Upon awakening, it was already 3 AM. Although the days in May are long with daylight breaking early, 3 AM was still cloaked in the darkness just before dawn.

Wang Lan picked up his phone. There had been no summons from the Tianjian Bureau, and Jiang Xinyu had only left a text message asking to report in when available. At this hour, a safety check seemed unnecessary.

Turning over lazily, his fingertip brushed against something hard. He quickly sat up to find the champion's reward box and medal carelessly tossed on the bed. He had returned home and collapsed straight onto the bed, not yet having had a chance to look at them.

He had previously received 1,500 skill points as a champion reward, and another 3,000 skill points after defeating Wang Mingling. He had reserved 2,000 skill points for the Phoenix form. Including the skill points previously remaining in the system, he now had almost 3,000 points.

At a glance, 3,000 points seemed copious, but that was then and this was now. After skills upgraded to the Gold-level, a single casual level-up would cost 1,000 skill points. And not all of them were like that—Phantom Tracer's upgrade astonishingly wasn't!

After upgrading to Gold-level, Phantom Tracer required 1,500 skill points per level. With 3,000 skill points, even if he invested them all in Phantom Tracer, it could only ascend to Gold II.

From this, it was evident that skills began to diverge once they reached Gold-level. And after some analysis, Wang Lan comprehended that such variance was only logical.

Gold-level Star Martial Skills, in terms of power rankings within the Star Martial world, were S-level. There are no weak S-level Star Martial Skills, and the difficulty of their cultivation is nothing short of despairing.

Flame Sword, Star Cloud Sword Dance, Crescent Arrows, including Thunder Snake, belonged to the category of standard Star Martial Skills. Post-Gold-level, their upgrades proceeded normally at 1,000 skill points. However, Phantom Tracer was a blink movement technique, falling under the domain of Space Attribute Star Martial Skills.

But why was Phantom Tracer categorized under Form Changing Star Martial Skills without any attribute? The reason likely lay with the spatial nodes being within a single node unit's distance. Hence, this Star Martial Skill could be successfully cultivated even without the Inborn Talent of the Space Attribute.

This was an overlooked Star Martial Skill. Seemingly merely a blink movement technique, it bridged to the mysterious and powerful Space Attribute. Hence, it made sense that upgrading this Star Martial Skill was more challenging than others.

If this line of reasoning held, might there be other unique upgrade methods for Gold-level Star Martial Skills in the future?

Wang Lan's gaze drifted to the bottom of the Star Martial Skills page, where the lone skill shimmered with silver-white brilliance. It was also Wang Lan's genuine Star Martial Skill—the Inborn Talent of the Bloodline Star Martial Skill that evolved with Wang Lan's growth, Healing.

Previously, feeling that the Silver IX-level Healing ability was sufficient, he hadn't been eager to upgrade it to Gold-level. He had saved some skill points for unexpected needs.

Other skills didn't display significant changes upon reaching Gold-level. They were simply enhanced in terms of power and functionality.

Crescent Arrows shot faster, farther, and with greater force. Thunder Snake became quicker and more numerous. Flame Sword gained the ability to be controlled separately from the hand. Star Cloud Sword Dance merely added to the number of afterimages, the power of the Sword Qi, and the capacity to Sky Step and move through the air.

But every upgrade of Healing gave Wang Lan a sense of profound transformation. At Black Iron, it was a mere passive self-healing; at Bronze, an active ability was added to the passive skill; while Silver enabled healing others. So what would Gold bring? Wang Lan felt quite expectant.

After spending one hundred skill points, the icon for the Healing ability suddenly changed color. And not just the color; even the shape of the icon transformed. It turned into a fully blossomed flower, basking in golden radiance.

Wang Lan's mind delved into the skill icon, his expression stiffening slightly.

"Song of Life, provides healing to a designated injured target in the vicinity, restoring their wounds."

Understanding the literal meaning wasn't enough for Wang Lan to grasp the full scope of changes to the ability. However, with the skill's upgrade, the knack for using it seemed to be etched into his mind.

Wang Lan could now heal without touch, meaning he could perform healing at a distance. The range was within five meters, and for the time being, only one target could be chosen. But he felt that healing a single target wasn't the limit; as the skill level rose, the number of healed targets would likely increase.

Moreover, Healing didn't interfere with any other Star Martial Skill during the process. This was extraordinary. Wang Lan could heal others while still fighting. The support rate on the battlefield was now many times what it was before.

But upon seeing the upgrade requirements for Song of Life, Wang Lan's expression turned grim.

Song of Life, Gold LV1 (0/2000)

Upgrading from LV1 to LV2 required 2,000 skill points. If the skill points needed remained constant, upgrading to Platinum-level would only need 20,000 skill points. However, if it increased like experience points, reaching Platinum-level would demand 55,000 skill points—more than double.

Although discontent with the difficulty of upgrading, Wang Lan was quite satisfied with the increase in the skill's power. After organizing his strength, he realized that after reaching Gold-level, his growth was still in its initial phase.

This wasn't hard to understand. Gold LV1 was merely the entry stage of Gold-level Star Martial Skills. Only by reaching Gold LV9 could one fully unleash the utmost power of a Gold-level skill.

It seemed his future days would be spent striving hard for skill points.

