Chapter 285 – Xu Xiayan's Gift

The sky gradually darkened.

As the evening glow on the horizon was gradually replaced by the night sky, Su Ming had just finished giving the entire villa in Dragonheart District a preliminary cleaning.

It had to be said, this was quite exhausting work.

It seemed Xu Xiayan hadn’t used this place for a very long time, leaving it abandoned for at least several years. Not only was there dust, spiderwebs, and miscellaneous garbage everywhere, but even the backyard, front courtyard, and fountain area were overgrown with weeds.

The damage wasn’t limited to just the main gate – the exterior walls in various corners of the villa were also somewhat damaged, covered in moss and vines, making the entire villa look like it could be used as a haunted house, almost becoming a derelict building.

This made Su Ming seriously wonder just how many years this villa had been left here.

“Xu Xiayan was brought to Tianfeng City when she was twenty-one. It’s been almost ten years since she left Longyao City. Could it be that she only lived here for a year or two before running away because she couldn’t be bothered to clean, leaving this mess for me?”

Su Ming complained extensively while cleaning.

“Mi-ling!”

Meanwhile, Little Hai’er, after entering the villa, seemed to have been liberated. Not only did she swim around everywhere, but she also sprayed water here and created waves there, washing the entire villa from top to bottom with water while having great fun.

The mermaid girl had been hiding for several days, and now that she was finally liberated, she was extremely happy. Even the depression she felt from seeing her own kind’s egg being auctioned at Wanbao Auction House had disappeared, filling the entire villa with her joyful singing.

Thanks to Little Hai’er’s assistance, Su Ming was able to make the villa barely habitable before the sun completely set. Otherwise, relying on just himself, he really couldn’t have cleaned such a large house.

Of course, it was only barely habitable.

The weeds in the yard hadn’t been pulled yet, the moss and vines on the exterior walls hadn’t been dealt with, the main gate was only roughly installed without being replaced, currently as rusty as the surrounding fence. Even the furniture was basically all thrown away as scrap, leaving the entire house empty without any decent furniture.

If he couldn’t buy things on the Terminal and have them delivered, Su Ming would have almost been without even a bed, making finding a place to sleep problematic.

“This has gone beyond what can be fixed with just cleaning. Without getting a few people to help or simply hiring professionals, it’s impossible to handle.”

After dark, Su Ming basically gave up on the idea of fixing up this house by himself.

“Should I just renovate and refurbish it completely?”

The fact that Su Ming was already considering such things showed just how dirty and messy this place was.

Fortunately, the water and electricity here seemed to still work, otherwise Su Ming would have seriously considered whether to stay here tonight.

It was worth mentioning that there was actually something special underground in this villa.

“Wow, there’s even an underground training room?”

Su Ming discovered that the villa’s basement was actually a large training ground.The place was filled with some abandoned facilities and weapon racks, clearly indicating it was used for training.

“If we tidy this up, it should be comparable to the Training Room at the Academy.”

As soon as Su Ming saw this Underground Training Ground, he immediately wanted to clean it up and put it to use.

In the future, both he and the members of his team would need a place to train, and this Underground Training Ground would come in handy.

“Let’s make a note of this.”

Su Ming noted the matter before leaving.

As for cleaning up, he didn’t feel like doing it today. He decided to leave it for now.

“Meeling!”

Little Hai’er, however, swam over to Su Ming cheerfully, tugging at him and pulling him toward a certain spot.

It was a large bathhouse, spacious enough to comfortably accommodate at least ten people.

“There’s actually such a big bathhouse here?”

Su Ming clicked his tongue in amazement.

“Meeling! Meeling meeling!”

Little Hai’er kept tugging at Su Ming, pointing at the bathhouse as if she had taken quite a liking to the place.

Her meaning was simple: she wanted Su Ming to help her tidy up the bathhouse together.

“You’re kidding, right?”

Su Ming made a pained face, clearly reluctant.

“Meeling!”

Little Hai’er immediately resorted to her tearful tactic, looking pitiful with watery eyes, leaving Su Ming with no choice.

Helpless, Su Ming had to fulfill Little Hai’er’s wish and tidy up the bathhouse with her.

With Little Hai’er helping out, cleaning the bathhouse wasn’t too troublesome. In about half an hour, the place was practically as good as new and ready for use.

“Meeling!”

