High Martial: I Use Everything as Swords

Activating the "Earth Nail" protocol would not only consume expensive Drilling Bombs, but it would also completely ruin the soil quality in this area.

It would be impossible to plant any crops here for the next three to five years.

Han Feng rubbed his numb shoulder, unimpressed by Lei Zhen’s gratitude.

He was more concerned with practical matters and simply held out his hand.

"Director Lei, about that 15,000 bonus we agreed on..."

"You kid, are you that obsessed with money?"

Lei Zhen chided him with a laugh, amused by his avarice, before his expression turned serious.

"Don’t worry, you’ll get your bonus. But you helped me out so much, just giving you some Contribution Points would be too petty."

He jutted his chin toward the massive mountain of a corpse behind him.

"By rights, these are your spoils."

"But this thing..."

Lei Zhen kicked the Earth Dragon’s carapace in disgust, producing a deep, muffled THUD.

"The Black Iron Earth Dragon is notoriously known as the ’King of Scraps.’ Its flesh is lethally toxic, full of acid—even a dog wouldn’t eat it."

"The only edible part is a sliver of meat between its vertebrae, and that’s not even enough to get stuck in your teeth."

Han Feng’s heart sank.

’So much of its flesh is inedible?’

He had been counting on getting some Tier Two Demon Beast Flesh to push for the Body Tempering Eighth Layer.

’So, this behemoth was useless aside from being tough?’

"This carapace is good material for crafting heavy Battle Armor, and its Crystal Core is an Upper Grade Earth Attribute one."

Lei Zhen continued.

"But you’d have to haul it back to sell it yourself, find a transport crew, find a buyer, haggle over the price, and finally pay taxes. It’s a huge pain in the neck."

"How about this."

Lei Zhen changed tack.

"I’ll make an executive decision: the farm will buy the corpse off you. It’ll save you the trouble."

Han Feng’s eyes lit up.

"That would be great! How much?"

"Talking about money is so crass."

Lei Zhen took a coin-sized object from his breast pocket, flicked it with his fingertip, and casually tossed it over.

A streak of light cut through the night sky.

Han Feng instinctively reached out and caught it.

It felt strange in his hand—heavy and surprisingly warm, as if it were alive.

In the blinding glare of a searchlight, he got a clear look at the object in his hand.

It was a translucent, crystalline coin, faintly milky-white in color.

Mist seemed to swirl slowly within it.

Its surface was engraved with incredibly intricate patterns that looked like a blend of ancient totems and futuristic runic circuits.

Han Feng’s breath caught in his throat.

He had only ever seen concept diagrams of this thing in the encrypted data files on the library’s top floor.

A Spirit Coin!

If Contribution Points were the digital currency used within Fortress City, then Spirit Coins were the hard currency that circulated among the very apex of Blue Star society!

They were cut and compressed from high-purity Spiritual Energy Crystals, with each coin containing a wealth of pure energy.

This was more than just money.

It was an Energy Block for Martial Artists breaking through bottlenecks, the ultimate power source for High Tier Spiritual Energy Equipment!

In the world of high-tier Martial Artists, Spirit Coins were the one true measure of wealth and power.

"One Spirit Coin has an official exchange rate of a hundred Contribution Points. But on the Black Market, you’d have to pay a hundred and twenty, and even then, only if the seller feels like it."

Seeing Han Feng’s unsophisticated expression, Lei Zhen’s mouth split into a wide grin, making him look like a trafficker who was about to abduct a prodigy.

Another Spirit Coin had appeared in his hand, and he deftly rolled it across his knuckles. The crisp clinking was exceptionally clear in the silent night.

"Kid, I’ll give you two choices."

"First, I’ll give you five hundred Spirit Coins."

Five hundred!

Those two words seemed to carry a magical weight, causing the air to instantly freeze.

The breathing of several new recruits grew heavy and ragged, their eyes, filled with avarice, fixed on Lei Zhen’s hand.

Five hundred Spirit Coins!

That was fifty thousand Contribution Points at the official rate. Through the Black Market, it could fetch sixty, or even seventy thousand!

