Level Two Magnetic Field

313 points of Spirit Source Energy! This was the most Spirit Source Energy Ji Xinghuo had ever possessed, all of it obtained from killing the Forest Patrol Leader—several times more than he had expected.

He had been thinking about it while traveling after last night's battle.

The Spirit Source Energy gained from killing Forest Patrol Clan members was clearly much greater than that gained from monsters. Even at the same Rank, the difference could be severalfold.

An elite monster only gave 4 points, while a Rank Three Forest Patrol Clan member gave an average of around 15 points.

This was probably related to intelligence.

But simply possessing intelligence did not necessarily mean yielding a large amount of Spirit Source Energy. Faith was the more important factor.

The Forest Patrol Clan members killed last night had all been Scarlet Emperor Followers, and the Forest Patrol Leader had even received the Scarlet Emperor's blessing. Thus, the Spirit Source Energy gained from killing him was more than twenty times that of an ordinary Forest Patrol Clan member.

Ji Xinghuo summarized the pattern.

First, the target had to possess an ability; that was the most important prerequisite. Second, the higher the target's Rank, the more Spirit Source Energy it yielded—the two were positively correlated. Finally, if the target was a Star God's follower, it yielded the most Spirit Source Energy. One could equal several monsters of the same Rank. The stronger the faith and the deeper the connection to the Star God, the more Spirit Source Energy increased exponentially! Ji Xinghuo estimated that a normal Advanced Esper, Rank Three alien race, or elite monster would yield roughly 4 to 10 points of Spirit Source Energy after being killed.

Super Espers, Rank Four alien races, and "exceptional" monsters yielded between 15 and 30 points of Spirit Source Energy.

If they were Star God followers, that figure would increase by three to five times! High-ranking followers yielded even more.

"So Ji Zongbang was most likely a heretic. Otherwise, he couldn't possibly have given me 137 points of Spirit Source Energy." Ji Xinghuo carefully recalled the circumstances of shooting Ji Zongbang that day, but he had noticed nothing unusual. Which Star God did he believe in?

"Ji Zongbang's faith probably wasn't very strong. He could only be considered an ordinary follower."

Ji Xinghuo shook his head. This was an important clue. He did not know whether the Sharp Sword Bureau had investigated it, but it was none of his business.

His attention returned to the interface.

"How should I allocate 313 points of Spirit Source Energy?"

Abilities: Thousand Spirit Dexterous Hands (Level Two 5/227), Rotating Magnetic Field (Level One 284/359)

Ji Xinghuo did the math. With 297 points of Spirit Source Energy, he could upgrade both abilities and still have a dozen or so points left.

He did not hesitate and upgraded Rotating Magnetic Field first.

The brain of the human silhouette on the right side of the interface began flashing. The upgrade progress rose rapidly, while the range of his Magnetic Field Induction expanded outward in tandem. His body was also strengthening bit by bit.

Ji Xinghuo sat motionless, yet earth-shaking changes were taking place within him.

When Rotating Magnetic Field reached Level One 358/359, he paused and glanced at his teammates in the tent. Only after confirming they were all asleep did he fill the progress bar.

At once, Ji Xinghuo felt a surge of energy coursing through his body.

Within the Myriad Stellar Eye interface, the brain of the human silhouette flashed rapidly and burst into light. In reality, he discovered that the range of his Magnetic Field Induction continued to expand, breaking past 500 meters—reaching 600 meters, 650 meters, 700 meters... until it slowly stopped at 800 meters.

At the same time, Ji Xinghuo's skin, flesh, bones, internal organs, and hundreds of trillions of cells were all becoming stronger, undergoing a qualitative transformation!

He was brimming with strength and vigor.

Electric currents flowed through every pore of his skin, making his hair stand on end. His invisible body magnetic field had become roughly three times stronger than it had been at Level One, and the power of his electrical current had increased threefold as well.

Fortunately, upgrading Rotating Magnetic Field from Level One to Level Two had not caused as much commotion as fusion.