Only then did Little Hai’er cheer, flicking her fishtail as she soared into the air above the bathhouse. Water swirled around her, and she released a massive wave of water, filling the freshly cleaned bath in one go.

This directly saved the step of refilling the bath, and there was no need for hot water either—Little Hai’er had taken care of everything with her abilities in one go.

Once done, the mermaid girl dove headfirst into the water, swimming around comfortably and contentedly.

Seeing how happily and comfortably the girl was swimming, and having worked hard all day with his body feeling grimy, Su Ming couldn’t resist either. He too plunged into the bath, soaking comfortably.

“Meeling? Meeling!”

Seeing Su Ming strip naked and get into the water, Little Hai’er didn’t feel shy at all. Instead, she swam over with a mix of curiosity and fascination, as if wanting to study something.

“Hey, girl, don’t do anything reckless. Be careful or we’ll get flagged!”

Su Ming quickly stopped her, not wanting her dangerous curiosity to grow.

“Meeling!”

The mermaid girl was quite displeased, as if she felt Su Ming was hiding something from her, and her mood soured.

To coax the sulking girl, Su Ming had to serve her for a while before she finally smiled again.

What did he do to serve her?

Obviously! It was scrubbing her back and washing her hair! What else could it be? (Serious face)

It’s just that his technique wasn’t great, and sometimes his hands slipped accidentally. That should be understandable, right?

Well, Su Ming certainly thought it was excusable.

After all, it was his first time washing someone’s hair and scrubbing their back (smirk).Thus, Su Ming successfully moved into the villa and spent his first night in Tianfeng City.

By the way, Su Ming also found the so-called local specialty that Xu Xiayan had left in the villa.

In fact, it was placed right at the entrance, clearly delivered by mail without her personal presence. Otherwise, Su Ming would have asked her how she felt upon seeing the villa in such a dirty, chaotic, and neglected state.

As for the so-called specialty, it turned out to be some resources.

There was an alchemical potion that could enhance Spirit Power.

There was a Spirit Art Spell Formula book, ranked around fiftieth in the sequence.

And one more item—a gun.

Not a cold weapon like a Spear, but a hot weapon, a pistol.

Su Ming examined it and was somewhat surprised.

Spirit Energy Gun: An alchemical weapon, exclusive to Sorcerers, capable of refining a Sorcerer’s Spirit Power into bullets to launch and inflict damage on others. It is particularly effective against Phantom Demons, but its damage is limited against other targets.

“This is interesting.”

Su Ming was genuinely astonished by the gun’s information.

He had seen and even sold many alchemical weapons before, but this was his first time encountering one in the form of a hot weapon.

Especially since this alchemical weapon was exclusively for Sorcerers—another first for Su Ming.

All the alchemical weapons he had encountered in the past were for Hunters. A weapon like this Spirit Energy Gun, designed specifically for Sorcerers, was indeed unprecedented for him.

Su Ming tested it briefly and found that its power wasn’t particularly exaggerated. The Spirit Power bullets it fired had roughly the same lethality as the First Form: Flying Arrow.

“The quality of this Spirit Energy Gun is at most Low Grade, right?”

Su Ming made his judgment.

However, the advantage of the Spirit Energy Gun lies not in its power but in its rapid-fire and counterattack capabilities.

As is well known, when Sorcerers use Spirit Arts, it always takes some time.

First, they construct the Spell Formula to form a circular array, then output Spirit Power at a certain frequency to resonate with the circular array, allowing it to connect with the spiritual laws and form a fixed-sequence Spirit Art, which can then be released.

The higher the sequence of the Spirit Art, the more complex and difficult this process becomes to control.

Therefore, the skill and technique of Sorcerers in using Spirit Arts determine the speed at which they can release their spells, involving factors like spiritual affinity and Spirit Power levels, making it quite intricate.

Even Su Ming requires time to prepare and release high-sequence Spirit Arts, so in fast-paced battles, he often has little opportunity to use them, relying instead on low-sequence Spirit Arts as his primary combat means.

Only when using the First Form: Flying Arrow can Su Ming cast it instantly. For other Spirit Arts, no matter how low their sequence, he needs at least about a second to prepare.

He believes other Sorcerers cannot avoid this issue either.

How to quickly construct Spell Formulas and unleash sufficiently powerful Spirit Arts as fast as possible is a lifelong research topic for Sorcerers and a challenge all of them must face.

