Chapter 21: What Skill to Upgrade
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He checked it carefully.
It was around five percent smaller.
"Only five?" he muttered. "And no loss… no leak into the air… hmph…"
He looked at the pill again, then he looked into the air, and back at the pil againl.
"Hahaha… this technique is wicked," he said with a proud grin. "Those other people… they swallow it and lose half. But Me?. I just sniff it and it obeys." He sniffed it again. And there was another tiny shrink. Fwip.
He nodded to himself. "This technique… I don't care what anyone says… this is a cheat code."
The system panel still floated there, waiting for him. Yin Zhe shook his shoulders lightly and cleared his throat.
"Okay… back to the shop," he said.
His eyes returned to the skill tickets.
He could see his RP number shown clearly at the top:
[RP: 10,028]
He inhaled. And exhaled in one go. Then he pressed the purchase button.
Ding!
Ding!
Ding!
Ding!
Ding!
Ding!
Ding!
Ding!
Ding!
Ding!
Ten times. He had purchased Ten skill tickets.
A soft golden glow circled around him like thin lines of light.
He made a small sound under his breath, "Hmmm…"
When the light faded, the system updated.
Reactive Points (RP) Remaining: 28
Yin Zhe laughed again.it was a tired laugh and broken laugh. Felt like a broke-man's laugh.
"tch… from ten thousand… to twenty-seven. Just like that."
He shook his head, while clicking his tongue. "Hmph. It was So fast. Like my money just vanished."
He leaned backward until his shoulders touched the wall.
"Twenty-seven RP. Just twenty-seven. From a mosquito. And the reaction of people from earlier."
He whispered, "So a whole mosquito gave me one point… and people's reaction too… tsk… this horse is probably dead. I should stop beating it. I've repeated that phrase so many times. Like I got traumatized by it" His eyes softened.
"But still… ten skill tickets is a big thing." He tapped his knee lightly. Tap. Tap. Tap.
The tickets hovered in front of him like ten tiny cards. They spun slowly, giving off a faint blue glow. He stared at them with an heavy expression.
"Where should I put them?" he muttered. "What skill should I upgrade first?"
He rubbed his forehead, feeling the heat of the stress building up.
"These skills… they're weak because of their low levels. Weak like baby chicken legs," he whispered with a long sigh. "If I go to the shattered star competition with these…"
He imagined himself standing on a huge stage. Geniuses everywhere. Those Monsters in human form. People who trained with lightning, air, fire, shadows and everything else.
He imagined one of them swinging a jab at him.
Boom. He imagined himself flying away like a rag doll. With a loud Thud.
Yin Zhe felt his stomach tightening.
"tsk…" He pressed his hand against his chest. "I can't go there with a weak skill set. I will Straight up die."
He stood up and paced slowly, each step echoing in the small inn room.
Tap. Tap. Tap.
"I need to be strong. And Fast," he muttered. "Others have been training for years. They have clans… elders… masters… and resources. I don't even have a bed that's comfortable Right now. I'm far away from my own clan"
He let out an annoyed hpmh.
He turned back to the glowing tickets.
"Ten tickets…" he whispered again, thus time softer. "Ten."
He ran his fingers along the air, letting them hover close to the spinning cards. They felt kinda warm.
"What if I put all of them on one skill?" he asked himself. "But what if that skill is useless in a real fight?"
He frowned.
"But if I spread them out… will it even matter? All the skills will just be average."
He clenched his left fist.
"I don't want to be average… I can't be average if I want to survive He clenched his right fist. "I don't wanna to be weak…" He breathed deeply. "I don't want to die." His voice dropped to almost a whisper. "I need power. Real actual power."
His eyes shook a little with Fear and urgency mixed inside them.
"So… where do I put them all?. All the skill tickets" he whispered again. "Which skill? Which one will save me?" He stared at the tickets until his eyes started to sting. His heart was now beating louder.
Thump… thump… thump…
The shattered competition wasn't a joke. The geniuses there weren't normal. He knew it or felt it. Yin Zhe remembered the way his cell mates reacted to it earlier. Feels like Only monsters survive that event.
Yin Zhe licked his lips.
He thought faster. " okay here we go... I've got Nine Breaths Circle… Jade Skin… Echo Body…" he said under his breath. "I can't upgrade all of them. Because there were Ten tickets…they were too small." He paced again.
Tap. Tap. Tap.
He rubbed his eyes. "Should I upgrade Jade Skin? It saved me earlier. Well from a mosquito. Okay that Sounds pathetic"
He shook his head slowly.
"Or Echo Body… it might help in fights, but it hurts me too." He shook his head again.
Then he held his breath. "What if the answer… is none of them?" he whispered. "What if I need something else?"
He stopped walking and stared at the floating tickets again.
His hands trembled a little.
"I have to think fast." His voice shook. "I don't have time. The shattered star competition… if I'm not strong before then… I'm finished."
He gritted his teeth.
"Think… Yin Zhe… think…"
The tickets continued spinning in front of him.
Yin Zhe was now sitting on the floor with his legs crossed, and the ten skill tickets were all floating around him in a slow circle. They looked like small blue leaves that were drifting in the air. He let out a long huuuu, while holding up his chin and contemplating hard.
He narrowed his eyebrows a bit. "Should I put everything into the Nine Breaths Circle Reactive Technique?" he whispered. His voice sounded like he was unsure, the kind of tone someone used when they knew the idea wasn't safe but still tempting.
He began rubbing his palm against his knee. Scrrt. "If I make the Nine Breath Cycles reactive technique's level higher… I can reach the Qi Refining realm quicker," he muttered. "Maybe even get close to it…"
The thought made his heart beat a little louder than usual. Thump… thump…
Qi Refining realm. It's a whole different world from Root Awakening. He knew the jump wasn't small one. people had to train for years to cross that barrier.
He leaned back until his head touched the wall with a light thunk. "The gap is too big…" he whispered, as his eyes dim.
He pinched the bridge of his nose. "Even if I upgrade the technique… I don't have enough spirit essence pills to cultivate that far, all the way to another realm entirely he said. His voice carried a tired hpmh in it. "Those pills… Elder Zhen gave us just one bottle each. He wasn't expecting us to fly into another realm overnight."
He sighed again.
"Ahhh… this is stressful… what a drag" He rubbed his fingers over his stomach as he remembered the heavy sensation he'd felt hours ago.
"The Nine Breaths Circle Reactive Technique… it's too sensitive," he muttered, frowning. "Every breath makes my body shake like I'm on weed or cocaine."
His face heated up with embarrassment just from thinking about it. "That… that kind of feeling… too much," he whispered. "If I rush my cultivation… and the breathing technique becomes even stronger… my body will just react to even more sensitivity."
He shivered. Tchh. "Using the Nine Breath Cycles reactive technique to sniff pills and cultivate Felt like an addictive drug," he muttered. "No… no way I'm risking that. I don't want to be getting high on breathing like some mad lunatic."