Chapter 44: Secondary Magnetic Field

313 points of spiritual source energy!

Ji Xinghuo possessed more spiritual source energy than ever, all obtained by killing a forest patrolling leader, which was several times more than expected.

He pondered it on the road last night after the battle.

The spiritual source energy gained from killing members of the forest patrol tribe was significantly higher than that from monsters, despite being on the same level but the energy provided varied by several times.

An elite monster only gave four points whereas a third-tier member of the patrol tribe averaged around fifteen points.

This must be related to intelligence.

However, possessing intelligence doesn’t necessarily yield substantial spiritual source energy, faith is a more crucial factor.

The tribesmen he killed last night were devotees of the Red Emperor, and the patrol leader even received the Red Emperor’s blessing, hence, killing him yielded over twenty times the spiritual source energy of ordinary tribesmen.

Ji Xinghuo summarized the pattern.

First, the target must possess special abilities, which is the primary condition;

Next, the higher the target’s rank, the more spiritual source energy they provide, the two are positively correlated;

Lastly, if the target is a devotee of a Star God, they yield the most spiritual source energy—one can equal several monsters of the same rank. The deeper the devotion to the Star God, the deeper the connection, exponentially increasing the spiritual source energy!

Ji Xinghuo guessed that a regular high-tier extrahuman, third-tier alien tribes, and elite monsters could yield about 4-10 points of spiritual source energy upon defeat.

For super extrahumans, fourth-tier alien tribes, and “elite” monsters, the range is between 15-30 points.

If it’s a Star God’s devotee, this number could increase three to five times!

Higher for upper-tier devotees.

“So, Ji Zongbang is likely a heretic; otherwise, he wouldn’t have given me 137 points of spiritual source energy,” Ji Xinghuo recalled the situation the day he shot Ji Zongbang, yet detected nothing unusual. “Which Star God did he believe in?”

“Ji Zongbang’s level of devotion wasn’t high, just a regular devotee,” he concluded.

Ji Xinghuo shook his head; this was an important clue. He didn’t know if the Sword Bureau had investigated it, but it wasn’t his concern.

His attention returned to the interface.

“313 points of spiritual source energy, how should I allocate it?”

【Special Abilities: Thousand Skilled Hands (Level 2 5/227), Rotating Magnetic Field (Level 1 284/359)】

Ji Xinghuo calculated that 297 points of spiritual source energy could upgrade both abilities, leaving him a few points spare.

Without hesitating, he first enhanced the Rotating Magnetic Field.

A virtual human diagram on the right side of the interface began flashing rapidly, the upgrade progress soared, with the magnetic field induction range simultaneously expanding, and the body internally strengthened bit by bit.

Ji Xinghuo sat still, yet revolutionary changes occurred within his body.

When the Rotating Magnetic Field reached level 1 358/359, he paused, glanced at his teammates in the tent to make sure they were asleep, then brought the upgrade to completion.

Instantly, Ji Xinghuo felt a surge of energy coursing through his body.

In the interface of the All-Seeing Star Pupil, the virtual human’s brain blinked rapidly, emitting a glow. In reality, he noticed his magnetic field induction range continued to expand—breaking past 500 meters to 600, 650, 700m… until it gradually stopped at 800 meters.

Simultaneously, Ji Xinghuo’s skin, flesh, bones, and organs—trillions of cells were strengthening, undergoing metamorphosis!

He felt powerful and spirited.

Every pore on his skin had electric currents flowing; his hair stood on end, and the invisible body magnetic field increased about three times from level one, enhancing his electric current’s power threefold.

Fortunately, upgrading the Rotating Magnetic Field from level one to two wasn’t as noisy as fusing levels.

The entire process remained silent.

Half a minute later.

Ji Xinghuo exhaled lightly, his magnetic field induction range, electrical strength, power, speed, and explosiveness all enhanced as expected, yet one ability was unexpectedly better than anticipated.

He raised his hand in front of his eyes; it looked no different than before.

Pulling out a tactical knife, he slashed his palm with considerable effort, cutting a wound and drawing blood.

With a thought, Ji Xinghuo activated his body’s magnetic field, channeling star power to his palm.

Immediately, the cells around the wound were stimulated, with star power providing the energy, the muscle fibers in the subcutaneous tissue grew rapidly, reconnecting blood vessels, the wound quickly shrank, healed, and the outer skin restored like it had never been injured.

This wound healing consumed only one point of star power.

Ji Xinghuo was surprised himself, not just for superficial wounds—internal injuries could be rapidly healed through magnetic field-stimulated cells.

“Rapid self-healing could scarcely be better,” he mused, quite pleased.

Rapid self-healing is an extraordinary ability, fairly rare.

Moreover, the self-healing ability brought by the Rotating Magnetic Field would continue to improve—as the level increased, the healing speed would accelerate, and the effects would enhance.

The interface updated the information for Rotating Magnetic Field.

【Rotating Magnetic Field (Level 2 1/1699)】

“So much spiritual source energy needed!”

Ji Xinghuo was astounded; the spiritual source energy needed to upgrade the Rotating Magnetic Field to level three was about five times more than from level one to two.

Equivalent to needing to kill five more patrol leaders like last night.

Or 1699 regular monsters, or over three hundred elite monsters would suffice.

Each option was challenging.

Ji Xinghuo increasingly realized the preciousness of spiritual source energy; it was hard-earned. Looking at the Thousand Skilled Hands (Level 2 5/227), he considered for a moment, then decided to first upgrade Thousand Skilled Hands.

