I'm in a Hurry

The fiery Battle Qi thrust unleashed by the Doomsday Long Spear set the tree demon's trunk ablaze.

Bai Pu's current energy "purity" was at the Enhanced Lord level. Combined with the purple-grade Doomsday Long Spear, it was no weaker than that of a One-Star King.

Logically, an attack at the One-Star King level should have crushed a Lord-level tree demon and killed it instantly.

Yet Bai Pu's attack did not kill it. It merely burned a large hole through its trunk before the invading Battle Qi energy was exhausted and extinguished itself.

This was because Bai Pu's base attributes were relatively low—only around two-thirds those of Lords at the same level in the Heart Demon World—which limited his base damage.

Furthermore, his personal template restricted Bai Pu's single-burst output and maximum energy points, affecting the amplitude of his combat power.

These were deficiencies in hard power, and also proof, in the natives' eyes, that Bai Pu suffered from hidden injuries and could not recover his peak strength.

They were also the difference in hard power between Bai Pu and a genuine One-Star King.

There was, of course, another difference in soft power: one's cultivation level in artistic conception. Normally, One-Star Kings in the Awakened World had at least reached True Meaning First Heaven, while Bai Pu had not even fully integrated his Composite Profound Truth.

Hard-power shortcomings could not be made up in a hurry, but there was still hope for his True Intent deficiency in soft power—this was also the path Bai Pu had spoken of to natives such as the Flame Blade Princess: cultivating his artistic conception to the level of Myriad Phenomena, namely the True Intent level.

If Bai Pu could truly achieve that, the increase in his combat power amplitude would be quite considerable.

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