109: Chapter 109 Upgrades Again

Tang Long felt surprised, so he just agreed offhandedly.

"Of course we're friends."

"Good! Then can you do me a favor?"

"What is it? Just say the word."

"In a few days, come with me outside the city to handle some business. I can't tell you the specifics right now."

"Which day?"

"I can't determine that right now, but it should be within a week."

Seeing how mysterious she was being, Tang Long didn't ask any further; it was something for next week anyway. But meeting Golden Scorpion tonight meant he could skim some benefits off him first.

Today's sudden incident made Tang Long feel that he had been slacking off recently.

Since entering Song City, life had been a bit too comfortable, and he felt that danger was drifting away.

But the beast tide just now, standing in the ranks as a mere pawn, made him feel his insignificance once more.

This was a real world where anything could happen, yet he was actually thinking about developing steadily.

Such a thought was truly too extravagant, or one could even call it laziness.

Not to mention others, just look at the Miao Manman before him.

From her identity, from these two dangerous Breathing Methods, and the upcoming arrival of the Sangyu delegation, it was enough to piece together the thread of her actions from the clues.

She wanted to master the Open-Ring Forbidden Method and then integrate the Seven Kills Art.

Both of these dangerous techniques could potentially cost her her life.

Why work so hard?

Because she was the granddaughter of the former Military Department Minister, Miao Yulin. Miao Yulin had been imprisoned because Ye Baiqiao defied the Emperor and unfortunately died in prison; one could imagine the state of the Miao family.

It was likely similar to Qin Bing's situation; to fight for a future, one had to work hard to improve oneself.

This exchange tournament was a good opportunity.

Back then, the Duke of Yu City rebelled, captured Sang City, and almost breached Song City. Ye Baiqiao appeared out of nowhere, beheaded the rebel, and later forcibly held the country together.

But in the process, both sides had inevitably forged a blood feud.

Once Ye Baiqiao left, the two cities of Sangyu immediately formed an alliance and became autonomous. Although they didn't start a war again, this resentment still remained.

What were they coming to Song City to exchange? Could everyone sit down calmly and just chat about friendship? Certainly not.

Secretly competing was likely the main theme.

Therefore, defeating the people of Sangyu was very important to Dongyu, and also very important to Song City.

Miao Manman was probably going all-in for this reason.

A young girl was willing to risk so much, while he was still indulging in comfort; it was truly inappropriate.

The history and future of the Dongyu Kingdom kept rolling through his mind, over and over again.

Vaguely, a crazy and bizarre idea began to take shape.

As the two chatted, time passed bit by bit.

Miao Manman closed the book and walked up to Mad Dog to return it.

Mad Dog checked the time. "Two and a half hours, not bad. Are you sure you've memorized it all? If not, for the sake of Brother Tang, I can wait a little longer for you."

"No need, thank you."

"Alright then, let's go. Tang Long, try to be early tonight."

"Don't worry."

Mad Dog left, but Tang Long noticed Miao Manman was staring at him.

"Student Miao, is there a problem?"

Miao Manman thought for a moment and asked, "I want to ask you, is the Open-Ring Forbidden Method... easy to practice?"

Tang Long shook his head. "It's very difficult."

"Oh."

Miao Manman fell silent, as if she didn't know what to say for a moment.

She had always been quiet and reserved, but her insight was not shallow. She could look down on Lu Xiaohu and Qin Bing, but from Tang Long and Mad Dog, she saw something special.

Especially their eyes; the gazes of these two people were very calm, a composure unique to the strong.

Only those who have defeated many opponents, or even killed many enemies, could possess such eyes, just like her grandfather back in the day.

Such people had no need to join the White Clothing Society to prove themselves.

And when she heard Tang Long speak of 'mastering the Forbidden Method in one hour', she was even more shocked.

She didn't know if it was true. After all, in one hour, she could barely read and understand it; she felt that practicing it in one hour was impossible regardless.

But Mad Dog hadn't questioned it in the slightest, so she felt the credibility of this matter was extremely high.

If this was true, Tang Long's talent must be much higher than hers. She, the 'number one genius of the White Clothing Society', was just a hollow name.

