Those with Ambition

Those with Ambition

After Ji Xinghuo returned home, he stopped paying attention to outside affairs.

During the trip from the Esper Service Center to his home, his Stellar Force had risen to 5, further strengthening his body.

Although there was no visible change to his appearance or build, his strength, endurance, and overall physical fitness had clearly improved.

Ji Xinghuo remembered the precautions for the evolution period, so he rested for a while.

"There's still plenty of time..."

He glanced at the clock. It was only a little past three in the afternoon. There was no point in idling around. "I can't train so hard that I exhaust myself, but some light training shouldn't have much effect."

So he opened his phone and bought some training equipment.

Ten minutes later.

Ji Xinghuo received a notification and saw a silver-white drone swiftly flying toward the building where his apartment was located. It landed at the preset delivery point on the balcony outside his apartment, gently set down a package, then took off and left.

He went onto the balcony, carried the package inside, and opened it. Inside were the items he had just ordered.

After spending a few minutes removing the packaging, he found a set of dozens of coins in various sizes, over a dozen tennis balls and iron balls, a set of rubber juggling pins, an electronic keyboard with hundreds of keys, an obsolete typing keyboard, several bundles of rope, and some oddly shaped tools.

Altogether, they looked like props from an acrobatics troupe.

These were all things needed to train Thousand Spirit Dexterous Hands.

Ji Xinghuo picked up a coin and placed it on the back of his hand. His fingers moved quickly, and the coin immediately began rolling between them.

After a few seconds, the dancing coin faltered for a moment.

"Still not proficient enough..."

Ji Xinghuo practiced for a while and quickly grasped the technique for rolling a single coin.

The coin danced between his fingers like a wave, moving so fast it was dazzling, yet it never fell.

Then he added another coin.

According to the training requirements, each hand could roll up to three coins of different weights and sizes at once, without allowing them to collide.

Even with the assistance of the Myriad Stellar Eye, it was not easy for Ji Xinghuo to accomplish.

He did not expect to achieve it in one go. After training for half an hour, he switched to another exercise, tossing tennis balls into the air one after another. Once he reached ten tennis balls and maintained them steadily for a while, he added rubber juggling pins into the mix, immediately becoming somewhat flustered.

He trained from the afternoon until late at night, cycling through several exercises several times.

Coin rolling, ball juggling, rapid keyboard playing, typing, rope work, and disassembling and assembling puzzle locks—he became proficient in all of them.

He felt that he was improving rapidly.

Before going to sleep, Ji Xinghuo opened his information interface and took a look. His Stellar Force had risen to 28.

Yet the progress of Thousand Spirit Dexterous Hands was still 1/47.

"Upgrading an ability really is difficult." Ji Xinghuo could not help sighing, but he was not discouraged in the slightest and soon fell asleep.

When he woke up the next day.

Ji Xinghuo noticed that his body had grown stronger again compared to the previous night, but the improvement was smaller than yesterday's. The rate of enhancement had clearly slowed.

His Stellar Force had reached 41, and its growth had slowed as well.

"My Initial Evolution Period should end today." Ji Xinghuo got up, washed, ate, and then began today's ability training.

Using an ability also consumed Stellar Force.

Different abilities consumed different amounts of Stellar Force. Thousand Spirit Dexterous Hands was a persistent passive ability and belonged to the category with the lowest consumption.

Ji Xinghuo had trained for seven or eight hours yesterday, using Thousand Spirit Dexterous Hands the entire time, yet he had consumed little Stellar Force—not even a third of it.

Moreover, even when Stellar Force consumed during ability training was restored, it had a negligible effect on increasing Stellar Force.

Stellar Force grew fastest when combined with physical training.

Therefore, ability training and Stellar Force cultivation were usually carried out separately. This created a conflict in time allocation, making it difficult for espers to balance both and forcing them to make a choice.

Either focus on Stellar Force cultivation, or focus on ability training.

