CHAPTER 164: CHAPTER 164: I MIGHT BE THAT ONCE IN TEN THOUSAND YEARS GENIUS

This Star Martial Skill is a defensive type. When under attack, the user can shift one meter to the left or right, and a substitute appears in the original position.

Among the basic attributes, there are also Wood Shadow Substitute and Earth Shadow Substitute. However, Fire, Thunder, and Wind cannot form substitutes because they lack substance. Metal is too heavy; it seems the substitute can dodge faster than the user. By the time the substitute appears, the user is already cut down.

This Star Martial Skill is not high-level, its practicality is passable, and the price is just 100,000. Wang Lan estimated it should be within Xie Sisi’s affordability.

After clicking purchase, a waiter soon approached. "Sir, please follow me."

"Swipe the card and start scanning the code?"

"Swipe the card. Oh right, let me ask you, when will you have A-level Star Martial Skills here?"

"Under normal circumstances, we don’t have them," the waiter replied with a smile.

Such a blunt admission, how can you say it so frankly? Under normal circumstances, they don’t have them? Does that mean A-level Star Martial Skills are usually custom-ordered?

"Didn’t you just buy the Crescent Arrow? Why are you asking about A-level Star Martial Skills now?" Gong Jian’s voice rang out.

"Manager Gong, hello!"

"Back to work."

Wang Lan turned back, puzzled, looking at Gong Jian, who also looked at Wang Lan with a curious expression.

"Did Manager Gong come over because he saw me?" Wang Lan ventured.

"I’ve been in Suzhou City for almost three years, and I’ve given out only five business cards in total, so I remember very clearly who I gave each one to."

With this answer, Wang Lan’s eyes narrowed slightly. "Why do you view me differently?"

"Don’t you know?" Gong Jian replied with a faint smile. "Take your Star Martial Skill, and let’s go to my office to talk."

Following Gong Jian, Wang Lan entered Gong Jian’s office inside the Star Martial Skill Trading House.

"Have a seat. What would you like to drink?"

"Anything’s fine."

Gong Jian took out a can of cola, opened it, and placed it in front of Wang Lan. "It seems that if I don’t clarify my identity, we won’t be able to have a proper conversation."

Gong Jian sat down in his office chair and crossed his legs.

"About twenty years ago, a special Star Martial squad was formed. The squad’s codename was Vermilion Bird, and your mother, Wang Ling, was the squad leader. The Vermilion Bird Squad reported directly to the Ministry of Defense, which assigned its missions, and it was active on global battlefields. The entire squad consisted of Star Sea Stage Star Martial Warriors, each a renowned expert.

The Vermilion Bird Squad ranked seventh globally and third in Jade Country. Over twenty years, the squad carried out over one hundred S-level or higher missions. I retired from service due to injury five years ago."

Gong Jian didn’t explicitly state he was a member of the Vermilion Bird Squad, but he unequivocally revealed to Wang Lan that he had once been a soldier under his mother’s command.

"Were Director Wang and Director He also from the Vermilion Bird Squad?"

"PFFT!" Gong Jian scoffed disdainfully. "They are only at the Galaxy Stage, alright?"

That "only" was quite something, Wang Lan thought, feeling too weary to retort.

"Tell me, why do you want another Star Martial Skill now?"

"I feel that my single attribute is too easily countered, so I want to learn Star Martial Skills of other attributes to see if I can make up for my attribute deficiencies."

"Wait a moment..." Gong Jian suddenly looked at Wang Lan, baffled.

"Aren’t you getting your logic wrong? You’re saying that because your attribute is singular, you’re easily countered, so you want to learn other Star Martial Skills to compensate? But is the singularity of your attribute due to the Star Martial Skills? Isn’t it because of your intrinsic single attribute?"

Gong Jian eyed Wang Lan skeptically. Is this the legendary top student from Suzhou City? Could he be an idiot?

