Level 2 Talent Shop

Level 2 Talent Shop

After getting his money, Adam was about to turn and leave. He had a new talent shop to unlock and more than 2 million dollars to spend. Sticking around with Professor Singh would help him with neither of those.

But just before he left, Professor Singh spoke up, stopping his exit.

"Adam, now that you have all of that money, you should try Tier 2 ingredients. With that much money, you can already buy a few dozen sets of Vein Breaking Pills. Those are the most popular pills that a Tier 2 alchemist can refine. Moreover, just like the Body Refining Pills, they have a huge profit margin." Professor Singh advised.

Before, Adam thought that the Tier 2 ingredients were extremely expensive, but now, with 2 million in his bank account, it wasn't that expensive. Moreover, becoming a Tier 2 alchemist was his next goal anyway, so when he heard his teacher's words, Adam nodded.

"I was going to start doing so, Professor. I just didn't have enough money before." Adam replied.

However, just as he finished speaking, he caught the noun she used. Curious, he asked what it was.

"Professor, what is that Vein Breaking Pill you just said? How are they important for those in the Martial Apprentice Realm?" Adam questioned.

Adam knew next to nothing about the Martial Apprentice Realm other than that to enter it, one needed to absorb a lot of Spiritual Qi. Beyond that, he was in the dark.

Seeing the boy's confusion about such a simple matter, Professor Signh realized that the boy knew nothing about the Martial Apprentice Realm. With nothing better to do until the school day started, she decided to explain it to him.

"As you know, the Body Refining Realm is the realm to perfect the mortal vessel so it can absorb Spiritual Qi safely." Adam nodded as he listened intently.

"The next, Martial Apprentice Realm, is all about using the Spiritual Qi you absorb to fully excavate the limitless potential of the human body."

"In the body, there are 8 meridians, but humans are born with them clogged. So by using the universe's Spiritual Qi, one could unclog them." Professor Singh explained.

"But I heard that the Martial Apprentice Realm had 9 stages. If there are only 8 meridians, how can there be 9 stages?" Adam asked, slightly interrupting the woman. Thankfully, she wasn't too annoyed and just continued the lecture.

"Once you unclog your eight meridians, you must link them all together and create a dantian, or elixir field. That is the final stage." Professor Singh finished.

After getting the final lesson, Adam eventually got an idea of what the Vein Breaking Pill did.

"So this Vein Breaking Pill can allow someone to unclog a meridian instantly?" Adam questioned. It was his best guess about what it did, and it was also the most reasonable with the information he had.

Professor Singh nodded, confirming the boy's guess.

"But there is a downside to this pill. Though a Vein Breaking Pill is extremely helpful for people wanting to advance through the Martial Apprentice Realm quickly, it can also leave a lot of sequelae behind, which will bite someone in the back in the future." Professor Singh warned. And before Adam could interrupt her again, she continued with her words.

"As the name says, the Vein Breaking Pill is a rough pill that essentially blasts a hole in your meridians, allowing Spiritual Qi to rush in and unclog it at record speeds quickly. But as long as you're not dumb, you can realize the problems with such a method. The meridians are not only fragile but also hard to heal, so while that hole might not stay around forever, it will still haunt you for a long time."

"From lowering your cultivation speed to having your Spiritual Qi leak out, these holes will make your cultivation journey twice as hard. They aren't worth it."

Adam did find the woman's words true. Taking these pills was indeed a huge detriment. They could not only be a huge pain to deal with constantly at the moment but also lower your cultivation speed and, therefore, your future limit. It would damage your current and future achievements.

But while he understood their detriments, he also understood why people would use it.

Not every person in the Federation of Humanity was talented and had future prospects. In fact, not even a majority of people did so. Most people in the Federation didn't even have a cultivation talent. And for the ones that did, most of them only had a low or a poor-grade talent.

It was normal for them to struggle.

Before getting his system, Adam was able to compete with the geniuses at the peak of his age group, mainly because there wasn't much of a gap this early on. However, the older one got and the further they managed to cultivate, the wider that gap would become.

Sam was ahead of him now only by half a stage, but that was only because of the Federation's ruling for 16-year-olds not to break through. But like a spring, the further one suppressed its cultivation advancement, the more it was launched when released.

When Sam eventually broke through into the Martial Apprentice Realm, her cultivation speed would advance a mile a minute. Adam, on the other hand, wouldn't have this advantage and would just eat the dust of his peers who were just beside him.

And there were some people who couldn't accept such a reality. Wanting to 'fix it,' they would choose to take the Vein Breaking Pill.

Their thoughts would be, "I can fix the damages," or maybe, "If I can become a talent now, then I can look better in the college exams and therefore have a better future if I don't."

It was an endless cycle of self-harm and self-consolation.

Adam understood that clearly.

The world was cruel, and any advantage one could get, they would take, even at the cost of their future.

