Surging Aberrations

In the room by the window on the second floor, Tang Qi watched Stana leave.

The tall, beautiful Police Chief had secretly kept two of the Furnace Bullets for herself. Tang Qi had known from the start.

When the Dugong Sea Demon launched its first sneak attack, Tang Qi had pulled the Police Chief beneath the table and quickly arranged everything. Of the nine Furnace Bullets he had just made, six went into Blood Python No. 1, while Stana received all the rest.

The shot used to buy them time had consumed one.

The remaining two naturally ended up in Stana's hands.

Although Furnace Bullets were precious, having been soaked in his own blood, they were well worth using to earn a favor and prepare for the plans ahead.

What Tang Qi truly cared about was the Treasure Map he had sent away through Stana's hands.

Curio: The Penitent's Treasure Map.

Information Fragment: This was a map depicting every monastery and church established by one of the Twelve Saints, Saint Penitent—Martin Sims. Rumor had it that one of those monasteries contained Sims's Legacy. Using this Treasure Map, which had been soaked in holy water from the Church of Light, might give one a chance to trigger the Legacy.

Even from the Information Fragment alone, it was obvious that this was a valuable Treasure Map.

Yet Tang Qi had still sent it away without hesitation, for a simple reason.

There was a second Information Fragment besides the first.

Information Fragment Two: This map was numbered forty-two and could be sensed.

That was why Tang Qi knew the map was real, yet had still given it away.

A numbered Treasure Map?

Even a simple-minded person could tell something was wrong.

Much less Tang Qi, who immediately caught the scent of a conspiracy.

By now, he had already vaguely guessed it.

Perhaps some Penitent's Legacy was hidden within St. Thorn High School.

Besides the Treasure Map, there was more important evidence: a diary.

Old Morgan's Diary clearly recorded how his mother, a powerful woman highly accomplished in Dark Witchcraft, had nearly perished while exploring Thorn High School.

Unfortunately, knowing that did not help Tang Qi much.

In fact, on his very first day at school, Tang Qi had followed Pastor Sinbani around the entire campus under the pretense of renting a house. That included the most likely places, such as the church area and the school history Exhibition Room.

Unfortunately, he had found nothing.

That was normal. Tang Qi did not believe that a legendary power would be so easily found.

After all, according to the various legends, Saint Penitent's combat strength was, in Tang Qi's understanding, roughly comparable to that of a god.

After seeing that numbered map, Tang Qi became even more certain.

He was definitely not the only person or faction searching for The Penitent's Legacy.

Behind it, perhaps a vast web of conspiracy was slowly spreading open. Everyone ruled by greed would fall into it, unable to escape.

But he would not be among them.

Tang Qi silently told himself.

After Stana left, Tang Qi gave the entire first floor to the police officers cleaning up the aftermath. He moved some important items, along with the workbench, into the study on the second floor.

Before nightfall, Tang Qi had planned to do his daily training and make some bullets along the way.

But now, things were different.

Besides those two extraordinary spoils, he also needed to properly digest what he had gained from devouring the Dugong Sea Demon.

After putting everything away, Tang Qi set up a small warning measure at the top of the second-floor stairs, locked the door, and entered a cultivation state.

The first thing Tang Qi cultivated was naturally the Golden Furnace Meditation Method. Until he obtained another cultivation method, it was his only one. Its vast Mental Power gave Tang Qi a clear mind, as well as increasingly powerful Furnace Eyes.

As for his other methods, Tang Qi was still exploring them.

The second was the Chaga Combat Technique, though that fighting art mainly required actual battles to advance quickly.

As usual, once the Meditation Method became a skill, Tang Qi needed only a thought to sink into it.

"Buzz."

"Whoosh~"

The Golden Sun formed by his thoughts hung in a void of darkness. All manner of bizarre things surged toward it like moths to a flame, only to be burned away by the golden fire. Golden motes like dust merged into the gray misty space in Tang Qi's mind.

At first, it was like this, no different from his previous several sessions of cultivation.

By habit, after an hour, Tang Qi would feel a searing pain in his mind. At that point, he had to stop cultivating.

But this time was different.

