Chapter 40

How smart the second young master of the Kuai family, Kuai Ni, was, Du Qian didn't know. He didn't even know such a person existed, living in the same city as him.

As for those grand and impressive plans, what did they have to do with Du Qian?

At this moment, Du Qian had already absorbed the second spirit horn of the day and received the data. Looking at the two rows of numbers, which weren't much different, he smiled contentedly at the testing device. The Flying Tiger Team was indeed more reliable, and the accuracy of the portable testing device was higher than that of the school and commercial testing devices.

Actually, Du Qian had wronged the commercial establishments. Adjusting the testing device to a higher value was an unwritten rule, not just in one or two places, but in all commercial martial cultivation venues.

The people at the commercial establishments knew, and so did the people who went there. Unfortunately, Du Qian was too far removed from this. For a student who had just graduated from an orphanage school, being able to eat and have a roof over his head was already quite good. How could he dare to enter such a venue for testing? The testing fee of ten yuan per session was too much for even ordinary graduates, let alone a war orphan. How could he understand these intricacies?

Adjusting the testing device to a higher value wasn't for cheating, but to boost the confidence of martial cultivators. Even if they knew the test results were high, they would still be happy.

No matter how the device was adjusted, the baseline wouldn't change. For the most basic combat power testing device that Du Qian used, the maximum test value was ten thousand. When your combat power reached ten thousand, the error would be within the allowable range, and there wouldn't be an issue of being too high.

In fact, such basic testing devices were few in number in any commercial establishment, and their usage frequency was astonishingly low. Those who truly entered the commercial establishments for cultivation guidance and testing were at least martial cultivators with combat power over ten thousand. Why would they need such a device?

"Combat power increased by about fifty, spirit horn content within ten thousand, over nine thousand five hundred." Du Qian clumsily began to draw the data curve. This was something he had only learned the basics of in school. Du Qian felt that using it here would be more intuitive.

Nine thousand five hundred? Ten thousand? Fifty?

Five percent?

Is this the absorption rate? It might be less than five percent, but the difference wouldn't be too much.

"No, that's not right. The number should be much higher." Du Qian bit the pen and hummed softly. Recalling the feeling when using the spirit horn, he knew that whether absorbing through the spirit horn or absorbing spiritual energy on his own, a part of the spiritual energy would definitely be intercepted when it flowed to his chest.

In addition, he had to consider that during the absorption process, some of the spiritual energy was drawn into his body through his head, and he also needed to consider the error range of the testing device.

The portable testing device in his hand was better than the ones he had used before, but it still had some error.

Regardless, Du Qian was quite satisfied. Absorbing one spirit horn might convert to less than fifty units of spiritual energy, but it wouldn't be too far off.

Besides the 150 spirit horns he had given as gifts, he still had 350 spirit horns in his possession, which was a huge number.

Calculating roughly, Du Qian was so excited he felt like he was about to explode. Seventeen thousand five hundred, minus the overestimation, he would still have at least fifteen thousand. He almost couldn't believe the result. He did the simple multiplication of 350 times 50 three times before he was satisfied and put down the pen. Such a small number could be calculated mentally with just a glance, so there was no need to write it down.

Fifteen thousand, at least equivalent to fifteen thousand combat power, plus his original combat power of nearly six thousand, meaning that after absorbing all these spirit roots, breaking through to ten thousand combat power and becoming a martial cultivator would be a simple matter. He might even exceed it by a factor of two, reaching over twenty thousand combat power.

Reaching ten thousand combat power, becoming a martial cultivator, and activating the spirit pool to absorb excess spiritual energy from the spirit pool, condensing the first spiritual weapon, just like the green and transparent large saber in Yao Jing's hand, would be majestic and awe-inspiring.

Awesome, too awesome.

Excitement lasted for less than ten seconds, and his swollen face showed a look of disappointment. What's so awesome about it? He had entered the orphanage school at the age of eight and had practiced day and night for ten years, finally raising his combat power to nearly six thousand.

At graduation, he almost gave up. Practicing like this, he had no future. Even if he continued to improve at this level, how much could he achieve even if he practiced until he died?

Finally, he graduated. Although he didn't see a protagonist aura above his head, the experiences of the past few days had been quite exciting.

With over 300 spirit horns in the bank, absorbing one was equivalent to a month's improvement, at least thirty times faster. Even so, what could he do? He was still a nobody.

Now, the data was incomplete. At this speed, absorbing one every three hours, followed by a four-hour break, he could absorb one every seven hours, which meant three per day.

Starting work the day after tomorrow, he would have to be as tired as a dog, starting to absorb as soon as he got off work, not wasting a minute, and absorbing one more before going to work to ensure he didn't fall behind.

