Obsidian Spirit Stone

Unable to figure it out for the moment, Shen Qian continued reading.

(To strengthen the host's will, AFK mode has been temporarily suspended)

...

When Shen Qian saw those words, he understood something.

Though he could extract the memory scenes, memories were ultimately just memories. They were never the same as experiencing things firsthand.

For instance, the courage to face a life-or-death crisis...

For instance, how to remain absolutely calm...

Shen Qian admitted that he truly had panicked at the time. If he had been calm enough, even if he could not have been as perfect as the system, he would not have been left with almost no ability to fight back.

What System Dad wanted was to temper Shen Qian to the greatest possible extent.

Having understood the key point, Shen Qian extracted the second segment of Combat Experience.

More precisely, it was the memory of the system taking over his body at the brink of life and death.

In the memory scene, Shen Qian's body suddenly twisted at an impossible angle, trapping the dagger thrust at him beneath his armpit. Then he smashed his forehead into the other man's face.

Shen Qian snatched the dagger away with a backhanded motion and plunged it into the man's throat.

One strike, one kill—clean and decisive.

Shen Qian looked at the bruise beneath his armpit as those memory scenes slowly blended into his own memories, as though he had truly gone through such a breathtaking battle.

The AFK Record also contained an assessment of the two men's strength. Both were indeed considerably stronger than Shen Qian.

Though it had been nearly ten days since he last tested his strength, Shen Qian estimated that his Burst Strength was around 120 to 130 kilograms. Of the two Scavengers, one was between 130 and 140, while the other was already approaching 150.

Once Burst Strength exceeded 150 kilograms, it met the strength standard for the First Stage of Elementary Martial Artist.

Though he had changed clothes, his body still stank unbearably. Having finished reliving the experience, Shen Qian took off his clothes and prepared to shower.

The Police Warriors had taken all his belongings earlier and put them in a transparent plastic bag.

Shen Qian had not examined them closely at the police station. Only now, when he fished the plastic bag out of his pack, did he notice that there were some extra items inside.

Besides his wristband, student ID, and tissues, there was also a battered wallet and an irregular black stone.

These were... the Scavengers' belongings?

Shen Qian glanced at the AFK Record again, only to discover a line of small text beneath the Combat Experience.

You looted the two men and obtained a wallet and a fragment of Obsidian Spirit Stone (Note 1) (21:03)

Note 1: Obsidian Spirit Stone, a rare gemstone mutated through the combined effects of radiation and Heaven and Earth Spiritual Energy. It can nourish Mental Power.

Mental Power?

The term was rather unfamiliar to Shen Qian. He could not remember whether it had been mentioned in his textbooks.

After thinking it over, Shen Qian opened the browser on his wristband and began searching online.

There was not much useful information about Obsidian Spirit Stone. After considerable effort, Shen Qian finally found a little useful information in a post on a martial arts forum.

A netizen called "Diao Chan Is On Me" had made the post. The picture was also of Obsidian Spirit Stone, much larger than the one in Shen Qian's hand. This netizen had also picked it up by chance in the restricted zone.

A reply below from a netizen called "My Girlfriend's Diabetes Is Ruining My Teeth" mentioned Mental Power. It said that the spiritual energy contained within Obsidian Spirit Stone was somewhat beneficial to Mental Power and recommended carrying it around.

In a follow-up reply, "My Girlfriend's Diabetes Is Ruining My Teeth" also mentioned that Mental Power was a field only martial artists of the Mountain Sea Realm could access.

Mountain Sea Realm?

Shen Qian fell into thought. His high school martial arts theory books had only introduced the first three realms of martial artists: Beginner Martial Artists, Intermediate Martial Artist, and Advanced Martial Artist. Each realm was further divided into nine stages.

However, Shen Qian had heard some knowledgeable classmates mention that above Advanced Martial Artist was the Mountain Sea Realm.

The most distinctive trait of the Mountain Sea Realm was the ability to travel through the air. The realm took its name from the ancient Chinese book Classic of Mountains and Seas, symbolizing transcendence beyond the mundane.

After searching online some more, Shen Qian gained a rough understanding.

Mental Power was a kind of strength that only martial artists at the Mountain Sea Realm or above could cultivate, but that did not mean martial artists below the Mountain Sea Realm lacked Mental Power. It was simply that only when quantity accumulated to a certain degree could it be sensed.

There were many spiritual objects in this world that benefited Mental Power, and mutated obsidian was very likely one of them.

Setting down the obsidian, Shen Qian opened the wallet and took a look.

"Damn poor..."

After counting the money inside, Shen Qian curled his lip. There was a total of 381 Huaxia Coin and 60 cents.

Though Shen Qian himself had only a little over twenty yuan on him, that did not stop Shen Qian, who would soon possess the enormous sum of ten thousand yuan, from looking down on those two paupers.

There were four missed calls on his wristband—three from Ding Yi and one from Wang Yangming.

It was already past midnight. Shen Qian hesitated, but still called Ding Yi back.

Nothing could be heard from Ding Yi's voice, but she did not seem to blame Shen Qian for being worse than a beast. She merely asked whether Shen Qian had resolved the matter and even said that, if he needed it, she could lend him the remaining two hundred yuan as well.

Shen Qian immediately declared that no matter how difficult things became for him, after today he would never borrow money from Ding Yi again. It was a matter of principle, and his tone was firm and forceful.

Ding Yi was somewhat surprised. After a silence, she said goodbye to Shen Qian and hung up, but that did not prevent Shen Qian from hearing her emotion in that "goodbye."

After hanging up, Shen Qian put away the obsidian and went to shower, thoroughly satisfied.

Liu Simin understandingly gave Shen Qian two days off. On the afternoon of the second day, Shen Qian, who had been waiting with eyes strained, finally heard his wristband's text notification sound.

Your account ending in 0404 has received 10,000 Huaxia Coin...

It was finally here!

To get the money as soon as possible, Shen Qian had even called Song Ye that morning and subtly asked about it. Captain Song truly delivered.

Even with the system's assistance, the efficiency of Shen Qian's physical training had begun to decline today. Shen Qian understood that the effects of the Stamina Potion in his body had been exhausted.

Refining a new Stamina Potion could not wait.

Following the prescription in his memories, Shen Qian first went out to a pharmacy and bought all the supplementary ingredients, including Nine Flavor Rehmannia Pill, Angelica, Salvia, Red Deer Hide, and the like.

All that remained was the main ingredient, Seven Flavors Fruit.

Seven Flavors Fruit was a new variety of plant that had only appeared after the spiritual energy revival. Canglang Pharmaceuticals' Body Tempering Potion also contained Seven Flavors Fruit, though its specific formula was certainly different from the system's.

Shen Qian clearly did not have enough money to buy Seven Flavors Fruit directly. Even artificially cultivated spiritual herbs started at tens of thousands, so it was time to seek System Dad's help again.

Arriving at the bank of South Gate River, Shen Qian found an unoccupied corner and summoned the system interface.

Shen Qian had noticed before that the interface had a "Start AFK" button, but he had never tried it.

After he tapped "Start AFK," an input field appeared.

Please enter task objective.

After Shen Qian filled in "Find Seven Flavors Fruit" with his thoughts, a ding sounded, and his consciousness began to blur.

Task objective generated. System automatic pathfinding in progress...