Chapter 48: Massive Upgrade of Innate Abilities

Luo Zhou had lost all sensation; following Pang Yunhua, his only thought was a single word: Kill!

Wherever they went, things tumbled and crashed, and he rampaged without restraint.

However, Luo Zhou was no fool; in the heat of battle, he would subconsciously avoid the second-tier sea beasts.

Second-tier sea beasts were equivalent to Qi Refinement stage cultivators of the human race, possessing spiritual qi protection that allowed them to manifest shields and armor.

Without using his Dragon Slaying Piercing, Luo Zhou simply could not break through their true qi defenses.

Therefore, Luo Zhou avoided them.

He would kill the first-tier sea beasts instead—picking the low-hanging fruit!

As he followed Pang Yunhua, he lost track of how many times they had performed rescues.

Suddenly, as Lu Xingzhou turned, Luo Zhou realized they had returned to the city.

Pang Yunhua was also covered in blood; panting heavily, he said

"That's enough, we can rotate the guard now. We've done our best. Besides, night is approaching. Once the formation activates, there is basically no combat at night. Xiao Zhou, you can rest now!"

As soon as these words were spoken, Luo Zhou collapsed, nearly unable to stand.

He had long since exhausted his supply of Qi Recovery Powder.

"Xiao Zhou, will you go home to rest tonight, or stay on the city walls to prepare for battle? Those who prepare on the walls receive twenty broken spirit stones per night."

"No matter the cost, I have to go home. I must go home. I'm exhausted!"

"Fine, follow me to collect your rewards, and then I'll send someone to escort you back. Once you're back, remember: no matter how tired you are, you must cultivate before you rest. You must push through the fatigue, otherwise, you'll leave behind hidden internal injuries. Also, do not fall into a deep sleep during the night. If there is an emergency and you are urgently summoned, remember: do not come to the city walls, go to the City Lord's Mansion. If it reaches the point of a nighttime emergency summons, it means the city walls have already been lost!"

"Uncle Pang, I understand. Thank you for the guidance!"

Pang Yunhua led Luo Zhou to collect his rewards.

Basically, after a guard rotation, cultivators were allowed to collect their rewards.

The strategist, Battalion Commander Guo, had calculated everyone's gains from this great battle down to the last detail.

Combat, bloodshed, and rewards—it made every participating cultivator feel that their sacrifices were worthwhile.

However, they wouldn't actually give out spirit stones or broken spirit stones directly, to prevent people from gaining too much wealth and potentially avoiding combat to run off.

Instead, they would issue a Military Merit Scroll to record the gains.

The rewards were visible, but if you didn't participate in future battles, you would get nothing.

They used these Military Merit Scrolls to keep you hooked, forcing you to fight desperately!

The number on Luo Zhou's Military Merit Scroll was 23,576 broken spirit stones!

That Siege Crab was worth 15,000 broken spirit stones; the rest came from the spoils of killing the sea race.

This amounted to twenty-three spirit stones. Today's battle was worth it!

Aside from the Military Merit Scroll, Pang Yunhua pulled Luo Zhou aside and said

"Let's get you a new set of gear."

He led Luo Zhou toward the Armory.

"Do you have any spirit stones on you?"

Luo Zhou nodded and said, "Yes."

"Give me one!"

Luo Zhou gave Pang Yunhua one spirit stone.

"Deacon Li, this is Luo Zhou. Battalion Commander Guo specifically instructed that he be provided with armor!"

After saying this, the two shook hands, and the spirit stone was handed to Deacon Li.

Deacon Li of the Armory nodded immediately. "Fine, no problem!"

He immediately brought out a set of armor: a helmet, inner armor, breastplate, elbow guards, gauntlets, skirt armor, knee guards, and combat boots.

The material used for this armor was unknown, but it was both incredibly sturdy and light and flexible.

Luo Zhou liked it very much, but he said

"Can I exchange the helmet for a headcloth? Preferably a yellow one!"

In this great battle, the "Tide-Turning Golden Armor" had saved Luo Zhou's life.

He sensed that this golden armor must be extraordinary, so he requested a change.

"No problem, we have plenty of headcloths!"

Deacon Li swapped the helmet for a headcloth but brought Luo Zhou two sets of armor.

Luo Zhou said, "One set is—"

Pang Yunhua covered his mouth and said, "Two sets. One for combat, one for backup."

Deacon Li added, "Good. If the armor breaks, come to me for an exchange."

That spirit stone earlier hadn't been a gift!

Pang Yunhua whispered, "We are risking our lives for the Fang family, fighting to the death; what's wrong with taking a set of his armor! If you don't like the armor, just sell it later. A set is worth three spirit stones!"

Luo Zhou nodded and said, "Thank you!"

Deacon Li said, "You're still carrying that broken wooden stick. Come, let me get you some good gear."

Waist sabers, horse-slaying blades, Xuanhua axes, silver-iron spears, tungsten-iron maces, tungsten-iron shields...

He pulled out eight weapons in one breath, all of them very expensive.

The tungsten-iron mace was particularly impressive; it was hollowed out, allowing for a hidden blade inside, which Luo Zhou liked very much.

Luo Zhou felt a bit embarrassed taking so many weapons, but Deacon Li laughed

"Just take them. If the city falls, who knows which sea beast will end up benefiting from them."

Luo Zhou said nothing more; that was a valid point.

Deacon Li also gave Luo Zhou three bottles of Qi Recovery Powder and a bottle of Golden Sore Ointment.

These were specifically sent to Luo Zhou's home.

In addition to these, there was various gourmet food. They couldn't exactly let a cultivator who had fought all day go home to drink cold water and eat dry rations, could they?

Luo Zhou thanked Pang Yunhua and was sent home by a special carriage.

