Gao Wu: Honey, don't cry, I'm truly invincible!

As the golden light grew stronger, the once clear eyes of the Starry Sky Dragon cub became increasingly clouded, until it finally seemed to lose consciousness entirely.

Qin Su sensed something was wrong; she felt her soul disintegrating.

A powerful backlash was engulfing him.

"No, I can't continue using the Beast Taming Technique to establish a contract and implant a mental imprint within the Starry Sky Dragon cub. If I continue, I will die!"

Qin Su's eyelids twitched violently. A sense of crisis from his sixth sense made him immediately stop using the Beast Taming Technique.

The moment he stopped using the Beast Taming Technique, he felt a sense of relief wash over him, and the feeling of his soul being torn apart vanished without a trace.

"What's going on?"

Qin Su looked at the Starry Sky Dragon cub with lingering fear. The Beast Taming Technique was ineffective against it, and forcibly making a contract would endanger its life. This was a situation he had not anticipated.

[It's not that the Beast Taming Technique is ineffective against the Starry Sky Dragon cub, but rather that the host's Beast Taming Technique level is too low.]

The system's voice rang in Qin Su's mind.

Qin Su was slightly taken aback, then realized that even in the universe, the Starry Sky Dragon was an extremely powerful species, and his Beast Taming Technique was only at the first level. How could he possibly control such a ferocious beast?

【Ding! 】

[Host needs detected. Activate talent—get stronger with spending money, improve Beast Taming Skill?]

Qin Su rubbed his temples. He had improved many aspects before, but he had neglected this first-level beast taming technique.

The main reason is that he originally thought he wouldn't need to use the Beast Taming Technique for the time being, but unexpectedly, he had to use it right away.

Then let's unlock our talents and spend money to improve our Beast Taming skills.

【Ding! 】

[Checking host's account balance. Host's current Reversal Points balance is sufficient to upgrade Beast Taming Technique from Tier 1 to Tier 9. Upgrading Beast Taming Technique.]

[Under construction............]

[Progress increased by 20%...50%...100%...]

【Ding! 】

[Congratulations, host! Your Beast Taming Technique has been successfully upgraded from Tier 1 to Tier 9. The Tier 9 Beast Taming Technique has been sent to your personal inventory. Please check your inventory.]

【Ding! 】

[Detected that even the ninth-tier Beast Taming Technique is still insufficient to control the Starry Sky Dragon. Continue to activate the talent—"Get Stronger by Spending Money"—to further upgrade the Beast Taming Technique tier?]

"Huh? Even ninth-tier Beast Taming Technique isn't enough?"

Qin Su froze, pondered for a moment, then frowned as he looked at his personal comeback points account, which had already been reduced to zero. "The problem is, I'm out of comeback points. I can't keep spending money..."

【Ding! 】

[Solving problems for the host is the system's primary duty. Detecting that the host is penniless, the system has specially tailored a new function: the Honest and Fair System Loan. Host, would you like to take out a loan to improve your Beast Taming skills?]

Qin Su stared wide-eyed. "They can even customize and launch new features?"

"What level of Beast Taming skill is required to ride a Star Dragon?"

[Given that although this beast has an extremely high biological level, it is only a newborn cub, the Beast Taming Technique only needs to reach the ninth level of the Planetary level to successfully control it.]

"How many Reversal Points would it take to upgrade Beast Taming Technique to Planetary Level 9?"

[One hundred billion. If a loan is required, an additional ten billion in loan interest will need to be repaid.]

"......"

[Buy early, enjoy early. Besides, for the host, acquiring 110 billion comeback points is a piece of cake.]

It's definitely easier to get the comeback points now than before.

Qin Su pondered. He had just casually sold some things to the system and received several billion comeback points in return. At worst, he could just acquire more resources later. After all, with his current strength, acquiring some high-value resources wouldn't be difficult.

"Okay, then let's take out a loan."

【Ding! 】

[Our trustworthy loan system is at your service; loan processing is underway...]

