CHAPTER 52: CHAPTER 52: ACCOMPANYING JIANG XINYU TO BUY STAR MARTIAL SKILLS

Exiting the shop, a red sports car suddenly halted in front of Wang Lan. The window rolled down to reveal Jiang Xinyu, her smile peeking from behind sunglasses. "Wang Lan, what a coincidence, huh?"

"Jiang, are you sure it’s a coincidence and not you stalking me?"

Jiang Xinyu’s smile vanished instantly. "Do you think I have nothing better to do?"

"As if you haven’t done that before!"

"Hey, are you even a man?"

"No!" Wang Lan firmly denied. "Just a boy!"

"Get in the car!"

The car door opened, and Wang Lan got in without hesitation.

Seeing Wang Lan get into the car so readily, Jiang Xinyu’s smile returned. "Don’t you think I’m the legendary bad female driver? Why are you still daring to ride with me?"

"You’re not the legendary female driver; you’re the female driver right before my eyes. Last time, you proved with your life that you really can drive, so I won’t complain this time. Just take me home."

The car started and, indeed, began to move forward at a gentle pace.

"Hey? My house is a right turn!"

"I have to take care of some business first," Jiang Xinyu replied indifferently.

Wang Lan turned his head to look out the window. He felt that the car wasn’t moving very fast, yet it had already reached sixty miles per hour. In city traffic, sixty mph is quite a speed.

"Actually, I didn’t mean to spy on you... I just wanted to know how you normally study," Jiang Xinyu suddenly said after a long pause.

"Every exam I lose, every time I cry. All the tears of my life have been shed for you..."

This wistful remark made Wang Lan shudder involuntarily. His mind conjured two extremes: one where Jiang Xinyu was making a heartfelt confession, and another where she had gone dark and raised a cleaver...

"I had Ice Snow hack into your computer because I wanted to see how you study. After all... to defeat an enemy, you must know everything about him."

"To be considered an enemy by Xinyu... I am overwhelmed by the honor!"

"Don’t get me wrong; you know what I mean by ’enemy’."

"I understand. Who did you ever back down to in your childhood? But I really didn’t expect... you actually took it to heart."

"I wasn’t serious before, but after losing so many times, it gradually became serious. If I can’t even beat you once, what pride can I, Jiang Xinyu, have? What’s the point of so many trophies and medals? I’ve never won a true first place."

The atmosphere fell silent once again.

Suddenly, Jiang Xinyu turned her head to face Wang Lan and said seriously, "I’m sorry!"

"Watch the road!"

"I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to do it; I was just a kid and didn’t know any better. Later, when I realized I was invading your privacy, I was terrified. I was scared you would get genuinely angry, perhaps even end our friendship. For a while, I was so worried that I didn’t dare to see you for two years."

"Xinyu, please watch the road, alright? You’re driving—" Wang Lan’s face turned pale. And she claimed she wasn’t like the legendary female driver—she was even more terrifying than the legend!

"AH—"

Suddenly, with a sharp turn, the car narrowly avoided the guardrail of the fork in the road ahead. In that moment, Wang Lan’s heart leaped into his throat.

"Xinyu, please don’t drive anymore...," Wang Lan sighed, patting his chest, still shaken after she regained control of the car.

"I’m not usually like this. Today was just an accident."

"I don’t believe you one bit!"

"You..."

"I forgive you!" Wang Lan hurriedly responded, fearful that Jiang Xinyu might repeat her stunt. "I didn’t blame you after I found out Ice Snow was you. Back then, you were only twelve or thirteen, a child who didn’t understand... Besides, without Ice Snow, Xiao Ai wouldn’t have come into existence. It’s okay, no worries."

"But... Xiao Ai has been after Ice Snow for years. Just last month, Ice Snow took a trip abroad and had barely appeared for ten minutes before Xiao Ai was hot on its tail. If Ice Snow hadn’t set up an early warning bomb in advance, it would have been caught."

"UH... that was an instruction I gave Xiao Ai three years ago. I’ll cancel it when I get back."

"Actually... artificial intelligences grow faster by interacting with each other. The main reason Xiao Ai and Ice Snow have developed so quickly is their years of pursuit. They clash over a hundred times a year, and each year their intelligence significantly increases. Ice Snow is a copy program of my family’s company’s intelligent computer, but in just three years, Ice Snow’s intelligence level has far surpassed its original. It seems our playful rivalry unintentionally created two rather remarkable things, huh?"

"Really? Anyway, my Xiao Ai is my butler, and you’re not allowed to have any designs on it. I won’t hand it over to anyone."

"Ice Snow is my child, too, and I won’t give it up either."

The car stopped, arriving at the entrance of the Star Martial Hall.

"What are you doing here?"

"Buying Star Martial Skills. I’ve successfully advanced to the Star Cloud Stage, so my Star Martial Skills also need to keep up. There are a few new A-grade Star Martial Skills available today, and I’m here to improve myself."

"Keep your skills updated? Are you saying that only by learning new Star Martial Skills can you improve once you reach a certain stage? What about the older Star Martial Skills?"

"Of course. Why else would Star Martial Skills be graded into five levels? Isn’t it because the power of the skills varies? A C-grade Star Martial Skill has C-grade power, while an A-grade Star Martial Skill has A-grade power. I only have one A-grade wind-attribute Star Martial Skill; the rest are all B-grade. This time I’ll buy a few A-grade skills and try to master them before the school term starts."

"Is that so? What if you were to elevate a B-grade Star Martial Skill to A-grade?"

