Chapter 19: The Ruthless Mobile Turret

A lack of practical combat experience was indeed Luo Chen's greatest weakness.

However, this shortcoming was caused by multiple factors, with his cultivation realm being the primary shackle.

One cannot expect a rogue cultivator without good magical tools, powerful spells, or a profound cultivation realm to possess abundant combat experience.

Wang Yuan was a rare exception.

As a Grandmaster of secular martial arts, his physical strength was inherently superior to the vast majority of Qi Refinement cultivators.

Furthermore, before embarking on the path of cultivation, Wang Yuan had already accumulated sufficient experience fighting humans.

Otherwise, among the tens of thousands of rogue cultivators in the Great River Market—including hundreds at the late stages of Qi Refinement—how could Wang Yuan alone possess such a fearsome reputation? How could he, at the seventh layer of Qi Refinement, spend every day selling magical tools of dubious origin in the market and still be living well?

Now, Luo Chen possessed a good magical tool (the Soul-Breaking Nail) and a powerful spell (a Perfect-grade Fireball Technique).

Raising his cultivation realm had become the most urgent priority.

As it happened, Luo Chen possessed the necessary foundation to advance!

That bottle of Qi-Nourishing Pills contained ten whole, unopened pills.

Rumor had it that if one was willing to invest heavily, one thousand bottles of Qi-Nourishing Pills could forcibly create a cultivator at the ninth layer of Qi Refinement.

Of course, this was merely a rumor.

One thousand bottles would cost one hundred thousand low-grade spirit stones; converted to high-grade spirit stones, that would be ten!

Even a great sect would not invest such a massive sum.

Moreover, those with good spiritual root aptitude would cultivate rapidly even without pills.

Luo Chen's spiritual roots were poor, so with the pills available, he would certainly consume them.

Using the Soothing Incense, Luo Chen circulated the Eternal Spring Art once more to bring his state to its peak.

In this optimal state, he swallowed a Qi-Nourishing Pill.

As the pill entered his body, stimulated by his spiritual power, it transformed into a surging torrent of heat that rushed toward his meridians and spiritual networks.

A sensation of bloating and fullness filled Luo Chen's body.

Frowning, he circulated the Eternal Spring Art, mobilizing the medicinal power to guide it into his dantian.

The efficiency with which a cultivation technique absorbs and refines spiritual power is heavily influenced by spiritual root aptitude.

But pills are different!

Once swallowed, the refinement might be slower, but the medicinal power is ultimately within the body.

With enough time, it would eventually be refined and become his own.

The process of consuming and refining the pill lasted for an hour.

When Luo Chen finished sensing the condition within his body and opened his eyes, he was filled with joy!

He clicked on his attribute panel.

[Name: Luo Chen] [Lifespan: 27/75] [Spiritual Roots: Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, Earth] [Realm: Qi Refinement Layer 3: 78/100] [Cultivation Technique: Eternal Spring Art (Proficient): 280/300] [Spells: Fireball Technique (Perfect) 355/500, Carefree Wanderer (Proficient) 203/300, Entanglement Technique (Skilled) 176/200, Cleansing Technique (Entry-level) 52/100] [Skills: Tier 1 Alchemist: Inedia Powder (Grandmaster) 540/1000, All-Mysteries Pill (Entry-level) 37/100] [Achievement Points: 2]

It went up! It actually went up!

Having a panel that displayed attributes in real-time was truly convenient.

Luo Chen could observe his status at any time.

The last time he checked, the realm column read: Qi Refinement Layer 3: 76/100.

After refining the Qi-Nourishing Pill, it had increased by a full two points, reaching 78.

In fact, Luo Chen also discovered that the attributes displayed on this panel did not follow a single standard.

For cultivation techniques, spells, and skills, it showed proficiency levels.

However, for lifespan and realm, it used progress bars.

If he were to fully refine this entire bottle of pills, the progress bar should reach 96/100, leaving him very close to breaking through to the fourth layer.

"The proficiency of the Eternal Spring Art is also rising quickly. With the help of the Soothing Incense, I should reach the Perfect level soon."

"The Fireball Technique underwent a qualitative change when it reached the Perfect level. What kind of change will the Eternal Spring Art undergo once it reaches the Perfect level?"

Luo Chen was full of anticipation!

The next day, Luo Chen returned to his disciplined routine.

It was disciplined, yet not boring.

Refining pills one by one meant the growth of wealth.

Refining Qi-Nourishing Pills meant the advancement of cultivation.

The increase in proficiency for the Fireball Technique and the Carefree Wanderer meant the strengthening of combat power.

