Chapter 15: Chapter 15 Platinum Grade Star Martial Skill
Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
"What’s inside?"
"I don’t know; it’s unlocked with your fingerprint. Now it’s yours. Just take it back to your room and open it."
Wang Lan picked up the box; it was heavy. The box was made of metal, but he didn’t know what kind. As he was about to take the box back to his room, his aunt suddenly turned around and called out to him.Nᴇw novel chapters are publɪshed on NoᴠᴇFɪre.nᴇt
"There’s something I’ve always wondered about... have you ever cared to know who your father is?"
"My dad? Have I met him?"
"I don’t think so..."
"Then there’s no need to worry about it." Wang Lan smiled and went into his room.
Of course, Wang Lan knew who his father was, and he knew who his biological mother was. He also knew that Wang Ling had never been married nor had a romantic relationship.
No one would have thought that Wang Lan was born with an adult’s soul, although as a small child his brain wasn’t fully developed, and he spent much of his time in a daze. He first met Wang Ling when he was about a week old.
He vaguely heard shouts of killing, and then Wang Ling appeared and carried him out of the blood and fire. From then on, he was Wang Lan, Wang Ling’s biological son.
In his childhood memories, Wang Ling was always busy, but she would set aside one day every week to spend with him, teaching him to call her "Mom." These memories were ordinary, something every child experiences, but to Wang Lan, they were precious.
Remembering Wang Ling’s appearance, Wang Lan nervously placed his finger on the surface of the metal box.
"BEEP BEEP BEEP—" The indicator light suddenly lit up, and after flashing for a few seconds, a voice announced, "Password verification correct!"
The intricate metal box slowly opened. No wonder it was so heavy—its walls were at least five millimeters thick. Inside the metal box lay a video player and a crystal-clear Soul Bead.
A Soul Bead? Mom, aren’t you being a bit stingy? Do you think your son hasn’t seen a Soul Bead before? The only heirloom for your son is a Soul Bead?
Wang Lan gave a wry smile as he picked up the Soul Bead and examined it.
Maybe this Soul Bead contains a lot of Star Power?
Wang Lan knew that Star Martial Warriors from wealthy families improved their cultivation level by absorbing Soul Beads, and even a low-level Soul Bead cost at least 50,000 to start.The so-called "wealth changing destiny" was nothing more than this, something that most affluent families couldn’t afford. Children from average families, even if they awakened as Star Martial Warriors, couldn’t possibly receive Soul Beads for cultivation, so they had to rely on eating.
What Star Power truly is hasn’t been answered by the scientific community to this day. The subjective consensus is that it’s a mix of the energy from bodily cells and spiritual power. Hence, only by consuming a massive amount of food can one extract enough energy.
But this assertion still had many contradictions, though the general direction might be correct. At least, no Star Martial Warrior had ever been seen to be overweight despite their frightening food intake.
Moreover, many Star Martial Warriors, in order to refine more Star Power, didn’t hesitate to damage their bodies through excessive depletion of cells, leading to a gaunt appearance.
"Force-loadable Star Martial Skill detected. Do you wish to force load?"
Star Martial Skill? Force-loadable? This prompt made Wang Lan somewhat puzzled. He had never heard of a Soul Bead containing Star Martial Skills. Star Martial Skills were developed by powerful Star Martial Warriors through years of research. Soul Beads merely contained Star Power; the two were entirely different things.
He’d heard of Star Martial Skills being passed on through spiritual power, but never of one being engraved within a Soul Bead.
Load! Wang Lan silently commanded in his heart.
Since it’s a Star Martial Skill, and one left by Mom, of course, I have to learn it.
"Please add skill points."
On the system interface, a skill slot appeared with a plus sign: (0/100).
Wang Lan glanced at his remaining skill points, then at the skill points required for loading the skill.
"Heh... what a smooth transition," he muttered, though he quickly started allocating points. A hundred skill points, earned through near-death experiences where I almost died for good, weren’t even warm in my pocket yet, and in the blink of an eye, they were all gone.
WHIRR—
As the hundred skill points were added, the dark icon instantly lit up. And as it did, it seemed as though the entire system interface brightened along with it.
Enlightenment instantly burst forth from his Spiritual Sea of Consciousness.
Learning a skill through the system was different from in games. The system was just a way of truly representing what was learned. It wasn’t that one had to click the skill to use it; rather, because it was truly mastered, it was reflected on the system interface.
At least, if Wang Lan needed to use a Star Martial Skill, he could do so instantly.
But this force-loaded Star Martial Skill was special. Even though the skill icon lit up, Wang Lan’s understanding of the skill was merely superficial. He quickly looked at the skill icon and almost lost his temper on the spot.
The skill icon was gray. That meant, even though the skill was loaded, Wang Lan hadn’t learned it and couldn’t use it. Damn it, did I spend a hundred skill points just for show?
He focused his spiritual power on the gray icon.
"Phoenix Form, platinum-level skill. Learning requirements not met. Skill locked."
Why don’t you just go die?
Wang Lan’s scalp tingled upon seeing this. Learning requirements not met, skill locked? Then what was the point of force-loading it for me? Spit them out! Cough up the hundred skill points you took from me!
"Hm?" Suddenly, Wang Lan discovered a plus sign at the bottom right of the grayed-out skill icon. What does this mean? It wants me to add more skill points? I only have nine skill points left, and those were the spoils given to me by the Tianjian Bureau after I killed nine Demon Warriors and they extracted the Soul Beads.
