Chapter Thirteen: When One Loses Their Face, They Can Be Invincible in the World

“Uh... Grandpa, it’s not them. It’s a freshman named Qian Qi.”

“Qian Qi?” Li Hongsheng frowned slightly, lost in thought. “Why haven’t I heard of this person?”

Although he, as the department head, rarely returned to campus, he still glanced at the exam results each semester. He didn’t recall any student named Qian Qi ranking among the top first-year students.

Li Hongsheng couldn’t help but ask, “How’s her academic performance? Has she submitted her cultivation report? What kind of person is she?”

“Uh… she, actually…” Li Shuyun hesitated, stumbling over her words upon seeing her grandfather’s curiosity.

She knew all too well Li Hongsheng’s temper. He despised underperformers, especially those gifted students who refused to work hard. If he found out that Qian Qi skipped classes daily, often got into fights, and was the notorious troublemaker of the Magical Botany Department…

He would surely come to the school in person, giving her a stern lecture about studying hard and contributing to society!

And with Qian Qi’s fiery temper and tendency to throw punches, she might just end up beating her frail old grandfather into unrecognizability!

No, she couldn’t reveal Qian Qi’s situation!

Quickly changing the subject, Li Shuyun said, “Grandpa, that’s not the point. The important thing is that the other party is willing to sell us the cultivation method. You should be able to provide me with funding support, right?”

“Hm, the Fire Qi Fruit can enhance the strength of Flamehound beasts. Acquiring the cultivation method means funding for the Magical Botany Research Institute is secured. Of course, that’s secondary…” As he spoke, Li Hongsheng’s cloudy eyes suddenly brightened, as if seeing a glimmer of dawn in a dark, apocalyptic world—filled with hope and excitement.

He pronounced each word deliberately, “The crucial part is that maybe, from this cultivation method, we can find a new breakthrough in nurturing magical plants!”

Li Shuyun, who had long since grown tired of hearing the white-haired old man passionately expound on the future of the Magical Botany Research Institute and humanity, twitched the corner of her mouth slightly and abruptly hung up.

This old man just wouldn’t stop when it came to talking about the future of mankind. At his age, why did he still act like a delusional teenager wanting to save the world?

But…

Thinking of something, Li Shuyun gazed up at the sky and sighed deeply. “If we can’t find a faster way to boost the power of Awakened and Contracted Magical Beasts, this world might really be heading toward destruction…”

After all, the dungeons were becoming increasingly unstable.

—

The day the Fire Qi Fruit was cultivated also marked the harvest season for the Three-Spine Orchid.

Qian Qi stood before her experimental field, holding a high-powered spotlight in one hand and a large pot lid in the other.

The spotlight was borrowed from a kind-hearted dorm supervisor, and the pot lid was borrowed from a warm-hearted cafeteria auntie.

How did she borrow them?

With her mouth.

“If a person loses their mouth, they can’t survive,” Qian Qi said proudly, pointing to her own persuasive lips. It was thanks to this unbeatable little sweet mouth that she got the free equipment from the beautiful sisters.

The system panel’s words looked full of disdain: [Clearly, it’s not the mouth but the shamelessness that conquers all.]

Qian Qi raised her index finger and shook it.

“Wrong, you only got half right,” she said seriously. “If a person could put the face on the left side to the right—being shameless on one side and thick-skinned on the other—that’s how you become unstoppable!”

System panel: [???]

After teasing the system, Qian Qi crouched down and shielded herself behind the large pot lid.

The Three-Spine Orchid’s weakness was strong light. Once exposed directly, its sharp leaf blades would wilt and lose their attack power. Meanwhile, the three heavy petals on its flower buds would shoot out like projectiles to attack the enemy.

Qian Qi shifted slightly behind the pot lid and turned on the spotlight.

The moment the strong beam hit the orchid, its serrated leaves instantly drooped lifelessly. Sensing danger, the buds sharply turned toward Qian Qi and shot out three petal-like bullets with a “pop, pop, pop” like a pea shooter.

“Bang, bang, bang!”

The petals struck the pot lid, leaving three shallow dents. The force made Qian Qi stagger back a few steps. Looking at the dents, she wondered if those petals hit someone’s head, they might be deadly.

She turned off the spotlight, set the pot lid aside, and bent over to pick up the petals.

The petals were thick and mango-shaped, probably able to be ground into a good amount of hemostatic powder. But how could she grind such hard petals into powder?

Qian Qi opened her light brain and found that small ore grinding machines were sold online, but their average price was over forty thousand.

She immediately searched for second-hand ones.

“Tsk, even the cheapest second-hand grinder costs twenty-five thousand.”

Qian Qi sighed deeply. She was struggling just to afford meals, and only had seventeen yuan left in her pocket, money she’d barely saved by catching Chen Miaomiao, who always avoided her.

Grinding machines would have to wait. After all, the other magical plants needed for the hemostatic potion formula weren’t cultivated yet. Once senior Li Shuyun gave her the money from selling the Fire Qi Fruit, she could consider buying a grinder.

For now, she needed to figure out how to get some money for food, especially since a few magical plants needed to be fed with magical beast meat in a couple of days. She’d have to pay Su Xingle to help buy it.

But where to get the money?

Scratching her messy hair in frustration, Qian Qi’s gaze fell on the nearby students studying magical plants.

They all wore troubled expressions, clearly facing problems in cultivation. Some wanted to uproot plants beyond saving but couldn’t bear to waste their days of effort, so they wracked their brains to save the dying plants.

After watching for a moment, a dazzling smile suddenly spread across Qian Qi’s face. So pleased—and with a hint of slyness—that her lips stretched almost to her ears, making her whole face look rather…

Fierce?

[Your expression looks a bit scary==.]

Qian Qi hurriedly toned down her expression.

From what she knew, the Magical Botany Department’s final exam consisted of a theory test and a cultivation report. If a student failed to cultivate a single magical plant throughout the year, their report would be invalid, and if they wanted to stay enrolled the next year, they’d have to pay a tuition fee of 4,500 yuan.

Most students in the department came from poor families, and 4,500 yuan was enough to crush their entire household.

In that case…

Qian Qi’s little rough face couldn’t help but grin “ferociously” again: as a kind-hearted person, she surely had to “help” them!

And it was the perfect opportunity to change her previous reputation as a scoundrel and successfully build a warm and kind-hearted image!

Very good! That’s the plan!

Qian Qi hoisted her hoe and walked toward a frowning student. After briefly adjusting her facial expression, she smiled gently and patted the student’s shoulder.

“Hey, classmate, need some help?”