(Minor plot revisions)

In the afternoon, she practiced with Xue Zhongqi twice more, and each time they succeeded very smoothly.

However, Xue Zhongqi made around forty mistakes each time.

Simply put, given his current level of concentration, it's unlikely he can improve it quickly in a short period of time.

Realizing this, Xue Zhongqi, who was initially extremely confident, gradually became somewhat dejected.

The feeling after a day of practice was like he was hastily filling in the array patterns in front of him, while Qian Duoduo was cleaning up his mess behind him.

Despite his shortcomings, Qian Duoduo's strength allowed him to perfectly compensate for all his mistakes.

Ultimately, it was a success.

But this success did not come solely from his own efforts.

"Sister Qian, you've worked hard today. I'll give you a thousand yuan for your contribution." Xue Zhongqi changed his form of address and became much more humble than before.

Xu Jintang didn't stand on ceremony; she had indeed worked very hard to fix Xue Zhongqi today.

She nodded. "Yes, thank you."

Xue Zhongqi quickly transferred the contribution points, then looked up and asked, "Um... do you have time tomorrow?"

Xu Jintang shook his head, "No."

Xue Zhongqi was a little disappointed, as he had originally planned to continue asking her to assist him.

"When will you be free next time? Let me know in advance so we can continue practicing like this," Xue Zhongqi proactively extended the invitation. "Of course, the contribution points will definitely be plentiful."

Xu Jintang pondered for a moment, "I don't know when I'll be free, let's talk about it later."

Maybe she'll be free someday when she needs more contribution points.

As the sun was about to set, Xue Zhongqi personally escorted Xu Jintang out of the courtyard and said goodbye to him at the door.

Xu Jintang waved with his back turned, and his figure quickly disappeared at the end of the road.

After turning a corner and seeing that no one was around, Xu Jintang stopped, took off her disguise mask, turned around, and began to return the way she came.

To avoid arousing suspicion, Xu Jintang deliberately drove around the neighborhood for more than twenty minutes before returning to the villa.

As soon as I entered, I heard Song Tianqi and the others discussing, "Our class monitor really was gone for a day, and I actually miss her."

Yan Yuting rested her chin on her hand. "Yeah, I sent a message to the class monitor, but she didn't reply. She's probably still busy."

Xu Jintang silently took a step and walked into the living room on the first floor.

Just then, Jiang Shiyi came down the stairs and saw Xu Jintang. She nodded and greeted him, "You're back."

Xu Jintang hummed in agreement.

This commotion immediately caught the attention of Yan Yuting and the others.

Yan Yuting jumped up and ran over, her eyes full of curiosity. "Squad leader, where did you go out today? Why are you so late?"

Xu Jintang replied succinctly, "I went to take care of some personal matters."

She then quickly changed the subject. "Everyone looks great after just one day. You must have been slacking off, not training properly, right?"

Yan Yuting quickly explained, "No, I haven't. I've been training very hard."

Xue Zhongqi was even more confident, "I practiced level two array patterns all afternoon, and everyone can testify to that."

Xu Jintang's gaze fell on Song Tianqi, "And you?"

Song Tianqi touched his nose guiltily.

This afternoon, he did keep chatting with Qian Duoduo, but how did the class monitor know he was slacking off?

Seeing that he remained silent, Xu Jintang said calmly, "Your physical training will be doubled tomorrow. Any objections?"

Song Tianqi quickly stood up straight. "No objection!"

Chapter 54 (Minor Plot Revision)

This incident has diverted everyone's attention.

Seeing that no one was asking her where she had been during the day, Xu Jintang silently went upstairs and returned to her room to cultivate.

She sat down at her desk, logged into the Inscriptionist Association's intranet, and spent two hundred contribution points to unlock the Inscription tutorial.

A detailed tutorial video has started playing.

Xu Jintang rested her chin on her hand, listening attentively to the tutorial.

Fifteen minutes later, she nodded in satisfaction.

The 200 contribution points were definitely worth it; the tutorial even explained the thickness of the mental energy threads.

After a moment of contemplation, Xu Jintang took a deep breath, retrieved the inscription material from the bracelet's space, and began his first attempt.

The difficulty in engraving Tracking Inscription lies in the fact that an array of two basic inscriptions must be integrated within them to achieve both tracking and locking effects.

Adding basic inscription formations to an existing inscription formation is an extremely difficult task.

Xu Jintang's first attempt, unsurprisingly, failed.

However, she had anticipated this, and after checking and fixing the shortcomings, she immediately began the second attempt.

Still a failure...

On the fifth attempt, a crisp cracking sound rang out.

The secondhand inscription pen that Xu Jintang was holding in his palm suddenly developed several fine cracks.

Her hand paused, and as she hesitated, the inscription pen shattered into countless fragments in an instant, becoming completely unusable.

