Divine Weapon

Within the ruined palace, as the Black Giant Ape stepped into the range of the formation's core, a cool sensation washed over it.

The gathered energy flowed through its pores into its body, seeping into its muscles and bones. Gradually, it felt itself growing slightly stronger.

No wonder that Black Armor Ferocious Beast had been lurking here. Realization flashed in the Black Giant Ape's eyes, but it was immediately followed by regret.

This node converted energy too slowly. Unless it stayed here and absorbed it continuously, it would not do much for the Black Giant Ape at its current level.

Of course, the place was not useless. It could serve as a long-term energy-gathering point.

The giant ape then circled the building once, front and back. Finding nothing, it prepared to leave.

It had spent too much time eating the Black Armor Ferocious Beast earlier. The creatures in this area had also been slaughtered, so it might not find another target in the remaining time.

For safety's sake, it would come back tonight. There would be plenty of time then, and it would not risk an accident due to impatience.

Jiang Hou returned a little earlier today. Before five o'clock, he slept for two hours.

When Jiang Hou arrived at school and sat down, Zong Zheng Nanmo, who was hunched over three ancient coins, looked up. "Jiang Hou, did you go burglarizing last night? You look completely drained."

"No, I just haven't been sleeping well lately. I'm a little tired." As he spoke, Jiang Hou yawned.

For several consecutive nights, he had remained under intense mental strain and slept only an hour or two. Even though Jiang Hou's physique improved every day, he was starting to struggle.

His body was fine. He was mainly mentally exhausted.

Just as Jiang Hou was about to put his head down for a while, Zong Zheng Nanmo gathered up the three ancient coins, pressed his palms together, and muttered under his breath before scattering them across the desk again.

"What are you calculating?" Jiang Hou found it strange. Hadn't this guy already done a reading every day before leaving home?

"Jiang Hou, I've discovered something very important over the past two days."

Zong Zheng Nanmo looked grave and lowered his voice. "Since that night, I've done four readings before heading out. Two came true, and two didn't."

"A fifty percent chance?" Jiang Hou's drowsiness vanished, and he looked surprised.

Divination was basically the same as prophecy. A fifty percent accuracy rate was terrifying without even needing to think about it. If you won the lottery once a day, you would be rich too.

"But the problem is, the good predictions don't come true, while the bad ones do."

Zong Zheng Nanmo grimaced. "For example, the day before yesterday, it said I'd suffer a bloody disaster, and then I got hit and had a nosebleed. Yesterday, it said I'd face a water calamity and needed to stay away from water."

"So I didn't use the bathroom all day, and I didn't even go near the sink. Who knew that on my way home, someone upstairs would dump a basin of rice-washing water on me..."

"When I left today, the divination image showed Xun Above Li Below. Wind fueled the fire, an extremely auspicious sign."

"Before you arrived, I did more than ten readings for myself. They all showed the same image."

Good predictions failed, bad ones came true... How miserable. Jiang Hou did not know what to say for a moment and could only offer some comfort. "It's fine. Today's reading sounds pretty good."

"That's not a good thing. I haven't drawn such an excellent omen in months. It's obviously a sign that things are about to turn around after hitting rock bottom."

"The better today's or tomorrow's omen is, the worse things might get for me in a few days." Zong Zheng Nanmo looked deeply worried as he spoke.

"What are you afraid of? They're all minor problems. Just be more careful when the time comes." Jiang Hou did not take it too seriously.

Getting splashed with water and having a nosebleed were child's play. At worst, they were embarrassing. It was not like he would run into a ferocious beast or a Pollution Monster.

That made sense. Zong Zheng Nanmo thought it over and nodded, then asked curiously, "By the way, Jiang Hou, did your physique improve today?"

"Do you want to hear the truth or a lie?"

Jiang Hou's lips curled into a smile. This guy had always found ways to rub it in whenever Jiang Hou received a love letter. Now it was finally his turn.

"Forget it. Don't say anything. I don't want to hear it." Zong Zheng Nanmo immediately changed his mind and covered his ears.

