“Shen Yan, immediately transfer 300,000 Contribution Points to this student, hurry!”
Yi Congling didn’t hesitate at all, but Shen Yan double-checked:Â Â [“Student Yi Congling, do you confirm transferring 300,000 Contribution Points to Su Fu in one go?”]Â
“Confirm, quickly!” she responded impatiently, eyes fixed tightly on the Purifying Nectar of the Vase in Su Fu’s hand, her throat parched as if it were on fire.
[“Confirmation received. Transfer completed.”]
The surrounding crowd erupted into a commotion.
“Damn, 300,000? Just like that?”
“Is money really that easy to earn?”
“One cup of water worth 300,000? Is she crazy?”
“300,000 Contribution Points! That’s enough to buy a low-tier Divine Artifact!”
“Where did this spoilt rich kid come from? I can’t stand it! Somebody take her away!”
The other students’ eyes reddened with jealousy.
How could anyone have so much money they’d spend 10,000 Contribution Points on a single cup of water?!
But Su Fu’s eyes shone brightly, a dazzling smile spreading across her face.
Oh my god, this is a wealthy big sister!
She has accumulated kindness her whole life; this must be a rich benefactor heaven has specially sent her.
“The young lady is generous!” she said with a beaming smile, “I’ll fill it up for you right away~”
She even took out a crystal-clear jade cup for Yi Congling as a small gift.
After all, the wealthy big sister was too generous, so a token of gratitude was necessary.
The jade cup was part of her study’s tea set, top quality, and even in the scorching environment it radiated a faint coolness.
The Sweet Dew poured from the Purifying Nectar of the Vase into the jade cup.
Behind them, the volcano blazed fiercely, yet the nectar appeared exceptionally clear and pure, and the moment it flowed into the cup, wisps of white mist rose from the surface, heightening its beauty.
Yi Congling’s eyes sparkled, her Adam’s apple bobbing noticeably as she swallowed with a distinct “gulp.”
This water must be incredibly sweet and refreshing, right?
Others stared with wide eyes, some unconsciously licking their cracked lips.
“Your water’s here~” Su Fu smiled brightly as she handed the jade cup to Yi Congling.
Yi Congling took it almost eagerly and gulped down the entire cup in one breath.
The Sweet Dew slid down her throat, an indescribable sensation washing over her.
Her whole body seemed to come alive, the coolness like the first snowfall of winter instantly dispelling the heat accumulating within her.
The sweetness was like the first raindrop after a long drought, nourishing every restless cell inside her.
Her brows relaxed, lips curved upward involuntarily, and she sighed in satisfaction.
“Refreshing!”
‘So refreshing!’
This series of reactions was the best advertisement; the nearby examinees suddenly felt even thirstier.
“Why… am I getting hotter and hotter?”
“It looks so sweet…”
“This hellish place, I can’t stand it for even fifteen minutes! I want to take a shower!”
Yi Congling gulped down two more cups of Sweet Dew and finally felt better.
It was the first time she felt so fulfilled, giving Su Fu a thumbs-up: “Your water is totally worth the price! The rest, save it for me.”
She wanted to drink the freshest nectar!
And this jade cup was ice-cold; Yi Congling simply couldn’t bear to put it down.
“All right!” Su Fu’s smile grew even brighter, “Everything will be arranged according to the young lady’s wishes~”
So easy—300,000 in the bag!
Sure enough, the best way to make money was inside the instance.
Yi Congling’s generous move made Su Fu like her more and more—this was a woolly sheep—no, a person both rich and generous.
But this extraordinary generosity and straightforward style felt oddly familiar.
Wasn’t there a wealthy sponsor on the forum with the same style?
At that moment, other water-type examinees caught a glimpse of a business opportunity and quickly started to imitate.
They began selling their own water, but at much cheaper prices than Su Fu’s.
“Ice Soul Spirit Spring, refreshing to the core, 8,000 Contribution Points!”
“Twelve Cold Moon Water, top quality, only 6,000!”
“Premium pure cold spring! Just 3,000! Guaranteed refreshing!”