Left with no choice, Wang Lan tentatively clicked the plus sign.
"Add one skill point: Phoenix Form can be executed for 0.1 seconds."
How long is 0.1 seconds? A snap of the fingers is about 0.3 seconds, right? So, by that logic, even if I add ten skill points, I can only use it for one second? One second, what’s the use of that?
Fortunately, after adding one point, the skill icon was no longer gray. With the skill unfrozen, its description became visible.
"Phoenix Form, platinum-level skill (upgradable). Once activated, unlocks the first form of the Phoenix, unleashing Galaxy Stage combat power."
Upon reading this description, Wang Lan was shocked. The Galaxy Stage was very far out of reach for him; he wouldn’t even dare think about it before he turned twenty.
The Galaxy Stage represented top-tier combat strength among Star Martial Warriors, the main character in any scenario. According to the 5018 Star Martial Warrior strength census, Starlight Stage warriors constituted 30 percent, Star Shine Stage warriors 36 percent, Star Cloud Stage warriors 18 percent, and Galaxy Stage warriors made up 12 percent. The remainder were of the Star Sea Stage and beyond.
This data was enough to show that Galaxy Stage Star Martial Warriors stood at the pinnacle of the pyramid. And Wang Lan, a rookie who had just awakened his Star Martial Warrior talent, a Starlight Stage weakling, could actually unleash Galaxy Stage combat power with a single Star Martial Skill?
This has to be a cheat, right?
While the power of the skill was undeniable, its consumption cost made Wang Lan equally despair.
Ten skill points per second. Do the math. Is this burning money? This is burning life! I barely survived near-death experiences to earn a hundred skill points, and it’s only enough to activate this for ten seconds. What can I do in ten seconds? It’s probably only enough for one move, right?
"Ah—this is killing me... Where the heck am I supposed to earn more skill points..."
With a sigh, Wang Lan picked up the video player. Pressing the power button, his fingernails whitened slightly from the pressure.
There was only one video file on the player. Wang Lan’s fingers trembled as he clicked to open it. The video played, and the image of his mother, Wang Ling, appeared on the screen.
"Lan Lan, congratulations on becoming a Star Martial Warrior. Mom always believed you could do it. Mom is going on a very important mission. If you’re watching this video, it means Mom might have already died, or perhaps gone missing.
"Do you see the Soul Bead placed there? It contains a part of your soul that Mom cut using a secret technique and then compressed the Phoenix Form Star Martial Skill inside.
"This is Mom’s most powerful Star Martial Skill, with infinite evolutionary potential. It’s a skill that can transcend the Star Sea and break through into the boundless realms of the Immortal Spirit Domain.
"However, Mom set a restriction on the Soul Bead: you must reach the Galaxy Stage before you can learn it. There’s no way around it; the learning requirement for the Phoenix Form is the Galaxy Stage."
Wang Lan chuckled wryly, "Heh, Mom, you’re still as overconfident as ever. What about that restriction you mentioned? I’ve already learned it."
The video continued, Wang Ling’s voice clear, "Mom’s going to carry out her mission now. No need for extra words; I’ve already explained everything to your aunt. Hang in there. Mom is looking forward to fighting alongside you someday."
The video ended there. When the screen faded to black, Wang Lan was already in tears.
"Mom, it’s been eight years..."
Lying in bed, he quietly stared at the ceiling. His mind was filled with speculation. Is Mom still alive, or is she already dead? What kind of mission could make one of Jade Country’s top-tier experts have no certainty of returning alive?
The more he thought, the more frustrated he became. Wang Lan calmed himself and began to explore the system in his mind.
The character attribute panel had changed. He had advanced from Starlight Stage One to Starlight Stage Four, and every attribute had increased by two points—a significant enhancement in strength.
An attribute classification now appeared on the character panel. Wang Lan’s attribute was shown as Fire, indicating that he was suited to learn Fire-type Star Martial Skills; otherwise, he could only study attributeless and form-changing type skills.
A single attribute... My talent isn’t as ideal as I’d hoped. But why wasn’t this displayed before? Has the system been secretly updating without me knowing?
It had been a day of dramatic ups and downs. Even someone with Wang Lan’s exceptional constitution was thoroughly exhausted. Closing his eyes, he quickly fell into a deep sleep.
After returning from his aunt’s home, he changed his clothes, choosing the most stylish and cool-looking short-sleeved windbreaker from his wardrobe.
Wang Lan had never been particular about his clothing. He usually wore T-shirts in the summer, tracksuits in the fall, and down jackets in the winter, all ordinary items purchased online. Despite an annual income of seventy to eighty million, he never spent recklessly. If it weren’t for having the experiences of two lifetimes, few could probably achieve this.
His aunt occasionally bought him clothes, but he hardly ever unwrapped them. It wasn’t that Wang Lan was intentionally trying to be low-profile; there simply was no need to show off.
This windbreaker was Wang Lan’s only relatively flashy article of clothing, bought on impulse for two thousand yuan because its style reminded him of the Fourth Hokage’s robe. After buying it, he had never worn it.
After all, a man soon to become a Star Martial Warrior should be in high spirits.
He left the house, took the subway, and half an hour later, arrived at the entrance of the Star Martial Hall.
The Star Martial Hall was an institution specifically dealing with Star Martial Warrior affairs, such as strength assessments, level evaluations, processing Star Martial Badges, and even purchasing Soul Beads and Star Martial Skills.