Chapter 354: Advancement
After returning home, Xu Zhi first activated the [Eye of Secret] and carefully scanned the entire house. Only after confirming that nothing was out of place—and that nothing unusual had appeared in her room—did she turn to Qi Yanxin and ask, “Did you go into my room while I was away?”
Qi Yanxin looked a little puzzled but still shook her head. “No.”
If Xu Zhi told her not to enter, she wouldn’t step inside even once.
“Got it.” Xu Zhi nodded. That only confirmed her suspicion—the one who had placed the blood offering on her bedside table knew her movements, at least when she was home and when she wasn’t.
“…Forget it. Not dealing with that for now.”
Her priority was to digest the resources she had gained.
The ring she’d taken from the Academy was already filled with cores—wealth that would make even upper-tier elites envious. Xu Zhi planned to convert all of it into strength within the next two months, before the new term began.
Although she didn’t have a bottleneck preventing her from advancing—she could raise her level directly by absorbing extraordinary energy—she was still limited by absorption and conversion efficiency.
Even though she was far ahead of ordinary extraordinary beings in that regard, she couldn’t just jump straight to Named in one go. She had to consume cores gradually, building her level step by step.
Even so—
Going from Longevity to Named within two months was already beyond common understanding.
Xu Zhi knew this was something she absolutely couldn’t expose. If it were revealed, even the Academy might no longer be safe for her.
So her plan was simple.
After reaching Named, she would enter the Lost Lands and stay there for a while. When she returned, any anomalies could be attributed to that experience.
Of course, that was only a rough plan. There was still much to prepare.
For now—
She needed to grow stronger.
Xu Zhi took several high-purity [Blade] cores from her ring and tossed them to Xiao Yi. Then she took out [Lamp] cores for herself and began absorbing them.
First, she would raise [Lamp].
When she tossed a high-concentration [Lamp] core into her mouth, it melted instantly.
For some reason, Xu Zhi suddenly thought of Jiang Qing.
At that moment, Jiang Qing had seemed… strangely appetizing.
Would she taste similar to this [Lamp] core?
“…Wait.”
Xu Zhi snapped back to her senses. “What am I thinking?!”
She had no cannibalistic tendencies, nor was she [Cup], nor did she have any interest in human flesh. Why had such a thought suddenly appeared?
Something wasn’t right.
But she couldn’t immediately tell what.
She suppressed the strange idea and carefully examined her body and pathways. Finding nothing abnormal, she began to analyze.
“It’s unlikely that Jiang Qing herself is the problem.”
As a heavily cultivated prodigy, Jiang Qing had experienced countless battles and shed plenty of blood. If her flesh were truly that enticing, someone would have acted on it long ago.
“Then is it me? That doesn’t seem right either.”
She didn’t feel this way about anyone else.
Which meant—
There was something between her and Jiang Qing that caused this unusual attraction.
Then Xu Zhi recalled Jiang Qing’s gaze during the opening ceremony—that curious look, different from others, as if she had seen Xu Zhi somewhere before.
Maybe Jiang Qing knew something.
She would ask her next time they met.
While thinking, Xu Zhi felt her [Lamp] energy reach saturation. She needed time to digest and couldn’t absorb more—for now.
But she didn’t stop.
Instead, she switched to [Moth] cores and continued.
“…Having money feels great.”
She could consume whichever cores she wanted.
As the cores dissolved into pure energy within her body, Xu Zhi felt that dense extraordinary energy flow directly toward her talent pathways. The two circuits—one gold, one gray—extended countless tiny tendrils, eagerly gathering the energy like treasure, continuously reinforcing and expanding themselves.
The speed didn’t feel particularly fast to her.
But that was only from her perspective.
Even though her body could hold far more energy than others of her level, it still had limits. When she felt “full,” she stopped.
Xiao Yi had already finished all the cores she’d given it and was now drowsy—digesting as well.
For some reason, Xu Zhi felt that her [Lamp] pathway looked… satisfied.
Like it had finally had a full meal.
“…Was I starving you before?”
She asked instinctively, then realized—
Yes. She had been poor before.
The pathways didn’t respond. They simply continued expanding.
For the first month, Xu Zhi lived almost leisurely. Eat, sleep, absorb—her level rose as naturally as breathing. Her body gradually recovered, hidden injuries disappeared, and her physical strength grew daily.
Compared to the league, she was now even more of a “monster.”
And as her [Moth] level increased, her eyesight fully recovered.
Once [Moth] also reached Longevity, all her previous abilities returned. Her condition approached the peak she had once reached in the Federation.
She now felt confident about entering the Lost Lands.
During this time, she also sold her prosthetic opportunity through the Academy, exchanging it for more cores.
But after consuming half of her [Lamp] cores and reaching Longevity Level 4, her progress suddenly slowed.
The “shortcut” she had once carved out was nearly exhausted.
The next step—
Was entirely uncharted territory.
“Logically, I’ve never truly reached Named. My previous ‘Named’ was fake.”
“But I’ve already met all the conditions.”
“All that’s missing… is the Great Dream.”
To become Named, one had to pass the trial of the Great Dream and obtain a title.
Back then, she had taken a shortcut—
So she had never truly undergone that trial.
Xu Zhi was curious.
What would her title be?
