Adding Points

A few minutes later.

Jiang Ran still stood where he was, calmly straightening his slightly wrinkled cuffs.

On the floor in front of him, the five men who had just been itching for a fight now lay sprawled in every direction.

In an office not far from the training ground.

Old Chen stood before the surveillance monitors, silently watching what had just happened.

Behind him stood an elderly man with graying hair, dressed in a Zhongshan suit.

"If I remember correctly," Old Chen said slowly, his voice a little hoarse, "Little Xu used to be one of the top fighters in the special forces, right?"

"That's right." The old man nodded, his eyes still fixed on the young figure on the screen. "He came from the Southwest Falcon and earned two second-class merits. He was always among the top three in the unit's hand-to-hand combat drills."

Old Chen fell silent for a moment.

On the screen, Jiang Ran crouched beside the team member lying facedown and said something to him, then reached out and pulled him to his feet.

The movement was natural, even somewhat gentle.

Yet this seemingly gentle young man had taken down five rigorously trained elites in thirty seconds.

"The gap is just too great."

The old man spoke softly, a hint of emotion in his voice. "They're simply not on the same level."

"If only Little Jiang qualified to enter. I feel... with his combat strength, he could hold his own against those monsters all by himself."

Old Chen slowly exhaled a mouthful of smoke, the haze curling in the light from the monitors.

"I was thinking the same thing."

Nine o'clock that evening.

The training center's underground cafeteria.

Jiang Ran finished a simple dinner, carried his tray to the return counter, and turned to see Old Chen stepping out of the elevator.

"Heading out already?" Old Chen hurried over, smiling. "Not going to train a little longer? Those lads look like they've recovered. They can keep going."

At that, Jiang Ran shook his head.

"Maybe next time," he said. "They're already at their physical limit. If I keep beating them up, they won't be able to take it."

Old Chen listened, first freezing for a moment, then shaking his head with an amused smile.

"All right, you know best." He clapped Jiang Ran on the shoulder. "I'll have the driver take you home."

"Okay."

The black sedan glided steadily into the night.

Jiang Ran sat in the back, gazing at the city lights streaming past the window as his thoughts turned inward.

A Pale Blue Panel appeared in his consciousness.

[Congratulations! Your Profession Basic Skill, Freestyle Fighting, has advanced from Lv.8 to Lv.9 (0/900)]

[Congratulations! You have gained 2 Profession Points]

Freestyle Fighting hadn't leveled up at the fighting gym, but it had just advanced during the training session.

Back when he'd been teaching at the fighting gym.

He had already noticed a pattern.

The stronger the opponent he trained with, the faster his skill experience increased.

Those five men had been no match for him, but each of them had a solid foundation in fighting.

After sparring with them for a few rounds, his experience had filled up completely.

Two Profession Points.

For Jiang Ran, who was about to enter the Abyssal Void again, they were just what he needed.

And now, there was no doubt he would use his Profession Points only to develop his supernatural Profession.

Jiang Ran silently opened the Martial Monk Profession Panel.

[Profession: Martial Monk Lv.1 (3/100)]

[Profession Basic Skill: Dragon-Tiger Fist Lv.1 (2/100)]

[Golden Bell Shield Lv.1 (0/100)]

[Eight-Step Cicada Chase Lv.1 (0/100)]

[Profession Core Skill: Buddha's Wrathful Vajra Lv.1 (0/100)]

Jiang Ran considered which skill to upgrade.

An offensive skill, a defensive skill, an escape skill, and a trump card.

It was a well-rounded supernatural Profession setup.

At the same time, this was what excited Jiang Ran most about obtaining a Profession.

Because if he remembered correctly, the voice in his mind had described only the inheritance of Dragon-Tiger Fist, that divine ability...

Yet after he absorbed the Seed of Return to Void, the Profession Panel had automatically unlocked the supernatural Martial Monk Profession based on that divine ability, and he could use Profession Points to unlock the Profession's other supporting skills.

This meant that even if other lucky people had somehow obtained a divine ability inheritance the last time they entered the Abyssal Void.

They had most likely received only a single divine ability.

They would have to figure out how to cultivate it themselves and search for complementary abilities, with no clear path ahead.

And what did he have?

A Profession Panel.

A clear Profession path.

A shortcut to quickly unlocking and improving skills with Profession Points.

When it came to the progress of supernatural exploration alone.

He was already far ahead of everyone else.

"But I've got limited points, so I need to spend them where they'll count."

Jiang Ran pulled himself back from his thoughts and began weighing his options.

Dragon-Tiger Fist covered offense, and Buddha's Wrathful Vajra was his trump card. For now, that was enough.

What he lacked most at the moment was defense and mobility.

For no other reason than that he had only one life.

Before long, the car stopped at the entrance to his residential complex.

Jiang Ran thanked the driver, got out, and hurried home.

After locking the door and drawing the curtains, he immediately sat cross-legged in the middle of the living room.

His consciousness sank into the Panel.

"Add points."

He first put 1 Profession Point into [Golden Bell Shield].

Hum...

A warm current rose from his dantian, quickly spreading through his limbs and bones.

His skin tightened slightly, and the invisible layer of inner energy beneath it seemed to be nourished.

Jiang Ran could feel his defense had increased by at least twofold.

[Golden Bell Shield Lv.1 → Lv.2 (0/200)]

But when he saw the Panel, Jiang Ran froze slightly...

