73: Upgraded

Xiao Weiqing left a weapon shop and headed straight for the Extraordinary Talent Tower.

With points in hand, it was time to spend them, of course.

This time he earned another 2,500 points for free, plus the previous 1,000 and the 3,000 points given by Jiang Peng.

Adding his own remaining few hundred, he could buy the Reinforcement Innate Skill; he had enough points.

He arrived at the Talent Tower.

The lobby on the first floor was bustling, yet there were not many people.

"Why does this feel a bit like a bank?"

There were dozens of windows in the lobby, and behind each sat a young and beautiful girl in a uniform, smiling.

Xiao Weiqing found a nearby window.

"Hello, how can I... Xiao Weiqing?"

Xiao Weiqing looked closely. "Ye Pingping? Why are you here?"

"A part-time job. And you? Applying for a loan?"

Ye Pingping's eyes lit up. Given Xiao Weiqing's strength, the loan limit the school offered would definitely be high, which meant her commission would be higher too.

Xiao Weiqing shook his head.

"No, I'm here to buy an Innate Skill."

Hearing this.

Ye Pingping was slightly surprised. "An Innate Skill?"

"Did you already take out a loan?" Ye Pingping was a bit disappointed.

"No."

"No?"

"Xiao Weiqing, then where did you get the points to buy an Innate Skill?"

"I earned some points recently."

Ye Pingping was a bit skeptical. How many points could a new Trainee earn at this stage? At most 1,000 to 2,000. Was Xiao Weiqing planning to buy the cheapest Level 2 talent?

"Which Innate Skill do you want to buy?"

"Level 2 Reinforcement."

"Reinforcement? That's a very good Innate Skill."

"Wait a moment."

Ye Pingping's slender fingers quickly tapped the holographic screen, then flipped to the last page.

The Reinforcements on this page were all between 1,000 and 3,000 points.

"Which one do you want?"

Xiao Weiqing said, "The first page. You skipped it."

Ye Pingping was surprised and flipped back to the first page.

"Are you sure?"

Ye Pingping was full of shock as she looked at the prices; the Reinforcements on this page cost 6,000 to 8,000 points.

"Yes, I want the first one."

"Please process it for me."

Ye Pingping asked again, "Do you have that many points without taking a loan?"

"Yes. I'll pay 6,000 points first, and the remaining 2,000 next month. Is that okay?"

Ye Pingping nodded. Having worked part-time here for a week, she was very familiar with the policies. For someone in Xiao Weiqing's situation, a 50% balance could definitely be paid in installments without interest.

"Okay, then I'll lock this Innate Skill for you. Make sure you're certain."

"Yes."

Next.

Under Ye Pingping's skepticism.

Xiao Weiqing followed the instructions step by step and finally paid 6,000 points.

"How is it possible? He really has 6,000 points?"

Ye Pingping had researched Xiao Weiqing; he had no Family or background and couldn't compare to people like Qin Tian.

You should know that Qin Tian and the others, relying on the families behind them, could borrow 100,000 points to buy Level 4 Innate Skills. Even though Xiao Weiqing was currently recognized as the strongest freshman in the Upper Academy, his loan limit was only 50,000 points.

But precisely because of that, where did Xiao Weiqing's 6,000 points come from? If he spent 6,000 points on an Innate Skill, he wouldn't leave himself with nothing for cultivation, which meant he had more than 6,000 points in total.

Xiao Weiqing said he earned them himself, but Ye Pingping really couldn't imagine how.

"Is it done?"

Xiao Weiqing paid the points and signed his name.

Ye Pingping snapped out of it. "Oh, yes. Just a moment."

Ye Pingping left her station and returned three minutes later, holding a jade box the size of a palm.

"Keep it safe. Inside the jade box is the Level 2 Innate Skill. Once opened, use it as soon as possible by pressing it against your forehead."

Xiao Weiqing nodded, carefully put it away, and stood up to leave.

"Xiao Weiqing, wait a moment."

"What is it?"

"This is for you."

Ye Pingping handed Xiao Weiqing a card; there was nothing on it except a string of numbers.

