Fang You stayed in Jiangbei City for another two days before returning home.
Hei Dao and An Jianyou did the same.
He hadn't hunted any three-star anomalous creatures for the past two days. The other three-star ones marked on the map were deep in the mountains and forests, with complex environments and other anomalous creatures around. It was too dangerous to go alone.
There was also the possibility of encountering invisible anomalous creatures not shown on the map.
Entering the forest alone was out of the question.
After three days of business trips, Fang You returned to Baijiang.
On the second and third days, he only managed to eliminate a few two-star anomalous creatures, and the gains had dropped significantly compared to the first day.
Of course, there were still many.
On the second day, his Fate Points income was 41, and on the third day, it was 32.
The investigation bureaus in Jiangbei, Lindong, and Qingshui were all bewildered. Wasn't the situation tense before? How did the world suddenly become peaceful in the blink of an eye?
Director Zhou was also bewildered.
He had only hoped that the group known as "Xin Huo" would do their part in eliminating a few difficult anomalous creatures. He hadn't expected that they would take care of everything.
Many times, their investigation bureaus only found out afterward. By the time they entered the sealed-off areas, they were already empty, with only faint traces of a struggle.
These were just the sealed-off locations they had recorded and discovered. What about the ones they hadn't found?
Director Zhou didn't forget that Xin Huo was very good at finding anomalous creatures.
But how could their elimination efficiency be so high?
How many awakened individuals did they have?
...
"Wuwu, we're finally back~!"
An Jianyou was now a powerhouse capable of independently carrying out high-level missions, though she didn't realize it herself. When she was outside, occasionally using her Tongyou Eye, she could see some extremely, extremely terrifying figures.
Just a glance or two would have scared her to death.
She didn't dare to sleep soundly at night, and she couldn't let Little Black No. 1 and No. 2 guard the door.
It felt much more secure to be back at her own base.
She stretched lazily.
Fang You gave An Jianyou and Hei Dao a holiday. Mental fortitude couldn't be constantly strained; a balance of work and rest was the key to long-term effort.
An Jianyou then took a leave of absence from her best friend and went shopping together.
Hei Dao shook his head, stating he didn't need a holiday and could fight another three hundred anomalous creatures.
Fang You did not agree.
Hei Dao then went to rigorously train the reserve personnel.
...
Fang You also gave himself a holiday.
He commandeered Hei Tong's computer and browsed the internet, reading novels. Unfortunately, the atmosphere had been tense and volatile recently, with many people lacking the motivation to work. Several of the novels he was following had been put on hiatus.
Wait, could it be that the authors had encountered anomalous creatures and passed away?
It wasn't impossible.
Even if it was just to ensure that his favorite novels didn't go on hiatus, he had to bring peace back to the world.
Though he said it was a holiday, Fang You didn't rest for too long.
Soon, he picked up his beginner's wooden sword and went to the training ground to practice sword techniques, performing a few routines, using a cheat once, then another few routines, and cheating again, in a loop.
At the same time, he didn't forget to use skill cultivation cards on Hei Dao, An Jianyou, and Yin Ling.
An Jianyou also didn't rest for too long. Upon her return, she joined the reserve personnel in learning swordsmanship from Instructor Hei Dao.
She had been learning for a while and officially entered the introductory stage today.
Fang You immediately summoned her to the training ground for stat allocation.
Boom—!
Once, twice, thrice, four times.
Although there were short breaks in between, after four rounds of stat allocation, An Jianyou felt completely worn out, curled up with her knees pulled to her chest, her eyes vacant. It took a long, long time for her to come to her senses.
Her eyes welled up with tears.
"Master, please stop."
...
There was no need for more. Stat allocation needed to be moderate. Another few rounds, and he was afraid An Jianyou would be truly broken.
But one must endure hardship to achieve success.
An Jianyou's secondary stats were initially quite poor. After this period of training and skill allocation, they finally improved.
"An Jianyou (First Stage Awakening)"
"Physique: 2.8→2.9→4.1"
"Spirit: 5.0→5.3"
"Life Energy: 4.82"
"Mystery: 25.6"
"Skills: Basic Swordsmanship (Proficient: 0%), Gui Yu (Proficient: 0.1%)"
Wait, Gui Yu had broken through?
This wasn't something he had boosted for An Jianyou. He had allocated points to Gui Yu before, but it was mostly due to An Jianyou's own efforts.
With a little practice, this girl's Gui Yu proficiency increased rapidly.
Clearly, practicing it herself was more cost-effective.
When it reached 99.9%, he had tried to allocate points to break through, but the system prompt indicated insufficient grade.
It needed to be green.
Blue-grade skills were more expensive than others and required careful nurturing.
Fang You slowed down. He had originally planned to let An Jianyou rest and recover before further improving her Gui Yu. Now it seemed he could save that.
This was likely talent.
"An Jianyou's mystery accumulation is also sufficient for a second awakening. Moreover, with her significantly improved secondary stats, it will certainly be easier for her to endure the awakening trial."
"Yes, the four stat allocations in a short period of time should have greatly honed her willpower, which will also help with the awakening."
That's right, Fang You had allocated stats so quickly precisely to temper An Jianyou.
It had nothing to do with being in a hurry.
He said, "Take a break, familiarize yourself with the changes in your body, and come to the training ground tonight for your second awakening."
...
Late at night.
After a day of strenuous training, Fang You wiped the sweat from his body and checked his status panel on his phone, nodding slightly.
He then put his phone in his pocket and went to the adjacent training ground.
Under the lights, An Jianyou stood tall and elegant, biting her lip with a nervous expression, looking like she was heading to an execution.
Though it was somewhat similar.
"Master, I... I'm ready!"
She was three parts apprehensive, three parts nervous, and four parts embarrassed, not daring to look up.
Awakening involved facing a terrifying scene, it was unclear if it was real or not, but many times she felt like she was falling into an abyss, about to die.
With the master present, death was unlikely, but social death was inevitable.
Even though she had already experienced social death twice in front of her master, the thought of her unconscious thrashing and screaming still made An Jianyou's face flush with embarrassment, and her toes curl.
Conversely, she was less fearful of the awakening trial itself.
Ahhhhh, let's just go for it!
An Jianyou closed her eyes resolutely and thought, "If I die, I die. Bring it on, ying!"
...
An Jianyou's success rate for this awakening was 2% higher on paper than a few days ago, indicating that improved strength directly impacted the awakening.
Furthermore, since this was her second attempt, the success rate was significantly higher. This time, she should definitely...
Damn! Can't jinx it.
Just like last time, Fang You retreated some distance, pretending not to be there.
And he pressed the 'Guide · Awakening' switch.
"Awaken!"
A second time, the classic performance.
Before long, An Jianyou's screams, like those of a groundhog, echoed from the training ground. Fortunately, this training ground was soundproof, otherwise, An Jianyou's social embarrassment would have spread outside.
Fang You observed An Jianyou's shivering... observed her awakening process.
In the anomalous creature tracking vision, gray mist churned, gradually merging into An Jianyou's body.
The appearance was roughly like...
After more than half an hour, his phone vibrated slightly.
"Ding!"
"Notification: Fate Apostle · An Jianyou has successfully completed the Second Awakening. Physique +2.6, Spirit +6.0. Talent and Awakening Abilities have been enhanced."