Chapter 5: Proudly Refusing

As for this woman wanting to use that little bit of money to settle her debt of gratitude with him? Zhang Pu couldn’t help but laugh inwardly. He was utterly convinced that, given time, once he diligently practiced the cultivation method he possessed, bringing money to this woman would be no more than a trivial matter.

“I don’t want your money!” Zhang Pu nearly added the word “stinking” before “money.”

Such a beautiful young woman, yet he found himself surprised at how suddenly she had become so irksome to him.

The reason he’d saved the little girl wasn’t because she looked like a child from a wealthy family, nor for the promise of a hefty reward. He’d saved her because he wanted to, because it was the right thing to do—regardless of whose child she was.

It was like the noble lessons his parents had instilled in him: if he saw someone being bullied and he had the ability to intervene, he must stand up for justice—this was the positive energy society needed.

That was why he’d later become a formidable force in the world of cultivation.

Zhang Pu’s words left not only the doctors and nurses stunned, but even Zeng Baoying’s brows furrowed slightly.

At that moment, Zeng Baoying thought to herself: I always knew these country bumpkins only cared about money, it’s just that what I offered wasn’t enough to move him.

“Alright, how about five hundred thousand?”

In her mind, such a generous offer should have been enough to shock this rural boy.

However, Zhang Pu still shook his head, to her surprise.

“One million then,” Zeng Baoying began to raise the price, as if she were at an auction.

Zhang Pu simply turned his face away.

“One and a half million!” Zeng Baoying almost shouted.

At this, Zhang Pu suddenly turned to face her, as if he was about to leap up.

Zeng Baoying smiled instantly. In her heart she said: I’ve been in the business world for years, and I never believed there was anyone who couldn’t be swayed by money! It’s just a matter of how much, depending on the person.

Zhang Pu really did stand up, but once again, to Zeng Baoying’s surprise, he suddenly pushed her away and said, “Do you think everyone loves money?”

Then, Zhang Pu walked out of the hospital room as if he hadn’t been injured at all.

The doctors and nurses were left utterly speechless.

And Zeng Baoying, for a moment, seemed to forget to chase after him; her mouth formed an O shape.

“Ah! He’s just like that dead husband of mine—proud from the bone, so proud it hurts, yet so proud it’s irresistible!”

Her lips moved, but her words were barely audible. The doctors and nurses had no idea what she was muttering to herself.

By then, Zhang Pu had already left the hospital at a brisk pace.

He felt this woman was simply too troublesome! He had simply helped a little girl in need, and she was making such a fuss about it.

She could play her melodramatic games all she wanted; he had no time to accompany her.

Having lived in Qingwu City in his previous life, and now being sensitive to spiritual energy in this one, Zhang Pu quickly found a student apartment near South Lake Park. It was a smaller unit, just right for him. He called it a student apartment because it was meant for students like himself.

He could have stayed at the Hong family’s house for free, but now he would pay for his own lodging.

Still, Zhang Pu wasn’t worried about making ends meet; his parents had always treated him well and seemed to anticipate he might not adapt to the Hong family’s atmosphere, so they had prepared funds for him to rent a place elsewhere.

Besides, Zhang Pu had his own plans; with the benefits of cultivation, he would soon be able to earn money himself. Not through the usual student summer jobs or by random windfalls—like the money Zeng Baoying so desperately tried to give him, which felt scorching hot in his hands.

He chose to live here because he sensed that South Lake Park had the densest spiritual energy in all of Qingwu City.

Of course, the spiritual energy here was richer than elsewhere in the city, but compared to other planets suited for cultivation, it was still extremely scarce.

So he couldn’t rely solely on spiritual energy. Luckily, Zhang Pu possessed a highly advanced cultivation method: “Heaven and Earth, Eight Directions, Six Harmonies United.”

He had obtained it after defeating a powerful opponent at the transformation stage in the cultivation world. It was the perfect method for beginners, especially suited to planets like Earth where spiritual energy was rare.

This method could absorb not only spiritual energy, but also other types of energies. Though spiritual energy was scarce on Earth, other energies could supplement it.

Moreover, it could be supplemented by pills made from medicinal herbs.

Zhang Pu was confident he would soon shed his frail scholarly appearance.

After renting the apartment, Zhang Pu called Xu Huiping out of courtesy to let her know. Although Xu Huiping feigned concern and scolded him over the phone, Zhang Pu could clearly sense her relief.

She was simply glad he’d finally found a place and wouldn’t be coming back to stay with her. After hanging up, Zhang Pu sneered inwardly, thinking: One day, you’ll regret this.

He hadn’t really considered what it would be like when he became a big shot in Qingwu City, and how Xu Huiping and her family would react.

That was for the future; right now, his focus was on cultivating.

The day after settling into his new place, Zhang Pu went to South Lake Park nearby to find the best spot for practicing.

These few days were still before school started, so he could devote himself entirely to cultivation.

Originally, his parents had wanted him to arrive early in Qingwu City to get familiar with the environment.

Of course, he hadn’t known he would be reborn during this period.

Naturally, there was no need to familiarize himself with the city this time, as he carried memories from his previous life.

For now, Zhang Pu was just an ordinary person. Not only could a bullet kill him, but he suspected that new classmates at his new school could bully him.

And he knew that some people in schools just loved to pick on newcomers.

To reach a point where bullets wouldn’t harm him, Zhang Pu knew he would need to reach the intermediate stage of Foundation Establishment in cultivation.

But just to deal with some petty troublemakers at school, he was confident that, with the miraculous method of “Heaven and Earth, Eight Directions, Six Harmonies United,” he could quickly reach the initial stage of Qi Refining.

Simply entering the early phase of Qi Refining, combined with some abilities from the cultivation world, would be more than enough to deal with the campus riffraff.

Then he would continue to cultivate, step by step, until he surpassed the experts outside the school.