My Arts Evolve When Perfected

CLICK—

The moment the Nutrition Chamber door opened, Jiang Qiu, clad in a black shirt, stood beside the large vat. With a blink, the world filled with color once more. "Lin Wei. Director Liu."

"It took seven days before the central system detected signs of you waking up. The effects of this medicinal bath must be excellent."

Lin Xiao’s brows were a hard line above his eyes. His eagle-like gaze sized up Jiang Qiu, betraying a hint of curiosity. "Did you awaken a Bloodline Talent?"

"No."

Jiang Qiu shook his head, his wet hair swaying slightly. DRIP. DROP. Water beaded on his black shirt and splattered onto the floor. His ink-black pupils looked as if they were coated in dust.

"Even a seven-day bath in Demon Blood Fragrance wasn’t enough to awaken a Bloodline Talent?" Lin Xiao murmured, a flicker of regret in his eyes. "Zhu Li’s Bloodline Talent is as difficult to awaken as they say. Still, I see you’ve already completed your cultivation in the Steel Bone Realm and have begun developing your Jade Sinews. Your own Talent is truly exceptional. Anyone else would have hit their limit after just three days.

"Well, since the medicinal bath is finished, you should head back with Captain Liu Qi."

"Alright."

Jiang Qiu nodded and left with Liu Qi. The moment they stepped out the door, Liu Qi sighed. "Seven whole days, and you really didn’t awaken a Bloodline Talent?"

"No." Jiang Qiu sighed softly, a curious glint in his eyes. "Director, what would have happened if I had awakened the Bloodline Talent?"

"Zhu Li’s Bloodline Talent is known as ’Flood Dragon Tong.’ It’s the very essence of its ever-evolving bloodline. Upon reaching the Ancestral Return Realm, it could use it to control the waters of a great lake. Normally, just enduring for three days gives you a chance to awaken it," Liu Qi said, sounding regretful. "And yet, you lasted for seven and still nothing. Sigh, all that willpower... what a waste. It’s probably just an issue of affinity.

"But you can’t force these things. Awakening a Bloodline Talent with Demon Blood Fragrance is a one-in-ten-thousand chance to begin with."

"Mm."

Jiang Qiu nodded and took the opportunity to steal a glance at Liu Qi. An imperceptible dark-green light flashed in his eyes. For an instant, it was as if his pupils had become vertical slits, radiating a grim chill, like a Flood Dragon peering out from the abyssal depths.

He saw Liu Qi’s Qi Blood burning like a crimson flame, like plastic wrap melting away from a steel sculpture to reveal the tough True Form beneath. In the blink of an eye, the vision faded, and Liu Qi walked on, completely unaware.

He looked down at his own hands and saw a faint, orange-yellow flame flickering around them. ’So when I activate ’Flood Dragon Tong,’ I can sense the pressure of a target’s Qi Blood. It’s like a fire. The higher someone’s Realm, the more vivid the color, and it seems the temperature is higher, too.’

’By that logic, Demon Beasts must also have Qi Blood, so they should show up as flames as well. But inanimate objects seem to be completely grayscale, like an old black-and-white television.’

’This must be the current effect of my ’Flood Dragon Tong’—gauging a target’s strength based on their Qi Blood.’

’An ability like this, to perceive an opponent’s strength... it seems like something only a Martial Artist at Director Liu’s level might have a chance to learn, and even then, it would be incredibly rare...’

At that thought, Jiang Qiu silently lifted his head and quietly clenched his fists. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝙬𝙚𝓫𝒏𝓸𝓿𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝙤𝓶

’A Bloodline Talent from an Ancestral Great Demon has limitless potential for evolution. It’s too significant. I can’t just get excited and expose it.’

’As one of the Optimizers who was able to defeat Lin Wei, revealing my Bloodline Talent or not shouldn’t affect my resource allocation. It’s better to keep it as a trump card.’

’A wise man keeps his blade sheathed until the time is right to act.’

...

Led by Liu Qi, Jiang Qiu returned to Virtual Training Pod number eight.

"The college entrance exams aren’t far off now. The cities are all in the final stages of assigning proctors. You don’t have much time left to train, but I can activate the Virtual Training Pod for you one more time. How about you use the last ten-odd days to learn the Tier Two Bow Skill, ’Curved Light Arrow’?

"You don’t have Spirit Charm yet, so you won’t be able to truly master the skill, but you can try to imitate its Qi Blood Circulation pattern when you draw the bow. It’s the Bow Skill that best embodies the principles of Qi Blood Circulation, which will help you develop your Jade Sinews.

"Besides, it’s one of the three foundational Tier Two Bow Skills. Anyone who practices Spear and Bow Dual Cultivation eventually has to learn it."

