The Merciless Mobile Turret

Lacking real combat experience was indeed Luo Chen's greatest shortcoming.

But that shortcoming had many causes, with his cultivation realm being the greatest shackle.

You could not expect an independent cultivator with no decent Magic Tools, no powerful spells, and no profound realm to possess abundant combat experience.

Cases like Wang Yuan's were few and far between.

A Martial Dao Grandmaster in the mortal world inherently possessed a physique stronger than that of most Qi Refinement Cultivators.

Moreover, before entering cultivation, Wang Yuan had already accumulated ample experience fighting humans.

Otherwise, among the tens of thousands of independent cultivators in Great River Market, with hundreds in the Late Qi Refining Stage, why was Wang Yuan alone so renowned? How could he, at the Qi Refining Seventh Layer, sell Magic Tools of questionable origin in the market every day and still be alive and well?

Now, Luo Chen could be said to possess a decent Magic Tool—the Soul Severing Nail—and a powerful spell—the Perfect Fireball Spell.

Improving his realm had thus become the most pressing matter.

Fortunately, Luo Chen possessed the basic conditions needed to advance his realm!

That bottle of Qi Nourishing Pills contained a full ten pills and had never even been opened.

Rumor had it that, if one were willing to spend lavishly, a thousand bottles of Qi Nourishing Pills could forcibly create a Qi Refining Ninth Layer cultivator.

Of course, that was only a rumor.

A thousand bottles would cost one hundred thousand Low-Grade Spirit Stones—equivalent to ten High-Grade Spirit Stones!

Even great sects would not spend so extravagantly.

Furthermore, those with good Spirit Root aptitude cultivated quickly even without taking pills.

Luo Chen's Spirit Roots were poor, so with pills before him, he would certainly take them.

With the help of Soul Calming Incense, Luo Chen circulated the Evergreen Art once more and brought himself to peak condition.

In that fully prepared state, he swallowed a Qi Nourishing Pill.

Once the pill entered his body and was stimulated by spiritual energy, it transformed into a surging torrent of heat that spread through him, rushing straight toward his meridians.

A swollen, overflowing sensation filled Luo Chen's body.

Frowning, he circulated the Evergreen Art, guiding the medicinal power into his Dantian.

The spiritual energy absorbed and refined through a Cultivation Method was affected by one's Spirit Root aptitude, causing its efficiency to be greatly reduced.

But pills were different!

As long as they were swallowed, at most they would take longer to refine. Yet their medicinal power would remain within the body.

Given enough time, they could eventually be refined and made one's own.

The process of taking the pill and refining its medicinal power lasted for an entire hour.

When Luo Chen examined the state within his body and opened his eyes, his heart brimmed with joy!

He opened the Attribute Panel.

[Name: Luo Chen]

[Lifespan: 27/75]

[Spirit Roots: Gold, Wood, Water, Fire, Earth]

[Realm: Third Layer of Qi Refining Stage: 78/100]

[Cultivation Method: Evergreen Art Mastery: 280/300]

[Spells: Fireball Spell Perfect 355/500, Carefree Wander Mastery Level 203/300, entangling spell proficient 176/200, Cleanse Spell Novice 52/100]

[Skills: Tier 1 Alchemist: Grain Avoidance Powder Grandmaster 540/1000, All Wonders Pill Novice 37/100]

[Achievement Points: 2]

It had risen! It had risen!

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

Luo Chen could observe his condition at any time.

The last time he checked, the realm entry had read Third Layer of Qi Refining Stage: 76/100.

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

In fact, Luo Chen had also realized that the attributes displayed by this panel did not all use the same standard.

Cultivation Methods, spells, and skills all used proficiency.

But lifespan and realm used progress bars.

If he completely refined this bottle of pills, the progress bar should reach 96/100. Breaking through to the fourth layer would then be no distant matter.

"The Evergreen Art's proficiency is also rising quickly. With the Soul Calming Incense assisting me, it should soon reach the Perfect Level."

"The Fireball Spell underwent a qualitative transformation when it reached the Perfect Level. What changes will the Evergreen Art undergo once it reaches the Perfect Level?"

Luo Chen was filled with anticipation!

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

Regular, yet not dull.

Each pill he refined represented growing wealth.

Refining Qi Nourishing Pills represented increasing cultivation.

The rising proficiency of the Fireball Spell and Carefree Wander represented strengthened combat power.

This constant, visible ascent was simply addictive.

If not for limited resources and dangers beyond his door, Luo Chen would even have been willing to cultivate in seclusion like this for the rest of his life.

