Chapter Thirty-One: Flash Step Technique

Whether before or after the fusion of memories, there was a common thread between the two versions of Yi Shen from different worlds—he always had a stroke of romantic luck.

After all, he was undeniably handsome.

Coupled with a distinguished family background.

And he was always sociable among his peers.

So, even back in elementary school, several girls had already written him love letters or confessed their feelings.

Putting aside the memories from Earth, in this world where Yi Shen currently resided, he vaguely remembered starting to date quite early.

Though Yi Shen always maintained a clean reputation,

He was, in truth, quite experienced in matters of the heart.

He had even explicitly rejected many girls.

It was difficult to stop girls from being attracted to him when one looked so good.

Take, for instance, the recent reserve exam—there was a girl who confessed to him, and two or three more who sent love letters through his communicator.

Unfortunately, he had been too busy afterward, and having lost his communicator, he hadn’t had the chance to reply.

As for Zhu You...

Yi Shen had a pretty favorable impression of her.

From a pragmatic standpoint, he thought it might be worth trying to get along; deepening ties with the Zhu sisters could increase the safety and reliability of their cooperation. Only a closer relationship could provide true security for their collaboration.

On a more emotional level, Yi Shen had even considered drawing both Zhu sisters into his team, so that in the future they could explore secret realms together, enjoy the scenery, or spend time playing cards and chatting.

Of course, his top priority now was still to increase his own strength.

As his father often warned him, whatever Yi Shen aspired to do, his own power was the foundation for all ambitions.

...

After a brief discussion with the Zhu sisters, Zhu Qing began reaching out to her contacts and various channels to help Yi Shen sell his goods.

Yi Shen himself rented a room on a high floor in an old building in the South District.

He now always wore a mask and a hat when going out. This area was under the influence of the Jianghe Guild, and as long as he kept a low profile, the group involved in the Peach Blossom Cove incident would probably not pay any attention here.

[Blink (F): Consumes 50 mana points to teleport in a chosen direction, up to a maximum distance of 15 meters. Cooldown: 20 seconds. If an obstacle is encountered, teleportation will stop just in front of it.]

Yi Shen glanced at his system panel. After learning the skill book, his skill list now included Blink. Though it was only an F-rank skill, Yi Shen had high hopes for it from the start.

Housing prices in the old district were low, so Yi Shen managed to rent a spacious apartment of about 140–150 square meters, complete with a rooftop terrace, for a bargain.

In the empty living room, with doors and windows securely closed, Yi Shen immediately set about casting Blink.

With a soft swish—

During the instant he cast the spell, there was a fleeting moment in which he could determine exactly where he wished to teleport.

In the blink of an eye, the space around him shifted, and Yi Shen had moved from one wall to the opposite side, leaping over more than ten meters in an instant!

Other than a slight dizziness from his lack of experience with the spell, the sensation Yi Shen experienced was one of magical wonder.

“A spatial blink…”

Historically, time and space manipulation had always been among the highest forms of power.

To think that now, even a mage’s F-rank skill could achieve such effects—Yi Shen couldn’t help but grow more fascinated by the true nature of magecraft.

Swish, swish, swish!

Within the empty apartment, Yi Shen continued his experiments. Unlike other mages, he could use his skills with no cooldown and no mana cost, so once he mastered the landing points, his figure began darting rapidly around the entire room.

“This is almost too powerful,”

Yi Shen muttered as he used the skill over and over. The effect of Blink was even better than he’d imagined. Aside from the brief discomfort and dizziness upon landing, he could easily use it seven or eight times consecutively without even breaking a sweat.

Crucially, his tests revealed that his Blink worked in a straight line, and, upon completion, he could come to a complete stop relative to the ground.

This meant, in extreme cases, he could leap from hundreds of meters above ground and simply Blink just before hitting the ground to nullify all momentum!

Or, he could Blink upward toward the sky—thanks to his unique ability to use spells without cooldown or cost, he could reach heights beyond anyone’s wildest imagination.

Only after using the skill several hundred times consecutively did Yi Shen start to feel a faint wave of nausea.

“I can manage four to five Blinks per second, easily. If I use it continuously, I can handle up to a hundred times without issue.”

Yi Shen could feel that using Blink excessively would still tire and dizzy him, but the frequency was more than adequate for practical use. There was no need to constantly push his physical limits.

Within secret realms, using Blink multiple times in succession would already enable him to accomplish nearly anything he needed.

No wonder this skill could fetch at least five thousand contribution points.

Yi Shen considered himself lucky; if he’d gone to the black market, the price would likely have been a thousand or two higher.

Beyond Blink, Yi Shen’s next goal was to have Zhu Qing and her contacts keep an eye out for more skill books for him, or to gather materials for his personal research.

According to his plan, once he reached level thirty or so and with Blink in his arsenal, he could finally start searching for his parents’ whereabouts—and the truth behind their disappearance.

...

Yi Shen’s level 20 advancement quest required him to slay three elite monsters above level 20 in the secret realms.

For others, this would mean forming a party, clearing monsters, and slowly strategizing their way through.

But for Yi Shen, it was simply a matter of making an extra trip into a secret realm.

Over the next three days, aside from communicating with Zhu You, Zhu Qing, and the others in the South District, he also made a side trip to the Snowfield Desert, broke through his level cap, and raised himself to level 22.

After level 20, leveling up became noticeably slower.

At level 22, each new level required twenty thousand experience points, and killing a secret realm monster only yielded a little over fifty experience per kill.

In earlier runs, he could gain multiple levels in a single raid, but now, just managing to level up once per run was considered good.

Fortunately, Yi Shen was in no real rush.

Especially since with each new level, the attribute gains increased.

Previously-cleared secret realms were also gradually resetting and refreshing. All Yi Shen needed was time.

Beyond gathering experience, Zhu Qing quickly managed to liquidate some assets.

In just three days, she had already sold three or four pieces of D-rank equipment and five E-rank items, all at favorable prices, netting over ten thousand contribution points.