Chapter 12 - 12: Video

"I wanted to offer you the same thing that the Song family offered you…

...Become a practitioner under our Huang fam--"

"I don't have a phone."

"..."

Before Huang Yi could even finish her words, Yun Hao interrupted her.

"You… don't have a phone?"

"I haven't bought one yet," Yun Hao said as he let out a long and deep sigh. He should probably buy one today even if he had no friends to put numbers in it. After all, there were a lot of things that could be done with phones nowadays. It would also be a chance for him to research how to become a Cultivator.

"I'm afraid not," Yun Hao once again shook his head, "As you've already heard from my classmates, I am poor."

"...But if you had a phone, would you accept my invitation?" Huang Yi then looked Yun Hao straight in the eyes.

"Probably not," Yun Hao answered without any hesitation in his words. He then dropped one of his bags before pushing his hair on the side, revealing the huge scar that trailed down from his eyebrows all the way to his chin.

"That is…"

"I'm… injured," Yun Hao muttered as he once again covered half his face, "Whatever the Song family saw in me is gone now. You'd be wasting your resources on me," Yun Hao then let out a short sigh.

In truth, Yun Hao just didn't want to be rude and refused Huang Yi outright. He was sure he already had all the resources he would need to become a Cultivator… but still, it might not hurt to know someone from the Cultivation world.

"I have an e-mail, though," Yun Hao added, "You can just mail me there for anything else."

"I… see," the disappointment in Huang Yi's voice could be heard clearly, "What's your e-mail then?"

"[email protected]***.com."

"..." Huang Yi's fingers, which were about to enter Yun Hao's e-mail in her phone, instantly stopped. But after a few seconds, she forced her trembling thumbs to enter Yun Hao's e-mail, "I… I sent you an e-mail. I should be on top of your mail if you check it." Huang Yi stuttered, trying her best not to let out a laugh.

Afterward, the two exchanged some casual conversation for a few more seconds before saying their farewells. But before the both of them could even take 3 steps away from each other, Yun Hao realized something.

He wanted to know more about Cultivators, specifically the process of how to become one via the Confederation. And so, he turned around and called her,

"Ms. Huang."

"Yes?" Huang Yi quickly turned around as soon as she heard her name being called, her expression somewhat excited for some reason.

"...Do you know how much I need to become a Cultivator?"

"By Immersion?"

Immersion was the name of the process in which a normal human opens his meridians in order to become a Cultivator… and that was the extent of Yun Hao's knowledge on that.

"Yes," Yun Hao nodded, "Would you happen to know how much money someone needs to pay the Confederation to unlock my meridians?"

"...You wish to go through Immersion?" Huang Yi squinted her eyes. Her intrigue already died down when she found out that Yun Hao was injured, but now her curiosity was once again triggered, "I don't really know exactly how much since I was born in a cultivator clan... But I think it's around $300,000?"

"300…" Yun Hao could not help but gulp as he heard the cost. He still had a lot of coins to distribute to other channels, it might take him more than a month to get that amount. Yun Hao had already thought of duplicating the full bills, but seeing as they had serial numbers, he won't easily be able to distribute them as easily.

"If you really wish to become a cultivator, then I am sure my family can--"

"I can't possibly give you the burden of taking care of a cripple like me, Ms. Huang," Yun Hao quickly refused. It was a very good offer. If he had met Huang Yi last week, then he might have accepted it.

Yun Hao might be lacking in the thinking department, but now that he had the power to duplicate not only money but simple day-to-day objects, he felt that he would be too restricted inside a clan. Unless he was offered tons of Beast Cores upon joining, then he had no reason to join them.

"I see," Huang Yi once again let out a small sigh, "But if ever you change your mind, you know where to contact me. Have a good day, Yun Hao."

"You to--"

Before Yun Hao could even finish his farewells, Huang Yi already turned around and left, clearly disappointed that she was refused not only once, but twice by Yun Hao.

"..." Yun Hao could only blink a couple of times before he grabbed his bags and also went home for the day. He was worried at first that the construction guys from the scrapyard would discover his secret stash of wealth, but they rarely, if at all, go to Yun Hao's house.

And true enough, his secret stash is still there and still drowning his house almost through his knees. Yun Hao carefully stepped on the mountain of coins inside his small house, swimming through it as he tried to make his way around the house.

"...This isn't going to work," he could not help but mutter. How was he even able to duplicate this many coins in the first place? Was it some kind of awakening of some sort?

He still had so many questions.

Are the copies permanent? Seeing as almost a day had already passed and the coins were still here, that was probably the case.

Can his power grow stronger? He collapsed when he tried to duplicate an object bigger than him… was it possible to make it so that he wouldn't in the future? Can he train his power like a muscle? But that's where his last question comes into play.

Is his power permanent? So far, he still has it. But he was careful in using it as there might be an overall limit. If he wasted it in just duplicating measly 1 yuan coins, then he was sure he would regret it for the rest of his life.

He had a master plan, after all. First, it was to become a Cultivator.

Second… it was to get his hands on a Beast Core.

Beast Cores had a lot of use. Cultivators use it as money, to trade, to use as an ingredient for alchemy, but most importantly… to grow stronger.

Yun Hao wanted to see if he could duplicate them. If he could…

...then there was a possibility that he would someday become the champion in the world of the immortals. Leave all of his problems behind and gain his rightful place amongst the stars once more.

Yun Hao knew he was being arrogant, but his blood was boiling to once again step into the ring. But first… he had to clear out all of these god-damn coins-- Yun Hao thought as he let out a long and deep sigh.

Meanwhile, a few kilometers away on top of a tall building, a bald man with a pencil mustache was looking in the direction of the scrapyard, his eyes moving as if he could actually see Yun Hao from afar.

"...Finally," the man once again said.

***

Two days had passed, and Yun Hao had to put the distribution of his coins to a halt as he still had to go to school. After all, if his plan fails, a normal paying job was his only escape from this hell.

So far, in total, he had amassed around $20,000. Since he already had experience in distributing the coins, it didn't take him too long with the other market he went to yesterday.

$20,000.

Yun Hao could not help but let out a slight giggle whenever the amount echoed through his mind. His joy was bursting through, so much so that he didn't notice the gaze and the quiet chuckles that his fellow schoolmates were giving him as he made his way to his classroom.

They were all laughing at him while holding their phones, seemingly watching a video on it while glancing at Yun Hao from time to time.

Yun Hao arrived in his classroom, completely oblivious of everything happening in his surroundings. He was already used to being mocked, so any whispers he hears would just go through one ear and exit to the next without even registering in his mind.

However, as soon as he sat on his desk, he finally noticed the commotion happening around him. How could he not, when it was being played right in front of the whole class by a projector?

It was a video showing Yun Hao, Zhang Angela, and Long Yazhu. It showed the video of how Angela screamed at Yun Hao, calling him worthless and that's why she replaced him with Long Yazhu.

"!!!"