Ji Xinghuo did not have that concern for now. He devoted himself wholeheartedly to practicing Thousand Spirit Dexterous Hands. Though the training was tedious and dull, he relished it, immersing himself so deeply that he forgot the passage of time.

Every few minutes, he would open the interface and take a look.

The day passed quickly.

After dinner, Ji Xinghuo resumed training. It was not until after nine in the evening that he finally stopped.

On the Myriad Stellar Eye interface, the information for Thousand Spirit Dexterous Hands had updated! Ability: Thousand Spirit Dexterous Hands (Level 1, 2/47)

"Finally..."

Ji Xinghuo let out a breath and calculated silently. "From yesterday until now, I've trained for a full twenty hours, yet Thousand Spirit Dexterous Hands has only gained 1 point of progress."

"Assuming the difficulty of progressing doesn't change afterward, reaching Level 2 will require 940 hours."

"If I devote myself fully to it, excluding sleep and meals, I have sixteen hours a day—eight hours cultivating Stellar Force and eight hours training abilities. Then it will take 120 days to raise Thousand Spirit Dexterous Hands to Level 2."

After finishing the calculation, Ji Xinghuo's eyes lit up.

"Too fast!"

The higher an ability's grade, the harder it was to level up.

Thousand Spirit Dexterous Hands was an Outstanding Ability. Reaching Level 2 in just four months was unquestionably extremely fast.

One had to know that most Rangers' Thousand Spirit Dexterous Hands remained at Level 1 for their entire lives.

Generally, only Rangers who advanced to Intermediate Esper, or even Advanced Esper, could raise Thousand Spirit Dexterous Hands to Level 2. Their average time was around three years! Compared to three years, four months was nine times as efficient.

Even Ji Xinghuo was stunned.

All along, Ji Xinghuo had possessed a clear understanding of himself. His talent and willpower surpassed the vast majority of people—more than 99% of those his age.

However, even if he squeezed into the top 0.1%, he could only be considered first-rate, not among that very pinnacle of genius.

Because that 0.1% was still an enormous number.

But now, Ji Xinghuo seemed to see a grand path stretching toward the heavens appear before him, smooth and unobstructed all the way to the end of life's evolution! It all stemmed from the Myriad Stellar Eye.

Over the past two days, Ji Xinghuo had felt it especially clearly.

The Myriad Stellar Eye's functions went far beyond merely allowing his eyes to "see." It had penetrated his conscious control over his body, his perception of changes in the outside world, and transformed him from the inside out in earth-shaking ways! One point was particularly obvious.

Whenever he practiced Thousand Spirit Dexterous Hands, both hands were incredibly precise and steady, his exertion exquisitely controlled. That was why he improved so quickly; nearly all of his training was effective.

This was definitely not an effect of normal Thousand Spirit Dexterous Hands. It was the Myriad Stellar Eye at work.

Not to mention, the Myriad Stellar Eye could show his level-up progress, giving him positive feedback during training and allowing him to maintain intense enthusiasm and focus at all times.

"What a pity..."

Ji Xinghuo looked regretful.

The Myriad Stellar Eye was incomplete, and its missing portion was its core. The effects it displayed might not even amount to one ten-thousandth of its full power!

"If the Myriad Stellar Eye were complete... I can't even imagine it."

Ji Xinghuo shook his head. His gaze settled on the Stellar Force value on the interface. It had risen to 53 several hours ago, then stopped changing.

"The first evolution is over."

"Just as I predicted, this evolutionary period lasted about twenty-four hours."

However, Ji Xinghuo was somewhat puzzled.

"Does an Elementary Esper only have 53 Stellar Force?"

The strength of Stellar Force had always been vague and subjective. Whether it was the ADC or the research departments of various countries, none had a standard for measuring how much Stellar Force Espers of each level possessed.