【Ding! 】

[Loan successful. One hundred billion turnaround points have been transferred to your personal account. Please check.]

【Ding! 】

[Talent - Get stronger with spending money, activated, checking host account balance.............]

[The host currently has enough Reversal Points to upgrade the Ninth-Order Beast Taming Technique to the Planetary Level Ninth Order. Upgrading the Beast Taming Technique is in progress.]

[Under Upgrade...]

[Progress increased by 10%... 20%... 50%... 100%...]

【Ding! 】

[Congratulations, host! Your Beast Taming Technique has been successfully upgraded from Tier 9 to Tier 9 (Planetary Level). The Tier 9 Beast Taming Technique has been sent to your personal inventory. Please check your inventory.]

【Ding! 】

[The host's current personal account balance of Comeback Points is: -110 billion. (In debt status. From this moment on, all Comeback Points acquired by the host will be used to repay the debt until the 110 billion debt is fully repaid.)]

"Planetary level ninth-tier Beast Taming Technique..."

Qin Su felt the newly added flow of information in her brain, and it felt as vast and boundless as the ocean.

Just one glance at it made me feel dizzy and lightheaded.

【Ding! 】

[An unmastered Planetary-level Tier 9 Beast Taming Technique has been detected. The talent "Auto-Mastery" has been triggered and is currently being automatically mastered.]

After a long period of automatic mastery, Qin Su successfully mastered the ninth-level planetary-level Beast Taming Technique.

Immediately afterwards, he used his Beast Taming Technique on the cub of the Starry Sky Dragon.

A sudden burst of golden light shone forth, dazzlingly bright.

As the golden light dissipated, the Starry Sky Dragon cub also vanished suddenly, while a golden dragon-shaped totem appeared on Qin Su's forehead.

"I can feel that this cub has become one with me. I can clearly understand all its thoughts, and it cannot refuse any commands I give it. Moreover, I can even see into all the inherited memories in its brain. It feels like I haven't just tamed a beast, but rather gained an avatar... A ninth-level planetary-level beast taming technique, how domineering!"

After carefully sensing it, Qin Su opened her eyes in shock.

Then, he carefully examined the inherited memories of the Starry Sky Dragon cub.

It was too vast and too complex. Even Qin Su, a fifth-level mentalist, felt dizzy and lightheaded after looking at it for a while.

Moreover, he still didn't understand 99% of the things. He felt completely confused. Even though he knew the words, he couldn't understand them when they were put together.

"This Starry Sky Dragon truly lives up to its reputation as a superior being in the universe. Although I've only understood a small part of its inherited memories, I can already sense that these things are more than ten times more advanced than the martial arts of Blue Star. If I could learn them all, I'm afraid I could roam the universe freely, invincible throughout the cosmos..."

Qin Su took a deep breath, then turned around and went home instead of continuing to the General Affairs Department.

Upon returning home, he immediately locked his bedroom door to ensure that no one could disturb him. Then, he began to delve into the very small portion of the inherited memories that he could currently understand.

More than half a month has passed in the blink of an eye.

That day, Qin Su suddenly opened her eyes, her eyes shining with extreme excitement.

"Spatial decomposition!"

He slowly raised his hand, and in his palm, it seemed as if a small black hole had appeared, with countless light particles floating, flickering, and colliding within it, as if the universe itself was evolving.

The surrounding space, and anything that touches the small black hole in his palm, will instantly collapse.

This is what he has come to understand from the memories inherited by the Starry Sky Dragon during this period.

Qin Su stared at the small black hole in his hand, took a deep breath, and tried to throw a source crystal into it. The source crystal began to shatter the moment it touched the black hole, and in the end, it turned into cosmic dust and dissipated into the world.

After Qin Su decomposed the source crystal, his body swayed violently, and a series of sharp pains came from deep within his brain.

He quickly closed his palms, and the black hole in his palms disappeared instantly.

Even so, he groaned, blood flowed from his nose, and blood vessels appeared in his eyes.

