Ye Li truly hadn't expected this.
One second, he had still been worrying over the Breathing Technique; the next, someone had delivered one right to his door.
He had originally planned to use the white panel from Second-Tier Level One to test himself against that so-called Tang Yao, claim the reward afterward, then find a passable Breathing Technique to make do with for now.
Now, it seemed there was no need to wait.
Ye Li looked at the panel.
[Current Malice Points: points]
He silently let out a breath and opened the thick tome before him.
He read through it page by page.
[S-Grade Breathing Technique: White Mist Frost Snow (Uninitiated)] According to Jiang Qingzhu, this S-Grade Breathing Technique was extraordinarily difficult to cultivate and would likely consume quite a few Malice Points. Ye Li had never delved into Breathing Techniques before. This time, even if he spent points, he probably wouldn't receive any Buff enhancement. Still, there was no need to worry too much. Last time, 8,000 Malice Points had been enough to raise the sss-grade [Indestructible Golden Soul] to LV2. There was no reason over ten thousand Malice Points couldn't get him started on an S-Grade Breathing Technique. Let him see just what was so profound about this advanced Breathing Technique worth several million Hanxia Coins! System, add points! Ye Li gathered his focus. The more than ten thousand Malice Points on the panel transformed into a surging torrent, pouring mightily into the Breathing Technique. ... [ Ding! ] [Malice Points consumed. Beginning enhancement of S-Grade Breathing Technique: White Mist Frost Snow!] [Upon opening this mysterious Breathing Technique for the first time, you fell into deep thought. You recognized every word on the page, yet when strung together, they formed a sentence you could not understand at all.] [A question could not help arising in your heart: How did these words form a sentence?] [To learn this exceedingly difficult S-Grade Breathing Technique, you could only calm yourself for now and begin trying to understand it through context...] [After consuming 1,000 Malice Points, you learned a new method to restore true qi through breathing. Unlike the crude old method of gulping down air and spiritual energy like a whale swallowing and a dragon siphoning, you no longer inhaled both in one headlong rush. Instead, you found a way to draw in spiritual energy, ensuring that great amounts of it accompanied every breath.] [After consuming 2,000 Malice Points, you had already mastered the method of using breathing rhythms to draw in spiritual energy. You began attempting to imbue your true qi with an icy chill...] [After consuming 3,000 Malice Points, you had skillfully mastered the method of giving true qi the properties of cold air. Every physical contact could forcibly drive a wisp of cold into an enemy's body!] [White Mist Frost Snow (Beginner)]
This should have been the level Jiang Qingzhu was at.
He could infuse his fists and feet with true qi enchanted with cold, gradually causing his opponent's limbs to stiffen—or even suffer frostbite—through repeated collisions.
Yet when ordinary people cultivated to this stage, the cold enchantment was still limited to their bodies. Jiang Qingzhu, meanwhile, even had a matching spear that could directly grant her weapon the same cold-infused effect.
Having money really was nice...
Ye Li gently shook his head and continued adding points.
[After consuming 5,000 Malice Points, through research accumulated over countless years, you no longer needed a specific breathing rhythm. With ordinary breathing alone, you could rapidly restore true qi.] [Martial Skill Level increased. White Mist Frost Snow (Proficient)] [After consuming 6,000 Malice Points, as your understanding of this Breathing Technique deepened, the true qi within your body could now carry the effects of cold in large quantities. As long as your palm touched an enemy for several seconds, you could consume a large amount of true qi to instantly freeze them!] [Martial Skill Level increased. White Mist Frost Snow (Mastery)] [After consuming 8,000 Malice Points, your control over cold had reached the point of consummate perfection. The speed at which you restored true qi through the Breathing Technique had also become dozens of times faster than before you cultivated it!] [Martial Skill Level increased. White Mist Frost Snow (Major Accomplishment)!] [After consuming 9,000 Malice Points, you had achieved complete control over the cold within your body, able to release or withdraw it at will. You began researching a method to unleash the cold all at once...] [After consuming Malice Points, you mastered the technique of instantly erupting a vast amount of cold and sweeping across all directions!] [Comprehended Technique: Frost Snow Covers the Sky!] [Frost Snow Covers the Sky: Increases true qi output, granting the ability to instantly erupt a vast amount of cold and freeze everything in the surrounding area!] [Martial Skill Level increased. White Mist Frost Snow attained perfection!] [Comment: This enhancement consumed a total of Malice Points. The degree of improvement was roughly equivalent to fifty years of bitter cultivation. Though you are not yet twenty, in terms of your mastery of this Breathing Technique alone, it would not be excessive to have Jiang Qingzhu call you grandpa!]
