I will eventually become a god through sheer hard work.

Xue Jing smiled, placed it on the grass, then stood up and stretched.

[Through your interaction with the blade, you have gained a deeper understanding of the essence of the Heavenly Blade, and by combining your spiritual power, you have achieved a new level of mastery. Weapon Strike Experience +1026]

[Through your interaction with the blade, you have gained a deeper understanding of the essence of the Heavenly Blade, and by combining your spiritual power, you have achieved a new level of mastery. Visualization True Experience Points +1582]

The soft silvery-white light faded from his pupils, and Xue Jing was overjoyed.

"Another 'enlightenment' has been triggered, what a huge experience gain!"

"Experience points are secondary; the most important thing is that I learned an interesting new trick..."

He recalled the scene of slicing a crucian carp in the lake with a single glance.

"If there are no surprises, this move should just be a simple mind strike, which can only affect the mind of others."

A thought flashed through his mind as he speculated.

After all, what martial artists can do is 'mentally interfere with their own reality,' but they can't do something like a superpower, cutting through matter out of thin air.

However, due to the effect of "Contemplation of Truth," his mental power possessed a slight ability to interfere with reality outside of himself. Therefore, this "Mental Slash" actually possessed the ability to cut through matter out of thin air.

"Incredible... Although this move isn't very powerful, barely enough to cut a fish, it's obviously no problem to slit an ordinary person's neck. It's practically invincible for sneak attacks and assassinations."

"But its true power lies in its mental attack on others... I don't know the effect yet, and consciousness simulation can't simulate scenarios I haven't seen before. I'll try it again later."

Xue Jing gently stroked the Futu sword in his hand, as if caressing a lover, feeling the tranquility and gentleness of the blade.

"This sudden enlightenment is all thanks to you, Futu."

He thought for a moment and muttered to himself:

"Since this sword technique is inspired by the image of the bright moon, let's call it 'Tsukuyomi Slash'."

"One glance and the other side was already kneeling down, it really is quite 'Tsukuyomi'..."

Xue Jing covered his face with one hand, one eye peeking out from between his fingers, and suddenly felt a surge of childish sentimentality.

"...A true hero kills with his eyes!"

……

Two days later.

On the running track in the small garden, Xue Jing stopped and glanced at the panel.

[Running speed increased to Lv7 (96/4500)]

After examining his internal organs and looking at his enhanced legs and lungs, Xue Jing nodded.

"Okay, running has finally been upgraded."

This was the skill he could grind the fastest at the beginning, but it gradually fell behind later.

This is related to Xue Jing gradually paying less attention to it. After all, the improvement of other skills is so obvious, and compared to that, the cost-effectiveness of grinding for running is not high.

It's just running for an hour every day as a warm-up.

Xue Jing opened the panel and looked at his current data.

[Fitness] I'm just 2,000 experience points away from reaching Lv9. [Health] After practicing Dragon Thunder Powder for the past few days, I'm almost at Lv7.

[Aiming] Although I haven't practiced much lately, I'm almost at Lv7.

The two new skills, [Swimming] and [Riding], have both reached Lv3 in the past few days, approaching Lv4.

"That's pretty luxurious."

Xue Jing looked at the panel and felt a sense of satisfaction.

I turned it off, and was about to go back to play some darts when I broke the "Aim" button, and my phone vibrated to alert me.

Upon opening it, I found a message from Wu Youqing.

[Wu Youqing: I come to the library whenever I have time.]

The CEO invited me, so I had no choice but to go.

Xue Jing replied with an "okay," then immediately went home to take a shower, took a bus to Qingda campus, and headed straight for the library.

After swiping my card all the way, I arrived at the seventh floor.

The scene that comes into view is the same as always: a young girl sitting gracefully on a wooden chair, holding a book, looking as beautiful as a painting.

Xue Jing felt a strange sense of peace, similar to meeting a long-lost friend and seeing that the other person still looked the same as he remembered.

Wu Youqing is the kind of woman who can make people feel at ease.

Upon seeing Xue Jing enter, she closed the book in her hand, blinked, and pointed to the seat opposite her.

"sit down."

Xue Jing stepped forward and sat down in the chair.

Two teacups were already placed on the wooden table. The teacup in front of him contained a black liquid that crackled slightly and occasionally produced small bubbles.

It's obviously cola.

"My sister finally understands my taste. I'm so touched."

