Chapter 48

"Ha ha, what do you think?" Du Qian gave a bitter smile. He was happy, but to say that he wasn't at all uncomfortable would be a lie. Without mentioning ideals and the future, just the strange looks from others were hard to bear.

"Take it slow. What are your plans?" Yao Jing didn't care about others' gazes, but she could understand.

"I plan to spend some time improving my combat power. I don't need it to be too high, just a few ten thousand for now. When I have time, I'll travel around, build relationships, and improve my emotional intelligence." Du Qian had really thought it through.

"Oh, not bad." Yao Jing responded casually, not taking it seriously at all. Improving combat power first, what a joke, was that easy?

If it were easy, the Flying Tiger Team wouldn't have so few members. According to the City Lord's intentions, even doubling the size of the Flying Tiger Team would still be insufficient. But where could they find so many suitable candidates?

"Is the training busy?" Du Qian asked in return.

"Very busy, but it's not as hectic recently. There's quite a bit of freedom." A hint of helplessness appeared on Yao Jing's face, but Du Qian, who was eating voraciously with his head down, didn't notice.

"That's good. I heard the training in the Flying Tiger Team is more exhausting than a dog's life, not something a human should do." Du Qian's voice wasn't low, and several angry gazes shot over. Unfortunately, they weren't very threatening, and Du Qian only noticed the food, not the gazes.

Offending people usually happens unintentionally. Yao Jing scanned the room, feeling quite helpless. War orphans couldn't afford to offend people, and their emotional intelligence was too low. Even while eating, Du Qian could unintentionally insult everyone.

This was the Flying Tiger Team's dining hall. Insulting people to their face, calling them dogs, was something even her junior sister wouldn't dare to do.

Forget it, better not chat anymore. Eating was the main thing. If they kept talking, who knows what he might say next.

After a very satisfying lunch, Du Qian returned to his office. A key was on the desk. He tried it, and it was the key to the office door. He didn't know if Zhao Hui had forgotten about it or if someone else was responsible, but it didn't matter.

Du Qian had no sense of having offended anyone and got busy again. After yesterday's practice, he had made significant progress in separating energy threads. Compared to the ten thousand energy threads required for the first weaving method, the second method only needed four hundred, and each thread required twelve combat power, making it easier to separate.

For the next ten days, Du Qian went to work early and left late, working every day, and automatically ignoring weekends. It wasn't that Du Qian was particularly proactive; it was mainly because the Flying Tiger Team provided meals. As long as you were in the team, you could eat whenever you wanted, unlimited and free.

Weekends and holidays were meaningless to Du Qian now. Every day was like a weekend for him. No one managed or questioned him, and he had food, drink, and a salary. In a 200-square-meter office, he was the only one, free to do as he pleased.

"Great, finally did it." Du Qian exhaled a deep breath, glancing at the time. He had been too focused and was half an hour late.

It didn't matter. It wasn't like the patrol team, where timing had to be precise.

Testing, recording, and absorbing spirit horns, this process was already very familiar. After ten days of continuous effort, the results were impressive.

Eight thousand eight hundred and eighty combat power, a very auspicious number. He had improved by over two thousand. On average, one spirit horn could increase combat power by about fifty, though in reality, it was less. After all, during these ten days, Du Qian himself had also been working hard, and part of the improvement came from his own efforts, though not much, there were still some gains.

He was one step closer to becoming a martial cultivator, and the speed was a bit faster than his original plan. With ample time, he could more reasonably arrange the use of spirit horns.

After absorbing the spirit horns, Du Qian began to study the energy threads. The next step was to separate and weave these threads, which had to be absolutely identical in combat power, thickness, and length.

Before starting, Du Qian felt that weaving was more complex than he had imagined. There seemed to be something indescribable, not just a simple weaving process.

His salary had increased to 120 a month, and he had already received a month's settlement fee. But this amount of money wasn't much. Before using up the spirit horns in his possession, he didn't need much money, but what about after?

Forget buying spirit horns; even buying broken spirits at the Fisherman's Wharf cost ten yuan per pack. And except for the first day when Li Guan gave him a favor price, the second day's purchase was half the amount. The amount of spiritual energy contained in it could only be determined by luck.

Even so, Du Qian couldn't afford it. Ten yuan a day, with his salary, he could only buy twelve packs without eating or drinking.

This wasn't funny at all. He could absorb at least four times a day now. With 120 yuan, he could last at most three days, and there was no guarantee of the amount of spiritual energy absorbed.

Without external spiritual energy support, relying on his own talent to cultivate spiritual energy, Du Qian didn't have much confidence in himself. It was hard to imagine how Yao Jing, that freak, managed to do it. Such a monster should be strangled.

There were few and narrow ways to make money, and Du Qian had no choice. This strange thing was the best way he could find to earn money.

