CHAPTER 24: CHAPTER 21: PLAYERS’ SELF-DEVELOPMENT

"Got outpaced."

Luo Wushang looked at the missing Leopard Shadow Step and sighed lightly.

When Lin Qi brought out two martial arts manuals, Luo Wushang already saw the huge potential of the Leopard Shadow Step. It was definitely the bicycle of the transportation realm. Compared to the Shattering Stone Fist, though the Shattering Stone Fist might have great practical value, in the current game version, underground exploration is the way to go.

"Gunman, well done." Fang Zhen walked over to the Outer Gunman, eyes full of excitement, "Quickly show us, let’s see what this martial art is all about."

"Alright." The Outer Gunman also took it out directly to show Fang Zhen and Yijian Baju together.

Everyone else around was also casting envious glances.

With Fang Zhen’s reminder, everyone understood that the Leopard Shadow Step was the top feature of this version.

Once mastered, it would definitely allow one to pull ahead of others in the future and accumulate more Martial Arts Hall Points.

"Rewards have been distributed, and next, I have an important announcement to make." Lin Qi looked at the crowd, ready to disperse, paused, and said, "These two Museum’s Martial Techniques, any disciple of this hall can exchange them as long as they have accumulated 20 Points. The detailed exchange list can be viewed on the bulletin board in the training ground."

Last night, he stayed up late, not only preparing everyone’s Shattering Stone Fist and Leopard Shadow Step upper volumes but also converting the training ground’s old sign-in board into a bulletin board.

Previously, he had to notify everyone in person, which was too troublesome. Although he had considered getting everyone a smart watch, the price was too high. Even second-hand ones would cost a thousand Bits, and the watch he had was discarded by Luo Qi after using it for five or six years.

Therefore, the smart watch situation would have to wait until conditions allowed him to offer it to players.

Currently, to facilitate management and save players from constantly asking him what items can be exchanged, he listed all items exchangeable in the Martial Arts Hall on the bulletin board, which would be much more convenient.

"You can directly exchange for this? Isn’t this a quest reward?" The Outer Gunman looked at the Leopard Shadow Step in his hand and suddenly felt it was less appealing.

He had spent a month’s salary on this Leopard Shadow Step!

"You’ll get used to it." Fang Zhen patted the Outer Gunman’s shoulder, as if he had known Lin Qi would do this, "We still have the advantage of having this Leopard Shadow Step, after all, swapping for it requires 20 Points. During this time, we can train first."

"Indeed." The Outer Gunman could only accept it.

Newcomers currently had no Points, and even if they worked hard on exploration, getting to 20 Points in one day would be a challenge, giving them an extra day to learn the Leopard Shadow Step.

On the other side, Luo Wushang and his group rushed to the training ground’s bulletin board to check the exchange price of the Leopard Shadow Step.

Leopard Shadow Step (Upper Volume), Apprentice Level Step Technique, divided into two layers over two volumes: mastering the First Layer "Chasing Wind" increases one’s speed by 20%, mastering the Second Layer "Shadow Hunter" increases one’s speed by 30%. (Can be exchanged for once reaching 20 Martial Arts Hall Points, upper volume costs 10 Points, lower volume costs 20000 Points)

Shattering Stone Fist (Upper Volume), Apprentice Level Fist Technique, divided into two layers over two volumes: mastering the First Layer "Stone Break" doubles one’s strength, mastering the Second Layer "Stone Shatter" increases one’s strength by 1.5 times. (Can be exchanged for once reaching 20 Martial Arts Hall Points, upper volume costs 10 Points, lower volume costs 20000 Points)

"The Hall Master surprisingly has a rare change of heart, only 10 Points needed for an exchange." Twilight of the Gods looked on with sparkling eyes, "The improvement these two martial arts offer is great, mastering them would mean contending with quasi-apprentices. With my current Points, I can exchange for both."

