Chapter 26: A Massive Windfall-Você me pediu para fazer um empréstimo para cultivar? Eu elimino a dívida fisicamente!(Quando a caneta toca o papel, a melodia das nuvens surge.)

You greatly appreciate a school like Cloud City University No. 1 for its sincerity. However, while appreciation is one thing, the sheer insanity of this world compels you to prepare for every eventuality. Consequently, you play it safe during negotiations by surreptitiously recording the conversation with a hidden Image-Capture Stone. Should Cloud City University No. 1 ever break its word or turn to suppress you in the future, you are determined to stir up a wave of negative public opinion against them, even if it means fleeing to the wilderness.

In July of the 125th year of the Transcendent Era, following the conclusion of university admissions for professionals, you arrive in Cloud City with the entire Red Heart Squad. The other members of the squad have all been admitted to Cloud City University No. 2. From this day forward, Cloud City will serve as the base of operations for the Red Heart Squad.

Upon entering Cloud City University No. 1, you head to the principal’s office, carrying local specialties from Jiangcheng. Before you can even speak, the principal smiles warmly and hands you your enrollment fees, scholarships, and grants, stating they were prepared for you well in advance. At the same time, the principal gifts you an elite-tier, level 10 necklace as a welcoming gesture.

In the equipment system for professionals, jewelry is exorbitantly expensive. On one hand, the drop rate for jewelry is significantly lower than for other gear. On the other hand, crafting jewelry requires such meticulous precision from a blacksmith that a single minor error can cause the item's tier to plummet. Typically, only the children of the elite have the capital to wear jewelry. Most professionals, should they happen to loot a piece of jewelry, will immediately sell it to exchange for Divine Gift Crystals or to upgrade their primary equipment.

The principal’s overly friendly approach leaves you stunned. After all, in this cruel and maddening world, it has been a long time since you encountered such a normal principal. Although the principal has a request—that you cooperate with the school in filming promotional clips during this period—you would have complied regardless even without this gift. Since he has offered it, you are all the more willing to cooperate. Looking at the kind smile on the principal’s face, you decide to visit him more often in the future. The transcendent resources leaking from between the principal's fingernails alone are enough to sustain your efforts for a long time. Were you not so unfamiliar with him, you would be tempted to drop to one knee and declare, "If you do not despise me, I, Xia, wish to honor you as my foster father..."

The next day, you take out a joint loan from several financial institutions in the name of the Red Heart Squad. Since the members of the Red Heart Squad have no debt and each possesses surplus assets, they are viewed by the financial institutions as the most impeccable, high-quality clients imaginable. Such premium clients are hard to come by. Consequently, several institutions provide guarantees, granting you a squad development fund of 1.2 billion.

Next, you set your sights on unregulated lenders like "Black Heart Loans" and "Yama Loans." There is no choice; regulated institutions like "Gratitude Loans," "Soul Loans," and "Organ Loans" are monitored by the Intelligence Network and cannot even be used to purchase Divine Gift Crystals, let alone for stock and futures trading. With the squad members taking out various unregulated loans and your decision to mortgage all your equipment, you come into possession of an incredibly vast sum of money.

Although the squad members harbor doubts about your method of accumulating capital without spending it, their time with you has led them to support any decision you make. After all, since you have helped them develop to this point, you could hardly be planning to defraud them and run away. If that were the case, there would be no need for you to invest so much capital into them, or even dismiss the two non-core members who had not pledged their loyalty to you.

Soon, you do something that surprises everyone in the Red Heart Squad: you use all the money to purchase shares of the Mingxiu Group. This leaves them horrified, as they have never once seen you study any knowledge regarding financial investment during your time together. To them, pouring all your money into an investment like this is no different from throwing it into the water. Faced with your teammates' anxiety, you offer no explanation. You wait until their emotions reach a breaking point; when the truth finally comes to light, they will revere you like a god in the field of investment!

In August of the 125th year of the Transcendent Era, the Mingxiu Group announces information regarding the Snowbell Flower Secret Realm, causing the company’s stock to soar. The Red Heart Squad, having kept a close eye on financial reports, receives this news immediately. Suddenly, everyone is in a frenzy! They finally understand the purpose behind your frantic borrowing and investing; you had known all along that Mingxiu Group’s stock would skyrocket. Faced with their excitement, you simply offer a faint smile, still providing no explanation.

In September of the 125th year of the Transcendent Era, you cash out after the Mingxiu Group’s stock triples in value. This stunning performance attracts the attention of many financial institutions. Heaven knows how much the institutions that lent you money suffered internally when they realized you had used all their loans for stock speculation. However, upon seeing you make a fortune, their interests are piqued. It is obvious to anyone with eyes that you must have inside channels within the Mingxiu Group! Otherwise, how could you have known and bought in early, when even the executives of the Mingxiu Group were unaware?

Consequently, financial institutions reach out to you, hoping that if you have any such good opportunities in the future, you will share them. They would provide the capital, you would handle the trading, and if there were profits, they would take a ten percent cut. If there were losses, both sides would split them fifty-fifty. You reject this proposal outright, declaring that if they want to share in the feast, it will be a ninety-ten profit split. Of course, if losses occur, you will take full responsibility. The financial institutions reject your proposal, deeming you arrogant and conceited.

In October of the 125th year of the Transcendent Era, you repeat your old trick, purchasing shares of the Longling Research Institute with all your capital. Under your aggressive buying, the Longling Research Institute’s stock sees a rare 0.5% increase. After all, the amount of capital you now command is no small sum. On October 15th, the Longling Research Institute announces a new breakthrough in inscription armor manufacturing technology.

Suddenly, the Red Heart Squad views you as the God of Investment! From this day on, even if you were to invest in "transcendent dung beetles," they would follow you blindly. Your massive profits this time leave the financial institutions that previously contacted you regretting their decision bitterly. With such enormous income, even a ten percent cut would have earned them a fortune. Consequently, the leadership of these financial institutions begins showing up at your door with bags full of transcendent resources, especially intermediate Divine Gift Crystals, which they present in batches of ten or twenty. They are convinced you must have a vast information network behind you. Otherwise, how could you have known about such a strictly guarded secret as the breakthrough in the Longling Research Institute’s inscription armor technology?

It is not just the financial institutions; when you go to the principal’s office for tea, the principal also inquires about the matter. Have you awakened a second talent? A talent for financial investment?