Given the Rotating Magnetic Field was unlikely to upgrade soon and was presently sufficient, he thought it better to elevate Thousand Skilled Hands to level three.

Each special ability upgrade brought a transformation.

Plus, his own strength had surged; he could now use a heavier composite bow, needing Thousand Skilled Hands to adjust to his strength, enhancing range and accuracy.

Soon, he invested 222 points of spiritual source energy into Thousand Skilled Hands, upgrading it to level three!

【Thousand Skilled Hands(Level 3 1/1117)】

The upgrading of Thousand Skilled Hands was even quieter.

Ji Xinghuo felt his arm’s nervous system itch and tingle; once it normalized, his arm became more flexible, faster, and not just limited to his upper limbs—his brain’s reaction speed was also faster, from mind to hand, even quicker than his own thoughts.

He raised a hand and rapidly shook his fingers, turning them into a blur that was hard to see.

His hands seemed no longer just hands but extensions of his thoughts!

Every movement and rhythm of each finger was under his control; he could operate each muscle on his hand separately, with extreme precision.

This hand could carry out any delicate command.

A thought suddenly crossed Ji Xinghuo’s mind.

“Ahem…”

“I must behave prudently! I am a decent person…” he quickly calmed himself down and distracted himself with other matters, pulling out his composite bow and toolkit.

He first repaired the arrows he had recovered.

Then he serviced the composite bow, cleaning off the mud and water, recalibrating its parameters and components, ensuring everything was in order.

The “Yi Wind” bow could adjust its draw weight, within an interval from 70 kg to 130 kg; Ji Xinghuo had it set at 108 kg.

Trying to draw the bow several times, he found that 108 kg was now too light.

Gradually adjusting the bow limbs to increase the draw weight, he found his strength had increased too much, directly setting it to the maximum of 130 kg—equal to 288 pounds. Before Star Gate’s opening, this was a draw weight no one could handle, entirely unusable.

But Ji Xinghuo drew the bow effortlessly, just exerting a bit and the bowstring was fully drawn.

“Still too light.”

He shook his head, estimating his bench press weight should now exceed 800 kg, so using a 200 kg composite bow should be feasible.

Yi Wind, after all, was just a one-star quality bow and was beginning to fall behind.

The better the bow, the smaller its adjustable draw weight range.

Limited by material, a quality-tier bow’s maximum draw weight generally doesn’t exceed 200 kg. Bows better than quality-tier, the super ability bows, weren’t just stacking draw weight but also featured special abilities, capable of shooting various powerful arrows.

“Next time I return to Olympia, it’d be ideal to get a super ability bow.”

Ji Xinghuo calculated his earnings for the past few days; a few million was definite and should be sufficient to buy a super ability bow.

Two hours later, Ren Mian woke up.

Chi Zhonglin and Jiangnan Caiyi also recovered, showing no signs of severe injuries, though they still couldn’t participate in intense battles.

The team continued westward.

Ji Xinghuo remained vigilant against enemies, but in the following days, no forest patrol tribe caught up, the heavy rain had completely erased their tracks.

Whoosh!

A slender black shadow pierced through the tree shade, shooting straight into the sky.

A grey bird with a wingspan exceeding four meters soared above the forest, utterly unaware of the danger from below, unresponsive as the arrow pierced its neck, killing it instantly.

The black vulture’s body fell, breaking branches and crashing heavily onto the ground.

Four figures appeared beside the corpse.

Looking at the large bird’s neck, hanging by a few strands of flesh, Chi Zhonglin’s face showed admiration.

“Xinghuo, I feel your archery skills have gotten even sharper. This black vulture was nearly elite-level and fast, but you shot it down with one arrow—previously, we wouldn’t have had such an easy time,” he observed, watching Ji Xinghuo holding the composite bow.

“I’ve had plenty of real battles; it’s natural to improve,” Ji Xinghuo half-jokingly explained.

“But your improvement is too rapid…”

Chi Zhonglin shook his head repeatedly, feeling he could scarcely understand Ji Xinghuo anymore.

Since killing the forest patrol tribe and escaping pursuit, it had been five days, encountering over a dozen battles along the way—nearly all resolved by Ji Xinghuo.

Any monster or enemy approaching couldn’t escape Ji Xinghuo’s perception, then simply walked into their own demise.

Ordinary monsters died with one arrow.

Even elite-level monsters only took a few more arrows or a single capacitor arrow to resolve.

The other three had no chances to act, never encountering any danger, making Chi Zhonglin feel as if he was on an excursion.

But certainly, that was a good thing.

Having such a sharpshooter in the team was exceptionally relieving!

Jiangnan Caiyi dug out the black vulture’s eyes, showing them to her teammates, delightedly exclaiming, “Eagle Eyes!”

“Tsk tsk…” Chi Zhonglin also cheered up. Eagle Eyes was a core ability for hunters, an exceptional level worth 1.5 million Asian Yuan, laughing and saying, “Lucky first prize! Xinghuo, that one arrow just earned over a million, damn, that’s really awesome!”

Ji Xinghuo shrugged; he had gotten used to it.

He now knew making money was easy; these days, just from shooting monsters and collecting various species, the total value exceeded ten million.

The spiritual source energy was also steadily increasing; currently, it was 38 points, though he hadn’t used any yet.

At that moment, Ren Mian walked ahead several tens of meters to a cliff edge, gazing ahead at the scenery, then turned back and announced, “We’ve arrived.”