Because of this, in one-on-one battles at the same star level and rank, Sorcerers are often no match for Hunters.Hunters would strive to close the distance before sorcerers could successfully cast high-sequence Spirit Arts, swiftly defeating them.

Lower-sequence Spirit Arts, on the other hand, posed little effective threat to hunters of the same rank, often putting sorcerers at a disadvantage in one-on-one combat.

Sorcerers truly shined in team battles.

With teammates providing cover, sorcerers could freely unleash high-sequence Spirit Arts from the rear, becoming nuclear-level threats—artillery units capable of ravaging entire battlefields with Spirit Art bombardments, serving as devastating firepower and damage dealers.

This was when sorcerers were most terrifying, sending chills down one’s spine.

The Spirit Energy Gun sent by Xu Xiayan, while not particularly powerful, would automatically draw the user’s Spirit Power upon pulling the trigger, instantly refining it into bullets to threaten and harm enemies.

This rapid-attack capability even surpassed the instant-cast 【First Form: Flying Arrow】.

Moreover, while 【First Form: Flying Arrow】 emphasized striking force and impact with little lethal potential, the bullets fired from the Spirit Energy Gun possessed piercing properties, easily penetrating Phantom Demons’ flesh to inflict damage. If wielded by a Lower-Rank Sorcerer, this Spirit Energy Gun would likely prove highly useful.

At the very least, it would suffice against lower-tier Phantom Demons.

“Unfortunately, I’m not a Lower-Rank Sorcerer.”

Su Ming fiddled with the Spirit Energy Gun, wearing a bitter smile.

Among the local specialties Xu Xiayan sent, the alchemical potion could only increase Spirit Power to a limited extent, showing noticeable effects solely for Lower-Rank Sorcerers. Its quality was likely around High Grade—quite precious for Lower-Rank Sorcerers but practically useless to Su Ming.

As for the Spirit Art Spell Formula book, it went without saying: a Spirit Art ranked around fiftieth in sequence might be a potent spell for Lower-Rank Sorcerers, but for Su Ming—already a Five-Star Sorcerer who mastered multiple high-sequence Spirit Arts ranked around sixtieth—it was rather redundant.

Having even mastered an Advanced Spirit Art, Su Ming had lost count of how many Spell Formula books of this level were stuffed in his backpack, piled high enough to form a small hill.

In short, everything Xu Xiayan sent was only suitable for a Lower-Rank Sorcerer.

If Su Ming were truly a novice sorcerer fresh out of training, with an actual skill level of just one star, each of these three items would have greatly assisted him.

But he wasn’t.

This made things slightly awkward.

“Well, she meant well, so I’ll gratefully accept it.”

Su Ming wasn’t so ungrateful as to scorn Xu Xiayan’s gesture and tentatively stored these “local specialties.”

The alchemical potion and Spell Formula book would likely go unused by Su Ming.

But the Spirit Energy Gun might be worth fiddling with.

“I’ve never used an alchemical weapon designed for sorcerers before.”

If an opportunity arose later, he could use it to ambush someone.

After inventorying these “local specialties,” Su Ming retrieved an ancient book from his Golden Finger backpack.

It was unmistakably the combat manual containing the complete Legacy of Ancient Blade Art.

Su Ming opened it and skimmed through the contents.

Once he started reading, he found himself utterly captivated.

The Ancient Blade Art recorded in the ancient book was unlike anything he had ever seen.The contents recorded within were not merely various techniques of wielding the saber, but also writings on aspects such as force application techniques when using the saber, blade control skills, as well as the mental state and inner journey during its use.

If the Demon Blade Art Su Ming had previously learned was merely a blade art, then this Ancient Blade Art was not only a blade art but also a field of knowledge.

It thoroughly revealed to Su Ming that, beyond skill, the saber required certain understandings and insights.

Some of the concepts mentioned were so advanced that they even left Su Ming somewhat astonished.

“Could this truly be a blade art developed by ancient people?”

Su Ming began to harbor such doubts.

As a result, once he started reading, Su Ming continued until late into the night.

Only after Little Hai’er had fallen asleep beside him did Su Ming put away the ancient book, gaining some clarity in his heart.

“This Ancient Blade Art will require time and careful study.”

Su Ming had a feeling that this Ancient Blade Art would be of great help to him.

Thus, Su Ming drifted into sleep amidst his excitement.

In his dreams, he wielded the saber, cutting down foes in all directions, becoming truly invincible under the heavens.

(End of Chapter)