"I previously had a total of 4,453,346 Soul points, but after leveling up 'Seeking Fortune and Avoiding Evil·Original Scripture' to LV.MAX, I consumed another 3,072,000 Soul points, leaving me with only 1,381,346 Soul points," said Zhang Yanhang. "How to describe this portion of Soul points? A lot can be a lot, and a little can be little."

Zhang Yanhang considered whether or not to use this remaining portion of Soul points to enhance his Skill Level.

"Although I could level up, at best, I could only go up two levels, and I couldn't even reach LV.9—I could only level up from LV.6 to LV.8…"

Zhang Yanhang calculated that if he wanted to directly level up the Original Scripture to LV.9, he would need approximately 204,800 + 409,600 + 819,200 = 1,433,600 Soul points, still about fifty thousand short, which was awkward.

So, after careful consideration, Zhang Yanhang decided to save up these Soul points for now, waiting to accumulate three million Soul points later before using them all to enhance Skill Levels at once. There really was no point in just leveling up to LV.7 or LV.8.

Of course, if he only leveled up to LV.7, he could even boost five Skills to LV.7, but if it were LV.8, he could only upgrade two.

"I feel like I really don't have anything that needs solving now, so what should I do? Head back home? Let's head home!" spoke Zhang Yanhang as he activated Teleportation and returned directly to Qin Island City.

...

October 29th, Thursday, the fourth day after the Double Ninth Festival and also the first day Zhang Yanhang left the Ashen World. At 11:55 A.M., Qin Island City, Xingfuli District, Apartment 505, bedroom.

Zhang Yanhang, who had reached the Peak Third Tier in just four and a half hours, was now lying in bed, taking a long nap. Though at first, he had said he didn't need to sleep because his Physical Strength had been fully restored, in the end, he couldn't help falling asleep—the bed at home was just too inviting.

Of course, he was asleep, but not completely. It was more of a light, semi-conscious sleep as he tested 'Seeking Fortune and Avoiding Evil,' scanning the conditions in the Southern City District and Shibei District.

After using it for over an hour, Zhang Yanhang had already roughly figured out the relationship between the energy consumption of 'Seeking Fortune and Avoiding Evil' at the Original LV.MAX and his Physical Recovery Speed. It was still greater than his Physical Recovery Speed.

However, because Zhang Yanhang's Stamina limit was particularly high now, he reckoned he could probably maintain it for several days and nights without much of an issue.

Of course, that was only if he used 'Seeking Fortune and Avoiding Evil' alone. If he went hunting Monsters, perhaps he could last a day or two—which was already pretty good considering the huge difference in Physical Strength consumption between hunting Monsters and lying in bed.

And now, after sleeping for over an hour, from around ten to nearly twelve o'clock, Zhang Yanhang ended his Perception trial and opened his eyes. "Suddenly, I remember it's Thursday today, and it's not a holiday, nor did I ask for leave. Doesn't that mean I've missed classes? And I missed the whole morning's classes?"

But Zhang Yanhang quickly reconsidered, realizing that a university life without missing classes wouldn't be complete. Anyway, what's done is done. After all, it's uncertain if the Empire can last three years, let alone a university, so it's uncertain if he'll even see the day he receives his diploma.

Moreover, for a distinguished student representative like him who retires upon graduation, having a diploma or not wouldn't affect his retirement.

After all, being a social idler, or choosing a flexible employment route, doesn't require any educational degree—even an elementary school degree is unnecessary.

"So now the question is, what should I do next? Seems like there isn't much to do. Maybe I should go out for a walk, see if I can stumble upon any adventures. I haven't encountered any adventures today, and I wonder what level of adventures awaits me at Third Tier."

Zhang Yanhang felt the chances of encountering an adventure while staying at home were lower than if he went out. After all, he might need to wait until evening for a passive adventure trigger, and since he had to go hunting at the Crimson Iron Ore Vein in the afternoon, he might miss the opportunity.

