"Boss, you just gave him ten million?"
As they watched Jiang Li walk away without a care, all of Lin Yuanliang's men looked incredulous.
Lin Yuanliang raised a hand, unwilling to say more.
He watched Jiang Li's retreating figure, deep in thought.
Whether Yun Fei was a Sixth Grade martial artist hardly mattered. Even if she faced a Seventh Grade Peak martial artist, the Jiang Qing Gang would still have to think twice about crossing someone with an A-Class talent.
Besides, Yun Fei was a student at Nanfang University, and Elder Lin—Lin Jinwei, a master at the Fifth Grade Peak—was still in Beihe City.
If Yun Fei was willing to help, he would have handed over ten million outright. Jiang Li was only borrowing it.
It might look as though he had simply given Jiang Li ten million, but he would not lose out on this deal.
What caught Lin Yuanliang's attention even more was Divine Martial Connect on Jiang Li's phone, and the way Jiang Li had addressed Yun Fei.
"Looks like Jiang Li has already become a specially admitted student at Nanfang University."
Jiang Li had just left Entertainment City when he ran into Lin Lingfei, who was returning with a long spear on her back.
She did not even glance at him. Her face was cold.
Jiang Li did not mind. He would teach that aloof little girl a proper lesson during the martial arts exam.
The corners of his mouth lifted before he could stop them.
When he got home, neither his father, Jiang Yurong, nor Jiang Qi was there.
He returned to his room and looked around. It was small, but it held the original owner's childhood memories.
Before meeting Lu Wanning, the original owner had trained diligently in martial arts, leaving plenty of sweat in this room.
Jiang Li sat cross-legged on the spotless bed and looked at the photograph of the family of four.
He smiled. With a thought, the Yellow Book appeared.
Cultivate the Heaven-Stealing Divine Art!
A sharp gleam flashed in Jiang Li's eyes. In an instant, words began to appear on the Yellow Book.
[When you first began cultivating the Heaven-Stealing Divine Art, you felt as though your very life was burning. At the same time, the blood qi within you began to grow. In the third year, you successfully broke through to become a Seventh Grade martial artist.] [In the fifth year, you mastered the first stage of the Heaven-Stealing Divine Art and opened your first Heavenly Aperture, burning thirty-five years of lifespan.] [You continued burning your lifespan to raise your Blood Qi Value, gathering powerful blood qi to break through to the second Heavenly Aperture. In the eleventh year, you successfully opened your second Heavenly Aperture. Your Blood Qi Value rose sharply, and your blood qi grew purer. Lifespan burned: eighty-one years.] [In the seventeenth year, you reached the third stage of the Heaven-Stealing Divine Art and opened your third Heavenly Aperture. Your Blood Qi Value and blood qi purity increased. Lifespan burned: one hundred and ninety-one years.] [In the fortieth year, you reached the fourth stage of the Heaven-Stealing Divine Art and opened your fourth Heavenly Aperture. Lifespan burned: two hundred and seventy-six years.] [In the seventy-third year, you finally opened your fifth Heavenly Aperture. At the same time, your body underwent an incredible change. Your five senses became extraordinarily sharp, and the purity of your blood qi reached a limit beyond which it could not improve.] [You continued cultivating, only to discover that your current blood qi purity was insufficient to open the sixth Heavenly Aperture. You could only keep burning your lifespan to raise your Blood Qi Value. In the one hundred and eighty-fifth year, your blood qi purity finally underwent a qualitative leap, reaching the realm of Blood Qi like Mercury. At the same time, you opened the sixth Heavenly Aperture. Your five senses improved dramatically. Lifespan burned: three hundred and fifty-five years.] [You stopped cultivating.] [Cultivatable Lifespan]: 177
This was the first time Jiang Li had voluntarily stopped cultivating through the Yellow Book, and his lifespan had never been lower.
"One hundred and eighty-five years of cultivation, nine hundred and thirty-eight years of lifespan burned. That's one thousand one hundred and twenty-three years in total, and I've only made it halfway."