As the two whispered to each other, the math teacher entered with a textbook... The day passed in the blink of an eye, and nothing unexpected happened.

When the dismissal bell rang, Jiang Hou and Zong Zheng Nanmo slung their messenger bags over their shoulders and headed to Activity Room 501.

The moment they entered, the pretty girl sitting by the window as usual looked over and spoke slowly. "Your vitality is surging. You've broken through to the Second Order."

"Yeah." Jiang Hou nodded.

"Damn it, I knew you'd gotten stronger again, and you even advanced to the Second Order." Zong Zheng Nanmo's face, prettier than a girl's, twisted in agony.

He still could not escape being rubbed in.

Zong Zheng Nanmo immediately laid on the flattery. "But the president is even stronger. You saw Jiang Hou's change in strength at a glance. Say, President, since you're so amazing, do you have any useless little things like Energy Crystals lying around?"

"I do."

The black-haired girl replied lazily, "But I can't just give them to you. That would violate the Sky Punishment Special Ops Division's rules. Those without merit cannot gain something for nothing."

The smile had barely appeared on Zong Zheng Nanmo's face before freezing there.

"Rewards and punishments must be clearly distinguished. That is a fundamental rule of the Sky Punishment Division." After saying that, Jiang Ruochan looked at Jiang Hou and pondered slightly. "Let's see what your current stats are."

"Alright." Jiang Hou nodded, pressed the button on the left, and selected voice broadcast through the speaker.

Base physique: 12.1. No traces of power pathways within the body. Overall realm: early Second Order. Combat power: 899. Combat Power Ranking: 17.

"Second Order, a physique more than ten times that of an ordinary person, yet you still haven't awakened an ability!" Jiang Ruochan's voice carried a hint of regret before she fell into thought.

"Still, that might not necessarily be a bad thing."

Jiang Ruochan looked at Jiang Hou. "You naturally broke through to the Second Order only days after awakening. Your 'talent' is quite good, but the drawback is obvious."

"With pure physical strength alone, you could not even defeat a late First Order Pollution Monster. Your strength would be at the bottom among those of the same rank."

"So, do you dare take a risk? If it succeeds, you'll possess inheritances from two eras and crush others of the same rank. Even if it fails, with me here, you'll suffer no more than serious injuries."

Jiang Hou pondered. "...President, could you explain exactly what kind of risk this is?"

He was not afraid of risks. No matter how dangerous it was, it could not be more dangerous than yesterday's Black Armor Ferocious Beast. If he had made even the slightest mistake last night, he would have remained over there and been devoured by the ferocious beast.

Noticing the calm in Jiang Hou's eyes, Jiang Ruochan nodded in satisfaction.

If Jiang Hou had been afraid of danger and refused, then this club member would not have been worth cultivating.

"The Yidu branch recently acquired a damaged Slashing Blade from the Divine Weapon Era. More precisely, it's a fragment of a divine weapon."

"This divine weapon fragment possesses the Dark Attribute and places high demands on its wielder's physical strength. Its exchange value is three thousand points."

"However, under normal circumstances, every awakened person can inherit the power system of only one era. Attempting to merge two would cause an intense conflict."

"This conflict is already extremely severe in its early stages. If it cannot be suppressed, it will destroy the awakened person's consciousness, cause their body to collapse, and make them lose control and turn into a monster."

"That dangerous?" Zong Zheng Nanmo was startled.

"Under normal circumstances, it is indeed dangerous. But Jiang Hou is different. His physical strength has reached the Second Order, yet there are no traces of power from any other era's inheritance within his body. The chance of a conflict is very low."

"Of course, that is only my personal deduction. After all, Jiang Hou has already become an awakened person. His lack of talent may be related to the Behemoth Era's inheritance."

"The power of that era comes from behemoths. It is only natural that it differs somewhat from us humans."

"So, do you dare try?" Jiang Ruochan looked at Jiang Hou.

Third update complete. Brothers, remember to vote and support me.

Thanks to Changshi for becoming a leader, and thanks to Wangyin for the donation and support.