Chapter 71: Obtaining the Appraisal Skill
Yu Xian reclined in the large garden of his Chinese-style villa, radiating the unmistakable aura of a salted fish.
Aahhh! It's Monday. I don't want to go to school.
The day before, he and Nora had spent the afternoon house hunting. Out of all the properties available in Silver City, they had chosen this 2,000-square-meter Chinese-style villa. The main reason for this decision was the villa's location. It was close to both the school and the Eastern District. On top of that, it was already fully furnished and ready to move in. The only downside, if any, was the price. The owner was asking for a full two hundred million.
Before becoming a vampire, Yu Xian wouldn't have been able to afford this luxurious villa even if he had sold himself. Fortunately, he had the money from selling the spoils from Scott's collection. After purchasing the villa, he still had another two hundred million left in the bank, which would classify him as a wealthy man by any standard. This sum was more than enough for him to live in comfort for the rest of his life.
Life's twists and turns were sometimes astonishing. Misfortune could become a blessing, and blessings could become disasters. No one could truly predict the ever-changing whims of fate.
Ever since his father had been diagnosed with ALS, one stroke of bad luck had followed another. Now that fortune had finally turned in his favor, it was time for Yu Xian to sit back and enjoy life.
Currently, he was stockpiling energy in preparation for awakening Super Stomach. Once it awakened in a few days, he planned to activate Super Gustation, followed by Super Smell.
He had made this plan because Super Smell was an absurdly powerful tracking ability. The Perfect Lifeform had been able to locate Hu Weijie from several kilometers away precisely because of this skill. By all logic, Hu Weijie's scent should never have been able to travel such a distance, yet the Perfect Lifeform had still managed to detect him.
After unlocking those three abilities, Yu Xian would return to grinding for Pangu Immortality. Although Deputy Director Xiao Cheng's words had cast a slight shadow over his thoughts on immortality, they made him want to acquire the skill even more.
Theoretically, the harder one was to kill, the longer one's lifespan would naturally be. It wasn't as if the entire world would collectively conspire against a single person, dead-set on forcing them to die.
Right then, a streak of golden light streaked across the sky. It circled above Yu Xian's villa once before leisurely descending. As the golden light dissipated, it revealed Ether, whom Yu Xian had met once before.
Ether looked around at the scenery in the garden with a cynical, carefree grin, constantly voicing his admiration. Finally, he said enviously, "Salted Fish, your life is seriously amazing. Not like me... I have to run myself ragged every single day, and when I get back to Yanjing, I can only squeeze into a two-meter capsule dorm."
Yu Xian laughed. "Why don't you come live here? It just so happens this place is huge, and I have plenty of rooms."
Ether quickly took a step back in feigned terror, gasping. "I didn't expect you to be that kind of Salted Fish, lusting after my devastating good looks! Looks like I'll have to keep my distance from you from now on."
Yu Xian looked Ether up and down and immediately fired back. "You? Good looks? You're not even worth a goose!"
A goose? What kind of unit of measurement is that? Ether didn't understand the reference, but that didn't stop him from realizing Yu Xian was mocking him.
After the two traded jabs for a while, Ether pulled out a neatly packaged box from one of his spatial pouches. "All right. I've got other assignments to handle. This is your express delivery from headquarters. Please confirm receipt. You'd better open it and check the contents."
Yu Xian stood up and accepted the box. "Okay. Thanks."
With a gentle flick of his finger, a sliver thread split open the package, revealing a very plain, unassuming book inside. The moment he picked it up, an instinctive impulse arose within him. "Learn."
The book instantly transformed into a stream of light and merged into his body. A new ability took shape in his mind. He immediately glanced at Ether and silently activated the skill. Some information immediately appeared in Yu Xian's mind.
Name
- Cheng Pi
Codename
- Ether
Race
- Human
Gender
- Male
Age
- 22
Lifespan
- 269
Rank
- Mid Eagle Rank
Affiliation
- Huaxia Dragon Dynasty
- Qilin Support Department
[Abilities]
Light Chaser
- Channels the ether energy within the user's body to envelop the user, allowing movement at near sub-light speeds. This ability does not generate kinetic energy and therefore possesses extremely low destructive power.
Ether Light Arrow
- Channels the ether energy within the user's body into arrow-like projectiles to attack targets. Due to their low destructive power, they can harm only enemies below Insect rank.
Summary
- A weakling who can run very fast!
Yu Xian raised an eyebrow. He looked at Ether and smiled. "So, your real name is Cheng Pi. That's quite an interesting name."
Ether sucked in a sharp breath. "You actually applied for the Appraisal skill book?"
When Yu Xian nodded, Ether hurriedly crossed his arms over his chest. "I'm staying far away from you from now on. Any assignment that involves you, I'm rejecting on sight. Goodbye... no, not goodbye. Let's never meet again!"
He immediately covered himself with ether energy. Not giving Yu Xian any chance to respond, he shot straight into the sky and disappeared.
Yu Xian had originally wanted to ask whether Ether was interested in knowing his lifespan, but seeing how quickly the latter had fled, he could only let the matter drop. He sat back down on the lounge chair, raised his hand, and cast Appraisal on himself. A moment later, his attributes appeared in his mind.
Name
- Yu Xian
Codename
- Salted Fish
Race
- Shining Vampire
Gender
- Male
Age
- 17
Lifespan
- 5322
Rank
- Upper Sparrow Rank
Affiliation
- Huaxia Dragon Dynasty
- Qilin Combat Division
- Wickedness Purging Squad
[Abilities]
Light Feeder
- Absorbs light that shines upon the user to supply the various needs of the user's body.
Silver Blood
- Consumes silver and combines it with the user's blood to form Silver Blood, comprehensively enhancing all physical attributes. It can also be controlled to form silver threads for both offense and defense.
Spatial Blood Energy
- A mutated ability created through the fusion of the Pangu Spirit Pearl and a mutated Blood Energy. It allows the creation of interconnected spatial bubbles linked through shared space.
Appraisal
- Consumes mental energy to appraise a target, generating a status panel that provides an easy-to-understand overview of the target's attributes.
Summary
- Among elves, those who are different from ordinary elves are known as shiny elves. And you are... a Shining Vampire!
After he reviewed his attributes, Yu Xian's gaze finally settled on the "Lifespan" entry. Although five thousand years was an incredibly long time, he still had the urge to say something outrageously pretentious. Only five thousand years of lifespan? That's so short!
In other words, sometime more than five thousand years in the future, he would die from some sort of accident. The mere thought of it put him in a slightly sour mood. And when he was in a bad mood, he didn't feel like going to school.
However, as he was considering skipping school for the day, someone tapped on the bubble guarding the front gate. Yu Xian let out a helpless sigh. It should be Nora.
Since she had accompanied him house hunting the day before, she knew he had purchased this villa and moved in overnight. This dazed goose had wanted to walk to school with a classmate for a long time, so the two of them arranged to go together today.
Yu Xian used one of his bubbles to teleport back to the master bedroom. After changing into his school uniform, he appeared at the front gate.
The villa covered a vast area, so he had placed bubbles throughout the property. Whenever he didn't feel like taking the long way around, he could simply teleport directly to where he wanted to go.
Yu Xian opened the gate, and as expected, Nora was standing outside. Her golden hair gleamed brilliantly beneath the morning sun, dazzling to behold.
Nora brightened the moment she saw him. "Good morning!"
Yu Xian smiled. "Good morning!"
Just a moment ago, he hadn't wanted to go to school at all. Now, going to school suddenly didn't seem so bad. Sometimes, men, too, could be fickle.