"I understand, but I feel that I might not be purely of the Fire attribute. I think I should have the ability to learn Star Martial Skills of other attributes," Wang Lan explained.

"HEH..." Gong Jian let out a cold chuckle. "Every year, there are many arrogant idiots who think they’re that one-in-a-million genius.

Knowing they don’t possess a certain attribute, they stubbornly try to learn that type of Star Martial Skill. And the result? They waste money, fail to learn the skill, and lose a precious opportunity to engrave a new one.

The prerequisite for learning a Star Martial Skill is possessing the corresponding attribute. You’re in your final year of high school; you can’t possibly be unaware of this!"

Wang Lan’s brows furrowed. He didn’t want to explain too much to someone he barely knew. "I’m just asking if you have any. Money isn’t an issue."

"It’s not about the money..." Gong Jian started, then halted mid-sentence upon seeing the stubborn look in Wang Lan’s eyes. "What attribute’s Star Martial Skill do you want?"

"Thunder!"

"Thunder? Good! Very well, I’ll acknowledge your confidence for now. I will transmit an E-level Thunder Attribute Star Martial Skill to you." Saying this, he instantly stretched out a finger and touched Wang Lan between the eyebrows.

Wang Lan instinctively wanted to dodge, but before he could even make a move, Gong Jian’s finger had already touched him between the eyebrows.

"Detected a learnable Star Martial Skill, do you wish to learn it?"

"Yes!"

As expected of an E-level Star Martial Skill, it doesn’t even require skill points!

After learning it, a skill icon appeared in the skill list.

Electric Power Output? What a terrible name, Wang Lan grumbled internally. But his eyes quickly shifted to the system’s character page. When he saw the Thunder attribute newly displayed in the attribute list, his face lit up with ecstasy.

Seeing the smile on Wang Lan’s face, Gong Jian looked surprised. Could he really learn it?

Gong Jian had thoroughly memorized Wang Lan’s data. The seventy percent Fire attribute from Wang Lan’s attribute test was clearly recorded; there was no mistake. If Wang Lan couldn’t learn it, why would he be smiling?

And after confirming his own guess, a weight lifted from Wang Lan’s heart.

If I can learn Thunder Attribute skills, then other attributes should be no problem! If I earn enough skill points, I could gather all seven basic attributes and achieve a complete ’Bloodline Assimilation’! How awesome would that be!

Then he examined the newly learned Star Martial Skill: Electric Power Output. Its function was to produce electrical energy to supply power to electrical appliances...

What genius came up with this idea? Is this really a Star Martial Skill? A portable power bank?

"Well? Don’t just stand there grinning. Can you learn it or not? Just tell me. I didn’t actually expect you to master it; I just need to know if you *can* learn it."

"Who’s the creative mastermind behind this portable power bank of a Star Martial Skill?"

"You already know this Star Martial Skill is a portable power bank?"

"What’s so hard about that?" Wang Lan’s eyes swept across Gong Jian’s office computer, moved to the power outlet, and unplugged the monitor. He then held the plug in his palm.

The monitor lit up instantly.

Seeing this, Gong Jian’s brows furrowed deeply.

"You can actually learn Thunder Attribute Star Martial Skills? Did the instrument make an error when you got your Star Martial Badge?"

"I don’t think so. Perhaps my Thunder Attribute was just hidden very deeply," Wang Lan said, choosing his words carefully, not revealing that he might be able to learn skills of all attributes.

"Impossible. The purpose of the attribute detection instrument is to help Star Martial Warriors discover hidden attributes. If it couldn’t detect hidden attributes, the instrument would be pointless!"

"That’s not the point, right?"

"Right, not the point. What did you just say? Which Star Martial Skill did you want again?"

"A Thunder Attribute A-grade Star Martial Skill. You see..."

"I’ll get back to you when I have news."

"Aren’t you a Thunder Attribute Star Martial Warrior? Just give it to me, and I’ll pay for it."