Fifty years of bitter cultivation had finally maxed out this S-Grade Breathing Technique.
The true qi within him circulated at incredible speed, and with every breath, he felt it growing.
With a single thought, this true qi filling all five limbs and the body could instantly transform into bone-piercing cold!
Looking at the words on the panel,
Ye Li's heartbeat quickened slightly. He finally understood why S-Grade Breathing Techniques were so expensive.
First, they restored true qi at an astonishing speed. After reaching Major Accomplishment, they were dozens of times faster than martial artists who had not cultivated a Breathing Technique...
The true qi reserves the latter needed an entire day of focused cultivation to restore could be replenished by the former in a single hour.
There was no need to consider breathing rhythm, noisy surroundings, spiritual energy density... or anything of the sort.
Other than being expensive and difficult to learn, S-Grade Breathing Techniques had virtually no major flaws.
Not to mention that after cultivating it to perfection, he had directly gained an ability-like "Technique."
Ye Li's gaze lingered on the description of [Frost Snow Covers the Sky], and heat stirred faintly in his heart.
Frost Snow Covers the Sky... he wondered just how powerful this so-called eruption could be...
He headed for the hotel-provided Cultivation Room.
After briefly examining the space of roughly twenty square meters, bright ice-blue light lit up in Ye Li's eyes. An incomparably fierce icy gale swept out from around him!
Boom!—
A sound like an explosion rang through the air. Visible cold spread outward in the form of a shockwave, slamming heavily against the walls and instantly bursting into layers upon layers of crystalline ice!
Ye Li stared at the strange sight around him in surprise. That single attack had consumed roughly twenty percent of his true qi.
Thick white mist filled the Cultivation Room. An ordinary First-Tier Martial Artist would feel intense stabbing pain just from breathing it into their lungs.
White mist paired with frost and snow—the Breathing Technique's name was indeed fitting.
Moreover, the cushions, steps, equipment... every facility between Ye Li and the walls was coated in a thick layer of solid ice, utterly motionless.
Ye Li tried picking at the ice layer and discovered it was a full three or four centimeters thick, leaving him astonished.
By the look of it, if ordinary First-Tier Martial Artists failed to prepare in advance, they would most likely be instantly defeated by his Frost Snow Covers the Sky.
Even if they weren't frozen unconscious, they would probably still end up lying on the ground, unable to fight.
Wasn't this a little too outrageous?
A Technique attached to an S-Grade Breathing Technique was this powerful—what were ordinary Martial Science Students supposed to fight with?
Ye Li walked out of the Training Room. In merely a dozen or so breaths, most of the true qi he had expended had already recovered.
[Current Malice Points: 200 points]
Looking at the nearly depleted number, a thread of anxiety rose in Ye Li's heart, and he let out a soft sigh.
If there hadn't been any immoral martial arts schools nearby, he would have wanted to go knock on one of their doors and challenge them directly.
There were still several hours until that so-called Exchange Competition...
When the time came, he would have to earn a good haul of Malice Points.
Having only a three-digit balance was simply too unsettling.
Unfortunately, he couldn't find a reason to make a move for now, nor was there a suitable target at hand...
He could only hope that this so-called Tang Yao was no less popular at school than Jiang Qingzhu. Otherwise, it would be difficult to bring in a large amount of Malice Points.
Just as he was about to lie down and sleep for a while,
the phone Ye Li had placed by his bedside began to vibrate.
He picked it up and looked at it. The lazy expression on his face vanished at once, and he sat upright in bed.
Two brief messages were displayed prominently on the screen.
Jiang Qingzhu: We're surrounded at the Training Ground.
Jiang Qingzhu: A lot of people have come looking for trouble and insist on sparring with us. We can't get away, and it's a bit tricky. Do you have time to go get reinforcements?
Before you continue