20: The loss outweighs the gain

Mo Fan pressed the Enter key.

The search results quickly appeared.

However, Mo Fan was soon stunned.

The page displayed 404.

A line of text appeared in the square exchange box: Sorry, no content found for your query!

Mo Fan: “...”

Finally, he deleted the words "cool effects" and pressed Enter again.

A few seconds later, rows of information appeared; there were thirteen Cultivation Techniques and Martial Skills in total.

Seeing this, Mo Fan thought for a moment and limited the search category to Martial Skills.

A few seconds later, only three Martial Skills remained on the page.

[Demon Subduing Finger - Body Tempering Scroll, Cultivation difficulty five stars, click to view detailed introduction, click to view subsequent Cultivation Techniques.]

Mo Fan thought for a moment and directly clicked to view subsequent Cultivation Techniques.

Then, the page jumped, and two associated Martial Skills popped up.

[Demon Subduing Finger - Innate Scroll, no access permission.]

[Demon Subduing Finger - Foundation Establishment Scroll, no access permission.]

Mo Fan: “...”

He moved the mouse over the seven characters "no access permission" for the Demon Subduing Finger - Innate Scroll, and soon a small line of text appeared below the mouse arrow.

(Please go to the Outer Sect Scripture Hall to view.)

Then came the Demon Subduing Finger - Foundation Establishment Scroll. Mo Fan moved the mouse over it, and the prompt appeared again.

(Please go to the Inner Sect Scripture Hall to view.)

Seeing the prompt, Mo Fan understood.

The Menial Service Yard only contained the Body Tempering Scroll portion of Cultivation Techniques and Martial Skills.

To a certain extent, the Realm that subsequent Cultivation Techniques could support also represented its potential.

Or, to what Realm one could Cultivate this Cultivation Technique or Martial Skill at Yuxu Academy.

Composing himself, Mo Fan continued to examine the latter two Martial Skills.

[Wave Severing Palm - Body Tempering Scroll, Cultivation difficulty five stars, click to view detailed introduction, click to view subsequent Cultivation Techniques.]

[Vajra Fist - Body Tempering Scroll, Cultivation difficulty five stars, click to view detailed introduction, click to view subsequent Cultivation Techniques.]

He checked them one by one.

Wave Severing Palm, like Demon Subduing Finger, only had a Foundation Establishment Scroll for its subsequent parts, and its Cultivation difficulty was also five stars.

Vajra Fist, however, extended to the Transcendence Realm in its subsequent parts, and its Cultivation difficulty was also five stars.

Mo Fan focused and viewed the detailed introductions of the three Martial Skills separately.

A few minutes later, Mo Fan stopped, having made his decision.

He controlled the mouse to click on Vajra Fist, found its location, and silently memorized it.

"I'm done, you choose." Mo Fan stepped back, yielding the machine to Xu Jing.

"Tha-thank you..." Xu Jing thanked him and stepped forward to operate it.

Before long, Xu Jing also chose the Martial Skill she wanted—Shadow Severing Sword Art.

Then, the two went upstairs, each searching for their chosen Martial Skill.

What Mo Fan didn't expect was this.

The so-called Secret Manuals were actually USB drives.

Mo Fan: "???"

Why aren't things playing out as expected?

He had been thinking of using the Appraisal Technique while choosing a Martial Skill Secret Manual to see if he could find a hidden gem or something.

After all, there were similar plots in TV shows and movies.

Important figures, when idle, liked to mix some Peerless Secret Chapters among the lowest-grade Secret Manuals, waiting for a fated person to choose them and inherit their Legacy.

But the current situation clearly made that somewhat unrealistic.

All Cultivation Technique Secret Manuals or Martial Skill Secret Manuals were recorded by Seniors proficient in these arts.

And they were re-recorded every few years.

And these so-called Seniors were basically Outer Sect or Inner Sect Disciples.

The idea of a peerless expert hiding a Peerless Secret Chapter... was basically only something to dream about.