"This spatial decomposition technique consumes far too much mental energy! Even with my current fifth-level mental energy, I only lasted for less than ten seconds after using it. This move absolutely cannot be used recklessly..."

Qin Su felt a chill run down her spine.

At the same time, he secretly pondered that this move was very powerful. If someone was in his battle and he used the black hole to stick to them at close range, they would definitely be either dead or seriously injured.

No martial artist's flesh and blood body can withstand the power of spatial disintegration.

The only drawback of this move is that he can only use it in close combat. Since he awakened his psychic powers, his fighting style has become using psychic weapons to protect himself, and he rarely engages in hand-to-hand combat anymore.

"This move might only be my trump card. I can only use it when the opponent breaks through my psychic weapon's protective barrier. And even then, it will only be most effective when the opponent is off guard..."

Qin Su mentally rehearsed the scenarios in which he would use this move until evening, when his girlfriend Ning Qiushui returned home and the sound of the door closing startled him awake.

"Ah Su, guess what delicious food I brought back today?"

Ning Qiushui's voice rang out from outside.

Qin Su took two deep breaths to adjust her breathing, then got up, opened the door, and went out.

Outside, a peculiar fragrance wafted over.

"Quandezhai's braised goose? One must cost a thousand source crystals, right? Qiushui, what's the occasion today? Why did you bring back such a good thing?"

Qin Su looked at Ning Qiushui in surprise.

With the further development of her Divine Phoenix Physique and the rapid improvement of her strength, she is now radiant and dazzling. Every move she makes seems to be filtered, making her breathtakingly beautiful.

"Want to try some?"

Ning Qiushui tore off a piece of goose meat.

Qin Su walked over, picked up a piece of goose meat, and put it into Qin Su's mouth.

Qin Su chewed it.

It's rich but not greasy, with a strong and enticing aroma; no wonder it's an expensive food that can sell for a thousand Yuan Crystals.

Qin Su then looked at Ning Qiushui again and smiled, "You still haven't told me what day it is today."

Ning Qiushui said proudly, "I tested today and my strength has reached the level of a beginner-level martial general. How about that? I've improved very quickly, haven't I? My teacher was very surprised. He said that I was overlooked before and that he will have to devote more energy to teaching me properly in the future."

Qin Su was slightly surprised upon hearing this. In just over half a month, Ning Qiushui had made such an exaggerated improvement. The Divine Phoenix Physique was indeed heaven-defying.

He couldn't help but feel a little gratified. Back then, he risked his life to snatch treasures from the jaws of several Martial King level experts. Now it seemed that his decision was absolutely correct.

"So you bought braised goose today to celebrate?" Qin Su asked with a smile.

Ning Qiushui snorted, "What else? Eat it while it's hot. If this braised goose gets cold, the taste will be completely different..."

That evening, after watching a new movie with Ning Qiushui, Ning Qiushui immersed herself in cultivation. Qin Su had originally planned to cultivate as well, but unexpectedly, her teacher, Lü Feng, called.

"Little one, you've settled down enough during this time, haven't you? I've drawn up a new training plan. Starting tomorrow, you'll begin your training according to this plan."

After hanging up the phone, Qin Su saw the document sent by her teacher, Lü Feng.

took a look.

The first item on the new training schedule stunned him.

"Reaching the top of the martial arts rankings?"

Qin Su turned around and looked at the Martial Ranking, and then she understood why Lü Feng had included climbing to the top of the Martial Ranking in the training plan.

This martial arts ranking list is the most coveted list for martial artists in Xinghan City. It is extremely prestigious, and once you are on the list, you will become famous instantly and receive substantial rewards.

But getting on the list is extremely difficult; even the martial artists at the bottom of the list have the strength of a Martial Marquis.

In such an intensely competitive environment, even some ranked martial artists cannot make it onto this list.

After all, becoming a Sequence-level martial artist mainly indicates that the martial artist has high talent and the potential to become a top expert. However, if the martial artist has not cultivated for a long time and is relatively young, then his strength will definitely not be as good as some martial artists who have cultivated for a longer time.