With that thought, Zhang Yanhang quickly materialized his Equipment and stepped out of his home.

However, somehow, as he walked, he ended up on a familiar street. It was where he first met Zhao Yalan, sitting by the roadside, picking at her feet in an uncivilized manner. Fortunately, the deeply principled Zhang Yanhang had quickly stopped her uncivilized behavior with lightning speed.

After all, the thing he detested most since childhood was uncivilized behavior, as he was always the model of good manners and civility.

Continuing on, Zhang Yanhang crossed the traffic light, strode across another zebra crossing and reached the front gate of the university. He didn't linger, but instead cut straight through the campus.

In the process, he casually scanned for any traces of his roommates but, as before, came up empty. It had been a month with no sign of their return. They were probably dead.

Amid the surprised glances of other university students, Zhang Yanhang walked along the campus walls and hopped over them, then carried on straight to a place called Cape of Good Hope—yes, Cape of Good Hope Gourmet City.

Then he arrived at the seaside. Being part of a marine university, his university was indeed very close to the sea—perhaps only six hundred meters away. From his classroom, he could directly see the beach and the ocean.

Zhang Yanhang remembered that when the seaweed invasion hit each year, the nearby sea looked like a vast prairie that seemed endless and connected to the sky.

After all, it was an annual occurrence, and they had to collect seaweed by the millions of tons, requiring tens of thousands of workers to dredge for months. The area covered by the 'Green Tide' was several times larger than the area of Qin Island City itself, amassing tens of thousands of square kilometers.

During peak seasons, the seaweed could envelop over one hundred thousand square kilometers in the Yellow Sea Area, with the swath of algae larger than the entire country of South Korea. Although South Korea was indeed modest in size, it highlighted just how rampant the seaweed was.

More importantly, despite yearly dredging, the seaweed infestation could never be fully eradicated. Millions of tons were collected the previous year, but it would roll back the very next year.

Zhang Yanhang remembered that the seaweed had started showing signs of emergence from May this year, became rampant in June, reached its peak in July and wasn't thoroughly cleared away until late August. That was less than three months ago.

The rocks and sand on the shore had turned somewhat green due to the perennial erosion by the seaweed. Even though the seaweed itself had disappeared, the color could never change back.

The reason Zhang Yanhang had come here was largely related to the seaweed because in his recent scan using Seeking Fortune and Avoiding Evil, he found a Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures associated with the seaweed.

That's right, although his main intention was to test triggering an adventure, coming across such a Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures was an opportunity not to be missed. After all, why refuse something that's freely given?

According to Zhang Yanhang's scan results, about two kilometers from the coastline on an uninhabited island next to the beach, there seemed to be a green crystalline Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures, possibly a crystal of seaweed life energy, and it appeared to have Second Tier strength.

Even though he had already advanced to the Third Tier, he reasoned that it should still have some effect on him. Since he had already seen it, he definitely wasn't going to let other Awakeners get it cheaply. Besides, even if he didn't use it himself, he could sell it to someone else, like the group leader's cousin or Zhao Yalan, for instance.

It was now deep autumn, the seaside was deserted, and Zhang Yanhang didn't bother with pretenses. He activated his maximum speed and dashed across the water at twice the speed of sound.

Even though Zhang Yanhang's As Flat As A Pancake ability allowed him to keep the sea surface beneath his feet undisturbed, the sound barrier clouds and the violent air currents that followed his sonic speed movement still whipped up layers of waves.

Accompanied by the white spray of waves, Zhang Yanhang raced towards the deserted island's beach like a sea tornado. The violent air currents and a large amount of seawater impacted the beach as he stopped, coincidentally flushing out the green life energy crystal buried beneath the sand.

Zhang Yanhang bent down to pick up the crystal, which likely stemmed from the seaweed. Upon a brief inspection, he could only say it was quite green, but it was a friendly sort of green—one that was vibrant and bursting with energy, immediately revealing the seaweed's potent life force.

