Duke grabbed the gold coins from the box, his heart not much stirred, only contemplating how to transform these gold coins into his own strength.
[Giant Whale Breathing Technique: LV6 (1156/2300)]
He glanced at the skill tree, the progress of the sixth layer of the Giant Whale Breathing Technique was already halfway, next, with the assistance of Magical Beast Meat, he would be able to break through to the seventh layer in about half a month.
The next morning, Duke went to the Flying Eagle Commerce Association and met Al, the mountain of meat, again.
Al squinted and smiled when he saw him: "Duke! Long time no see!"
Duke nodded and said, "Can you get the meat of a ranked magical beast?"
He now had plenty of gold coins on hand; they were useless just lying there. Turning money into strength as soon as possible was the right path.
"Ranked magical beast? If you want it, we can get it, but it will take some time, roughly fifty gold coins per pound, the price might fluctuate." Al gave a rough price estimate.
Exact costs were uncertain and would need to be confirmed through the Commerce Association’s internal channels.
"I want ten pounds!" Duke said directly.
"Alright! You don’t need to pay a deposit, just wait for my message. Once there’s news, I’ll send someone to notify you at the manor." Al said with a squinting smile.
A five hundred gold coin deal wasn’t a small transaction; naturally, this put him in a good mood.
...
A fortnight later.
During this time, Duke had been wholeheartedly cultivating at the manor, even declining some of Vivian’s invitations, solely to break through to the seventh layer of the Giant Whale Breathing Technique.
He picked up a piece of blackened meat by his side and shoved it into his mouth.
This was the meat of the Black Rock Turtle, a ranked magical beast, which the Flying Eagle Commerce Association had acquired through some special channels, ultimately priced at sixty gold coins per pound.
After Duke received these ten pounds of Black Rock Turtle meat, he began a closed cultivation session.
[You completed a session of Giant Whale Breathing Technique training, proficiency +5]
[Giant Whale Breathing Technique level up, Constitution +1.1, Strength +0.3, Agility +1.1]
[Giant Whale Breathing Technique: LV7 (1/2500)]
[Constitution: 11]
[Strength: 12.2]
[Agility: 11]
[Spirit: 9.1]
[Free Attribute Points: 0]
At the moment the Giant Whale Breathing Technique was broken through, Duke felt the life seed in his abdomen vibrating, constantly emitting waves of heat that reverberated through his body.
Every time these waves reverberated through his body, Duke’s meridians, bones, and flesh underwent changes, as if being baptized again and again.
At the Knight Attendant stage, the life seed remained dormant, and it would not awaken until promotion to Knight Level.
Once the life seed awakened, it could continuously compress the Fighting Spirit within, transforming the gaseous Fighting Spirit into liquid drops.
On the surface, it seemed like a lot had emptied from within, but more space was provided, allowing the body to accommodate large amounts of Fighting Spirit.
Duke estimated based on his internal condition that when the entire interior was filled with liquid Fighting Spirit, the amount of Fighting Spirit could be more than fifty times that of a high-ranking Knight Attendant.
This massive gap in Fighting Spirit quantity was terrifying and was one of the reasons why an Official Knight’s strength far surpassed a Knight Attendant’s.
Looking at the skill tree, Duke saw the branches of the Giant Whale Breathing Technique were still flowering, indicating he had to grind up to the eighth layer to bear fruit.
It was said that reaching the ninth layer would enable one to become a Great Knight, a realm that even Vivian hadn’t reached yet.
Duke was now just two layers away from the ninth layer; going forward, he needed nothing more than to immerse himself in hard work.
After grinding the Breathing Technique to the seventh layer, many basic attributes had been brought about, all the physical basic attributes had already surpassed 11 points, and his strength had surpassed twelve points.
Duke could sense that once he accumulated enough Fighting Spirit, Vivian probably wouldn’t be a match for him either.
An Ordinary Knight found it difficult to elevate all physical attributes to the peak as he did.
Duke relied on the skill tree’s assistance for his physique, strength, and agility attributes to all improve.
Vivian might have greater strength than him, but it was likely that Duke now surpassed her in constitution and agility.
This scenario was dictated by the ordinary person’s training method, making holistic improvement challenging.
Two days later, Vivian arrived at Habs Manor.
"Becoming an Official Knight in just half a year..." Vivian felt a sense of defeat for the first time, encountering someone with knight aptitude superior to her own.
Considering Duke’s wizard aptitude, everything seemed explainable then.
Individuals with wizard aptitude are exceedingly rare, for them practicing Breathing Techniques was indeed simple.
Vivian brought a wooden box, saying, "This is a gift for you!"
"This is..." Duke placed the heavy wooden box on the ground, and upon opening it, found a longsword inside.
The longsword appeared ancient from the outside, containing numerous details upon close inspection, many areas intricately carved with complex patterns.
Duke picked up the longsword and discovered it weighed at least two hundred pounds, impossible for an ordinary person to wield.
After unsheathing the sword, he found its entire blade was black, incredibly sharp to the touch.
Duke merely brushed against it, causing a cut on his hand, some blood oozing out.
Given his current physical state, without Fighting Spirit protection, it was tough for ordinary weapons to pierce his skin without effort.
"This weapon, named the Black Sword, is forged from Celestial Cyan Gold and was once a treasure of an ancient kingdom’s royal family. It has been passed down for a long time. My father bought it at an auction a month ago as a gift for me."
"But I still prefer my Star Axe, so this sword can be your bargain." Vivian said nonchalantly.
Holding the sword, Duke lightly clashed it against another longsword nearby, which broke upon contact.
Having such a weapon in hand would provide an advantage in battle, at the very least eliminating concerns over equipment disparity.
"Celestial Cyan Gold pairs excellently with Fighting Spirit, allowing you to channel more Fighting Spirit, enhancing your combat skills." Vivian said.
Ordinary steel swords couldn’t hold much Fighting Spirit, presenting a limitation for Knight-level combatants, preventing them from fully leveraging their abilities when executing combat skills.
Duke swung the Black Sword around, growing fonder of it, enjoying himself as he laughed with the sword.
Seeing Duke’s antics, Vivian couldn’t help but giggle, then took out a palm-sized disc, saying, "The Spiritual Power Scale Compass I mentioned earlier, measure yourself with it."
Duke’s eyes lit up as he sheathed the Black Sword, taking the disc and asking, "How do I use it?"
"Just hold it, you don’t need to do anything, just wait a moment." Vivian said as she looked at the compass, curious to learn Duke’s Spiritual Power level.
Duke held the Spiritual Power Scale Compass, watching its needle spin faster and faster within.
The needle gradually slowed, halting before a scale, though Duke didn’t recognize the text behind the scale.