High Martial Arts: Gains one point of health per second, sweeping across the heavens.

"This power... is more like it." Su Jie nodded in satisfaction.

Looking at his remaining 88 points of Qi and Blood reserves, he turned his gaze to an even higher level—the ninth-level Martial Aperture!

"System, how much is needed to upgrade from level eight to level nine?"

[Level 8 Martial Aperture → Level 9 Martial Aperture: Requires 20000 points of normal Qi and Blood; instant upgrade requires 10 points of Qi and Blood Essence.]

"10 points per item? 99 of them would be 990 points, equivalent to 990 million HP... This consumption is insane!"

Su Jie stared at the cold numbers on the system panel, and even with the system at his disposal, he couldn't help but gasp.

His remaining 880,000 Qi and Blood reserves, when converted into Qi and Blood Essence, would only amount to 88 points, barely enough to upgrade his eight Martial Apertures from level eight to level nine.

"Something is better than nothing, let's upgrade a few and try it out!" Su Jie was not one to hesitate, and immediately invested 80 Qi and Blood to exchange for 80 points of Qi and Blood Essence.

[Consuming 10 points of Qi and Blood Essence, Martial Aperture level increased to 9! Combat Power +20!]

[Consuming 10 points of Qi and Blood Essence, Martial Aperture level increased to 9! Combat Power +20!]

……

Eight pleasant beeping sounds rang out in succession, like the most beautiful melody.

Each notification was accompanied by a surge of power far stronger and purer than when leveling up to level eight, flowing through the entire body as if eight miniature stars were being ignited within, radiating boundless light and heat!

[Current Martial Acupoints: Level 8: 9, Level 8: 91]

[Current Qi and Blood Reserves: 8 points (continuously increasing...)]

[Qi and Blood Essence: 0 points]

[Combat Power: 5110 points!]

Five thousand one hundred and ten points of combat power!

With just eight level-nine martial acupoints, his total combat power has increased significantly once again!

Su Jie could clearly feel that there was a qualitative difference between the ninth-level martial acupoint and the eighth-level one. It was not just an increase in combat power, but also a leap in the degree of nourishment to the body.

"This is too powerful! Is this the power that's close to perfection?" Su Jie was intoxicated by the wonderful feeling of this power enhancement.

However, looking at the meager 80,000 points of health and 91 eagerly awaiting level 8 martial acupoints, it was as if a bucket of cold water had been poured over him.

I can't afford to spend money on in-game purchases right now. The only way forward is to grind.

He locked onto an eighth-level martial acupoint, guided his qi and blood, and activated the "tempering resonance" mode.

[Consuming 40000 points of Qi and Blood, Martial Aperture Tempering in progress... (Estimated time: 24 hours)]

"Hiss—!" Seeing this estimated time, even though Su Jie was mentally prepared, he still couldn't help but feel a toothache. "Doubling the consumption of qi and blood, and halving the time, it still takes a whole day and night?!"

In a few hours, it will have been exactly one month since his soul transmigrated to Tianming Star. And the martial arts exam, which will determine the fate of countless people, is still about six months away.

"At this rate, working non-stop to raise all 91 martial acupoints to level nine would take 91 days, more than three months! And that doesn't even include time for rest, meals, and dealing with emergencies."

Su Jie quickly calculated, "What about going from level nine to level ten? Wouldn't the consumption and time be even more outrageous? It would probably take several days to complete just one martial aperture!"

A strong sense of urgency welled up inside me.

"No! At this rate, achieving the 'Supreme Dao Foundation' of ninety-nine acupoints at level ten perfection before the martial arts exam is too rushed! We must find a way to speed it up!"

He thought of the Star Origin Secret Realm. This secret realm had a low foundation for others, so even if they obtained five times the cultivation efficiency of the breathing technique, it wouldn't be much of a deal.

However, for him, who possessed the Supreme Breathing Technique, the five-fold concentration of Qi and blood there caused his recovery speed to skyrocket, greatly shortening the time required to accumulate Qi and blood.

If we could find a similar place, or a way to obtain a large amount of Qi and blood...

"I used to think that the 'Original Breathing Technique' was fast enough to increase one point of health per second, but now I see that the efficiency is still too low."

Su Jie stroked his chin, his eyes gleaming. "It seems it's time to consider the 'Myriad Manifestations Heavenly Palace' that Uncle Yang mentioned. Those dungeon worlds must contain resources and opportunities unimaginable to the outside world."

"Or... how about finding a higher-level, more rewarding mission? Hunting down general-level monsters?"

He turned his attention to the cloud trading platform, filtering through high-difficulty tasks whose rewards were "vital energy" or could be quickly converted into cash to buy resources.

At the same time, my longing for the "Palace of Myriad Phenomena" grew stronger.

"I'm determined to be the top martial arts exam champion! And I'm determined to forge this supreme foundation! Anyone who dares to stand in my way, I'll smash them to pieces with a single punch using my five thousand combat strength!"

Su Jie lay back down on the bed, multitasking as he guided his Qi and blood to continue slowly and steadily tempering that level eight martial acupoint, while also seriously planning how to "make money" (Qi and blood) faster, stockpiling ammunition for the upcoming crazy upgrades.

The road to becoming the King of Scrolls has never been smooth sailing, but any difficulties only make him more excited!

While refining his martial arts skills, Su Jie frantically searched on the cloud trading platform.

He set the task selection criteria as follows: the reward includes "health points" or "high-value items that can be quickly converted into cash", and the difficulty... He hesitated for a moment, then directly scrolled to the task area for warriors at the general level.

The screen instantly became much clearer, but the description of each task still exuded a dangerous aura.

[Rank A Mission: Hunt Down the Shadow Panther]

[Description: Shadow Leopard tracks have been confirmed deep within Misty Canyon. Its estimated combat power is 11000-13000 points. Extremely dangerous, it excels at stealth and one-hit kills. Obtain its complete crystal core and leopard pelt.]

[Reward: 500 Pure Blood or 50 Star Coins. (Note: The remaining materials for the Shadow Panther belong to the contractor; their estimated market value exceeds 80 Star Coins.)]

[Requirements for accepting the task: You must have a combat power of 8000 points or higher, or have a successful record of hunting down a general-level monster.]

[Rank A Mission: Explore the Third Level of the Black Wind Cave]

[Description: An unusual energy fluctuation has been detected deep within the Black Wind Cave, suspected to be a high-energy mineral or an unknown creature's nest. The first two levels have been cleared; the situation on the third level is unknown, but there is a very high probability that a general-level demonic beast exists there. A detailed map must be drawn and an energy source sample brought back.]

[Rewards: Depends on exploration results, with a minimum reward of 200 HP and a maximum of 1000 HP or equivalent items.]

[Requirements: It is recommended that players at the Qi Condensation Realm (Warrior) form a team, or be at the peak Martial Aperture Realm with extremely strong survival abilities.]

[Rank A Mission: Destroy the Crimson Flame Ant Nest (Mother Nest)]

[Description: A large swarm of Crimson Flame Ants has been discovered in the Crimson Flame Mountains. A queen ant has been confirmed (estimated combat power 9000-10000 points), threatening the safety of surrounding mines. The mother nest must be completely destroyed and the queen ant killed.]

[Reward: 400 HP or 40 Star Coins. (30% of the Queen Ant Core and special materials must be submitted; the remainder goes to the receiver.)]

[Requirements: It is recommended that the team consist of five or more members, with a total combat power exceeding 30000 points.]