The battle armor, weapons, and gourmet food were also delivered.

If it's free, why not take it? This was all money!

Luo Zhou ignored everything else, covered in blood and grime, and immediately took a bath.

After washing, he ate a massive meal.

Among the food was a large piece of white meat that was exceptionally delicious and rich in spiritual qi.

It was the meat from the Siege Crab's pincer, which had been prepared into a delicacy and distributed for everyone to enjoy.

After eating, Luo Zhou did not rush. He brewed some tea and sat for a while.

Only after resting enough did he begin to inspect his progress.

Within the Eternal Sea of Fire, his Fate points had reached 1,351!

During the subsequent battles, Luo Zhou had made a point of moving quickly to absorb many Fate points from those who died in combat.

He laughed loudly; this was a massive harvest.

Fate points could be used for Ten Refinements, a Hundred Refinements, or a Thousand Refinements!

He wanted to go straight for a Thousand Refinements to get it over with in one go.

However, upon careful sensing, his realm was insufficient; he could not perform a Thousand Refinements.

He could only do a Hundred Refinements!

Then let it be. He began the Hundred Refinements.

Body Tempering and Spirit Condensation!

Under the burning heat, his body grew stronger bit by bit.

However, Luo Zhou's mind was not on his body, but on Spirit Condensation.

He wanted to see the changes in his various divine abilities and special traits.

Thirteen opportunities!

Under Spirit Condensation, Luo Zhou discovered that, as expected, the Hundred Refinements had no effect on his Divine Abilities.

His Divine Abilities—Dragon Slaying Piercing, Tide-Turning, Three Thousand Weak Waters, and Nine Oxen Strength—showed no change during this process.

The first instance of Spirit Pattern Condensation randomly selected the special ability "Leap," and the burning began.

The "Leap" ability immediately ascended, upgrading directly from a special ability to a Trait, and then to a Talent!

The Talent: Instant Step!

Using this talent, with a single step, one could instantly move within a range of four zhang and three chi in front or behind.

The physical stamina consumption was negligible, but every step taken required five breaths of rest.

Additionally, one could only take ninety-nine steps per day; the hundredth step could not be taken.

Compared to the original "Leap," it was countless times stronger.

Luo Zhou laughed heartily and continued the burning.

The second was the special ability "Reward Good and Punish Evil." He hadn't expected it to come up, and he was overjoyed.

However, his joy was short-lived. Under the Hundred Refinements, "Reward Good and Punish Evil" showed no change.

The grade was too low; it had no effect, wasting one instance of Hundred Refinements.

The existence of "Reward Good and Punish Evil" completely overturned the "Human Law" taught by the Dao Academy: Divine Abilities are first, Talents are second, Traits are third, and Special Abilities are the lowest.

The third Hundred Refinements fell on the Talent "Rattle."

Luo Zhou thought it would be another waste, but to his surprise, the secondary sonic shock of the "Rattle" talent increased by one "clack."

The Hundred Refinements could upgrade a Special Ability or Trait into a Talent, and Talents could be further enhanced.

The fourth time, the Trait "Suppress Evil" became the Talent "Control Evil."

It was once merely suppression; now it was control. I *am* the evil!

Luo Zhou vaguely felt as if he had gained a cultivation talent for practicing unorthodox arts.

The fifth time, the Trait "Insect Control" became the Talent "Insect Emperor."

Every kind of spiritual insect would mistakenly believe that Luo Zhou was their Insect Emperor and controller.

This talent was extremely rare and highly precious.

Luo Zhou now possessed a cultivation talent for the Gu arts.

The sixth time was the Talent "Telekinesis," but he felt it hadn't increased much.

Telekinesis was a major talent; a single instance of Hundred Refinements wouldn't show much change.

The seventh time was the special ability "Flash of Inspiration," which, much like "Reward Good and Punish Evil," showed no change.

Luo Zhou gritted his teeth. It seemed that "Three Lights" kid really had something going for him.

Could he be the Holy Son of the Jellyfish?

The eighth time was again the Talent "Insect Emperor," which also saw an enhancement, though not a massive change.

The ninth time was the special ability "Agility," which began to evolve into a Talent.

This time, an unexpected development occurred.

Luo Zhou suddenly felt he could either continue in the direction of Agility to enhance his speed, or switch directions toward spellcasting.

After thinking it over, since he already had the "Instant Step" talent, he chose the spellcasting direction.

This consumed another instance of Hundred Refinements.

The special ability "Agility" became the Talent "Spirit Casting"!

When performing spells or divine abilities, entering the "Spirit Casting" state allowed for rapid casting while saving thirty percent of mana, making spellcasting effortless.

However, Luo Zhou would not be able to perform spells or divine abilities until he reached the Qi Refinement stage.

The eleventh time, the special ability "Diting" (Divine Hearing) transformed into the Talent "Diting."

Aside from the range of Diting expanding and hearing more clearly, there were no other changes.

This suggested that Diting was also not simple and held hidden mysteries.

The twelfth time was again "Reward Good and Punish Evil," with no change.

The thirteenth time fell on the Talent "Telekinesis." Luo Zhou clearly felt his control over telekinesis had strengthened.

A few more times, and he should be able to master it completely.

As it stood, beneath his Divine Abilities, he now possessed the Talents: Telekinesis, Rattle, Control Evil, Insect Emperor, Instant Step, Diting, and Spirit Casting!

Aside from these, he still had Special Abilities

Reward Good and Punish Evil, Flash of Inspiration, Keen Eyes, and Light-Seeking Path.

"Keen Eyes" and "Light-Seeking Path" were the unlucky ones; they hadn't come up at all.

However, Luo Zhou didn't mind. He would continue fighting tomorrow, gather another dozen or so instances of Hundred Refinements, and keep washing—keep getting stronger!