With wide eyes, Du Qian hesitated, his face twisted, looking particularly fierce. Just as he was about to give it a try, his vision went dark, and he stared into a pitch-black starry sky.

Saying it was a starry sky might not be accurate. What he saw were only three nebula-like things, with no stars.

One of the nebulae began to move, shooting out hundreds of rays of light that floated in front of Du Qian and started weaving.

Du Qian was overjoyed. The spirit talisman was too powerful. After so many days, it still worked as long as he wanted it to.

Again and again, four hundred thick energy threads were continuously woven in front of him, finally forming a completely incomprehensible twisted line.

Du Qian watched very carefully this time. He didn't know how many times it was demonstrated, but he felt he could recite it backward. Yet, he still felt something was missing. What exactly was missing, he couldn't say.

He believed that if he were to control the separated energy threads to weave now, he could weave the rings perfectly, in the correct order and at the right speed. But for some reason, he felt it wasn't enough. Even if he finished weaving, the final product would still be a failure.

He couldn't fail; it cost ten yuan.

Seemingly aware of Du Qian's confusion, during the next demonstration, some of the weaving steps were noticeably slower. The difference in speed was immediately caught by Du Qian. Even though he didn't understand the reason, he knew the spirit talisman was guiding him.

Reason? Damn reason. He wasn't a scholar; he didn't need to study theories or know the reasons. What he needed to do was to make the thing, to make a qualified product. What did the principles and uses matter to him?

Suddenly enlightened, it felt like a stream of spiritual energy flowed from the top of his head to his feet, opening all his pores. The comfort was intoxicating, like the first time he absorbed a spirit horn.

After a long while, Du Qian finally came to his senses. He had heard that the happiest moments between men and women could be intoxicating. As a virgin, Du Qian naturally had no chance to try it, but he didn't know which feeling was better.

His eyes, which had been dull, began to move flexibly. Du Qian's body didn't move, but the energy threads inside him were manipulated by countless skilled hands, weaving quickly. The four hundred energy threads, as if alive, intertwined and interwove, forming rings and connecting to other rings.

When all the energy threads were tightly connected, forming a huge net, the invisible skilled hands moved again, compressing the rings, squeezing the energy threads together. The large net of rings slowly twisted, eventually forming a strange line.

A beam of spiritual light rose from the line, emitting a faint red glow. This light gave Du Qian a sense of familiarity.

The entire process didn't take long, but Du Qian was drenched in sweat, wetting a large area of the floor. His clothes were as if he had just come out of the water.

Tired, really tired. From his bones to his muscles, everything ached, and even his eyeballs were too lazy to move. Du Qian suspected this was the legendary state of exhaustion.

A thread of spiritual energy entered from the top of his head, nourishing his over-exhausted body. Du Qian blinked his eyes. What was happening? Guiding spiritual energy into the body?

But he wasn't cultivating; he was still in the same position. How could spiritual energy enter without guiding it?

As if entering a dream, the face of his spiritual energy instructor, filled with anger, flashed before his eyes. There was no sound, like a silent play, but Du Qian understood. The instructor was angry at his lack of effort, furious that he had forgotten everything he had taught, just a few days after graduation.

"Ah... I understand." Seeing the instructor's anger, Du Qian came back to life, instantly realizing the reason.

Feeling his body, it was indeed the case. His combat power was less than a thousand.

"The Principle of Spiritual Combat Conversion?"

The Principle of Spiritual Combat Conversion was the most influential principle for martial cultivators. Spiritual energy could be converted into combat power, and combat power could be converted into spiritual energy. With the conversion loss, the total energy remained constant.

Cultivation: Absorbing spiritual energy and converting it into combat power.

Combat: Releasing combat power and converting it into spiritual energy.

Before becoming a martial cultivator, it was a continuous process of cultivation. After each cultivation, the body's integration with spiritual energy would improve.

Absorption and usage go hand in hand. After using spiritual energy, combat power would temporarily decrease, but the body would automatically absorb spiritual energy and recover in a short time, reaching the cultivation threshold.

In simpler terms, it was like overexerting oneself; one needed to rest for a while to regain strength.

The release of combat power and the speed of spiritual energy replenishment could be calculated with a simple formula. Du Qian, who had just graduated, hadn't forgotten everything his teacher taught. In just a few seconds, he calculated the time needed for recovery.

This automatic replenishment of spiritual energy is called "Spiritual Recovery."

The principle of Spiritual Recovery isn't complicated. During cultivation, the concentration of spiritual energy in the body is increased to a fixed level. When a large amount of combat power is released, the concentration of spiritual energy in the body becomes unbalanced. When the external concentration is higher than the internal, the Spiritual Recovery phenomenon occurs.

I haven't released any combat power, so I shouldn't have experienced this.