There was only one notification!?

It seemed leveling up a supernatural Profession didn't grant Profession Points.

But there was no time to dwell on it now.

He immediately put his other Profession Point into [Eight-Step Cicada Chase].

This time, the warm current gathered mainly in his legs.

His qi and blood surged along specific meridians, and he gained new insight into how to unleash explosive power.

[Eight-Step Cicada Chase Lv.1 → Lv.2 (0/200)]

The upgrade was complete.

Jiang Ran stood up, loosened his muscles, and checked the time.

Ten o'clock at night.

Two hours until midnight.

Time was short.

Jiang Ran immediately took out the five Spirit Crystals he had left from last time and sat cross-legged again.

He'd been so busy grinding his Profession over the past two days that he'd barely had a moment to himself. Now that he was about to enter the Abyssal Void, he naturally had to improve himself as quickly as possible.

Holding one in each hand, he quieted his mind and circulated the Blood-Qi Circulation Method.

Cool energy flowed from his palms, met the searing qi and blood inside him, then surged along its circuit through his body.

One crystal, then two...

By the time the fifth Spirit Crystal had crumbled into gray-white powder.

Jiang Ran was drenched in sweat, and the white steam rising from his head was thicker than last time.

The total amount of his qi and blood had increased by at least thirty percent.

"Whew..."

Jiang Ran slowly completed his practice and opened his eyes.

A deep light shone in his eyes.

He stood up, getting used to his newly enhanced physique as well as the upgraded Golden Bell Shield and Eight-Step Cicada Chase.

Then he went over to the computer and sat down.

He opened a browser.

He wanted to see how things were going in the outside world.

It was a given that more people had entered than he'd expected.

Even at one in ten thousand, there would be eight or nine hundred people in Feng City alone.

And based on the global population, there would be hundreds of thousands.

With hundreds of thousands of people suddenly entering the Abyssal Void, there was no way the Federation could cover up the abnormal situation completely.

Sure enough, as soon as he clicked on a few forums he often visited.

Jiang Ran noticed something unusual.

[Did anyone else have a nightmare that felt incredibly real last night? I dreamed I went to an empty city.]

[Reporting from Feng City. Three people in our residential complex died last night. The authorities say it was an accident, but I don't think that's right...]

[Has anyone heard of the Second World? My friend says he went in and even got superpowers...]

Jiang Ran skimmed through the posts, understanding what was going on.

More people had entered the Abyssal Void than he'd expected.

Even at a rate of one in ten thousand, there would be nearly eight hundred thousand people worldwide.

With so many people experiencing something abnormal at once, there was no way the Federation could cover it all up.

All it could do was control the information and steer public opinion.

And beneath the seemingly calm surface of the online world...

Jiang Ran moved his mouse and clicked on a forum with a strange name.

[Foundation Internal Discussion Board]

There was no registration option on the forum; visitors could only browse as guests.

But nearly every post on it was related to the Abyssal Void.

[Summary of Incidents in the Eastern Coastal Region (Ongoing Updates)]

[Preliminary Analysis of Spirit Crystals in the Abyssal Void and Recommendations for Use]

[Reports on Monster Strength Differences Across Regions... Includes Threat-Level Assessments]

Jiang Ran's eyes narrowed slightly.

The people behind this forum had considerable influence.

To remain active under the Federation's information controls and gather such extensive, detailed intelligence...

They couldn't be an ordinary organization.

But for Jiang Ran, this was a good thing.

Intelligence was a bargaining chip for survival.

He opened a pinned post.

Its title was: [Myth Revival Conjecture: Are We Repeating History?]

The poster's ID was a string of gibberish.

"If you can read this post, I believe you're all lucky enough to enter the Abyssal Void.

I'll skip the pleasantries and get straight to the point."

"I don't believe the appearance of the Abyssal Void was an accident. It might not even be the first time."

Jiang Ran frowned and continued reading.

"Throughout history, countless myths and legends have recorded supernatural abilities, Secret Realms, and ascension.

Most thought-provoking of all are the figures mentioned in those records.

Jiang Ziya, Zhang Liang, Zhuge Liang, Liu Bowen... These men, hailed in their respective eras as sages of strategy or half-immortals—did they all enter places similar to the Abyssal Void and acquire knowledge and power beyond their time?"

"Suppose this conjecture is true. Then here's the question.

With all their astonishing abilities, why did Jiang Ziya and the others eventually vanish into the river of history?

Why wasn't the power they gained passed down?

Does the Abyssal Void have some kind of reset mechanism? Or perhaps there's a price we still don't know about?

If we're following in their footsteps... what fate awaits us?"

The post ended there.

There was no way to reply; only the view count was slowly increasing.

Jiang Ran sat in front of the screen, motionless for a long time.

After seeing monsters in the Abyssal Void, he had realized it was more than just a parallel world.

But he really hadn't considered the question the blogger had raised.

Still, that question was clearly beyond Jiang Ran's current understanding.

Yet after seeing the post, he became even more certain of what he had been thinking.

I have to... get stronger as soon as possible.

Amid the tide of Myth Revival, I need the ability to protect myself.

"Time's up."

Jiang Ran glanced at the bottom-right corner of the computer screen.

23:59:30.

He shut down the computer, walked over to the bed, and lay down without changing his clothes.

When the clock struck midnight,

his consciousness grew hazy once more.