Su Wen's expression remained unchanged as he looked at this brand-new way he had died.
He had expected to find innovative ways to die while wandering through the future.
As long as he gained something, death was just death.
This time, though, the way he died suggested there should be a traitor inside Jiang City working with enemies outside.
Otherwise, how could that beam of black light have erupted from the center of Jiang City?
If the sky barrier hadn't been broken, how could that evil, dark energy have spread?
If the enemy had invaded from outside, there was no way the attack that blasted through the sky should have erupted from within.
That was how things would normally be. Under abnormal circumstances, that was another matter.
The Body Refining Art's change into the Basic Body Tempering Method also supported his guess from another angle: the Star God really had taken the body-strengthening moves and breathing techniques he practiced.
In seven years, the Basic Body Tempering Method had changed again, and its body-tempering efficiency had clearly increased.
There were also the breathing techniques. Eighteen were still too cumbersome, but if there were only five, and those five encompassed the effects of all eighteen, things would be far more convenient.
There was also Tiger Fist, a martial skill famous in the future. All in all, he had gained quite a bit this time.
Technique: Body Refining Art (+) [Mastery stage: the technique's effect was roughly equivalent to ten years of training in the eighteen body-strengthening moves.] [The Body Refining Art and the Basic Body Tempering Method 1.0 overlapped to a high degree. Wealth Source Points could be spent to replace the Body Refining Art.] Skill: Tiger Fist (+). Wealth Source Points: 1.45.
Looking at his status panel, Su Wen chose to make the replacement with a thought.
After returning from the Arrow Realm, he would tell the Star God about the Basic Body Tempering Method 1.0, and the next time he went to the future, there was a good chance the Basic Body Tempering Method would have changed again.
No, rather, ever since he obtained the Basic Body Tempering Method 1.0, changes to the future had already been set in stone.
Most importantly, opportunities abounded in the Arrow Mirror, but so did dangers.
Turning Wealth Source Points into personal power and strengthening himself in the Arrow Realm was what really mattered.
What was the point of holding on to Wealth Source Points?
They weren't going to multiply!
Crack!
All of a sudden, the sound of a chain breaking rang out around him, as though the shackles inside a living being had been shattered.
Blood qi shot straight into the clouds!
Bolstered by the vast blood qi, both the quantity and concentration of qi and blood in Su Wen's body continued to increase.
At that very moment, Su Wen's body and soul simultaneously began to undergo a profound transformation.
Life evolved!
His soul leaped to a new level!
The commotion also drew the attention of nearby creatures, but the pressure created by the accumulating blood qi kept the animals from approaching. They even instinctively wanted to flee.
Meanwhile, at the mine.
When the Silver Coin Ape spotted the surging plume of qi and blood in the distance, he didn't hesitate. He grabbed his weapon and raced toward it.
He had been counting the dead slaves and their corpses. Slaves weren't worth much, but losing so many still pained him!
And on the dead slaves, he had sensed traces of an unusual aura.
That aura bore some resemblance to the surging qi and blood energy in the distance.
So he wanted to investigate and see what exactly had happened over there.
Would it affect the kingdom's rule over the surrounding area?
Name: Su Wen. Rank: zero. Class: God of Wealth. Technique: Basic Body Tempering Method 1.0 (mastered). Skill: Tiger Fist (+). Divine ability: none. Talent: Wealth Flows In. Wealth Source Points: 0.95. Lifeform: first-tier.
Su Wen looked at the new lifeform entry on his status panel and understood.
It was simple enough: he was a first-tier lifeform!
Normally, the lifeform field would only appear once his rank ascended and he became a first-tier God of Wealth.
So an ordinary Heavenly Mandate Bearer's rank and lifeform tier should correspond. With the help of Martial Dao, he had gained power comparable to that of a first-tier Heavenly Mandate Bearer, which was why he had been identified as a first-tier lifeform.
For now, that seemed to be the case.
In other words, only after becoming a first-tier lifeform could one become a true Heavenly Mandate Bearer.
But even if his guess was wrong, he wouldn't ask about it after leaving the Arrow Mirror. What he showed others would always be only his rank as a God of Wealth.
As for his actual combat power?
He only needed to know it himself. Why say so much?
After all, his death in the future remained a mystery, and he most likely hadn't died of natural causes.
So exposing everything about himself without keeping a few trump cards in reserve would be the real way to court death.
He would hide whatever he could. If he really couldn't hide it, he would reveal just a tiny bit.
He couldn't make it too fake, either, right?
I spent 0.5 Wealth Source Points to replace the Body Refining Art.
Even if the improved Basic Body Tempering Method doesn't produce an obvious improvement with each training session, stretched over ten years, it can bring about earthshaking changes.
And Tiger Fist... I finally have a means of attack, and I finally don't have to swing a shovel around wildly anymore.
Su Wen gazed at Tiger Fist in the skill field, his eyes shining.
The next moment, the skill field began to change.
Skill: Tiger Fist (+). [Beginner stage: having just grasped the basics, the wind of his fists contained a faint hint of a fierce tiger's ferocity.] Wealth Source Points: 0.75. ... Skill: Tiger Fist. [Proficient stage: his skill had reached perfection. The wind of his fists contained a measure of a fierce tiger's ferocity, and by gathering qi and blood, he could strike with the might of a tiger's roar.] Wealth Source Points: 0.15.
As his Tiger Fist skill rapidly improved, the qi and blood in Su Wen's body began to surge, and his bones began to change as well.
Tiger Fist had always had the effect of strengthening the body and bones. Practicing it naturally increased qi and blood and strengthened the muscles and bones.
At the same time, a flood of information about Tiger Fist poured into Su Wen's mind.
How should he throw a punch?
How should he attack an enemy's weakness?
What flow of qi and blood, combined with his own mental will, could bring out a fierce tiger's ferocity?
And how should he control that ferocity?
In an instant, Su Wen had gained a thorough understanding of Tiger Fist, and even had his own unique insights into it.
His skill had reached perfection!
This was what it meant!
At that moment, even Su Wen himself didn't know how strong his combat power had become.
Of course, with his future self's "accidental death" while exploring the Arrow Mirror as a precedent, he hadn't gotten carried away in the slightest. He simply wanted to test his current strength so he would have a clear idea of it.
Knowing both himself and his enemy, he would let the enemy think they had figured him out and make their judgments accordingly.
Only then would his future be safe.
Surely an enemy who knew he was a first-tier God of Wealth wouldn't send a top expert to intercept and kill him, would they?
"Hm?"
Suddenly, a smile appeared on Su Wen's face, and he turned his gaze to the left rear.
The next moment, Su Wen's figure vanished from where he stood.