Junior Blade Technique Talent
Pain. Excruciating pain that pierced straight to his marrow!
Li Jing had not expected using the Intermediate Aptitude Card to feel so completely different from using Blade Technique and Movement Technique Experience Cards or Comprehension Cards.
The cellular-level restructuring made Li Jing feel as though someone were scraping the depths of his marrow over and over with a steel blade.
His muscles spasmed all over from the pain, and beads of sweat the size of beans appeared on his skin.
His formerly rosy complexion turned deathly pale, worse than that of a patient just recovering from a grave illness.
"Hold on, hold on!"
Li Jing bit down hard on his lip, paying no attention to the rusty taste of blood on the tip of his tongue.
The intense pain of improving his aptitude reminded Li Jing of the Bloodline Evolution Potion from the original Swallowed Star, which was highly sought after throughout the universe.
It was rarely found on the black market, and only certain major powers provided it to their core talents.
Using a Bloodline Evolution Potion was also accompanied by extreme pain.
Could the Intermediate Aptitude Card work on much the same principle as the Bloodline Evolution Potion?
Li Jing subconsciously used his thoughts to distract himself from the intense pain and resist it.
After an unknown amount of time, the pain began to recede. Li Jing collapsed onto the floor of the training room, sore and drained of strength.
If the Aptitude Card really is similar to a Bloodline Evolution Potion, now is the best time to cultivate!
Gritting his teeth, Li Jing struggled to his feet, then sat cross-legged and assumed the posture of the Five Hearts Facing Heaven Method.
A steady stream of cosmic energy poured into Li Jing's body through the centers of his palms and soles and the Baihui acupoint at the crown of his head, where his starving cells greedily devoured it.
It was exactly like the first time Li Jing had practiced the Five Hearts Facing Heaven Method, when his body's cells had been starving for more than a decade.
Just as I thought, I was right!
Li Jing thought to himself, but did not slow his absorption of cosmic energy.
Only after a full four hours did Li Jing's cells begin to reach saturation.
Li Jing ended his cultivation and stood up. As he felt the surging power within him, a flicker of delight crossed his eyes.
The immense pain he had endured had not been in vain!
That single round of absorbing cosmic energy had increased his physical strength by about 3,000 kilograms.
His physical strength had now reached 14,400 kilograms, not far from the 16,000-kilogram threshold for an Intermediate War General.
And that was only the one-time improvement.
The Intermediate Aptitude Card had improved Li Jing's physical aptitude, making him more attuned to cosmic energy.
Not only was it easier to sense, but his absorption speed and efficiency were also higher.
If Li Jing could previously gain 20 kilograms of strength in a day of cultivation, he could now gain 40 kilograms-twice as much!
By Li Jing's estimation, if he were classified according to human bloodline grades, he should now have an eighth-grade bloodline.
Although it was still beneath notice, it was somewhat stronger than the ninth-grade bloodline Earthlings originally possessed.
Moreover, this was only the improvement he had gained after using an Intermediate Aptitude Card drawn from a blue SR card in the Apprentice Level card pool.
What kind of effect would a purple SSR-grade Aptitude Card have?
Could the Aptitude Cards in the Planetary Level, Star Level, or even Universe Level draw pools raise his bloodline to first grade?
Everything was unknown, but Li Jing was confident.
If the Apprentice Level card pool alone had so many heaven-defying cards, how extraordinary would the higher-level pools be?
The system truly was the simplest, most brute-force, and most unreasonable of all cheats.
On the grand stage of Swallowed Star, only a super cheat like this would do!
After all, as the saying went, "On the grand stage of Swallowed Star, don't show up if your cheat is too small."
Temporarily setting aside his joy over the Intermediate Aptitude Card and his hopes for the future, Li Jing decided to use his final legendary purple SSR card-the Junior Blade Technique Talent Card.
Although the Blade Technique Talent Card was only junior grade, its rarity spoke for itself.
It was definitely stronger than the Intermediate Comprehension Card and Intermediate Aptitude Card drawn from blue SR cards.
As he used the Junior Blade Technique Talent Card, countless insights into blades and blade techniques appeared in Li Jing's mind.
It felt as though a young, unknowing child had suddenly gained understanding.
Li Jing subconsciously drew a training War Blade. He felt that the blade in his hand was no longer merely a weapon and tool as it had been before.
It seemed almost alive, an extension of his own limbs.
Holding the War Blade felt as reassuring as a baby floating in its mother's amniotic fluid.
Li Jing swung the blade-chopping, slashing, lifting, sweeping, blocking, intercepting... He performed each basic blade movement with meticulous precision, yet each carried a naturally complete beauty.
Li Jing repeatedly practiced the basic blade techniques every martial arts school apprentice knew, growing faster and faster.
In the blink of an eye, all that could be seen in the training room were the afterimages left by his movements and blade flashes as fierce and swift as lightning.
After an unknown amount of time, the barrier at the peak of blade technique mastery gave way at a touch. Li Jing's blade technique had actually reached Perfect Level.
Though he had only just entered it, it was still Perfect Level.
Li Jing, who had only just passed the Martial Artist Combat Assessment, had actually mastered a blade technique realm generally possessed only by War God Level martial artists!
Li Jing sheathed his blade, his eyes shining.
Strong. Too strong!
The Junior Blade Technique Talent was even stronger than he had guessed!
After gaining the Junior Blade Technique Talent, he felt that his previous use of blade techniques had been far too crude and rudimentary, and that the way he had practiced them had been utterly foolish!
Li Jing was confident that even without the Blade Technique Experience Cards he obtained from the Card Draw System, he could rely on his own training to reach the Artistic Conception Level in blade techniques.
Add to that his previously improved comprehension and aptitude.
Leaving temperament aside, his overall cultivation talent should be comparable to that of Thunder God, the former second-strongest person in the world.
If he faced a life-or-death crisis, it was not impossible that he could, like Thunder God, break through artistic conception in a desperate situation and step through the gates of a domain at Planetary Level.
Of course, relying on talent alone would require a long time of cultivation.
Whether he could reach Planetary Level before the Cosmic Human Genius Battle was even a question; after all, the Genius Battle was only a few years away.
Talent plus a cheat was the right way to play Swallowed Star.
As for the fact that his talent also came from a cheat, never mind that!
Having dealt with the cards that acted directly on himself, Li Jing examined the equipment and material cards.
A Series 5 combat suit, materials from a Junior Beast General Twin-Tailed Tiger Cat, and a large pile of Advanced Warrior Level equipment and Advanced Beast Soldier monster materials.
There was also a Series 3 combat suit from his first ten-pull.
If he sold them to the HR Alliance for recycling, the total would come to around 40 million.
Li Jing planned to dispose of them all later.
He had originally intended to keep the Series 5 combat suit for his own use.
But when he considered that it could only withstand fighting and killing at the Intermediate War General level, he lost some interest.
His strength was already approaching Intermediate War General level. At the rate he was growing, he would have to replace the Series 5 combat suit before long, so he might as well get what he needed in one step from the start.
In any case, he still had the 100 million Luo Feng had invested in his Limit Home store account.
Since he could not withdraw it as cash, he might as well use it to buy himself a set of equipment to tide him over in the early stages.
With his plans settled, Li Jing opened his personal panel to check his stats after that round of epic upgrades.