I will eventually become a divine being through accumulating constantly

Xue Wan felt a bit disheartened upon hearing this.

"Eh... why is it like this?"

Xue Jing nodded his head, indicating understanding, and said,

"That's just how the adult world is, there's nothing to be done."

Xue Wan pouted and said, "For an underage person, why do you pretend to know so much about being a wage slave?"

...

In a hidden basement in the South City area,

Li Chengxuan, wrapped in bandages like a mummy, sat in a wheelchair as the dim light shone on him, reflecting his listless, despondent eyes.

A long-haired young man with severe dark circles was feeling Chengxuan's body, checking his condition.

"... Such great skills,"

he said, his voice hoarse with admiration.

"I really want to have a talk with the person...every strike inflicted the maximum damage without being deadly. Chengxuan, you're ruined, unless those big companies arrange a 'Super Surgery' for him, completely replacing his bodily organs except for his brain..."

He glanced at Li Chengxuan's vacant eyes and smiled.

"... But, it seems like even if his body is healed, it wouldn't matter because his spirit has been utterly destroyed by that Xue Jing."

At the mention of 'Xue Jing,' Li Chengxuan seemed to be triggered, beginning to shake violently as if electrocuted, fear nearly spilling out of his lifeless eyes.

"Mmm— Mmmm— Ahhhhhh!!!"

He struggled, tipping the wheelchair backwards, and fell to the ground, still shaking violently, crouching there, his hands covering his head in total terror.

"See, he's hopeless,"

the young man said, laughing.

An adjacent young woman with a slender figure and short hair, seeming somewhat pretty, couldn't stand it anymore and spoke,

"Zhang, little brother is already miserable enough, don't stimulate him anymore."

The young man spread his hands, chuckling twice, "I didn't mean to, Chen Sister."

Chen frowned, "What have you been through, Brother Zhang? You weren't like this before, you used to love little brother the most..."

"People change, it's normal," the young man said nonchalantly.

He turned his head towards their mentor, Jiao Hongyuan, who sat silently by the side.

"Master, what did you call us here for?"

he asked casually.

"Don't look at me like this, I'm actually quite busy, not really free..."

Jiao Hongyuan glanced at him expressionlessly.

"Busy? Do you really think I don't know what you've been up to since you came back?"

The young man's eyes narrowed slightly, "Oh? What do you know?"

Jiao Hongyuan's face suddenly turned pale; he pulled out some tissues, covered his mouth, and began to cough violently.

"Cough!! Cough cough—!!"

It took a while before he recovered from the fit of coughing that almost made him faint.

The tissues were by then soaked with blood that was almost black.

"... Our Golden Wind Dojo has no way out anymore."

His demeanor showed exhaustion, and compared to a month ago, his frame was now so emaciated it seemed he truly was an old man nearing the end, aged by who knows how many years.

"You are my Direct Disciples... there's no escaping it, you can only follow your master into the darkness."

"I called you here to warn you."

"Do not stir up trouble in the recent period... keep yourselves quiet, especially you, Ren Xu."

Jiao Hongyuan's gaze turned to the young man with the last name Zhang.

"For at least this half month, you cannot cause any issues... I might have neglected taking care of you, but at least for the sake of our past master-disciple relationship, don't make things difficult for me."

He then turned to the young woman, "Wenyan, keep an eye on him, don't let him out of your sight."

Chen Wenyan nodded, "I understand, Master."

Zhang Ren Xu clicked his tongue but said nothing.

"In three days, it'll be Zong Jinkui's seventieth birthday feast, he has a good disciple, who has already stabilized his footing in the Inner Ring, and we'll inevitably have dealings with them... all the Direct Disciples of the Golden Wind Dojo who can still move must go."

"Absolutely must not cause any trouble, do you understand?"

Jiao Hongyuan earnestly admonished.

...

Eleven-thirty at night.

Half an hour from now would be New Year's Day, and time was about to transition from the year 267 in the New Calendar to 268.

