By the time Yang Chen returned to the area near his home, it was already evening.
Along the way, he had wandered around a bit.
Only now did he discover that even this little city of Hancheng had its own unique charm.
Back when he was struggling to get by, Yang Chen had spent all his time scavenging for trash. He'd never had a chance to take in Hancheng's scenery—or even really look at the place.
How could someone who could barely make ends meet spare a thought for anything beyond whether he'd have enough to eat at his next meal?
But things were different now. Yang Chen no longer had to worry about going hungry, so for once, he took the time to look around.
After wandering for the entire afternoon, he finally made his leisurely way back to his neighborhood.
He arrived at Liu's Noodle Shop!
Looking at the weathered sign, Yang Chen suddenly felt a wave of emotion wash over him.
Everything was just as it had been. The old man was still lifting noodles from the boiling water, then expertly adding one seasoning after another.
The familiar aroma drifted around Yang Chen.
But Yang Chen was different now.
Yesterday, he'd been a little beggar who could only scrape together everything he owned, barely getting to enjoy a meat dish thanks to the old man's gift of beef.
Now, he had tens of thousands in his pocket.
Yang Chen felt his nose tingle. Then he forced a smile and walked into Liu's Noodle Shop.
As if sensing his arrival, the old man lifted his head and smiled faintly.
"The usual? Three liang of plain noodles, easy on the chili?"
Yang Chen paused, then flashed his white teeth. "Three liang of beef noodles, easy on the chili!"
The old man paused, then smiled too. "Coming right up! Three liang of beef noodles, easy on the chili!"
By the time Yang Chen left Liu's Noodle Shop, the sky had turned a little orange, and the sun was nearly below the horizon.
Feeling content, Yang Chen headed home.
The old man sat in his chair, eyes half closed as he watched Yang Chen's retreating figure. A faint glimmer shone in his cloudy eyes.
Only after Yang Chen had made it home did the old man look away.
He produced a long-stemmed pipe from who knew where, took several deep drags, then blew out thick rings of smoke.
"Getting old... I can't even see people clearly anymore!"
The old man gently set his pipe on the table, then closed his eyes. Whether he'd fallen asleep or was only pretending was hard to say.
Back home, Yang Chen sat cross-legged on his bed, eager to find out what the so-called A-Class Spiritual Energy Infusion would do.
Judging by the name, it sounded pretty good!
"System! Use A-Class Spiritual Energy Infusion!"
Yang Chen composed himself and activated it.
"Ding! Activation successful!"
The system's cold voice rang out. Then Yang Chen felt a vast surge of energy pour into his body.
Like a flood!
The violent energy instantly churned through him.
Yang Chen's face flushed slightly, but he quickly forced the color back down.
His body had already reached the Grandmaster level. Just his physical strength was enough to place him among Huaxia's top experts.
So, for now, this raging energy couldn't make much of a disturbance inside him.
There was only one problem.
His body had never held so much energy before!
The sign-in reward had improved his constitution—in other words, it had only transformed his body. His cultivation, however, was still that of a complete novice!
With so much energy pouring into him all at once, even his body, which could rival a Grandmaster's, began to ache faintly.
A strong body didn't mean strong meridians and a strong dantian!
His body was strong because his blood and qi had been enhanced and his constitution improved. But this was a world undergoing Spiritual Energy Recovery, where ability users absorbed spiritual energy to strengthen their abilities.
That was how they advanced.
Yang Chen's physical body had reached the Grandmaster realm, but when it came to spiritual energy cultivation, he was still a complete novice!
This A-Class Spiritual Energy Infusion poured the entire cultivation of an A-Class ability user directly into the host's body!
If it were only an E-Class infusion, it would be fairly easy to handle. E-Class was only the beginning, and most people could withstand it.
But A-Class was different. An A-Class ability user was already considered quite powerful among ability users. If an ordinary person received that much cultivation, there could only be one outcome.
Their body would explode!
Fortunately, Yang Chen was different. His constitution had improved, so he could withstand such a terrifying concentration of spiritual energy.
But it still hurt!
Faint, blood-red cracks spread across the surface of Yang Chen's body like a spiderweb.
It was a truly ghastly sight.
A faint smell of blood drifted through the air.
Yang Chen's face twisted in agony. The transformation of his constitution hadn't hurt this much, but this infusion of spiritual energy made him feel a flicker of despair!
Even so, Yang Chen didn't give up.
With a system like this, something that could change his life, giving up now would mean he might as well go back to being a useless trash picker!
"Bring it on!"
Yang Chen growled, then forced himself to endure.
It was as if the surging spiritual energy had heard him. The already violent torrent intensified, pouring into Yang Chen's body even faster.
It flowed along his meridians, coursing through every part of his body. The energy was terrifyingly fierce.
After all, this energy was entirely unbound. It was completely natural, with a hint of wildness.
If it came slowly, that would be one thing. But when so much arrived at once and gathered together, it caused devastating damage!
Yang Chen's meridians weren't weak. In fact, they were quite strong.
He could withstand the energy, but he couldn't escape the pain!
"Ah!!"
The veins in Yang Chen's neck bulged. A hint of crimson surfaced in his eyes, and large beads of sweat appeared on his forehead and temples.
Then the heat pouring off his body evaporated them at once!
At that moment, the energy—or rather, the spiritual energy—inside Yang Chen had reached a terrifying level!
Innumerable wisps of spiritual energy spun and gathered in Yang Chen's somewhat small dantian.
Gradually, as the spiritual energy continued to build, the vaporous mass began to condense toward a liquid state.
The spiritual energy in his dantian grew viscous.
As time passed, it gradually became droplets of spiritual energy, suspended inside Yang Chen's dantian.
Only when Yang Chen had absorbed every last bit of it did the process finally stop.
When the infusion ended, a completely new scene appeared in Yang Chen's mind.
He was standing in a sea of stars. Countless stars hung suspended in the universe.
Multicolored rays of light shimmered across each one.
"What is this?"
A trace of confusion appeared in Yang Chen's eyes.
Hadn't he just been receiving an infusion of spiritual energy? How had he suddenly ended up in outer space?
And if there was no oxygen in space, how could he breathe?
A thousand questions filled Yang Chen's mind.
This was completely beyond his expectations.
But then he saw that every star in the universe was radiating a different kind of energy.
Some were engulfed in flames, others bristled with ice. On some, even violent sword energy filled the air.
"This..." Yang Chen narrowed his eyes. As he looked at the stars around him, a strange sense of familiarity stirred within him.
"Could this be... abilities?" Yang Chen immediately recognized the source of the feeling in his memories!
Weren't these stars in the universe just like the abilities possessed by all those ability users?
Could these be the true forms of abilities?
Yang Chen was puzzled.
But just then, a powerful force of attraction seized his attention and drew him in a certain direction.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Yang Chen shot forward at incredible speed, almost as fast as light, weaving through the densely packed stars. Each time he passed one, he could sense something like fear coming from it.
Were these stars afraid of him?
What on earth was going on?
Yang Chen was even more bewildered, but he pushed the thought aside. He could feel the force pulling him growing stronger.
It was close!
Yang Chen's heart pounded. He wanted to know what his own ability would be!
It was like buying a lottery ticket: before seeing the final result, you couldn't help feeling anxious.
You hoped it would be great, but feared that it would turn out to be the worst.
After some time, Yang Chen finally arrived.
There were no stars here. There was only a vast darkness!
A black hole!
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