Tracking Inscription have no grade distinction, but they belong to a type of special function inscriptions. They are complicated and tedious to make, and require a high level of skill in inscription writing.

Xu Jintang's basic second-hand inscription pen is clearly no longer sufficient.

Xu Jintang leaned back and rubbed his shoulder.

Looks like I'll have to find some time tomorrow to buy a new inscription pen.

Suddenly remembering something, Xu Jintang quickly logged into the Inscriptionist Association's intranet and began searching for tutorials related to array patterns.

The challenge also included two array formations that Xue Zhongqi practiced today, and their destructive power was indeed formidable.

Although she can't use this trick casually, it's always good to have more trump cards; you never know when it might save her life.

Xu Jintang quickly resumed his research on the creation of array patterns.

The next morning, Xu Jintang got up early again and went out to the Inscriptionist Association.

"President, Miss Qian has arrived." An association staff member walked into the office to report.

Sun Yuantian immediately stopped what he was doing, turned around, and his eyes lit up. "What's she doing here?"

The staff member replied, "She wants to purchase a new inscription pen through the association's internal channels."

Sun Yuantian pondered for a moment, then waved his hand, "Understood. Go and invite Miss Qian to my office."

After the staff left, Sun Yuantian turned around, went to his desk, opened a drawer, and took out an exquisitely packaged tin box.

Last night, Xue Zhongqi talked to him about his attempt to research level-two array patterns, and also mentioned Qian Duoduo's assistance.

Although Qian Duoduo was only assisting in the work, it was still quite a test of her skills to fix all of Xue Zhongqi's more than forty mistakes.

A short while later, Xu Jintang arrived at the president's office with the staff.

Just then, Sun Yuantian opened the tin box. Hearing footsteps, he turned around, a smile spreading across his face. "Miss Qian, how have you been?"

Xu Jintang greeted him politely, "President Sun."

Her gaze inadvertently swept over the tin box in President Sun's hand.

Sun Yuantian spoke first, "I heard that Miss Qian wants to buy a new inscribed pen. Coincidentally, I have a Yellow Sand Fire Cloud Brush in my collection, crafted by a professional artisan."

"This inscription pen is made of fine pyrite sand and contains rare metals such as molten metal. It is of excellent quality and is highly effective for engraving inscriptions."

"I wonder if Miss Qian would be interested in this pen?"

Xu Jintang hesitated for a moment, then asked, "This inscribed pen must be expensive, right?"

Sun Yuantian smiled. "Based on market prices, this pen would cost at least six figures. However, since Miss Qian is an internal member of our association and will be representing the association at the Inscription Master Conference in the future, I can offer you a discount."

Xu Jintang's gaze swept over the Yellow Sand Fire Cloud Brush.

She will definitely continue to learn more advanced inscription techniques in the future; a good inscription pen is indeed very important.

After thinking for a moment, Xu Jintang smiled and asked, "What is President Sun's lowest acceptable price?"

Sun Yuantian put the inscribed pen back into the iron box, a kind smile on his face. "Ninety thousand star coins."

Xu Jintang pursed her lips, lost in thought.

Before joining the association, she had researched the market price of inscription pens; a decent inscription pen could easily sell for 100,000 star coins.

The one in President Sun's hand is clearly of better quality, but he only wants 90,000 star coins.

Sun Yuantian explained with a smile, "Miss Qian, don't worry. The inscription pen you used during the assessment was probably the most common basic model on the market. If you're representing our association in a competition in the future, it wouldn't be appropriate to use such a poor-quality inscription pen. Consider this pen a gift from me to you in advance for the competition."

Xu Jintang pondered for a moment, then clasped his hands in thanks, saying, "Thank you, I'll take this inscribed pen."

Sun Yuantian picked up the iron box containing the inscribed pen with both hands, handed it to Xu Jintang, and they smiled at each other.

With 90,000 Star Coins transferred, Xu Jintang was once again strapped for cash.

The account balance instantly dwindled to only 20,000 Star Coins.

Back in his villa dormitory, Xu Jintang locked himself in his room and began to bury himself in studying the creation of Tracking Inscription.

It wasn't until sunset, after more than twenty failed attempts, that Xu Jintang finally created the first Tracking Inscription.

The Tracking Inscription glows with a faint red light, and it is not a one-time use item; it can be used until the energy within the inscription is depleted, which is different from other basic inscriptions.

Xu Jintang eagerly installed the Tracking Inscription into the inscription slot of the ruby sleeve dart.

Two seconds later, new information about the magical artifact entered his mind.

[Magic Item: Ruby Hidden Arrow]

[Level: Second Tier]

[Additional Inscription Effect: When arrows are fired Tracking Inscription, they will have a tracking and lock-on effect.]

Xu Jintang smiled with satisfaction.

Her magical artifact has finally found a new purpose.

"Squad leader! I've reached Second Tier!" Yan Yuting's excited voice suddenly rang out, followed by a knock on the door.