Chapter 346 - 229: Goose Honk and the Social Practice Mission

Chapter 346: Chapter 229: Goose Honk and the Social Practice Mission

In truth, with the merit points and battle achievements Yu Fei had accumulated, he could have easily reached the Gang Qi Realm if he had chosen to focus solely on advancing his realm with ordinary Cultivation Techniques.

However, in the path of martial arts, gaining greater power than one’s peers within the same realm required a greater investment of resources. And the further one progressed, the lower the return on that investment became.

For example, 10 points of resources might raise one’s combat power to 10, but even a continuous investment of 100 points might not be enough to raise it to 20.

The relationship between resource consumption and the increase in strength was not linear; it was also constrained by the Martial Artist’s own capacity to withstand it.

But in the long run, a Martial Artist with 20 points of strength could very well take on ten Martial Artists with 10 points of strength on the battlefield. For those building a deep foundation, the extra expenditure of resources was completely worth it.

「Harmony Residence, Third Floor.」

Jiang Nianwei had arranged a banquet hall that could accommodate about a hundred people. The dishes here were more delicious, and naturally, more expensive. Yu Fei observed that the food at Harmony Residence didn’t actually contain a high amount of energy—certainly not as much as the food from Abyss—yet the prices were considerably higher.

The ambient energy concentration on their home planet wasn’t as high as in the borderlands, so its agriculture and livestock industries were inferior. Many ingredients had to be transported from the borderlands, which naturally drove up the cost.

"Mr. Yu, a toast to you! I’m Dong Feng from the Salted Fish Team!"

...

At the party, people came up to drink with Yu Fei one after another. Feng Hua, being rather cunning, had Hengji run interference for her. That formidable woman could really hold her liquor.

Martial Artists were all big eaters, and this meal lasted from morning until night. By the end, Yu Fei’s vision was starting to blur. Feeling a bit stuffy, he went out onto the balcony for some air, only to find that Feng Hua had, at some point, joined him.

Today, Feng Hua was in a red dress. A platinum necklace with a pigeon-egg-sized ruby as its centerpiece adorned her long, slender, snow-white neck. She also wore long, dangling earrings dotted with specks of ruby—clearly, it was a matching set.

"Drunk?"

She rested her hands on the railing, her slender waist bending into a graceful arc. A plume of cyan smoke drifted from her red lips as she spoke.

Yu Fei sobered up a little. "Nope! I’m a Body Refiner. This little bit of booze is nothing to me!"

"Tch. So stubborn."

She could see it clearly. Judging by his beet-red cheeks, he was anything but fine. Body Refining Martial Artists did have a high tolerance for alcohol, but there was still a limit. When a practitioner’s face changed color like that, it meant they had exceeded their body’s capacity.

"Here, have one."

As she spoke, Feng Hua handed over a long, slender, jade-green cigarette—the same brand she had offered Yu Fei on the battlefield.

’Feng Hua!’

Yu Fei waved a hand, declining.

To his surprise, Feng Hua just smiled. "Hey, this isn’t the addictive, harmful kind you’re imagining. It’s made specially for Martial Artists. It provides a short-term mental stimulus and helps restore Qi Blood. The effect is very weak, though; one cigarette is only effective for less than an hour."

"It’s harmless. Besides, you practice Body Refining. You should be able to tell for yourself whether it’s bad for you."

Yu Fei no longer hesitated. To be honest, he was also quite curious about the difference between the ones made for Martial Artists and those for ordinary people.

He lit the cigarette, its ash scattering into the night wind.

By comparison, the flavor was closer to the fragrant tea he’d had at Ye Shuping’s place—refreshing, mellow, and lightly intoxicating.

Yu Fei closed his eyes to sense its effects. There were indeed certain substances within it that stimulated his spirit and body, but it wasn’t as harmless as Feng Hua had claimed.

The principle behind it was similar to a burst-type Secret Technique. Long-term, heavy consumption would still cause harm to the body, but occasional use could provide a mild stimulating effect.

Feng Hua turned to look at the young man, his eyes hazy. When he was quiet, Yu Fei seemed so reserved, as if constantly immersed in his own world. Yet on the battlefield, he was decisive, powerful, and completely trustworthy.

She had a feeling that Yu Fei might just run off to some distant place at any moment, never to return.

"Hey, can I ask you something?"

"What is it?"

"Do you remember during the military exercise? When I was chasing you, I saw this ghost-like guy who twisted his head all the way around. It freaked me out a little, so I didn’t dare keep chasing."

