Volume One: First Signs of Brilliance Chapter Fifty-Seven: Talent Rises Once More
Will you help or not? Wang Jue agreed without a moment's hesitation, “Sure, I haven’t actually seen a star beast with my own eyes yet. This is too rare a chance to pass up.” He knew his own strength well.
Although he had already trained both his basic martial skills and basic footwork to perfection, he was still a bit behind the members of Lan Yiyi’s hunting team. Having dealt with Lan Yiyi frequently of late, Wang Jue understood that anyone she would recruit for the hunting team would have a cultivation level no lower than the Spirit Accumulation Stage, at the very least.
As for martial skills, there was even less need to mention them. Spirit Accumulation practitioners could already train in black iron-level techniques, and every one of the hunting team members was several years older than him, with many more years of cultivation under their belts.
Moreover, they were always out hunting, either battling star beasts or tracking down wanted criminals, never needing to worry about cultivation resources.
Their talent was already higher than his, and with ample resources, every member’s realm exceeded his own.
Perhaps Wang Jue could wrestle with a member of the hunting team in terms of pure combat power, but the gap in cultivation was an unbridgeable chasm.
So Wang Jue, naturally, had no objections to Lan Yiyi’s arrangements. In his eyes, she was only bringing him along to help move corpses, and he could earn five thousand credits in one trip—he was more than satisfied.
As for the danger—if Wang Jue wanted to earn money, he’d have to bear some risk, unless he decided not to take the job.
Seeing Wang Jue agree, Lan Yiyi nodded, gave him a few instructions, and then left.
…
Wang Jue watched Lan Yiyi depart, then glanced at the chest of star energy stones by his bed.
He wasn’t sure if he could raise his cultivation realm, but he was certain he could improve his talent!
With nearly a month left, he planned to raise his level by another one or two stages to better prepare for the exam!
Raising one or two stages in a month might be daunting for others.
But Wang Jue had the confidence to do it!
And his confidence came from the three hundred star energy stones Lan Yiyi had brought him!
Perhaps there weren’t enough to upgrade his cultivation technique, but they were more than enough to enhance his talent.
As he was organizing his things, he noticed Lan Yiyi had prepared a new set of clothes for him—still the same school uniform as before—and he couldn’t help but feel a surge of gratitude.
He remembered how his clothes had been shredded by that cold, sinister man’s blade, and he had been fretting about finding something new to wear.
He didn’t expect that, beneath her cool and aloof exterior, Lan Yiyi was so considerate. No wonder her connections were strong enough to easily get a Peace No. 10 High School uniform.
Lan Yiyi had already paid his hospital fees, so he had nothing to worry about. In fact, when he was discharged, the hospital even refunded him over two thousand credits.
Upon inquiry, he learned that Lan Yiyi hadn’t known how long he’d be staying, so she’d paid five thousand credits up front.
And Wang Jue had spent nearly half of it in less than two days, but he knew he’d been staying in a special care ward arranged by Lan Yiyi, not an ordinary room, so the price was naturally higher.
Wang Jue quickly completed the discharge procedures and left the place where he’d been lying for almost two days.
[Star Source detected. Absorb?]
“Absorb. Absorb everything!”
Wang Jue didn’t go straight home after leaving the hospital.
On the road,
He walked while absorbing the star energy stones in the box.
[Star Source +1]
[Star Source +1]
[Star Source +1]
[Star Source +1]
[…]
Wang Jue watched the notifications continually appear on his panel; the absorption was just as before—one star energy stone equaled one point of Star Source.
He had hoped for a lucky streak, maybe a “double hit,” but realized he was overthinking it.
He had yet to see two points gained at once.
The golden finger’s absorption speed was rapid.
After the three hundred star energy stones vanished, three hundred Star Source points appeared.
This windfall made Wang Jue instantly wealthy.
“Three hundred Star Source points are enough to raise my talent, but it’s not safe to do it now. I’ll wait until I’m somewhere secure.”
Wang Jue was in no rush—after all, Star Source points didn’t disappear, and whether he upgraded sooner or later didn’t make much difference aside from the timing.
In high spirits, Wang Jue just wanted to hurry home and upgrade his talent—he even forgot to call his mother.
As soon as he got home, he was subjected to a barrage of “motherly concern.”
“You little rascal, where did you run off to all day yesterday?”
“Don’t even think about coming home, is that it?”
“Do you know how worried your family was?”
“The exams are coming up. Instead of studying at home, you’re always out and about. If you don’t get into a good high school, just wait and see what I do to you!”
“The house is being renovated, so don’t even think about running off—get back to your room and review your lessons!”
“And where did you get the phone you called me from?”
“Where did you get the money?”