"I am the manager of the Star Martial Skill Trading House, and all transactions follow the house’s procedures."

"That’s rather rigid, isn’t it?"

"It’s not about being rigid. My primary attribute is Wind; Thunder is the second attribute I cultivated at the Galaxy Stage. Therefore, I don’t possess any A-grade Thunder Attribute Star Martial Skills, only two S-grade ones..."

Wang Lan suddenly stepped forward and firmly grasped Gong Jian’s hand. "How much? I want them all."

"You want them? Dream on! S-grade Star Martial Skills are out of reach unless you’re at the Galaxy Stage."

"What level is the Phoenix Form Star Martial Skill?"

"It’s an Above S-grade secret technique."

"I’ve learned the Phoenix Form, so S-grade shouldn’t be difficult, right?"

"The Phoenix Form has three manifestations, and you haven’t even mastered the first one. How dare you claim you’ve learned it? It’s been half a year, and according to my intelligence, your Phoenix Form hasn’t shown any improvement at all."

"But I’ve at least grasped the basics, haven’t I?"

When asking for Star Martial Skills, one can’t be too concerned about face, Wang Lan thought. So, he stared at Gong Jian with wide, pleadingly innocent eyes. Although acting cute is a bit shameless, what’s dignity in the face of S-grade Star Martial Skills? Not much!

Gong Jian’s brows were tightly knitted as he appeared to mull over something while looking at Wang Lan.

Although Wang Lan was only at the Star Shine Stage and theoretically couldn’t meet the requirements to learn S-grade Star Martial Skills, when had he ever conformed to common sense? From the moment he awakened his Star Martial Warrior talents, he had been hurtling down the path of a true Demon—the kind one couldn’t be pulled back from.

His Soul Resonance failed to activate his Star Martial Warrior talents. Yet, who would have thought that two years later, he’d awaken on his own? Is that something a normal human can do?

After Wang Lan graduated from junior high, many eyes were on him. The news of his failed awakening reached all the upper echelons of Eld Di’s faction within a minute.

Wang Lan carried the hopes of so many in Eld Di’s faction. Yet, he had failed to awaken, seemingly destined for an ordinary life.

But just when everyone had given up, the impossible happened—a barren tree bloomed. While countless people were astonished, the world is never short of miracles, is it?

Perhaps it was this anomaly in his initial development that caused Wang Lan’s subsequent growth to be completely abnormal. His very existence challenged conventional understanding.

The first Star Martial Skill this kid learned was the Above S-grade Forbidden Technique, Phoenix Form? Who would believe it if you told them? But he actually did it.

Others progressed from C-grade to B-grade and so on, but he went straight for the highest-level Star Martial Skill, completely ignoring whether he met the learning requirements.

Then again, this was something the Flame Emperor left for Wang Lan. Considering the Flame Emperor’s incredible abilities, it sort of made sense, didn’t it?

And after that? The kid became even more outrageous. His luck was one thing, but his talent was so demonic it made people question the very meaning of their existence.

Breaking through to the Star Shine Stage within ten days of becoming a Star Martial Warrior? Was he even human?

And now, despite clearly lacking the Thunder Attribute talent, he could somehow learn Thunder Attribute Star Martial Skills? He completely disregarded whether others could even accept such a thing...

Thinking about it this way, maybe he really could do it.

For Gong Jian, there was no heartache in parting with high-level Star Martial Skills. His skills were granted by the state, not developed by him personally. Who cares who he teaches them to?

Moreover, Wang Lan was destined to be the banner of their faction. Naturally, a banner should fly as high as possible. If this banner falls, and if Eld Di were to fall later on, then the Flame Emperor’s faction would likely crumble.

Having come to this conclusion, Gong Jian nodded. "Alright. But don’t force it if you can’t learn them."

As he spoke, Gong Jian once again pointed a finger between Wang Lan’s eyebrows.

In an instant, a forceful Spiritual Engraving invaded Wang Lan’s mind.