608: Chapter 606 My spirituality will be in place soon.

As Chu Xuan exhaled this breath of turbid air, many Impurities were forced out of his body, carrying with them a trace of True Yuan.

The resulting heatwave caused the special steel in this holding cell, which had a melting point of a full 1,800 degrees, to begin gradually melting.

As this turbid breath rose upward, a massive hole was blasted directly through the ceiling.

"This martial arts Cultivation Technique does have some merits..." Chu Xuan murmured softly. The blood and Qi surged within him, and his entire body flushed crimson, making the heatwave inside the holding cell even more intense.

The walls made of special steel could not bear the load and began to melt over a large area.

"This Sanyuan Qi-Guiding Art also comes with three Martial Skills. Under the System's enhancement, I've actually mastered two of them directly..."

Chu Xuan put away the remaining soul crystals, and with a flash of his figure, teleported out of the underground space to the outside world. After a few more consecutive flashes, he arrived at a barren mountain.

"Heaven-Inquiring Finger!"

Chu Xuan gently pointed a finger. In an instant, a stream of light shot out and plunged into the mountain forest. The mountain rocks were easily pierced through, leaving a bottomless hole.

"Sky-Supporting Palm!"

Chu Xuan struck out with another palm. A palm print grew larger as it met the wind, crashing down onto a hilltop hundreds of meters away. The small hilltop, dozens of meters high, instantly shattered.

Despite such a grand display, Chu Xuan looked at it and shook his head slightly.

"It looks powerful and grand, but its actual lethality is far inferior to my close-quarters combat. From the looks of it, even after reaching Perfection in this Cultivation Technique, the Heaven-Shaking Punch I can master won't be much stronger..."

Chu Xuan was lost in thought. He already had a vague understanding that the reason for all this was likely because his basic attributes already far exceeded those of an ordinary Tianyuan Realm.

His Martial Dao True Yuan was no longer enough to bring him much of a boost. With every movement, his physical strength already far surpassed the Martial Skills cast at his current Realm.

The only advantage was that the True Yuan consumed wasn't much; shooting a finger required only 1,000 True Yuan, and a palm print was only 5,000 True Yuan.

"Although I cannot naturally recover True Yuan, 1 point of spirituality value is enough to convert into 100 True Yuan. The consumption of these Martial Skills isn't too much for me. It's equivalent to having a few more ways to crush weaklings, which is decent..."

Chu Xuan took a deep breath.

His fundamental purpose in practicing the martial arts Cultivation Technique was to find an alternative path to meet the promotion conditions for his life Rank.

As for the 57-point attribute exchange quota he obtained, it was an extra pleasant surprise.

For now, his true combat strength was still reflected in exclusive skills such as the Fire of Nirvana, Killing Instinct, Hundred Weapons One Heart, and Death-Dealing Blade.

Overall, he was more inclined toward close combat.

At mid-to-long range, there was [All-Cutting Slash]. Even though it was only Level 5 right now, when paired with the Fire of Nirvana, it remained his strongest means of killing enemies.

If paired with the heavenly punishment overlord bow, his Slashes could even be converted into arrows, or attached to the indestructible flowing shadow to form an ultra-long-range means of killing enemies.

"However, based on the Cangyun World Martial Artists I've seen before, the life level of the Tianyuan Realm should correspond to Level 15. Yet, I've already stepped into the Tianyuan Realm at Level 14. This should also be related to my basic attributes being too strong..."

Chu Xuan now checked his upgrade requirements.

[Current Rank: LV.14. Promoting to the next Rank, LV.15, will grant real attribute points: 25.

Upgrade Conditions: Fire of Nirvana LV.7 (Achieved) / Sanyuan Qi-Guiding Art - Major Achievement (Achieved), 30,000 spirituality value (Achieved), 20 rule fragments (Not Achieved)]

The requirements for spirituality value and rule fragments remained unchanged.

But in addition to the Fire of Nirvana, there was now also the "Sanyuan Qi-Guiding Art." Only one of these two needed to meet the conditions.

Not only that, but originally, to upgrade to Level 16, the Fire of Nirvana had to reach Level 8. Now, with the Sanyuan Qi-Guiding Art achieving its condition, that requirement was directly met.

The only thing missing was rule fragments.

As for the subsequent Levels 17 and 18, he would need Perfection in his Cultivation Technique and for his martial arts Realm to rise to the Shengyuan Realm to upgrade.

"Although the System's existence allows me to accelerate the promotion of my Cultivation Technique's Realm, the necessary resources are still indispensable. Major Achievement is currently the limit for this Cultivation Technique; the next step, Perfection, requires my Rank to reach Level 16..."

"I'm still short on rule fragments..."

