Inventory

That evening, Jiang Yan began taking stock of the gifts Ma Shan and the others had left behind that afternoon.

First was Ma Shan, who had brought five bottles of Spirit Gathering Liquid.

The Spirit Gathering Liquid was entirely blue, a vital medicinal remedy for Martial Artists above Xiantian to absorb qi. It could generally increase a Martial Artist's qi absorption speed by around 50%.

Of course, it had its limitations: the higher one's realm, the weaker its effects became. But for a Martial Artist like Jiang Yan, who was in the middle stage of Xiantian, it was still extremely precious.

Then came Lin Yuanshan. He was straightforward and gave Jiang Yan a bank card, without saying how much was in it.

The most generous of all was Shen Donglin. After all, he represented Southeast Province's attitude toward Jiang Yan, so the gift naturally could not be too shabby.

A Space Ring alone, though it only held one cubic meter, was already an exceptionally precious treasure to the current Jiang Yan.

Space Rings were priceless and unavailable on the market. Only Talent Users with spatial abilities could make them, and because such Talent Users were so scarce, Space Rings were exceedingly rare as well.

At any rate, Jiang Yan had never heard of anyone putting a Space Ring up for sale.

Some things were so precious that they were given away rather than sold.

They were gifts, not commodities.

Inside the Space Ring lay another ten bottles of Spirit Gathering Liquid, a Martial Artist Privilege Upgrade Card, and a Horizontal Saber.

The Horizontal Saber's hilt was black as ink, its aura restrained. Its overall tone was dark and muted, and the blade bore none of those messy, gaudy colors. Its plain silver-white sheen displayed a saber's original appearance, while the cold glint at its tip gave off an aloof warning to keep strangers away.

Two small characters were engraved on the base of the hilt.

Ming Ke

Jiang Yan took out the saber, and it felt heavy in his hand.

Jiang Yan was astonished. Few sabers could still give him such a weighty sensation.

Take the Horizontal Saber he had bought for a million before. It had felt decent when he first used it, but upon closer inspection, it felt far too light, and swinging it gave him a floating, insubstantial sensation.

But this Engraved Blade was different. He had no idea what material its blade had been forged from, but the moment he held it, he could clearly feel the power contained within it.

That was right—power. Even if it lay silently asleep in a corner, it could still give one the illusion of being crushed beneath its weight, unable to breathe.

An unquestionably fine saber!

Jiang Yan praised it several times, unable to put it down. He marveled at Southeast Province's generosity. Not only had they given him a Space Ring, they had also sent such an excellent saber.

The problem of his weapon quality failing to keep up with his rapidly growing strength had been perfectly resolved.

In truth, giving him a saber was no coincidence.

When Jiang Yan had begun to stand out in the examination arena, those important figures had already started paying attention to him.

Because Jiang Yan had been wielding the standardized alloy saber issued for the College Entrance Exam, every time he used it, people got the feeling that—

His strength was being limited by that saber.

Those people in high positions were all shrewd old hands. Since Jiang Yan already had the potential to contend for the position of Top Scholar, why not go with the flow and take the opportunity to prepare a good saber for him?

Truly intelligent people understood the relationship between investment and returns.

Jiang Yan's future was immeasurable!

This saber had been commissioned to Southeast Province's most renowned master smith ever since Jiang Yan took first place in the first two rounds. It had only been successfully forged last night.

Looking at the fifteen bottles of Spirit Gathering Liquid on the table, Jiang Yan murmured, "I wonder whether this stuff works well."

He gulped down a bottle of Spirit Gathering Liquid and sat cross-legged on the bed, beginning to absorb qi.

The Geng Metal Mother Qi in his Dantian began to stir. It was far more active than usual, as though it had been pumped full of chicken blood.

"It works."

System Log updated

"You consumed a bottle of Spirit Gathering Liquid. Your qi gathering speed has increased."

