Chapter 486: Gains from the Academy Visit

Chapter 486: Gains from the Academy Visit

After leaving the Shen residence.

Jiang Ning looked at the identity token Ye Zhengqi had just given him, feeling a strange sense of emotion.

Before parting ways, he had asked Ye Zhengqi how to enroll in the academy.

Previously, in Dongling County, he had personally experienced the benefits of the Martial Garden.

The Martial Training Tower not only enhanced his Life Force, but also awarded him a substantial amount of credits, which he could use to acquire valuable resources for his training.

The Library, on the other hand, significantly increased his experience in the Skill of Literacy.

Most importantly, it broadened his horizons and deepened his understanding of this world.

Now that he had arrived in Guangning Prefecture, how could he not want to visit the academy?

The academy's library was even more extensive than the Martial Garden, offering not only a wealth of knowledge and broadened perspectives but also a significant boost to his Skill of Literacy.

The importance of this skill in his current life was self-evident.

Moreover,

He was eager to delve into some ancient texts, particularly those that recorded the Ancient Era.

The Ice Guardian had been haunting him for days.

Fortunately, aside from its persistent presence, the Ice Guardian and the woman within had not caused him any trouble.

But the matter lingered in his mind, causing him some unease.

The woman in the Ice Guardian was too mysterious.

The Ice Guardian itself was too bizarre.

Even now, as a Grandmaster, he was completely at a loss on how to deal with it.

Therefore, he wanted to visit the academy to see if he could find some clues in the ancient texts.

However, when he asked Ye Zhengqi how to enroll in the academy for further study,

Ye Zhengqi did not answer immediately but instead handed him a token and left a message.

With this token, he could freely use all the facilities within the academy and enter most areas without any cost.

Holding the token Ye Zhengqi had given him, he remembered the significant amount of credits he had to pay to use the Martial Garden.

He felt the stark difference in status.

A short while later,

Jiang Ning, using the token Ye Zhengqi had given him, arrived at the academy alone.

The Martial Training Tower.

The tower stood nine stories high.

From the day of enrollment, within a five-year period, anyone who could reach the top would earn the qualification to study Martial Arts at the Imperial Academy in the capital.

On this day,

The bronze bells hanging at the top of the nine-story tower rang in unison.

The sound traveled far and wide on the wind.

As the bells rang,

It was as if a pebble had been dropped into a calm lake, instantly creating ripples.

People of all ages, young and old, quickly gathered from all directions toward the Martial Training Tower.

"Who is it?"

"No idea!"

"Could it be Mo Tong? He reached the ninth floor of the Martial Training Tower last time, indicating he was close to completing it."

"Not that simple! His progress can't be that fast!"

"..."

People rapidly converged from all sides of the Martial Training Tower, discussing and exchanging information along the way.

The simultaneous ringing of the bells at the Martial Training Tower signified that someone had completed the challenge and reached the ninth floor.

Based on potential,

If one could reach the top within the first five years of a ten-year study period at the academy, they would be considered to have the qualifications of a Grandmaster and could enroll in the Imperial Academy.

If they completed it in the last five years, they would graduate and could serve as a seventh-rank martial official, starting from that rank and working their way up.

The age requirement for enrollment was not to exceed thirty.

Therefore, all students of Guangning City Academy were relatively young.

On the other side,

In front of the Martial Training Tower,

Under the gaze of a few scattered people,

Jiang Ning emerged from the tower's main entrance.

"Who is he?"

"Never seen him!"

"Never seen him!"

"Me neither!"

"..."

Amid the brief discussions, Jiang Ning's figure flashed, and he disappeared from their sight.

Seeing this,

The crowd exchanged glances, their eyes wide with surprise.

"Wow—"

"Such speed..."

After a long pause, someone drew a sharp breath.

Someone asked again, "Who exactly is he? He is so young, much younger than us, and he can reach the ninth floor of the Martial Training Tower with such astonishing agility. Even the mentors I've seen are far inferior to him in agility."

"Right! Far inferior! Far, far inferior!"

"Who is he?"

Faced with these repeated questions, no one could provide an answer.

More people continued to rush over from a distance, but Jiang Ning had already left the area.

On his way, Jiang Ning recalled his experience in the Martial Training Tower, feeling satisfied.

He had not expected that the identity token he registered with in the Martial Garden could also be used here.

After reaching the ninth floor, the credits he earned were now recorded on the identity token in his hand.

He glanced at the token.

780.

Far more than the credits he had earned for reaching the top of the Martial Training Tower in the Martial Garden.

