jinxue walked out.

"Are you looking for me for something?" Li Jinxue asked.

Looking at Li Jinxue, who had the face of a first love and wore a ponytail, Lu Yuan's eyes flickered.

The truth had come to light; Li Jinxue's grandfather, Li Hesong, had indeed died at the hands of Lao Qiyuan.

However, Li Hesong had worked for Lu Jingyuan, forging spirit tools that killed many innocent people.

Li Hesong deserved to die, but one thing is one thing.

It was fine for Li Jinxue to avenge her grandfather; after all, Li Jinxue was raised by Li Hesong.

"Where is Yuan Ruifeng's storage ring?" Lu Yuan asked.

In the No Mans Land, he had agreed with Li Jinxue that he would get the top-grade heaven and earth spirit treasure, the grand void thunder wood.

As for the demon crystals and monster cores, as well as the Practitioner's storage ring, they would go to Li Jinxue as compensation.

"Here." Li Jinxue handed the storage ring to Lu Yuan, thinking he had changed his mind.

"Take the things inside out."

Hearing this, Li Jinxue was stunned, but she still followed Lu Yuan's instructions.

The Eternal Sacred Flame appeared!

The surrounding temperature soared.

Under Li Jinxue's gaze, Lu Yuan completely melted the storage ring.

"Did the Yuan family come looking for you?" Li Jinxue knew Lu Yuan was destroying stolen goods.

"Yeah, it's better to be careful about everything," Lu Yuan said.

"I won't tell anyone about that night, and I certainly won't help the Yuan family testify," Li Jinxue said sensibly.

She was a smart person, and besides, she had also obtained many good things.

They prospered together and suffered together; she was now in the same boat as Lu Yuan.

While organizing Yuan Ruifeng's storage ring, Lu Yuan discovered a map.

"This should be what Yuan Yongfeng wanted," Lu Yuan said.

The map was an ordinary one, but it was marked with different colors.

Under the sunlight, Lu Yuan's brain was spinning rapidly.

"What did the Yuan family rely on to make their fortune?" Lu Yuan muttered to himself.

"Materials for forging spirit tools, like tiger-eye stone and frost jade; these are essential materials for forging mid-grade and high-grade spirit tools," Li Jinxue said, knowing the Yuan family well.

Her grandfather, Li Hesong, was an Artifact Refiner and often mentioned the Yuan family.

"So the markings on the map..." Lu Yuan and Li Jinxue exchanged glances.

"It's very likely to be mineral deposits for spirit tool materials!" Li Jinxue's tone could not hide her excitement.

She imagined a scene: Yuan Ruifeng originally wanted to return to China from the No Mans Land.

He carried this map, which had been explored for many years in the No Mans Land, but encountered the top-grade heaven and earth spirit treasure, the grand void thunder wood, along the way.

Anyone would crave such a treasure, but in the end, he died at Lu Yuan's hands!

"If all the spirit tool materials on the map were mined out..." Lu Yuan gripped the map in his hand tightly.

He was rich!

Even if he couldn't become the richest person on Blue Star, the money he earned would be enough for him to become a billionaire, or even a multi-billionaire!