The Stellar Force value displayed by the Myriad Stellar Eye did not even have units. It seemed to be dimensionless.

Ji Xinghuo was rather helpless and could only put the question aside.

He felt the surging power within him. With his evolution complete, his physical state had stabilized as well, no longer carrying that uncertainty of constant change.

"I wonder what level my strength has reached now?"

Ji Xinghuo immediately began warming up.

An Elementary Esper's physical fitness far surpassed that of an ordinary person. Even warming up was remarkably fast; in less than two minutes, his body was ready.

The apartment's Training Room had a full set of fitness equipment.

Ji Xinghuo lay on an incline bench and performed several sets of bench presses. With every set, he increased the barbell's weight, rising from 130 kilograms all the way past 200 kilograms, with strength still to spare.

In the end, his bench press reached 220 kilograms. He pushed it ten times in one go, ending exactly at exhaustion!

"My bench press increased by ninety kilograms!"

Ji Xinghuo was extremely satisfied.

That weight would have been astonishing in the early twenty-first century. Back then, there were no Espers. The most gifted strongmen had a raw, unequipped bench press record of 355 kilograms—and could only press it once.

After resting for a while, he performed squats and deadlifts as well.

The weights were 278 kilograms and 303 kilograms respectively. Together with his bench press, the total came to 801 kilograms!

In less than two days, his strength total had increased by nearly 300 kilograms, yet his build and weight had barely changed. It completely defied the laws of human physiology.

That was the power of Espers!

"Thousand Spirit Dexterous Hands doesn't provide much of a strength boost."

As Ji Xinghuo looked at his well-proportioned body in the mirror, he thought, "If I were a Giant General Esper and fused the first core ability, Gigantification, my total in the three lifts should easily exceed 1,000 kilograms. Reaching 1,200 kilograms wouldn't be surprising either."

He suppressed his scattered thoughts. "The evolution is complete. Now I can cultivate Stellar Force."

"Let's see how quickly Stellar Force grows."

The first step of Stellar Force cultivation was consumption. It had to be combined with physical training for the greatest efficiency.

After doing several sets earlier, he had already consumed quite a bit of Stellar Force.

The interface showed that it was currently at 45.

Ji Xinghuo jumped onto the treadmill and sprinted at full speed. It took him only nineteen minutes to run ten thousand meters, improving his previous result by a full ten minutes.

He ran for a full half hour, finishing his aerobic exercise.

Then he switched to anaerobic exercises: barbells, dumbbells, bench press, squats, and deadlifts, cycling through them all at his maximum weight, one set after another.

His Stellar Force dwindled bit by bit. After twenty minutes of strength training, it was completely depleted.

Ji Xinghuo's stamina was also exhausted at just the right moment.

"Whew... whew..."

He sat down, gasping for breath. Sweat poured off him, and he looked as though he had been pulled from the water, his clothes completely soaked through.

"This is fucking exhausting!"

Ji Xinghuo did not even want to move a finger.

Still, he opened the Myriad Stellar Eye interface, stared intently at the Stellar Force line, and noted the current time.

Very soon, as his physical strength recovered, his Stellar Force began to rise as well.

By the time his Stellar Force had recovered to 53, it was already one in the morning.

"140 minutes."

Ji Xinghuo calculated the time. "It takes 140 minutes for my Stellar Force to fully recover. That's a little longer than I expected."

"My stamina has fully recovered too."

"But I can't immediately train at full intensity again. Otherwise, excessive fatigue will damage my muscles and bones. I need to rest for at least four hours."

"In other words, even without training abilities, I can only work out three times a day at most."

Ji Xinghuo's thoughts raced. "But during the rest periods between those three workouts, I can train Thousand Spirit Dexterous Hands. It doesn't consume much Stellar Force and has very little effect on Stellar Force recovery."

He quickly made himself a training plan.

He would cultivate Stellar Force three times a day. Including the workout and rest time, each session would take five hours.

