A Ruthless Mobile Turret

A lack of practical combat experience was indeed Luo Chen's greatest shortcoming. Yet this shortcoming stemmed from many factors, the greatest shackle among them being his cultivation realm. You could hardly expect a rogue cultivator who lacked decent magical artifacts, powerful spells, and advanced cultivation to possess rich combat experience. Someone like Wang Yuan was an exceedingly rare exception. As a secular martial grandmaster, his physical constitution had naturally surpassed that of the vast majority of Qi Refinement cultivators from the very start. Furthermore, long before embarking on the path of cultivation, Wang Yuan had accumulated an abundance of experience battling other humans. Otherwise, out of the tens of thousands of rogue cultivators in Dahe Market—among whom hundreds were in the late Qi Refinement stage—how could Wang Yuan alone command such an illustrious reputation? How else could he peddle artifacts of dubious origin in the open market day after day at merely the seventh layer of Qi Refinement and still live so comfortably? Now, Luo Chen finally possessed a decent artifact (the Soul Breaking Nail) and a formidable spell (the perfected Fireball Art). Raising his cultivation realm had become the top priority. Conveniently, Luo Chen already possessed the foundational requirements to do so! That bottle of Qi-Nourishing Pills held a full, untouched ten pills. Rumor had it that if one were willing to spare no expense, a thousand bottles of Qi-Nourishing Pills could brute-force a cultivator straight to the ninth layer of Qi Refinement. Of course, that was merely a rumor. A thousand bottles would cost a hundred thousand low-grade spirit stones—equivalent to ten high-grade spirit stones! Even major sects would never invest such an exorbitant sum. Besides, those blessed with superior spirit root aptitudes could cultivate at remarkable speed even without consuming pills. Luo Chen's spirit roots were poor, so with pills right in front of him, he naturally wouldn't hesitate to take them. Aided by the Spirit Calming Incense, Luo Chen cycled the Eternal Spring Art once more, bringing his condition to its peak. In this prime state, he swallowed a Qi-Nourishing Pill. Upon entering his body, the medicinal pill was stimulated by his spiritual power, dissolving into a surging wave of heat that expanded outward and rushed straight into his meridians and spiritual vessels. A swollen, saturated sensation flooded Luo Chen's body. Frowning, he circulated the Eternal Spring Art, channeling the medicinal power toward his dantian. When cultivating a method, the efficiency of drawing in and refining spiritual energy was heavily hindered by one's spirit root aptitude. Pills, however, suffered no such limitation! As long as one swallowed them, refining them might take a bit longer at worst, but the medicinal potency was already sealed within the body. Given enough time, it would sooner or later be refined and made his own. The process of taking the pill and refining its medicinal properties lasted an entire hour. When Luo Chen examined his internal condition and opened his eyes, his heart was brimming with joy! He summoned the status panel. [Name: Luo Chen] [Lifespan: 27/75] [Spirit Roots: Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, Earth] [Realm: Qi Refinement Layer 3: 78/100] [Cultivation Method: Eternal Spring Art (Mastered): 280/300] [Spells: Fireball Art (Perfected): 355/500, Carefree Wandering (Mastered): 203/300, Entangling Art (Adept): 176/200, Cleansing Art (Beginner): 52/100] [Skills: Tier-1 Alchemist: Fasting Powder (Grandmaster): 540/1000, Myriad Wonders Pill (Beginner): 37/100] [Achievement Points: 1 point] It went up! It actually went up! Having a panel that displayed stats in real time was truly wonderful. Luo Chen could observe his condition whenever he wished. The last time he had checked, the realm column had shown Qi Refinement Layer 3: 76/100. After refining the Qi-Nourishing Pill, it had surged by a whole two points, reaching 78. In truth, Luo Chen had also realized that the attributes displayed on this panel did not all follow the same metric. Cultivation methods, spells, and skills all measured proficiency. Lifespan and realm, on the other hand, functioned as progress bars. If he completely refined this entire bottle of pills, the progress bar should reach 96/100, leaving him just shy of breaking through to the fourth layer. "The proficiency of the Eternal Spring Art is climbing fast, too. With the aid of the Spirit Calming Incense, it should reach the perfected level soon." "The Fireball Art underwent a qualitative leap when it reached perfection. I wonder what change the Eternal Spring Art will undergo once it hits the perfected level?" Luo Chen was full of anticipation! *** The next day, Luo Chen settled back into his regular, disciplined routine. Disciplined, yet by no means dull. Batch after batch of pills produced meant the steady accumulation of wealth. The refining of Qi-Nourishing Pills brought the steady rise of cultivation. The growing proficiency in the Fireball Art and Carefree Wandering enhanced his combat capability. This visible, continuous growth was practically addictive. If not for his limited resources and external perils, Luo Chen would gladly spend