11: End of training camp and qualification improvement

Half a month passed in a flash, and Lin Chen emerged from his seclusion.

“Phew, this is my first time cultivating for so long continuously; it’s a bit hard to get used to.”

Opening the door to the cultivation room, Lin Chen looked at the two bright moons hanging high in the sky and felt like he was hallucinating.

He had been in seclusion for half a month, not several epochs.

He clearly remembered there was only one bright moon in the sky before, but now there were two.

Taking out old dengs book, Lin Chen began to check the group chat messages from his 15 days in seclusion.

Ever since he obtained old dengs book, Lin Chen had always found it useful.

He usually just lurked in the group chat, checking messages every few days to gather information shared by those old dengs in their conversations, silently observing events happening in this world.

After reviewing the 15 days of group chat messages, Lin Chen learned the truth behind the second bright moon appearing in the sky.

Thirteen days ago, the Old Ancestor of the “Moon God” Shen Family took a crucial step, transforming her body into a bright moon, becoming the second bright moon illuminating the Human Race Territory.

The appearance of the second bright moon had a profound impact on Moon-element cultivators; their strength and potential generally increased by 30% to 100%.

For the next few millennia, it would be the strong period for Moon-element cultivators, making them the 'children of the version'.

In addition to Moon-element cultivators being affected, Night-element cultivators also benefited greatly, followed by cultivators of other elements enjoying the advantages brought by the second bright moon.

The most direct benefit of the second bright moon’s appearance for Lin Chen was a 30% increase in the concentration of world energy, an overall improvement in the cultivation environment, and a 5% reduction in the difficulty of breaking through.

In the future, if Lin Chen became a Moon-element Transcendent, the benefits he could enjoy would only grow larger.

Getting back to the main topic, no one can predict the future.

After half a month apart, the classmates first had a dinner together, and then each returned to their dorms to sleep.

After 15 days of secluded cultivation, everyone’s spirits were somewhat fatigued, and their minds were over-exhausted.

Meditation could substitute for sleep, but it was ultimately not true sleep; only deep sleep could restore the depleted mind.

The night passed without incident, and the next morning arrived.

A new round of ranking challenge matches began.

In the morning, Lin Chen caught up quickly, stabilizing his ranking at 788th in the 4th Ring, after which he made no further progress, struggling to cope with challenges from subsequent competitors.

In the afternoon, Lin Chen did not think about taking shortcuts; his sole goal was to maintain his current ranking, not drop down, and certainly not fall back into the 5th Ring.

Thanks to half a month of secluded cultivation, Lin Chen became a Third-stage initial Mentalist, with a mental power value of 1125 points; his martial arts realm broke through to Martial Master initial stage, with a Qi Blood value of 4286 points, significantly increasing his overall strength.

He was making progress, and so were others.

Relatively speaking, Lin Chen’s progress was greater.

The resources he consumed in these 15 days were worth over ten million federal currency, which naturally gave him an advantage over other students who used no or few resources, relying on their own talent and environment for cultivation.

Money makes the world go round, and Lin Chen just happened to be a rich person, and a very rich one at that.

Another 15 days of seclusion followed, and Lin Chen’s progress was well-balanced, with similar numerical increases as the previous 15 days of seclusion.

Name: Lin Chen

Age: 14 and a half

Gender: Male

Cultivation: Third-stage Martial Master mid-stage (6595)

Spirit: Third-stage Mentalist (1588)

Cultivation Techniques: 86th Edition Qi Blood Refinement Technique, 42nd Edition Body Tempering Technique, Spark Meditation Method

Martial Skills: Basic Fist Technique, Basic Movement Technique, Basic Weaponry, Mountain Splitting Fist (Profound-tier Low-grade), Ethereal Movement Technique (Profound-tier Low-grade), Withered Wood Saber Technique (Profound-tier Mid-grade)

Mental Skills: Mental Shock (Profound-tier High-grade), Saber Control Technique (Profound-tier High-grade), Mental Power Shield (Profound-tier High-grade), Mental Impact (Profound-tier Mid-grade)…

Items: Profound-tier High-grade Blazing Saber, Profound-tier High-grade Round Light Armor

(Not an innate attribute panel; it comes from the functional page introduction of old dengs book, equivalent to a summarized data set for easy viewing)

Lin Chen returned to his dorm and packed his belongings; the month-long training camp was over, and he should return to Feng City.

Tomorrow, the training camp would close, and they would depart.

He hadn't seen his grandparents for a month, and he missed them a little.

Lin Chen found Zhou Heshan and discovered that Zhou Heshan looked like a deer that had been hunted too much; he was not only skin and bones but also very low in spirit and energy.

“Brother Chen, I’ve lost weight.”

“I can tell; after a month of hard cultivation, you’re quite bony.”

“It’s purely a side effect of over-tempering the body.”

“Are you running out of resources?”

“No, it’s a side effect of the cultivation technique; the thinner I get, the higher my mastery of the technique. Once my weight bounces back, my strength will rapidly increase, signifying success in body tempering.”

“Alright, what a magical cultivation technique.”

Lin Chen couldn't comment on such a cultivation technique.

