Chapter 42: An Astronomical Tutoring Fee

After Guo Yinjue mastered the correct sitting posture for meditation, ten minutes had already passed.

“Just give me five more minutes and I’ll be able to get started!” he said with regret.

A volunteer laughed, “There’s another practice zone over there with a better environment. You can continue over there.”

Guo Yinjue tilted his head and looked at Yang Lei and the others.

“Let’s go together!” Yang Lei smiled.

“I still have so many questions,” Karina said, frowning.

She stole a glance at Guo Yinjue.

But Guo Yinjue was completely immersed in the excitement and anticipation of almost grasping the “Complete True Heart Method,” not hearing the hint in her words at all.

Karina pouted in frustration and swung her arms vigorously, following the group.

They arrived at a plaza spanning several thousand square meters.

On the plaza grew a large grove of peach trees.

It was the season when peaches should have ripened, yet pink blossoms still adorned the branches.

“So beautiful!” Guo Yinjue exclaimed, thrilled.

Yang Lei said, “Let’s hurry and meditate. The effect here increases comprehension and cultivation speed tenfold—this is a rare opportunity.”

Guo Yinjue nodded.

He saw many people had already chosen a peach tree to sit beneath.

“I did it!”

As he looked around, a young man suddenly jumped up in delight.

“What did he say?” asked Karina.

“He succeeded,” Guo Yinjue replied enviously. “Amazing!”

“I’ll go talk to him!” Karina’s eyes sparkled and she strode over.

She spoke awkwardly in Chinese, “Ni hao.”

The young man looked at the voluptuous blonde woman before him, “Hello.”

“Can you speak English?” Karina asked, delighted.

The two quickly began to converse.

Guo Yinjue intended to find a spot to meditate, but worried their communication might falter, so he walked over.

Seeing the young man spoke fluent English, he felt reassured.

He noticed Yang Lei and the others had already found their places and was about to leave, but their conversation left him slightly surprised.

Inside the livestream, someone was already translating their exchange in real time.

After learning what they were discussing, many viewers were astonished.

“Did I hear that right? One million Eagle Dollars per hour?”

“Old Guo, help me connect with that rich lady. I’ve already mastered it—I can coach her!”

“Feels like we live in different worlds.”

“Enough talk, I’m going to practice now, so I can tutor the rich lady sooner.”

“That hourly wage is truly insane!”

The young man seemed stunned as well.

He didn’t immediately agree, but said he needed to ask.

He took out his phone, made a call, and two minutes later returned to Karina, smiling and nodding.

Guo Yinjue greeted Karina, then turned and settled under a peach tree.

He explained to the livestream audience, “Practicing here boosts comprehension and cultivation speed… If money isn’t an issue, hiring a consultant for a million per hour actually isn’t a bad deal.”

“It’s about the price of a few handbags.”

“All right, I’m going to cultivate now.”

Guo Yinjue sat cross-legged and immersed himself in practice.

Time flew by.

A chime startled him awake; it was already four thirty.

To his delight, he had finally entered the initial stage of cultivation.

He could sense the “qi” within his body.

Looking up, he saw the livestream still filled with a barrage of comments.

Even though he’d been silent all afternoon, many viewers clearly hadn’t left.

He stood up, excited: “I have good news for you!”

“I’ve already cultivated internal power!”

“Now, I could kill a velociraptor with a single punch!”

“What, you don’t believe me? Wait, I’ll make a big crater in the ground right now!”

Guo Yinjue raised his fist but remembered someone earlier had tried digging with a nail clipper for ages and barely disturbed a speck of dust.

“I’ll hit this peach tree instead,” he quickly changed his target.

Bang!

The peach tree shook, a few blossoms fell.

“Ouch, that hurts!” Guo Yinjue rubbed his fist.

“Haha, this guy’s getting cocky.”

“Reminds me of Old Guo eating mushrooms and spending days on the toilet…”

“But did Old Guo really cultivate inner qi?”

Seeing doubts, Guo Yinjue shouted, “Of course I did! Why would anyone lie about this?”

“Yinjue’s amazing!”

“He’s probably the first foreigner to cultivate inner qi!”

Guo Yinjue basked in the discussion, saying, “I’ve already earned back the ticket price.”

He looked around and found the others had gotten up too.

Everyone chatted for a while. Except for Karina, who looked a bit downcast, the rest were cheerful, clearly having succeeded in their practice.

Karina wasn’t particularly upset though—with the young man's guidance and the enhanced comprehension here, she was already at the threshold.

“With a tenfold boost, even ordinary people become geniuses!”

“I wish I could stay here forever.”

Listening to their conversation, Guo Yinjue said to the livestream camera, “I thought I was a genius, but turns out we all are.”

He continued, “That’s pretty much the whole experience for today.”

“In general, the most worthwhile part of Fantasy Park is right here.”

“It transformed ordinary Guo Yinjue into Master Guo, the kung fu expert!”

“And the Dragon Maiden is incredibly beautiful.”

“If you ever get the chance, I highly recommend coming here!”

Volunteers in the distance were already calling everyone to leave.

Anyone who stayed late would be fined one million in ‘management fees.’

Those still here after six would be forcibly removed, blacklisted, and permanently banned.

As Guo Yinjue and his companions happily left in a van transformed by Drift, some people were still playing hide-and-seek with the volunteers.

A million wasn’t something they couldn’t afford.

…

Qiao Mian sat in his office.

Across from him was Wang Lang, legs crossed, sipping tea.

This newly promoted colonel, now director of the newly established “Rabbit Kingdom Fantasy Park Liaison Office,” didn’t feel as calm as he appeared.

He had only tentatively asked if he could meet “Mr. Qiao,” never expecting to actually be invited to this office.

What puzzled him was that the office wasn’t as futuristic as he’d imagined.

Or perhaps that wasn’t quite true—there was a three-dimensional color display in the center, something still seen only in sci-fi films or unimplemented tech exhibits on Earth.

Of course, it looked much more advanced than anything at those exhibitions.

But the sofas, coffee tables, refrigerator, and so on weren’t much different from Earth’s.

Even the tea seemed like cheap supermarket stuff.

“Is this what they call returning to simplicity?” Wang Lang wondered. “Those who’ve truly reached a certain position don’t need external things to show their extraordinariness.”

“They deliberately make themselves seem ordinary, blending in with common folk.”

He recalled how his subordinates, those junior leaders, all had terrible tempers, while those promoted to company or battalion commanders learned to restrain themselves.

“It’s only when you lack something that you strive to show it.”

“True extraordinary people are the ones who act so approachable.”