On the second floor by the window, Tang Qi watched as Stanna left.
The tall and beautiful captain of the police had secretly kept two Molten Furnace Bullets for herself, which Tang Qi was aware of from the beginning.
When the Manatee Sea Demon launched its first sneak attack, Tang Qi pulled the captain under the desk, swiftly arranged the setting, and distributed the nine Molten Furnace Bullets he had just made—six were stuffed into Blood Python One, and the rest were given to Stanna.
It took one bullet to buy time.
The remaining two naturally fell into Stanna's hands.
Although the Molten Furnace Bullets were precious, being soaked in his own blood, using them to favor someone and prepare for future plans was indeed worthwhile.
What truly concerned Tang Qi was the treasure map he sent away with Stanna's help.
[Curio: Confessor Treasure Map.]
[Information Fragment: This is a map detailing the locations of monasteries and churches founded by one of the Twelve Saints, Saint Confessor—Martin Sims. It's rumored that one of the monasteries contains Sims' inheritance. Using this treasure map, soaked in the Holy Water of the Light Church, there might be a chance to trigger the inheritance.]
Even just from the Information Fragment, you could tell this was a valuable treasure map.
Yet, Tang Qi sent it away without hesitation, for a simple reason.
Besides the first Information Fragment, there was a second one.
[Information Fragment Two: This map has the identification number forty-two and can be sensed.]
This is how Tang Qi knew the map was real, yet he still sent it away.
A numbered treasure map?
Even a naive person could sense something was amiss.
Especially Tang Qi, who immediately smelled a hint of conspiracy.
At this moment, he had already guessed.
Perhaps the legacy of a certain Lord Confessor was hidden within Saint Thorny High School.
Besides the treasure map, more persuasive evidence lay in a diary.
Old Morgan's diary clearly recorded that his mother, a strong practitioner of Black Witchcraft, almost perished while exploring Thorny High School.
However, unfortunately, Tang Qi knew this fact wasn't very helpful.
In fact, on his first day of school, Tang Qi had followed Pastor Sinbenny, under the guise of renting a house, covering the campus, including potential church areas or places like the school's historical display room.
Sadly, he found nothing.
This was normal, Tang Qi didn't believe such legendary power would be easily found.
After all, according to various legends, the combat strength of Saint Confessor, in Tang Qi's understanding, was almost akin to a Divine.
Now seeing that numbered map, Tang Qi was even more certain.
The people or powers seeking the Confessor's inheritance were definitely more than just him.
Behind this might be a vast net of conspiracy slowly unfolding, ensnaring all those dominated by greed, unable to extricate themselves.
But among them, he wouldn't be one.
Tang Qi thought to himself.
After Stanna left, Tang Qi let the police handle the aftermath on the first floor, moving some crucial items along with his workbench to the upstairs study.
Before tonight, Tang Qi's task was daily cultivation and making bullets.
But now, things were different.
Aside from those two extraordinary spoils of war, digesting the gains from devouring the Manatee Sea Demon needed Tang Qi's attention now.
After storing everything well, Tang Qi set up some precautions at the staircase on the second floor, locked the door, and directly entered the cultivation state.
Tang Qi's cultivation routine naturally started with the Golden Furnace Meditation, his sole method before acquiring other cultivation methods, endowing him with clear consciousness and continually enhancing the power of the Molten Furnace Eye.
As for other techniques, Tang Qi was still exploring.
Secondly, it was the Chaga Fighting Technique, although the progress in that Fighting Skill mainly required experiencing actual combat.
As usual, turning the meditation into a skill, Tang Qi immersed himself with a mere thought.
The golden Sun, drawn by Tang Qi's intent, suspended in the void and darkness, various bizarre things rushing towards it like moths to a flame, then being consumed by the golden flames, turning into dust-like golden light points merging into the grey mist space in Tang Qi's mind.
Initially, it was like this, no different from numerous past cultivations.
As per habit, an hour later, Tang Qi would feel a burning pain in his mind, and he would have to cease cultivation.
But this time, it was different.
An hour passed, and not only did Tang Qi not feel the pain, but an unexpected change occurred in his mind.
