Infinite Fighting

Zhang Ji's killing of Dong Sanshi did not cause much of a stir.

In fact, it's quite normal for a few people to die every now and then in that place.

If the people don't report it, the officials won't investigate.

Moreover, the level of technological development is too low, the clues are unclear, and the investigation is very difficult.

There are hundreds, if not thousands, of similar unsolved cases when you look through the government files.

With the money, Zhang remained quiet for two days before deciding to exchange it for the resources he wanted.

It's still a black market shop of the Hundred Industries Alliance.

The item Zhang Ji wanted to buy this time was called "star sand".

Star sand is a crystalline particle of star energy extracted from the seabed.

These star sands, after secondary processing, will become star crystals.

The pure, attribute-free star power contained within can be directly absorbed by star warriors, much faster than star power drawn from the stars in the sky.

These items are strictly controlled by the Tianyin Kingdom's imperial court, and ordinary Star Warriors can only obtain them from the government at high prices.

Unauthorized mining and trading of star sand is a serious crime.

If the amount exceeds a certain threshold, the offender will be beheaded and implicate others.

However, restrictions cannot completely eliminate them.

The Alliance of All Trades can even completely disregard this.

The official forces behind it are powerful enough that as long as it's not a large-scale, blatant sale, but just some buying and selling in private, it can't be investigated.

In fact, it's not just the Hundred Industries Alliance that has Star Sand; many forces in the world do too.

Divine Sword Sect, Xuan Gu Sect, Tai Xu Temple, Feng Yu Tower, Ming Wu Temple.
Just as Zhang Ji had initially predicted, in this kind of ancient-looking supernatural society, no matter how strong the official power was, its control over the local area was limited.

It's impossible to have complete control over everything.

Inconvenient transportation and slow information transmission are the biggest weaknesses.

Nowadays, the main mode of transportation in rural areas is still animal power. Although some animals have superhuman strength, they still cannot travel thousands of miles in a day or two.

Only a few exotic mounts can or even surpass them, but they are few, and those who can ride those mounts are all experts. What does that have to do with ordinary people?
The majority can represent the whole society; a few exceptional individuals cannot represent society as a whole.

"Take it."

Upon hearing the sound, Zhang Ji took the bag from the other side. Inside were countless dark blue particles that looked like diamonds.

"A pound of star sand costs twenty taels of silver, which isn't cheap."

Zhang Ji felt a pang of emotion.

This price is cheaper than the low-grade star crystals produced by the Imperial Divine Machine Hall, but not by much.

One costs thirty taels of silver per catty, and the other costs twenty taels of silver.

The absorption effect of star crystal is not much different from that of star sand.

It's only about one-tenth stronger.

However, even this one-tenth is not insignificant in the eyes of those geniuses, as it adds up over time.

Moreover, there are also differences in the quality of star crystals.

The value of high-purity star crystals can be increased even further.

With these resources, even if Zhang Ji had a cheat code, he still couldn't catch up with the cultivation efficiency of those geniuses.

However, the difference is that Zhang Ji has no bottlenecks at all.

Upon receiving the item, Zhang Ji couldn't wait to grab a little bit, eager to try it out.

He could sense the energy contained within the star crystal in his hand, as if he could absorb it into his body with just a thought.

Indeed, this is true; they are far more active than the stellar energy scattered throughout the world.

Talent may not be an absolute thing.

Even if one cannot directly draw stars into their body, with enough star sand and sufficiently pure star crystals as aids, one might still be able to embark on the path of a Star Warrior.

This is the benefit of resources.

After extracting the fighting crystals from his body to the [Limit], Zhang Ji was completely no longer in a state of cultivation.

With a thought, Zhang Ji absorbed the energy within the star sand in his palm, and at the same time, he activated the "Spirit Pig Guiding Star Technique," guiding and converting the star power.

Once the star sand has absorbed all the star power, it turns white and becomes indistinguishable from ordinary crystalline particles.

About twenty minutes later, he saw a system notification.

[Hint: You have obtained 1 "Spirit Pig Leading Stars Technique" (Normal) combat skill essence, which can be extracted to your Limit Space for storage.]

"Holy crap, that's fucking awesome!" Zhang Ji exclaimed.

In just twenty minutes, he achieved the efficiency of leaving his computer running for dozens of hours.

Of course, the game has a very high marginal effect when it comes to grinding skills; the further you progress, the slower it gets. If you train normally, even with these resources and without slacking off, it would take at least a few months to master the "Spirit Pig Leading Star Skill".

However, Zhang Ji is different; he has a finite boundary.

Directly cut proficiency; once 10% proficiency is converted into essence and placed in the [Limit] space, each practice session is free from marginal effects. With the same resources and the same skills, you can always enjoy the fastest improvement speed.

Zhang Ji looked at the remaining stardust in the bag.

About one-fifth of the quantity has been consumed.

"Damn, this is really expensive. I have so much money, and I'll probably only be able to refine three crystals before it's all gone."

The silver Zhang Ji obtained from Dong Sanshi, converted to official units, amounted to 120 taels.

You might not earn this much even if you worked your whole life.

But it can only be used to buy six jin of star sand.

A normal Star Warrior would definitely not be able to burn six catties of Star Sand to produce even a [D-] grade attribute.

Zhang Ji recalled that it was no wonder Yang Yu was a little happy when he learned that Yang Yu had never participated in the star-attracting test.

He estimated that he had spent all his savings over the years on this, just to achieve something. Hearing that he was a newbie, he naturally wanted to pull him into the game to claim rewards and speed up his progress.