"You consumed a bottle of Spirit Gathering Liquid. Your refinement efficiency for Spirit Gathering Liquid has slightly increased."

"You began absorbing qi. Your Qi Absorption skill has slightly improved."

"You used 'Self-Created Breathing Technique' (unnamed). Your Breathing Technique has slightly improved."

"You are absorbing qi. The Metal Origin you absorb will become purer."

Heaven Rewards Diligence rewarded every hardworking child.

One night passed, and the medicinal power within him completely dissipated.

Jiang Yan frowned as he looked at the thirteen bottles of Spirit Gathering Liquid remaining on the table.

He had consumed two bottles of Spirit Gathering Liquid in one night and refined and absorbed all of it. The speed was truly a little too fast.

"Shen Donglin even said ten bottles would last until school started. Now it looks like it'd be hard to say whether they can even last a week~"

Jiang Yan sighed helplessly.

Of course, absorbing it too quickly was not a bad thing. It happened to prove just how powerful his talent was.

He could clearly sense that the Geng Metal Mother Qi within him had grown increasingly robust. Faint golden qi flickered between his fingers, far more active than before.

He had only recently broken through to Xiantian and had barely developed his Geng Metal Mother Qi. He only knew how to crudely release the Metal Origin qi produced by the Geng Metal Mother Qi and use it in battle.

Sharpness and toughness were the foundation of the Geng Metal Mother Qi. So long as Jiang Yan used this power, both his offense and defense would rise dramatically.

Third Rank Innate Martial Artists still had a relatively shallow grasp of qi usage. But upon reaching Fourth Grade Inner Gang, they could perfectly mobilize qi, forming gang qi composed of qi both inside and outside their bodies.

Mother qi could not directly participate in battle. It was similar to a source origin. Gang qi was essentially same-origin qi produced by mother qi, only more systematic and more comprehensive than ordinary same-origin qi.

Gang qi would bring out every attribute possessed by mother qi.

At that point, most of qi's abilities could be used perfectly, and a Martial Artist's combat strength would greatly increase.

The cultivation process of a Third Rank Innate Martial Artist was, in truth, the process of exploring, understanding, and strengthening qi.

There were countless kinds of qi between heaven and earth, but Martial Artists could only absorb qi that shared the same origin as their own mother qi.

Jiang Yan swallowed another bottle of Spirit Gathering Liquid. This time, his absorption speed was even faster.

Two hours later, the medicinal power was nearly exhausted, while the Geng Metal Mother Qi in his Dantian flourished vigorously.

Only four days had passed since he broke through to the middle stage of Xiantian, yet he had already faintly touched the threshold of Late Innate. Even a young Peak Martial Saint could not possibly achieve such an abnormal cultivation speed.

After cultivating for just over a month, Jiang Yan had truly crushed every peer of his generation—not only in combat strength, but also in realm!

A monster capable of fighting above his rank was already at a higher realm than you. Tell me, was there even any possibility of winning?

Entering the Combat Space, Jiang Yan wasted no words and immediately began fighting the Trickster.

The Jiang Yan in the real world struck with heavy punches, while the Jiang Yan in the Combat Space was timid and submissive.

The Trickster, who possessed the Miracle talent, was practically omnipotent. Every time he killed Jiang Yan, the process was like an elegant artistic performance, while Jiang Yan's death served as the perfect curtain call for the Trickster's show.

Jiang Yan grew even more excited.

"That's right, this is exactly the feeling of dying over and over again!"

Only through repeated death could he realize just how weak he currently was.

You said you could fight above your rank? Come try the Combat Space.

"You triggered a Moment of Truth. You are immune to this death."

The Trickster unleashed one method after another.

"You were crushed to death by a meteor."

Endless meteors stirred up ripples across the sky. The Trickster strolled calmly through the meteor shower, removed his Top Hat, and gave a slight bow toward the empty "audience," offering his curtain-call salute.