After all, the martial artists who can gain a foothold in Xinghan City are basically all geniuses from outside. The longer they cultivate, the stronger they become. It's impossible for there to be those useless people from outside who have cultivated for many years but whose strength has only stagnated.

"The rewards for making it onto this martial arts ranking list seem ridiculously generous..."

Qin Su learned about matters related to the Martial Ranking, his eyes gleaming with a sharp light.

The Martial Arts Ranking lists a total of one thousand people. As long as you make it onto the list, you can obtain resources starting from the sixth tier, as well as cultivation techniques, secret skills, martial arts techniques, weapons, and more. You can also choose freely from the collection.

It's important to know that the items collected in the Archives are mostly top-tier ninth-grade treasures. Items below the ninth grade are not qualified to be collected by the Archives.

If you're lucky, you might even encounter some "super-grade" top-quality goods.

The so-called "transcendent level" is actually just another name for planetary level beings used by humans on Earth.

The library is basically not open to the public. Except for those who have made it onto the martial arts ranking list and have gone through layers of checks, even someone like Lü Feng cannot enter at other times.

As for Qin Su now, aside from a few specific items, he no longer cares about anything at the ninth rank.

At most, they can be sold to the system in exchange for comeback points.

But if it's something "beyond the mark," then he's still very envious.

Moreover, if you sell "transcendent" items to the system, the resulting comeback points will basically be in the billions as the basic unit.

Qin Su let out a breath.

He currently owes the system over 100 billion comeback points, so he definitely needs to find a way to earn money to pay off his debt.

"Since the teacher has also made climbing the martial arts rankings one of my training programs, I'll go and have some fun." Qin Su twisted her wrist, her eyes gleaming with an inexplicable light.

Early the next morning.

Qin Su escorted Ning Qiushui to the main gate of Xinghan Academy and watched her enter the academy before leisurely heading to the martial arts arena in Xinghan City.

This so-called martial arts arena is located in the southeast area of ​​Xinghan City, covering an area of ​​tens of thousands of acres, and has a huge flow of people.

Hundreds of martial arts battles take place here every day, with thousands of martial artists fighting madly to break into the martial arts rankings.

The battles here are extremely bloody; before stepping onto the fighting stage, one must even sign a waiver of life or death.

Because once you step onto the fighting stage, it's a life-or-death struggle.

This is why the martial arts ranking is so highly regarded by the martial artists of Xinghan City, since those who can make it onto the list have basically fought their way out of mountains of corpses and seas of blood.

Teacher Lü Feng arranged for Qin Su to come here for training, presumably to thoroughly train Qin Su.

After all, only through real life-or-death struggles can one truly grow into a strong person.

In Lü Feng's view, Qin Su's current cultivation journey is too smooth. He still needs some adversity to bring out more of Qin Su's potential.

Upon entering the arena, Qin Su registered her personal information at the management office, obtained her entry card, and headed towards the fighting platform.

He hadn't walked far when he heard someone calling him from behind. He turned around and saw Zhao Longshan, whom he hadn't seen for a while.

"Qin Su, you're here to participate in the martial arts competition too?" Zhao Longshan asked with a smile.

Qin Su nodded: "It seems Brother Zhao is also here to participate in the martial arts competition?"

Zhao Longshan smiled and said, "I've never formally participated in martial arts combat before, but now I feel my strength is about right, so I naturally came."

"Most importantly, if I make it onto the Martial Ranking, I can get a set of Tier 3 armor that I've wanted for a long time."

As he spoke, a hint of longing flickered in his eyes.

He then looked at Qin Su again and said, "Speaking of Qin Su, you haven't been in Xinghan City for long, so why are you participating in the Martial Ranking competition? You should know that this is no joke. You might lose your life if you're not careful."

Qin Su said, "The first item in the training plan my teacher set for me was to reach the top of the martial arts ranking. That's why I came to take a look."

"What? Reached the top of the martial arts rankings?"