Feng Hua turned to look at him curiously. The incident had been buried in her mind ever since; it was genuinely frightening. She had even secretly researched it and found that some people did possess abilities others lacked, like being able to wiggle their ears or nose.

But there was absolutely nothing about twisting one’s head around for fun.

"Was that you?"

Yu Fei turned to look at her. Feng Hua’s eyes were bright and her posture was elegant, yet she also possessed a strength and determination that ordinary women lacked.

In this Martial Arts Extraordinary World, powerful women could live as they pleased and express themselves freely. Like Feng Hua, or even Zhuo Feiming, they were confident, powerful, and beautiful, and a little malice couldn’t possibly harm them.

Yu Fei’s gaze drifted downward. Flat as a washboard.

The romantic mood vanished instantly, and his mind calmed.

After a moment’s thought, he took a deep drag, finishing the half-smoked "Feng Hua" cigarette. Then, he twisted his head in a 360-degree, jet-propelled Thomas spin.

One full circle clockwise, one full circle counter-clockwise, nonstop.

Feng Hua had never seen anything like it. This time, instead of looking creepy like he had during the military exercise, Yu Fei looked utterly ridiculous.

"Hnk hnk... hnk..." She wheezed with laughter. "Your head... How can you even do that...?"

She was so amused she started honking like a happy goose.

"Why’d you stop?"

"Gotta take a break... Getting a little dizzy!"

-----------------

Cultivation was an extremely personal affair. Mastering a Cultivation Technique and advancing one’s realm required steady, cumulative effort over time.

Martial Artists’ gatherings were always brief, as they spent most of their time on their own training.

After the party ended, Yu Fei became completely engrossed in his cultivation once more.

When the combat practicum ended, the results of the third assessment were released. As expected, Yu Fei was the undisputed number one, his combat record far surpassing those of the Expert and Li Jueyin.

As a result, Yu Fei maintained his S+ ranking.

The Expert and Li Jueyin were both demoted to S-rank.

In truth, after experiencing a real battlefield, no one really cared much about the school’s merit point subsidies anymore. It was simply a matter of wounded pride.

They were all top prodigies; who among them would be willing to play second fiddle? But Yu Fei’s combat record was undeniable. He had shattered the general education completion record, single-handedly crushed the sophomores in the military exercise, and earned a terrifying number of battle achievements in the front-line practicum.

Zhang Hu and Qingshan fell into a stunned silence when they saw Yu Fei’s achievements. Though they had an inkling it would be high, seeing that Yu Fei alone had earned more than their entire team combined still left them with a bitter feeling.

Yu Fei’s rise had become unstoppable.

Within the Geometric Pyramid Realm, Yu Fei’s spiritual body entered the fantastical ocean of light. Empowered by his Infinite Sword Soul, he continuously refined and devoured the multicolored particles and rays of light, steadily strengthening his spiritual body.

Suddenly, his ethereal spiritual body swelled to three times its original size before slowly solidifying, its appearance becoming much more substantial and less illusory. At its core, a structure resembling a set of runes had even formed.

After cultivating for so long, his spiritual cultivation had finally achieved a breakthrough.

When his consciousness returned to his body, Yu Fei noticed his perceptive abilities had strengthened considerably, and his five senses were much keener.

The Star Soul Forging Scripture consisted of three volumes: Upper, Middle, and Lower. To date, Yu Fei had only been cultivating the Upper Volume.

This was considered a minor, unremarkable step forward. In terms of his Cultivation Technique, however, it meant that Yu Fei now met the requirements to practice various perception-based Secret Techniques. Furthermore, the Bloodbath Overlord Body state, which was activated by his Melt Gold Jade Body Skill, would no longer cause him to lose emotional control. This was a very good thing for him.

In the blink of an eye, January arrived, and Yu Fei and the other students were about to begin their winter break.

As the break drew near, all students at the Inner Qi Realm and above received a notice for a required fieldwork assignment.

Yu Fei was no exception.

The Peace Under Heaven platform had a campus section for Shenhan and a public section. The platform was open to all Martial Artists except for high school students.

The fieldwork assignment required them to accept a public-order-related task from the Peace Under Heaven platform. Yu Fei scrolled through the listings for a while and found they were mostly cases involving hunting fugitives, recovering stolen goods, or dealing with kidnappings. There was also a chaotic mix of cleanup missions related to various cults.

After searching for a long time, Yu Fei finally chose a theft case: the recovery of a Martial Saint’s stolen relic!