An announcement was made.
[Congratulations to the disciples placed within the top 100. You can take part in the third round of the competition. However, the next round will proceed on the eighth day. So, you are allowed to take a break for a week.
You have earned it.]
Yay! Hurray!
The disciples that had been selected were cheering and screaming in joy. While those who didn't cut it were left sullen.
***
Grim, Gu Lan, and Ren Dan went to their master.
Lou Xian was happy to see them.
"I'm very proud of you my disciples."
The trio bowed.
"Thank you, master."
Afterward, they had a small talk. They all left for their own room when the small talk was over.
***
Bam!
Grim entered his room and shut the door immediately.
"I can't wait to buy new abilities."
His eyes were filled with anticipation.
"System Store Open"
[Available Evo Point: 564,750]
[Ability 1: Mend Life - 150,000 Evo]
(allows you to heal fatal injuries, can regrow body parts except for the brain)
Usage: once a week, consumes 90% of the Qi)
[Ability 2: Polyp - 100,000 Evo]
(allows you to clone yourself. However, the clone can only utilize 50% of your strength
Usage: Once a month, consumes 80% of the Qi)
[Ability 3: Aerial - 70,000 Evo]
(allows you to multiply your flying speed by 17 times)
Usage: Once a day, can last up to 30 seconds)
[Weekly ability refresh ticket available: 4]
"The ability is not here. Oh! What a surprise."
"System, I'll just purchase 'mend life' and 'polyp'."
A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.
"Purchasing 'mend life' and 'polyp'. 250,000 has been deduced from the host."
"The abilities have been purchased."
The information about the abilities started entering his mind.
Soon, he learned both abilities.
"Both are good. But, they aren't for battle."
"I'll use the weekly ability refresh ticket. No point in hoarding."
"System, use one weekly refresh ticket."
***
Ding! Ding!
"System Store has refreshed."
He commanded.
"System Store Open"
[Available Evo Point: 314,750]
[Ability 1: Energy Burst - 150,000 Evo]
(allows you to launch an energy-based attack that can cause an explosion, the explosion releases heat of 4426° C(8000° F) and sound of 220 dB within an area of 100 square meters (119 yd2).
Usage: Once a day, also causes massive backlash on the user)
[Ability 2: Aerial - 70,000 Evo]
(allows you to multiply your flying speed by 17 times)
Usage: Once a day, can last up to 30 seconds)
[Ability 3: Strive - 100,000 Evo]
(allows you to track a marked target within 100 km {62 mi} )
Usage: Twice a day, lasts for 2 hours.)
[Weekly ability refresh ticket available: 3]
"System, purchase 'energy burst'. I'll save the rest in case of emergency."
"Purchasing 'energy burst'. 150,000 Evo have been deducted from the host."
Soon, the information entered his mind.
"So, the ability works by utilizing both 'air' and 'fire' elements at once."
He was intrigued by the information. The system also had a fusion function. But, it couldn't fuse abilities with different elements, at least for now.
Grim wanted to test his ability. So, he went to the entrance and asked the guards if he could exit.
He received their confirmation and went out of the sect.
***
A thousand kilometers away from the sect.
A boy could be seen in the middle of the forest.
"That should be far enough."
Grim readied himself to test his new skill.
"At first, I'll cap my cultivation to the peak-refiner realm."
He lowered his cultivation to the peak-refiner realm.
'Energy Burst'
Soon, an energy orb started forming in front of him. The orb was growing by sucking the Qi out of his body.
It finally stopped after two minutes when it had absorbed 80% of his Qi and reached the size of a human head.
Suddenly, the orb started flying ahead. Strangely, Grim could feel a connection with the energy orb. It felt like he could make the orb explode anytime.
He let the energy orb fly ahead. However, his connection with the orb disappeared after five kilometers, and the orb suddenly exploded.
In a millisecond, the orb turned into a ball of plasma. The plasma grew into a fireball and covered an area of 100 meters across.
Everything with a radius of 100 meters was evaporated instantly, and everything within 300 meters caught on fire.
Soon, it released a flash followed by a shockwave. Everything across two kilometers was tossed away, and the spreading further.
Grim, who was looking at the explosion was temporarily blind for a few minutes, and his ears were ringing. Luckily, the shockwave didn't reach him.
***
Bluurrgghhhh
Suddenly, he threw up blood followed by unbearable pain.
Argghhhhhh
He couldn't help but groan.
He checked his body in a hurry, and he was alarmed by the discovery. His veins were torn, his ribs were broken, half of his lung had been punctured, and his heart had holes in it. He could barely breathe and he was bleeding from everywhere.
"The backlash is too much."
He stopped his bleeding using regeneration.
"Good thing I purchased 'mend life'. I'll need to gather enough Qi to use it."
He took out the gourd filled with liquid Qi. He took a sip and started absorbing it.
His Qi was back to full in about five minutes.
'Mend Life'
Soon, the injuries started mending.
He was back in shape after exhausting his Qi by 90%.
He complimented the ability.
"The effects are miraculous. But, the cooldown is too long."
***
Grim went to check the aftermath, and he was terrified.
A crater had formed at the point of impact, and it was 20 meters deep and 100 meters wide.
The previous green forests had disappeared leaving only bags of dust, and everything was charred within a radius of 300 meters.
"I restrained my strength to the peak-refiner realm. Yet, the damage was enough to deal with an average peak-evolution realm cultivator. I can't even imagine its effect if I use my full strength."
"I can only use this as my last resort."
He left the spot quickly and returned to his room.
[Evo points left: 164,750]