Chapter 30: Skills Ethan sat quietly on his bed, the weight of a new realm settling into his body. He had finally stepped into a major cultivation realm, and with it came a flood of possibilities. But first, he needed to understand his body. He closed his eyes and focused inward. His core pulsed vividly — a swirling sphere 68 cm in diameter, where three colorful lights danced and intertwined in constant motion. He could feel the power within, the latent energy waiting to be drawn out. Yet, when he tried to control it, the energy would only coat his body. It wouldn’t flow freely like he wanted it to. At least not yet. He didn’t know if he could acheive that level of control in the Grandmaster Realm.That was an experiment for another day. Next, he examined his mental energy. Something had changed when it crossed the 10,000 mark, just like the leap at 1,000. There was a qualitative shift—his mind felt sharper, denser, more aware. To test it, he focused on the items in his room. His sword, ten flying knives, three pens, his mobile, and a few workout tools like dumbbells and resistance gear. With ease, he lifted 20 separate objects at once — each controlled individually by his mental energy. A smile crept onto his face. Not bad. But then he turned to what truly excited him — elemental skills. Opening the Alliance Online Market, he found the nine elemental sections and one common category for skills. He immediately tapped into the Light Element section. --- Light Element Skills 1. Light Flash Effect: Emits a sudden burst of light, temporarily blinding enemies. Use: Distraction, escape, or creating an opening in battle. 2. Radiant Touch Effect: Heals minor wounds or burns using gentle light energy. Use: Basic healing for self or allies. 3. Lumen Blade Effect: Creates a short, glowing blade of light energy. Use: Close-quarters combat or emergency defense. 4. Light Step Effect: Temporarily enhances speed and agility by reducing body weight with light energy. Use: Evasion and agile maneuvers. 5. Holy Spark Effect: Fires a small bolt of concentrated light energy. Use: Basic ranged offensive spell. Cool... These are actually something cool. Next, he browsed the Thunder Element section. --- Thunder Element Skills 1. Spark Strike Effect: Channels electricity through the user’s weapon or fist. Use: Adds electric damage to physical strikes. 2. Static Field Effect: Surrounds the user in a weak electric field that slows or shocks enemies. Use: Area denial or deterrence. 3. Thunder Snap Effect: A sharp snap of thunder and light that stuns nearby enemies. Use: Crowd disruption. 4. Lightning Dart Effect: Fires a quick, concentrated bolt of lightning in a straight line. Use: Long-range energy attack. .... .... He grinned. These skills packed serious punch. Then came the Metal Element section. --- Metal Element Skills 1. Iron Skin Effect: Temporarily reinforces skin to metal-like toughness. Use: Short-term defense against physical attacks. 2. Metal Shard Shot Effect: Launches sharp metallic projectiles. Use: Ranged attack that may cause bleeding. 3. Steel Grasp Effect: Enhances grip and power through metallic reinforcement. Use: Boosts melee performance. 4. Metal Sense Effect: Detects nearby metallic objects, including hidden weapons or ores. Use: Utility and detection. .... .... He was impressed. Practical, lethal, and straightforward. Finally, he checked the Common Skills section — open to users of any element. --- Common Skills 1. Energy Sense Effect: Detects elemental fluctuations and nearby cultivators. Use: Tracking and battlefield awareness. 2. Elemental Imprint Effect: Marks an enemy with elemental energy for tracking or delayed effect. Use: Stealth and pursuit tactics. 3. Meditative Regeneration Effect: Enhances recovery of elemental energy and internal stability. Use: Healing and energy replenishment. 4. Battle Clone Effect: Summons a phantom clone with 1% of the user’s strength for 1 minute. Use: Distraction, scouting, and low-risk engagement. 5.Elemental Armor Effect: Covers a parts of the body with elemental energy to reinforce defense for 1 minute. Use: Defence. These weren’t many, but each was incredibly powerful. --- Then Ethan checked the prices. Elemental Skills: 10 billion credits each. Common Skills: 20 billion each. His heart dropped. That was a staggering amount. He couldn’t afford a single one right now... but suddenly he noticed something strange below the price tag. --- > [ Free Purchase Available ] Ethan blinked. Wait... what? That option had never appeared before. Had the Alliance launched some sort of global event? He called Charles. Ring... Ring... "Hello, Ethan," Charles greeted casually. "Supervisor," Ethan asked, "Is today a special day?" Charles sounded confused. "Why do you ask?" "There’s a Free Purchase option in the online shop." Silence. Then a sharp gasp from Charles. And suddenly, an extremely excited voice came out: "Ethan... you hit the jackpot! I didn’t think the Alliance held you in this high regard. They’ve likely opened full resource access for you — everything in the market is now free. Boy, I’m jealous!" Ethan’s eyes widened like saucers. "Wait... what? You mean it’s not a global event?" Charles laughed. "Do you know how many martial artists are in the Alliance? If they made it free even for a minute, we’d go bankrupt! This privilege is just for you. Take your time. Plan your future. The path ahead is now limitless." Ethan sat silently, staring blankly at the screen as Charles kept calling out. "...Ethan? Hello?" "Bye, supervisor. I’ll call later." He didn’t even wait for reply. Click. He cut the line. His mind was a storm. The entire world’s resources... now free to him. The Alliance wasn’t just supporting him — they were investing in him. Ethan was already monstrous by his cultivation speed but the allaince probably still wanted it to be faster or at least keep the pace so they opened this door for him. But Ethan wasn’t naive. There was no free lunch in the world. There was always a price hidden in the shadows. A debt written in invisible ink. So he wouldn’t abuse it. He would only take what he needed — and he would pay it back. Every single credit. He already knew what skills he needed. And now, with the click of a button... they would be his. He chose: 1. Radiant Touch from light section 2. Static field from thunder section. 3. Metal shard shot from metal section. And all the 5 skills from common section. A total amount of 130 billion credits. This 8 skills would be his foundation, he knew it. Then he clicked the free purchase button. There was a notification. [Your percel will be delivered in your house within 3 hours.] After placing his order he was thinking what should he do now. But suddenly the phone rang again. It was Charles. Ethan replied lazily, " Hey supervisor,do you need something?" Charles snorted,"You punk! The moment you understood your value,you won’t even talk to me properly?" Ethan replied hastily, "No,no supervisor. How can I do that? I am just tired,that’s all." Charled just snorted again. Then he asked," By the way,what did you purchase just now, it actually exceeded 100 billion credits. Boy you sure know how to spend, huh" Ethan was surprised, " You already know supervisor? I thought it is a private matter." Charles chuckled, " It is a private matter until I am the person who needs to deliver them. So obviously I would know the price." Ethan was surprised again."You will deliver them?" Charles said,"Yes the amount of money is astronomical. Others can’t handle this." Ethan replied,"Oh, so that’s how it is. When will you come supervisor? Please bring some food for me. My parents are not at home." Charles’s face was twitching violently. He replied unhappily," I am not you personal delivery man. What do you want to eat?" Ethan’s mouth was twitching now. You said everything, what would I say? But then told him to bring anything that tasted good.