Even Father Jiang, who was stationed outside the city, had heard about what had happened inside.
He was surprised that this prodigy's name was exactly the same as his son's.
"Could it possibly be your son?" one of his fellow soldiers joked.
"I wish. My son only awakened an E-rank talent. If he had that kind of ability, I'd be laughing in my sleep," Jiang Damu sighed.
"Haha, true enough."
At school on Monday.
Mo Xixi had just arrived in class.
Her friend Xu Qing hurried over.
"Xixi, your cousin's name is Jiang Yuan, right?"
Mo Xixi's heart gave a little jolt.
Did she know that Yuan had become a Tier-One Martial Artist?
"Y-yes. Why?"
The girl beside Xu Qing said, "That can't be it. It's definitely just a coincidence."
"Yeah. Knowing Xixi, if it really were her cousin, she'd have bragged about it ages ago."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
Mo Xixi flushed with anger. "I don't tell you everything, okay? Like..."
"Like what?"
Mo Xixi remembered Tao Yufeng's warning and held back from telling them about her cousin. Instead, she said, "N-nothing. You're all acting strange today. What are you talking about?"
Xu Qing and the other two exchanged glances.
"It's the challenge between students from Thunder Martial Arts Hall and Chongming Martial Arts Hall," Xu Qing said. "It's all over the internet. Haven't you seen it?"
"I haven't. What happened?"
Mo Xixi was telling the truth.
After being spurred on by Jiang Yuan these past two days, she had stayed offline for once and trained seriously, hoping to absorb the Gene Potion's effects.
Xu Qing explained what had happened, and Mo Xixi's mouth fell open.
She couldn't believe Yuan had done something like that right after leaving home.
So much for keeping a low profile!
Seeing her reaction, Xu Qing turned to the other two girls. "Looks like it really isn't her cousin."
The two let out a relieved breath and laughed. "Now we can relax. If Xixi had a cousin who was that handsome and that strong, I'd be green with envy."
"I knew it couldn't be him. It only takes a little common sense. Her cousin's an E-rank Assassin class-transfer. How could he suddenly become one of the top five prodigies in Nanjiang City?"
"Hey! What's that supposed to mean?" Mo Xixi snapped.
"Nothing. Don't take it to heart."
Xu Qing and the other two giggled and ran off.
During history class.
As the teacher lectured, Mo Xixi sat at her desk and secretly watched recordings of the livestream on her phone. The more she watched, the more admiration shone in her eyes.
"Just like Yuan. He's so cool."
"Forget Liang Cheng—even Xia Qinghou, hailed as Nanjiang City's number-one prodigy, is no match for Yuan!"
Admiration filled Mo Xixi's delicate, fair face. In her heart, her cousin was now the strongest person in the world.
She sneaked a glance at Xu Qing and the others nearby, then lowered her head and giggled.
"Those fools, Qingqing and the others, still don't know he's my cousin."
"Just wait until after he takes the college entrance exam. I'll scare you all half to death!"
"Hehehe..."
At Chongming Martial Arts Hall, Jiang Yuan had no idea his fame was growing. He was on the phone with his mother, Tao Chunru.
"Mom, have you been doing all right? How's work?"
"I'm fine. You know how it is with nursing—there's never a quiet moment. What about you? Are you running low on money? Has your dad sent you any? If you need more, just tell me." Her gentle voice came through the communicator. Seeing how tired she looked on its screen, Jiang Yuan parted his lips, but said nothing.
"When things settle down and I'm not so busy, I'll see if I can take some time off and come visit you in Nanjiang City."
"Okay. Don't push yourself. I'm doing just fine. Oh, I sent you a package. Remember to pick it up."
"Got it. A patient just arrived, so I have to get back to work. I'll hang up now."
After ending the call.
Jiang Yuan collected himself and opened his status panel.
