Chapter 43: Grandmaster-level Fireball

Five days later.

In the middle of the night, Luo Chen was still busy.

He washed the Purple Cloud Bronze Cauldron and cleaned the alchemy room.

He scooped the ash and dust from the fire pit into a large bucket and threw it outside the door; someone would come to collect it the next day, as he had paid a monthly fee of one spirit stone for night soil collection.

The night soil collector would, naturally, collect the trash as well.

After cleaning everything thoroughly, Luo Chen took advantage of the fact that everyone was asleep to head into the courtyard and take a bath with cold water.

While he was at it, he brought the potted plants that Fu Xiuxiu had entrusted him to look after back into his house to prevent them from being stolen.

Although most were ornamental flowers and plants, there were also some first-tier spiritual plants, such as Moonlight Grass.

Once everything was finished, Luo Chen felt a sense of lightness.

Only then did he return to his bed and sit down in a cross-legged position.

He took out a jade bottle and poured it out, revealing a pill the size of a longan fruit.

"The last Qi-Nourishing Pill."

With a calm expression, Luo Chen swallowed it in one gulp. He then circulated the Eternal Spring Technique, refining the pill while doing his best to absorb the surrounding free spiritual energy.

Half an hour later, Luo Chen slowly opened his eyes.

The slight swelling sensation in his lower dantian indicated that his cultivation had progressed once again.

He opened his attribute panel.

[Name: Luo Chen]

[Lifespan: 27/75]

[Spiritual Roots: Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, Earth]

[Realm: Qi Refinement Stage 4: 61/100]

[Cultivation Method: Eternal Spring Technique (Perfect): 490/500]

[Spells: Fireball Technique (Grandmaster) 630/1000, Carefree Wanderer (Perfect) 451/500, Entanglement Technique (Proficient) 278/300, Cleaning Technique (Skilled) 120/200, Traction Technique (Perfect) 310/500, Spiritual Vision (Proficient) 237/300, Wind Control Art (Entry-level) 56/100]

[Skills: First-Tier Alchemist: Inedia Powder (Grandmaster) 790/1000, Pill of All Wonders (Proficient) 211/300]

[Achievement Points: 11]

Luo Chen stared blankly at the panel, feeling a complex mix of emotions for a moment.

Everything had changed, except for his fixed lifespan and spiritual roots.

Compared to the blank attributes he had when he first transmigrated, he had undergone a world-shaking transformation.

First was the change in his realm. There wasn't much to say about this; with five hundred spirit stones worth of Qi-Nourishing Pills, combined with a first-tier spiritual vein, the Perfect-grade Eternal Spring Technique, and the assistance of Moonlight Grass over the past half month, his progress bar had risen to 61.

If he had a sufficient quantity of Qi-Nourishing Pills, breaking through to the fifth stage of Qi Refinement was just around the corner.

Next were the cultivation methods.

Through his unswerving perseverance, the proficiency level of the Eternal Spring Technique was steadily approaching the Grandmaster level.

He was only ten proficiency points away; it would only take three or four days.

Luo Chen was in no hurry. Although he was very eager to know what changes a Grandmaster-level Eternal Spring Technique would bring, he was very patient.

He had endured even harder days; this brief moment was merely the solitude before the dawn.

Then, there were the spells!

In fact, this was the category with the most and greatest changes.

There were so many changes that he didn't even know where to start counting.

He only knew that after learning from Gu Caiyi how to apply these spells to daily life, his proficiency had shot up rapidly.

With the Perfect-grade Carefree Wanderer paired with the recently learned Wind Control Art, Luo Chen's speed already far exceeded that of flying magical tools.

He had compared it with a Lotus Leaf Flying Disk yesterday, and indeed, he was faster than the disk.

As for the others, the Entanglement Technique and Cleaning Technique were just side effects of his regular training; they were useful for daily life but not particularly significant for combat.

His Spiritual Vision had improved exceptionally fast over the past half month, likely because he had been using it constantly to monitor his alchemy.

In a short time, it had reached the Proficient level.