"Boom"
Suddenly, Tang Qi's cultivation rhythm was disrupted by a surge of bizarre phenomena.
When practicing the Meditation Method, Tang Qi would see various abnormalities, such as black fog, roaring monster shadows, weird sea of flowers... Although it was never quite the same each time, the number remained at a certain level.
But this time, that level suddenly skyrocketed.
The past cultivation experience could be described like this: Tang Qi turned into the Sun in a sealed space, with only a small gap leading to a strange universe, through which the abnormalities flooded in.
Now, that gap had widened.
A torrent of abnormalities, at least twice as many as before, surged in.
In an instant, Tang Qi felt as if he had fallen into a spacetime black hole. He saw the previous abnormalities, but also saw many more terrifying ones—twisted auroras, bloody gaping mouths, wriggling tentacles, alluring whispers... Each one enough to drive an ordinary person into mad screaming, trapped in fear.
Although it was a sudden encounter with drastic change, Tang Qi knew very well that this was not the time to scream or succumb to fear, otherwise the consequences would be severe.
Tang Qi struggled to stay calm, imagining himself as a primitive man in ancient times, holding a stone, his fingers covered in golden mud, stroke by stroke, outlining that glaring pattern, occasionally looking up to feel the warmth, the burning heat.
As he delineated, the golden Sun in the dark void suddenly sprang forth more radiant golden light flames, sporting an innocent twist, primitive and natural, burning all the incoming monsters into nothingness, with only specks of golden light dust falling down.
"Thump~ Thump, thump"
When Tang Qi was not paying attention, the Spirit Space in his mind began to expand again, and the number of golden light points floating in the grey mist like fireflies had unknowingly increased by more than half.
When he again felt the pain and came to his senses, a ray of sunlight just happened to fall on him.
Had another night passed?
Tang Qi was surprised, then immediately looked towards his Sea of Consciousness.
The expanded area of golden light points immediately caught his eye. The combat from last night that left him severely injured not only left no lingering effects but instead allowed his strength to grow once more.
At this moment, his spirit was full, and without needing a mirror, Tang Qi could feel that his eyes might truly be glowing.
His gaze swept over himself; a special interface resembling personal attributes appeared.
The Skill column had once again undergone changes.
Still the same three skills: Meditation, Molten Furnace Eye, and Chaga Fighting Technique.
But when Tang Qi's gaze moved over, detailed information immediately popped up.
[Molten Furnace Eye: Derived skill, activation at the eyes, possesses Shock and Calming Spirit effects, can continue to improve, Realm: Beginner, Progress 0.1%.]
[Chaga Fighting Technique: An ancient primitive Fighting Skill, Realm: Beginner, Progress 0.15%.]
These two skills did not change from before.
What truly surprised Tang Qi was his main-focus Meditation.
His gaze slid over, and what appeared was:
[Golden Furnace Meditation: An immensely ancient meditation method, it can bring you unimaginable power, Realm: Beginner, Progress 0.3%.]
The progress directly increased by 0.1%.
That was merely the result of one night's cultivation.
Before devouring the Manatee Sea Demon, despite Tang Qi's dedicated cultivation and even absorbing a Blank Dog-faced Man's Resentful Soul, progress was only 0.01%.
Devouring the soul of the Sea Demon only increased the progress by twenty times.
Now, the cultivation results from last night had once again increased by one progress point, no wonder Tang Qi was so surprised.
At this moment, Tang Qi even felt the urge to drop out of school and dedicate himself entirely to cultivation.
But luckily, his rationality suppressed this impulse.
In his mind, recalling the scenes from last night's cultivation of the Meditation Method, the much more abundant abnormalities than before helped Tang Qi vaguely realize something, and an expression of seriousness crawled onto his face unknowingly.
"Does this Meditation Method offer greater rewards the further you go, but also become more dangerous?"
"Or is it because of some great change in this world that it has become this way?"
"What if I had succumbed to fear at that moment...?"
Tang Qi didn't speculate, but he knew that if he fell into fear and chaos during meditation, he would certainly encounter something extremely terrifying.