Chapter 3 – The Path of the Sword God at Shili Slope

Demon Hunter Academy, Male Dormitory.

As soon as Su Ming, Lei Hao, and Ye Bai returned here, they immediately went about their business—some took showers, others attended to personal matters. Before long, each of them had collapsed onto their beds and begun snoring loudly.

Su Ming also lay down on his bed, closing his eyes. At first glance, he appeared to have fallen asleep, but in reality, he was browsing the interface in his mind.

This was not a figment of Su Ming’s imagination, nor was it a hallucination.

As a transmigrator—even if he had only crossed into a parallel world, uncertain whether he had replaced his counterpart in this world or if his counterpart had awakened memories from another world—Su Ming had still obtained the Golden Finger he deserved.

His Golden Finger was quite simple: this interface.

The interface was also very minimalist, resembling a game’s shop at first glance. It not only displayed items but also marked prices below them.

However, the items provided in this shop were neither diverse nor abundant—only various packages.

Yes, packages.

“Today, I completed another C-Rank Mission. I should have saved up enough crystals to open a package, right?”

Thinking this, Su Ming shifted his attention to the lower corners of the shop interface.

On the left and right sides, there were two small icons.

The icon on the left was a backpack.

As the name implied, it was a backpack that could be used to store Su Ming’s possessions. As long as the items weren’t living beings and there was enough space in the backpack, anything could be stored inside.

The icon on the right was a diamond-shaped crystal.

To the right of the diamond-shaped crystal, a line of numbers was displayed—”1000.”

“I’ve indeed saved up a thousand crystals.”

Su Ming’s mood grew slightly excited.

These crystals were the only currency recognized by the shop.

Only by using these crystals could Su Ming purchase the corresponding packages.

In each of these packages, 3-5 items could be randomly obtained.

None of these items were ordinary; even the worst would be materials of supernatural quality. Nothing common or mundane would ever appear.

If he were incredibly lucky and managed to obtain an ultra-rare, world-scarce item from a package, Su Ming could even instantly gain the opportunity to compete for the world’s peak.

Therefore, one year ago, when he arrived in this world and learned the function of this Golden Finger, Su Ming had made a decision.

“I’ll keep quietly saving crystals and opening packages. Unless I possess enough strength to ensure my safety in any crisis, I will never step into the spotlight.”

This was a resolve Su Ming had vaguely formed after learning how dangerous this world was and what kind of perilous missions and battles he would face if he flaunted his abilities excessively.

However, before the Golden Finger appeared, Su Ming hadn’t dared to make such a decision.

The reason was simple.

As Lei Hao and Ye Bai had said, lying low and developing discreetly was indeed a good strategy, but the fear was that one might not survive long enough to achieve prominence.

How could you be sure your strength would keep improving?

How could you be certain your talent was strong enough to reach that level?

Moreover, wouldn’t you need guidance from others to enhance your abilities?

What if you lacked resources?

What if you had no connections?Can one truly develop by hiding away with no reliance at all?

That’s completely unrealistic, isn’t it?

In this perilous world, to avoid being captured as blood sustenance by Phantom Demons and dying without a clue, or to protect those around you consistently, the only path is to keep climbing upward, showcasing your value as much as possible so that humanity’s higher-ups are willing to invest in you.

Only then can you obtain resources and guidance, enabling yourself to grow stronger faster.

This is a consensus shared by everyone.

Unless you’ve resigned yourself to the status quo and can accept the possibility of dying at any moment during a Phantom Demon invasion disaster.

Otherwise, you have no choice but to climb upward.

Su Ming originally thought the same way, until this Golden Finger appeared.

“As long as I have enough chips, I can open countless packages to obtain all sorts of rare items.”

“Advanced Phantom Demon Bloodline.”

“Advanced Spirit Art.”

“Even Advanced weapons, Advanced materials, Advanced alchemical potions.”

“Resources that others dream of will eventually be mine in abundance.”

It was upon realizing this that Su Ming officially embarked on the path of training himself into the Sword God of Shili Slope.

To others, Su Ming appeared as one of the most unremarkable students among the many at the Demon Hunter Academy—his grades neither high nor low, not entirely without merit, yet utterly lacking in standout qualities.

This was the persona Su Ming deliberately maintained.

In secret, however, Su Ming had been quietly accumulating chips.

The method to obtain chips was simple: exchange other items with the mall.

Naturally, ordinary items wouldn’t do; they had to be Extraordinary Items from the Spirit Demon Abyss, including but not limited to materials dropped by Phantom Demons.

Thus, over the past year, Su Ming had been silently managing his persona, hiding his uniqueness to avoid being pushed to the forefront and facing danger head-on, while simultaneously undertaking various missions to skim some benefits, which he exchanged for chips.