[Character: Jiang Yuan] [Race: Human.] [Age: 17] [Level—Tier-One Martial Artist (LV9)] [Class: Martial God (Mythic)] [Talents: Infinite Amplification (Primordial), Supreme Analysis (Divine), Undying Phoenix Flame (SSS)] [Stamina: 1990] [Strength: 2010] [Speed: 1980] [Spirit: 2250] [Luck: 5] [Passive Specialty: Limit of Strength (all attributes multiplied by ten in normal state, multiplied by thirty in near-death state)] [God Avoidance]: A ranged finishing move that requires a weapon in hand and consumes half of your stamina. Ignores defense and cannot be dodged. Critical hits deal up to 1000% damage! Cooldown: 30 minutes. [Star Explosion]: Unleash all your vital energy and enter Star Explosion state. While in this state, consumes 1% stamina per second, removes all negative effects, ignores all control effects, increases defense by 1000%, attack speed by 500%, and critical damage by 300%. No cooldown. [God Speed]: Consumes stamina to instantly flash to a target's side (cannot be controlled by control skills). Range increases with level (current range: 1000 meters). Cooldown: 2.5 seconds. (Resets after killing a target.) [Cultivation Techniques: Ripple Force Method, Immortal Body Tempering Technique (SSS), Kindling Breathing Technique (SSS), Great Sun Ultimate Visualization Method (SSS)] [Martial Technique: Space-Splitting Strike (Three-Star Ultimate Art): Critical true damage, damage +150%, with a cutting effect] [Equipment: Crimson Bracers (Rare)] [Items: None] [Remaining Free Attribute Points: 0] [Remaining Merit Points: 357]
After comprehending the Great Sun Starry Sky Visualization Method, Jiang Yuan absorbed the Psychic-Class Mutated Crystal, pushing his Spirit attribute past the 2,200-point threshold.
Now, with just a glance, he could bring down those lacking resolve and courage with spiritual suppression infused with his steadily developing Martial Dao Pressure, leaving them shaken, terrified, or even unconscious.
"If only I had a Psychic-Class skill book."
Jiang Yuan thought to himself.
His spiritual power was now comparable to that of a Tier-Three class-transferred mage. With the right skill book, he was sure he could unleash terrifying power.
"I wonder how much Psychic-Class skill books cost on the market."
Jiang Yuan checked his current balance.
The signing bonus from joining Blood Rose, the sale of rare equipment and skill books from Thunder Martial Arts Hall, and rewards from the Martial Artist Association and the Patrol Bureau...
All of it had brought his balance to an unprecedentedly staggering amount.
One hundred and thirteen million, three hundred and twenty thousand.
Looking at his balance, Jiang Yuan smiled with satisfaction and delight.
"It really is great to have money."
With a fortune at his disposal, he logged into the Star Domain and browsed the market and forums to his heart's content.
He quickly found what he needed.
Jiang Yuan narrowed the options down to four promising choices.
Option one.
[Spirit Spike (Skill Book)]: Mid-tier skill book. An offensive spiritual skill that condenses spirit into a spike and pierces the enemy's Spirit Barrier, dealing considerable spiritual damage.
[Learning Requirements]: Requires a Spirit attribute of 500. Suitable for Psychic-Class professionals from Tier Three to Tier Six. Price: 4.3 million.
Option two.
[Nether Fire (Skill Book)]: Mid-tier skill book. An offensive and illusion-type skill that burns the enemy's mind and induces hallucinations, impairing their movements.
[Learning Requirements]: Requires a Spirit attribute of 500. Suitable for Psychic-Class professionals from Tier Three to Tier Six. Price: 5.1 million.
Option three.
[Ultimate Terror (Skill Book)]: Mid-tier skill book. An illusion-type spiritual skill that creates a terrifying scene based on the enemy's greatest fear, dealing enormous spiritual damage.
[Learning Requirements]: Requires a Spirit attribute of 500. Suitable for Psychic-Class professionals from Tier Three to Tier Six. Price: 4 million.
Option four.
[Avici Cage (Skill Book)]: Mid-tier skill book. An illusion-type spiritual skill that uses powerful spiritual interference to lock the enemy's will inside an endless, pitch-black cage, cutting off their perception of time and space and inflicting severe spiritual trauma.
[Learning Requirements]: Requires a Spirit attribute of 1,000. Suitable for Psychic-Class professionals from Tier Five to Tier Seven. Price: 13 million.
After some thought, Jiang Yuan decided to buy the first and fourth skill books.
Class-transferred warriors who had logged into the Star Domain Network could make direct purchases through the Heavenly Dao system.
After spending 17.3 million,
the two skill books appeared in Jiang Yuan's System Inventory.
He clicked to learn them.
[Ding! You used a mid-tier skill book and learned the skill—Spirit Spike]
[Ding! You used a mid-tier skill book and learned the skill—Avici Cage]
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