96: System vulnerabilities

Sheathing his blade, Jiang Lan revealed a satisfied smile.

The Blazing Sun Demon Suppression Blade, at the Return to Simplicity Realm, had almost become an instinct of his body; it was no exaggeration to say it was as if his arm directed it, if not a complete Fusion of man and blade.

"Clang!"

The upper half of the wooden wardrobe slid diagonally and fell to the ground, startling Jiang Lan.

Jiang Lan: "..."

He twitched his lips. He didn't know what possessed him just now; the perfectly fine wardrobe was cut in half.

However, Jiang Lan didn't pay too much attention to it. It was just a wardrobe. Although the wood used was good, it had been used for many years and wasn't worth much.

As this thought crossed his mind, the text on the virtual light screen in front of him scrolled again.

[Year 1, your Flood Dragon Swim Realm advanced to Minor Achievement.]

[Year 3, your Flood Dragon Swim Realm advanced to Proficient.]

[Year 7, you practiced your movement technique daily, and your Flood Dragon Swim Realm advanced to Thorough Mastery.]

[Year 13, through your unremitting efforts, your Flood Dragon Swim Realm successfully advanced to Peak Perfection.]

[Year 24, your Flood Dragon Swim has reached Major Achievement, moving like a Flood Dragon emerging from the sea. Congratulations, your Flood Dragon Swim Realm advanced to Return to Simplicity!]

[Year 25, you felt that Flood Dragon Swim had no more room for improvement, and the remaining Lifespan was returned.]

Seeing the text finish scrolling, Jiang Lan could clearly feel that his Physical Body was significantly lighter than before, and his flexibility had also greatly increased.

He was confident that if he unleashed his full speed, his current speed would be at least thirty percent faster than before.

And this wasn't the most important thing.

The most important thing was the flexibility of his Physical Body.

Becoming more flexible meant that in future confrontations, attacks that he previously barely missed would now be avoidable.

Jiang Lan mused.

No wonder people say that mastering a movement technique is like gaining half a life.

He raised his gaze, sweeping over the 'Remaining Lifespan' column on the light screen, and then looked at the 'Martial Skill' column.

Now, he had fifty-six years of Lifespan left.

There were a total of four Martial Skills, three of which were already at Return to Simplicity, leaving only Hidden God Art at Minor Achievement.

Jiang Lan had originally planned to use this hundred years of Lifespan to improve two Martial Skills that were more helpful to him at this stage, so he hadn't considered Hidden God Art.

After all, Hidden God Art was just a method of concealment, with minimal effect in direct combat.

But now that he had extra free Lifespan, he might as well add it.

Jiang Lan whispered:

"Please help me max out Hidden God Art."

As Jiang Lan's voice fell, the text on the light screen began to scroll again.

[Year 2, your Hidden God Art Realm advanced to Proficient.]

[Year 6, your Hidden God Art Realm advanced to Thorough Mastery.]

[Year 10...]

[Year 18, congratulations, your Hidden God Art Realm advanced to Return to Simplicity! Feeling no more room for improvement, you stopped cultivating, and the remaining Lifespan was returned.]

With the text, Jiang Lan's breathing became more steady and prolonged; even if someone was right next to him, they wouldn't hear a single breath.

Jiang Lan's gaze swept to his own column on the panel... [Name: Jiang Lan]

[Cultivation: Gathering Yuan Ninth Level]

[Cultivation Technique: Three Yuan True Nurturing Skill / Golden Sun Transformation Art (Fusion in progress)]

[Martial Skill: Blazing Sun Demon Suppression Blade (Return to Simplicity), Flood Dragon Swim (Return to Simplicity), Hidden God Art (Return to Simplicity), Shadow Blade Art (Return to Simplicity)]

[Remaining Lifespan: Thirty-eight years.]

[Can inject Lifespan into Cultivation Techniques and skills to improve strength.]

[Can increase Lifespan by suppressing or slaying demons.]

...Jiang Lan raised an eyebrow slightly.

Now, all four Martial Skills had reached the Return to Simplicity Realm.

He truly felt as if he had cultivated for many years, having completely mastered these Martial Skills and being able to perfectly unleash their full power.

Next, he needed to find something to test his blade on.

Just as Jiang Lan was pondering, the sound of a door opening came from outside.

The panel in front of him dissipated, and Jiang Lan looked up towards the doorway.

Although his room door wasn't closed, he couldn't see the door to the outside hall.

However, by the sound of footsteps, Jiang Lan knew that Bao Jing had returned.

A Martial Artist at his Realm had long since completely transcended ordinary people.

To exaggerate a bit, even if there was a fly flapping its wings in the courtyard right now, Jiang Lan would be able to hear it clearly.

Of course, when not deliberately listening, he was still pretty much like an ordinary person.

Otherwise, if he went to a noisy place, wouldn't he be deafened by all the chaotic sounds?

Perhaps seeing Jiang Lan's door open, Bao Jing didn't return to his own room but walked into Jiang Lan's room.

"amitabha." Bao Jing clasped his hands and said, "Benefactor Jiang."

Jiang Lan nodded, "You're back so early?"

Bao Jing smiled.

"There wasn't much to do. I didn't know what to do on the street, so I came back to rest."

"Hmm."

Jiang Lan was about to tell Bao Jing to go back, but then he suddenly remembered something and asked:

"By the way, there's something I haven't figured out."

"Benefactor Jiang, please speak freely. This Little Monk will tell you everything I know."

"Before, at Bao Ping Temple, as you saw, I chopped the Old Monk's Physical Body into many pieces, but his Physical Body could still recover under the control of his separated soul." Jiang Lan said, "So I want to ask, besides the method you used before, are there any other special ways to directly harm a separated soul through the Physical Body?"

This matter was quite important to Jiang Lan.

After all, as long as a separated soul entered a Physical Body, it was an immortal existence.

If he couldn't kill it, how could he gain Lifespan?

"That's simple." Bao Jing heard him and, without thinking, immediately replied: "If a separated soul occupies another body, it usually lies dormant within the body's spiritual platform, which is the upper Dantian. As long as the upper Dantian is crushed, the separated soul will leave the body on its own."

Jiang Lan understood.

His expression was a bit strange.

"According to you, it means just crushing the brain?"

"amitabha." Bao Jing nodded, "Benefactor Jiang is intelligent; that is precisely it."

Jiang Lan: "..."

His lips twitched for a moment.

Originally, he had thought that without specific means, killing a separated soul would be very difficult.

But now, hearing Bao Jing say this, he suddenly understood.

So it was just a matter of crushing the brain?

Jiang Lan briefly recalled and realized it was true.

The times he had chopped off the Old Monk's head before, he had just simply chopped it down, but he hadn't targeted the spiritual platform.

Otherwise, that separated soul would probably have died by his hand long ago, and it wouldn't have been Bao Jing's turn.

Since it was confirmed that separated souls could be killed, there was nothing to worry about.

Now, the only thing Jiang Lan needed to worry about was encountering separated souls that were too weak to bring him more Lifespan.

However, he vaguely felt that he seemed to have found a System loophole.

If he could utilize this loophole well, he might be able to Breakthrough Mortal Shedding and go straight to Core Formation in one fell swoop.