273: A leap in strength, on the eve of the hunt

“What is this?” Feeling the aura that made his heart pound, Tang Ping recalled the pain of his soul being torn, and his face instantly tensed up.

But soon, he found that the mysterious bead seemed to have no other abnormalities.

Just as he was about to check if there were any other anomalies in his body, he suddenly noticed that the Star Vein Spirit in front of him was as if fixed in the void.

The speed of the Star Vein Spirit was so fast that even a Seventh-Level Expert couldn't catch up, so Tang Ping had never thought of trying to grab it by force, but the scene before him?

He reached out his hand, trying to see if he could catch it, although catching a Star Vein Spirit with bare hands felt a bit absurd.

A loud laugh rang out: “Hahaha, silly boy, you’re not really going to try and catch a Star Vein Spirit with your bare hands, are you! Let me tell you, let alone you, even if Heavenly Kings and Heavenly Queens came, it would be absolutely impossible to catch a Star Vein Spirit with bare hands! Stop daydreaming, sit down and meditate properly, and improve your own strength.”

But the next second, this person froze in place, his eyes wide, as if he had seen a ghost: “You! You, you!”

Tang Ping glanced at the red-haired man, then tossed the Star Vein Spirit in his hand into his mouth, closed his eyes, and prepared to refine it.

This was an ice-attribute Star Vein Spirit, which perfectly matched his attribute. After successful refinement, it would even bring many benefits to his Talent.

“Impossible, this is impossible, how could you possibly catch a Star Vein Spirit with your bare hands!” Guan Changxiao wanted to step forward and grab the other party's shoulder to question him, but within the star source tower, everyone who entered was in a separate, isolated void, visible but untouchable.

“Quickly tell me, how did you catch the Star Vein Spirit!” Guan Changxiao stomped his foot in frustration.

Tang Ping opened his eyes and tilted his head: “I just reached out and grabbed it. The Star Vein Spirit ran right in front of me, and I grabbed it as soon as I reached out. What, can’t this uncle catch one? Does he not like Star Vein Spirits?”

Guan Changxiao's face instantly turned red with anger: “You, I, I!”

“Don’t call me uncle…”

Indeed, those who could come to the star source tower to obtain a Star Vein Spirit were basically recognized by the Star Vein Spirit itself. No one had ever been able to forcibly seize a Star Vein Spirit. As for those beings who could forcibly seize a Star Vein Spirit, these Star Vein Spirits would no longer be of any help to them.

“Hmph, it’s just getting the recognition of one Star Vein Spirit, what’s there to be proud of.”

Guan Changxiao turned and left.

Suddenly, his eyes lit up as he saw a Star Vein Spirit flying towards him. Could it be, could it be that he was also about to be recognized by a Star Vein Spirit? Thinking of this, he immediately straightened his back.

Waiting for the Star Vein Spirit to embrace him.

“Eh, why is this Star Vein Spirit ice-blue? Is it some special flame?” Guan Changxiao's heart subtly began to anticipate.

But just as he spread his arms, preparing to welcome his Star Vein Spirit, the Star Vein Spirit, trailing a long star-tail, turned and bypassed Guan Changxiao's body, diving into Tang Ping's body.

“…”

Guan Changxiao stood frozen in place. Where was his Star Vein Spirit? Where was that big Star Vein Spirit of his?

Instantly, the red-haired man's eyes turned red with anger: “My Star Vein Spirit!”

At this moment, how could he not understand that what he thought was an exotic flame Star Vein Spirit was clearly an ice-attribute Star Vein Spirit!

At this moment, another speck of light flickered in the starry sky, this time, it was white.

Guan Changxiao's heart settled. This time, it must be his, right? After all, ice-attribute Star Vein Spirits shouldn't be white.

Yes, within the star source tower, there were indeed no white ice-attribute Star Vein Spirits, but… there were mental-attribute ones!

And so, Guan Changxiao watched helplessly as the Star Vein Spirit, as if disdaining trash, bypassed him and eagerly burrowed into Tang Ping's embrace.

“This is going too far!”

A furious roar echoed in the void.

Two ice-attribute Star Vein Spirits and one mental-attribute Star Vein Spirit were currently within Tang Ping's body, being slowly refined and transforming into wondrous star veins.

Tang Ping automatically blocked out external disturbances, dedicating himself wholeheartedly to using this month to improve his strength as much as possible.

