In the following days, Hu Qi stayed honestly within the academy.
He didn't step out of the gates.
During this period,
he was either practicing his Stake techniques or walking the duck. This peaceful life continued for over a month.
...
In the kitchen, blue flames licked the bottom of the pot.
As the temperature steadily rose, the oil in the pot began to smoke slightly.
Just then, a duck egg was cracked into the pot, and in an instant, a sizzling sound erupted.
Visibly, the egg liquid quickly solidified, and a golden-brown crisp formed around the edges. The aroma of a fried egg began to waft freely from the kitchen.
Feeling it was almost done, Hu Qi flicked his arm, flipped the pot, and turned the fried egg over.
After waiting for a moment, he directly poured the fried egg onto a plate.
He grabbed a handful of chopped green onions and sprinkled them over the fried egg.
Next, he tilted a small bottle of pepper, and fine pepper powder fell like black sand, forming a thin mist over the surface of the fried egg.
The aroma of green onions, pepper, and fried egg intertwined, making it mouth-watering.
Hu Qi picked it up with chopsticks, blew on it, and then ate it in a few bites.
After cleaning the pot, he walked out of the kitchen.
"Quack! Quack!" A familiar and unpleasant sound came.
Hu Qi turned his head and saw a creature resembling a large black goose confined in a cage in the corner.
This was precisely the Zhangcha Duck, and compared to before, its size had grown considerably larger.
At a glance,
it looked almost indistinguishable from an ordinary black swan.
"Did it lay again? Not bad, not bad!"
Hu Qi's gaze shifted slightly as he looked at the area around its rear, then bent down and reached into the cage.
Facing this situation, the Zhangcha Duck actively lifted its rear, revealing a pale purple duck egg in the straw nest.
Although it was a duck egg, its size was already comparable to that of a normal goose egg.
It felt faintly warm to the touch.
Looking at the duck egg, Hu Qi reached out and stroked the Zhangcha Duck's soft feathers as a gesture of encouragement.
Since the last time, on the tenth day, the Zhangcha Duck had completely recovered.
It was energetic every day, and the volume of the duck eggs it produced had also increased significantly.
Previously, each egg could only provide sixty percent of the Modifier value; now, one duck egg could almost provide him with one point of Modifier value.
And it could lay almost one duck egg every day.
This meant that Hu Qi didn't need to do anything to earn one point of Modifier value.
However, besides the change in its body size, the Zhangcha Duck's demand for meat also seemed to have increased.
It needed to eat four to five catties of meat every day.
However, compared to its contribution, this consumption was nothing.
"scarlet!"
Hu Qi's thoughts stirred.
------
【Snake Form Stake (Eighth Layer) △】
【Ghost Killing Blade (Beginner) △】
【White Whale Stance (Incomplete)】
【Cloud Iron Body (Perfection) Trait: Impenetrable to blades and spears】
【Modifier Value: 31 (10%)】
After more than a month of accumulation, plus the duck eggs and the two exotic beasts Song Jian sent during that time,
Hu Qi's Modifier value reached an unprecedented 31 points.
Several skills on the panel showed that they could be upgraded. Hu Qi immediately looked at the Snake Form Stake at the top.
"scarlet, modify the Snake Form Stake, upgrade it to the Ninth Layer!"
As soon as his words fell, the Modifier value directly decreased by four points.
The next moment, the Qi and Blood Power within his body underwent another tremendous change.
The Qi and Blood Power, which had originally circulated throughout his body, furiously converged towards his chest, finally forming a fist-sized, hot, blood-colored sphere of Qi.
This sphere of Qi and Blood Power pulsed slowly and powerfully like a heart.
Each movement could drive the accelerated circulation of Qi and Blood Power within his body.
【Snake Form Stake (Ninth Layer) Trait: Berserk】
At the same time, the text on the panel also changed.
"Berserk, huh?"
Noticing the trait behind it,
Hu Qi sensed the sphere of Qi and Blood Power in his chest.
He had a premonition.
As long as he wanted to, he could detonate this sphere of Qi and Blood Power, allowing his strength to achieve a leap-like improvement in a short period.
Suppressing the urge to try it,
he looked at another skill.
"scarlet, modify and perfect the Ghost Killing Blade, eliminate side effects, and increase its power."
He tried to see if he could use his own will to intentionally guide the direction of the Scarlet Modifier's modifications.
As his thoughts settled, unlike last time,
this time, the panel immediately changed.
In an instant, a large amount of new information flooded his mind, then combined with the original content of the Ghost Killing Blade, transforming into a brand new Saber technique.
【Seven Fiends Saber (First Layer) △】
【Modifier Value: 7 (10%)】
"It actually consumed 20 points of Modifier value!" Hu Qi's expression changed slightly; such a large amount of Modifier value truly made him feel pained.
However, after organizing the memories in his mind, he felt that the Modifier value consumed by this saber technique was well worth it.
The essence of this saber technique was immeasurably more profound and subtle than the Ghost Killing Blade.
Not only was it completely supplemented and free of drawbacks, but it also directly entered the First Layer.
The Seven Fiends Saber.
It was an incomparably powerful killing technique, with a total of seven layers, corresponding to the Seven Fiends of Tribulation, Disaster, Age, Goat Horn, Heavenly Dog, Blood Blade, and White Tiger, respectively.
Currently, it was the First Layer, Tribulation Fiend.
"So that's how it is."
Hu Qi opened his eyes, feeling somewhat enlightened.
Now that he had obtained this Seven Fiends Saber, he also understood why the Ghost Killing Blade was said to be incomplete.
Compared to the exquisite subtlety of the Seven Fiends Saber, the Ghost Killing Blade was simply a haphazardly pieced-together product of later generations.
Putting aside other things, just the biggest difference was that the Ghost Killing Blade required nurturing killing intent; the stronger the killing intent, the greater the power, but its drawbacks were immense.
After all, even the strongest will has its limits, and as the power of the Ghost Killing Blade grew, there would eventually be a day when it lost control.
The Seven Fiends Saber, however, was different; it absorbed Evil Qi after killing other living beings.
This meant that the more one killed, the stronger the saber technique became.
Although it would cause some impact on the user, compared to the Ghost Killing Blade, it was hardly worth mentioning, and its upper limit was much higher.
Looking at the remaining 7 points of Modifier value,
Hu Qi directly proceeded with another upgrade.
The familiar sensation reappeared.
After a while,
【Seven Fiends Saber (Second Layer)】
...
【Modifier Value: 2 (10%)】
This consumption already far exceeded that of the Snake Form Stake.
However, it was worth it.
Seeing that he could no longer continue to upgrade,
Hu Qi withdrew his gaze.
"It's about time I went out for some fresh air."
He hadn't gone out before naturally because his strength was limited.
Now that his strength had increased again, he wasn't going to continue staying cooped up.
Hu Qi was very curious whether continuing to feed the Zhangcha Duck would allow it to evolve again.
As for the philosophical question of whether hunting those man-eating Black Blood Species, feeding them to the duck, and then eating the duck eggs would be equivalent to cannibalism, he felt it had no meaning worth contemplating.
Dogs eat feces, humans eat dogs; does that mean humans eat feces? No, humans eat dog meat, not feces.
Subsequently, Hu Qi logged into the Zhuxi website and began searching for suitable missions.
Soon, he found his target.
However, unlike last time, after his first experience, he was familiar with the basic process and no longer chose to team up with others but prepared to go solo.