Chapter 61: As Heaven’s Gift Approaches, the Star Beast Tree Hollows Open

He woke up naturally, long before the end of his shift. Sitting up in bed, Zhang Chu picked up his phone from the table and began to record his thoughts—insights fresh from his recent experiment in the forest hunting grounds.

“First: Passive Devouring has a daily cap of ten times!”

“Second: The amount of spiritual energy gained from Passive Devouring is related to the age rings of green plants. Fifty years of a plant’s vitality equals one unit of spiritual energy.”

“In other words, absorbing a one-hundred-fifty-year-old tree would increase my spiritual energy by three units, and so on.”

“Third: For now, Passive Devouring can only serve as an auxiliary method; hunting exotic beasts remains the primary way.”

After finishing his notes, Zhang Chu drank some water as he pulled up his personal status panel. The other stats remained unchanged. Only his spiritual energy had risen from 62.4 to 70—that was today’s achievement.

“I almost forgot…”

Stuffing his notebook into his backpack, Zhang Chu finally remembered the advanced talent reward Luo Zhidong had given him yesterday: “Improved Immovable Meditation Technique.”

The “Immovable Meditation Technique” was a mental martial art that could rapidly restore depleted spiritual energy, belonging to the healing category. It was the top choice for a one-star dual-force warrior’s first foray into spiritual martial techniques—cheap and effective.

With a thought, Zhang Chu took out the “Immovable Meditation Technique” from his storage ring.

“Ding! Level 1, low-grade advanced version of ‘Immovable Meditation Technique’ detected. Do you wish to learn it?”

The moment the book appeared, the system had already identified it.

So it could be learned automatically?

Could a system really master spiritual martial arts? The thought surprised Zhang Chu, but after a moment’s hesitation at the white notification window before him, he decided to give it a try: “Execute!”

The next instant, countless lines of text poured into his mind, swirling like a storm until they condensed into a virtual figure seated cross-legged, each breath and movement following a unique rhythm.

Zhang Chu slowly closed his eyes, feeling out the cultivation method of this spiritual martial art.

“As expected of Luo Zhidong’s improved version—especially after the system’s advanced optimization. It feels as if I’ve been practicing the ‘Immovable Meditation Technique’ for years. I can enter meditation and restore my spiritual energy at any time.”

Now Zhang Chu could enter a meditative state whenever he wished to recover his spiritual energy—a feat that would normally require at least five years of dedicated training.

Bang, bang, bang!

Just as Zhang Chu was reveling in his achievement, there came a brisk knock on the office door. He had just leapt out of bed when Hu Sanyi poked his head in.

“Old Hu, what brings you here?” Zhang Chu asked in surprise.

“Director Zhang, you’re a busy man and forgetful too! Thanks to you, I just joined the Martial Arts Research Institute today. I’m planning to celebrate after work and treat you to dinner. From now on, my performance reviews are in your hands!”

Now that he’d joined the institute and received his official post, Hu Sanyi was already joking like a seasoned office worker.

“Damn, I’d forgotten all about that…”

Zhang Chu snapped back to reality. He’d been so preoccupied with increasing his spiritual energy through Passive Devouring that he’d forgotten he was the reason Hu Sanyi had secured his champion’s title.

According to the rules of the Non-Active Warrior Tournament, both Hu Sanyi and Su Mingyue were to be recruited by the institute.

“Teacher Hu is giving me a hint—how about I do the treating instead? Invite all the brothers from the Gale Squad; it’s been too long since we’ve all met.”

With an arm around Hu Sanyi’s shoulders, Zhang Chu clocked out with him.

Moments after they left, Su Mingyue appeared outside the forest hunting grounds administrator’s office. Finding the door locked, she bit her red lips and was about to leave when her phone rang.

“Alliance Leader.”

Seeing the familiar number, Su Mingyue’s face lit up with delight.

