Chapter 1370: 23 Upgrade! [Request for official subscription]

Chapter 1370: Chapter 23 Upgrade! [Request for official subscription]

“Hmph, three years from now? Three years from now, I am destined to be promoted to the Secondary Level as a top-level genius. What does Jia Yan have to challenge me? Forget it, I’ll spare him this time, but three years from now, when he sees me, he’ll only act like a Retractable Turtle.”

Upon hearing Xi Fei’s words, Duo Jian shook his head in resignation.

The entire team wouldn’t change just because of him. After all, they were all geniuses, and Duo Jian himself had not yet reached the level of a top genius. No one would accommodate him.

The Stellar Academy team simply departed this way.

Except for Duo Jian, who bore some regret, all the other geniuses of the Stellar Academy had made gains. This time, during what was called an ‘exchange,’ they collectively killed five high-level geniuses from the Genius Battlefield, at the cost of one Respect Level dignitary from their own side being killed and two top geniuses being severely injured.

This could be said to be an outstanding completion of their mission. Countless geniuses from the Genius Battlefield were unhappy with the results, but since the geniuses were inferior, there was nothing they could do.

However, in the entire battle, the most astonishing figure was none other than the genius who had ‘killed’ a Respect Level dignitary of the Stellar Academy.

Jia Yan—this name was utterly unfamiliar to the people of the central star district of the Genius Battlefield. Some even went to investigate and found that Jia Yan was actually from an extremely remote star zone of the Genius Battlefield. Moreover, the Respect Level dignitary genius of the Stellar Academy killed by Jia Yan had died in the border star area.

Curious individuals even researched Jia Yan further, discovering that he had come to the central star district in hopes of challenging Duo Jian in a fight that had remained unresolved. However, his name was replaced by another genius, and that replacement was killed by Duo Jian in one move. Many geniuses in the central star district were furious about this!

“If this so-called Jia Yan had been the one to fight, maybe Duo Jian wouldn’t have returned to the Stellar Academy. The official of the Genius Battlefield actually engaged in internal conflicts—it’s infuriating!”

“Isn’t that true? I heard that Duo Jian also highly regards Jia Yan. After the starfield battle, some geniuses challenged him, and he always said they needed to fight Jia Yan first. And what happened? When Jia Yan first arrived in our central star district, he accepted every challenge without hesitation. Within just a few days, every genius who challenged him was either defeated or ended in a draw. And keep in mind, these were essentially non-stop battles! Those drawn matches occurred only because Jia Yan’s stamina declined. For such a genius, the officials didn’t let him fight Duo Jian back then—it’s a total sham!”

When Jia Yan was in the border star zone, he was criticized as a “sham Respect Level dignitary.” But upon arriving in the central area of the Genius Battlefield, the narrative completely flipped—he couldn’t fight, and instead, other geniuses accused him of being unfairly treated.

The tides have turned, and Jia Yan is now praised by many beings in the central star district.

Of course, these praises are limited in scope. Many geniuses and factions didn’t take the dual-starfield battle seriously, particularly at the Respect Level.

In any case, after Jia Yan’s arrival, the reputation of the Tianhe Force significantly increased.

“Jia Yan, how has your cultivation been recently?”

The dense period of challenges had passed several days prior within the Tianhe Force.

“Reporting to Lord Tian Rongguang, the recent battles have helped me immensely. However, I’ve seen the online comments, and they make me feel a bit embarrassed. I didn’t expect the beings of the central star district to be so friendly, elevating my status to such heights.”

On the celestial body, Jia Yan responded with a wry smile into the communicator to Tian Rongguang.

The correspondence between Tian Rongguang and Jia Yan was becoming increasingly frequent. Despite their disparity in power, they both possessed extraordinary talent, and Tian Rongguang even felt as if Jia Yan stood on equal footing with him as a formidable peer.

Of course, the reality was far from that.

“Online comments often contain both truth and falsehood. Many are dissatisfied with this dual-starfield genius battle, so they naturally need an outlet for their frustrations. Since your prowess stands out so prominently, of course, they’ll latch onto this point. Don’t worry, after some time, they won’t even pay attention to you anymore.”

Tian Rongguang didn’t seem particularly affected by Jia Yan’s concerns.

Truth be told, even he was amazed at Jia Yan’s rapid improvement during these dense days of battles. Initially, Jia Yan evened out one or two matches, but soon, challengers were unable to shake his strength.

Therefore, regarding the voices of praise online, Tian Rongguang didn’t think Jia Yan had any trace of unmerited recognition. Even if his recognition seemed unwarranted now, in no time, Jia Yan would undoubtedly rise up to fully meet such expectations.

“By the way, Jia Yan, there are representatives from some factions who wish to meet you. Are you willing to see them?” Tian Rongguang suddenly shifted the topic, asking Jia Yan with some concern.

“I won’t see them. Lord Tian Rongguang, you know I dislike diplomatic dealings. Besides, I understand their intentions. Please let them know that I’m quite content staying within the Tianhe Force for now, with no immediate plans to leave. Help me thank them for their concern.”

Jia Yan shook his head.

This response greatly satisfied Tian Rongguang.

After ending the communication, Jia Yan’s gaze sparkled.

“Even if there’s an opportunity to leave, for now, I won’t go. After all, this period of time is crucial for me…”

Through the numerous battles with other geniuses, Jia Yan had gained much inspiration.

