43: Chapter 43 Rewards

After finishing all the work at hand, Zhang Wen was finally able to shed his exhaustion and lie down comfortably on his bed.

“Ding—Congratulations to the host for achieving the title of Jiangnan Province provincial top scholar. You are specially rewarded with one Super Gift Package!”

“The host has successfully achieved the first kill of a soul fiend member. You are rewarded with one Forming Realm Peak Cultivation Enhancement Card.”

“Given the host's rapid progress, the System will undergo an update and upgrade. Please do not worry during this period.”

The System notification sound, which hadn't rung for a long time, came through one after another. Zhang Wen raised an eyebrow and couldn't help muttering, “Although this System is usually unreliable, it certainly doesn't skimp when it comes to giving rewards!”

As he spoke, he moved his fingertip and tapped open the Super Gift Package.

“Congratulations on obtaining the S-rank movement technique—[Tremor Step Treading Thunder Marks].”

“SS-rank area-of-effect skill—[Myriad Thunders Heavenly Prison Lure].”

“SSS-rank Nine Heavens Tribulation Thunder exclusive Profound Truth—[Nine Heavens Annihilation - Thunder Burial Great Luo Heaven]!”

Looking at the rewards in the gift package, Zhang Wen was instantly overwhelmed with excitement, almost shouting “Foster Father” to the air on the spot—there was no other reason, it just gave too much!

Zhang Wen couldn't wait to check the skill descriptions.

Tremor Step Treading Thunder Marks: S-rank movement technique. When channeling energy, the tips of the feet condense Thunder Power. Stepping on the ground can generate thunder shockwaves, using the momentum of thunder to increase speed by 30%. Footprints leave pale golden thunder marks, which can interfere with pursuers' perception. While the thunder marks persist, one's evasion rate is temporarily increased, and a short-distance thunder flash can be triggered every three steps.

Myriad Thunders Heavenly Prison Lure: SS-rank area-of-effect skill. It draws Nine Heavens thunder to gather into a thunder net prison. Within the range, lightning continuously strikes down, causing paralysis damage while trapping the enemy. The barrier strength increases with Cultivation, and it can briefly seal space.

Nine Heavens Annihilation - Thunder Burial Great Luo Heaven: SSS-rank Nine Heavens Tribulation Thunder exclusive Profound Truth. It requires using one's own Thunder Origin as a catalyst to leverage the annihilation Thunder Power from above the Nine Heavens. When activated, thunder clouds cover the sun, and thousands of purple-black Tribulation Thunders converge into a thunder pillar spanning heaven and earth, crashing down like the judgment of the Heavenly Dao. An absolute Thunder Domain is formed within the range, and regardless of Cultivation level, all are suppressed by the Thunder Law, with their Divine Soul and Physical Body annihilated inch by inch in the sea of thunder.

Note: This technique's power is incredibly overbearing, but using it each time will cause a huge burden on the caster. Do not use it lightly unless it is a life-or-death situation.

After reading the skill descriptions, Zhang Wen's Adam's apple bobbed, and after holding back for a long time, he blurted out, “System, you are my real father!”

The skills rewarded by the System were directly unlocked to introductory proficiency, saving the effort of tedious Cultivation.

He picked up the Cultivation Enhancement Card again, tapped it with his fingertip, and the text on the card appeared:

[Forming Realm Peak Cultivation Enhancement Card: Can directly raise the host's Cultivation to Forming Realm Peak without any side effects.]

“Hiss—” Zhang Wen gasped, immediately gave a thumbs up to the void, his tone even more excited than before: “System, please accept this child's bow!”

Zhang Wen did not hesitate at all and tapped heavily on the enhancement card with his fingertip.

“Hum—”

The card turned into a golden light and sank into his brow. The next second, a vast and irresistible force surged through his limbs and bones like a breached river.

His Meridians felt as comfortable as if soaked in warm water, and it seemed as if countless warm currents were washing away blockages. The originally sluggish Qi instantly became surging like a tide. The Qi vortex within his Dantian expanded and solidified crazily, and his bones cracked and popped, as if undergoing a rebirth and reshaping.