[…]
Naturally, Wang Jue didn’t dare tell the truth. He made up a random excuse and obediently retreated to his room.
The renovations only affected the main hall; his own room, as well as those of his parents and little sister, were untouched and still livable.
“Whew… Mom’s even tougher than my enemies.”
Having escaped disaster, Wang Jue let out a deep breath, feeling that dealing with his mother was several times more exhausting than facing those two agents from the Nightshade Organization.
After a while,
Once he’d calmed down, Wang Jue opened his status panel.
[Name: Wang Jue]
[Cultivation: Body Tempering Level Three]
[Talent: Red Grade (Mid) 0/100]
[Technique: Star Soul Mantra Level One (Unknown) 0/1000]
[Martial Skill: Basic Swordsmanship (Perfect 0/10000)]
[Footwork: Basic Footwork (Perfect 0/10000)]
[Star Source: 302]
[Experience: 4682]
Only the plus sign behind his cultivation technique was still gray; the plus signs for talent, martial skills, and footwork all glowed green.
At this sight, Wang Jue unhesitatingly maxed out his talent.
A hundred Star Source points vanished in an instant.
His talent rose from Red Grade Mid to Red Grade High, and before he could celebrate, he saw that the next upgrade—to Orange Grade—would require five hundred points. He breathed a huge sigh of relief, “Damn, that scared me. Five hundred points is still within reason—nothing too outrageous.”
He had prepared himself for the possibility that talent upgrades would scale tenfold each time, like martial skills.
To his surprise, advancing from Red Grade High to Orange Grade Low required only five hundred points—almost half of what he’d anticipated, lightening his burden noticeably.
Given his current abilities, even knowing how to acquire star energy stones, he couldn’t hope to gather enough to upgrade his talent again any time soon.
After all, exchanging for a single star energy stone from Lan Yiyi cost a hundred thousand, and from the Martial Artists’ Association, a hundred and twenty thousand.
Wang Jue wasn’t stupid, nor did he have that kind of money. Even if he did, he’d go to Lan Yiyi rather than the Association.
Still, he’d need to earn fifty million to upgrade his talent again.
Wait, no—that wasn’t quite right. He still had 202 Star Source points left; he only needed to earn thirty million more.
“Looks like I’m still strapped for cash—I’ve got to find a way to make money.”
A look of utter vexation crossed Wang Jue’s face.
Thirty million! For the wealthy, that might be nothing, but for him, it was an almost unimaginable burden.
“Am I really going to have to go after those guys on the bounty list?”
Wang Jue muttered distractedly, then quickly dismissed that tempting thought.
With his current strength, he’d barely managed to handle two bottom-ranked targets—he’d be asking for trouble if he went after those even stronger.
It took considerable effort to suppress his reckless impulses, but suddenly Wang Jue felt a surge of warmth flooding his entire body.
He could clearly sense star energy rapidly converging toward him, the density in his room rising sharply.
“What’s this…”
Wang Jue was startled by the change but, finding no danger, felt a surge of joy.
Wasn’t this just like when his talent had last improved?
He distinctly remembered that last time, his talent upgrade had triggered a breakthrough in cultivation.
Now that a similar opportunity had come, he naturally wouldn’t let it slip by!
Wang Jue stilled his mind, sat cross-legged, and in the next instant, his cultivation technique began to operate at high speed.
The transformation brought about by his improved talent was immense, allowing his mind to remain exceptionally clear.
As he continually absorbed the surging star energy, his aura soared wildly.
His understanding of martial arts seemed to deepen, as if a veil were being lifted from his eyes.
At the same time,
A domineering, kingly will surged from Wang Jue, filling every corner of the room.
How many levels would this breakthrough take him?
Wang Jue didn’t know.
Nor did he have time to ponder such questions.
He focused entirely on experiencing the arrival of this martial will.
The martial will was far beyond his expectations, even more profound and mysterious than his cultivation technique, by dozens of times.
Even so, Wang Jue benefited greatly.
If, before, he’d relied purely on instinct in moments of life and death, now, under the influence of martial will, his instincts had been elevated to a whole new level!
He couldn’t say by how much.
But he had a vague sense that, as he was now, he could easily defeat ten of his former selves.
The martial will came as swiftly as it went.
Before Wang Jue could fully savor the feeling, it had vanished.
As if it had never appeared.
Though the mysterious martial will had disappeared, those brief moments had given Wang Jue enough insight to ponder for a long time.
He’d be lying if he said he felt no regret.
But he quickly composed himself, focusing all his attention on raising his cultivation.
His steadily rising aura soared at a terrifying, visible speed as he trained with total devotion.
After about half an hour,
Wang Jue’s cultivation not only broke through to Body Tempering Level Four, but showed signs of continuing to rise…