Chapter 148: Goodnews And Badnews

Chapter 148: Chapter 148: Goodnews And Badnews

Xavier’s current collection of martial arts was becoming increasingly impressive.

He now possessed a diverse arsenal of techniques, each serving a different purpose.

Among them were the Dragon and Phoenix Union Technique, the Star Tempering Body Technique, and Phantom Step.

Just like the Wind and Thunder Sword Technique, these manuals had originally belonged to Mira.

Xavier had borrowed them from his wife and subsequently invested them in Maya Knox.

The results had confirmed his earlier suspicion. Investing in the same martial art through two different targets could indeed generate rewards from both investments.

Unfortunately, the multipliers for the three techniques had not been particularly impressive, and none had undergone a significant upgrade in tier.

The Wind and Thunder Sword Technique was the exception.

It had advanced from the 5th Grade to the 6th, making it considerably more powerful than before.

Even so, Xavier no longer relied on it as heavily as he once had.

After all, he now possessed the 9th-Grade Phantom God-Slaying Sword Technique.

It would be foolish to abandon a superior sword art in the middle of a fight just to use a technique two tiers lower.

Still, the investment had given him something far more valuable than the immediate rewards: a clearer understanding of how to develop his Heaven Piercing Sixfold Finger.

Once he finished compiling its cultivation manual, he could invest it in both Mira and Maya.

If the system continued rewarding repeated investments as expected, he might be able to advance the technique to mastery, achieve perfection, or even raise its tier.

What had once seemed like a painfully slow process now offered a much faster path forward. Graham was already looking forward to the results.

The returns from the Star Tempering Body Technique, Dragon and Phoenix Union Technique, and Seven Waters Profound Skill had also benefited him considerably.

Forty two additional stars within his body had been illuminated, bringing him much closer to the 3rd Star of the Star Sea Realm.

But that was not the only change.

He had awakened a second supernatural ability.

Lightning Manipulation!

Having finished examining his rewards, Xavier made his way to a secluded section of the hills behind Arcadia Academy.

He wanted to test his new ability without attracting unnecessary attention or damaging anything important.

Once he found a suitable spot, he focused his mind and drew upon the chaotic energy stored within one of his star spaces.

A portion of that energy vanished almost immediately.

The next instant, a massive bolt of purple lightning erupted from his palm.

The bolt was as thick as a barrel, and its violent crackling echoed across the hillside. It shot upward with tremendous force, tearing through a white cloud and scattering it into nothing.

Xavier watched the display with satisfaction.

"Now, this is what lightning should look like!" he said.

The power was on an entirely different level from what he had experienced with lightning based rune stones.

Those were useful tools, but his newly awakened ability was far more impressive. He had not yet determined the full extent of its destructive power, though.

The initial display looked promising, but appearances alone were not enough to judge how effective it would be against a powerful opponent.

Its energy consumption was another concern.

Graham closed his eyes and carefully examined the changes within his body, using the remaining energy fluctuations to estimate the ability’s cost.

"If I need to use this in a real battle, I’ll have to decide whether the situation calls for its full power," he said.

"There’s no point wasting so much energy when a weaker attack would do the job."

Once he had a rough understanding of his new ability, he turned his attention to another prize. The Phantom God-Slaying Sword Technique.

As his second 9th-Grade martial art, it deserved a proper test.

Graham summoned the Dragon Slayer Sword from his spatial ring and began experimenting with the technique in the deserted hills.

He swung the sword, releasing a crescent shaped blade of sword energy. At first, the attack appeared relatively small.

However, as it streaked forward, the crescent expanded rapidly until it spanned nearly a hundred feet. It continued traveling for almost a kilometer before finally dissipating.

Everything in its path suffered the consequences. Mature trees were severed, flowers and vegetation were shredded, and rocks and soil were sliced apart by the devastating force.

A long trail of destruction marked the sword energy’s passage.

Yet its destructive power was not the only impressive feature. Its speed was astonishing.

The attack covered a kilometer in less than a second. Even with Xavier’s een eyesight, tracking it clearly was nearly impossible.

All he could make out was a fleeting afterimage.