Even so, it would take more than three months to absorb all these spirit horns, and then he would be a so-called grandmaster with twenty thousand combat power.

Grandmaster? Ha!

Yao Jing was the same age as him, but her combat power at graduation was 220,000.

Okay, even if she was a prodigy, what about Wu Yue? Lei Ming? They were all human, why was the gap so big?

The most terrifying thing wasn't this. 350 spirit horns was a terrifying number. Now he felt the absorption was too slow, but there would be a time when he would finish absorbing them. Where would he get more spirit horns then? One hundred yuan per spirit horn, could a patrol officer afford it?

Du Qian's monthly salary, including bonuses, wasn't enough to buy one. Not to mention spirit horns, even a pack of spirit fragments for ten yuan wasn't something he could buy every day. His appetite had noticeably increased recently, and the cost of food was several times that of others.

Without spirit horns, occasionally absorbing a bit of spirit fragments, how fast could his combat power increase?

No future, no future at all. At this moment, his confidence was shattered, and he even had the idea of selling all the spirit horns. These spirit horns and storage boxes were worth tens of thousands of yuan, which he might not earn in twenty years with his income.

Du Qian gritted his teeth and paced around the room like a blindfolded donkey grinding, circle after circle, unable to stop.

He didn't know how long he had been pacing, but he finally sat on the edge of the bed, looked up at the ceiling, his face pale, and raised his middle finger: "Damn it, I won't give up, I won't give up."

"Go all out!" Du Qian's neck swelled as thick as his face, veins bulging, the blood inside seemed clearly visible.

I'm young, I can afford to lose. If there's no chance at all, I can only give up. Since heaven has left me a crack to success, no matter how narrow it is, I won't be satisfied without trying.

Isn't it just twenty years' salary?

Go all out, turn wasteland into gold.

"Damn it, I said it wrong again. I was originally gold, all thanks to Lei Ming for corrupting me."

Having made the decision, Du Qian knew what to do. For the next three months, he would absorb as much as possible. Besides absorbing spirit horns and increasing his combat power, he couldn't be idle. He had to work and earn money. There weren't many people like Sikong Yi, and he couldn't wait for a windfall.

As a patrol officer, taking bribes was a must. If he did nothing, how could he face his classmates in the future? Even in a place like Fisherman's Wharf, where there wasn't much profit, a mosquito's leg was still meat.

Use your brain, don't rely on heaven or earth, squeeze money out of a stone.

Putting on a pose of a brainless literati, he shouted: "From today, I will be a rich man, taking bribes, demanding bribes; from today, I will be a rich man, taking, demanding, and carding."

Not bad, it turns out I have a talent for poetry. After admiring himself for a few minutes, he became depressed again. With his emotional intelligence, how could he make money this way? He might as well wait for a windfall. Forget about squeezing money out of Fisherman's Wharf, even if he could, it wouldn't be his turn.

He had to think of a better way to make money.

His head hurt from thinking, but he couldn't come up with any good ideas. Time was up. Du Qian quickly focused, took out a storage box, and took a few deep breaths.

I want money, but I need combat power even more.

In the midst of a headache and absorbing the spirit horn, the sky brightened again. When you have something on your mind, time seems to pass faster.

He took a cold shower and ate a pot of rice, yes, a whole pot. The speed of combat power improvement was far slower than the increase in his appetite, which made Du Qian a bit worried. Fortunately, he didn't have to worry in the short term. The income of a patrol officer was quite satisfactory, and even with a bigger appetite, it wasn't a problem.

He put on his best clothes and looked at himself in the half-mirror, frowning. His appearance was a bit poor. The swelling on his face had mostly gone down, revealing his true face. This face wasn't ugly, but it was too young.

Young or not, he had to go. These days, making money wasn't easy, and making a lot of money was even harder.

Today was the last day of his rest. Du Qian didn't want to waste time at home thinking. Some say that books contain gold houses. Du Qian didn't deny this, but it was too far away. He didn't know how many books he would have to read to find gold. He was in a hurry.

The place with the most opportunities to make money was the Wilderness Survival Association, a spontaneous, semi-official organization.

Does it sound contradictory? Actually, it's not. Initially, this association was formed by a group of people who wanted to survive in the wilderness, a completely spontaneous organization.

The wilderness represented danger, but also wealth. Du Qian didn't know the original purpose of the association, but it had changed over time.

Surviving in the wilderness, making money, more people joined, and with more benefits, the government naturally got involved.

But the people in the association were unhappy. Seeing the benefits, they wanted to take over? Fine, you can have the association, we'll find another place and change the name, okay?

The final result was a compromise, and the Wilderness Survival Association became a strange semi-official institution.