Qin Siyang took another day off.
The injury on his hand had almost healed.
He searched for information about the Vine Core on his phone but found nothing.
However, there was one thing that surprised him.
Up until now, no one had contacted him through his phone.
That felt unusual.
'Could it be that no one else cared about the Vine Core, something that even a renowned scholar like Harrison coveted?
That shouldn't be the case.
He opened [Godslayer Camp] on his phone and saw that he had 99+ unread messages.
When he opened his message inbox, it was filled with greeting letters from researchers at various universities.
Besides expressing their strong interest in the Vine Core, they all reported the same issue—
The phone number Qin Siyang had left on his information panel was unreachable.
He glanced at the phone Florence had given him and immediately understood.
This phone had definitely been tampered with, preventing him from receiving calls from others.
However, he had already ruled out any possibility of working with Harrison, which also meant distancing himself from Florence.
But with the Vine Core in his possession, he had no reasonable way to utilize it.
He might as well find someone he trusted to help him make use of this resource.
And coincidentally, he had the perfect candidate in mind.
Qin Siyang smiled, set aside the new phone Florence had given him, removed the SIM card, and inserted it back into his old phone.
The moment he did, the phone rang.
Qin Siyang looked at the number—he didn't recognize it.
But he answered it anyway.
["Hello, is this Mr. Qin? Your phone is finally reachable! My name is Sun Hugang, an associate professor at Xingji University…"]
"Professor Sun, sorry, I have an urgent call to make. I'll have to get back to you later. You can leave me a message on [Godslayer Camp], I'll check it."
["Ah… oh, alright! No problem! Mr. Qin, you go ahead!"]
"Thanks for understanding. Goodbye."
Qin Siyang hung up and immediately dialed Li Tianming.
"Hey, Old Li, it's me."
On the other end, Li Tianming's voice sounded heavy, ["I heard you got a Vine Core?"]
"Old Li, why do you sound a little… unhappy?"
["No, I'm not."]
Qin Siyang could hear the dissatisfaction in Li Tianming's tone, and he was confused.
"I got the Vine Core, and my first thought was to contact you, yet you're unhappy about it?"
["I said, I'm not."]
"You sound unhappy. Old Li, we're close, is there something you can't tell me?"
["I'm not—"]
At that moment, a mature female voice suddenly interrupted from the other side.
["Xiao Qin, don't worry. Old Li is just jealous, that's all."]
Li Tianming immediately retorted, ["Fenghe, you better be careful with your words! Why would I be jealous of him!"]
["Tch, you've been mumbling about it all day. Xiao Qin contacted you first as soon as he got the news, treating you as one of his own. What's there to be upset about? Don't be petty. Friends come and go."]
["I am NOT petty!! I am NOT jealous of him!!"]
Qin Siyang never would have guessed—Li Tianming's attitude was because he was jealous.
Well, there wasn't much to say about that.
But something Fenghe said—"Friends come and go"—puzzled Qin Siyang.
"Old Li, let's not talk about this. I just want to ask—what exactly is the Vine Core used for? Why is it that the moment people heard I had it, they swarmed me like flies… wait, that's a bad way to describe myself, but you get what I mean."
["The uses of the Vine Core? Too many to count."]
["For crafting god-hunting weapons, it's an essential material for multiple third-tier and higher god-hunting weapons."]
["For pharmaceuticals, it can be refined into skill-enhancing potions."]
["For research, it can generate countless top-tier papers."]
["It holds many more undiscovered secrets. After all, it's one of the few large divine items humans can obtain."]
["In short… sigh… you lucky bastard just struck gold."]
" Tsk, Old Li, look at you. You're a mentor, and yet you're cursing? When I curse, it's because my moral education teacher failed me. What's your excuse?"
Li Tianming didn't seem to want to continue the conversation, ["Anything else?"]
"Don't be so quick to hang up! We haven't talked in days, I missed you, man. Let's chat properly."
["If you've got something to say, say it."]
"You said you heard from others that I got the Vine Core. You usually don't keep in touch with other sequence ability users, so how did you hear about it?"
["Hmph. The moment people found out you had the Vine Core, your background was dug up completely."]
["They even know I'm your [Insurer]."]
["Since they couldn't reach you, they all called me instead, asking if I could set up a meeting with you."]
["These past two days, I haven't done anything except answer calls for you."]
"So that's how it is…"
["Anyway, our partnership pretty much ends here."]
["You got the Vine Core, and my false charges will soon be cleared."]
["I wish you a smooth path ahead."]
"Wait, Old Li! What do you mean by that?"
["Nothing special. You've caught the attention of the higher districts now. You probably don't need me anymore."]
["It's best if we end our friendship here—this way, we both get to keep a good memory of it."]
["As for my ex-wife… you'll have to handle that yourself."]
Qin Siyang understood.
Li Tianming thought that since he had gained attention from the higher districts, he could now enter their universities and connect with their factions—so he wouldn't need Li Tianming anymore.
With the Vine Core, Qin Siyang must have already negotiated benefits with one of those factions.
Since that was the case, Li Tianming didn't want to cling to him and make things awkward.
Qin Siyang sneered.
"Old Li, listen to yourself. That's cold. You think our friendship is something that can be severed just like that?"
["…What do you mean?"]
"Even though I have the Vine Core, the only person I can truly rely on is still myself."
"I don't know much about this thing. In my hands, all I can do is exchange it for some money or resources—I can't maximize its value."
"Like you said, the Vine Core still has many secrets waiting to be uncovered. That's beyond me—I'm not cut out for research."
"So, Old Li, I want to entrust you with unlocking the Vine Core' potential."
["Hmm?"]
Li Tianming scratched his sparse, long hair, not quite grasping the situation.
["You want… to entrust me with the Vine Core?"]
"Yeah."
["And the others are okay with that?"]
"They wanted too much. We had a falling out."
["…"]
Li Tianming fell into deep thought.
'What kind of people managed to fall out with a rare gem like Qin Siyang…?'
'Is the leader of his backing faction an idiot or what?'
["…You're not joking?"]
"Would I joke about something like this?"
The other end of the call was silent for a long while. Then, suddenly—
Loud, hearty laughter burst from the receiver.
["Ahahahaha! Xiao Qin, I knew it! Our friendship is eternal! Stronger than gold! Unbreakable through time and tide! Everlasting as the sea and sky!"]
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