After his night patrol, Meng Ran clocked out and returned to his room.
Meng Ran opened his phone and chatted with Gwen about their day, and after confirming that everything was normal on her end, he wished her goodnight.
Unlike Meng Ran, Gwen didn't have the Free Breathing Technique, so she still needed to ensure at least a few hours of sleep every night.
Meng Ran put down his phone and, for the first time in a while, opened the system store. He needed to buy himself a few skills because his current attack methods were a bit too singular.
Meng Ran continuously scrolled, trying to find a skill that suited him.
Some time passed, and Meng Ran was already dazzled, but he still hadn't found a suitable one.
It wasn't that he was too picky; it was just that some skills that seemed very good were too expensive, and he wasn't interested in the very ordinary ones.
After looking a bit more, Meng Ran's eyes lit up.
"This one seems good."
Meng Ran clicked on a skill called
"Ghostly Rainfall" and started reading.
"A single thought stirs the qi to gather ghostly clouds; as the ghostly clouds gather, ghostly rain falls, severing life and death, dividing yin and yang."
"Wow! This skill looks really powerful!" Meng Ran couldn't help but think as he read the description.
Then, Meng Ran immersed his mind, wanting to see what this skill looked like when used.
Meng Ran's mind was displaying a demonstration of the skill's release.
A figure stood between heaven and earth, and as his aura surged, layers of dark, yet faintly glowing, ghostly clouds quickly gathered in the sky above him.
As the ghostly clouds rapidly gathered, a large amount of ghostly rain, like needles, quickly fell from the clouds, dense and fierce. It landed on the ground, leaving behind tiny, dark, and faintly smoking holes, covering an area about the size of two 800-meter tracks.
Anyone with trypophobia would probably die on the spot if they saw this.
This was just what the basic
"Ghostly Rainfall" looked like when cast. Meng Ran then looked at the intermediate version.
The intermediate skill's range directly expanded by nearly ten times, and it also greatly shortened the time to condense the ghostly clouds, basically gathering them in the blink of an eye. Moreover, the skill's damage also increased several times over.
Of course, Meng Ran could only afford the basic version for now.
The points required to upgrade from basic to intermediate were extremely high; those five zeros made Meng Ran's head ache. He wished he could use money instead.
He only hoped he could accumulate enough points before the Battle of New York.
As for upgrading from intermediate to advanced, Meng Ran couldn't even see it yet, including what the advanced version of this skill looked like. He estimated he could only see it after upgrading to intermediate.
After buying Ghostly Rainfall, Meng Ran felt a sense of emptiness. He scrolled through the store again, and as he looked, he felt like he was still missing a good blade. The two he used before were just ordinary straight swords.
So Meng Ran looked at the weapon store again, and a Goose-Quill Saber called
"Cloud Cutter" caught his attention.
The bright, cold blade gleamed with a chilly light, exuding a cold sense of oppression. Meng Ran instantly fell in love with this saber.
He looked at the price; it was a bit expensive. After buying it, Meng Ran probably wouldn't have many points left, but this saber came with a saber technique, which saved him the money of buying another skill.
Meng Ran gritted his teeth and bought it! He had already bought such an expensive skill; this was nothing.
Instantly, Meng Ran's points were only enough to buy some bullets and grenades; his accumulation over this period was wiped clean.
Meng Ran flipped his hand and took out the Cloud Cutter. Its cold light was piercing, and its saber qi was chilling; it was indeed a good saber.
Meng Ran then jumped out the window, intending to find a secluded open space to test his skills.
After a while, Meng Ran found a suitable spot: a secluded and deserted riverbank.
Meng Ran first took out the Cloud Cutter, thinking about the accompanying saber technique.
The saber technique only had three forms in total: Cloud Cutting, Star Cutting, and Qie Yue (Cutting Moon).
According to the saber technique, the Great Dao is simple; the saber technique is not confined to specific moves. These three forms are merely templates. After mastering these three forms, one will naturally find their own feeling, and only then will true mastery be achieved.
Meng Ran also felt that this was correct. Although he had cold weapon proficiency, things like saber techniques still had to be comprehended by oneself.
Meng Ran focused his mind and slashed at the water in front of him.
"Cloud Cutting!" With Meng Ran's low shout, a dark saber light shot out from his hand. The water surface was cut by the saber light, creating a not-very-deep gap, which then closed up again.
"Star Cutting!" Meng Ran's wrist twisted, and he instantly unleashed several more saber lights. As these saber lights flew, each suddenly split into several smaller saber lights.
Instantly, a flurry of saber lights struck the water, causing a continuous spray of water to erupt.
Meng Ran sheathed his saber and exhaled. He still didn't know how to perform the remaining Qie Yue (Cutting Moon), and he could also feel that the power of the Cloud Cutting and Star Cutting forms was far from what he had just demonstrated.
Their power should be even greater, but it was his first time, and he wasn't particularly skilled yet.
