Li Wei suppressed the thought that the Fire Spirit Ceremony might not be effective.

For now, it was the only advancement ritual he had available.

If there were a better ritual, that would be ideal, of course.

Without the Fire Spirit Ceremony, relying solely on the crude ritual he’d devised himself, it would likely take years to complete his awakening.

’Sigh... I’ll just take it one step at a time. If it doesn’t work, I’ll figure something else out.’

’At least I still have nine days.’

The Greed Curse forced Li Wei to keep moving without rest.

Li Wei was also eager to reach Tier Three as soon as possible.

Then, he would save up one hundred Credit Points, go to the Divine Hall of Light in Storm City, and have this damn curse purified.

At night, Li Wei practiced his Alchemy in the Dream World.

The next morning.

As Li Wei was washing up, characters appeared in the water before him.

[Alchemy (Tier Three)] 24/10000

After a full night of effort, his Alchemy had reached the Tier Three level.

He could now concoct the Energy Secret Medicine.

Now, he just had to figure out how to gather the materials needed to refine the Energy Secret Medicine.

The first step was to earn some money.

After grabbing a free breakfast at the manor, Li Wei headed to the Elemental Tower’s Hall of Truth.

The Hall of Truth was a place for Mages to discuss Magic Theory.

As soon as Li Wei walked inside, he saw a large number of Magic Texts appearing on the walls.

Mages would post questions about things they didn’t understand on the walls of the Hall of Truth.

Some questions offered rewards, while others were simply requests for discussion with like-minded individuals.

Li Wei’s purpose, naturally, was to earn rewards.

He went straight to the bounty board in the Hall of Truth to look for questions.

He couldn’t understand many of the questions at all.

Even though Li Wei had crammed some basic Magic Knowledge, in a place like the Hall of Truth, he felt like an elementary school student wandering into a university.

It was completely incomprehensible.

Well, not *completely* incomprehensible.

When it came to Tiers One and Two of Fire Element Magic, Li Wei’s expertise was second to none.

That was exactly why Li Wei had come to the Hall of Truth to find questions and earn money.

’Hm, there actually are questions about Magic Cultivation.’

’How to avoid burning your mouth when practicing the Tier One Fire Spraying Skill? Reward: two Gold Coins. Seeking an expert’s answer.’

Plenty of people had already posted answers below the question.

But none of them had satisfied the person who asked.

So, the two Gold Coins had remained unclaimed.

Li Wei smiled and reached out to write his answer below the question.

Two Gold Coins wasn’t much, but it was better than nothing.

Everyone else had described their own techniques, teaching the asker how to avoid getting burned by the Fire Spraying Skill.

Li Wei, however, solved the problem at its root.

He optimized the circuit of the Fire Spraying Skill’s Magic Model, fixing the bug that caused the user to accidentally injure themselves.

After writing his answer, Li Wei started looking for other questions he could solve.

His goal was to earn fifty Gold Coins first, enough to buy one set of materials for the Energy Secret Medicine.

Suddenly, his Magic Badge vibrated.

Li Wei took it out and glanced at it. His answer to the previous question had been accepted, and he’d been rewarded with two Gold Coins.

The Gold Coins were credited to his Magic Badge and could be exchanged for physical currency at the Elemental Tower’s Hall of Wealth.

’A good start.’

’How to make the Tier Two Fire Wall Skill mobile? Reward: 10 Gold Coins. Seeking a solution.’

’The Fire Snake Skill’s Casting time is too long and its duration is less than ten seconds. How can this be fixed? Reward: 15 Gold Coins.’

’How to increase the number of Fireballs for the Chain Fireball Technique? Reward: 6 Gold Coins.’

...

Li Wei wrote down answers for every question he could.

Some answers were accepted quickly, and he received the reward.

For others, there was no response for a long time; he couldn’t tell if the original posters hadn’t seen his answers or were simply unsatisfied.

After spending a while longer in the Hall of Truth, Li Wei headed to his Red Level Class.

When he got to the classroom, Sean wasn’t there yet.

"Li Wei’s here."

As Li Wei entered the classroom, everyone fell silent and turned to stare at him.

He instinctively stopped and looked at the crowd. "What is it?"

Everyone quickly turned away, no longer looking at him.

But they still snuck furtive glances his way.

Li Wei noticed the classroom was especially crowded today.

Even students who usually skipped class were present.

He thought something special must be happening.

Like a special Cultivation day or something.

He sat and waited for a while, but nothing happened.

So he took out a book and began to study on his own.

Half an hour later, footsteps echoed from outside the door.

STEP, STEP, STEP.

Li Wei looked up, thinking it was Sean.

But the person who walked in wasn’t Sean.

It was Paphit.

Li Wei frowned. ’What’s this guy doing here?’

Paphit strode directly toward Li Wei.

Once he stepped aside, everyone could see an arrogant-looking noble youth standing in the doorway.

Seeing this, the students of the Red Level Class scrambled to their feet, clearing a path.

Paphit stopped in front of Li Wei. "My boss wants to see you."

Li Wei closed his book and said flatly, "If your boss wants to see me, tell him to come over himself."

Upon hearing this, the noble youth in the doorway stepped into the classroom.

He chuckled. "Very good. You’re quite arrogant."

"I thought they were exaggerating, but seeing you now, I guess they were right."

"I am Anthony, from the Blue Class," the noble youth introduced himself.

Li Wei leaned back in his chair.

"What do you want?"

Anthony looked at him and said, "Become my subordinate, and I’ll have your back."

"With your strength, you shouldn’t be stuck in the worst class. I can arrange for you to audit the classes in the Green Class."

"You’ll even get to enjoy the same privileges as a Green Class student."

Li Wei let out a short laugh.

"Heh, you’re really something, aren’t you."

"Too bad I’m not interested in joining your little club."

"You can do this the easy way, or the hard way," Paphit threatened.

Li Wei shot him a look. "It seems I went too easy on you yesterday. You haven’t learned your lesson."

"You!"

Paphit’s face instantly flushed red with anger.

Anthony shook his head. "You’re just a commoner. Even if you’re a little stronger than most, you’ll find it hard to get by in the Elemental Tower."

"You need a patron. I’m about to become a Tier Three Mage, which makes me more than qualified to be yours."

"You might not think it matters now, but you’ll understand how important a patron is when you’re in real trouble and have no one to turn to."

Anthony smiled. "Take now, for example."

"Do you know why Sean still hasn’t shown up?"

Anthony asked suddenly.

Li Wei retorted, "Is it because of you?"

"Heh, you’re reasonably clever."

"I had someone delay Sean. There’s no one here to help you now."

Paphit suddenly yelled at the other students, "Out! All of you, get out!"

The Red Level Class students were startled.

The more timid ones, seeing that things were about to get ugly, quickly left the classroom.

Some wanted to stay and watch the show.

Paphit began to physically drive them out.

Seeing that he was serious, the remaining students scrambled out of the classroom.

HUMMM!

A Barrier spread out, enveloping the entire classroom.

Only three people remained in the classroom.

Li Wei, Anthony, and Paphit.

Anthony looked at Li Wei, chuckling. "Now, no one outside will know what happens in here."

"Is that so?"

A smile spread across Li Wei’s face.