The Traction Technique had improved even faster, already reaching the Perfect level; he could now skillfully manipulate that set of Jade Green Blades.

If he encountered enemies in the future, he would have another means of combat.

Truly commendable!

But what surprised Luo Chen the most was the Fireball Technique.

From his initial Proficient level to the current Grandmaster level, he had invested an immense amount of effort into this spell.

The amount of spiritual energy he had consumed was countless.

But the final result made all the sacrifices worthwhile.

With a mere thought!

In a single breath, ten sparks appeared on his palm, looking as beautiful as flying fireflies.

This was the qualitative change of the Fireball Technique reaching the Grandmaster level.

He no longer needed to perform hand seals; he only needed to supply spiritual energy. Although the speed hadn't changed much, the quantity had undergone a heaven-and-earth transformation.

Instead of releasing them one by one in a standard fashion, he could now release ten at once.

If he were willing to inject enough spiritual energy, the power of each of these ten fireballs would not be weaker than a single released fireball.

From now on, Luo Chen's "mobile artillery" combat style had advanced to a new level.

That was: small-scale fire coverage!

Ten maximum-power fireballs smashed out simultaneously; the enemy could neither escape nor dodge.

Luo Chen had already given this move a new name. "Fireball Technique" sounded too plain, so he called it "Flying Fireflies"!

With a casual flick, ten sparks fell onto the floor tiles, making a sizzling sound.

After reviewing the spells, only the skills remained.

He was still a first-tier alchemist, and there likely wouldn't be any changes until he refined a second-tier pill.

The Inedia Powder was still at the Grandmaster level; he had been refining it continuously to diversify his product range.

The biggest change was the Pill of All Wonders.

Thinking back, it had taken him a full four months to go from Entry-level to Skilled.

During that time, he had failed hundreds of times, and the cost incurred was as high as four or five hundred spirit stones. At one point, he faced a lack of income and could only rely on the meager profits from Inedia Powder to support himself.

Back then, he truly lived in constant anxiety every day, fearing he would suffer a loss.

It wasn't until last month that he finally managed to advance to the Skilled level.

But everything had changed.

Just like capital, the stage of original accumulation is always the hardest.

But once you have your first pot of gold and your first success, subsequent development is like being "cheating."

Countless fortunes have surged into behemoths within just a few short years.

Luo Chen was currently in that exact situation!

After a year of preparation and four months of grinding proficiency, he would start soaring from this month onward.

In half a month, he had refined a total of thirty batches, with six successes, yielding sixty Pills of All Wonders in total.

His proficiency increased by sixty, and combined with the five successes from the end of last month, his proficiency jumped directly from Skilled to Proficient.

Luo Chen hadn't even had time to experiment with the effects of the Proficient-level Pill of All Wonders alchemy.

He only knew that he was now in the "snowball" phase; as his technique improved, he would earn more and more spirit stones, and his proficiency would grow even faster in the future.

Grandmaster level—the future is promising!

Moreover, the surprises did not end there.

[Achievement Points: 11 (Can be used for Entry-level in corresponding Realms, Cultivation Methods, Spells, or Skills)]

Having charged up to over ten points once again meant he had another opportunity to improve himself.

Be it a cultivation method, a spell, or a skill!

However, Luo Chen hadn't decided yet what to use these eleven achievement points for.

Aside from the Healing Technique, which he had yet to learn, he only had one incomplete recipe for the Jade Dew Pill.

The Healing Technique wasn't difficult; he was confident he could reach the entry-level on his own in the future.

The Jade Dew Pill recipe was also not quite suitable; it was a second-tier pill, which not only didn't correspond to his current realm, but the primary ingredients involved were already second-tier materials.

The benchmark for that would be Foundation Establishment cultivators and second-tier demon beasts.

"I'll save it for now; it will be useful sooner or later."

"As for what's next, I'm in no rush to refine pills; I need to gather a batch of capital first."

Luo Chen glanced at the empty jade bottle of the Qi-Nourishing Pills, feeling a bit nostalgic for the rocket-like sensation of cultivation through pill consumption.