With 780 credits, if he were to exchange them at the same rate as in the Martial Garden, one credit equaled one tael of gold.

This was equivalent to 780 taels of gold.

Most importantly, it was free.

It didn't take him any effort at all.

He nodded slightly.

Apart from the credit rewards, the pure Life Force energy flowed into his body, ready for him to absorb and refine.

This improved his physical condition even further.

He was not far from restoring his peak state.

Once his body fully recovered and the benefits of the new blood and the nurturing of his physical form came to an end, he could begin his Second Blood Transformation.

With his current accumulation, the first three blood transformations were completely effortless.

All the necessary conditions were already met.

Now, he only needed to wait for time, for his body to fully recover, and for the transformation of his physical form and the evolution of his life to conclude.

Then, he quickened his pace toward the academy's library.

In the academy, what he valued most was the library.

The academy's library was ten times larger than the martial arts garden's.

It contained several times more rare books.

More importantly, it housed some unique editions and ancient texts.

To understand a world, a race, or a civilization's development, the best initial approach was to read books.

Just like the ancient civilization of his previous life, all of its history was recorded in books.

To find the answers about the Bingguan and the woman in the Bingguan, he could only hope to find them in those ancient texts and historical records from the ancient times. He wanted the answers.

As for the commotion at the martial training tower, he didn't care at all.

Going to the martial training tower was merely to obtain the benefits within.

As for those so-called academy prodigies, they were not on the same level as him now.

Those who could match him were neither the younger generation, the previous generation, nor the elder generation.

They were the true top-tier powerhouses.

The kind who could make Guangning Prefecture tremble with a single stomp.

As for the strongest among the academy prodigies here, none of them had the strength of a Fourth Rank.

From his experience reaching the ninth floor of the martial training tower, it was clear that:

Even without reaching the Fourth Rank, anyone within the Fifth Rank who had achieved the peak of their strength could match an ordinary Fourth Rank, and thus had the qualifications and strength to reach the ninth floor of the academy's martial training tower.

Therefore, if the strongest of these academy prodigies were still in the Guangning Prefecture academy, their strength would be roughly at the Fifth Rank.

He had already been able to kill Xiao Qiushui, who had achieved the Third Rank Heavenly Master.

Not to mention now, after reaching the Third Rank and completing his first blood transformation.

He could feel his body being nourished by the new blood, with his physical attributes improving comprehensively every moment.

His cells constantly emitted joyful shouts.

His strength was increasing every moment.

Compared to before, he had become much stronger.

A short while later,

Jiang Ning looked at the four-story library ahead.

Then, he stepped forward and entered.

"Young man, you look unfamiliar!"

The old woman, who had been meditating at the entrance, suddenly opened her eyes. Her gaze was sharp like an eagle's, locking onto Jiang Ning.

The old woman's heart grew heavy.

In the moment before, she hadn't sensed Jiang Ning's arrival.

It was as if he had suddenly appeared in her world.

She didn't believe her senses were faulty.

So, it could only mean that the young man in front of her had strength on par with hers, or possibly even surpassed her, being a top-tier Grandmaster who had achieved the Unity of Heaven and Man.

In response,

Jiang Ning took out the token that Ye Zhengqi had given him.

Seeing this, the old woman's heart eased slightly.

"Ah, you're from the Ye Family. Please proceed!"

"The books on the first and second floors are available for you to read and borrow freely. The books on the third floor can only be borrowed one at a time, but this does not include the inheritance jade discs."

Jiang Ning understood and nodded slightly.

Martial arts techniques and books were not consumables, so he could borrow them freely.

However, inheritance jade discs were different.

Like the Great Sun Visualization he had obtained from the internal affairs office of the patrol academy, which was stored in an Empty Void crystal and was a consumable item, the inheritance jade discs were also consumables.

He was already aware of this.

"What about the fourth floor?" Jiang Ning asked.

"The fourth floor?" The old woman shook her head slowly. "The fourth floor is off-limits. Only elite disciples of the academy can enter. Even if you are from the Ye Family, this rule cannot be broken!"

Hearing this, Jiang Ning nodded regretfully.

It was clear that the fourth floor housed even more advanced martial arts techniques and books.

After adjusting his mood slightly, Jiang Ning walked toward the bookshelves.

Two days later,

Jiang Ning walked out of the library, rubbing his slightly tired eyes.

During these two days, he had returned home once.

The rest of the time, he had spent in the library.

But even just the books on the first floor were vast and boundless, impossible to finish reading.