Chu Xuan narrowed his eyes slightly. "I cannot enter large Dark Places. Even if there are S-rank Specters elsewhere, they must have hidden themselves. If I want to obtain rule fragments, I still have to go to the Cangyun World!"

"In that case, let's continue upgrading!"

Chu Xuan's eyes flashed as he returned to the underground holding cell. He had 687 soul crystals left. To maximize their value, he naturally prioritized upgrading his exclusive skills.

Checking his existing exclusive skills, All-Cutting Slash and I Will Not Die were both LV.5, while Killing Instinct was still only LV.3.

"When resources are sufficient, prioritize upgrading combat skills... Upgrading All-Cutting Slash can improve my mid-to-long-range attacks and lethal trump cards, while Killing Instinct can enhance my close-combat ability and intuition for killing intent."

With a thought, Chu Xuan made his decision.

430 soul crystals and 2,800 spirituality value were consumed in the blink of an eye.

[Your exclusive skill 'Killing Instinct' level +1. Current Level: LV.4. Your exchangeable real attribute quota +1]

[...exchangeable real attribute quota +10]

[...exchangeable real attribute quota +20]

[Your basic neural reaction speed is permanently increased by +1]

As Killing Instinct reached Level 6, he obtained another 31 points of real attribute exchange quota.

Not only that, but his basic neural reaction speed had also improved. Upon checking the details, Chu Xuan found it had permanently increased by +7%.

Chu Xuan's eyes flickered. He couldn't verify his perception of external killing intent just yet, but he had gained a much deeper understanding of controlling his own killing intent.

With a faint sweep of his eyes, he looked up toward the surface fifty meters above.

Chu Xuan's gaze could not physically penetrate solid matter, but a powerful wave of killing intent surged right through. Within the perception of his Mental Energy, insects on the surface shuddered and fell in large numbers, dying on their backs.

"Huh?"

"What happened?"

"So cold!"

In the underground Research Base, many researchers not far from Chu Xuan were developing potions and weapons. At this moment, even though they were not targeted by the killing intent, they still felt a sudden, inexplicable sense of unease.

"This skill suits me perfectly!"

Chu Xuan withdrew his killing intent, returning to his calm and composed demeanor.

"With 257 soul crystals left, I can wait to upgrade All-Cutting Slash next..." Chu Xuan made his decision in an instant.

Next, Chu Xuan took out 10 extraordinary skill promotion scrolls to raise [Unyielding] to Level 5.

[You have consumed 5 extraordinary skill promotion scrolls. Your spirituality value -800. Your transcendent skill "Unyielding" level +1. Current Level: LV.5]

[Unyielding LV.5: As long as your health points are not lower than 10%, your various basic attributes will not weaken as a result.]

"Each upgrade of a True Authority requires a corresponding number of skill scrolls. The remaining 5 scrolls are no longer enough to raise Unyielding to Level 6..."

Chu Xuan's eyes flickered slightly as he checked the System mall. The three purchase requests he had posted remained unanswered.

Just as Chu Xuan was about to log off, a System message notification suddenly popped up.

[Ling Ling Xi: Big boss, if you aren't willing to spend a fortune on soul crystals, surely extraordinary skill promotion scrolls are fine, right?]

After a brief thought, Chu Xuan replied.

[Tian Di Xuan Huang: I have already placed a buy order at a unit price of 3,000 spirituality value. However many you have, I'll take them all.]

[Ling Ling Xi: You really are loaded! But this thing is a scarce commodity after all. Although I have a few in my hands, 3,000 is still a bit too low, isn't it?]

[Tian Di Xuan Huang: 3,500.]

[Ling Ling Xi: Big boss, you need this item, so it must be to upgrade skills outside of your own sequence, right? That proves you must be an incredibly powerful expert, so why be so stingy?]

[Tian Di Xuan Huang: Name your price.]

[Ling Ling Xi: Fixed price, 8,000 each. I can sell you 4!]

Chu Xuan checked his current spirituality value; he had less than 50,000 left.

After a brief silence, he replied: [Deal.]

[Ling Ling Xi: You really are straightforward, big boss! Let's add each other as friends then, hehe!]

Chu Xuan accepted her friend request.

In his empty friend list, "Ling Ling Xi" suddenly appeared. Immediately after, she sent another message: [Hold on a moment, big boss, my scrolls will be ready shortly!]

A middleman pocketing the price difference?

Chu Xuan smiled at once.

He checked the time; without realizing it, it was already 8:30 AM, with only 1 hour left before he had to enter the dream.

[Ling Ling Xi: Big boss, my scrolls are ready. We can trade now.]

[Tian Di Xuan Huang: Wait for an hour. My spirituality value will also be ready shortly.]