his entire life cultivating in quiet seclusion like this. Late at night three days later, a tremor ran through Luo Chen's body. He opened his eyes, overjoyed. "The Eternal Spring Art's proficiency has reached the perfected level!" "I wonder what's changed?" After resting briefly, Luo Chen attempted to cycle the cultivation method once more, feeling out every detail to spot any differences from before. After an hour, his expression turned rather peculiar. "The time has been halved. Previously, completing a full cycle took an entire shichen; now it only takes an hour. "The amount of refined spiritual energy has also doubled." If the efficiency of a five-element spirit root cultivator in absorbing and converting spiritual energy was taken as a baseline of one, a four-element spirit root cultivator was roughly at twice the baseline, three elements at four times, and dual elements at eight times. As for a single-element spirit root cultivator—namely, a Heavenly Spirit Root cultivator—Luo Chen didn't know the exact standard, having never met one. Yet it had to be at least twenty times the baseline! After all, legends circulated in the cultivation world of Heavenly Spirit Root cultivators achieving Foundation Establishment within ten years without consuming a single pill. That was truly terrifying! Why hadn't those sects accepted Luo Chen in the past? His older age was one factor, but the primary reason was the burden of his five-element spirit roots. Without any external boosts, it would take him at least over two hundred years to achieve Foundation Establishment. Yet the lifespan ceiling for a Qi Refinement cultivator was merely a hundred and twenty or thirty years. And now, the Eternal Spring Art's efficiency in absorbing and converting spiritual energy had doubled! What did that signify? It meant his present aptitude could rival that of a four-element spirit root cultivator; without relying on external aids, he would need only a hundred years to reach Foundation Establishment. "This is good news. It means my spiritual energy recovery rate has accelerated significantly, giving me more spiritual power to grind spell proficiencies. "Still, I can't afford to get complacent. "Even if I'm comparable to a four-element cultivator, four elements is still trash-tier aptitude. On top of that, I only have forty-eight years of lifespan left, making Foundation Establishment an impossibly distant prospect. Relying solely on bitter cultivation simply won't cut it." When all was said and done, he still had to pop pills! And popping pills required spirit stones—Qi-Nourishing Pills were not something just anyone could afford. The grand plan to earn spirit stones could not stop. This was a century-long endeavor that would span his entire life! Settling his thoughts and soothed by the lingering scent of the burned Spirit Calming Incense, Luo Chen drifted off peacefully to sleep. *** The sky was just beginning to lighten. Across the misty plain beside the stream, a figure rose and dipped like a roc. With every flash of the silhouette, afterimages were left in his wake. "Fireball Art, go!" With a low shout, a blazing fireball shot forth, blasting a massive crater into the overgrown plain. The figure never paused, not even bothering to inspect the damage, darting to the opposite side with blinding footwork. Then, just as before, he unleashed another Fireball Art from an angled vector. *Bang!* *Bang!* *Bang!* By the time Luo Chen came to a stop, the wilderness was in utter disarray, craters of varying sizes radiating scorching heat. Panting slightly, Luo Chen was very satisfied with the results of today's training. He no longer fantasized about flying through the skies, burrowing through the earth, or lopping off heads with a single sword stroke. Instead, he had begun modeling his combat approach after Wang Yuan's. Wang Yuan had transitioned from the martial path to the immortal path, yet his fighting style still retained elements from his mortal days. He utilized a robust physique for rapid maneuvering, combining sharp magical artifacts and varied tactics to engage his foes. The scene of Wang Yuan dragging his broadsword, leaping across roof beams, and dropping from the sky had left an indelible impression on him. His feat of fighting three opponents at once was all the more breathtaking. Luo Chen was no fool, and he quickly absorbed the merits of that approach. "Though I lack formidable close-combat ability, my perfected Fireball Art boasts lightning-fast casting speed and formidable power. "With the Carefree Wandering movement technique, I can become a ruthless mobile turret. "If I encounter an enemy whose defense the Fireball Art cannot breach, I still have two Soul Breaking Nails as trump cards." Close-quarters combat was simply too perilous given a cultivator's frail constitution. A long-range mobile turret was relatively safe, capable of both attacking and retreating. Through days of persistent practice, Luo Chen had tentatively solidified his future fighting style. Once his realm advanced, he could begin accumulating practical combat experience. And that day was not far off! In the refreshing morning breeze, Luo Chen leaped across the stream and returned home. "Time to concoct pills! Concoct pills!" Right now, all he wanted was to make money!