During the latter two hours of each rest period, he would train Thousand Spirit Dexterous Hands—three times a day, for a total of six hours of ability training.

He would also try to schedule meals and bathroom breaks during his rest periods.

He got straight to it.

At six-thirty the next morning, Ji Xinghuo got out of bed. At exactly seven, he began the day's cultivation according to his plan.

At noon, he completed his first training cycle of the day.

At five in the afternoon, he completed the second.

He took an hour to eat and rest.

He continued at six in the evening, finishing his entire day's training plan at eleven that night.

Then he lay on the bed to relax, watched the news for a while, browsed around online, and went to sleep at exactly midnight.

Ji Xinghuo immersed himself in the tedious training, tireless and never leaving home, as though he had forgotten the passage of time.

Three days later.

Ability: Thousand Spirit Dexterous Hands (3/47)

The progress of Thousand Spirit Dexterous Hands had increased by one point.

Ji Xinghuo was delighted by this.

This increase had taken only a little over nineteen hours of training, which showed that upgrading Thousand Spirit Dexterous Hands did not become more difficult. On the contrary, as he grew more proficient, it took less time.

A week later.

Ability: Thousand Spirit Dexterous Hands (4/47)
Stellar Force: 54

"Finally..."

Ji Xinghuo let out a long breath.

After seven whole days, more than twenty complete depletions of Stellar Force, and total physical exhaustion, the fatigue in his body had begun to affect his mental state. His mind had even grown somewhat numb. At last, his Stellar Force had increased by one point.

The change from 53 to 54 Stellar Force was not actually significant.

If not for the information displayed on the Myriad Stellar Eye interface, it would have been difficult to notice that his Stellar Force had grown stronger.

Ji Xinghuo did the math. If he gained an average of one point of Stellar Force per week, then after cultivating for an entire year, his Stellar Force would almost exactly double.

"I wonder what the Stellar Force limit of an Elementary Esper is?"

"And how much Stellar Force will the next evolution require?"

Ji Xinghuo had little idea.

He sat down at his desk. A sheet of light projected from its surface, forming a clear display before him, and he opened a search engine.

It had been nearly two centuries since Earth entered the Star Realm era.

The internet was filled with information on Espers cultivating Stellar Force: all kinds of tutorials, analyses, ability research, Class Template explorations, videos, papers, and data in every conceivable form. The sheer volume was as vast as an ocean, and it increased by an astronomical amount every day.

Ji Xinghuo searched only for information related to Elementary Espers.

Several hours later.

After looking through a great deal of information and videos, he had gained a general understanding.

Generally speaking, the gap in strength between Elementary Espers was not that great.

Even among Elementary Espers with the same Class Template and the same abilities, a newly advanced Elementary Esper and one nearing their next evolution would not have an overwhelming gap in a fight if their combat experience and martial arts attainments were roughly equal.

The latter's greatest advantage was still having more abundant Stellar Force and greater endurance.

At most, their Stellar Force would not differ by more than twice as much.

If the differences between Class Templates were taken into account, some classes possessed much greater Stellar Force, such as Martial Artists, Flame Berserkers, and Aura Fighters. They had far more Stellar Force than other classes.

However, Rangers were not among them. A Ranger's Stellar Force was at an average level.

"Twice the Stellar Force!"

"As long as I train for a year, my Stellar Force can double. That should be enough for me to evolve again and become an Intermediate Esper!"

"At that rate of advancement, I wouldn't be much slower than any genius."

Ji Xinghuo's eyes brimmed with anticipation.

He suddenly thought of Zhao Manying, the hottest topic of discussion lately. That Sword Immortal had taken just over a year to advance from an Elementary Esper to an Intermediate Esper.

If you can do it, so can I! Ji Xinghuo was full of confidence.

However, he did not immediately throw himself back into training. Instead, he changed into a clean set of clothes and stepped out of the house for the first time in a week.