This visible, continuous upward climb was almost addictive.

If he didn't have to consider limited resources and external dangers, Luo Chen would have been willing to continue this quiet cultivation for the rest of his life.

Late one night, three days later, Luo Chen's body gave a sudden shudder.

He then opened his eyes, unable to contain his delight.

"The proficiency of the Eternal Spring Art has reached the Perfect level!"

"I wonder what has changed?"

After resting briefly, Luo Chen attempted to circulate the technique again, sensing it carefully to find the differences from before.

Half an hour later, his expression turned strange.

"The time has been cut in half. It used to take an hour to complete one full cycle; now it only takes half an hour."

"The amount of spiritual energy refined has also doubled."

If a cultivator with five spiritual roots is the standard of 1 for spiritual energy absorption and conversion efficiency, a four-root cultivator is roughly 2x, a three-root is 4x, and a dual-root is 8x.

Luo Chen did not know the specific standard for a single-root cultivator—the Heaven-grade spiritual root—as he had never seen one.

But it must be at least 20x!

After all, legends circulated in the cultivation world of Heaven-grade cultivators reaching Foundation Establishment within ten years without consuming any pills.

That was a terrifying level of power!

The reason the great sects had not recruited him before was partly due to his age, but the main reason was that his five-root aptitude held him back.

Without any external assistance, it would take him at least two hundred years to reach Foundation Establishment.

Yet, the lifespan limit for a Qi Refinement cultivator was only around 120 to 130 years.

But now, the efficiency of the Eternal Spring Art in absorbing and converting spiritual energy had doubled!

What did this mean?

It meant his current aptitude was comparable to that of a four-root cultivator; without external aid, he would only need a hundred years to reach Foundation Establishment.

"This is good news. It means my speed of recovering spiritual energy has greatly increased, allowing me to use more spiritual power to raise my spell proficiency."

"However, I cannot become complacent."

"Though it is comparable to a four-root cultivator, a four-root aptitude is still considered mediocre. Moreover, I only have forty-eight years of lifespan left, and Foundation Establishment is still far off. Therefore, mere bitter cultivation is not enough."

Ultimately, he still had to rely on pills!

And to use pills, he needed spirit stones. Not everyone could afford Qi-Nourishing Pills.

The grand plan to earn spirit stones could not stop.

This was a century-long plan that would span his entire life!

Composing himself, and aided by the lingering scent of the burnt Soothing Incense, Luo Chen fell into a peaceful sleep.

As dawn broke.

On the misty plains by the stream, a figure rose and fell like a great roc.

Every time the figure flashed past, it left behind afterimages.

"Fireball Technique, go!"

With a low shout, a ball of blazing fire suddenly flew out, smashing a large crater into the weed-choked plain.

The figure did not pause to inspect the results, instead using an incredibly fast movement technique to dart to the other side.

Then, just as before, he launched another Fireball Technique from an angled position.

*Boom!* *Boom!* *Boom!*

When Luo Chen finally stopped, the wasteland was a mess of large and small craters, all radiating intense heat.

Catching his breath slightly, Luo Chen was very satisfied with today's training results.

He no longer fantasized about combat scenarios involving flying through the heavens or decapitating enemies with a single sword strike.

Instead, he had begun to imitate Wang Yuan's combat style.

Wang Yuan had transitioned from martial arts to the immortal path, but his combat style still retained elements of his mortal period.

He used a powerful physique for rapid movement, combined with sharp magical tools and various other methods to engage enemies.

The image of Wang Yuan descending from the sky, dragging a heavy blade and stepping across roof beams, had left a profound impact on him.

His feat of fighting three opponents at once was even more shocking.

Luo Chen was no fool; he quickly absorbed the merits of that style.

"Although I lack strong close-quarters combat capabilities, my Perfect-grade Fireball Technique possesses an incredibly fast release speed and impressive power."

"By utilizing the Carefree Wanderer movement technique, I can become a ruthless mobile artillery battery."

"If I encounter an enemy that the Fireball Technique cannot break through, I still have the two Soul-Breaking Nails as my trump cards."

Close-quarters combat was far too dangerous for a cultivator with a frail physique.

A long-range mobile artillery setup was relatively safe, allowing for both offense and escape.

Through these days of continuous practice, Luo Chen had preliminarily determined his future combat style.

Once his realm increased, he could begin to accumulate practical combat experience.

And that day was not far off!

Catching the refreshing morning breeze, Luo Chen leaped across the stream and returned home.

"Alchemy, alchemy!"

Right now, all he wanted to do was make money!