Xue Jing spoke in a flat tone, picked up his teacup, and took a sip.

"..."

His lips twitched, and he looked at Wu Youqing helplessly.

A hint of mockery appeared on the girl's originally calm face, as if she were somewhat smug.

"I've already made arrangements for you. It's a ferry tomorrow at noon, with tickets bought using your ID card. It goes directly to Fengcheng. You should have received a text message by now."

Xue Jing put the cola mixed with sweetened water aside, picked up his phone and glanced at it; sure enough, there was a text message.

[Dear First Class passenger on the Infinite Nova cruise ship, your reservation...]

The document included the boarding time, the location of the pier and ticket gate, the cabin number, and a detailed website link for the 'Infinite Nova' cruise ship.

"Thank you, Boss. This ticket must be very expensive."

Xue Jing asked with a smile.

Wu Youqing crossed her arms and said, "How expensive can a cruise be? It's not like we chartered the whole ship."

"The main advantage of taking the waterway is that it's faster. Going from Qingcheng to Fengcheng by land involves a lot of transfers and is very troublesome. As for flying... it's not very safe. It only takes one or two days by water."

She took out a document with many pages from a small bag on the chair next to her and handed it to Xue Jing.

"The agent I've assigned to you will contact you tomorrow. This is the information on the opponents you will face in the Maple City knockout stage."

Xue Jing reached out and took it.

"With your current strength, there's nothing to worry about, after all, it's just a knockout tournament... But it's good to learn more about your opponents to avoid being upset by an unexpected defeat."

Wu Youqing said in a gentle tone.

Xue Jing opened the document and casually remarked as he read it:

“Boss, a few days ago, someone named Ning Yuantai from the ‘Zhige’ organization invited me to become an unofficial member of Zhige, with the same conditions as Baiya’s. I accepted.”

"Is there anything I should be aware of?"

Wu Youqing thought for a moment and said, "Ning Yuantai? I seem to recognize that name. He should be from the Ning family."

"Since you cultivate martial arts, getting involved with Zhi Ge is generally a good thing."

"There's only one thing to note."

Xue Jing glanced at the document in his hand, not finding any noteworthy adversaries, then closed it and looked at Wu Youqing curiously, asking:

"Which point?"

The girl hesitated for a moment, then said:

"Don't accept any requests from Zhige that have even the slightest connection to the word 'troublemaker'."

Xue Jing looked puzzled. "'Troublemaker'? What does that mean?"

It sounds like a playful scolding of a child. Could it be some kind of divine relic or something?

Wu Youqing seemed unsure how to describe it either. After considering it for a moment, she said uncertainly:

"It should be considered a terrorist organization... right?"

Xue Jing: "Right?"

The girl sighed.

"Their official name is the 'Troublemakers Club'...it's a very strange world-class organization."

"This is an organization whose name sounds like something a child would play around with, and it really does sound like something a child would play around with... except that this 'play' is a bit too much."

"The sole purpose of this organization, according to them, is to 'make the world more exciting'."

Xue Jing rubbed his chin. "It seems quite interesting."

Wu Youqing nodded. "It is indeed very interesting."

"But anything, once taken to extremes, becomes a terrifying thing."

“They’re capable of anything, such as kidnapping the children of ruling councilors just to play real gunfights with sheriffs, placing ‘Titan-level’ border creatures in the city center and then having them impersonate superheroes to defeat them, infiltrating two countries as spies, and ultimately provoking war between the two nations for their own amusement… as long as it makes the world more exciting.”

"Sometimes, they would declare war on a powerful nation for the sake of some small country that has been bullied; other times, they would destroy a powerful heretical cult with a century-old history for the sake of a little girl's tears..."

"Simply put, they are a group of mentally ill people whose logic is hard for normal people to understand."

Wu Youqing twirled a strand of her long, smooth hair with her fingers and then swept it behind her back.

"If they were just a bunch of lunatics, that would be one thing, but this group is... ridiculously strong."

Xue Jing nodded. "I can tell."

"In short, this is a group of terrorists who will do anything as long as they find it 'fun' or 'exciting'."

"And they're like leeches; once they've got their eye on you, they'll keep coming back to haunt you."

Wu Youqing rubbed her temples and sighed, looking like she had a headache.

According to Zhi Ge's side, this group of people is "a pile of shit when they're together, and a scattering of sparse grains when they're scattered."