Guan Changxiao waited for another half day, and seeing that no Star Vein Spirit came to him, he reluctantly stopped wasting time and quickly absorbed the power of the Star Source to enhance himself.

After all, entering the star source tower to cultivate was a very precious opportunity.

One month later

[Player: Tang Ping

ID: 0079351681

Race: Human

Lifespan: 1610

(Human basic racial lifespan value is 100, S-rank Talent adds 70%, A-Rank Talent adds 60%, current basic racial lifespan value is 700)

Physique: 500 (1000)

Spirit: 600 (900)

Strength: 550

Speed: 550

bloodline: None

Special Parts: Ice Star Vein * 2 (basic physique increase 50%, basic racial lifespan increase 200); Spirit Star Vein (basic spirit increase 50%, basic racial lifespan increase 200)

Companion Holy Spirit: None

Mystical Art: Mystic Light of Flora

Talent 1: Extreme Ice (S)

Talent Level: 3 (1000 / 10000)

Talent 2: Ice Soul Pupil (A)

Talent Level: 3 (2000 / 10000)

]

“With this strength, it shouldn’t be a problem to break into the top hundred.” Tang Ping checked his personal information. He was still very confident about entering the top hundred. After all, no matter how many prodigies there were, he couldn't possibly fail to even make it into the top hundred, right?

Perhaps he could even aim for the top twenty, or even the top ten wasn't entirely hopeless.

He also had Mystical Arts to rely on. Those high school students couldn't all have cultivated Mystical Arts, could they? Mystical Arts, that thing, truly had no shortcuts. One could only cultivate diligently, and even then, success wasn't guaranteed. Even with considerable Talent for a certain Mystical Art, it would still take ten to twenty years to cultivate it, condense the Mystical Art Source Seal, and reach the stage of application.

As for himself, the reason he could cultivate so quickly was entirely because he had previously mastered the Mystic Light of Flora Mystical Art, and even the higher-tier Child of Nature Mystical Art. If it weren't for the limitations of his body, he would probably have cultivated the Child of Nature Mystical Art.

So even with this gathering of prodigies, given the current age of high school students, there probably weren't many who could control Mystical Arts. Moreover, most people now relied on diligent meditation to improve their strength, rather than using the system experience stone as a cheat.

It was no longer the situation of the First Generation Players being everywhere. Now, dungeons were almost non-existent, and system experience stones were extremely rare. Coupled with the stability of major powers, where resources were all controlled by the strong, even many favored children of heaven still had to cultivate diligently.

After all, good things were passed down through bloodlines.

Therefore, these high school students, who spent a great deal of time on improving their realm, would have even less time to cultivate any Mystical Arts. The most crucial point was that Mystical Arts were not something you could cultivate just because you wanted to.

That thing was countless times more precious than system experience stones, which were essentially innate meditation stones.

Even bloodlines might not transmit it.

Tang Ping felt his Mystic Light of Flora; the Mystical Art Source Seal had already stabilized with the help of the star source tower, and the Green Lotus Birth Source Seal was also more than halfway condensed, not far from being usable.

At that time, with two great Mystical Arts, one for defense and one for support, Tang Ping would feel much more at ease.

However, both Mystical Arts were his trump cards. He wasn't prepared to use them unless absolutely necessary, as exposing Mystical Arts could very likely attract the covetous gaze of others.

Especially those extraordinary families. It was well-known that Talents could not be passed down. Even Heavenly Kings and Heavenly Queens would inevitably have offspring who awakened F-rank or E-rank Talents. It was just that they had enough resources to help their offspring improve.

But many extraordinary families did not have the profound heritage of Heavenly Kings and Heavenly Queens, so transferable Mystical Arts would inevitably be targeted. Even if he had Elder Wen, or even Brother Niu, to protect him, human greed was infinite.

“Fortunately, as long as it's not a Mystical Art that the other party cultivates and can be mutually sensed, outsiders generally just assume it's some kind of Talent or extraordinary item.” Tang Ping muttered to himself. Then, a sense of repulsion emerged, and when it appeared, he was already in the Seventh High School meditation room.

“What an incredible tower. I wonder where Sister Wang got it from.”

He pushed open the door and walked out.

“Hahaha, you finally came out, kid! Come with me quickly! The other classmates have been waiting for you for days!”