Having finished his night patrol and clocked out, Meng Ran returned to his room.
Meng Ran opened his phone and chatted with Gwen about their day, making sure everything was normal on her end before saying good night.
Unlike Meng Ran, Gwen didn't have the Free Breathing Technique to rely on, so she needed to ensure she got at least a few hours of sleep every night.
Meng Ran put down his phone and, after a long while, opened the system shop. He needed to buy himself some skills; his current attack methods were a bit limited.
Meng Ran kept searching, hoping to find a skill that suited him.
Time passed, and Meng Ran's eyes were getting blurry, but he still hadn't found anything suitable.
It wasn't that he was being too picky, but some of the skills that seemed really good were too expensive, while the more ordinary ones didn't appeal to him.
He continued browsing and then his eyes lit up, "This one seems pretty good."
Meng Ran tapped on a skill called Falling Gloom Rain and began to read.
"With a thought, gather gloom clouds. Gloom clouds gather, falling gloom rain. Rain divides life and death, separating yin and yang."
"Wow! This skill looks really powerful," Meng Ran thought, looking at the description.
Then Meng Ran immersed himself, wanting to see what the skill looked like when used.
A demonstration of the skill's release was playing in Meng Ran's mind.
An figure stood between heaven and earth. As the figure's momentum rose, layers of dark clouds, tinged with a ghostly light, quickly gathered overhead.
As the gloom clouds rapidly gathered, a large amount of gloom rain, like needles, quickly fell from the clouds. It was dense and violent, leaving behind small, black holes that emitted wisps of black gas. The area covered was about the size of two eight-hundred-meter running tracks.
Anyone with trypophobia would probably die on the spot if they saw this.
This was just how the basic level of Falling Gloom Rain looked. Meng Ran then checked out the intermediate level.
The intermediate skill's range directly expanded by nearly tenfold. It also greatly reduced the time to condense the gloomy clouds, basically forming instantly. Furthermore, the skill's damage also increased several times over.
Of course, Meng Ran could only afford the basic level right now.
The points needed to upgrade from basic to intermediate were also extremely high. Those five zeroes made Meng Ran's head hurt. If only he could use money.
He just hoped he could save up enough points before the Battle of New York.
As for upgrading from intermediate to advanced, Meng Ran couldn't even see it yet. He couldn't even see what the advanced skill looked like. He figured he would only be able to see it after reaching the intermediate level.
After buying Falling Gloom Rain, Meng Ran felt a sense of emptiness. He browsed the shop again, and as he looked, he felt like he was still missing a good knife. The two he had been using before were just ordinary straight knives.
So, Meng Ran looked at the weapon shop again. A Cloud Severing Goose Feather Knife caught Meng Ran's attention.
The bright, cold blade gleamed, radiating an icy pressure. Meng Ran immediately fell in love with this knife.
He glanced at the price. It was a bit expensive; buying it would leave Meng Ran with very few points. However, the knife came with a technique, which saved him the cost of buying another skill.
Meng Ran gritted his teeth. Buy it! He'd already bought such expensive skills; this wasn't a big deal.
In an instant, Meng Ran's points were only enough to buy some bullets and grenades. The accumulation he'd built up over time was gone.
Meng Ran flipped his hand and produced the Cloud Severing knife. It was cold and sharp, the blade's aura chilling. It was indeed a good knife.
Meng Ran jumped out the window again, intending to find a secluded spot to try out the skill.
After a while, Meng Ran found a suitable place: a secluded, deserted riverbank.
Meng Ran first took out Cloud Severing, thinking about the accompanying technique in his mind.
The swordsmanship only had three forms: Cloud Severing, Star Severing, and Moon Severing.
According to the swordsmanship, the greatest truths are simple. The sword techniques aren't limited to specific moves. These three forms are merely a template. Once one has thoroughly mastered them, they can naturally find their own feeling, and that is when true mastery is achieved.
Meng Ran also thought this was accurate. Although he had proficiency in cold weapons, he still needed to rely on his own understanding when it came to things like swordsmanship.
Meng Ran focused his mind and slashed a blade towards the water in front of him.
"Cloud Severing!" With Meng Ran's low shout, a dim blade light immediately shot out from his hand. The water surface was also cut, creating a not-so-deep gap before closing again.
"Star Severing!" Meng Ran flipped his wrist, instantly unleashing several blade lights. Those blade lights, while in flight, suddenly split into several smaller blade lights.
Instantly, a sheet of blade lights fell onto the water surface, causing a continuous spray of water.
Meng Ran sheathed his Goose Feather Knife and exhaled. He didn't yet know how to execute Moon Severing, and he could also feel that the power of Cloud Severing and Star Severing was far greater than what he had just displayed.
It should be even more powerful, but he was using it for the first time and wasn't particularly skilled.
After sheathing his knife, Meng Ran prepared to try out Falling Gloom Rain.
He concentrated his mind and gathered his qi. In an instant, he felt a cool power surging from his Dantian. As the qi from his Dantian emerged, the latent power within his limbs and bones also surged forth, converging in his Dantian.
Meng Ran felt the changes in his body and thought to himself, "So this is what 'one thought, qi moves' is like."