“Rapid thirst relief water, 2,000 Contribution Points, buy two get one free!”
Thirsty crowds swarmed over, unable to resist; in this environment, water was everything.
“Look at how others are selling!” a boy sneered while passing Su Fu, “You actually dare to charge so much? Do you really think everyone’s a sucker?”
“Exactly! Ten thousand Contribution Points for a cup? This is robbery!”
They then quickly crowded around the other water vendors, eager to buy before the chance disappeared.
However, when the crowd tasted the water from others, something was off.
The ordinary water evaporated almost instantly upon entering their overheated bodies, barely quenching their thirst, let alone cooling the burning sensation from within.
“What’s going on? I don’t feel much effect.”
“It feels okay at first, but the heat comes back immediately!”
“No, I feel thirstier the more I drink! What kind of crappy water is this?”
“Why don’t I get the same refreshing and pleasant feeling as Yi Congling?”
Look at Yi Congling—she had fully recovered and was leisurely observing her surroundings.
Holding the cool jade cup, she scanned the blazing land with no trace of her previous misery.
“Aren’t they all just water? Why’s the difference so huge?” someone murmured.
“Maybe… tomorrow I should try buying that 10,000 one?” another hesitated.
“Are you crazy? Ten thousand per cup!”
“But look at Yi Congling. Her whole aura changed after drinking it…”
The more Su Fu watched Yi Congling, the more she thought the girl’s behavior resembled that wealthy forum sponsor.
She pondered—surely the world didn’t have only one poor person with the rest all rich?
How could she have encountered so many wealthy benefactors in such a short time?
Suddenly, Yi Congling crouched down, pulling out an exquisite small shovel she always carried and started scooping up a handful of scorching soil, shaking it off and inspecting its color and texture carefully.
Then she pinched a bit of soil to her nose and sniffed, her movements professional and practiced.
Su Fu had a fleeting illusion of an expert conducting an analysis.
“Volcanic rock… high sulfur content… the highest temperature here should exceed 800°C…” Yi Congling murmured, frowning.
Su Fu thought, she really knows her stuff—mineral analysis… could she really be that person…?
Curious, she stepped forward and asked, “Young lady, you understand this stuff too?”
Yi Congling looked up, seeing Su Fu, and smiled faintly, “Of course, my family runs a mining business.”
Su Fu: “!!!”
‘Okay, okay, it matched1 perfectly—so the forum’s mining tycoon was you all along.’
Yi Congling casually tossed the soil back into the air and continued, “The soil properties of Flame Mountain are very special. The surface is typical volcanic ash soil, rich in silicon, aluminum, and iron.”
“But it also contains rare fire crystal components. If I’m right, there might be Fire Spirit Core deep within the mountain—an essential material for crafting fire-type Divine Artifacts.”
“Not only that,” Yi Congling pointed at a particularly red rock in the distance, “Look at the color and texture over there—likely rare earth minerals like neodymium and lanthanum, great for manufacturing high-temperature superconducting materials.”
Su Fu gave a thumbs-up—no doubt, truly professional.
As expected from a mining family; her analysis was spot-on.
Meanwhile, Theresa had just finished a preliminary scan of Flame Mountain and returned from the mountain’s edge.
Her expression was serious as she shook her head, “This is troublesome. The nature of this fire is extremely unusual. Everything seems flammable. I tested several materials—they all failed.”
“Only by wrapping ourselves in divine power can we resist the flames, but even then, the divine power consumption is enormous. No way can A-grade divine power sustain us through this mountain.”
“This Flame Mountain stretches endlessly. Trying to brute force it with divine power is impossible.”
Yi Congling thought for a moment, then asked, “What is the ignition point of the fire?”
“Did you observe any changes in diffusion speed?”
“And the rate of divine power erosion—is it linear or exponential?”
Theresa glanced at Su Fu, who nodded, then answered, “The ignition point is extremely low—almost combusting upon contact. The diffusion rate is at least ten times faster than ordinary flames.” Â
“As for the last point,” she sighed, “the erosion of divine power is exponential. At first, you can resist, but soon it’s penetrated.”