While complaining internally, Mo Fan followed the signs and found the USB drive containing Vajra Fist.

The USB drive was housed in an exquisite transparent box, with a nameplate engraved with the Martial Skill's name on the front of the box.

Mo Fan opened the transparent box, took out the USB drive, and walked towards the management desk downstairs.

"This is the Martial Skill I chose, please help me register it." Mo Fan handed over the USB drive politely.

The old man nodded, took the USB drive, and checked the code on it.

However, the old man soon frowned.

He looked intently at Mo Fan, hesitated for a moment, and couldn't help but remind him:

"The Martial Skill you chose has the highest Cultivation difficulty. Very few people in the Menial Service Yard can Cultivate it to an introductory level.

"Even those few who did Cultivate it to an introductory level spent a lot of time, ultimately falling behind in their Cultivation progress and missing the chance to be promoted to the Outer Sect."

After speaking, the old man looked seriously at Mo Fan and said, "Put the USB drive back and choose a Martial Skill with a three-star difficulty, that would be more appropriate."

In response, Mo Fan shook his head, his expression firm, "I want to give it a try."

He really wanted to try and see where the limit of his Comprehension Ability was.

Would Vajra Fist be like the Test Fist Technique he comprehended during the assessment, where he would learn it after practicing it once?

Seeing Mo Fan's insistence, the old man found it difficult to say more and shook his head, saying.

"Since that's the case, I'll help you register it. But once the registration takes effect, your free exchange opportunity will be used up. Next time you come, you'll need to spend merit points."

merit points were the hard currency of the Academy, and many future Academy benefits required spending merit points.

Completing tasks assigned by the Academy would earn a certain amount of merit points.

Utility Disciples could also earn merit points by completing their daily assigned work, but the amount was somewhat small.

"Yes, I've already decided, I'll choose this Martial Skill." Mo Fan remained firm.

The old man said no more, re-checked the code, and after confirming there were no issues, operated the computer in front of him.

A moment later, the old man handed the USB drive back to Mo Fan, reminding him:

"The Cultivation room on the left of the first floor, Room 37, has a USB drive reader and audio-visual playback device. You just need to insert the USB drive to start learning the Martial Skill.

"The time limit is four hours. After four hours, an alarm will sound in the room, at which point you need to remove the USB drive and leave the room, returning the next day."

"Thank you, Senior." Mo Fan cupped his fists in thanks and turned to head towards the Cultivation room.

Watching Mo Fan's back disappear from sight, the old man couldn't help but shake his head.

"Still too young. He wasted a free exchange opportunity. After experiencing a few 'social beatings,' he'll learn to cherish things."

Just as the old man was sighing.

A tall, beautiful figure in a red dress walked over, holding a USB drive.

"You've chosen too?" the old man asked.

"Yes, I have." Xu Jing nodded.

"Give it to me." The old man reached out.

"Okay." Xu Jing nodded and handed over the USB drive.

The old man lowered his head, entered the code, and verified the information.

A moment later, his face darkened again. He looked up at Xu Jing and grumbled, "Why did you also choose a five-star difficulty Martial Skill?"

The power rating of this Martial Skill was four stars.

But its difficulty coefficient reached five stars.

It was clearly something with an extremely poor cost-performance ratio.

"No... is it not allowed...?" Xu Jing was startled, unconsciously took a step back, and suddenly became nervous.

Seeing this, the old man shook his head helplessly and patiently explained:

"It's not that it's not allowed, but this Martial Skill is one of the most difficult to Cultivate in the Scripture Hall, with a difficulty coefficient of five stars.

"And because it has a flaw, its power rating is not as good as other five-star difficulty Martial Skills. It's the kind with a very low cost-performance ratio, so choosing it is not worth the loss."

The so-called flaw was its lack of sustained power. When truly mastered, in terms of instantaneous explosive power alone, Absolute Shadow was not inferior to any five-star Martial Skill.