Chapter 25: A Complete Turn of the Page
Knowledge points: 103
Pages turned: Advanced Runes (801/862), Advanced Alchemy (0/909), Advanced Artifact Forging (0/712)
Analysis progress: Ghost Step Lotus (1%), Gun Suppression (5%), Spinning Gun (4%), Hidden Gun (2%)
Chen Meng took a deep breath as he looked at the numbers: “Luckily, the old man would never have imagined that after just one viewing, I managed to copy this formidable footwork of his. From now on, he won’t make a dime off me anymore.”
Feeling quite pleased with himself, Chen Meng began to attempt analyzing Ghost Step Lotus.
Yet, after consuming one knowledge point and replaying the old man’s demonstration, the analysis progress did not increase at all.
“That can’t be right, it should at least increase a little,” Chen Meng muttered, refusing to believe it. He spent another knowledge point, but the result was the same.
“I never encountered this problem when analyzing Instant Gun. Could it be impossible to analyze?” Chen Meng pondered, deciding to continue with his experiment. He wanted to test whether the progress would truly halt, making further analysis impossible even with the expenditure of knowledge points.
Three points, four points, all the way to ten points—finally, the progress changed.
Ghost Step Lotus (2%).
Chen Meng exhaled deeply. “It can still be improved. So it’s not completely impossible to analyze, but it just costs far too many knowledge points. It’s not worthwhile at all. Plus, I sense that if I keep pushing, there will eventually come a point where analysis truly becomes impossible. Right now, I still have enough points to keep testing.”
He spent another sixteen knowledge points. The progress shifted once more, and he gained a deeper understanding of Ghost Step Lotus.
Ghost Step Lotus (3%).
Shaking his head, Chen Meng felt he was being wasteful. “My guess was correct: it can still be analyzed, but the difficulty keeps rising, and the cost in points increases with it. I shouldn’t squander my knowledge points here unless I have no other way forward. The best method is still the one I used for Instant Gun: through constant practice, improve my own skill requirements, then spend fewer points to analyze the ability.”
With this realization, Chen Meng threw himself wholeheartedly into training again.
He followed the breathing techniques taught by the old man, moving and shifting continuously, gradually finding the knack. At this point, he had to admit the old man was indeed conscientious.
Even so, he was exhausted, and to alleviate his fatigue, he consumed three doses of Life No. 1 that day.
In the evening, he attended cram school as usual.
Senior Yan Ruoxi arrived as expected. She glanced at Chen Meng and said, “We’ve pretty much covered hot weapons in high school tech. Next, let’s talk about special equipment, like drones, flying vehicles, intelligent robots, and so on.”
Chen Meng was speechless—his senior remained as hardcore as ever.
After the session ended, Chen Meng pondered for a moment and asked, “Senior, do you regret not getting into Jiangdu University?”
Upon hearing this, Yan Ruoxi fell silent.
Chen Meng realized he’d spoken out of turn—bringing up a sore spot.
Who wouldn’t regret missing out on a top university?
But then, Yan Ruoxi quietly replied, “I used to regret it. But after I went to Jiangzhou University, because of my grades, I received a lot of attention. The treatment I enjoyed there couldn’t be matched by Jiangdu University. So I no longer regretted it. In fact, I felt it was a stroke of luck to study at Jiangzhou University.”
Was this what they call a blessing in disguise?
“What kind of treatment?” Chen Meng asked, curious.
“On my first day, I was given the divine body advancement potion I wanted. At Jiangdu University, I might have had to wait a whole month, or even until the end of the semester. There were other perks too—tuition, fees, books… I hardly spent any money at all, and my courses were scheduled as I pleased,” she replied.
Hearing this, Chen Meng couldn’t help but feel envious. Truly, good grades open every door. To get an advancement potion right away—many people never qualify for one even after graduating.
Wait, advancement potion!
Chen Meng took a deep breath and asked, astonished, “Senior, does that mean you’re already a divine body lifeform?”
Yan Ruoxi looked at him, hesitated, then nodded.
Chen Meng was dumbfounded. He never expected that the person tutoring him all this time was already a divine body lifeform.
Judging by her words, she must have advanced nearly half a year ago.
Her unusual behavior at the science expo now made sense.
She dared to confront two divine body warriors because she herself was one.
A divine body lifeform tutoring him—he was definitely getting a bargain!
Excited, Chen Meng felt even more determined to study hard. After all, excellence is always rewarded, and Yan Ruoxi was the best example.
...
That night, after his routine “mouse hair” extraction, Chen Meng returned home.
He checked his stats and fell into thought.
Knowledge points: 77.
After a moment’s consideration, he decided to finish turning the remaining 61 pages of Advanced Runes. That way, he’d free up a slot for a new book at any time.
Although Advanced Alchemy also needed pages turned, there were simply too many left for a mere 61 to make a difference.
Besides, Tang Wenjing sometimes asked him rune-related questions, and the answers occasionally lay within those 61 pages. If he kept avoiding them, his reputation as a science whiz would soon collapse.
He focused, and the book—Advanced Runes—began to flip through its pages rapidly, the sound of pages rustling faintly audible.
850…857…862!
All pages turned!
A wealth of rune knowledge poured into his mind, giving him near-total mastery of the book in an instant.
Any knowledge point he needed could now be summoned with a mere thought, without the need for deliberation or recall.
Just then, the book suddenly transformed into a beam of white light and shot into the dim, indistinct starry sky above.
A star suddenly lit up.
It appeared like a morning star, guiding the way.
Chen Meng felt a flash of insight—this was the meaning of knowledge. And as he gazed at the starry sky, he sensed it had grown larger and more tangible.
Knowledge points: 16
Pages turned: Advanced Alchemy (0/909), Advanced Artifact Forging (0/712)
Analysis progress: Ghost Step Lotus (3%), Gun Suppression (5%), Spinning Gun (4%), Hidden Gun (2%)
Looking at his dwindling points, Chen Meng realized the next Advanced Alchemy test was fast approaching. If he failed, he’d be in trouble.
His funds were also insufficient.
To score above ninety in Advanced Alchemy, he estimated he’d need to turn at least 550 pages.
He was still far from that goal.
“Advanced Alchemy, turn pages!”
He focused, and the book flipped through pages rapidly, ending at sixteen—limited by his available points.
The contents of those sixteen pages were absorbed, understood, and mastered.
Knowledge points: 0
Pages turned: Advanced Alchemy (16/909), Advanced Artifact Forging (0/712)
Analysis progress: Ghost Step Lotus (3%), Gun Suppression (5%), Spinning Gun (4%), Hidden Gun (2%)
...
Chen Meng read for a while longer, then washed up and went to bed.
Tomorrow morning, he would go to the martial arts hall. In the afternoon, he had training booked at the flying saucer shooting range—this time, for four hours.
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