"However, receiving the Purple Sky Divine Thunder caused far too much commotion…" Xu Jingming muttered, scratching his head and surveying the wrecked living room.
The entire room looked as if it had been hit by a rocket. Broken shards of objects lay everywhere, some still smoldering with traces of flame. The walls and floor were peppered with craters from lightning strikes.
"It's a good thing I sensed something was amiss during the transformation and managed to control the power. Otherwise, it wouldn't have been just this living room that suffered the damage," Xu Jingming thought with relief.
The Purple Sky Divine Thunder, according to Eastern mythology, was one of the ten primordial thunders of antiquity, possessing the power to destroy celestial beings and slay gods. Although Xu Jingming, being merely an Awakened, could not unleash the full might of this ability, if he had let the power run wild, it could have easily blasted through the entire floor! Heck, the whole building might have collapsed.
With the Purple Sky Divine Thunder, Xu Jingming himself would probably have been unscathed even if the building tumbled down. But the other residents of the building would have been in dire straits. Thankfully, he had restrained the might of the lightning with all his strength, and such a disaster was averted.
"It seems I underestimated the power of the Purple Sky Divine Thunder. If I had known it would create such a racket, I should have gone outside the city to receive the Novice Gift," Xu Jingming thought.
Despite these thoughts, he was extremely pleased. After all, the stronger the ability, the better for his future development.
"Oh right, the Novice Gift also included 200 Ability Points. What are those for?" Xu Jingming recalled the second part of the reward.
The System's voice immediately rang out in his head:
[Ability Points can be obtained by slaying ferocious beasts. By spending Ability Points, you can raise your level and enhance your skills. In the System Panel, you can see the amount of Ability Points and the enhancement options]
Following this explanation, Xu Jingming understood everything. The so-called Ability Points were essentially the equivalent of experience points in online games.
"The 'slay monsters—level up' model might be simple, but it's effective," Xu Jingming thought with a smile and opened the System Panel.
[Name]: Xu Jingming
[Level]: Awakened
[Ability]: Purple Sky Divine Thunder (S)
[Physique]: 121 Vitality Units (+)
[Spirit]: 140 Spiritual Power Units (+)
[Skills]: Spear Mastery (Beginner+), Lightning Burst (Beginner+)
[Ability Points]: 200
The information on the System Panel was very concise. The "+" sign indicated that an increase was possible. Physique and Spirit represented the two fundamental attributes of an Awakened, and his figures were quite decent. After all, most Awakened had a Physique and Spirit of around 100 units.
"However, I've been training with the spear for five or six years, and my mastery level is still only Beginner. Isn't that a bit much?" Xu Jingming complained mentally.
Besides superpowers, people also used weapons for offense. Unlike the majority who chose swords or sabers, Xu Jingming had chosen the long spear. He started training with it as a teenager, but had so far only reached the Beginner level.
It should be noted that the mastery level for any skill was divided into six tiers: Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced, Master, Grandmaster, and Perfected. Beginner level meant he had just started to grasp the skill.
As for "Lightning Burst," it was a spear-related combat technique. Xu Jingming had bought it for 300,000 Great Xia yuan two and a half years ago, when he awakened the Faint Electric Discharge ability at sixteen. Therefore, a Beginner level of mastery over this technique was entirely normal.
"According to the information on the Panel, I can use these 200 Ability Points to improve attributes or skills. What should I spend them on?" Xu Jingming pondered.
The annual graduation exams were starting tomorrow. He needed to use these 200 points with maximum efficiency to boost his combat power as much as possible.
"Physique and Spirit are the two core attributes. Improving them will enhance the effectiveness of both combat techniques and control over the ability. I guess I'll start by improving the basic stats!" Xu Jingming decided after a brief consideration.
He split the 200 Ability Points evenly between Physique and Spirit.
"Abyssal Azure, level me up!" Xu Jingming mentally exclaimed, clicking the "+" sign on the panel.
First, he felt his vitality surge dramatically. A churning energy, like a turbulent river, flowed through his body. Then, his mind improved, becoming clearer. Moreover, even his control over the Purple Sky Divine Thunder became better!
"Superpowers fundamentally originate from a person's physique and spirit. Improving these two attributes has led to an increase in the ability's power," Xu Jingming realized.
Clenching his fists, feeling the surging power within and ready to summon the Purple Sky Divine Thunder at any moment, Xu Jingming nodded with satisfaction. He then looked at the System Panel again:
[Physique]: 141 Vitality Units (+)
[Spirit]: 160 Spiritual Power Units (+)
"Both core attributes increased by 20 units. That means 1 Ability Point corresponds to 0.2 Vitality Units or 0.2 Spiritual Power Units," Xu Jingming calculated.
"The exchange rate is a bit low, but that's fine, considering the improvement is direct and without side effects," he mused. "It's a pity the Novice Gift only contained 200 Ability Points, otherwise I could have improved even more."
"Of course, with my current strength, admission to a Superpower University is already secured."
Since acquiring the S-Rank Purple Sky Divine Thunder ability, Xu Jingming could already be considered one of the strongest among all high school graduates in Jiangnan Province. Now, with the improvement of his two core attributes, he could truly count himself among the top candidates in Jiangnan Province!
However, he said "one of the best," not "the strongest." This was because in the vast Jiangnan Province, with a population of over 80 million, there was no shortage of exceptional talents among the more than 700,000 participants in the martial arts exam!
These talents, though not possessing S-Rank abilities, but having A-Rank abilities, plus advantages in combat experience and techniques, were also extremely formidable! After all, some students had families that could not only hire renowned teachers to train them in rare and powerful combat techniques but also arrange for guards to let them train in the Wildlands, fighting ferocious beasts and accumulating combat experience.
In this regard, Xu Jingming, as an orphan, couldn't compete with them. However, his S-Rank ability was something other candidates didn't possess…
Knock-knock-knock!
Suddenly, there was an insistent knocking at the door. Before Xu Jingming could react, the door flew off its hinges with a crash. A group of firefighters in bright orange uniforms appeared in the doorway, water canons in hand.
Seeing that there was no expected fire in the room, but instead a person who was very much alive, they froze in surprise for a moment.
"Um… hello?" Xu Jingming blinked and greeted them uncertainly.