He was still cultivating the techniques issued by the Federation.

To cultivate the core fundamental techniques of the Lin Family of Mount Xuankong, one’s martial arts cultivation had to reach the Fourth-stage; the meditation and body tempering techniques were similar, requiring a Fourth-stage Mentalist level to even get started.

It was another class dinner, and everyone ate and drank, having a wonderful time.

Lin Chen packed a lot of bloodline delicacies, intending to take them home for his grandparents; other classmates followed suit, packing bloodline delicacies to share with their families.

The night passed without incident.

The next day, everyone boarded the spaceship home; the journey was smooth and uneventful, and they safely returned to Feng City.

“Grandpa, Grandma, I’m home!”

At Lin Family Villa, Lin Chen shouted as soon as he entered the door.

Lin Yuan and Luo Zhiyuan were already sitting on the living room sofa, waiting for Lin Chen to return; after a month apart, the two elders also missed Lin Chen a little.

Lin Chen recounted everything from the training camp to his two elders, telling them about his growth, emphasizing and describing his failed battles to seek comfort from his elders.

Finally, Lin Chen took out the packed bloodline delicacies and let the two elders taste them.

The two elders were naturally very happy, feeling that Lin Chen had grown up, and were very satisfied with his filial piety.

——————

Time flowed like water, and in a blink of an eye, Lin Chen turned 15.

He graduated from junior high and entered high school.

After his 15th birthday party, Lin Chen eagerly gave himself a full body examination.

A talent detection machine worth 100 million federal currency stood in the corner of Lin Chen’s bedroom; bought when he was 12, it could only be used now.

For humans on Blue Star, innate talent would completely stop increasing when they naturally grew to 15 years old; at this point, resources could then be used to enhance acquired talent.

It was possible to use resources to enhance talent before the age of 15, but it would ultimately affect the growth of innate talent; how much it affected was a matter of debate.

Over time, using resources to enhance acquired talent after the age of 15 became a custom and a rule; no one gambled on how much enhancing acquired talent before 15 would specifically affect the growth of innate talent.

There are seven types of innate talents recognized by humans.

Physical Strength: The upper limit that the physical body can reach.

Soul Strength: The upper limit that mental power can reach.

Elemental Intensity: The upper limit of the quality of elemental energy.

Elemental Resistance: The upper limit of resistance to elemental energy.

Comprehension: Affects the perception of abstract things like knowledge, rules, and the world.

Root Bone: Affects the absorption speed of tangible things like transcendent resources.

Spirituality: Affects the perception of abstract concepts like cognition, memes, corruption, and assimilation.

[Innate Talent Analysis Report]

Physical Strength: 6.2

Soul Strength: 11.6

Elemental Intensity: 8.8

Elemental Resistance: 5.1

Comprehension: 5.3

Root Bone: 5.6

Spirituality: 7.8

The higher the values of the seven innate talents, the broader the path to transcendence.

The value for an ordinary person is constant at 1; 1 point represents the ability to become a First-stage life form, and for every subsequent 2 points increase, the life stage increases by 1.

Lin Chen’s innate talents were quite good, all exceeding 5 points, theoretically enough to support him until he reached the Third-stage before running out of steam; only his mental talent was very strong, enough to support him until he reached the Fifth-stage before weakening.

Innate talent would stop increasing at the age of 15; any subsequent increases in talent would be acquired talent.

[Acquired Talent Analysis Report]

Physical Strength: 0.8 (12.4) [Parentheses indicate growth limit]

Soul Strength: 2.5 (23.2)

Elemental Intensity: 0.3 (17.6)

Elemental Resistance: 0.1 (10.2)

Comprehension: 0.6 (10.6)

Root Bone: 0.9 (11.2)

Spirituality: 1.3 (15.6)

Lin Chen had not used resources to enhance his talent before, so his acquired talent values were not large, belonging to natural growth from daily life.

Using conventional methods, the upper limit for acquired talent growth is twice the innate talent value; once the growth limit is reached, the acquired talent value becomes constant.

Unless divine-tier items can be used to increase innate talent, acquired talent is limited by innate talent and cannot increase further.

Lin Chen’s acquired talent still had a lot of room for growth, but of course, wanting to increase acquired talent would require a massive amount of resources.

In the 0 to 5 point range for acquired talent, each 1-point increase requires an average of 100 million federal currency in resources.

In the 5 to 10 point range, each 1-point increase requires an average of 500 million federal currency in resources.

In the 10 to 15 point range, each 1-point increase requires an average of 3 billion federal currency in resources.

For growth beyond 15 points, each 1-point increase requires double the resources consumed for the previous 1-point increase.

If increasing from 14 to 15 points requires 3.5 billion federal currency in resources, then increasing to 16 points would require 7 billion federal currency in resources.

Improving acquired talent is extremely costly; it is not for those without substantial family wealth.

“I hope that by the time I’m twenty, my acquired talents can be maxed out; even if not, they must all exceed 10 points, so that when my talent is activated, the effect can be maximized.”

Lin Chen had a goal, and this goal was quite expensive; with his current wealth, he could only achieve the first 0 to 5 point range of talent growth.