Just like today, the team composed of Su Ming, Lei Hao, and Ye Bai obtained the Screaming Demon’s wings and handed them over to the Academy. But the Screaming Demon didn’t just drop a pair of wings.

With so many materials on a Phantom Demon, did anyone really think Su Ming would burn it all to ashes?

Not a chance.

While using [Spiral Fire] to burn the Screaming Demon to death, Su Ming had quietly collected the rest of the Phantom Demon’s body materials into his backpack and immediately tossed them into the mall, exchanging them for chips.

“Now it’s time for the delightful package-opening session.”

Without much hesitation, Su Ming instantly spent all one thousand chips.

“Whoosh.”

As the chip count dropped from “1000” to “0,” a large package popped out from the mall interface and landed in Su Ming’s backpack.

The price of one package was exactly one thousand chips.

Su Ming immediately focused his consciousness into his backpack, opened it, and retrieved the package inside.

“I hope my luck is good today.”

Su Ming’s excitement began to mix with nervousness.

Although he had experienced many package openings over the past year, each time he couldn’t help but feel tense.

After all, what came out of these packages weren’t just paper characters you could look at but not interact with—they were tangible items that could influence Su Ming’s development and enhance his strength.At that moment, Su Ming couldn’t help but lick his slightly dry lips before starting to unpack.

Soon, Su Ming pulled out the first item from the package.

Spirit Power (Small): Extremely pure, unclaimed spirit power. Fusing it into the body can increase spirit power content with no side effects.

“Not bad.”

Su Ming muttered with a hint of weariness.

Mainly because he had obtained this item quite a few times over the past year.

However, anything that could increase spirit power without any side effects would still hold considerable value out in the world.

“After all, spirit power is the energy Sorcerers rely on to perform Spirit Arts. The stronger the spirit power, the more powerful the Spirit Arts become, and both the quantity and quality of usable Spirit Arts will improve.”

Therefore, one should never complain about having too much of such items.

Immediately, Su Ming swallowed the cloud-like spirit power, allowing it to fuse into his body.

Next, Su Ming pulled out the second item.

Phantom Demon Blood (Lower Grade): Blood from an unknown lower-grade Phantom Demon, usable for refining Phantom Demon Potions.

“Phantom Demon Blood?”

Su Ming furrowed his brows.

This item’s rarity was comparable to the first one, and depending on the situation, could potentially be even more valuable.

Because once refined into a Phantom Demon Potion, it could potentially grant a human Phantom Demon bloodline and obtain Phantom Demon powers.

After the emergence of the Spirit Demon Abyss, only a very small portion of humans developed Spirit Constitution, enabling them to generate spirit power within their bodies and use the power called “Spirit Arts” to eliminate Phantom Demons, while the rest had no such opportunity.

For ordinary people, the appearance of Phantom Demon Potions was undoubtedly a blessing.

By obtaining Phantom Demon bloodline and powers, even ordinary humans could confront Phantom Demons.

This was the origin of Hunters.

The Phantom Demon Blood in Su Ming’s hands could transform an ordinary human into a powerful Hunter.

However, Phantom Demon Potions couldn’t be consumed casually. If one couldn’t adapt to the power within the potion, the outcome would be no different from bodily explosion.

Given this, most people who valued their lives didn’t dare take such risks to obtain power at the cost of their bodies or lives.

Of course, if the Phantom Demon Blood used to refine the potion was sufficiently Advanced, many people wouldn’t mind taking the risk once for powerful strength.

Unfortunately…

“Lower-grade Phantom Demons are just small fry in the Spirit Demon Abyss. Even if someone successfully adapts to a potion refined from such blood, their maximum achievement would only be equivalent to the small fry among Phantom Demons.”

Such low-potential items were undoubtedly mediocre for many people.

“Whatever, at least it’s still quite valuable for ordinary common folks.”

After some thought, Su Ming still stored this vial of Phantom Demon Blood in his backpack.

Whether to give it to someone he liked or use it for equivalent exchange with others would be a decision for later.

Right now, Su Ming’s unpacking session wasn’t over yet.

“Please don’t tell me this package only has the guaranteed three items.”

Su Ming prayed while pulling out the third item.Fate Heaven Earth Shift (Eighty-Eight Forms): An Advanced Spirit Art capable of instantly inverting the boundary between heaven and earth, transforming countless kinetic forces including gravity into destructive power. It inflicts devastating strikes upon all entities within a certain range, possessing immense potency.

When such a book was unwrapped from the package, Su Ming shuddered from head to toe.

“It’s extraordinary!”

This thought lingered in Su Ming’s mind, filling him with overwhelming delight.

(End of Chapter)