"Cheap, indeed, grinding for a day should allow complete exchange." One Leaf Floating Cloud observed, frowning slightly, "But that will set back the progress by a day."

"Interested in borrowing Points? If you want Leopard Shadow Step, I can exchange it for you." Luo Wushang suddenly looked towards One Leaf Floating Cloud, a slight smile on his lips, "Of course, it’s not unconditionally free."

"Wushang?" Zhang Qingwei was surprised, looking at Luo Wushang, unclear of Luo Wushang’s intentions.

After a night’s acquaintance, Zhang Qingwei knew that among the three, Luo Wushang was definitely the richest. Not long ago, he had bought off five hundred Points at a stroke from Twilight of the Gods, at 200 each, spending a total of a hundred thousand dollars.

At first, spending a hundred thousand for five hundred Points seemed undervalued, but now, it’s definitely worth it.

"What conditions?" One Leaf Floating Cloud glanced at Luo Wushang, speaking in a low voice, "If it’s to join us, no thanks, we value our freedom and don’t like joining guilds."

"Don’t worry, our Celestial Might never forces anyone to join." Luo Wushang replied with a smile, "The condition is simple, I can lend you eighty Points now. You don’t need to repay me, just give me the first use of 200 square meters of any Energy Land you find, that’s a fair trade, right?"

"Deal!" One Leaf Floating Cloud agreed without hesitation.

The other three also nodded in agreement with One Leaf Floating Cloud’s decision.

Even though each would lose the priority to plant blood essence rice on 50 squares, greatly reducing their future Point earnings, obtaining the two martial arts manuals first would allow them to increase their Points later.

The lost land could be earned back since mastering Leopard Shadow Step and Shattering Stone Fist could double their work efficiency.

Especially the Leopard Shadow Step, which is a Divine Skill that can boost work efficiency while providing constant training to improve. Missing out on an entire day of learning would be too regretful.

Subsequently, Luo Wushang exchanged six copies of the Leopard Shadow Step upper volume and five copies of the Shattering Stone Fist upper volume from Lin Qi, while Fang Zhen exchanged all his earned Points for two copies of Leopard Shadow Step.

"These professional players are indeed more proficient."

Initially, Lin Qi thought these newcomers would need an additional day of grinding before exchanging for and learning the martial arts, but he didn’t expect Luo Wushang and Fang Zhen not to give the newcomers even a day’s head start and began training immediately.

They truly exemplified professional game exploitation.

After distributing the martial arts in his hand, Lin Qi also remembered to complete his daily sign-in.

"I wonder how much the three have improved today." Lin Qi opened the system interface and directly extracted from Luo Wushang’s trio.

Soon, three system notifications rang in Lin Qi’s ears, and his mind was filled with various workout memories.

System: Congratulations, host! Shocking God Breathing Technique First Layer proficiency increased to 8%.

System: Congratulations, host! Shocking God Breathing Technique First Layer proficiency increased to 9%.

System: Congratulations, host! Shocking God Breathing Technique First Layer proficiency increased to 10%.

"Extracting the same Training Technique from multiple players can actually stack proficiency?" Lin Qi was stunned as he looked at the system notification.

Originally, Lin Qi thought this extraction merely absorbed memories from players, achieving the highest proficiency level among them.

But now, he realized it was not simple at all; instead, it was a more terrifying ability capable of assimilating multiple players’ training experiences from different perspectives to enhance proficiency.

This time, the improvement in the Shocking God Breathing Technique was extremely noticeable, leaping from 3% to 10% in one go, making Lin Qi feel every breath stimulating his cells rapidly.

The invigorating sensation made it impossible for Lin Qi to stop. He ignored what the players were doing and found a place abundant in energy to stimulate all his cells, letting them absorb the surrounding energy.

After two hours, the cellular stimulation reached its peak, and Lin Qi felt incredibly refreshed, prompting him to open his data panel.

"Have I... reached the quasi-apprentice level?"