He looked up at the sky. With the movement of his qi just now, dark clouds had also gathered in the sky. Now, with a single thought, countless Falling Gloom Rain would descend, turning the area covered by the dark clouds into a sieve.
Only after personally releasing this skill did Meng Ran discover that it could also mark friendly forces within the area. Those marked, of course, wouldn't be harmed.
This was quite a pleasant surprise; before, watching the demonstration, Meng Ran had thought it was indiscriminate attack.
But even if it were indiscriminate attack, it couldn't hide the skill's ferocity. Of course, being able to mark friendly forces was best; it would save Meng Ran a lot of trouble in future battles.
After Meng Ran basically understood this skill, he dispelled Falling Gloom Rain. He couldn't really let the rain fall; otherwise, the traces would be difficult to clean up, so it was better to be cautious.
Meng Ran, after testing the skill, felt something and sat down beside a tree by the river.
Meng Ran thought to himself, Can I try to develop a few skills myself? That way, they'll be more like extensions of my own arm.
He stroked his chin as he pondered.
After a while, Meng Ran had an idea and stood up.
Meng Ran stood still, then slapped his hand on the ground.
Instantly, countless spikes emitting a dark, shadowy light rose from the ground around Meng Ran.
Then, with another thought, the countless sharp spikes instantly transformed into soft tentacles, wriggling like small snakes.
"It worked, as expected!" Meng Ran thought, referring to the two skills he'd developed using Venom.
The first skill could instantly conjure countless spikes from the ground. Any enemy nearby would be impaled.
The second skill used the same principle, but replaced the offensive effect with control.
The only way to counter these two moves was to be able to ascend into the air instantly.
This required the opponent to react quickly and have a means of flight.
Meng Ran estimated that most people would fall for this the first time they encountered it.
"I really am a genius," Meng Ran boasted again.
Of course, it wasn't entirely boasting. He was already smart enough, and after Venom's continuous possession, he'd gained a lot of intelligence points. Even though most of them were from ordinary people, and he only got one point each time, they had accumulated over time, making him quite excellent.
Meng Ran, after his self-praise, began to consider how he could improve the move.
"It doesn't have to be with my hands. My feet are already on the ground, so using my hands is unnecessary."
"Also, using my hands is too obvious, which will alert the enemy. Using my feet will be more concealed, and they won't notice a thing."
Meng Ran organized his thoughts, refining the technique.
This time, he stood still, his hands doing nothing, and then suddenly, a dense array of spikes appeared around him.
The effect was excellent; he could inflict serious damage on his enemies silently.
Meng Ran also tried releasing it while running. As he moved, the dense spikes followed, instantly appearing around him.
Meng Ran grew more and more satisfied. This skill was really good; the damage was high, it felt smooth to use, and it didn't cost any skill points. The only downside might be that it consumed a bit of Venom.
Meng Ran unleashed it seven or eight times in a row, and Venom was exhausted. After all, Meng Ran didn't have to move; Venom was the one doing the work.
Fortunately, Venom had gained considerable improvements through continuous possession, especially possessing Gwen. It had become very strong. Otherwise, relying on its former strength, it probably could only use the skill two or three times before collapsing.
Meng Ran, after honing the skill, recalled Venom to let it rest. He promised that next time they ate braised spareribs, they would split it three-seven, with Meng Ran taking the larger portion. Upon receiving this promise, Venom immediately felt that its effort was worthwhile and happily began to rest.
"What should I call this skill?" Meng Ran, having mastered the technique, was now agonizing over a name.
"Those dense spikes are like thorns. How about calling it Thorn Hell!"
"That control skill should be called Thorn Mire! Make those enemies sink like they are falling into a mire, unable to escape!"
Meng Ran finally decided on the skill names.
He finished familiarizing himself with the skills, then restored the area to its original state, erasing all traces of the skills.
After the ambush by those two mutated assassins, Meng Ran felt he needed to be more cautious.
If he didn't conceal his tracks, and if the enemy could deduce information about his skills from those tracks and prepare accordingly, then Meng Ran would already be at a disadvantage in this invisible confrontation.
Meng Ran wouldn't underestimate anyone, nor would he allow himself to have any illusions of luck. There were still many unimaginable methods in this world that he didn't know about. He absolutely couldn't let the enemy take advantage of even a slight carelessness.
Meng Ran concealed his tracks and went home to sleep again.
------------------------
Completed English PDF of this fan-fic on my Patreon shop if you want to support and own the full fan-fic in one go. Just grab the PDF and binge the entire story from start to finish!
Guys, I've uploaded some High Quality english translated fanfic on my Patreon shop! Feel free to check it out-if you're interested, you can grab a copy and support me there.
Here are a few titles of recently uploaded fanfics:
" China's Superman in Marvel vs. DC "
" Marvel Exposing Foundation from the Start "
" Marvel: The New Hela, the White Warden of Death "
" Marvel's Divine Game Producer "
"Marvel's Gravity God Shinra Tensei From the Start"
"Marvel World in the Running a Dimension Store"
"Marvel Starting from Spider-Man No Way Home"
"Marvel: Becoming Kamen Rider Geats Today"
many more are available
Your support means a lot-thanks in advance, legends!
patreon.com/SuperTL
(End of Chapter)