He could only choose a few books that interested him to read through.

Most of them were ancient and rare texts, documenting a vast amount of history from this world.

They also provided him with a deeper understanding of the past before the Great Xia.

But the more he learned, the more confused he felt.

The ancient history before the Great Xia was extremely chaotic, full of contradictions.

It seemed as though there were gaps in time.

It was like the theory of evolution he had learned in his previous life.

There was a sudden leap over a long period.

Life evolved suddenly.

The existence of these time gaps made the theory of evolution, once a mainstream explanation, now subject to much debate.

The history of this world before the Great Xia was no different.

It could only be traced back a few hundred years, which was very reasonable and rigorous.

The founder of the Great Xia defeated the strongest enemy, the Jiulü, and with the assistance of a Martial Saint, established the empire, which has lasted for over eight hundred years.

However, going further back, things were different.

It was a history with gaps.

Jiang Ning shook his head, dispelling the chaotic thoughts in his mind.

The sunlight above poured down, the midday sun being particularly intense.

Around him, the cicadas chirped in a symphony of sound.

He glanced back at the library.

He hadn't even finished the first floor, let alone the second and third floors.

"Come back tomorrow!"

He thought to himself.

Then he turned and left.

Over the past two days, he hadn't been without gains while in the academy's library.

In fact, his gains were substantial.

Although the ancient texts were disorganized, they genuinely broadened his knowledge, greatly increasing his understanding of the Ancient Era.

Moreover, the experience points for the skill "Literacy" increased more than he had initially expected.

Skill: Literacy (Eleventh Limit Break 16,344/30,000) (Trait: Photographic Memory, Dao of Nature)

In just two days, this skill gained several thousand experience points.

Now, the experience points had surpassed the halfway mark.

In addition, his Essence Points had also increased significantly.

Over the past two days, he had spent most of his time in the library, only returning once.

He usually replenished his body's energy by slowly chewing on the blood ginseng.

As a result, the blood ginseng was now almost entirely in his stomach.

His Essence Points naturally surged.

Moreover, his originally weak body had slowly absorbed the medicinal power of the five-hundred-year-old blood ginseng.

His body had completely recovered from its weakened state and was now at its peak.

In this current state, he could easily complete the Second Blood Transformation.

However, the transformation of his body, with new blood nourishing his flesh, was not yet complete.

Under the nourishment of the new blood, his flesh continued to transform and evolve.

He wasn't surprised by this.

When Xiao Qiushui reached the Heaven Master realm, it took her about a month to hold the Master Feast.

This was because it took her a month to consolidate her realm.

It was both the recovery from the weakness caused by the creation of new blood and the completion of the transformation of her flesh.

While heading back to his residence, his mind was filled with distracting thoughts.

He glanced at the Essence Points bar.

Essence Points: 13,834

Due to the refinement of the blood ginseng, his Essence Points had increased by nearly three thousand points.

They were now close to fourteen thousand.

But thinking about the future, when the experience points for Literacy would be sufficient,

If he were to continue breaking limits, the required Essence Points would give Jiang Ning a headache.

Based on his estimation, to complete the twelfth limit break for Literacy, he would need fifty thousand Essence Points.

Fifty thousand points—just thinking about this number made him feel overwhelmed.

However, given the effects of the Literacy skill, he had no choice but to break the limits.

After all, the Heavenly Eye, such a miraculous ability, was derived from the traits of this skill when it broke its limits.

His intuition told him that if the Heavenly Eye trait could be further strengthened, gaining the ability to truly activate the Heavenly Eye,

It would bring about unimaginable changes.

In his eyes, it might help him solve the dilemma of the Bīng Guān.

Just this speculation alone gave him no reason to abandon the limit-breaking of Literacy.

The Bīng Guān was a persistent problem, and although there had been no changes for the time being, no one could guarantee that it wouldn't suddenly cause trouble and endanger his life.

While lost in thought,

He had already walked out of the academy gates.

"Enough! I'll stop thinking about it for now!"

"First, I'll prepare and then go to the Ten Thousand Blossoms Tower auction!"

"Hopefully, with the effects of the Heavenly Eye, I can find a treasure and gain some unexpected rewards!"

Jiang Ning smiled, quickened his pace, and headed back to his residence.

The auction was set to start at the fourth hour of the afternoon.

It was now noon.

There wasn't much time left.

He still needed to go back and prepare, then go with Bai Luoyu.

They had agreed on this two days ago. (End of Chapter)

Chapter end