He also understood the weak points in his own strength, particularly in terms of agility and combat technique during fights.

Experience was an irreconcilable gap, but when it came to techniques, Jia Yan felt he had plenty of room for development.

“Take the Forward Thrust move—I’ve been using this technique ever since shortly after my rebirth, yet I’ve never questioned whether this Forward Thrust was truly the correct approach.”

Jia Yan had no intention of leaving the Tianhe Force because the current environment suited him perfectly. If he moved to another faction, it might not align so well with his needs as this cultivation room did.

While reflecting on past battles, he absorbed the energy within the cultivation room. Jia Yan’s body surface shimmered with oil-like fluid, the faint Condensation Fluid emerging as it devoured the energy.

This was a sign of his accelerated enhancement rate.

“My Forward Thrust move came about not long after my rebirth; I’ve been using it straightforwardly and linearly ever since. I’ve never considered its variations or whether enemies predict its angles of attack.”

“What if I added a bit more versatility to the move? With the combat strategies I’ve observed from many geniuses, I feel I might be able to borrow and improve upon them…”

Jia Yan pondered deeply.

Unknowingly, the Condensation Fluid on his body surface became increasingly dense. Through its devouring of surrounding energy, his body gradually achieved a higher energy elevation.

“Hmm? The energy absorption this time seems to show signs of improvement? No, I don’t want to accidently ascend to the peak of Honorables!”

As someone who aimed to ascend directly to Stellar Level without stopping at the peak of Honorables, Jia Yan wouldn’t allow himself to advance so carelessly.

Quickly, he activated his Brainwave Power to forcibly control the Condensation Fluid on his body, cutting off the transmission of energy to his body.

Crack-crack-crack…

A series of crackling sounds reverberated, causing Jia Yan’s entire body’s surface to tremble incessantly.

What happened was that after suppressing the energies, the redirected forces roamed wildly on the surface layer of his Coagulate fluid.

“Take it slow, there’s no rush. If I don’t want to ascend just yet, I need to make these absorbed energies circulate throughout my body—compressed, compressed, and compressed again until it’s impossible to compress further. I don’t even know if I can do this, but I’ll give it a shot.”

Jia Yan contemplated for a long while before initiating the compression.

Originally, the method taught by the senior who passed down the legacy was not like this. His approach was to make one’s body entirely unable to absorb energy at the Respect Level, and then, at a certain point, directly explode and ascend into Stellar Level with the infusion of massive external energy.

However, Jia Yan had previously speculated that such an ascension approach carried numerous hidden risks—for instance, a body that doesn’t absorb any energy could potentially deteriorate and die. Additionally, without the absorption of energy, the power would not improve much, condemning him to years of being a Retractable Turtle prior to directly ascending to Stellar.

Another key point was that Jia Yan discovered that his evolved beast body could compress energy from the outside world to a certain degree within his form. So why not employ this method?

“Such a good approach, and yet I never realized it before!” After some experimenting, Jia Yan was shocked to discover that his body could quite easily store externally derived energy.

This energy attached itself to the surface of his cells. Though it wouldn’t serve as nutrients for his body to break through to the next level, it undoubtedly boosted Jia Yan’s power.

“Come on, compress!”

Jia Yan felt as though he had stumbled upon a new frontier, continuously channeling energy into his body.

Though he hadn’t uncovered this prior, Jia Yan understood that his previous self simply couldn’t achieve this feat of storing energy—because his Brainwave Power lacked the precision to manipulate such detailed operations.

“This… this…”

Jia Yan grew increasingly astonished as he stored more energy.

Not long later, this storage approach finally maxed out, as he could no longer control his Brainwave Power to compress further.

However, Jia Yan didn’t feel discouraged at all. Instead, he remained utterly amazed and slowly stood upright within the cultivation room…

“Now I understand why the evolutionary creature race left behind such terrifying ancient records. Even the civilizations of the Orion Arm, upon discovering evolutionary creatures, immediately seek to kill them.”

Jia Yan lamented. Previously, he had thought that the advantages lay solely in the evolved beast’s physical capabilities or Brainwave Power. But today, he realized he had greatly underestimated this race.

“My body can actually store energy… The true function of Condensation Fluid is this!”

Jia Yan was shocked. Even though he had been the one to initiate the energy storage method, witnessing its effects firsthand rendered Jia Yan utterly speechless—he could only curse inwardly at how unbelievably favored the evolutionary creature race had been by the heavens.

Within the cultivation room, waves upon waves of uncontrollable energy fluctuated wildly.

These surges occurred as Jia Yan spread the energy throughout his body, rendering it temporarily unstable.

“Has Lord Jia Yan made another breakthrough? What terrifying energy fluctuations!”

Outside Jia Yan’s cultivation room, Xiaoya, a mermaid-like being who had been ‘absorbing’ the ambient energy, sensed this wave and silently shook her head in astonishment.

Being around Jia Yan, she now realized how foolish she had been for ever daring to ridicule Lord Jia Yan.

She may not have known the exact level of breakthrough Jia Yan had achieved within the cultivation room, but she understood that Jia Yan had once again enhanced his strength. For someone who had already defeated several legendary geniuses she once idolized, the fact that she had mocked him before was, as her servant instructors had put it, sheer idiocy.

Both externally and internally, Xiaoya no longer bore even a hint of animosity toward Jia Yan.