After putting away his saber, Meng Ran prepared to try Ghostly Rainfall.
He focused his mind and gathered his qi. Instantly, he felt a cool energy surge from his dantian. As the qi from his dantian flowed out, the hidden powers in all parts of his body and limbs also surged forth, converging in his dantian.
Meng Ran felt the changes within his body and secretly thought,
"So this is 'a single thought stirs the qi.'"
He looked up at the sky. With his qi movement just now, ghostly clouds had already gathered in the sky. Now, with just a thought, countless ghostly rains would fall, piercing the area covered by the ghostly clouds like a sieve.
As he personally cast this skill, Meng Ran discovered that it could also mark allies within its area. Those marked, of course, would not be harmed.
This was a pleasant surprise; previously, watching the demonstration, Meng Ran had thought it was an indiscriminate attack.
However, even if it were an indiscriminate attack, it wouldn't diminish the ferocity of this skill. Of course, being able to mark allies was best, as it would save Meng Ran a lot of trouble in future battles.
After Meng Ran basically understood the skill, he dispersed the ghostly clouds. He couldn't actually let the ghostly rain fall, otherwise the traces it left would be impossible to clean up, so it was better to be cautious.
After testing his skills, Meng Ran felt a sudden inspiration and sat down by a tree near the river.
Meng Ran secretly thought,
"Should I also try to develop a few skills myself? That way, they'd be even more intuitive to use."
Rubbing his chin, Meng Ran deeply pondered.
A moment later, Meng Ran had an idea and stood up.
Meng Ran stood firm, then slapped his hand on the ground.
Instantly, countless sharp spikes emitting a dark, ghostly light rose from the ground around Meng Ran.
Then, with another thought, those countless sharp spikes instantly transformed into soft tentacles, wiggling like small snakes.
"It really works!" These were two skills Meng Ran developed in conjunction with Venom.
The former could instantly raise countless sharp spikes from the ground. If there were enemies nearby, they would surely be pierced through.
The latter used the same principle, but replaced the damaging effect with control.
The only way to counter these two moves was if the opponent could instantly ascend into the air.
This required the opponent to react in time and also have a means of ascending.
Meng Ran estimated that most people would be caught off guard the first time they encountered this move.
"I really am a genius," Meng Ran praised himself again.
Of course, this wasn't entirely self-praise. Meng Ran was already intelligent enough, and during this period of Venom's continuous possession, he had gained quite a few intelligence points. Although most of them were from ordinary people, and each time it was only one point, the accumulation over time was enough to make him exceptionally brilliant.
After praising himself, Meng Ran began to think about other ways to improve this move.
"It doesn't have to be with my hand; my foot is already on the ground, so using my hand is unnecessary."
"Moreover, using my hand is too big of a movement and would make enemies wary. Using my foot would be very covert and completely undetectable."
Meng Ran sorted through the thoughts in his mind, refining the move.
This time, he stood still, with no movement from his hands, and then suddenly, dense spikes appeared around him again.
The effect was excellent; he could inflict heavy damage on enemies silently.
Meng Ran also tried releasing it while running. As Meng Ran moved, the dense spikes also followed, always appearing instantly around him.
The more Meng Ran tested it, the more satisfied he became. This skill was truly excellent: high damage, incredibly smooth to use, and it didn't even require skill points. Its only drawback might be that it consumed a bit of Venom's energy.
Meng Ran released it seven or eight times in a row, and Venom was already exhausted. After all, Meng Ran didn't have to move; it was doing all the work.
Fortunately, Venom had become very strong after continuous possession, especially possessing Gwen, which gave both it and Meng Ran a significant boost. Otherwise, with its previous strength, it probably could only have been used two or three times before giving out.
After refining his skills, Meng Ran retracted Venom to let him rest, and promised that next time they ate braised pork ribs, Meng Ran and he would split it three-sevenths. Upon receiving the promise, Venom instantly felt that the effort was worth it and happily began to rest.
"What should I name this skill?" Meng Ran had perfected the move but was now struggling with a name.
"Those spikes are as dense as thorns, so why not call it Thorn Hell!"
"And that control skill, let's call it Thorn Mire! Let those enemies fall as if into a mire, unable to escape!"
Meng Ran finally decided on the skill names.
With the skills now familiar, Meng Ran restored all the traces left by his recent practice.
After the ambush by those two mutant assassins, Meng Ran felt even more strongly that he needed to be cautious.
If he didn't cover up the traces, and the opponent could deduce information about his skills from them and be prepared, then Meng Ran would already be at a disadvantage in this unseen confrontation.
Meng Ran would not underestimate anyone, nor would he allow himself to harbor any Luck mentality . In this world, there were many inconceivable methods he didn't know about, and he absolutely couldn't let any carelessness give his enemies an opportunity.
After concealing the traces, Meng Ran went home to sleep.