Chapter 371

"Huh—"

On the villa's sofa,

Xu Jingming finally put down the secret manual after spending the whole afternoon reading it, stretching lazily.

"No wonder it's an SS-grade spirit cultivation technique—I read for half a day and still didn't understand a thing!" Xu Jingming couldn't help but sigh.

Compared to body-strengthening combat techniques, spirit cultivation techniques involving mental energy are far more complex.

Unlike body-strengthening techniques, which require targeting specific muscles or bones,

spirit cultivation techniques are highly subjective—take this one, the "River of Shen Observation Method."

You must imagine your mental energy as a ceaselessly surging river.

And your mental energy must also flow along a specific path.

Xu Jingming spent the entire afternoon and still hadn't even achieved the first step: imagining his mental energy as a river.

"Of course—not if it were easy to master, it wouldn't be an SS-grade spirit cultivation technique.

Even Sister Su, the library director, said that even with her guidance, it would take at least two or three months to break through to the first level.

To understand it in just an afternoon? Impossible!"

The "River of Shen Observation Method" has nine levels; breaking through the first level is merely the threshold of entry.

"It's complicated, but if I stay up all night studying tonight, I should reach a preliminary understanding."

Preliminary understanding is still a long way from mastering it, let alone breaking through to entry.

But that's for ordinary psychics— for Xu Jingming, as long as he achieves preliminary understanding,

the rest can be handled by the system with direct stat points.

"I still have 16, 00 psychic points left on the system panel—should be enough for boosting."

"Even if it's not enough, it doesn't matter—the training camp is right next to the No. 4 Demon Cave; I can just go in and harvest some more psychic points."

As Xu Jingming was thinking this, suddenly—"Ding dong!"—the doorbell rang.

Hum—

A holographic projection instantly appeared in midair—the villa's front-door camera.

On the hologram, a young man with short hair waved at the camera.

"Xu Jingming, visitor at the gate. Third-year trainee: Fan Ren."

The villa's AI chimed in with a mechanical electronic tone.

That emotionless mechanical voice immediately made Xu Jingming, used to Eva, frown.

Damn.

He hadn't noticed before, but now he saw clearly—the difference between ordinary AI and top-tier AI was enormous.

"I need to ask them when I get back to Demon University—can they give me a top-tier Eva sub-authorization?"

As he thought this, Xu Jingming rose from the sofa, puzzled, to open the door.

He had long heard of Senior Brother Fan Ren from his teacher, Yang Zhentian.

But since arriving at the training camp, he hadn't contacted this senior brother yet.

How had the man already come to his door?

"You must be Junior Brother Xu Jingming? Teacher Yang mentioned you often.

I just heard you entered the camp this afternoon, so I rushed over to meet you—didn't I interrupt you?"

As soon as Xu Jingming opened the door, Fan Ren greeted him with a warm smile, his demeanor extremely friendly.

Like Senior Brother Jiang Luo, Fan Ren was also extremely tall.

He was at least 1. meters tall!

But unlike Jiang Luo, Fan Ren's appearance and aura were calmer.

"Of course not," Xu Jingming smiled back. "Senior Brother Fan, come in."

"No need to sit. It's dinner time right now—come on, let me, your senior brother, host you and treat you to a welcome feast!"

Fan Ren casually slung an arm around Xu Jingming's shoulder.

"Then thank you, Senior Brother—I haven't eaten since noon."

Xu Jingming nodded with a smile.

Since reaching the fourth stage, he could go four or five days without food or water without issue.

So now he ate only once a day—usually dinner—enough to replenish the energy he'd need for the next day.

That way, he didn't waste too much time on meals.

"Perfect!" Fan Ren laughed heartily. "Since we're meeting for the first time, tonight we must drink properly!"

Under Senior Brother Fan Ren's guidance, Xu Jingming quickly left the villa and wound through the training camp area.

Eventually, they stopped in front of a restaurant named "Shunxing Garden."

Xu Jingming was surprised to discover that the entire street was lined with restaurants and eateries.

"This is the internal commercial street of Thunder Martial Arts Academy—you can find almost anything you want here.

Come on, let's eat first. After dinner, I'll take you somewhere fun."

Fan Ren smiled and led Xu Jingming into the restaurant.

Xu Jingming considered himself well-traveled, but stepping inside still gave him a small shock.

The entire restaurant's decor leaned heavily toward ancient styles—even the massive crystal chandelier on the ceiling

blended seamlessly into the environment, showing not a single hint of modern intrusion.

The main hall displayed all kinds of exquisite ornaments, clearly priceless.

Besides over a dozen dining tables, a small stage stood at the center.

On the stage, a beautiful woman in ancient attire danced with breathtaking grace.

Beside her, another woman played the guzheng, filling the entire hall with exquisitely melodious music.

"How's it? Not bad, right?"

Senior Brother Fan Ren chuckled. "Our academy's founder, Luo Heng, loved ancient Xia culture.

The entire Thunder Martial Arts Academy headquarters has many ancient palaces and pavilions.

These commercial streets naturally evolved into this style.

Honestly, it's got a unique charm."

As Fan Ren spoke, a woman in a red qipao approached with a smile.

"How may I assist you, sirs?"

The woman wore refined makeup and a qipao unlike ordinary styles—tight-fitting and elegant.

Under its embrace, her figure appeared slender and alluring.

The slit rose high to her upper thighs, revealing a pair of fair, long legs.

"Give us a quiet private room, and bring the 688, 00-credit luxury set meal."

Fan Ren spoke with the familiarity of a regular customer.

"Of course, please follow me, esteemed guests."

The young woman's face lit up as she led them upstairs.

"Senior Brother, what meal did you order? I swear the server looked at you differently."

In the second-floor private room,

after the server left, Xu Jingming asked with a smile.

"I ordered the luxury set—688 ten thousand credits!

Just this one order earns her over a hundred thousand in commission—wouldn't she be thrilled?"

Fan Ren grinned.

"688 ten thousand?!" Xu Jingming's heart jolted.

Psychics earned money fast, sure, but few spent this much on a single meal.

Some extreme cultivators even just drank energy bars daily.

He'd assumed 688 meant sixty-eight thousand at most—never imagined it was a hundred times higher!

Astonished, Xu Jingming also felt puzzled.

A meal costing 688 ten thousand credits was absurdly extravagant.

To invite someone to such a lavish feast on their first meeting—

Was Senior Brother Fan Ren just too enthusiastic?