In Jiang Yuan's view, the sparring match just now had been nothing more than a minor interlude.
All he wanted now was to properly study the [Martial Emperor's Sword Talisman].
Wasn't this thing's description far too modest? It merely said it could aid one's comprehension of swordsmanship?
When Jiang Yuan opened the [Personal Backpack] and scrolled to the [Martial Emperor's Sword Talisman], he indeed discovered that the sword talisman's energy had decreased somewhat.
98.5/100
Such monstrous comprehension naturally consumed energy. Otherwise, if there were no consumption, Jiang Yuan could become a Sword Saint within days just by relying on the sword talisman.
Jiang Yuan continuously pondered matters in his heart, feeling that there were still many things about himself in the simulator that he had yet to understand.
He had paid absolutely no attention to the deathly silence below the stage.
"Jiang... Young Escort Chief, you truly are an outstanding young talent. You have already attained minor mastery in two ultimate arts of your escort agency. Our Fengxing Family disciples still need to learn much from you, Young Escort Chief."
Yu Hai was the first to recover, clapping as he spoke with a smile.
"Hahaha, that's right. As expected of an outstanding disciple of the Zhenyuan Escort Agency..."
After that, the Fengxing Family's three Hua Jin experts all flattered Jiang Yuan, though naturally there was also an element of flattering Wenzhao.
Wenzhao sat in the seat of honor, smiling gently.
Jiang Yuan slowly stepped down from the stage. At that moment, Yu Hai suddenly patted him on the shoulder and said with a smile, "Well done, Xiao Yuan! If you pass through Taiyuan City in the future, come visit our Fengxing Family."
Jiang Yuan was briefly taken aback, then smiled and nodded.
Afterward, Jiang Yuan watched the entire exchange competition. No one dared challenge him again midway through.
The exchange competition ended soon afterward. After all, it had only been a small-scale friendly contest, and Jiang Yuan did not take it too seriously.
After returning to the courtyard.
He bolted the door, lit a stick of calming incense, sat cross-legged in the center of the room, and emptied his mind.
Then, following the order he had long planned in his heart, he began redeeming rewards.
After deducting the two hundred Points needed to begin a new simulated life, Jiang Yuan still had one thousand three hundred and seventy Points.
Jiang Yuan did not look at those martial arts. Instead, he turned his attention to a particularly special talent, [River Spirit's Blessing].
[River Spirit's Blessing]: A blessing bestowed by the River Spirit. You can see things ordinary people cannot see, and possess a faint ability to foresee danger.
What moved Jiang Yuan most was that this talent could grant a special kind of ocular power, somewhat like Yin-Yang Eyes, yet not quite the same.
Although Jiang Yuan had the Jade Stone bestowed by Wenzhao to give him warnings, the Jade Stone could only provide an alert. Jiang Yuan was still in a passive position.
But with this [River Spirit's Blessing], Jiang Yuan could even turn passivity into initiative.
Points -500
Jiang Yuan's vision flashed, and a scene suddenly appeared before him.
Within a clear river, the water suddenly gathered upward and took form, becoming a gentle woman dressed in blue gauze, with a green phoenix hairpin upon her head.
As Jiang Yuan looked upon the woman's face, several lines he could no longer clearly remember suddenly surfaced in his mind.
Graceful as a startled swan, supple as a soaring dragon. Glorious as autumn chrysanthemums, lush as spring pines. Dimly like light clouds veiling the moon, drifting like the flowing wind whirling snow back into the sky.
It inspired not the slightest trace of irreverence.
This was the River Spirit, Luo Shen.
The River Spirit smiled gently. A streak of blue light appeared in her hand, then merged into "his" eyes.
Jiang Yuan knew that this was the scene from when he had obtained this talent in the First Life.
Returning to reality, two pale-blue threads suddenly appeared in Jiang Yuan's eyes. They began to entwine, then transformed into the shape of a blue water droplet before hiding away and vanishing.
Yet a faint layer of pale-blue light could vaguely be seen in Jiang Yuan's eyes.
Jiang Yuan felt the world instantly become clearer.
Jiang Yuan looked around, yet did not discover anything unusual.
It was as though his talent had not taken effect.
The faint light in Jiang Yuan's eyes completely faded as well, and they became ordinary once more.
It was best that there was nothing abnormal around him.
Jiang Yuan then redeemed [Breakthrough Experience for the Hua Jin Heavenly Gate].
Three hundred Points.
All other martial arts were empty illusions. Cultivation was what truly mattered.