After an hour had passed, Tang Qi not only felt no stabbing pain, but an unexpected change appeared in his mind.

"Buzz~ Boom!"

In an instant, Tang Qi's cultivation rhythm was shattered by the surging flood of bizarre visions.

While cultivating the Meditation Method, Tang Qi would see all sorts of aberrations: black mist, roaring beastly shadows, strange seas of flowers... Though they differed each time, their numbers stayed within a certain range.

But this time, that range suddenly skyrocketed.

His past cultivation experiences could be described this way: the sun Tang Qi had become existed in an enclosed space, with only a narrow crack leading to a bizarre universe beyond. Those aberrations poured in through that crack.

Now, that crack had widened.

At least twice as many aberrations as before came flooding in.

In an instant, Tang Qi felt as though he had fallen into a spacetime black hole. He saw the aberrations from before, but also more terrifying ones: twisted auroras, blood-red maws, writhing tentacles, seductive whispers... Any one of them would have driven an ordinary person into screaming madness and terror.

Though the upheaval had come suddenly, Tang Qi knew very well that this was no time to scream, much less fall into fear. Otherwise, the consequences would be grave.

Tang Qi struggled to remain calm. He imagined himself as a young Primitives boy from ancient times, holding a stone while dipping his finger into golden mud and slowly tracing that dazzling symbol stroke by stroke. From time to time, he raised his head to feel that warmth, that scorching heat.

As he traced it, the Golden Sun in the dark void suddenly extended more Golden Flame. Carrying a pure, twisted quality, primal and natural, it burned every monster rushing toward it into nothingness. Only dust-like golden motes fell downward.

"Bang~ Bang bang!"

Without Tang Qi noticing, the Mental Space in his mind began expanding again. The number of firefly-like golden motes drifting through the gray mist had increased by more than half before he knew it.

"Whoosh~"

When the stabbing pain returned and woke him, a ray of sunlight happened to fall upon him.

Another night had passed?

Tang Qi was startled, then immediately looked into his Mental Sea.

The expanded region of golden motes instantly came into view. The battle that had severely wounded him last night had not left behind any aftereffects. Instead, it had caused his strength to grow once more.

At that moment, his spirit was so full that Tang Qi could tell without looking in a mirror that his eyes were probably about to glow.

His gaze swept over himself, and a Special Interface resembling personal attributes appeared.

The skill section had changed once again.

There were still three skills: Meditation Method, Furnace Eyes, and Chaga Combat Technique.

But when Tang Qi focused on them, detailed information immediately appeared.

Furnace Eyes: Derived skill, activated through the eyes. Possesses intimidation and Calm Spirit effects. Can continue to improve. Mastery Level: Beginner. Progress: 0.1%.

Chaga Combat Technique: A primitive and ancient combat technique. Mastery Level: Beginner. Progress: 0.15%.

These two skills had not changed from before.

What truly surprised Tang Qi was the Meditation Method he primarily cultivated.

When his gaze swept over it, the information that appeared was:

Golden Furnace Meditation Method: An incredibly ancient Meditation Method. It can grant you unimaginable power. Mastery Level: Beginner. Progress: 0.3%.

The progress had directly increased by 0.1 percent.

That was merely the result of one night's cultivation.

Before devouring the Dugong Sea Demon, Tang Qi had trained diligently and even consumed the resentful soul of a Bronx Dog-Faced Man, yet his progress had only reached 0.01%.

Devouring the Siren's soul had only increased the progress twentyfold.

Yet the results of last night's cultivation had added another full point of progress. No wonder Tang Qi was so shocked.

At that moment, Tang Qi even had the urge to drop out of school and cultivate desperately.

Fortunately, his rationality suppressed the thought.

As he recalled the scenes from last night's Meditation Method cultivation, those far more surging aberrations than before gave Tang Qi a vague realization. A trace of gravity slowly crept onto his face.

"The further this Meditation Method progresses, the greater the benefits, but the greater the danger?"

"Or has the upheaval in this world caused it to become like this?"

"If I had fallen into fear then, what would I have encountered...?"

Tang Qi did not speculate further, but he knew that if he fell into fear and chaos during meditation, he would certainly encounter something incomparably terrifying.