This was the technique’s most basic form of attack, and it did not require him to memorize a fixed sequence of movements.

He could release sword energy according to his own intentions, giving him considerable freedom in combat.

The energy cost was also surprisingly low.

After examining his internal reserves, Graham estimated that a single slash consumed only about one percent of the chaotic energy stored in a star space.

Considering how quickly his body could recover energy, especially with the assistance of medicinal pills, the expenditure was practically negligible.

In other words, he could launch these attacks repeatedly without worrying too much about running out of energy.

However, ordinary sword energy was not the technique’s greatest strength.

Once a practitioner reached mastery, the Phantom God-Slaying Sword Technique granted them access to its true killing art: God-Slaying Sword Intent!

Xavier raised the Dragon Slayer Sword and held it steady. He did not swing it. He did not even change his stance.

Yet, in the blink of an eye, more than ten brilliant streaks of sword energy burst from the blade and swept through the surrounding landscape.

They tore across an area extending hundreds of meters in every direction, leaving destruction wherever they passed.

Xavier remained motionless as he observed the results.

A second passed. Then another.

Every second, more than ten additional sword attacks emerged from the sword without him making another movement.

He maintained this state for ten seconds before finally lowering the weapon.

The landscape around him had been transformed into a wasteland.

The ground was riddled with deep cuts, while the space around him seemed saturated with the lingering traces of sword intent.

A chilling, murderous sharpness hung in the air. Even without touching anything, the remnants of that power were enough to make someone feel as though invisible blades were pressing against their skin.

Xavier examined the result, then checked his energy reserves.

"The sword intent consumed roughly the energy stored in two star spaces," he said. "That’s acceptable."

He nodded, clearly pleased. The Phantom God-Slaying Sword Technique was every bit as extraordinary as he had hoped.

Although it lacked the restrictive and controlling properties of the Heaven Piercing Sixfold Finger, it offered something different: speed, flexibility, and overwhelming offensive power.

One technique could limit an opponent’s movements, while the other could unleash devastating attacks with almost no delay. Together, they would give him far more options in battle.

Xavier returned the Dragon Slayer Sword to his spatial ring.

"There’s a reason 9th-Grade martial arts are considered extraordinary," he said.

Satisfied with the results of his experiment, he left the hills and returned home.

He still had an unfinished task waiting for him: compiling the manual for the Heaven Piercing Sixfold Finger. It was a tedious undertaking, but every additional day spent on it was another day he delayed the investments he wanted to make.

The sooner he completed the manual, the sooner he could put his plan into action and finally give his mind a rest.

* * *

"You’re here, Mr. X! Please, have a seat."

A week had passed since Xavier returned from Silver Lake City.

During that time, Victoria Quill and Samuel Bush had repeatedly tried to contact him.

Unfortunately, his phone had been stored inside his spatial ring, where it could not receive any signals.

Xavier had been so absorbed in writing the Heaven Piercing Sixfold Finger manual that he had not realized how much time had passed.

Unable to reach him directly, Victoria had eventually contacted Mira and asked her to relay the message to her husband.

That was how Xavier finally learned that Victoria wanted to see him. He set aside his work and visited her temporary office at the Extraordinary Division.

Victoria greeted him warmly before taking her seat.

"Mr. X, I have both good news and bad news for you," she said. "Which would you prefer to hear first?"

Xavier was not particularly interested in playing guessing games.

"Let’s start with the good news," he said.

Victoria smiled.

"The Lindsay family is finished," she said. "Most of its surviving members have been sentenced to prison, and the authorities have confiscated the family’s assets. With its leadership gone and its wealth seized, it no longer has the strength to cause trouble."

This had been one of the main reasons Victoria had come to Valemont in the first place.

She had wanted to put an end to the Lindsay family’s influence and prevent it from continuing to threaten Mira. Now, that objective had finally been achieved.

Xavier showed little surprise.

"That was inevitable," he said. "Once the Lindsay family’s senior experts were killed, it was only a matter of time before the entire organization collapsed."

He had already anticipated this outcome. Without its strongest martial artists to defend it, the Lindsay family had been unable to resist the government’s crackdown.

He leaned back slightly.

"So, what’s the bad news?" he asked.