It remained silent throughout.

Half a minute later.

Ji Xinghuo let out a soft breath. The expanded range of Magnetic Field Induction, stronger electrical current, increased strength, speed, and explosiveness were all expected, but there was one ability he had not anticipated.

He raised a hand before his eyes. It looked no different from before.

He drew his tactical knife across his palm. It took considerable force to cut open a wound, and blood flowed out.

With a thought from Ji Xinghuo, his body magnetic field began circulating, and Stellar Force was directed into his palm.

Immediately, the cells around the wound were stimulated and supplied with energy by Stellar Force. Fibroblasts in the dermal tissue multiplied at a rate hundreds or thousands of times faster, growing granulation tissue and reconnecting blood vessels. The wound quickly shrank and recovered, until the epidermis closed over it, leaving no trace that he had ever been injured.

Repairing this wound had consumed only 1 point of Stellar Force.

Even Ji Xinghuo was startled. It was not just surface wounds—internal injuries could also rapidly recover through magnetic-field stimulation of cells.

"Rapid Self-Healing is probably no better than this." He sighed in delight.

Rapid Self-Healing was an Outstanding Ability, extremely rare.

Moreover, the self-healing ability brought by Rotating Magnetic Field would continue to improve. As its level rose in the future, the healing speed would become faster and its effects stronger.

The information for Rotating Magnetic Field updated on the interface.

Rotating Magnetic Field (Level Two 1/1699)

"It needs that much Spirit Source Energy!"

Ji Xinghuo could not help clicking his tongue. The Spirit Source Energy needed to raise Rotating Magnetic Field to Level Three was about five times what it had taken to go from Level One to Level Two.

That was equivalent to killing another five Forest Patrol Leaders like the one from last night.

Or killing 1,699 ordinary monsters. Killing more than three hundred elite monsters would work too.

None of those options would be easy.

Ji Xinghuo felt the value of Spirit Source Energy more deeply than ever. It was hard-earned. Looking at Thousand Spirit Dexterous Hands (Level Two 5/227), he considered it for a while before deciding to upgrade Thousand Spirit Dexterous Hands first.

It was unlikely that Rotating Magnetic Field could be upgraded again anytime soon. It was enough for now, so he might as well raise Thousand Spirit Dexterous Hands to Level Three.

Every ability upgrade brought a qualitative transformation.

Besides, his strength had surged, allowing him to use a compound bow with a higher draw weight. He needed Thousand Spirit Dexterous Hands to adapt to that strength and improve both range and accuracy.

Soon, he invested 222 points of Spirit Source Energy into Thousand Spirit Dexterous Hands, raising it to Level Three!

Thousand Spirit Dexterous Hands (Level Three 1/1117)

The upgrade to Thousand Spirit Dexterous Hands caused even less commotion.

Ji Xinghuo felt the nervous system in his arms itch and tingle. Once the sensation returned to normal, his arms had become more flexible and faster. The effect was no longer limited to his upper limbs; even his brain's reaction speed had increased. His hands moved the instant he thought of it—indeed, they were even faster than his thoughts.

He raised one hand, and his five fingers moved so quickly that they became a blur, impossible to see clearly.

His hands no longer seemed like hands, but part of his mind!

The movement and rhythm of every finger were entirely under his control. Every muscle in his hands could be manipulated independently, with exquisite precision.

This hand could carry out any minute command.

A thought suddenly flashed through Ji Xinghuo's mind.

"Cough..."

"Keep your thoughts to yourself! I'm a decent man..." He quickly calmed himself and shifted his attention to something else, taking out his compound bow and tool kit.

He first repaired the arrows he had retrieved.

Then he serviced the compound bow, cleaning away the mud and water stuck to it, recalibrating its settings and attachments, and confirming that there were no problems.

The limbs of this Yi Feng bow could be adjusted between 70 and 130 kilograms. Ji Xinghuo had currently set it at 108 kilograms.

He tried drawing the bow several times and found that 108 kilograms was already too light.