“Come to the Purple Emperor Pavilion for dinner tonight. I can help you with what you asked.”

An elderly man’s voice came from the receiver.

Su Mingyue quickly agreed and hurried home to the warrior’s residence to do her makeup and change.

…

“Come on, let’s raise our glasses together and celebrate our Gale Squad producing two new teachers!”

Seven o’clock that evening. The 888 private room at the Purple Emperor Pavilion was buzzing with excitement.

Though Zhang Chu had planned to pay, the host ended up being Wang Donglai.

Wang Donglai, nicknamed “Old Turtle,” was the simpleton of the Gale Squad, whose greatest asset was his family’s wealth. The Purple Emperor Pavilion itself belonged to his father.

“Brother Chu, Old Hu, don’t forget about us when you’re rich and famous!”

“Exactly—when are you going to get us in too? We’d settle for being security guards.”

Monkey and Glasses eagerly volunteered.

“I’m just a library manager. If you really want to be security at the Martial Arts Research Institute, you’ll have to ask Director Zhang here,” Hu Sanyi said with a hearty laugh.

As the lucky winner of the Non-Active Warrior Tournament, Hu Sanyi’s own martial rank had landed him in the library. But he was thrilled—working in the institute’s library meant free access to all sorts of martial techniques, precisely the life he’d dreamed of.

When he learned Zhang Chu had taken the position of forest hunting grounds administrator, Hu Sanyi was momentarily stunned, wondering if there’d been some mistake. But learning that Zhang Chu’s main role was Director of the Martial Arts Research Institute, he understood—Director was solidly middle management.

“Brother Chu, just give the word and I’ll report for duty tomorrow!”

Wang Donglai pounded his chest and grinned.

Zhang Chu said nothing. Entry into the Martial Arts Research Institute required either special talent recruitment or passing the entrance exam—there was a saying: if you saw a dog at the institute, best not mess with it; it might have an official post.

“Just wait a bit—Heaven’s Gift is near. You might still have a chance,” Hu Sanyi said.

Heaven’s Gift!

Everyone looked blank at the mention. Even Zhang Chu had never heard of it. “Old Hu, what exactly is this Heaven’s Gift?”

After Hu Sanyi’s explanation, Zhang Chu understood.

Heaven’s Gift was a blessing from above. A thousand years ago, when spiritual energy surged and animals mutated into ferocious monsters, humanity was forced to evolve, giving rise to warriors. To become a warrior—or even a dual-force warrior—one had to build up vital energy, a grueling path with no shortcuts.

Some, however, were born without the talent for it; their vital energy never reached the threshold of 150, and they could never become warriors. Yet once every fifty years, on the day of the global spiritual energy storm, these people could bypass the vital energy requirement and awaken their spiritual power directly.

Such individuals were called the Gifted.

Gifted were even rarer than dual-force warriors. According to Hu Sanyi’s information from the library, “The once-in-fifty-years Heaven’s Gift will arrive within three days!”

More importantly, to protect dual-force warriors from the spiritual energy storm on Heaven’s Gift Day, star beast tree hollows would be opened nationwide, allowing selected dual-force warriors to enter for secluded cultivation.

“Star beast tree hollows?”

The news nearly made Zhang Chu jump out of his seat in excitement.

In the hunting grounds and Dandang Mountain, the highest level of exotic beasts was six—no longer much of a challenge for him. The proper training ground for dual-force warriors was the star beast hunting ground under the jurisdiction of the Boundary Hall.

But in those grounds, you couldn’t take away the star beasts’ cores or bodies.

Star beast tree hollows, however, were different—super arcane formations that opened once every fifty years, leading to a secondary dimension. Within the allotted time, you were free to hunt as you pleased.

It was known as a paradise for dual-force warriors!

Suddenly, the food before Zhang Chu lost all flavor. With steely resolve, he made an oath that went against all ancestral wisdom: No matter what, he had to go to the star beast tree hollow!