If he had to describe the translucent green, it was like a green gemstone made from the bottom of a beer bottle, comparable to a top-grade emerald, and it had to be an old pit glass-type emerald at that.

Zhang Yanhang thought the life energy crystal from the seaweed wasn't bad, so he abandoned the idea of selling it and decided to eat it directly.

Because it seemed clean, Zhang Yanhang simply wiped it before putting it in his mouth, chewed it a few times, and then swallowed.

Speaking of the texture, Zhang Yanhang felt that he inexplicably encountered that glass-like sensation he had once experienced with another Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures—and it was sweet glass, crispy. For someone with strong teeth like him, it felt more like eating those loose, chunky lump sugars, giving him an illusion of returning to his childhood days.

This thumb-sized life energy crystal, shortly after Zhang Yanhang had swallowed it, provided his body with a surge of life energy that would have been considered very rich during his Second Tier days, but for him, now a Third Tier, it was nothing extraordinary.

Based on Zhang Yanhang's past experiences, the life energy crystal likely simultaneously increased his Physical Recovery Speed and his Stamina limit.

If placed in the Second Tier period, it could have boosted his physical recovery speed and stamina limit by about 10%, but now that he had reached the Third Tier, it could only increase by roughly 1% for both, which was meager at best.

Just when Zhang Yanhang finished consuming the life energy crystal and was ready to leave the uninhabited island, he suddenly discovered another life energy crystal on the edge of his perception range.

This life energy crystal was on another uninhabited island that had a rather unique shape, resembling a 'Y' or perhaps a slingshot. Zhang Yanhang immediately recognized the island; it was Crimson Island.

Of course, the name itself didn't matter much. What Zhang Yanhang cared about was that there was also a life energy crystal there, located in the sea beside the beach, approximately a hundred meters underwater.

There was a rocky cave riddled with holes where a group of small, brightly colored fish lived—fish whose species he couldn't identify. The life energy crystal was lodged in one of the smaller cavities where these fish resided.

Zhang Yanhang now truly appreciated his ability to move as if on flat ground because he really couldn't swim. Although learning might be simple, he chose to refuse.

After treading water all the way there, Zhang Yanhang quickly dove underwater and extracted the life energy crystal from the cave. He also casually grabbed a couple of fish, but because they didn't look particularly appetizing, he promptly threw them back.

This diving experience couldn't help but remind him of the time he had hunted the Demonized Emperor Crocodile in the lake region of the Demonized Swamp. But demonized creatures were, after all, demonized creatures. The lake where the Demonized Emperor Crocodile resided was thousands of meters deep, whereas here, it was barely a hundred meters at its deepest, making the trip far more convenient compared to the one involving the Emperor Crocodile.

Convenient as it was, due to Zhang Yanhang's excessive speed, his ascent from the water created a massive water column that soared tens of meters high.

Zhang Yanhang had just steadied himself on the surface and hadn't even had a chance to examine the life energy crystal he had just retrieved from the fish hole when he suddenly realized that he had perceived yet another life energy crystal within his scanning range.

Without a second thought, he immediately dashed toward it, but unexpectedly, just as he neared the area and before he could pick it up, he found a fourth life energy crystal.

And so, as he went along, stopping and going, Zhang Yanhang surprisingly managed to find over a dozen more life energy crystals before finally no longer locating any additional ones.

However, because he had already found over a dozen life energy crystals, Zhang Yanhang still didn't give up. He initiated a Time Pause and, taking advantage of the pause, re-scanned the area, which astonishingly led him to an unforeseen bounty, finding several more life energy crystals in several remote locations.

But even after that, even after scanning the entire range covered by the seaweed, he didn't find any new life energy crystals. He guessed that there probably weren't any more to be found.

After the Time Pause ended, Zhang Yanhang successively collected these remaining life energy crystals and then tallied up the final count. To his amazement, he realized that even if he excluded the one he had initially consumed, he still had 21 life energy crystals on hand.

And if he included the first life energy crystal, that meant he had gathered a total of 22 life energy crystals.

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