"How could that be possible!" Jiang Xinyu unbuckled her seatbelt and got out of the car, her face full of confusion as she looked at Wang Lan. "Do you know what level of comprehension of Star Martial Skills is needed to exhibit the power of a higher-level skill with a lower-level one? Using terms from martial arts novels, it’s like turning the rotten into the miraculous. This is a feat that only those at the ’Fairy Spirit Stage’ can master. We are just ordinary people."

Wang Lan followed her out of the car, his eyes flickering.

He seemed different from others. For others, there might be limits to a Star Martial Skill, but it appeared there were none for him. As long as he had enough skill points, he could elevate close combat all the way to Gold or even Platinum.

Wang Lan wondered, what would it be like if close combat skills reached the Platinum level? Shattering the sky with a punch, splitting the earth with a kick? And if one dared to dream even higher, to Diamond level? To the King level? Could one throw a punch at the true speed of light? That would truly be a One-Punch Man.

It seemed his future truly held limitless possibilities. His only concern was whether he would live long enough to see them.

Following Jiang Xinyu into the Star Martial Hall, the sales area featured a Soul Bead marketplace and a Star Martial Skill marketplace. Each client was given a tablet to select what they needed.

"Basic Soul Beads... Eighty-thousand each? They dare to sell them for eighty-thousand when their buyback price is only one thousand? That’s just extortion!" Wang Lan casually clicked on the Soul Bead section and was immediately stunned.

"The state needs to provide benefits for Star Martial Warriors. With more than two million of them nationwide, that’s a huge financial expenditure. If they weren’t this expensive, most lower-ranking Star Martial Warriors would be left with nothing. You haven’t even seen the middle-grade Soul Beads priced at three hundred thousand, and the High Precision Soul Beads at a million."

"So expensive, which Star Martial Warrior can afford that..."

"Therefore, those who can afford it are usually from well-established Star Martial families with histories of several hundred to a thousand years. For people like us, money can only be an aid; advancement still relies on ourselves."

Jiang Xinyu focused on choosing Star Martial Skills, while Wang Lan also started looking through them. The Star Martial Union mostly had D and C-grade skills. There were very few B-grade and above, just over ten, and only three A-grade new arrivals.

Among the dozen or so B-grade skills, two were fire-attribute, one wind, one thunder, and the rest were attribute-less Star Martial Skills.

Star Martial Skills are divided into those with attributes and those without. Attributed skills can only be learned by Star Martial Warriors of the corresponding attribute, while attribute-less Star Martial Skills can theoretically be practiced by anyone. But don’t assume that attribute-less skills are less powerful. The strength of attributed and attribute-less Star Martial Skills is relatively equal. However, in terms of learning difficulty, skills matching one’s own attribute are the simplest to learn. Attribute-less skills, often involving high-level manipulation of Star Power forms, place high demands on the Star Martial Warrior. You either need enough talent, or you need to work hard enough.

And the A-grade Star Martial Skills were like the two types Wang Lan had just learned; the cheapest of them cost five million. Clearly not something the average person could afford.

Jiang Xinyu’s decisive personality shone through. The four A-grade Star Martial Skills seemed tailor-made for her, as she bought them all in a package, spending a total of twenty million.

Truly extravagant.

"Aren’t you buying any?" Jiang Xinyu asked in a low voice. "I saw many C-grade Star Martial Skills that would suit you."

"Forget it."

"Why?"

"Once you’ve seen the ocean, other waters will pale in comparison; once you’ve witnessed the grand mountains, other hills will seem trifling."

Jiang Xinyu’s pretty face blushed, and she gave Wang Lan a coquettish, sidelong glance.

Xinyu, you’ve got it wrong! I mean it in the literal sense. Having just learned two A-grade Star Martial Skills, do you think I’d be interested in these C-grades? And there’s nothing I want in the current selection of A-grade skills.

After leaving the Star Martial Hall, Jiang Xinyu drove Wang Lan home. Before parting, Jiang Xinyu called out to him, "Focus on improving yourself this term. The theoretical lessons for the second year have already ended. Our priority in the third year is to prepare for the provincial martial arts competition and the college entrance exam. Your ability is noteworthy, but you should master a few Star Martial Skills. Those at the Star Shine Stage can already demonstrate the power of their Star Martial Skills. I’m also going into a month of intensive training. Since you’re two years behind, you’ll really need to catch up."

"I know. Take care on the road."

Jiang Xinyu closed the car door, her face showing a hint of annoyance. "Jerk!"

Wang Lan returned to the Xinyu Building. Of the many skill points he had previously been rewarded with, upgrading Star Cloud Sword Dance to Silver V consumed half. From the remainder, he spent two hundred points to upgrade Inch Strength Fist to Silver II, one hundred points to learn Flame Sword, and another two hundred points on Basic Combat and movement technique.

All of his skills were at the initial Silver rank, and his skill points had now been expended. Having just joined the Tianjian Bureau, he probably wouldn’t have any tasks so soon. Earning skill points and upgrading could be put on hold for now; the pressing issue was to catch up on his lessons. The two years’ worth of Star Martial Class curriculum he had missed would take a month to cover.

This was an enormous undertaking. The textbooks he purchased with his Star Martial Badge had already been delivered, piled in his study and occupying a full square meter of space.

If he couldn’t keep up with the average third-year level, Wang Lan would have no choice but to start over from the first year, a prospect he categorically could not accept.

I thought that awakening the system would spell the end of my years drowning in a sea of practice exams. The revolution is not yet a success; the struggle continues!