Having lived two lifetimes, Meng Lei knew very well the importance of being diligent!
Meng Lei had indeed been very hardworking ever since he had come to Fire Dragon Magic Academy. He listened seriously in class, studied spells intensively after class, and meditated non-stop at night!
Of course, Meng Lei didn't forget to use the system, either. Simply just picking up items… couldn't satisfy him anymore. Meng Lei wanted the system to work at maximum efficiency!
Gold coins can be used to redeem Stat Attribute Points!
I can start from this aspect. It's just that buying "credit"… requires gold coins after all!
And here came the problem—where was he going to get the gold coins from?
Now, this was where earning money came into play!
Meng Lei had also thought of earning money—loads and loads of them—in the past.
Be a plagiarist and publish entertainment works? Become a real estate developer? Set up the Internet? Sell weapon munitions?
Ha! Just take a bath and go to bed!
These highly lucrative professions on Earth didn't work at all in Heaven's Vault Continent. Over the long course of time, Heaven's Vault Continent had already formed its own unique trade model. Earth's ways didn't work here!
In that case, what kind of professions were there in Heaven's Vault Continent?
The steadiest, and most popular, was to buy plots of land to make it one's territory!
As long as one had sufficient funds, anyone could buy a plot of unowned land and become an area's overlord. The commoners, Magical Beasts, mines, forests, and rivers within the territory… All of these were the overlord's property!
To sum it up into one sentence, the overlord was the local emperor of the territory!
Next were the magic device manufacturing industry, magic core industry, gold-mining industry, slave trading industry, battle arenas, beast colosseums, and so on!
These industries were extremely lucrative and had created a great number of giant chambers of commerce and tycoons. Take the magic device manufacturing industry, for example. Magic devices were just like Earth's cell phones, computers, televisions, electrical lightings, cars… Their penetration rate reached deep into tens of thousands of households, and the industry could be said to produce extravagant profits!
The magic core industry was also very lucrative!
This was because an overwhelming majority of magic devices' energy source was… exactly magic cores. Magic cores were like the fossil oils of Earth. Just think of those tycoons in Dubai, and one would know whether dealing in magic cores was lucrative or not!
The other professions didn't need much elaboration. Each and every one of them was an industry that brought in huge profits. Meng Lei often daydreamed about how awesome it would be if he also had a chamber of commerce and could monopolize an industry.
It probably wouldn't take even a few days for him to become a Saint Domain?
It was just a shame that his daydreams might be beautiful, but reality was just too brutal!
The current him was purely just a plebeian. He didn't even have anything to his name, much less a chamber of commerce. Wishing of vast wealth and marrying a beautiful and rich woman? Dream on, stinky plebeian!
What was he to do?
Doing business and whatnot was too distant a concept for him. Choosing a proper job seemed more reliable. For example, becoming a fighter?
"Becoming a fighter isn't hard. As long as you have the battle capabilities of a Fifth-Grade Warrior or a Fourth-Grade Magician, you'll be able to join the arena and become a fighter!"
Hart chuckled and added, "However, it's very dangerous to be a fighter. In order to ensure the realness and viewing quality of the battle, the battles between fighters are real, actual battles to the death. No one shows any mercy at all!"
"Indeed, although being a fighter can earn you a lot of money, it is a high-risk job!" Daniel shook his head and said, "Because they frequently hover over the boundary between life and death, the mortality rate of fighters is extremely high. It is very rare for anyone to survive till the end! Thus, it really isn't easy to earn this money!"
"Old bro, it can't be that you're thinking of becoming a fighter, right?" asked the little fatty with a merry laugh, as he raised his eyebrows and looked at Meng Lei.
"It sounds very dangerous, but it really does earn you a lot!" replied Meng Lei ambiguously with a smile.
He neither admitted to it nor denied it. However, he was weighing the pros and cons inwardly.
"Old bro, you're a noble Magician, you know. How can you lower your own status to become a fighter or whatever?"
Hart rolled his eyes and added, "Although one can qualify to be a fighter after they become a Fourth-Grade Magician, go and ask around—in the huge arena, how many magician fighters are there?"
"Aren't there any?"
Meng Lei was stunned!
"Only very, very few!"
