The Windshade Mark IV combat suit was black in color and displayed fine workmanship. It boasted a sleek streamlined design and the light that shone on the combat suit would all be directly absorbed, without even reflecting the slightest bit of light.
The suit was unusually tight, making it so that the inconspicuous muscle contours on Xia Fei's body were outlined clearly, giving him the sensation of breathlessness when he wore it.
"It seems a little too tight," Xia Fei said as he checked himself out in the mirror.
Phantom chuckled, "It is supposed to be tight. That allows it to keep your muscles tensed, avoiding any unnecessary resistance due to the trembling of your muscles when facing air resistance. You'll be fine once you get used to it. The Windshade Mark IV is only a Star River rank combat suit, if it were an actual Legendary ranked combat suit, I'm afraid you won't even be able to walk in it."
"Not to such a degree, right?" Xia Fei tried to move his body. Although he felt uncomfortable, his movements were much faster than before. It was just that Xia Fei had not completely familiarized himself with it, so his actions looked to be a bit mechanical.
"Do you know why I insisted that you must buy this Windshade Mark IV?" Phantom had been intentionally keeping mum all this time.
"I don't know." Xia Fei admitted.
"The higher the rank of the combat suit, the tougher the materials used to make it. Too tough a material would exert too much pressure on the human body, so this isn't something anyone could just randomly wear. People could even injure or cripple themselves if done incorrectly."
"With your current physical fitness, you can't wear a Legendary rank combat suit yet. And if you force yourself to, it wouldn't be able to augment your speed any further. Too much of a burden on your physical body would not only decrease your speed but also dull your movements."
"However, this limited edition Windshade Mark IV combat suit does not require its wearer to be of high rank, yet it could provide the performance of a Legendary ranked suit. It's the most suitable option for you."
Xia Fei took out Chasing Light, securing it above his right arm and lightly triggering the mechanism.
*Shing!*
A cyan short blade suddenly extended from his arm very quickly!
He brandished it about for a while, and wherever the blade slashed through the air, a dull hum could be heard that would make people shudder.
Chasing Light was fitted on the user's arm and did not require its user to hold it in their hand. The amount of strength one could exert with their arm would always be greater than that of the wrist, so Chasing light not only possessed the sharpness of a shortsword, but it also demonstrated a sturdiness that shortswords lacked. Wielding it gave Xia Fei the sensation of being capable of tearing mountains and splitting oceans.
*Whoosh!*
A cyan light flashed as Xia Fei did a horizontal cut across the mirror and saw a thin black line appear across its surface. Chasing Light had actually sliced that weak glass into two! Achieving this without even making any sound just demonstrated how sharp the blade was!
Phantom couldn't help but nod vigorously, "Very good. The killing intent you exude when you act was too heavy. Using an agile dagger just isn't complimentary with your style. This Chasing Light is far more domineering than a dagger, and it fits you very well too."
"Now that you have all the equipment you need, it is now up to your ability to absorb medicine residual before the assessment and raise your rank. It would be a completely different situation altogether once your speed breaks the sound barrier."
Holding the detector near the blood vessels on his wrist for a quick measurement, Xia Fei wrinkled his brow and shook his head, "An Alpha Index count of 73. It's still no good."
"We only have 10 days left," Xia Fei helplessly said as he tossed the detector aside and entered his cultivation room to do another round of frenzied cultivation.
"73? Xia Fei's rate of absorbing medicine sure is really fast. It has barely been 2 months," Phantom sighed as he muttered to himself. "A fully unlocked seventh brain region… Why did I not have it too? If I had my seventh brain region completely unlocked, perhaps I wouldn't become such a terrible assassin."
Looking through the window at the crowded streets below thronging, Phantom took a deep breath and sighed, "Forget it. I'll just go back and study my poems."
…
November 29th, early morning.
Dawn had just broken as Xia Fei crawled out from his bed in a timely fashion. He made his way to the bathroom to brush his teeth and wash his face. It was a habit of his to use cold water to wash his face no matter the season of the year, and the icy cold water worked as a quick way to cleanse the drowsiness and wake him up.
Putting down the towel as he took the detector to check on the status of the medicine residue in his body in passing, Xia Fei's eyes shone brightly all of a sudden.
"Phantom! Phantom!" Xia Fei exclaimed eagerly.
Phantom poked his head out from the Moore Stone, "What's up?"
"Look!" Xia Fei held the detector up to Phantom's eyes.
"An Alpha Index count of 9… You've absorbed it! You've absorbed all the medicine residue in your body!" Phantom cried out with a look of disbelief.
Tossing the detector aside, Xia Fei swiftly put on the clothes and walked over to the table in his living room. A concoction device was placed upon it, with a piece of white cloth covering it to prevent dust from collecting.
Xia Fei lifted the white cloth on the device and retrieved several boxes of medicinal ingredients that he had already prepared from the safe in his room, neatly placing them on the table.
On the second day of the auction, Xia Fei had used 260 million star coins to purchase the Silver Nocturna Blossom and other supplementary medical ingredients.
To raise funds, Xia Fei had reluctantly sold the Heart of Spirit for 230 million star coins.
Xia Fei only had 3 million star coins left in his bank account now, practically on the verge of bankruptcy.
"There's only one of Aquamarine Illusory Star and Silver Nocturna Blossom each, so you must not make a single mistake," Phantom was standing in a corner, reminding Xia Fei.
"Yeah!" Xia Fei nodded his head gravely, revealing a very solemn expression on his face.
The day after tomorrow would be the day of the assessment. It was critically important for him to raise his rank to Intermediate Star Base before the assessment.
Xia Fei's strength was considered very weak among all the candidates right now. Even if he were to reach Intermediate Star Base rank, he would still be ranked in the lower echelons of the tens of thousands of candidates.
Fortunately, Xia Fei had not skimped on buying the best combat equipment that he could presently use. With all the equipment, Xia Fei's strength should at least be just above the middle echelon.
Carefully purifying the Aquamarine Illusory Star and Silver Nocturna Blossom separately before finding the other medical ingredients that complemented with its other six flavors, Xia Fei then proceeded to measure out the necessary amounts separately into the concoction device.
After about 20 minutes, the table had eight more medicinal bottles of different colors. Xia Fei had added these eight portions into the mixing device as per the requirement, obtaining a single white bottle of compound medication.
Xia Fei took the bottle of compound medication and closely examined it under a light as he gently shook it a few times.
The white liquid looked similar to fresh cow's milk, a thick and pure whiteness that did not have any impurities.
Giving it a whiff, Xia Fei could smell a faint scent of spiciness, as if it were old spirits that still withheld a faint air of refreshingness.
Taking a deep breath, he raised his neck and poured it down his throat and into his stomach.
"It tasted awful!" Xia Fei wrinkled his brow and frowned.