Since Ye Lingchen had amassed so much popularity, it was a shame not to try his luck.
He gazed across a plethora of different knowledge.
First, there was advanced knowledge, of which he had only two. One was Parkour (Advanced), and the other was Animal Taming (Advanced).
Then there were four intermediate knowledge consisting of Eight Extremities Brute Training (Intermediate), Arhat Fist Force (Intermediate), Formation (Intermediate), and Wood Spirit Constitution (Intermediate).
Basic knowledge numbered much more—as many as thirteen—and they were Cultivation (Basic), Dragon-Catcher Hand (Basic), Bird Language (Basic), Diatribe (Basic), Gastronomy (Basic), Heavenly Sound (Basic), Transfiguration (Basic), Aura Divination (Basic), Water Spirit Constitution (Basic), Dragon Seeking Formula (Basic), Poison Immunity (Basic), Bug Language (Basic), and Acupuncture (Basic).
Knowledge that had reached 100% proficiency were Biology, Chemistry, Calligraphy, Drawing, Ball Mastery, Western Medicine, Deutsche, Fashion Design, Russian, Francian…
He merely skimmed through it.
With a popularity value of more than 12 million, it was still inaccurate to describe it as either a small or a big number. All of it would be gone if he chose to use it on one of the more advanced knowledge.
In the past, he did a lucky draw for one of the higher-level skills and got Animal Taming. Although it was good enough in itself, it was inevitable that he would feel a little unhappy about it. Now that the four remaining intermediate knowledge were all incredible skills, it was natural that he would take the opportunity and try his luck.
Ye Lingchen’s eager gaze scanned the four intermediate skills and he gulped unconsciously.
Those four skills were all very useful to him. It was either of great help to his body or provided him with very strong auxiliary capabilities. In a nutshell, those skills were all very practical.
Well then…it was time to start!
He used up 10 million popularity points for an upgrade to advanced knowledge!
The dull golden halo flicked across the four knowledges rapidly. On that occasion, Ye Lingchen was doubly confident and was not at all worried about getting any useless skills. Already his mind was beginning to fantasize about how powerful the skills he was going to get.
Finally, the halo’s speed slowed down significantly and Ye Lingchen’s gaze gradually began focusing.
Eventually, the glow landed on Eight Extremities Brute Training (Intermediate)!
PHEW!
A smile appeared at the corner of Ye Lingchen’s mouth.
He was very satisfied with that skill!
‘Eight Extremities Brute Training (Advanced): Bodybuilding at its zenith. 81 Positions. How many have you unlocked, Young Man?’
Gasp—
Although the system’s explanation was capricious, Ye Lingchen was still taken aback and instinctively inhaled sharply. It was amazing and incredibly powerful.
Basic Eight Extremities Brute Training consists of 16 postures, while Intermediate had 32. To his surprise, there were 81 postures for Advanced, making a clear qualitative leap from intermediate to advanced.
Ye Lingchen closed his eyes and a ton of cultivation-related information flooded his brain. One after another, the postures were imprinted deep in his memory.
The difficulty of those postures were much higher than that of the intermediate level, and many of them required one to utilize specific environments, such as extreme cold, thunder, fire, or the deep sea…
As he reopened his eyes slowly, Ye Lingchen was amazed and was not disappointed at all.
However, after reaching the advanced level in the Eight Extremities Brute Training, it was obvious that it had detached its essence as simple physical training. From Ye Lingchen’s estimation, it had gone from being basic martial arts to the ranks of cultivation.
According to novels, it was categorized as being the pinnacle of martial arts. It was on par with using martial arts in order to enter the Way and break through the void.
After all, it was no laughing matter to be cultivating in oceans deep, raging fire, and bitter-cold ice. Entering into a stance would also require one to sync with the flow of inner strength through a specific route, thereby propelling the spiritual energy of heaven and earth to temper one’s body!
Meanwhile, cultivation was done by mobilizing the surrounding energy for one’s personal use. Both were different approaches that led to the same result, but each was enigmatic in its own way.
‘Hehe. It wasn’t in vain this time.’
If a person practiced all 108 postures, their bodily strength might probably be able to withstand grenades with ease. By then, he might even end up like Sun Wukong from Journey to the West, who could stand and allow himself to be beheaded without suffering any ill effect.
In fact, Ye Lingchen had attempted to search for other Kungfu, such as the Tendon Change Classic[1], North Sea Divine Power[2], or the Nine Yang Manual, and so on. Those Kungfu techniques were very difficult to begin with and would certainly be earth-shattering if it received an upgrade. Unfortunately, reality had proven that it was all wishful thinking from Ye Lingchen, as no such divine skills existed in the world.
The Arhat Fist and Eight Extremities Fist were probably the best Kungfu in the entire world. There was not much left to choose other than Judo, Tai Chi, and Taekwondo, and given the chance, Ye Lingchen would also learn them someday.
After one lucky draw, only just over two million was left of his popularity value.
Ye Lingchen had just stuck big. He rode on the waves of excitement and had no intention of stopping at all. With a rub of his hands, he wondered if he should continue for another prize?
It cost one million in popularity points to do a lucky draw for intermediate knowledge, thus making it too expensive. He eventually decided to try his luck with his basic knowledge just for the fun of it.
When that thought surfaced, he acted on it immediately.
A popularity value of 100,000 was used up to upgrade his basic knowledge!
The faint yellow light flickered and danced across all the knowledge which he was 100% proficient in. The process was so quick that Ye Lingchen’s breathing sped up too.
Ye Lingchen was somewhat entranced and bedazzled by all that knowledge.
Its speed then became slower and slower.
Ye Lingchen’s heart thumped wildly and he held his breath.
Ding!
A soft ring ensued, and the golden glow had frozen!
Fashion Design?
‘F*ck, what kind of skill is this?’
Ye Lingchen frowned slightly and wondered how that knowledge could be upgraded?
He observed carefully, and with a flash of light, his Fashion Design was eventually replaced by Refining: Defense (Basic).
‘What the flying f*ck!’
Ye Lingchen was stunned! Did it work that way?
The name alone sounded awesome. The refining of tools was a skill only found in novels, and those in the defense category—as the name suggested—probably allowed him to refine clothing into something with defensive capabilities.
The next moment, a ton of knowledge poured madly into Ye Lingchen’s mind, all of which were foreign to him and opened a door to a new world.
‘Refining: Defense (Basic): A preliminary ability to refine tools, capable of bestowing certain defensive and supplementary attributes to clothing.’
‘A-f*cking-mazing!’
Ye Lingchen screamed in his heart. The skill had given him the mother of all surprises.
There were two methods for doing the so-called refinement. The first was to use special materials, such as the giant python’s skin or the old tortoise’s carapace, to make clothes and the likes. Its defensive properties were there, but the standard required of the material was too high, and the technique of creating it was also very precise. Sewing alone was not enough—it had to be tempered with fire.
The second technique was much simpler—engraving formations into one’s clothes!
It was a synthesis of skills.
In the past, Ye Lingchen was only able to create formations, but he could now engrave formations on his clothes, giving him attributes such as defense or protective charms!
[1] 易筋经 – translated as Tendon Change Classic, or Yijin Jing, is a relatively intense form of exercise that aims at strengthening the muscles and tendons, thereby promoting strength, flexibility, speed, stamina, balance, and coordination of the body. Legend has it that Bodhidharma left it behind after leaving a Shaolin Monastery.
[2] 北冥神功 – translated as North Sea Divine Power, but known to readers of Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils as the Beiming Shengong, a technique which allows one to absorb an opponent’s inner Qi.