Xue Jing stood on the balcony, his elbows resting on the railing, holding a bottle of Coke in his right hand, looking up at the sky.

"Bang —— Bang ——"

Fireworks continually exploded in the sky, their vivid colors reflecting on his face, exceptionally brilliant.

Miao Miao was squatting on the railing, her tail encircled by a ring flickering as she accompanied him in watching the fireworks.

The cellphone in his pocket kept vibrating, all from friends and relatives sending New Year's wishes, but Xue Jing didn't pay attention, simply enjoying the fireworks and drinking his Coke.

He felt the colorful fireworks reflected in his pupils, an inexplicable insight emerging in his mind.

The fleeting firework, precisely because they cannot last, exchanged their brief existence for a moment of ultimate splendor, a truth universally acknowledged.

Unconsciously, Xue Jing's pupils turned the divinely silver-white.

The ephemeral fate of these fireworks too was determined by Heaven...

"Jing, let's go set off fireworks too!"

Xue Wan burst through the balcony glass doors, calling out excitedly.

Unintentionally, she saw the silver-white color of Xue Jing's pupils, along with the resplendent colorful fireworks reflected within.

In an instant, she was mesmerized by that indescribable absolute beauty, stunned in place.

Not knowing how much time had passed, Xue Jing came back to his senses, the silver-white fading from his pupils.

A prompt popped up on the panel.

[In your contemplation of the fireworks, you've gained a sudden enlightenment, Weapon Strike Experience Points +1567]

[In your contemplation of the fireworks, you've gained a sudden enlightenment, Visualization True Experience Points +1849]

He turned to see Xue Wan still stunned at the doorway, so he walked over to her and snapped his fingers.

"Snap out of it."

Xue Wan's expression cleared, her beautiful face immediately flushing red.

How could it be... to be mesmerized by her own brother because he was too handsome?

That's just too embarrassing...

Xue Wan coughed dryly, "What happened just now, and why did your eyes change color?"

Xue Jing smiled and responded casually,

"I was watching the fireworks and gained some new insights into martial arts."

Xue Wan seemed skeptical, "How can you gain insights from watching fireworks? It's not like this is a martial arts novel..."

Xue Jing just smiled and didn't explain further, only saying,

"Let's go, didn't you want to set off fireworks?"

Xue Wan's eyes lit up, "Oh right, let's hurry, I know a good spot..."

She hadn't finished speaking yet when Xue Jing instantly disappeared from her side.

The next moment, he was already at the door.

From the balcony to the door, a gorgeous trail of colorful flames appeared, lingering for a long while.

"What... what is this?" Xue Wan's eyes widened.

While changing his shoes, Xue Jing said,

"A newly comprehended skill… um, let's call it — 'Flames Connecting Colors.'"

Heavenly Sabre Tactical Skill · Flames Connecting Colors.

This was a new application of Heaven's Will Saber he had mysteriously comprehended while watching the fireworks.

Heaven's Will Saber… this martial art was an evolution he had understood from the Asura Blade's artistic conception, intrinsically consisting of conceptualization with no specific techniques or energy-channeling methods.

Thus, all the tactical moves and ultimate skills derived from Heaven's Will Saber were quite 'idealistic.'

Cherry Full Moon and Flames Connecting Colors, all these skills came into play solely by the action of spiritual power, without specific methods of energy channeling.

This newly comprehended 'Flames Connecting Colors' was a tactic — a Burst Skill.

It interferes with personal reality through spiritual power, simulating ephemeral fireworks, instantly bursting towards and slashing at the opponent.

Like Cherry Full Moon, although it didn't have the massively exaggerated full graphics effects of the Cherry Full Moon, its execution still featured visual effects due to the outflow of spiritual power.

It would leave behind a trail of colorful fireworks in its wake...

"This is too beautiful, too amazing! I want to learn it too, can you teach me, Jing?"

Xue Wan's eyes sparkled as she clung to Xue Jing's arm coquettishly.

Xue Jing chuckled, "Next time for sure."

...