In just a few breaths, that power climbed to its peak and then steadily settled down.

Zhang Wen opened his eyes, a flash of brilliance in his pupils. He raised his hand and made a fist, clearly feeling the surging Qi within his body almost ready to burst out—his Forming Realm Peak Cultivation had already firmly taken root.

“This feeling...” He moved his neck, the sound of bone friction carrying a strange rhythm, “It's even more solid than years of burying myself in Cultivation.”

Zhang Wen sat cross-legged and took out the 'Heavenly Punishment Thunder Pattern Pill' rewarded by Director Chen. Lightning Radiance flowed on the surface of the Medicinal Pill, and there was a faint pressure of the Heavenly Dao.

“Tsk, it doesn't even say how high the probability is for this thing.” He muttered, then suddenly thought of something, his expression stiffening, “Wait, could it be a ‘pity mechanism’? Like ‘consuming 100 pills guarantees an Eye of Thunder Punishment’ or something...”

Shaking his head, he swallowed the pill in one gulp.

Then he felt the intensity of the Nine Heavens Tribulation Thunder increasing, and he was overjoyed, thinking it didn't matter if he got the Eye of Thunder Punishment or not. Just as he was saying this, his right eye began to ache faintly.

“What the f*ck?! One shot and I got it? I'm the lucky one?” He widened his eyes, and a thunder pattern faintly appeared in the depths of his pupils. His vision suddenly changed—

He turned his head to look at the stone pillar beside him, lightning flashing in his eyes.

[Target: Ordinary Stone Pillar]

[Weakness: Thunder Element resistance -50% (Recommended to just strike it)]

“Hahaha, this is a huge profit!” He grinned, “In the future, when fighting, I'll just activate ‘Sharingan’... No, wait, ‘Eye of Thunder Punishment’ mode, and specifically pick on the squishy ones!”

Zhang Wen could vaguely feel that this Eye of Thunder Punishment still had room for improvement.

“Could it be... that in the future, I'll even be able to predict the enemy's next move?” This thought made his heart heat up, and he became inexplicably excited.

He immediately couldn't help but want to show off, raising his voice to the air: “Buddy, believe it or not? Before you even make your move, I already know where you're going to hit!”

Opponent: “??? Where did this cheater pop out from?”

Zhang Wen suppressed his restless thoughts and made up his mind to go to the wild tomorrow to master the last move of the Rushing Thunder Delusion Breaking Fist and see how powerful the skills rewarded by the System were.

“Alright, that's settled.” He lay down and quickly drifted into dreamland, a confident smile still hanging on the corner of his mouth.

...

The next day, as soon as it was light, Zhang Wen hurriedly plunged into the wild. He chose a spot in an empty, uninhabited forest, took a deep breath, and suddenly activated “Tremor Step Treading Thunder Marks”.

His figure suddenly became agile. With a tap of his toes on the ground, he drifted sideways like a willow catkin. The soil where he landed actually “cracked” with tiny fissures—that was the Tremor Power inherent in the skill at work.

He used this force to spin and turn. As his ankles gently rotated, a pale cyan air wave spread out along the trajectory of his steps, sweeping the waist-high wild grass around him, causing them to bend in unison, with scorched marks from the shock on the broken ends.

When rushing forward, his figure appeared and disappeared, and every landing was accompanied by a low roar. The ground rippled like waves, and nearby gravel was struck by this fluctuation and immediately shattered with a “crack”.

Sometimes he deliberately stepped diagonally backward, and an air explosion an inch high would spontaneously detonate beside his feet, shattering the falling dead leaves behind him into powder.

This footwork was unimaginably agile. Moving left and right, he could always avoid abrupt tree stumps, while the miscellaneous objects swept by the trajectory of his steps were, without exception, ground to pieces by the hidden attack Qi.

The more Zhang Wen practiced, the more shocked and excited he became. This skill was not only as fast as lightning, but every step hid a thunder-like hidden force, carrying a destructive power that could not be underestimated amidst its agility.

Just as Zhang Wen was getting carried away, a phone rang.

(The author is already working very hard to write, thank you all for your support (｡･ω･｡)つ)