Chapter 436 - 295: Triple Jump! Tier Four Flame Demon’s Grip

The words had barely left his mouth when a sudden, sizable commotion erupted from a nearby testing area.

A young man in an opulent silk Martial Arts uniform came to a stop before a pitch-black, humanoid target.

He clenched his fists, and his knuckles took on a heavy, metallic sheen.

"Quick, look! It’s ’Iron Arm’ Zhou Long!

The genius from the Zhou Family of Jiangbei City, here for advanced training. He’s about to submit his optimization results!"

Someone murmured.

Under the watchful eyes of the crowd, Zhou Long let out a sharp exhale and a shout. His fists shot out like cannonballs!

The force of his punches tore through the air with a piercing whistle. As his arms danced, they produced a series of clanging, metallic sounds, like steel cables being twisted together.

His fist technique was swift and ruthless, each strike landing with pinpoint accuracy on the humanoid target’s critical joints.

"Isn’t he optimizing that common-as-dirt *Iron Wire Fist*?

How can a Tier Two Middle Grade fist technique have this kind of might?"

"That’s not it! Look at his power generation. It’s not just brute force anymore. There’s a spiraling, coiling Power within it—the early form of the Silk Binding Force!"

For his final punch, Zhou Long roared as he brought his fists together. Like a giant siege hammer, they smashed heavily into the target’s chest.

"BANG!"

A muffled thud.

The testing target, forged from Tier Three Black Tungsten Gold, had a spiral-shaped crater several inches deep punched clean into its chest!

The Light Computer in the testing area went silent for a second before projecting the cold, hard results.

[Optimized Technique: *Iron Wire Fist* (Tier Two Middle Grade)]

[Optimization Result: *Steel Dragon Strangling Fist* (Tier Three Lower Grade)]

[Assessment: Optimization successful. Grade increased. Point Reward: 650.]

The crowd exploded into an uproar, like a stone tossed into a still lake.

"Holy shit! For real? He jumped straight from Tier Two Middle Grade to Tier Three Lower Grade! This Zhou Long was really hiding his strength!"

"Six hundred and fifty points! That shoots him straight to fourth place on the leaderboard!

That’s like getting over six hundred Spirit Coins for free, plus a voucher for a Tier Three Cultivation Technique!"

The leaderboard on the light screen updated in real time. Zhou Long’s name and score appeared in fourth place, shining brilliantly in gold.

He basked in the countless envious and jealous gazes from the crowd, a restrained smile playing on his lips. Then, he walked toward a vacant Spirit Realm Helmet.

He was clearly preparing to press his advantage, ready to reinvest the points he had just earned into this giant "knowledge meat grinder."

Guo Xiaobao gave a knowing chuckle and sidled up to Han Feng.

"Boss, see that? That’s a textbook case of betting small to win big."

"If you had the skill to optimize a Tier One *Military Boxing* into a Tier Four Divine Technique...

...then you could walk right into the archives, pick out a top-tier Tier Four Swordsmanship Manual, and walk away with it without spending a single coin!"

Han Feng understood completely.

This wasn’t a challenge at all. It was clearly an open-ended scheme by Kunlun to expand and perfect its own database.

A scheme to use their rigid, archived data to harvest the sparks of genius from all of humankind.

Kunlun’s calculations were incredibly shrewd.

But for a cash-strapped "Foreigner" like Han Feng, who was in desperate need of a High Tier Technique, this was practically a tailor-made buffet.

"How does it work, exactly?" Han Feng asked.

Guo Xiaobao pointed to the transparent pods around the plaza that looked like phone booths from a sci-fi movie.

"First, you go to a terminal over there and select your project—that is, the Technique you want to optimize."

"Once you’ve made your choice, you pay the Spirit Coins on the spot to purchase the original rights to that Technique."

"Then, you head to one of those ’Inference Pods.’ Inside, you’ll find a dedicated ’Spirit Realm Helmet.’"

"Put on the helmet, and all the information about the Technique will be directly infused into your sea of memories, saving you the trouble of memorizing it all."

"Moreover, the helmet connects directly to the sub-brain of the Little Tower of Babel, which we usually just call the super-AI, ’Celestial Derivation.’"

At this, Guo Xiaobao habitually rubbed his fingers together.

"Of course, the AI’s processing power isn’t free. Activating the assisted inference mode costs ten Spirit Coins per minute, with no cap."

"It can help you simulate the meridian circulation and Energy conflicts within your body. It can also provide a massive number of optimization suggestions based on its huge database."

"Once you feel your optimization is more or less complete, you come out of the pod and head to the testing area to demonstrate it on the spot."

"Remember, simulations don’t count. You have to be able to execute it in reality, and it has to be graded by the testing instruments to be valid."

"After all, the AI sometimes comes up with things that are theoretically possible but physically impossible for a human to perform.

That’s called an ’invalid optimization,’ and you’d just be throwing your money away."

Looking at the whole process, Han Feng now had a clear understanding.

The rules were, at least, completely fair, steeped in Kunlun’s characteristic style of "anything is negotiable, as long as you have the money."

"So? What do you think, Boss? Tempted?"

Guo Xiaobao leaned in, his face full of anticipation, like a tour guide eager to land a client.

"How about I give you a few pointers?"

"Look at your build. You’re not one of those muscle-bound brutes, but the way you grabbed my wrist just now... your explosive power is absolutely terrifying.

I suggest you choose a Technique from the ’close-quarters combat’ category."

Guo Xiaobao pointed to a row of light screens in the Tier One section:

"For example, this *Wandering Body Palm*, or that *Inch Force Fist*, are both popular options."

"These types of Techniques are more forgiving, and the AI’s simulation data for them is the most accurate. If you just tweak the force-application pathways a bit, you can easily snag a decent amount of points."

He shared, speaking from experience.

"That AI... its processing power may be off the charts, but it’s still just an inanimate object.

When it comes to purely physical things, like human anatomy and power-generation techniques, its calculations are scarily accurate."