Having assessed his own strength, Wang Lan's eyes then turned to the metal box on the bed. The provincial martial arts champion's reward shone with a golden luster. Though it definitely wasn't solid gold.

Wang Lan gently opened the box, which contained a jewelry box and a certificate of honor. The certificate's content was obvious without opening it; he knew what it would say. Wang Lan directly picked up the jewelry box and opened it.

Suddenly, a fiery red, goose-egg-sized Soul Bead caught his eye.

This Soul Bead was slightly smaller than Wang Lan's fist but significantly larger than a medium Soul Bead. It was fire-red in color, undoubtedly a Fire Soul Bead. Having never seen a high-level Soul Bead, Wang Lan could not determine whether this one was high-level or just a larger medium-level one.

Inside the jewelry box was a piece of paper. Wang Lan promptly took it out.

"Star Martial Skill, Earth Surge Fire Sea. Attribute, Fire. Level, S-Rank. Attack range, thirty meters in diameter. Battlefield application, 4 stars, Attack power, four and a half stars, Star Power consumption, four and a half stars..."

Below were the details of the combat application of the Star Martial Skill. The paper introduced this S-Rank Star Martial Skill in incredible detail—its advantages, disadvantages, suitable usage scenarios, environment, etc.

This was a grand gift, a true grand gift.

When put beside the honor of a provincial champion, this award seemed insignificant. If the folks at Mingyue Wucheng knew the provincial champion would be awarded an S-Rank Star Martial Skill, they would likely not stay so calm, claiming there was not much benefit to winning and it's a loss of face for the clan if defeated. Is this not considered a benefit?

Wang Lan picked up the Soul Bead and swallowed it in one gulp. Instantly, scorching fire-attribute Star Power entered his body from his hand, racing into the Star Palace, while the information contained within the Soul Bead crashed into Wang Lan's Spiritual Sea of Consciousness.

"A learnable Star Martial Skill discovered, do you wish to spend one thousand skill points to learn it?"

Isn't that a silly question? Hurriedly allocating one thousand skill points, suddenly, on the skill icon page, a brand-new Gold Star Martial Skill appeared. It was only after learning this Star Martial Skill that Wang Lan truly understood its special nature.

An attack range of thirty meters in diameter—it wasn't attack distance, but rather... damn, it covered an area thirty meters in diameter! This was an area-effect Star Martial Skill!

Within that thirty-meter radius, flames would gush forth from the ground. Any living being within the range would suffer indiscriminate attacks. It was powerful, but... also very energy-consuming.

With Wang Lan's current level of Star Power, he could only use it once, and perhaps it would only last a few seconds at that. Alright, the organizers might have some misconceptions about the robustness of my Star Power; the Star Power consumption has already exceeded my limits.

This kind of Star Martial Skill should have been given to Xiao Zi, right? Or was it that it was meant for Xiao Zi in the first place, but they didn't expect Wang Lan to win the championship? Then, upon checking, hmm, Wang Lan is also of the fire attribute, so they just handed it over without considering whether Wang Lan could use it?

Although there were many points to criticize, after all, it was an S-Rank Star Martial Skill. What could there be to be unsatisfied about?

The moment Wang Lan saw the upgrade conditions for the Star Martial Skill, he felt frustrated again. Like Song of Life, it required two thousand skill points to upgrade to Gold LV1.

Already short on skill points, and here comes another gluttonous demand. The prospects of a future full of labor were already foreseeable.

By now, two hours had unknowingly passed. At five in the morning, the sun had already risen high.

Wang Lan got up, brushed his teeth, washed up, and changed out of his tattered clothes, throwing them away. He pondered over how he had returned home yesterday. It seemed like a teacher had taken him back...

At that time, his mental state was poor, and some memories were hard to recall.

After finishing washing up, he changed into a fresh set of clothes. Once again a stunningly handsome man.

"Alert, alert, an unknown group of individuals has suddenly gathered around the building. Do you want to initiate a defensive counter-attack?"

Wang Lan, who had just finished brushing his teeth, looked bewildered. "Open the camera; let me see who it is."

Ever since the last intrusion into Xinyu Building by Crow's people, the Tianjian Bureau had allowed Wang Lan to add a defense system to the building. In fact, every Tianjian Bureau operative's home is a mini armory, with at least ten firearms.

Wang Lan, after retrofitting, connected it with the functional robot and then handed command to Xiao Ai. However, Wang Lan also added restrictions: only after receiving his explicit command could Xiao Ai use the weapons for self-defense.

The TV screen illuminated. Outside Xinyu Building, a crowd of reporters from various media outlets, holding cameras and video cameras, surrounded the building. Additionally, independent media personnel, streamers, and others were gradually arriving from all directions.

After a night of developing, Wang Lan, the sensational provincial martial arts champion, had become their target.

If they're just journalists, then there's nothing to worry about!

Wang Lan picked up his phone and moved to the sofa, opening the group chat of his five-member team.

"The sun has risen; here's to another day full of vigor! Let's go!"

After sending the message, Wang Lan put down his phone, and a robot brought him a cup of aromatic coffee. Suddenly, the phone rang with a video call invitation.

"Xiao Ai, connect to the TV monitor, receive the video call."

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