"Thank you for the warning, Professor. I won't take any of those pills ever." Adam gratefully said.

"It's fine. You're one of my most precious students. It's my job to warn you." Professor Singh casually laughed as she waved off his gratitude. Giving Adam a small warning lost her nothing.

Giving the woman another grateful hug, Adam left the lecture hall.

Now that he had enough money in his bank account, Adam had to unlock his level 2 talent shop!

—

After he left the lecture hall, Adam didn't go anywhere else but instead rushed directly to his alchemy lab. He had planned to go to his dorm just like last time, but after thinking about it, he didn't and instead chose to go to his alchemy lab.

His dorm room didn't have any insulated areas, and the walls were rather thin, so any loud sounds would easily seep through.

Adam didn't know if unlocking his level 2 talent shop would create any loud sounds, but he would rather be safe than sorry.

There was also the choice of going into the testing chambers, as they were fully soundproof, but those were public property and were constantly visited by the students of his dorm. If he went inside and came out fully different, rumors would spread.

The possibility was slim, yes, but Adam would take no chances when it came to his system. That was his biggest secret, and no one would ever know about it.

So he chose to go into his alchemy lab instead of those other options. It was the safest since only students with alchemy talents were allowed down there. And of the students with alchemy talents, only Sam could possibly hear something through the walls.

As long as Sam wasn't down there, nothing would be heard.

—

After signing in and entering his own lab, Adam quickly locked the door behind him.

Calling out his system, Adam was once again welcomed with the blue screen that changed his life.

–

Adam Courtois

Cultivation Base: 9th Stage of the Body Refining Realm

Vitality Index Score: 96.4

Middle-Grade Cultivation Talent

Low-Grade Strength Talent

Low-Grade Defense Talent

Low-Grade Speed Talent

Cosmic-Grade Alchemy Talent

Level 2 Talent Shop ($1,000,000)

–

Clicking on the grayed-out level 2 talent shop, Adam was eventually welcomed to a new screen full of goodies that made his eyes widen in surprise.

–

Middle-Grade Strength Talent ($500,000)

Middle-Grade Defense Talent ($500,000)

Middle-Grade Speed Talent ($500,000)

Low-Grade Water Element Affinity Talent ($1,000,000)

Low-Grade Fire Element Affinity Talent ($1,000,000)

Low-Grade Earth Element Affinity Talent ($1,000,000)

Low-Grade Air Element Affinity Talent ($1,000,000)

Low-Grade Weapon Affinity Talent - Customizable ($1,000,000)

–

Of the 8 new options that were available to him in the level 2 talent shop, three of them were just upgraded versions of the strength, defense, and speed talents that he had expected.

It was the other 5 that surprised him.

Adam knew that there were some geniuses with the power to manipulate the elements of the universe, but those were extremely rare. Only a few thousand of those popped up on his planet every year.

And with a population of a few tens of billions, that was a minuscule amount.

However, now he could get not only an elemental affinity but also all four elements! It was an amazing benefit.

Finally, the most surprising of them all was the weapon talent at the bottom of the screen. Though it was just a low–grade talent like the elemental affinities, it was something even rarer than the elemental affinities. In his 16 years of life in this new life, Adam only heard of a handful of people from Eagle who had a weapon affinity talent.

Those people were all talents at the peak of their respective fields. And because of their talents, they were all granted immediate access to a top-tier college.

Yet, now, Adam could become one of those talents!

It was a blood-boiling feeling that made Adam excited for the future.

However, once he looked at the price tag, his face sank again.

"This damn blackhearted system is asking for another million dollars? I just blew one to unlock this screen, and you already want another one?" Adam cursed under his breath.

Of course, if he were without the system and an entity only wanted a million dollars for a low-grade weapon affinity talent, Adam would do so within a heartbeat, but this was his own system, his cheat.

Why the hell was it so greedy for money?

Sighing to himself, Adam started to calculate his finances.

Currently, Adam only has $1,038,432 to his name. That meant he could, at most, get an elemental affinity, the weapon talent, or two physical talents. However, by doing that, he would end up going broke once more with less than $40,000 to his name.

That wasn't a small amount of money, but Adam also wanted to start moving on to bigger projects, for example, becoming a Tier 2 alchemist. $40,000 wasn't enough to do that. At the very minimum, he needed a few hundred grand.

Inwardly, Adam eventually decided just to buy one physical talent.

"I still have almost 3 months to prepare. Plus, these things aren't going anywhere anytime soon; they can wait a little bit." Adam consoled himself.

And without hesitation, he pressed on the middle-grade defense talent.

'Ding! Confirm the purchase of one Middle-Grade Defense Talent. The total cost will be $500,000.'

Still in one motion, Adam clicked the "confirm" button.

'Ding! The host has purchased one Middle-Grade Defense Talent! Deducting $500,000 from the host's bank account.'

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