He gradually adjusted the limbs, increasing the draw weight. In the end, he realized that his strength had grown too much, so he directly set it to the maximum of 130 kilograms, equivalent to 288 pounds. Before the Star Gate had opened, no one could have drawn a bow at that weight. It would have been unusable.

Yet Ji Xinghuo still drew the bow with ease. With just a little force, he pulled the string to full draw.

"Still too light."

He shook his head. He estimated that he could now Bench Press over 800 kilograms. In that case, using a 200-kilogram compound bow should not be a problem.

Yi Feng was, after all, only a one-star premium compound bow. It was beginning to fall behind.

The better the bow, the narrower its adjustable draw-weight range tended to be.

Limited by materials, premium-grade bows generally did not exceed a maximum draw weight of 200 kilograms. Superpowered bows, which were better than premium bows, often did not simply stack draw weight either. Instead, they came with abilities that allowed them to fire various powerful specialized arrows.

"When I return to Olympia next time, I'd better get myself a superpowered bow."

Ji Xinghuo calculated his gains from the past few days. He had made several million at least, which should be enough to buy a superpowered bow.

Two hours later, Ren Mian woke up.

Chi Zhonglin and Jiangnan Caiyi had also recovered their spirits, with no sign that they had ever been seriously injured. However, they still could not participate in high-intensity battles.

The team continued westward.

Ji Xinghuo stayed on guard against enemies, but no Forest Patrol Clan members caught up with them over the following days. The heavy rain had completely eliminated any chance of tracking them.

Whoosh! A slender black shadow shot through the canopy and straight into the sky.

A gray bird with a wingspan exceeding four meters was gliding over the forest. Completely unaware of the danger below, it did not react at all as an arrow pierced through its neck, killing it instantly.

The Black Vulture's corpse fell, snapping a patch of branches before crashing heavily to the ground.

Four figures appeared beside the corpse.

Chi Zhonglin stared at the bird's neck, which was connected by only a few strands of flesh and blood, his face full of amazement.

"Xinghuo, why does it feel like your archery has gotten even better? This Black Vulture is already close to elite grade, and it flies fast. Before, we wouldn't have had any good way to deal with it, but you shot it down with one arrow." He looked at Ji Xinghuo, who held the compound bow.

"I've had more real combat, so of course I've improved. That's normal." Ji Xinghuo gave a half-truthful explanation.

"But you improved way too fast..."

Chi Zhonglin shook his head repeatedly, feeling as though he was beginning to lose sight of who Ji Xinghuo really was.

It had been five days since they killed the Forest Patrol Clan members and shook off the pursuit. They had encountered more than ten battles on the road, and Ji Xinghuo had resolved nearly all of them.

No monster or enemy that approached could escape Ji Xinghuo's senses. Then they could only walk into his trap.

Ordinary monsters died to a single arrow.

Even elite monsters only required a few more arrows, or a single Capacitor Arrow.

The other three had no chance to make a move and had never encountered any danger. Chi Zhonglin felt as if he were on an outing.

Still, that was certainly a good thing.

Having such a sharpshooter on the team made everything far too easy!

Jiangnan Caiyi dug out the Black Vulture's eyes and showed them to her teammates, saying happily, "Eagle Eye!"

"Tsk, tsk..." Chi Zhonglin was delighted as well. Eagle Eye was the Tracker's core ability, an Outstanding Ability worth 1.5 million Asia Yuan. He laughed. "Jackpot! Xinghuo, that one arrow earned you over a million. Damn, this feels incredible!"

Ji Xinghuo shrugged. He was already used to it.

He now knew that making money came easily to him. The Ability Seeds he had collected from shooting monsters over these past days were worth more than ten million in total.

His Spirit Source Energy was also steadily increasing. He currently had 38 points, but he was saving all of it.

At that moment, Ren Mian walked several dozen meters ahead to the edge of a cliff. She gazed out at the scene ahead, then turned back and said, "We're here."