"Even without Qi and Blood Pills or mutant beast meat to nourish my blood qi, that's enough time for other martial artists to cultivate through several lifetimes."
Even Jiang Li could not help staring in disbelief.
But he soon felt the surging, extraordinarily pure blood qi within him.
For a moment, Jiang Li felt as though he was invincible, as though a casual punch could destroy anything.
He had never felt power like this before.
That was not all. Jiang Li discovered that his sight, hearing, and other senses had improved dramatically too.
For instance, he could clearly see a speck of dust drifting through the air by the corner of the desk.
His ears could pick up a beautiful livestreamer next door thanking a viewer through the wall.
He could even tell with precision that the voice came from a phone, not a person in the room.
"Seventh Grade at last. But I nearly used up my entire lifespan."
"At this rate, mastering the Heaven-Stealing Divine Art will take at least another two thousand—no, three thousand years of lifespan."
"Four thousand years to cultivate one technique. The Heaven-Stealing Divine Art really does deserve to be called an S-Class forbidden technique."
Jiang Li left his room and took out a bank card. He had left five million on it for his younger sister Jiang Qi's martial arts cultivation.
He also left behind all the Qi and Blood Pills he had obtained earlier.
He wrote everything down on a note, then shut the door and left.
Beihe City, high-speed rail station.
Jiang Li took a business-class seat costing seven thousand and headed straight for the Eastern Sea.
With mutant beasts running rampant outside the cities, transportation such as high-speed rail could only travel underground. As a result, travel in this world was especially troublesome—and expensive.
The Military Department guarded the wilderness beyond the cities, while martial artists from each city cleared out mutant beasts, alongside hunting teams that tracked them down.
Great Xia also had to spend enormous time and effort maintaining certain roads, at tremendous cost.
Outside the train window, there was nothing but darkness and no scenery to speak of, so Jiang Li closed his eyes and rested.
Although it was not yet time for the Donghai Training Camp assessment, Jiang Li could no longer sit still.
With only 177 years of lifespan left, how was he any different from an old man on his deathbed?
Besides, mutant beasts ran rampant on the Donghai Battlefield. Jiang Li wanted to temper his martial skills there ahead of time.
When the train stopped at a station, someone boarded and sat down not far from Jiang Li.
Sensing someone watching him, Jiang Li slowly opened his eyes and met a pair of bright, innocent eyes.
"Hello, big brother!"
A little girl of six or seven, clutching a fluffy rabbit toy, greeted Jiang Li.
"Hello!"
Jiang Li smiled and returned her greeting.
"Nannan, big brother is resting. We mustn't disturb him."
The girl's mother tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear and spoke gently to her.
"Okay. Nannan won't disturb big brother."
The girl's eyes curved with her smile. She sat quietly in her seat without making a fuss.
Jiang Li glanced at the woman, surprise flickering in his eyes.
A martial artist? She's practiced a Breathing Technique, and her Blood Qi Value isn't low. She should be Seventh Grade.
Ever since opening six Heavenly Apertures, he could even sense another person's blood qi and Breathing Technique.
An ordinary martial artist clearly could not do that.
The woman was only in her early thirties, yet she was a Seventh Grade martial artist. In Beihe City, she would already be someone of note.
Jiang Li thought no more of it and closed his eyes to rest again.
Before long, another person boarded. Though Jiang Li did not open his eyes, he could sense the faint killing intent around the newcomer.
Hm?
Jiang Li looked up. A short-haired, middle-aged man in a black suit had entered and quietly taken a seat.
The little girl seemed fine, but her mother's body had gone rigid, as though facing a formidable enemy.
Jiang Li had no wish to get involved in anyone else's affairs. He remained where he was until the train reached Donghai Station.
Only then did he pick up his luggage and step off at an unhurried pace. His fellow passengers gradually disappeared into the crowd.
Following the directions on his phone, Jiang Li headed straight for the Donghai Battlefield without stopping to rest.
Before you continue