Crack, crack, crack~~
Qin Tian's bones suddenly erupted in a rapid series of firecracker-like pops. His muscle fibers twisted and tightened like dragons and snakes, swelling wildly. Veins bulged across his skin, branching beneath it like countless thick tree roots.
His already muscular frame visibly swelled, bursting through the short-sleeved shirt he wore. Every muscle was sharply defined, as if cast from molten iron, and gleamed with a cold, bronze-like sheen beneath the room's lights.
Even more astonishingly, ancient Dark Gold Patterns gradually spread across his skin, like the scales of a savage beast from primordial times—mysterious and imposing.
His blood surged like a mighty river, and his heartbeat thundered like a war drum. Each pulse made the tables and chairs in the room tremble slightly.
When he suddenly opened his eyes, a fierce flame seemed to burn deep in his pupils. The pressure radiating from his body was so overwhelming that it felt as though even the air had grown still.
A few minutes later~
Hoo~~
Qin Tian let out a long breath. His body rapidly shrank like a deflating balloon, returning to its previous, well-proportioned, muscular form. The Dark Gold Patterns on his skin gradually faded, then disappeared completely.
Qin Tian slowly got to his feet. A surging, riverlike strength coursed through his body, and his abundant Blood Qi spilled outward, raising the temperature in the room by several degrees.
He felt like a human-shaped savage beast, reborn from the ground up. A mysterious power coursed through his Bloodline, and the moment it was activated, he would instantly enter a strange state.
Overlord Body!
His combat power rose instantly, by as much as 150% at most.
It was equivalent to a weakened version of Super Saiyan.
But in a real fight, a 1.5-fold increase in combat power was already terrifying.
A battle between evenly matched opponents could tip overwhelmingly in one person's favor in an instant.
That was two thousand Evolution Points well spent~
Qin Tian's lips curled into a slight smile. Physical transformation was always the most tangible—and the most addictive. He felt that, with just his physical strength and blade skills, he could now take on an ordinary Third Order Transcendent.
He had to admit, Purple Talents were truly formidable. Both [Ten Thousand Poisons Snake Body] and [Savage Hegemon Body] could greatly increase his combat power.
Unfortunately, Purple Talents were extremely difficult to obtain.
Purple Talents were on par with Silver Bloodlines. Their owners were all elite prodigies, difficult enough to encounter under normal circumstances, let alone hunt and loot.
And raising a Blue Talent to Purple required a massive number of Evolution Points.
The more than twenty thousand Evolution Points he'd earned through sheer hard work had only been enough to raise his deep-blue [Savage Battle Body] to the light-purple [Savage Hegemon Body]. It was easy to imagine that raising a light-blue talent to Purple would take at least fifty thousand Evolution Points.
After awakening Savage Hegemon Body, the exhaustion from fighting all night vanished. Qin Tian gathered up the scraps of his burst shirt and disposed of them, took a shower, then began his Psionic Cultivation.
Psionic Cultivation required perseverance. He couldn't slack off for even a single day.
The next day, the Earth Dragon Squad ate in the cafeteria, surrounded by discussions of the battle at Hujian Grand Canyon.
It had been a brilliant example of "luring the snakes out of their holes."
Using their intelligence advantage, the commander had sent out replicants disguised as Special Forces personnel as bait, drawing in tens of thousands of elite Snake-men from the Serpent Tribe.
As soon as the Snake-men showed themselves, the Military Department immediately ordered the missile units to launch a precision bombardment, using the locators on the replicants as targets.
Nearly ninety percent of the Snake-men died in that wave of missile strikes.
The remaining Snake-men stragglers were then wiped out by the Special Forces Team sent in afterward.
What's more, Su Yunyi had killed several Fifth and Sixth Order Snake-men experts.
It was the most brilliant and resounding victory in nearly a month. It dealt a heavy blow to the Orcs' arrogance, and also made Su Yunyi, the commander, famous. His record now had a major achievement added to it.
"If Qin Tian hadn't caught Xue Lin and Wang Tiancheng and uncovered the Snake-men's plot in advance, yesterday's victory wouldn't have happened."
Xiao Yunlong took a big bite out of a chicken leg and muttered, "Everyone around us is praising Su Yunyi. Does anyone even know that Qin Tian was the real hero?"
"Watch what you say!"
Qin Dadi shot Xiao Yunlong a stern look.
"Are we really in a position to criticize someone from the Gold Family? Su Yunyi came up with the plan, and Su Yunyi killed the Sixth Order Snake-men. It's only right that he gets the credit."
"Besides, it's better if nobody knows about Qin Tian. Su Yunyi can withstand the Orcs' retaliation, but can Qin Tian?"
Qin Tian took a sip of his drink. Deep down, he agreed with Qin Dadi.
As the saying went, the tallest tree caught the most wind.
With his current strength, being too conspicuous wasn't a good thing.
Keeping a low profile while growing stronger was the way to go.
"I... was just saying," Xiao Yunlong muttered. He realized his mistake and went back to gnawing on his chicken leg.
"Qin Tian, do you feel it's unfair?" Liu Zhaozhao asked.
"Not really."
Qin Tian shook his head. "I've already gotten what I wanted."
Twenty thousand Evolution Points, two Purple Talents, two Blue Talents, and two Green Talents.
Those were everything he'd gained over the past two days.
Compared to other people's recognition and praise, he valued tangible rewards more.
"That's a good attitude."
Qin Dadi looked at him with approval. "Don't worry, Qin Tian. The empire has the most authoritative, fairest, and smartest Military Merit evaluation system. Nobody's contributions will be overlooked. I estimate the Military Merit Points will arrive by tonight at the latest. You'll definitely be satisfied with yours."
"Mm."
Qin Tian nodded.
At the heart of the Military Merit evaluation system was a colossal Smart Brain called the "Battlefield Sky Eye."
During battle, the Battlefield Recorders on everyone's chests captured their performance and transmitted it to the Smart Brain in real time.
After the battle, the Smart Brain reviewed all the footage along with the information submitted by the Military Department, then awarded each combatant Military Merit Points as fairly as possible.
No one—not even a single commander—could influence the Smart Brain's assessment or judgment.
To a certain extent, this Military Merit system curbed the power and influence of the Military Department's leadership. At the same time, it made soldiers at the grassroots and middle levels trust the empire more, inspiring them to fight for it without holding anything back.
It was just as the army's oft-repeated slogan said:
The empire would never fail any hero who fought for it.
Beep, beep, beep.
On their way back to the dormitory, several Smart Bracelets began vibrating and beeping at the same time, instantly drawing everyone's attention.
"All our bracelets are going off. That means..."
Xiao Yunlong's eyes lit up. He quickly opened his Smart Bracelet and found a new message in the Military Department's software.
"Look, the Military Merit Points are in!" Xiao Yunlong shouted excitedly.
So soon!
No wonder it was a colossal Smart Brain.
Qin Tian opened the software, full of anticipation. When he saw the number, the corners of his mouth lifted before he could stop them.
Just then, Xiao Yunlong sneaked a glance at Qin Tian's Smart Bracelet.
Wait, had he read that wrong?
Xiao Yunlong blinked hard and looked again.
The next moment, his eyes widened. He fought with all his might to hold back a shout, then squeezed out a few words through clenched teeth:
"Holy shit, seventy thousand Military Merit Points."
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