That sum was enough to buy a small apartment in the Inner City or exchange for a top-of-the-line secondhand combat vehicle!

Even Gu Yun, who was always insufferably arrogant, swallowed hard, his Adam’s apple bobbing violently.

His eyes were filled with unconcealed envy.

He muttered under his breath.

"This guy’s luck is basically a cheat code..."

Han Feng’s heart hammered in his chest, blood rushing to his head. THUMP-THUMP.

He clenched his fists, his nails digging deep into his palms, using the stinging pain to force himself to calm down.

But in his mind, the numbers were already spinning wildly.

Five hundred Spirit Coins, exchanged for Contribution Points, could buy more than two hundred Middle Tier Recovery Potions!

It was enough for him to pilot the "Gray Donkey" and train like mad in the sky for hundreds of hours!

’My Cultivation... I could definitely break through to the Body Tempering Eighth Layer, perhaps even the Ninth Layer!’

"And the second option?"

Han Feng’s voice was hoarse with suppressed emotion.

Lei Zhen’s smile grew wider. He raised a thick arm and pointed to a massive, brightly lit warehouse in the distance.

"Second, you go to my private treasure vault and pick two Tier Two Spirit Plants for yourself."

’Spirit Plants?’

The numbers spinning wildly in Han Feng’s head instantly ground to a halt.

"Don’t underestimate my little plants."

Seeing his confusion, Lei Zhen patted his chest with his uninjured hand.

"The land here at Golden Ears Farm is quite fertile. It’s true we mainly produce Purple Crystal Wheat, but I’ve also secretly cultivated some... less-than-official goodies on the side."

"For little guys like you still in the Quenching Body stage, a Tier Two Spirit Plant is..."

Lei Zhen grinned.

"...the kind of thing that determines how high you’ll fly in the future."

’Over fifty thousand Contribution Points, or two plants?’

’One choice was a huge sum he could cash in immediately, allowing him to continue his "pay-to-win" power-up.’

’The other was a "future investment"—something that sounded wonderful, but whose actual effects were unknown.’

This choice threw Han Feng into a fierce internal struggle.

Just then, a low voice sounded by his ear.

"Choose the Spirit Plants."

It was Zhang Hao.

The captain had come up behind him at some point, his voice lowered to a whisper.

"Spirit Coins are consumables. You can always earn them if you’re willing to risk your life."

"Your foundation is your life. Don’t be a fool about something this important."

The captain’s voice wasn’t loud, but his words struck Han Feng’s heart like a heavy hammer.

’He’s right.’

’Money can be earned again if you lose it.’

’My Sword Control Technique and my transforming "Sword Bone" both require the most solid physical foundation I can build.’

’Can a cultivation level forced with Potions ever compare to a foundation built with Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures?’

In that instant, the fervor and greed in Han Feng’s eyes receded, leaving his mind completely clear.

He looked up, met Lei Zhen’s amused gaze, and decisively tossed the Spirit Coin back.

"Director Lei, I choose the Spirit Plants."

Lei Zhen caught the Spirit Coin smoothly, the amusement in his eyes instantly replaced by unconcealed approval.

"Haha! Good kid! You’ve got a good eye! You know an investment when you see one!"

He slapped Han Feng on the back with enough force to make him stumble.

"Zhou Ping, take him to Thermostatic Warehouse Three!"

"Let him choose for himself. Whatever he ends up with is down to his own luck!"

...

「Half an hour later.」

Carrying a special, silver thermostatic preservation case, Han Feng returned to the temporary barracks under a barrage of gazes mixed with envy, jealousy, and bewilderment.

They looked at him as if he were a fool who’d just won the lottery jackpot only to trade it all for two pieces of scrap paper.

Inside the barracks, Zhang Hao shut the door, cutting off the commotion from outside.

"Open it. Let’s see what you picked."

Zhang Hao pulled up a chair and sat down, asking with keen interest.

Han Feng did as he was told and opened the case.

HUM!

An indescribable, fresh fragrance instantly burst from the case, filling the entire room in a heartbeat.

Just from a single whiff, Han Feng felt every pore on his body relax and open.

The deep-seated exhaustion from the day’s fierce battle was swept away by the aroma.