Most importantly, she really wanted to learn from Tang Long, who had already mastered the Open-Ring Forbidden Method.

But... when the words reached her lips, she found she couldn't say them.

"When will you be here tomorrow?"

"There are no important classes tomorrow; I'll be here after the first period in the morning."

"Then I'll come again tomorrow."

Watching Miao Manman's receding figure, Tang Long rubbed his chin.

He had deliberately shown some things off to this girl earlier, not because he wanted anything to do with her, but for the sake of the position of President of the White Clothes Society.

Building relationships was important, especially with Miao Manman, the Vice President.

But this girl was too reserved; she only asked these two questions.

And with her foundation, even if he gave her an invincibility buff, could she really master the Open-Ring Forbidden Method? What if she couldn't even handle the initial small conflicts?

Tang Long shook his head; he should worry about himself first.

Over the past two days of reading and doing tasks, his experience had grown rapidly.

After another ten minutes or so, the level-up notification popped up.

[Your level has increased to LV11! vitality increased by 1000, vitality Recovery increased by 100/hour, Spirit Energy limit increased by 100, gained 5 free attribute points, gained 1 skill point!]

[Tang Long: Calamity Sacrifice]

[Class: Mystic]

[Realm: Qi Manipulation {Stage 1}]

[Level LV11: 21/10W]

[Spirit Energy {High}: 3431/3675]

[Attributes {Unassigned 5}: Strength 38, Agility 40, Endurance 38, Spirit 45, Charisma 16, Spirituality 3, Legend 4]

[vitality {High}: 18975/20355]

[vitality Recovery {Medium}: 1500/hour]

[Resistances: Poison +50, Ice +6]

[Techniques: Torch Spirit Breathing Method {Fragmented}, Barbarian Blood Breathing Technique LV7, Aurora Breathing Method LV4, Universal Breathing Method LV1, General Guidance Technique LV2, Yuan Spirit Induction {Fragmented} LV1]

[Skills {Unassigned 1}: Detection LV9, Fire Eye MAX, Sprint MAX, Heavy Strike MAX, Spirit Astral LV6, Divine Guard LV7]

[Special Skills: Barbarian Blood Tyrant Body LV2, Aurora Phantom Sound LV1, Gift of the Barbarian Ancestor LV1, Open-Ring Forbidden Method LV2]

[Life Skills: Mining {Master}, Reading {Master}, Gathering {Proficient}, Cooking {Proficient}, Smithing {Novice}, Pharmacy {Novice}, Items {Novice}]

He had leveled up again; his base vitality increased by 1000, and after the class bonus, his vitality had exceeded 20,000.

Tang Long still felt it wasn't enough.

Because from here on, every time he added a Spirit Ring to the Open-Ring Forbidden Method, the difficulty would increase by one level, and the required vitality would increase accordingly.

20,000... was that enough to condense the third one?

Let's give it a try.

He closed the door and headed to the basement. After finding an empty room, he simply took off his clothes and prepared to condense a ring again.

Starting from the third ring, the new Spirit Ring would condense in the gaps between the existing Spirit Rings. The conflict of Spirit Energy would no longer be rhythmic, but continuous.

Before that, he added the five attribute points to Spirituality and upgraded Divine Guard to level eight.

Once his vitality was fully restored, he immediately took out a yuan spirit stone and began his Breathing Technique.

Because the book clearly recorded that the Spirit Energies of fire and ice/water had the most violent conflicts.

The next Spirit Ring had to be embedded between blood and fire; Tang Long didn't want to do something so stupid, so he chose yuan spirit energy.

Tang Long quickly discovered he had chosen correctly.

Yuan spirit energy was very flexible. After being pushed away by the repulsive force, it didn't produce the massive impact he had imagined. When condensing, it didn't need to be forced in as the technique described; it could be filled in comprehensively like an airflow.

So when the yuan Spirit Ring was almost complete, he still had over 15,000 vitality remaining.

At the very last moment, he simply tried to tank a Spirit Blast, and his vitality didn't even drop below 12,000.

[Open-Ring Forbidden Method increased to LV3!]