I Have Infinite Skill Points

"My Yi'er—" a middle-aged noblewoman collapsed backward upon hearing the news.

"Madam—" the servants hurried to support her.

Lady Duanmu's face contorted with pain as she opened her mouth wide but couldn't make a sound of wailing. Her pleading eyes fixed on Duanmu Qingsuang, who sat motionless in a chair like a wooden sculpture.

"Master—"

"A fine man, Wang Lan is, the son of the Flame Emperor... ruthless and vicious indeed... Truly ruthless and vicious! Yi'er merely had the intention; he hadn't even succeeded, yet you had to be so cruel!"

"Master, our son is dead, murdered! Won't you avenge him?"

"Of course, we must seek revenge, but we must wait for the right opportunity."

"Master, why not just fight it out with him? Haven't you always said that our Duanmu family is the number one family besides the royal family? Are we afraid of him? Even if the lineage of the Flame Emperor is powerful, are they not afraid of mutual destruction?"

"I had thought they would be wary of the Duanmu Family, that they would never go as far as taking Yi'er's life. But, alas!"

"If the Duanmu Family could unite and cooperate, we might be able to fight for justice. But even though I am the head of the family, if I order a counterattack, not many within the Family would be willing to heed my call to fight back."

"Why? We've been openly humiliated!"

"Because this time, the Yu Family and the Flame Emperor's lineage have joined forces to suppress us."

"Then... did Yi'er die in vain?" Lady Duanmu suddenly covered her face with her hands and sobbed in heartbreak.

"Master, someone has arrived outside, claiming to be... the Commander of the Vermilion Bird Squad. But... looking at his rank... he's a Senior General?"

"The Vermilion Bird Squad?" Duanmu Qingsuang's complexion changed dramatically, and he rose abruptly from his seat. "You go and bring him to the parlor... No, I'll go myself."

"Master, the Vermilion Bird Squad is..."

"The direct troops of the Flame Emperor. Although the Flame Emperor stepped down from being the squad commander for many years, the Vermilion Bird Squad remains one of the main combat forces of the Flame Emperor's lineage. The whole squad is divided into five teams, with just several dozen members, but half of them are elite troops of Titled Strongmen."

Duanmu Qingsuang hurried to the entrance, only to see a middle-aged man in a Senior General's uniform sitting upright in the hall. Only when he saw Duanmu Qingsuang arrive did he stand up.

"General Zuo, you're here. Please, let's go inside."

"Mr. Duanmu, I apologize for the sudden visit and the inconvenience it has caused."

The two entered the inner parlor and sat down facing each other.

"Mr. Duanmu, I am a military man; I prefer to be direct, so I will not beat around the bush. My visit this time is in regards to the conflict between your son and Wang Lan."

"What is there to say? A mere school conflict, yet Wang Lan was so ruthless that he took my son's life. Such a heavy murderous intent, I fear, is not a good omen for the nation."

"This is not some school conflict. The execution of Duanmu Yi was a unanimous decision by the Modu City Committee." As he spoke, Zuo Ming took out a Soul Bead and pushed it toward Duanmu Qingsuang.

"This Soul Bead contains the deeds of Duanmu Yi, the people he has killed. To be frank, if not for the sake of the Duanmu Family's face, we would have already made his crimes public for the whole nation to condemn.

"It's ludicrous that you're still comparing Duanmu Yi with Wang Lan at this moment. Does Duanmu Yi deserve to be compared with Wang Lan? Wang Lan is someone who has received the Glory of the Sun Medal for his merits.

"If the Duanmu Family still can't swallow their pride, we can publicize these crimes of Duanmu Yi. When that happens, you probably won't be able to withstand the onslaught, even without our intervention."

"General Zuo, am I to take what you've said as a threat?"

"Don't! Please don't be so uncertain; I am indeed here to threaten you. And let me also tell you that if any of Wang Lan's friends, relatives, or acquaintances suffer inexplicable harm, we won't need evidence; we'll directly make Duanmu Yi's crimes known to all. Additionally..." Zuo Ming stood up, a faint smile on his lips, "The Duanmu Family isn't exactly clean beneath the surface; destroying the Duanmu Family probably wouldn't be too difficult."

"You!"

"I won't bother you further. Farewell!"

Just before leaving, Zuo Ming left behind a meaningful smile. With a flash, he disappeared from sight. Meanwhile, Duanmu Qingsuang, clenching the Soul Bead tightly in his hand, had an incredibly gloomy expression.

He finally understood why the Modu City Committee had approved the death sentence for Duanmu Yi. If it had been just about Jiang Xinyu, it would never have resulted in the death penalty.

What Duanmu Yi had done—how could Duanmu Qingsuang, his father, not know? If not for the family cleaning up after him, he would have been arrested by the Tianjian Bureau long ago.

But... how dare the Tianjian Bureau... how dare they imprint Duanmu Yi's memories? Duanmu Yi would never have cooperated with the Tianjian Bureau, so the only option was to imprint the memories forcibly. And a forcible memory imprint would surely leave the imprinted person an idiot.

How could the Tianjian Bureau dare to do this? If they had found nothing, how would they explain it to the Duanmu Family? This was why the Duanmu Family had never worried about Duanmu Yi's memories being probed for evidence of his crimes.

"Damn it!"

The storm within the Duanmu Family quickly subsided. Although it became a topic of conversation at the Star Martial Academy in Modu City for a time, it didn't last long. Wang Lan's life continued to be fulfilling: attending classes and using his free time to work on the Star Martial Toxin Vaccine.

With the Star Martial Toxin Vaccine, which allowed for a great harvest of experience points and skill points, Wang Lan even pushed the Nine-layer Pagoda out of his mind. The Nine-layer Pagoda? Does it offer higher returns than the vaccine? No? Then it can wait.