A smiling Daniel shook his head and said, "The Magician is a noble and honorable job class, and also one where money comes very quickly. I don't know if you've heard this saying or not, but it goes like this, 'The richest people in Heaven's Vault Continent are not the kings, but the Magicians'!
"Although this is just said in jest, it also indirectly shows that it is indeed very easy for a Magician to earn money if they want to. At least, it is much easier for them than fighters of the same grade!"
"Money… comes to Magicians very quickly?"
Meng Lei's eyes widened dramatically, his expression one of bewilderment!
"Of course!"
As though this was natural and right, Hart went on and said, "As Magicians are rare, they receive a lot of support from all parties. Manufacturing magic devices, drawing magic circles, mining magic cores, manufacturing magic scrolls—which of these doesn't require Magicians? And which of these isn't lucrative?
"Putting the others aside and just taking the mining of magic cores, for example, do you know how much the acquisition value of a single magic core is?"
Meng Lei shook his head.
"All the magic cores on the market now are sold at clearly marked prices!"
Hart continued the introduction of the magic cores and said, "Low-grade magic cores aren't worth much, and range from dozens to a few hundred gold coins. Mid-grade magic cores go slightly higher and range from a few thousand to ten thousand gold coins!
"But the ones that are truly valuable are the high-grade magic cores!
"The price of a single seventh-grade magic core starts at 100,000 gold coins!
"The value of an eighth-grade magic core is ten times that of a seventh-grade one, and starts at 1,000,000 gold coins!
"As for ninth-grade magic cores?
"Hurhur, sorry, but they are priceless despite having a market for them!
"I remember that the Lawson Auction House auctioned off a ninth-grade magic core—a Great Earth Bear's magic core—half a year ago. Do you know how much it ended at?"
"Ten million gold coins?" asked Meng Lei tentatively.
"Wrong! It ended at the whopping price of 37.8 million gold coins!"
A smiling Hart continued and said, "A great Ninth-Grade Earth Magician won this particular magic core in the end! Tsk, tsk, Ninth-Grade Magicians are truly wealthy. That's nearly 40 million gold coins, and yet he doesn't even bat a single eyelid!"
"Damn, he's too rich!"
Meng Lei's eyes practically bore right into Hart upon hearing what he had said, and his features became distorted from his envy. If only he was that rich!
"Hurhur, that's nothing!"
With a shake of his head, Hart smiled and added, "During the annual magic conference, Magicians would buy and sell among themselves. Transactions easily go up to millions, even ten million, gold coins. Now, that's what you call rich!"
"Rich! Really too rich!" Meng Lei licked his chapped lips and said, "What a pity that I'm just a pauper! I'm probably the poorest Magician in this world?"
"Hehe, don't say that, old bro!"
Hart chuckled and said, "You may not have any money now, but you have great magic talent. When you become a high-level Magician, you can go to the Magical Beast Forest and casually hunt a Magical Beast or two. Isn't that the same as picking up money?"
"High-level Magician?" Meng Lei sighed and added, "I'd need to become at least a Seventh-Grade Magician before that would work!"
"I believe that with your talent, it won't take you more than a few years!"
"Yes, you've already become a Third-Grade Magician within a short three months. Is becoming a Seventh-Grade Magician that far off?"
"Good day, sirs. May I know if we can serve the food now?"
"Serve it, serve it! I'm already hungry!"
Delicious food was then laid out on the table. Meng Lei was chewing on his food, but his mind was on how he could earn money. Classes were still in progress now, so going to the Magical Beast Forest to hunt Magical Beasts was evidently not a practical option. He couldn't possibly leave the academy to go to the Magical Beast Forest!
Since that was the case, then being a fighter seemed like a pretty good option!
Firstly, there were a lot of people in the arena, and battles also took place often. The chances of picking up dropped items would definitely be high, so Meng Lei could totally pick up dropped items to his heart's content and upgrade himself!
Secondly, he could earn money!
Fighters' appearance fees were seriously too high. Should he exchange all of the appearance fees into Attribute Points, it would speed up Meng Lei's upgrade tremendously!
This could be said to be killing two birds with one stone!
It is certainly a bit riskier! But compared to the rewards received, this bit of risk is worth taking!