Due to her heavy workload, she had neglected her cultivation, and that was an undeniable truth. It was only thanks to her immense talent that she was still at the top of her class, surpassed only by the twins. As for Yifan Wu, she wasn't sure how strong he was now.

  It was, of course, natural that cultivators who focused solely on alchemy were not as strong as those who focused solely on pure combat and cultivation. That was simply the natural order of things.

  “However, this only applies to ordinary people. I'm not going to give up my own strength just because I'm engaged in alchemy,” May said to herself as she sat cross-legged in the training hall at Cloud Academy.

  The fields of cultivation were too broad for most people to master more than one. Cultivators lived longer, but they did not have unlimited time, so it was normal for alchemists to have different ways of fighting than average people.

  However, the system changed everything. As long as she had money, she could acquire any skill that would otherwise take her days of constant training to learn on her own. Combined with the fact that the most talented alchemists were also the wealthiest, this made it the perfect opportunity for her.

  It was her first serious money. An absurdly large amount, still insufficient for the best skills that would make her invincible, but with her current amount of money, she could certainly buy many cheap skills that would still be helpful to her.

  “So, shall we begin?” Minnie asked, unable to hide her excitement any longer. She had been waiting for this moment since she came into this world.

  “Yes. Let's begin.”

  The choice of skills was not an impulsive decision, but a thoughtful choice. She had been playing with the system and browsing through various options her entire life. The only thing she lacked was funds, but now the waiting was over.

  "So let's start with the first skill. Minnie, I'm buying [Dim Eye of Truth]."

  She had lived in ignorance for too long. Far too many people in this world were lying for their own benefit. Especially now that she had started running such a profitable business, she had to be sure that the people she worked with were telling the truth.

  She had long dreamed of having the ability to detect the truth. It wasn't the best skill of its kind, but she couldn't spend too much money on it. She just needed something that would work on ordinary people and weak cultivators.

  It cost her almost 18% of her recent penicillin income, but it was worth it. This skill was surprisingly cheap for how useful it was. This was due to its limitations. Anyone with a technique that could bypass the lie detection was immune to it.

  However, that doesn't matter to me. My main target will be people who probably won't have any way to cheat my little lie detector anyway.

  The second and quite obvious disadvantage was that the skill only detected what a given person considered to be the truth and a lie. This was quite logical, because otherwise the skill would be too powerful.

  Two different people could say contradictory things, but the ability would still consider both versions to be true. All that mattered was what the given person thought was true. Therefore, the results had to be treated with caution.

  May decided to test the ability.

  “Minnie, tell me something true and something false,” she said to Minnie.

  “May, you're so cool! May, you're so stupid!” Minnie giggled. “So? Which sentence is true and which is false?”

  “Huh...” she said, interrupting the ability. “Well, I guess I can't read. You're just a voice in my head. It works by detecting fluctuations in Qi within a person's body, no wonder it didn't work.”

  She also noticed that despite using the skill for only a short time, she had lost a large amount of Qi. Even those few seconds had drained more Qi than she expected. It was certainly too Qi-consuming and had to be used wisely. Not to mention that another cultivator might figure something out by sensing that she was losing large amounts of Qi.

  “Why don't you try using it on yourself?” Minnie suggested.

  After a moment's thought, she decided it should work. She activated her ability again. She decided to start with a few real sentences.

  “Two plus two equals four. Huh, what a strange feeling. A truly amazing ability. Okay, let's try something else. I am a woman. It is cold in winter. Nice. I love pizza! Ugh... I miss my home.” She said a few sentences and felt that, thanks to her ability, she knew that they were true. It was a little strange to use it on herself, but she instinctively sensed the truth. In the future, she will have to test it on someone other than herself.

  This time, she decided to check a few things she perceived as lies:

  "The Earth is flat. Oh, this time the feeling is a little different... Okay, let's try again. Oranges are blue. Gravity doesn't exist." She said with a smile. It was all a lie, which she could sense so clearly.

  She paused for a moment.

  “I am in the same world as Earth.” Having said that, she felt something else. It was neither a lie nor the truth. She herself did not know the answer to that question, so the ability was unable to determine her thoughts. The ability only showed what she herself believed. It was not an objective view, but her own thoughts.

  This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.

  It was a good skill to start shopping with. However, her goal today was to increase her strength. So, without waiting any longer, she bought another skill. She wanted to be stronger than she currently was and be able to fight people who were much stronger than herself.

  This time, she wanted something that would help her with hand-to-hand combat. So she bought footwork technique! This will help her not only strengthen her martial arts skills, but everything else as well; it was an absolute foundation. She saw the skill description again.