「Before he knew it, another week had passed.」

Over this week, Wang Lan's Star Martial level had remained at Star Cloud Three. To break through from Star Cloud Three to Star Cloud Four required a whole four hundred thousand experience points. At least one hundred Star Martial Toxin Vaccines would need to be developed for an upgrade.

His experience points steadily increased, and he reaped a satisfying amount of skill points. Almost all the freshmen's strengths remained stagnant, while only Wang Lan was skyrocketing at a rapid pace.

「Another weekend arrived.」

But for the students of Star Martial Academy, weekends still meant studying. It wasn't that the teachers were demanding it, but rather, they had no choice.

There were nine subjects, each one profoundly complicated. If one didn't dedicate all their time to studying and reviewing, the chances of failing the final exams would increase by fifty percent.

Not everyone was as talented at studying as Wang Lan.

After breakfast, Wang Lan was planning to head to the medical department. Just then, his phone rang.

Wang Lan glanced at it, his expression slightly solemn. "Hello, Mr. Ming?"

"Are you free today? It's the weekend. Come to the bureau."

"Okay!"

He turned and walked towards the school gate, hailed a taxi, and arrived at the disguised park entrance outside the Tianjian Bureau. The headquarters of the Tianjian Bureau was still located within a large park. To many citizens, it was unknown that the park's extension housed such a feng shui treasure.

And the entrance to Modu City's Tianjian Bureau was even more sci-fi than the Tianjian Bureau itself. Who would have thought that a stone table in a pavilion could actually be an elevator? Anyway, the first time I saw this, I really felt like complaining.

The Tianjian Bureau wasn't located underground; going underground was just the entrance tunnel. After entering the Tianjian Bureau, Wang Lan went straight to Ming Baiye's office on the third floor.

"Reporting in!"

"Come in!"

Upon entering the office, Ming Baiye was busily reviewing documents. Seeing Wang Lan, he casually told him to sit.

"I've heard from Guodong that you've been quite busy lately, always so elusive, like a dragon that only shows its head but never its tail?"

"Well, it's just my freshman year... The study tasks have been a bit heavy," Wang Lan said with a modest smile.

"That little rascal lied to me, saying that the study tasks were light as a feather and much easier than high school. Seems like he's itching for a beating..."

Hearing this, Wang Lan's neck shrank a little. Guodong, it's not me throwing you under the bus.

In Ming Baiye's eyes, Wang Lan was Suzhou City's academic prodigy, outperforming Ming Guodong by far. If even Wang Lan felt that university study tasks were heavy, how could Ming Guodong dare to say it was easy?

What does that indicate? That he wasn't studying properly, that's what! Isn't this the perfect time for a spanking?

"Mr. Ming, it's not really like that. I'm taking more subjects than Guodong, and the elective courses I've chosen are much more difficult than his. They require a lot of time and research. The general subjects are still quite manageable..."

What a load of crap! Wang Lan couldn't help but internally reject his own insincere words. Those two, Ming Guodong and He Jing, they just skip classes and play games back in the dormitory—with them, even the simplest subjects turn to dregs. They've probably resigned themselves to cramming at the last minute.

"Is that so? Wang Lan, you study well and are highly self-disciplined, so please encourage Guodong more. When he was under my and his mother's supervision, he used to work hard, but without someone watching him, he's definitely just going to slack off and play."

"Understood! Mr. Ming, you called me here because..." Wang Lan valued his time and didn't have much to waste on idle chatter.

"Here's the thing: I have a task for you. Lately, a large number of Soul Beads have appeared on Modu City's black market, not only severely disrupting the Soul Bead trading market but also causing massive losses to Modu City.

"In the past, when they kept it to a controllable extent, we could turn a blind eye. But this time, they've become insatiable.

"The Tianjian Bureau is determined to crack down, but the black market doesn't have a fixed trading place or a stable network. The Tianjian Bureau doesn't want to cast a wide net just to catch some small fry. This time, our plan is to decapitate: to take down the mastermind behind the black market Soul Bead trade in one fell swoop."

"Uh... Director Ming, do you want me to take part in the operation?"

This was the first time Wang Lan felt somewhat resistant to a mission. It wasn't that Wang Lan was getting arrogant; it was just that the Star Martial Toxin Vaccine was too enticing.

"Correct! What do you think?"

"I would lay down my life to serve the country!" Wang Lan immediately stood up, saluted, and declared. "It's just... how did this black market for Soul Beads come about?"

"Do you think the nationally traded Soul Beads are expensive?" Ming Baiye casually sipped his tea and asked with a smile.

"Not expensive!"

"COUGH, COUGH, COUGH—" Ming Baiye almost choked on his water. "Not expensive?"

"A single bead is only eighty thousand, and a hundred beads are only eight million. What can eight million do? In Modu City, it can't even buy you a house, right?" Wang Lan said earnestly, leaving Ming Baiye momentarily forgetting what he was about to say.

Wang Lan, your standard for valuing things is just too... precise. I'm at a loss for words.

"HAHAHA... Mr. Ming, I'm just kidding... Soul Bead prices aren't just high; they are exorbitantly high. Never mind ordinary people, even Star Martial Warrior families can't afford many, right?"

"That's right."

"Then why set such high prices? This pricing gives me the impression that they don't really want people to buy them."

"Soul Beads are considered luxury goods. Nowadays, when some couples are dating, boyfriends aren't gifting perfumes, handbags, or diamond rings anymore; they're giving Soul Beads. Just last year, a tycoon even customized a necklace with seventeen Soul Beads. That's all beside the point, but the state set such high prices for Soul Beads indeed because they don't want you to buy them."