"There's no use thinking about it, let's just focus on grinding!"

Zhang Ji took out the remaining stardust and began grinding the progress like crazy.

"Have you heard? Recently, a 'Divine Fist Swordsman' has appeared in the city. He specializes in killing people on the wanted list, and several thieves have been brought to justice."

"Hey, it's because the government is incompetent. They've been messing with just one Shadow Fiend for ages, and they still haven't caught him."

"I've heard there's more than one Shadow Fiend."

"Who cares how many people there are? It's unacceptable if they're not found. What are the Zhenguo Guards doing? What about the Shadow Division? What about the Evil Extermination Bureau? What about those gentlemen from the Divine Mechanism Hall?"

"Gentlemen, be careful with your words. The Divine Emperor is above, suppressing all evil spirits. The country is peaceful and prosperous today. Where is there any unrest?"

Zhang, carrying the vegetables, walked by and roughly knew what they were talking about.

I recently killed four wanted criminals in one go, which made quite a stir. One of them was even taken down in a relatively busy place.

That guy was quite strong, around the [D-] level. He broke Zhang Ji's sword and then killed him by smashing him with his fists.

That's why Zhang Ji earned the title of "Divine Fist Swordsman".

He just doesn't really like it.

As for Shadow Fiend...

That thing is like a legend; there seems to have been news about it for years.

It is said that it specifically eats people's shadows, and those whose shadows are eaten will die.

However, the government has not yet reached a conclusion.

There was a period of calm, but it seems that recently there have been more people who died after having their shadows swallowed.

Zhang Ji was curious about this kind of thing, but he didn't force himself to get involved.

This doesn't feel like a regular side quest. My current strength is limited, and I'm afraid I might not be able to beat them if we encounter them.

"panel."

With a thought, Zhang Ji brought up his own panel attributes.

Player: Zhang Ji

Skills: Basic Combat, Spirit Pig Star-Guiding Technique *4
Clever: E+
Force: D
Body: D
God: E+
Evaluation: A Star Warrior with considerable strength and physique.

The reason why Zhang Ji mastered the "Spirit Pig Leading Stars Technique" four times is because he had cultivated four corresponding fighting crystals.

With the help of [Limit], Zhang Ji can repeatedly practice the same skill and obtain the same skill crystals, and the attributes can even overlap.

His strength and stamina attributes have now both reached the level of [D] from [D-].

Both skill and divine inspiration have reached the level of [E+].

He was promoted as a result.

The improvement in other physical attributes indirectly boosts control abilities and mental attributes.

Without this control ability and mental attribute, Zhang Ji's situation would not hold true; his body would collapse on the spot due to extreme incoordination.

This is what makes the game so realistic; it adapts to the player's physical state, just like in real life, unlike older games where strength could be increased to 100 while spirit could be reduced to 1.

Just as he was thinking, Zhang Ji suddenly realized that the surroundings had become quiet.

Many people looked towards the doorway.

There stood two figures, a man and a woman, with extraordinary bearing.

Both were dressed in the black robes of the Exorcism Division, with an evil-slaying sword at their waists.

The man was about thirty years old and had a mustache. The woman was beautiful and about twenty years old, with her long hair tied in a high ponytail, looking dashing and spirited.

Zhang Ji vaguely felt that this woman resembled the fat shopkeeper Fang Yuan somewhat.

Could it be his daughter, Fang Lingwei?

It's probably a genetic mutation!
"Old ginger!"

Upon receiving the notification, Fang Yuan quickly came out of the back room, grabbed Jiang Feiang, and said, "It's been a while since you've been here. Come on, come in and sit down. I got a pot of Tianxiang wine a few days ago, and it's time to open it today."

"Just grab something to eat, why make such a big fuss?" Jiang Feiang said with a smile as he walked inside with Fang Yuan.

"How could I! You are my sworn brother, and also my daughter's teacher. How could I mistreat you?" Fang Yuan said.

"Father!" Only then did Fang Lingwei greet Fang Yuan.

"My dear daughter, look at you, you've lost weight. I'll have Xiao Yang make you two good dishes to help you recover," Fang Yuan said.

The three chatted as they walked towards the back, and it was clear that Fang Yuan was particularly happy.

As he was about to leave, he announced loudly, "My daughter is back today, so I'm bringing an extra dish for everyone here."

"Manager Fang is so generous!"

May Shopkeeper Fang enjoy everlasting happiness and good fortune.

May your wealth increase greatly, Manager Fang!

Fang Yuan was generous, but Zhang Ji and the others who frequented the bathhouse were going to suffer.

"Keep busy!" Yan Hao sighed.

"What's wrong? Are you daydreaming?" Shi Feng nudged Zhang Ji and said, "Don't think about it. The women of the Extermination Bureau aren't really women. If you're really interested, we're closed tonight, and I'll take you to Xiuhua Tower for some fun."

"If the shopkeeper heard you say that, he'd tear you to pieces," Yuan Shaojie said without looking up from his bookkeeping position.

"Look at my mouth." Shi Feng slapped himself lightly on the mouth and said, "Thanks for reminding me, Brother Yuan. I'll treat you to drinks after we close down."

“Jade Pearl,” Yuan Shaojie said.

"You really dare to ask for that much. I've been working for nothing these past two days," Shi Feng said with a bitter expression.

Amid the noise, Zhang Ji glanced thoughtfully in the direction Fang Lingwei and the others had gone.

He had a feeling that Fang Lingwei's return this time was not just a simple family visit. (End of Chapter)