Adding Points

A few minutes later.

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

On the floor before him, the five men who had been raring to go just moments ago were now lying sprawled in all directions.

Inside the office not far from the training ground.

Old Chen stood in front of the surveillance monitor, silently watching everything that had just unfolded.

Behind him stood an elderly man in a Zhongshan suit, his hair streaked with white.

"If I remember correctly," Old Chen began slowly, his voice a little hoarse, "that Little Xu was considered a top soldier in the special forces, wasn't he?"

"That's right." The old man nodded, his gaze still fixed on the young figure on the screen. "He came out of the Southwest Falcon. Received two second-class merits. His combat skills were always in the top three of the unit."

Old Chen fell silent for a moment.

On the screen, Jiang Ran was crouching down, saying something to one of the prone team members, then reaching out a hand to pull him up.

The movement was natural, even carried a hint of gentleness.

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

"The gap is too big."

The old man said softly, a trace of emotion in his tone. "They're not even on the same level."

"If only Little Jiang were eligible to enter. I feel... with his combat power, he could hold his own against those monsters alone."

Old Chen slowly exhaled a puff of smoke, the haze curling in the light of the screen.

"I was thinking the same thing."

Nine o'clock in the evening.

Underground cafeteria of the training center.

Jiang Ran had a simple dinner, set his tray at the return station, and turned to see Old Chen walking out of the elevator.

"Leaving already?" Old Chen quickened his pace, a smile on his face. "Not going to train a bit longer? I think those guys have recovered enough to keep going."

Jiang Ran shook his head at that.

"Next time," he said. "Their stamina has hit its limit. If I keep beating them down, they won't be able to take it."

Old Chen listened, paused for a moment, then shook his head with a wry laugh.

"Alright, you're the boss." He patted Jiang Ran on the shoulder. "I'll have the driver take you back."

"Okay."

The black sedan glided steadily into the night.

Jiang Ran sat in the back, his gaze drifting toward the flowing city lights outside the window, his thoughts sinking inward.

In his mind, a pale blue panel materialized.

code
[Congratulations, your basic occupational skill Freestyle Fighting has been upgraded from Lv.8 to Lv.9 (0/900)]

[Congratulations, you have received 2 occupational points]

The Freestyle Fighting that hadn't leveled up at the boxing gym had successfully upgraded during the teaching session just now.

Back when he was teaching at the boxing gym.

He had noticed a pattern.

The stronger the opponent he sparred with during instruction, the faster his skill experience grew.

Those five men might have been no match for him, but taken individually, each had a solid foundation in combat.

After sparring those rounds with them, his experience bar had filled up completely.

2 occupational points.

For Jiang Ran, who was about to enter the Abyssal Void again, this was a timely boost.

And now, occupational points would undoubtedly only be used to serve his supernatural occupation.

Jiang Ran silently opened the Martial Monk occupation panel.

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

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

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

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

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

Jiang Ran pondered which skill to invest in.

One offensive method, one defensive method, one escape method, one trump card.

A very comprehensive supernatural occupation framework.

And this was also what excited Jiang Ran the most after obtaining the occupation.

Because if Jiang Ran remembered correctly, the voice in his mind had only narrated the inheritance of the Dragon-Tiger Fist divine ability...

Yet after he absorbed the Seed of Return to Void, the Profession Panel automatically unlocked the Martial Monk transcendent profession based on that divine ability, and he could use profession points to unlock other supporting skills of that profession.

This meant that even if others had entered the Return to Void before and luckily obtained divine ability inheritances.

They had most likely only gotten a single divine ability.

They would need to figure out cultivation methods on their own, search for complementary divine abilities, and face a murky path ahead.

And him?

He had the Profession Panel.

He had a clear profession path.

He had a shortcut to quickly unlock and upgrade skills through profession points.

Just in terms of progress in exploring the transcendent.

He had already left others far behind.

"But points are limited, they have to be used on the blade's edge."

Jiang Ran pulled back his thoughts and began to weigh his options.

For offense, he had Dragon-Tiger Fist; for a trump card, he had Buddha's Wrathful Vajra—enough for now.

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

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

Soon, the car stopped at the entrance of the residential complex.

Jiang Ran thanked the driver, got out, and quickly returned home.

Locking the door and drawing the curtains, he immediately sat cross-legged in the center of the living room.

His consciousness sank into the panel.

"Add points."

He first invested 1 profession point into [Golden Bell Shield].

Hmm...

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

A slight tightness came over his skin, as if the invisible layer of qi beneath it had been nourished.

Jiang Ran could feel that his defense had at least doubled.

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

But when he saw the panel, Jiang Ran was slightly stunned...

Only one notification!?

It seemed that leveling up a transcendent profession didn't grant profession points.

But there was no time to dwell on it now.

