Three skills, from basic swordplay to sinister tracking, and then to palm lightning.
The principle is to progress from easy to difficult.
And it facilitates tactical withdrawal.
Basic swordplay can strengthen the physique and allow for faster running, while sinister tracking can detect the presence of sinister beings and avoid danger.
Learning basic swordplay might exhaust oneself, but enjoying the pleasure of physical improvement is not a problem.
Sinister tracking is more painful. After so many days, Fang You's eyelids still twitch from time to time.
They twitch when he is typing.
This is the aftereffect of learning sinister tracking, causing pain to his eyes. Fang You is also a little... well, afraid of learning 'palm lightning'.
It feels like going on an operating table.
Of course, it's a minor surgery, and it has to be done. Fang You originally wanted to wait until tomorrow to learn it, but what happened today...
"Time waits for no one."
"If Black Blade is this dedicated, I, as the behind-the-scenes support, can't slack off either."
"Moreover, from the current intelligence, strengthening requires awakening, and the prerequisite for awakening is accumulating mystery. The method to accumulate mystery is to interact with and kill sinister beings."
He would have to face sinister beings directly sooner or later.
Palm lightning, a skill with offensive capabilities, was also something he had to learn.
However,
He couldn't rush, nor should he.
He wouldn't think that with his three skills at the proficient level, he could be comparable to his senior, Black Blade, the next day. Besides, Black Blade had to fight for quite a while against the construction site sinister being.
It wasn't easy!
He didn't have Black Blade's physique, nor Black Blade's experience in handling things with great proficiency.
To directly face a sinister being, a one-star sinister being, he would at least need to... Hmm...
Fang You set a small goal for himself.
To raise his physique to above "3" and cultivate palm lightning to the master level, at the very least.
So now, it was his turn. Skill book... Use!
...
A familiar dizzying sensation, and Fang You found himself on an empty, deserted platform.
The wind howled, beating against his face.
He stood still, holding no weapon.
Right, palm lightning, after all, relied on bare hands.
Fang You was accustomed to this kind of skill learning mode. Since he couldn't control his body, he might as well 'enjoy' it immersively.
The faster he learned, the sooner he could escape this ordeal.
And today's 'palm lightning' learning, judging by the situation, seemed less cumbersome than the 'sinister tracking' learning a few days ago.
It might even be simpler.
Simpler was a good skill.
Rumble—
At this moment, Fang You heard a muffled thunderclap, and his vision gradually rose.
This was a platform, situated at the peak of a high mountain.
However, above the platform, not too far away in the sky, dark clouds had gathered, a dense mass. Lightning arcs flashed within them, becoming more frequent and numerous until, with a thunderous boom, they descended directly.
Fang You: Damn!
I'm just learning an ordinary palm lightning, do you have to make such a big fuss!
...
"As the ancients said, when heaven is about to bestow a great responsibility upon a person, it must first vex his mind, toughen his sinews and bones, and afflict his body..."
"Ah—"
Fang You lay on the ground like a starfish, feeling as if he could spit out a black circle from his mouth.
Of course, the notion of being electrocuted and charred was just an illusion. Aside from his entire body feeling numb and twitching, he had no wounds.
On the cloud-peak platform, his health and stamina were also locked.
As for the pain he felt, the suffering inflicted by the world, it was not worth mentioning.
However,
Putting aside the fact that his entire body still twitched occasionally, learning the skill of 'palm lightning' was also quite remarkable.
Unlike sinister tracking, sinister tracking was ultimately just "seeing," allowing one to perceive sinister beings to a slight degree, but it had no real interference with the physical world.
Palm lightning was different. This was the special ability he had in mind.
It was firmly imprinted in his heart.
With a thought, crackling electric light danced at his fingertips. Fang You slowly raised his palm, then suddenly stopped.
No, he had nothing left.
If he used palm lightning again, wouldn't he die on the spot?!
He almost got carried away!
...
Sunset, before sunrise.
While Fang You was still twitching intermittently, a few kilometers away on the overgrown path, the atmosphere grew increasingly tense.
The storm was brewing!
"Director Zhou, all nearby civilians have been evacuated," said a staff member from another department.
The Investigation Bureau had contingency plans for such situations.
Rapid requests for aid, evacuation, and cordoning off the area.
The actions were swift, and no accidents occurred during the entire process. However...
The middle-aged man with a stern face remained heavy-hearted.
As long as this terrifying sinister being was not eliminated, the crisis would persist. This bomb was already on the verge of exploding.
It could still be contained for now because this sinister being was moving very slowly.
But who knew when it would speed up!
"Did you bring everything?"
"Yes, the prayer beads blessed with twenty-five years of cultivation by Master Ming Deng, and the Master also told me to bring the oil lamp from the temple that has been lit for decades. And as you instructed, the safe marked with 'Special'."
This was the entire foundation of the Baijiang Investigation Bureau.
Of course, the Baijiang City Investigation Bureau had only been established for a few years. Rather than calling this Baijiang City's foundation, it was more like the foundation of Jiangming Temple outside Baijiang City.
The prayer beads with twenty-five years of cultivation were five years more potent than the previous broken set.
And not only that.
The previous prayer beads had been used several times before they snapped. The power imbued in them was like water without a source; each use resulted in some depletion.
Otherwise, the investigators would have been equipped with more ordinary prayer beads.
Those with truly strong efficacy were extremely rare and could not be used carelessly, only reserved for critical moments when there was no other choice.
This was the case now. This string of prayer beads with twenty-five years of cultivation was freshly obtained from Jiangming Temple, along with the oil lamp.
However, these were still not enough, far from enough!
Director Zhou dared not hold out much hope. It would be good if it could scrape off some blood from the sinister being; that would be a blessing. To expect these two items to defeat this sinister being, Director Zhou, whose hair was starting to thin in middle age, dared not be so naive.
In the face of sinister beings, humanity was so powerless. All means were like illusions.
There were no cultivators.
No mages.
Only sinister beings could deal with sinister beings.
Yet, even for special investigators who possessed the power to kill sinister beings, most could only deal with the most ordinary ones.
The more one knew, the more despair one felt.
It was early morning, the sun had just risen, but the sky was still shrouded in a hazy, overcast gloom.
Dimness! Darkness!
It lingered, refusing to dissipate.
Director Zhou's gaze fell upon the safe marked with 'Special,' and he fell silent for a long time.
At this moment,
Investigator Ke Yuan ran over with a joyful expression, "Director Zhou, the Spe... That Special Investigator has arrived!"