"What is this?"

"It's a membership for our Class of 2122 Medical Class. Once bound, you'll be our member and get a 10% discount on healing here in the future."

Xiao Weiqing didn't refuse, just in case.

"Thanks!"

"You're welcome."

Having obtained Reinforcement, Xiao Weiqing rushed back to the Ziwei Courtyard.

He was already impatient.

Returning to the Villa.

Xiao Weiqing went to the cultivation room on the second floor and sat cross-legged.

"Calm the mind, steady the breath."

Three minutes later.

Xiao Weiqing took out a cloth wrap and carefully opened it, revealing the jade box inside.

He reached out and opened the jade box.

What met his eyes was a glass sphere less than an inch in diameter, officially called a Talent Orb.

Looking closely, there was actually an unknown substance flowing inside; its color was nearly transparent, undetectable without using Mental Energy to probe.

"Press it against the forehead."

Xiao Weiqing hadn't forgotten what Ye Pingping said.

He gently picked up the Talent Orb and, without hesitation, pressed it against his forehead.

Crack!

A soft sound.

Xiao Weiqing felt a throb at his forehead, and a surge of information entered his mind—it was the information for the Reinforcement Innate Skill.

Looking at the Talent Orb in his hand again, it had already cracked and would likely shatter with a little force.

He put away the empty Talent Orb.

"Let's try it."

Xiao Weiqing began to Cultivate the Samadhi True Fire Spirit Refining Art.

He absorbed Spiritual Qi and began to run a minor heavenly cycle.

"Eh?"

"The effect is very obvious."

Reinforcement was a passive Innate Skill that naturally took effect when cultivating Spiritual Qi.

Xiao Weiqing clearly felt that the strand of Spiritual Qi was indeed a bit thicker than usual—not by much, just a tiny bit.

If Xiao Weiqing didn't Cultivate Spiritual Qi every day, he wouldn't have been able to tell the difference.

"Very good."

Xiao Weiqing didn't have high expectations for the increase in cultivation speed, because the Qi Absorption Method of his Samadhi True Fire Spirit Refining Art was definitely not inferior to a Level 6 Extraordinary Talent.

However, any increase was better than none. What truly surprised him was the speed of the Spiritual Qi circulation.

This could also increase cultivation speed, but the most crucial part was that when releasing Innate Skills, his attack speed would improve significantly... Ziwei Pavilion.

At the entrance.

"Xiao Weiqing, are you here to deal with those bastards too?" Duan Shuyu said.

Xiao Weiqing: "Those bastards?"

"You don't know?"

Xiao Weiqing shook his head. "I don't know. I've been cultivating this whole time."

"It's Ye Hua Academy."

"Ye Hua Academy?"

Xiao Weiqing frowned and said, "Don't we have a conflict with Tian Yue Academy? How did we get into a mess with Ye Hua Academy too?"

Xiao Weiqing didn't quite understand.

"They're ranked seventh and we're eighth; it's normal to have conflicts," Duan Shuyu said as if it were obvious.

Xiao Weiqing was somewhat speechless. "Do we have conflicts with any other academies?"

Duan Shuyu said, "Yes."

"Which ones?"

"Great Xia Academy, Canglan Academy, Ziyun Academy, Qingyun Academy."

"?"

Xiao Weiqing's face was full of question marks. "Are you sure you're not joking with me?"

Duan Shuyu shrugged. "What's with that expression? Our Luo Jiang Academy used to be one of the top three academies in Great Xia. It's normal to have conflicts with the top-ranked ones; we meet them often in Exchange Competitions."

"Besides, in the Heavenly Ladder, we see each other all the time."

"And so, we're at it again tonight."

"Tell me, what's going on?"

The two talked as they went upstairs.

"What else could it be? Ye Hua Academy luckily defeated Fei Xiaobao and posted mocking comments on the Forum."

"Later, someone from our academy defeated Ye Hua Academy and also posted a mocking thread. Now the situation is out of control, and Level 5s from both sides are constantly challenging each other."

Xiao Weiqing asked, "So what's the situation now?"