บท 26: Training...[1]

[Back to The Long Family Estate]

"Ah, fuck... Finally!" Long Tian muttered as he crashed onto his king-sized bed as soon as he arrived in his room, exhausted after a day that felt like hell—killing a minotaur, navigating a spiritual mine, dealing with Xue Fei, and whatnot.

But just as he relaxed, a white, fluffy fox with piercing red eyes jumped onto his bed and curled up close to him. "Xue Fei, you haven't slept yet?" he asked, surprised but too tired to question her further.

The fox nuzzled her face against his hand, her fur soft and warm, bringing him comfort and a sense of ease in his chaotic, benefit-oriented life.

He flashed her a faint smirk, patting her head slowly. "Good night… Xue Fei," he whispered, feeling her settle in beside him, her eyes slowly closing. Within seconds, he drifted off into a deep sleep, his exhaustion pulling him under far too quickly.

###

[12 Hours Later…]

[6:00 AM in the morning...]

[Ding, Host!?] A blue box flashed right in front of Long Tian's face, accompanied by the system's monotone voice. But Long Tian didn't budge, groaning and burying his head deeper into the pillow.

"Hmm… it's too early," he muttered, barely opening his eyes, his tone annoyed. "System… just let me sleep. I don't have time for you or whatever you have to say..."

The system chimed again, [Do you not want to claim the reward for the quest you completed a few days ago?]

But Long Tian simply rolled over, ignoring it. Xue Fei, who had also awakened at Long Tian's sounds and seeing he wasn't going to wake up after rousing her, gently pressed her fur against him, letting out a soft whimper as she nudged his cheek. The persistent nudges finally made him stir, waking up with an annoyed look on his face.

"Alright, alright," he mumbled, giving her a quick, sleepy pat. "You're just too persistent… my good girl." Slowly, he sat up, his eyes still half-closed, as he glanced at the system screen.

"Fine… show me the reward for reaching Nascent Soul," he said, the words barely escaping his lips as he yawned and scratched his too-long hair.

[Ding, Congratulations, Host, on acquiring "Divine Earthquake" (Primordial Grade).]

[Congratulations, Host, on receiving 10 Divine Grade Spiritual Stones.]

"A divine-grade technique, huh…" Long Tian's eyes opened a bit more, interest replacing his sleepiness. "Damn, that's no small reward," he muttered, realizing just how valuable it was.

"If I'd known, I would have claimed it already... And it would've saved me from using my previous trump card." He clicked his tongue in annoyance, regretting not checking the reward when he was in need of it the most.

He then glanced down at Xue Fei, who was still watching him intently, her eyes practically glowing.

She'd helped him wake up, after all, so it was natural for her to expect something as she gazed at him with her deep red eyes.

"Alright, my girl… you did help me..." he said, taking out 10 Divine Grade Stones from the system inventory. He placed 5 into his spatial ring and then offered the other 5 Divine Grade Spiritual Stones to her.

"Here, these are for you." Hearing his words and sensing the overwhelming Qi emanating from the stones, Xue Fei blinked her round, red eyes as her tail waggled slightly, rubbing her head against his hand in thanks.

"You're a good girl, Xue Fei," he muttered, giving her another gentle pat on the head. "Stay here... and that stone will be your food while I'm out... It should last you at least half a month."

With one last look at her, Long Tian stood up, went into the bathroom to freshen up, then chose clothes from the wardrobe before heading out.

###

[The Forest]

[Long Tian's POV]

"Hmm... this much distance should be enough..." I muttered as I reached the center of the forest where I would be spending the next half month training.

"But..."

"First, let's test my newly acquired technique, hehe!" I grinned hard as I stood proudly, ready to use the new technique and test its usefulness.

'Hmm... I just got a new idea on how to make it even cooler,' I thought as my eyes widened with inspiration.

"Well... how about trying those hand gestures that those fictional characters back in my world used to do, heh!" I muttered with a smirk as I got ready.

I placed my legs shoulder-width apart and closed my eyes, feeling my surroundings.

As I took a deep breath, I brought my right hand just ahead of the center of my face.

My index finger was straight and positioned ahead of my middle finger, while my middle finger curved slightly behind my index finger. The middle finger was behind the index by going a bit curved to the right side, not touching my index finger in any way.

"Divine Earthquake!!" As soon as I uttered the words, I opened my eyes and curved my middle finger down, making a cross-like hand gesture that I learned from a certain blindfolded white-haired comedic man.

Rumble... Crack! BOOM!

As soon as I uttered that word, the ground before me cracked in a zigzag pattern, opening up widely and destroying every tree in its path. The zigzag crack extended straight up to 20 meters without any problem, obliterating tens of trees that were either in its way or in the vicinity from the shockwave and the destructive Qi radiating from it.

"Dang..." Watching the destruction unfold right before my very eyes was the only thing I could utter, too shocked to even speak.

"If... If I had this technique before fighting that big-ass minotaur... I could've killed him so easily. Even if he did survive after falling into the cracked hole, I doubt he could have caused me any trouble... ever." I muttered in a regretful tone.

"But.... hah!....hah!... It's too damn exhausting... It took out 1/10 of my Qi to use it once..."

"I guess I'll have to raise my realm... otherwise it'll rot away and only serve as my trump card since I can only use it 10 times at most at a time."