More importantly, Jiang Yuan could not afford to redeem any other martial arts with his current Points.
A memory appeared in Jiang Yuan's mind.
His Qi and blood had reached complete fullness, unable to advance even a fraction further. Then one day, he sensed a faint barrier.
The Hua Jin Heavenly Gate!
He circulated the Qi and blood throughout his entire body, using it to strike against that mysterious, unobservable barrier.
After an unknown amount of time, the barrier suddenly shattered.
A strange force suddenly emerged from his Qi and blood. The moment it was born, he could wield it as easily as moving his own arm, as though it had always existed by nature.
That immense power told him plainly that he had already transcended the ordinary!
Jiang Yuan knew that this was the Internal Force of a Hua Jin Martial Artist.
A force born from Qi and blood, yet completely different from Qi and blood.
The scene ended. The entire process had not been complicated or lengthy.
In reality, Jiang Yuan slowly opened his eyes.
A long time had passed since the experience had been transmitted, yet Jiang Yuan was still immersed in its aftertaste.
This power...
It was incomparably powerful. Before Internal Force, Qi and blood were like cotton placed before steel.
And to obtain this power, one had to break through the Hua Jin Heavenly Gate.
The words "Heavenly Gate" in Hua Jin Heavenly Gate were not spoken lightly.
Ninety-nine percent of Qi and Blood Martial Artists were firmly trapped at the Late Qi and Blood Stage, unable to advance even half a step further.
Jiang Yuan's experience seemed brief, but it was the cultivation experience of the Martial Emperor's cub.
Contained within it was a breakthrough that countless martial artists dreamed of.
Jiang Yuan sensed his own Qi and blood.
Although his Qi and blood was dense and solid, unlike that of a martial artist who had only just entered the Late Qi and Blood Stage, there was still some distance before reaching the state of being unable to advance any further prior to breaking through Hua Jin.
However, with this experience, Jiang Yuan's confidence in breaking through the Hua Jin Heavenly Gate instantly increased by forty to fifty percent.
Jiang Yuan was not impatient. He still had five hundred Points.
Martial arts could wait for now. Without the slightest hesitation, Jiang Yuan redeemed another talent-type reward.
[Acquired Savage Physique]: Points *500
Points -500
[Acquired Savage Physique: Your body has been transformed by a King Beast's inner core, greatly strengthening your physique. Even without cultivation, you possess the strength to lift a cauldron. After cultivating, your Qi and blood capacity will greatly increase, and your immunity to the Qi and blood-enhancing effects of Exotic Beast meat will decrease.]
An immense force was born within Jiang Yuan's body. His body suddenly swelled as though it were an inflated ball.
The muscles throughout his body became thick and powerful like the roots of an ancient tree coiling through the earth. His height abruptly surged upward, and the clothes on his body gradually tore apart.
What drew the most attention was Jiang Yuan's wildly surging Qi and blood. It was not the sort of surge that came after slaying the bizarre and receiving Qi and blood feedback from an exotic bone.
It was a fundamental surge. Jiang Yuan did not feel the slightest discomfort.
Yet Jiang Yuan's eyes were bloodshot, his face slightly twisted, and a low growl came from his throat like a broken bellows.
Agonizing pain! Agonizing pain came from every part of his body, but Jiang Yuan clenched his fists and forcibly endured it.
At this moment, Jiang Yuan's muscles were even more developed than Instructor Tan's. He looked like a burly little giant.
Jiang Yuan's Qi and blood continued to rise, instantly breaking past the limit of a Qi and Blood Martial Artist. Yet it did not stop increasing, and Jiang Yuan felt neither a limit nor the bottleneck of the Hua Jin Heavenly Gate. Or rather, Jiang Yuan's upper limit for Qi and blood had been violently raised.
After reaching a certain point, the rate at which Jiang Yuan's Qi and blood increased slowed, while his body began to contract.
In the end, Jiang Yuan returned to his original build. However, the muscles on his body were as hard as steel. Rather than human, he resembled an Exotic Beast.
Jiang Yuan exhaled. The white mist formed into a long sword and lingered in the air for a long time before dispersing.
His eyes were full of bloodshot veins, yet there was also a faint trace of delight.
His physical fitness had increased by more than double, while his Qi and blood had increased by more than twice over. It was comparable to two Late Qi and Blood Stage martial artists at great completion.
And this was not as simple as one plus one.
Yet Jiang Yuan had not sensed the slightest trace of the Hua Jin Heavenly Gate.
His physique had changed. Jiang Yuan took out another set of clothes and changed into them, then opened the simulator again.
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