49 I'm Definitely Going to Be Your Friend

Jian Xing? he wondered. Why is he here for me? Also, isn't he severely injured?

After some thought, he decided he wasn't that familiar with Jian Xing. Zhou Bai decided to look at the contents of the next star point first to satisfy his curiosity.

Sumeru-Unmoving: Keeping still, turning into the point of Spark convergence. Greatly increases physical strength, mental strength, and recovery of injuries.

Method of Practice: (Zhou Bai skipped over this)

Laziness (?) (Primordial Spirit Value not high enough, can't be practiced)

When he saw the description of Sumeru-Unmoving, Zhou Bai was surprised.

It's taking me further down the path of a flesh shield, he thought.

But it's useful for recovering physical and mental energy for daily purposes.

But when he saw the note behind it (Primordial Spirit Value not high enough, can't be practiced), Zhou Bai furrowed his brow.

Christina said with a snicker, "You're at a bottleneck."

"What does that mean?"

Christina explained. "The practice of Divine Maps demands the support of Primordial Spirit Value. The later star points on the Taiyi Disc require strong primordial spirit power. If primordial spirit power is high enough, practicing Divine Map will get faster too.

"Your injection of Laziness seems to me like it's accelerating your practice speed by hundreds and thousands of times. It allows you to finish practicing immediately, but that doesn't mean you can ignore the conditions for practicing. For example, a ninety-nine-point Primordial Spirit Value is clearly no longer enough for your sixth star point."

Zhou Bai said, "So that means my next goal is to raise my Degree of Taoification?"

Zhou Bai recalled the Tao practice structure of the current world: Degree of Taoification was realm, Primordial Spirit Value was basic attribute, Divine Map represented different passive and active techniques.

In order to practice his Divine Map, he needed sufficient Primordial Spirit Value. When Primordial Spirit Value had reached its limit, and he wanted to raise it, he'd have to raise his Degree of Taoification.

"This is troublesome." Zhou Bai frowned. "I haven't gone to class for so many days, I don't know how to raise Degree of Taoification yet. Do I have to ask Old Lu tomorrow?

"But I just boasted in front of him. It would look bad if I sought his help so soon."

"Can't you increase it directly with Laziness?" Christina asked. "Your level of practice was too low before. It's better now. I think it'll be fine to raise it by 0.1–0.2%."

Zhou Bai wasn't as nonchalant as Christina. After witnessing people mutate in front of him, the horror of the distorted Heavenly Tao was deeply engraved in his mind.

Before he studied the related knowledge, he wouldn't use Laziness to increase his Degree of Taoification.

Just as Zhou Bai was hesitating, the knocking sound came again.

Jian Xing said, "Hey…Zhou Bai, when can you come get the door?"

Zhou Bai remembered then that someone was looking for him.

But Jian Xing wasn't familiar with him at all, so why was he looking for him—and so soon after he got gravely injured too?

Zhou Bai found it kind of strange. After all the strange things that had happened after he came to this world, he was cautious.

He retrieved Christina into his cognitive sea and walked to the door.

"If I lie down…that's too weird."

After some consideration, Zhou Bai grabbed a chair and sat at the door. Then he opened the door and saw Jian Xing. "Jian Xing, is anything the matter?"

Seeing Zhou Bai sit at the door, Jian Xing froze for a moment, but immediately said, "Zhou Bai, I have something important I want to speak with you about."

"Yeah, talk. I'm listening."

"No, there are so many people here. They're all practitioners. Let's go find a quiet place to talk."

"That's not convenient." Zhou Bai scratched his head. "I'm so busy every day, I don't have time to go out."

"I can treat you to a meal after we finish."

"Don't talk about treating me. We're classmates. You're too kind."

Zhou Bai stood up with a bright smile. He suddenly stomped and yelled at Elsa. "Elsa, why are you rubbing against me? Even if you rub against me, I can't bring you along. My classmate is taking me. Would it be suitable to bring a dog?"

Elsa, who did absolutely nothing, looked at Zhou Bai quizzically.

Zhou Bai looked at Jian Xing with embarrassment. "This dog grew up with me, she eats and lives with me. Now that she sees I'm going out to eat, she wants to go too. Ugh, she's so ill-behaved. I've spoiled her too much."

Zhou Bai turned around and glared at Elsa. "Why are you rubbing against me again? I told you I can't bring you along. Just go hungry for tonight. I can't help you even if you starve."

Jian Xing waved and interrupted Zhou Bai's sentence. He said, "Say no more. I'll treat both you and the dog. Let's go."

"See what happened? Sigh, I'm so embarrassed," as Zhou Bai said this, he quickly put the leash on Elsa. He grabbed Jian Xing's hand and exclaimed, "I'm definitely going to be your friend."

Right now, Jian Xing looked like a giant meal ticket in Zhou Bai's eyes.

Jian Xing smiled awkwardly, leading Zhou Bai out of the dorm. They headed towards an obscure valley in the north.

Seeing there were fewer and fewer people around them, Zhou Bai asked, "Is this place okay? Jian Xing, what do you have to tell me?"

Jian Xing sighed and said, "Zhou Bai, you're very fortunate."

"Fortunate?"

Jian Xing's clothes billowed in the wind. He said in a slight daze, "Your gift is the subject of admiration. Given the same amount of practice time, you could probably easily achieve ten times what a normal person can."

"Uh, it's probably more than ten times. I think it's at least twenty times."

Jian Xing suddenly turned around, staring at Zhou Bai. Zhou Bai was so embarrassed by his stare he turned away.

The atmosphere became silent again. Zhou Bai saw how far off the path they've wandered and paused his steps. "Is here okay? What is it, Jian Xing?"

Jian Xing stopped walking too. His entire body seemed to become a little darker. "Just a little more ahead; I know the scenery there is quite nice."

Zhou Bai waved. "Let's talk here. I'm already hungry. Let's go eat right as soon as we finish talking."

Jian Xing's body shook slightly. His clothes billowed up and down, as if something was fluctuating beneath them.

Jian Xing's voice became raspy: "Zhou Bai…I'm very concerned…

"Why…why did things turn out like this…?"

Zhou Bai went blank for a second. The next moment, he felt a turbulent primordial spirit power charge right at his body.

Zhou Bai's body flew backward, then fell to the floor with a thump.

Jian Xing turned around, revealing a face with muscles that continuously warped and rippled, as if something was about to break out of it.

"That's weird, I didn't…even touch him, but he's on the ground already?"

Watching the Shiba Inu run away into the distance, whining, Jian Xing paid no mind to the dog. He just stretched his neck. For safety's sake, his primordial spirit power started fluctuating again, transforming into an invisible palm that descended from the sky, slamming toward Zhou Bai.

In an explosion, the ground around them seemed to quake, but Jian Xing watched Zhou Bai in astonishment.

Dust rose from the ground around Zhou Bai, but there was not a single scratch on him.

In fact, in Jian Xing's perception, his attack that used 99 points of primordial spirit powers didn't inflict a single wound on Zhou Bai.