Immediately after, he invested the other 1 profession point into [Eight-Step Cicada Chase].

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

Blood and qi surged along specific meridian pathways, and he gained new insights into how to apply explosive force.

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

Upgrade complete.

Jiang Ran stood up, stretched his limbs, and checked the time.

Ten at night.

Two hours until midnight.

Time was tight.

Jiang Ran immediately took out the five Spirit Crystals left from last time and sat back down cross-legged.

He had been running around nonstop these past two days grinding for his profession, and now that he was about to enter the Return to Void, he naturally had to improve himself as quickly as possible.

Holding one crystal in each hand, he calmed his mind and activated the Blood-Qi Circulation Method.

Cool energy surged in from his palms, met the scorching blood and qi inside his body, and then circulated along the meridian cycle.

One crystal, two...

When the fifth Spirit Crystal turned to ash-white powder.

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

His total blood and qi had increased by at least thirty percent.

"Hah..."

Jiang Ran slowly withdrew his technique and opened his eyes.

Divine light gathered within his eyes.

He stood up, acclimating to his once-again strengthened physique, as well as the upgraded Golden Bell Shield and Eight-Step Cicada Chase.

Then, he walked over to the computer and sat down.

He opened the browser.

He wanted to see what the outside world looked like now.

The number of people who had entered was definitely larger than he had imagined.

Even if it was one in ten thousand, Feng City alone would have eight or nine hundred people.

And based on the global population, that meant several hundred thousand.

With hundreds of thousands suddenly entering the Abyssal Void, such an anomaly was impossible for the Federation to completely cover up.

Sure enough, the moment he clicked into a few forums he frequented.

Jiang Ran noticed some irregularities.

[Did anyone have an unusually realistic nightmare last night? I dreamed I went to an empty city]

[Coordinates: Feng City. Three people died in our neighborhood last night. Officials say it was an accident, but something feels off...]

[Has anyone heard of the Second World? My friend said he entered it and even got superpowers...]

Jiang Ran skimmed through quickly, understanding in his heart.

The number of people entering the Abyssal Void was even greater than he had imagined.

Even calculated at a rate of one in ten thousand, that was nearly eight hundred thousand people globally.

With so many people experiencing anomalies simultaneously, it was completely impossible for the Federation to fully conceal it.

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

And beneath this seemingly calm surface of the internet...

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

[Foundation Internal Exchange Zone]

The forum had no registration portal; one could only browse as a guest.

But the posts inside were almost entirely related to the Abyssal Void.

[Eastern Coastal Region Incident Compilation (Continuously Updated)]

[Preliminary Analysis and Usage Suggestions for Spirit Crystals within the Abyssal Void]

[Regional Monster Strength Variance Report... Attached with Danger Level Assessment]

Jiang Ran's gaze sharpened.

The people behind this forum had considerable influence.

To exist under the Federation's information control and to have gathered so much, such detailed intelligence...

Was not something an ordinary organization could accomplish.

But for Jiang Ran, this was a good thing.

Intelligence was the currency of survival.

He clicked open a pinned post.

The title was: [Myth Revival Speculation: Are We Repeating History?]

The poster's ID was a string of garbled characters.

"Anyone who can see this post is likely a lucky one who can enter the Abyssal Void.

I'll skip the pleasantries and go straight to the conclusion."

"I believe the appearance of the Abyssal Void is no accident, and may not even be the first time."

Jiang Ran frowned and continued reading.

"Throughout the long river of history, countless myths and legends contain records of transcendence, secret realms, and ascension.

And what is most thought-provoking are the figures recorded in those tales.

Jiang Ziya, Zhang Liang, Zhuge Liang, Liu Bowen... these individuals, called strategist saints or demigods in their respective eras—did they all enter places similar to the Abyssal Void and gain knowledge and power beyond their times?"

"Assuming this speculation holds, then the question arises.

With Jiang Ziya and the others possessing such heaven-defying abilities, why did they ultimately vanish into the river of history?

Why were the powers they obtained never passed down?

Does the Abyssal Void possess some kind of reset mechanism? Or perhaps, some price we have yet to discover?

If we are also walking their path... then what awaits us at the end?"

The post ended there.

There was no reply function below, only a slowly increasing view count.

Jiang Ran sat before the screen, unmoving for a long time.

After seeing the monster in the Abyssal Void, he knew it was far more than just a parallel world.

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

That question was clearly beyond Jiang Ran's current scope.

Still, after reading this post, it only further confirmed what he had been thinking.

He must... grow stronger as fast as possible.

To have the ability to protect himself in the flood of Myth Revival.

"Time's up."

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

23:59:30.

He shut down the computer, stood up, walked to the bed, and lay down fully clothed.

When the clock struck midnight.

His consciousness wavered once more.