  It was footwork, which she had once read about in a book at the library. To tell the truth, the book's description did not fully convey the incredible nature of this skill. According to the book, the most talented ancient assassins were able to kill dozens of people standing many meters apart in a fraction of a second... The technique had been considered lost for thousands of years, but for the system, getting it for her was nothing.

  Immediately after purchasing it, May felt a difference in her body. The knowledge flowed into her mind as if she had known how the technique worked her entire life. Her muscles immediately adjusted to the movement, and her Qi energy almost automatically took the correct form to use the technique.

  May stood up from the ground and shifted her weight onto one leg. She had rented this training room specifically to test her new skills.

  She instinctively knew what to do. She used her acquired knowledge to utilize this skill.

  “Good heavens…” Minnie whispered, a statement that said a lot, since even she was shocked.

  In just a second, May found herself on the other side of the room thanks to this technique… Everything happened silently. It was almost twenty meters. However, even such a simple movement used up over a hundred units of her Qi. Of course, with her current anomalous Qi resources, it would still mean that she would be able to use this move over 11 times...

  However, this was only a basic move.

  This time, she tested something more complicated. This time, she moved in a zigzag pattern, making many movements in a fraction of a second, moving repeatedly in different directions, striking the air with her hands, imagining an invisible opponent.

  If it had been a real fight, she would have hit him more than thirty times in just a few seconds...

  However, it consumed more than forty percent of her Qi resources. It was a powerful technique, but unfortunately, it consumed enormous amounts of Qi and was also extremely physically exhausting. May was panting heavily, and her legs were shaking like jelly.

  “Ugh... Not good.”

  Using this technique in combat could still be a bit risky, but it was perfect for escaping, as it allowed her to move quietly and quickly. In order for it to be useful in combat, she must first increase her Qi reserves and physical endurance. However, it was still an extraordinary technique that probably none of her peers at the academy could match. Probably even some professors would be jealous of her.

  For now, I should keep it a secret, at least from the academy...

  These were such basic techniques... However, in this sect, they would still be considered amazing. If she wanted to learn them on her own, it would probably take her a few months... And mastering them to that degree would take twice as long, assuming she had full instructional materials and, ideally, a teacher! The system really made it easier.

  “Not bad... One more thing, and I'll get the rest later. I'll buy more techniques when I earn more from the company.”

  She had to leave some money for blocking nightmares, which was extremely expensive, and also for unexpected expenses.

  Ethereal Footwork of Flight was a good movement technique, and she had her martial arts for combat, but she lacked something for defense. That's why she decided to buy something that would allow her to protect herself from attacks by her opponents. This time, however, she wanted to spend a little less on it.

  It was the cheapest option. Of course, she could afford something more expensive, but she decided that it would be sufficient for the time being.

  Although the skill only protected against one specific type of attack, it was exactly what she needed. She was afraid of swords and sabers. Thanks to this technique, she had at least that one problem off her mind.

  She decided to test the technique. Fortunately, her skin did not turn yellow, and the use of the technique itself was essentially invisible.

  Unfortunately, it also seemed to consume a lot of Qi.

  However, she quickly managed to redirect the Qi and discovered that she could cover only parts of her body, which greatly reduced the consumption.

  She covered her hands and then her head. She played around with it, protecting different parts of her body one by one. She came to the conclusion that it was enough to protect only the most vulnerable parts of her body.

  Then she pulled out a small dagger hidden in her robes and gritted her teeth. She stabbed it with all her might into her hand, which she had just covered with a protective layer of [[Yellow Turtle Skin]].

  She felt nothing. The blade of the dagger bounced off her skin. The effect was truly amazing for such a low price. She smiled quietly and deactivated the technique. She felt much stronger.

  “Well, you may have gotten a few percent stronger, but even that loser Hua Tang would still be able to kill you,” Minnie said with a smirk.

  May frowned.

  “What are you talking about?” May hissed irritably. “He's my master! And besides, he's at the Foundation Establishment stage! It's obvious that I wouldn't be able to beat him!”

  “Yeah, yeah... Excuses, excuses. You'd better focus on making money, because you're so weak it's ridiculous,” Minnie said accusingly. “Come up with some new medicine or something.”

  May rolled her eyes and sighed. As if they didn't have enough problems with penicillin alone.

  “Minnie, you really should know when to shut up,” she replied irritably. “But never mind. Just show me my status.”

  How absurd.

  One C-class skill and four D-class skills. However, none of these skills were purchased that day. The only drawback was that none of them were offensive.

  Possessing a C-class skill should not be easy even for someone at the Foundation Establishment stage... I doubt there is another person my age in the entire sect who had so many highly advanced skills.

  Perhaps it wasn't always apparent, as May's most developed skills were generally not for combat, but at the Qi Refinement stage, a D-class skill was rare. Having even one D-class skill at this level would be incredible. Not to mention Class C Abilities...