High-level martial arts: Long spear with black flames to suppress demons.

An hour later, Zhao Jin's hand holding the sword began to tremble uncontrollably, and blisters had formed on her palms. She was panting heavily, her clothes already soaked with sweat.

"Take a break. You can barely hold your sword, how are you going to fight?"

Shen Chang'an leaned on his spear, not a drop of sweat on his face.

Zhao Jin leaned against the wall and rested silently for less than ten minutes before gritting her teeth, picking up her wooden sword, and charging forward without a word.

Without further ado, he picked up his gun and charged forward.

Time slipped away quietly in the monotonous and tedious struggle.

They played until after six o'clock the next morning.

It must be admitted that there is a reason why Zhao Jin is called the pride of the Zhao family.

Throughout the entire night of intense combat, the two did not exchange a single word. It was entirely Zhao Jin who initiated the attacks, Shen Chang'an who countered them, and then he would retaliate.

However, Zhao Jin was able to quickly find the flaws in his moves after each defeat, relying on his astonishing combat intuition, and immediately adjust his tactics in the next attack. This terrifying speed of progress and resilience even secretly alarmed Shen Chang'an.

"Clang!"

The wooden sword finally slipped from Zhao Jin's exhausted hand and crashed to the ground.

She had truly exhausted every last bit of strength.

Zhao Jin staggered to a soft mat in the corner of the training field, curled up like an exhausted cat, and before she could even utter a word, closed her eyes and fell into a deep sleep. Her breathing quickly became even and long.

Shen Chang'an was speechless at the sight.

"Is this kid missing a screw in his head?"

He couldn't help but complain.

"She can fall asleep instantly in front of a man who just beat her half to death?"

Left with no other option, Shen Chang'an took out his phone, intending to send a message to Zhao Haitang, asking her to send someone to pick up Zhao Jin.

The message was just sent successfully.

"Click".

The heavy doors of the training ground were suddenly pushed open from the outside without warning.

The old butler, dressed in his sharp tailcoat, walked in slowly and calmly.

"When did you arrive?!"

His perception remained constantly extended, even when he was disciplining Zhao Jin. As fellow cultivators at the fifth realm, even if the other party possessed a special technique for concealing their aura, he would definitely be able to detect a faint fluctuation of spiritual energy or a change in airflow as long as they approached this gate.

But the old butler seemed to appear out of thin air, completely bypassing all of his senses!

The butler seemed unaware of Shen Chang'an's wariness. He walked to the cushion, gently picked up the sleeping Zhao Jin, and turned to give Shen Chang'an a slight nod.

"Thank you for your hard work, Shen. I'll take Miss Er back to rest now."

After saying that, he picked up Zhao Jin, turned around, and walked out of the training ground.

Even after the door closed again, Shen Chang'an remained standing there, his brows furrowed, the scene of the butler pushing the door open and entering replaying in his mind.

"Something's not right... This old man's strength is definitely more than just the fifth realm."

Shen Chang'an stroked his chin. The waters of Shanghai were indeed much deeper than he had imagined.

However, there's no use thinking about it now. He glanced at the time; it was almost seven o'clock.

"I have to rush back to school to deal with the hassle of choosing a department and selecting courses. It's such a hassle."

......

Beverly Hills.

The morning sunlight streamed into the spacious and bright dining room. Zhao Haitang, dressed in a silk robe, was enjoying breakfast.

"Knock knock".

There was a gentle knock on the restaurant door.

"Come in." Zhao Haitang put down his knife and fork.

The butler pushed open the door and entered, respectfully reporting in a low voice, "Miss, everything is settled. The medical team is currently conducting rehabilitation therapy, and she is expected to be fully recovered by this afternoon."

"This girl has developed some patience."

Zhao Haitang picked up a napkin to wipe the corner of her mouth and asked casually.

"Is there anything else?"

The butler bowed slightly, his tone becoming somewhat somber: "It seems the eldest young master... has already noticed your investment in Shen Chang'an. Our sources report that his people have been making some moves near Shanghai University recently. Do you think we should intervene?"

Zhao Haitang picked up the hot milk next to her and paused for a moment.

"No rush."

Zhao Haitang waved his hand gently.

"Since it's an investment, we need to see if it's worth the price. Let Shen Chang'an handle it himself and see how it performs."

A playful smile curved her lips: "If he can't even handle this little problem, then consider it a charity donation. There's no need to waste resources on him anymore."

"Understood."

"Also, go to the warehouse and get a batch of mid-grade spirit stones, and pick out some practical recovery pills, and send them to Shen Chang'an's dormitory."

Zhao Haitang gave the instructions.

"Yes."

......

Inside a single dormitory room at Shanghai University.

Shen Chang'an sat in front of the computer, pressed the enter key, and finished the tedious process of choosing a department and selecting courses. He stretched and was about to grab his clothes to take a shower and catch up on some sleep when the dormitory doorbell rang.

I signed for a small black package that had no sender information.

Upon opening the cardboard box, a simple, antique-style silver ring lay quietly inside.

"A spatial ring?"

Shen Chang'an's eyelids twitched.

This item is priced starting at 80,000 contribution points in the Town Night Division's internal shop.

The phone on the table vibrated at just the right moment; Zhao Haitang had sent a message: "Did you receive the package?"

"Received, thank you Mr. Zhao."

He probed a wisp of spiritual energy into the ring, and a storage space of about a dozen cubic meters appeared in his mind. In the corner, several boxes of high-level healing pills were neatly stacked, while occupying most of the space was a pile of crystalline stones emitting a rich spiritual energy.

One thousand mid-grade spirit stones!

Shen Chang'an couldn't help but click his tongue, still marveling at the profound heritage of aristocratic families.

He had hardly ever used this kind of pure spiritual energy crystal before. In the Zhenye Division's shop, spirit stones were not directly available for exchange; if you wanted to exchange them with contribution points, you had to submit a bunch of extremely cumbersome application reports.

After all, we are now in the Dharma-ending Age. Ancient records from the Zhenye Division state that the cultivation world in ancient times was a golden age, with rare and precious materials everywhere and spiritual energy so rich that it could condense into water.

Now, every spirit stone must be used sparingly.

Looking at this huge pile of strategic resources, Shen Chang'an was unusually envious. He sat cross-legged on the bed, took out a mid-grade spirit stone, held it in his palm, and closed his eyes.

In just two or three seconds, with a soft "click," the spiritual energy inside the spirit stone was instantly drained, turning into a clump of grayish-white powder that slipped through his fingers.

The absorption rate is astonishingly fast.

Shen Chang'an did not stop and continued to absorb the nutrients one after another.

Time flew by during the monotonous training. In the blink of an eye, the sky outside the window had completely darkened.

He absorbed all one thousand mid-grade spirit stones like candy.