Liu Qi spoke in a rush, the X-shaped scar on his cheek twitching with his words. "But if you don’t want to learn it, that’s fine. I can set the pod to whatever training program you want."

"No need. I’ll learn ’Curved Light Arrow’."

A sharp glint flashed in Jiang Qiu’s eyes.

’My Flood Dragon Jade Sinews are currently developing; I’m already halfway to the Jade Sinew Realm.’

’With the college entrance exams right around the corner, it’s best to forge my Jade Sinews as quickly as possible. Otherwise, I might not have the luxury to do so during the brutal combat portions of the test.’

Officially stepping into the Jade Sinew Realm meant he could start trying to sense the Heaven and Earth Spirit Charm, and begin to unleash some of the true power of Tier Two Spear Skills and Bow Skills.

And that meant he could finally kill the Top Tier Demon Beast, King Niu!

"Alright, it’s all set up. Rest for a bit, then you can go in and give it a shot," Liu Qi said after activating the Virtual Training Pod, grinning at Jiang Qiu. "Make the most of these last ten-odd days. Every bit of progress counts. Now that your Demon Blood Fragrance bath is done, I need to go see General Mo."

"Alright. Goodbye, Director."

With a CLICK, Liu Qi shut the door and left. Now alone in the lounge, Jiang Qiu sank back into the sofa and let out a long breath. "That Demon Blood Fragrance is some seriously potent stuff."

[Flood Dragon Jade Sinews (Developing)]

[Qi Blood Points: 0/100]

[Metamorphosis Attribute: Blood Circulation, Aim]

[Metamorphosis Talent: Spear Stance, Momentum, Steel Body]

[Bloodline Talent: Flood Dragon Tong]

A single medicinal bath had allowed him to complete his Steel Bone Realm cultivation and begin developing his Jade Sinews, bringing him halfway into the Jade Sinew Realm.

Furthermore, ’Copper Transformation,’ ’Steel Arm,’ ’Steel Foot,’ and ’Steel Skull’ had all merged into ’Steel Body,’ which combined the features of all four Metamorphosis Attributes.

[Steel Body]

[Features: Impenetrable, Foundation of the Golden Body]

When he activated ’Steel Body,’ it consumed Qi Blood, but his entire body—from his very toes to the blood vessels around his heart—would become as hard as steel. His strength would also increase dramatically, its effect a hundred times greater than his old ’Copper Transformation’.

Even without actively using ’Steel Body,’ his body was now unnaturally hard.

TAP. TAP.

Jiang Qiu tapped his bare forearm twice. The faint, crisp sound of metal on metal was as pleasant as a sparrow chirping by his ear.

His thoughts then turned to his one and only Bloodline Talent.

[Flood Dragon Tong]

[Feature 1: Eye of the Flood Dragon, Glimpse of All Things]

’Once my Realm is higher, I should be able to unlock more of the features of this Bloodline Talent from the Ancestral Great Demon Zhu Li.’

Jiang Qiu murmured to himself, his gaze turning to the steel door of the Virtual Training Pod. ’I still have two portions of Gong Su Fragrance left from the military’s test reward. I’ll use them for a bath in a bit. Let’s see if I can learn the Tier Two Bow Skill ’Curved Light Arrow’ in ten days...’

BRRRING—

The sudden ringing of his phone cut through his thoughts. The caller ID read: Wu Shan.

He answered with a BEEP. A deep, stone-steady voice came from the other end. "Jiang Qiu, I haven’t been able to reach you these past few days. Is everything alright?"

"I’m fine, Teacher. I was at the base’s Resources Building for a medicinal bath, and it took a while. Is something wrong?"

Jiang Qiu’s brow slowly furrowed, and his eyelid twitched involuntarily.

"Yes. The six thousand Contribution Points you transferred have been used to acquire precious supplementary materials. They’re a great help for the Advanced Su Fragrance. However, the Su Fragrance specialist says we can push it even further, and he wanted your input." The voice on the other end paused, followed by the sound of a deep inhalation. "There are now two foolproof options for you to choose from.

"First, we use the precious supplementary materials we’ve already acquired, combine them with ordinary materials, and refine the Advanced Su Fragrance. The development efficiency for the mutated Pebble will be between 50% and 60%. With the specialist’s skill, that’s already about 10% higher than most documented Advanced Su Fragrances, and the highest record is only around 70%.

"The second option is to replace all the ordinary materials with precious ones. The specialist said that after a dozen or so previous attempts, he discovered certain properties of this mutated Pebble. He thinks it’s possible to push the development efficiency beyond 90%..."