Chapter 3: Heavenly Zither Hands

Su Chen glanced at Ji Hanyan, then observed his surroundings. He asked carefully, “You...... aren’t looking for me...... right?”

“Is there anyone else here?” Ji Hanyan asked as she wrapped her arms around herself.

The Clear Sky Tower had four rooms on each floor, each taking up a corner. Su Chen looked all around, but knew full well he was the only one here.

He could only sigh helplessly. “If you want to fight me, there’s no point. I’m not qualified to be your opponent.”

“I’m not here to fight you. I wanted to ask where you learned the firebird Origin Skill you used against me?”

“That’s what you want to know?” Su Chen was slightly shocked. “Why are you interested in that?”

“I am interested in all Origin Skills that are comparable to Bloodline Origin Skills,” Ji Hanyan replied frankly.

The Erupting Firebird was the most powerful Origin Skill Su Chen controlled at the moment. In particular, the strengthened Erupting Firebird could even go up against Ji Hanyan’s Frosted Ice Palms. As a non-bloodline Origin Skill, this was very rare.

Ji Hanyan was well aware of the power of her own skills, so it was only natural for her to be interested in skills that could rival hers.

Su Chen thought for a moment, then replied, “I created this Origin Skill by combining two Origin Skills.”

“It’s self-created?” Ji Hanyan’s eyes began to shine. “You can create your own Origin Skills?”

“I just got lucky,” Su Chen said modestly.

“I want to learn it. What’s your price?” Ji Hanyan immediately asked.

So that’s how it is. Su Chen laughed bitterly in his heart.

This woman fancied his Erupting Firebird. No wonder she had come all the way here to find him.

This wasn’t all that surprising. After all, Bloodline Origin Skills were controlled by an innate bloodline, and there were only so many that existed. If she wanted to advance further, pursuing a few powerful non-bloodline Origin Skills was a good alternative.

Su Chen never intended on keeping the Erupting Firebird only for himself. He controlled the Brooke Formula, and could produce even more Origin Skills in the future. In addition, the strengthened Erupting Firebird was only useful at the moment, and it would probably be tossed aside sooner rather than later. If he could use it to do business and obtain other cultivation resources, it might not be a bad idea.

He pondered, then said, “This Origin Skill is split into three parts. Two of them are Ancient Arcana Techniques: the Fireball and the Inferno Origin Energy Model, and the last part is the contemporary Flying Flower Hands. The first two are easy to discuss, but the last one is a bit harder.”

“Soaring Snake Gu Clan’s Flying Flower Hands?” Ji Hanyan’s eyes revealed a trace of shock.

“Yes.” Su Chen helplessly nodded his head. “I can teach you the others, but not that one. Of course, if you have an Origin Skill that can replace the Flying Flower Hands, that could also work.”

“You can substitute the Flying Flower Hands for something else?”

“A unique attribute of the Erupting Firebird is that the Inferno Origin Energy Model allows the flames to assume a real shape, and the Origin Energy from the Flying Flower Hands raises the explosive power of the bird. In theory, it should still be possible with a similar Origin Skill, but it will take time to analyze. In addition, the final effect could be different.”

Ji Hanyan fell silent.

She gazed at Su Chen wordlessly, deep in contemplation. Finally, she said, “I understand. If I can give you an Origin Skill to replace the Flying Flower Hands, are you sure you can combine them into a new Origin Skill?”

Su Chen wanted to say he was sure he could, but in the end he said, “I’m about 30% certain.”

“Will this do?” Ji Hanyan flipped her palm, her fingers seemingly plucking at something as though she was playing a zither. Streaks of finger wind criss-crossed with each other, yet did not disappear. They formed an enchanting web in midair.

Su Chen didn’t expect her to possess such a move. He was slightly caught off-guard. He asked, “What was that?”

“Heavenly Zither Hands. With it I can condense finger strikes, which look as though they’re zither strings, in midair,” Ji Hanyan replied.

Su Chen’s eyes lit up.

The Heavenly Zither Hands and Flying Flower Hands were very different. Using it to substitute the Flying Flower Hands was basically impossible. But Ji Hanyan and Su Chen were not constrained by conservatism, and they were not dead set on just an Erupting Firebird.

Su Chen said, “I can try, but I can’t guarantee success.”

“What’s your price?” Ji Hanyan asked.

She was very straightforward, wasting no time on unnecessary words.

Su Chen thought for a moment, then replied, “The Heavenly Zither Hands we’ll consider as down payment. If I succeed, I’ll teach you the new skill and it will cost you a skill that is at least as strong as the Heavenly Zither Hands.”

“Deal.” Ji Hanyan tossed out a small booklet. It was the Heavenly Zither Hands.

She turned around and left without even asking how long it would take Su Chen to create the skill.

Su Chen looked at her back as he pondered for a moment. It wasn’t all that surprising she didn’t ask how long it would take he realized. Powerful non-bloodline Origin Skills were extremely hard to come by, and any Origin Qi Scholar would treat them as precious treasures, keeping them concealed. Even Ji Hanyan’s personal instructor only had one non-bloodline Origin Skill, and it was a high-tier secret skill, not suitable for Qi Drawing Realm Origin Qi Scholars to study.

Exchanging two regular Origin Skills like the Heavenly Zither Hands for a powerful Origin Skill was an extremely favorable outcome for her.

Because of this, Ji Hanyan didn’t give Su Chen a time limit. To her, this was a high-risk, high-reward investment. Although the rate of failure was high, the rewards for success were beyond incredible.

After he could no longer see Ji Hanyan, he glanced at the Heavenly Zither Hands that had seemingly come down from the sky. Su Chen was speechless. He began to understand this woman’s swift and decisive manner of doing things a little more.

He could finally enter his room for the first time.

The rooms the Hidden Dragon Institute prepared for their students were very spacious. There was a bedroom, a living room, and a room for cultivation. The entire Clear Sky Tower was formed out of gold and was encased in an Origin Formation. It was extremely sturdy, and no matter what the students did, it wouldn’t be affected.

After entering the room, Su Chen first cleaned it and put his stuff down before walking to the cultivation chamber. The cultivation chamber had a small Origin Formation embedded in it, causing it to draw in Origin Energy and nursing the environment. This was something only seedlings could make use of. Cultivating in this place was already much better than many other places, and most students dreamed of having such a cultivation environment.

Even so, such an Origin Formation was completely beneath Su Chen’s gaze.

He opened his ring and pulled out a medicinal furnace, placing it within the Origin Formation. He laughed. “Now, I can draw out the full potential of this grade-six Origin Furnace.”

Su Chen had pilfered this grade-six Origin Furnace from Master Feng. It required an Origin Formation around it to be used. Origin Furnaces were also divided into nine tiers, just like Origin Tools. This grade-six Origin Furnace was Su Chen’s most valuable possession.

Su Chen was not very proficient with formations, and he temporarily had no need of using this Origin Formation to make medicine, so he had set it aside. Unexpectedly, there was an Origin Formation in this place that would allow him to make use of the furnace.

Su Chen began to pull out item after item - his workbench, all kinds of containers, and ingredients - very quickly filling up the whole room. A great cultivation room had been turned into an alchemy room.

Finally, he pulled out his course timetable, analyzing which classes he should take for the upcoming term.

He was just about to begin when suddenly two voices shouted from outside his room.

“Su Chen, Su Chen!”

It was Wang Doushan and Jin Ling’er.

Su Chen sighed. It seemed he was not going to have an idle moment today.