That explained why divine power wouldn’t hold out for long.
Yi Congling exhaled heavily, “This is bad. From your description, this is no ordinary fire. It’s more like a ‘conceptual flame’—burning the essence of matter, not just the surface. Conventional methods definitely won’t work. Unless there’s a special Divine Artifact or skill that can directly counter or evade this conceptual fire.”
‘Huh?’ Theresa and George were dumbfounded.
Good heavens, Flame Mountain stretches for hundreds of miles, impossible to bypass or avoid.
How could they complete the mission?
No wonder this is the Tianqiong Path Academy’s exam—it’s insanely difficult.
At that moment, Su Fu suddenly spoke up, “Look at this mountain…”
Everyone instinctively followed her gaze to see the roaring Flame Mountain undulating in the distance.
“Doesn’t it look like a natural forging furnace? What if we forge a flying device here?”
Yi Congling’s eyes lit up and she murmured, “It might really be possible. The fire burns endlessly and at extremely high temperatures. Different colors of the flames indicate different temperature zones.”
“It’s a natural forging furnace with built-in temperature stratification.”
The more she thought about it, the more feasible it seemed.
“Also, in such ultra-high temperatures, special mineral crystals might form—like Fire Spirit Stone and Ash Flame Crystal—materials that can’t remain stable at normal temperatures.”
George was inspired and immediately grasped the key point, “High temperatures can melt spiritual materials conventional methods can’t handle. These flames not only burn hot but purify impurities, refining materials to their purest essence.”
“The most important thing is metals forged in this environment naturally have exceptional heat resistance and toughness. Using them for a flying device’s outer shell would withstand extreme temperature changes and high air pressure.”
Yi Congling understood and they began an excited back-and-forth discussion.
“If we extract Fire Spirit Stone powder from the mountain and mix it with alloys…”
“Then add Fire Spirit Core as the main heat-conducting material…”
“Right, under such high heat, we could even embed special array circuits…”
Theresa listened in a daze.
Though she barely understood the technical terms, it sounded like this place could produce excellent flying devices.
“Su Fu,” she marveled, “how did you come up with this?”
Her mind was amazing.
Ahem, Su Fu’s idea came from her previous trip to the Dragon Palace.
She spoke firmly, “Why waste such an incredible environment by destroying it? Better to use its residual heat to forge a flying device.”
That was why she wasn’t rushing to look for the Banana Fan.
As for the most important question of materials…
She guessed that somewhere deep in Flame Mountain might be fragments of the Eight Trigram Furnace, Taishang Laojun’s Divine Artifact—perfect for the flying device’s shell.
Besides, after countless years of volcanic activity, rare minerals must have accumulated inside.
Among the minerals she knew were Fire Spirit Core, Ash Flame Crystal, Burning Heaven Jade, Solar Gold… all top-tier materials for crafting flying devices, high quality and extremely stable.
The minerals here would be even better, since this fire was godfire from Laozi himself.
Su Fu thought that since this was divine fire, there might even be a Fire Core to use as a power source, saving a lot of money.
All in all, a perfect free gain.
Thinking this through, she looked at Yi Congling—the wealthy, knowledgeable tycoon—and the plan’s chance of success shot up dramatically!
Completely feasible.
She turned to the three and said earnestly, “So, want to work together to make this happen?”
“As a trade, I guarantee to help you get through Flame Mountain and pass the exam smoothly.”
The three exchanged glances and nodded almost simultaneously.
No choice—they definitely couldn’t pass Flame Mountain on their own.
Besides, building something in such a unique environment was a huge temptation for Yi Congling and George.
They weren’t fighters; passing the exam didn’t help their careers, and clearing levels was just to improve their divine skills.
But creating something with the environment?
That was research, experimentation, and career advancement.
So, let’s do it!
“Now, the question is, how do we get the materials?”
But here George pointed out the main problem, “There’s the fire, and there are materials, but they’re inside that Flame Mountain.”