Zhao Longshan stared wide-eyed in surprise, then looked at Qin Su with a pitying gaze: "You probably don't know how strong the top of the Martial Ranking is. It's said that he's already a high-level Martial King. If it weren't for the requirement that those on the Martial Ranking be under fifty years old, the top of the Martial Ranking would probably be even more ridiculously strong."

Qin Su was slightly taken aback upon hearing this. A high-level Martial King? That was quite unexpected. It seemed reaching the top wouldn't be so easy after all...

Seeing that Qin Su was not intimidated by the terrifying strength of the top-ranked player at all, but only seemed to be deep in thought, and even had a hint of fighting spirit in his eyes at the end, Zhao Longshan couldn't help but admire him.

This is the kind of talent that Elder Lü would accept as a disciple, and who has only been in Xinghan City for a short time but has already been established as a top-tier genius. If ordinary people knew the strength of the top-ranked person on the martial arts list, they would probably be completely intimidated and scared away. But Qin Su rose to the challenge.

"Speaking of which, Jinsha seems to have a few fights today. Shall we go check them out?"

Zhao Longshan seemed to remember something and looked at Qin Su with a smile.

"Sister Jinsha is here too?" Qin Su became interested. "Okay, let's go take a look."

When the two found Jinsha, she had already won three consecutive matches and was resting. She was currently ranked over 1,300th, just 300 places away from making it onto the martial arts ranking list.

"Jinsha, look who's here!"

Zhao Longshan waved and Chong Jinsha greeted him. They had both worked under Lü Feng and had known each other for ten years, so they were quite familiar with each other.

Jinsha turned her head and saw Qin Su, somewhat surprised: "What brings you here?"

"He is to train according to the training plan set by Elder Lü, and the first item of that training plan is to make him reach the top of the martial arts ranking."

Zhao Longshan shrugged and said.

Jinsha looked at Qin Su with a strange expression: "If I remember correctly, you're only at the Martial General level, right? Old Master Lü really isn't afraid of his precious disciple getting beaten to death, actually devising such a perverted training plan for you..."

She said with a wry smile, "Even I'm only ranked 1300th so far. You know, I'm already at the intermediate Martial Marquis level, but as I've fought, I'm feeling increasingly powerless. I estimate that with my current strength, I'll be lucky if I can break into the top 1200..."

Upon hearing her words, Zhao Longshan's expression turned serious, and he looked at Qin Su again:

"Jinsha is right. I just didn't say it, but I also think you're not ready yet. The martial arts competition is really brutal. With your talent, if you had prepared for a while longer, you might still have a chance, but right now, you definitely don't have any chance at all."

"Especially since you want to reach the top of the martial arts rankings, that's an extremely difficult goal. Without ten or twenty years, you simply won't be able to defeat the monsters ranked higher up..."

Qin Su laughed and said, "It's alright, let's test the waters first. How will we know if we can win if we don't try?"

"You're pushing yourself too hard."

Seeing that he had made up his mind, Zhao Longshan and Jin Sha both sighed.

With Qin Su's talent, if he were to cultivate for another three to five years and reach the Martial Marquis level, he would definitely be a contender on the Martial Ranking. However, Qin Su seems a bit too impatient and unsteady. He clearly can't win, yet he still wants to try, which is not a good sign.

You should know that those guys on the martial arts arena won't go easy on you just because you're Elder Lü's disciple or a member of the prestigious first tier in Xinghan City. They're serious about killing every move, full of murderous intent. As long as you can win, they'll use any move they can think of.

Many martial artists who participated in the fight for the first time were clearly strong enough, but they were still killed by some veterans using underhanded methods.

In Zhao Longshan and Jin Sha's eyes, Qin Su was this kind of martial artist, to put it bluntly, a flower in a greenhouse. Although she had experienced some battles, on the fighting stage, she was no different from a raw recruit.

If Qin Su were to be beaten bloody, that would be a minor matter; if he were to die, that would be a huge loss for the Xia Kingdom.