Late one night, three days later, Luo Chen suddenly shuddered all over.

Then he opened his eyes, ecstatic beyond measure.

"The Evergreen Art proficiency has reached Perfect Grade!"

"I wonder what has changed?"

After resting briefly, Luo Chen tried circulating the Cultivation Method again, carefully sensing it in an attempt to find the differences from before.

Half an hour later, his expression became somewhat strange.

"The time has been cut in half. Completing one full circulation used to take an hour, but now it only takes half an hour."

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

If the efficiency with which a Five Spirit Roots cultivator absorbed and converted spiritual energy was set as the standard of one, then a Four Spirit Roots cultivator was roughly twice that standard, a Three Spirit Roots cultivator four times, and a Dual Spirit Roots cultivator eight times.

Luo Chen did not know the exact standard for a Single Spirit Root cultivator—that was, a Heavenly Spirit Root cultivator. He had never seen one.

But it was at least twenty times the standard!

After all, there was a legend in the Cultivation World that Heavenly Spirit Root cultivators could establish their foundation within ten years without taking any pills.

That was truly terrifying!

Why had those sects not accepted Luo Chen before? His age was one reason, but the main reason was that his Five Spirit Roots aptitude dragged him down.

Without any external assistance, he would need at least two hundred years to establish his foundation.

Yet the upper limit of a Qi Refinement Cultivator's lifespan was only around one hundred and twenty or thirty years.

But now, the Evergreen Art's efficiency in absorbing and converting spiritual energy had doubled!

What did that mean?

It meant that his aptitude was now comparable to that of a Four Spirit Roots cultivator. Without relying on external aids, he would only need a hundred years to establish his foundation.

"This is good news. It means my spiritual energy recovery speed has greatly increased, and I can use more spiritual energy to raise my spell proficiency."

"But I cannot grow complacent."

"They say I am comparable to a Four Spirit Roots cultivator, but Four Spirit Roots are still trash aptitude. Besides, I only have forty-eight years of lifespan left. Establishing my foundation remains far beyond reach. So blind, bitter cultivation alone will not do."

When all was said and done, he still had to pop pills!

Popping pills required Spirit Stones, and Qi Nourishing Pills were not something just anyone could afford.

His grand plan to earn Spirit Stones could not stop.

This was a hundred-year plan that would run through his entire life!

Having steadied his emotions, Luo Chen peacefully fell asleep amid the lingering fragrance of the burned-out Soul Calming Incense.

The sky had only just begun to brighten.

On the misty plain beside the stream, a figure rose and fell like a great roc.

Whenever the figure flashed past, it left behind one afterimage after another.

"Fireball Spell, go!"

With a low shout, a blazing fireball suddenly shot forth, blasting a huge crater into the weed-choked plain.

The figure did not pause, nor stop to inspect the result, but darted at high speed to another side.

Then, just as before, he launched another Fireball Spell from an angled direction.

When Luo Chen finally stopped, the wilderness was a complete mess, its craters large and small still radiating scorching heat.

After taking a slight breath, Luo Chen was very satisfied with today's training results.

He no longer fantasized about battle scenes of flying through the heavens and burrowing through the earth, beheading enemies with a single sword stroke.

Instead, he began imitating Wang Yuan's fighting style.

Wang Yuan had transitioned from Martial Dao to the immortal path, yet his combat style retained part of its mortal-era flavor.

He used his powerful physique for rapid movement, then combined sharp Magic Tools and various methods to fight his enemies.

The image of Wang Yuan dragging a great saber, stepping across roof beams, and descending from the sky had truly left a tremendous impact on him.

His outcome of fighting one against three had been even more shocking.

Luo Chen was no fool. He quickly absorbed the strengths of that approach.

"Although I lack formidable close-combat ability, the Perfect Fireball Spell has extremely fast casting speed and considerable power."

"With the Carefree Wander lightness skill, I can become a merciless mobile turret."

"If I encounter an enemy whose defenses the Fireball Spell cannot break, I still have two Soul Severing Nails as trump cards."

Close combat was truly too dangerous for cultivators with frail physiques.

A long-range mobile turret was comparatively safe; it could attack or flee.

Through his constant practice these past days, Luo Chen had preliminarily determined his future fighting style.

Once his realm improved, he could begin gaining real combat experience.

And that day was not far away!

Riding the crisp morning breeze, Luo Chen leaped over the stream and returned home.

"Pill refining, pill refining!"

Right now, all he wanted was to make money!

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