Changing Class to Sword Cultivator

"Yes!" Lu Qingshan did not hesitate and chose to learn the cultivation method. The 40 experience points he had just obtained immediately dropped by 10.

"Experience -10. Learning Qi Guiding Technique!"

A vast amount of data flooded into Lu Qingshan's mind.

This felt completely different from simply clicking on a skill in a game. Once the data entered Lu Qingshan's mind, it transformed into knowledge related to the cultivation method.

How to sense the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, how to guide qi, the route through which spirit power circulated within the body...

Like an empowerment, it allowed Lu Qingshan to truly master this cultivation method in an instant.

At the same time, within his previously empty dantian, Lu Qingshan once again sensed a faint wisp of mist-like spirit power (Spirit Power +10).

"Learning successful! You have mastered the Qi Guiding Technique. Your tier has advanced to Qi Refining!"

"Advancement successful. You have met the class change requirements. Please choose one of the following six classes as your main class: Sword Cultivator, Body Cultivator, Beast Cultivator, Spirit Cultivator, Magic Cultivator, Nether Cultivator. Note: once your main class is chosen, it cannot be changed!"

"Choose Sword Cultivator!"

"Class change successful. You have obtained the main class: Sword Cultivator!"

"You have obtained the class talent Specialization: without specialization, one cannot succeed. Sword Cultivators who specialize in the Sword Dao will be unable to change into any secondary class!"

"You have obtained the class talent Formation Breaker: with the will to break formations, there is death but no life. All damage dealt by Sword Cultivators increases by tier × 5%. As a balance, Sword Cultivators will not receive any modifier bonuses to their Endurance attribute!"

"You have obtained the class talent Sword Skill Affinity (Beginner): experience required by Sword Cultivators to learn and upgrade Sword Skills is reduced by 10%; experience required to learn and upgrade skills other than Sword Skills is increased by 10%; Sword Skill damage is increased by 5%!"

This was the Sword Cultivator, one of the most distinctive classes in "Nine Heavens."

In the eyes of Sword Cultivators, all things beneath heaven were bound to a single sword.

Immortal arts, or the hundred arts of cultivation—Sword Cultivators never dabbled in them. In their view, what problem could not be solved by a sword strike to the head? Why learn all those arts?

Sword Cultivators were the main class with the lowest health and frailest bodies in "Nine Heavens."

Among the six main classes, it was the only one that did not receive Endurance attribute bonuses as its tier rose.

Before changing classes, every player had a fixed conversion ratio between Endurance and health: 1 Endurance = 10 Health.

But after changing classes, every class except Sword Cultivators gained an additional 1 point in the ratio of Endurance converted into health for every tier advanced (1 Endurance = 11 Health).

Body Cultivators, whose main attribute was Endurance, gained an additional 2 points. It was not obvious in the early stages, but as tiers rose, the bonus became increasingly apparent.

By the time one reached Void Refinement, the fifth tier of "Nine Heavens," a Body Cultivator's 1 Endurance equaled 20 (10 + 2 × 5) Health, while a Sword Cultivator of the same realm still had 1 Endurance equal to 10 Health—a full twofold difference.

In other words, beginning at Void Refinement, 1 point of Endurance for a Body Cultivator was worth 2 points for a Sword Cultivator.

Of course, to compensate for Sword Cultivators' pitiful health pools, their attack power received a tremendous buff.

Sword Cultivators were an extreme class that sacrificed health for explosive damage. With the boost from Formation Breaker, their damage output reigned supreme in "Nine Heavens." Even the toughest Body Cultivators could not withstand a Sword Cultivator's relentless attacks.

It was a class whose strengths and weaknesses were both exceedingly obvious.

Sword Cultivator players had long been known in "Nine Heavens" as "brutes" and "mad dogs."

"Nine Heavens" once held a poll to choose the most popular class in the game, and Sword Cultivators won by a landslide with fifty percent of the votes.

Yet in the poll for the class players hated most, Sword Cultivators once again seized first place with an overwhelming ninety percent of the votes.

The mechanics of the Sword Cultivator class were dearly loved by players. Put simply, it came down to one word: "flashy." But that same flashiness was often why so many players hated them—they could showboat so hard that both they and their teammates' scalps went numb.

Low health and explosive damage—when these two labels were concentrated on the same class, the result was that whenever battle erupted, Sword Cultivators seemed to have a max-level taunt aura activated. They were always the enemies' first focus-fire target—no one dared let a Sword Cultivator deal damage unchecked.

Sword Cultivators were a class with an astonishingly high ceiling and a terrifyingly low floor. The gap between Sword Cultivators in the hands of experts and ordinary players was immense.

In the hands of experts, Sword Cultivators often slew men amid the red dust, escaped through flashing blades, ascended as immortals with a single sword, and made all gods shrink away, earning the title of Sword Immortal!

In the hands of newbies, Sword Cultivators were death like the wind, ever at my side—charging in with no way out, vanishing the moment they entered the field. Truly, death but no life, worthy of the name orphan.

But whether Sword Immortal or orphan, Sword Cultivator players could all enjoy that unique delight belonging only to Sword Cultivators.

What did players play games for?

Was it not simply for happiness?

After changing into a Sword Cultivator, Lu Qingshan's previously empty personal attribute panel underwent significant changes:

Lu Qingshan (Human)

Class: Sword Cultivator

Cultivation Method: Qi Guiding Technique Lv1 (0/100) -- [Spirit Power +10]

Tier: Qi Refining

Experience: 30

Free Attribute Points: 0

Personal Attributes: Strength 1, Agility 1, Magic Power 1, Soul 1, Charm 1, Endurance 1

Health: 20/20

Spirit Power: 10/10

Talents: Innate Sword Seed (Legendary), Thick Skin and Flesh, Specialization, Formation Breaker, Sword Skill Affinity (Beginner)

Skills: Heavenly Eye Technique

__________

In that brief instant, Lu Qingshan had gone from an ordinary mortal to a Qi Refining cultivator.

Yet, in Xie Shi's eyes, nothing unusual had happened. All the changes had been completed in utter silence.

Having become a Qi Refining cultivator and gained spirit power, Lu Qingshan could now use the Storage Bag.

"What exactly is the situation in this Corpse Refining Cave? How many people are there, and what are their cultivation levels? Tell me everything in detail."

A sharp glint flashed through Lu Qingshan's eyes as he questioned Xie Shi about the Corpse Refining Cave. At the same time, he removed the Storage Bag hanging from Xie Shi's waist and toyed with it in his hand.

Looking at his Storage Bag in Lu Qingshan's hand, a shadowy glint flashed deep in Xie Shi's eyes. Still, he answered Lu Qingshan's questions with complete cooperation.

According to Xie Shi's account, the Corpse Refining Cave was far larger in scale than Lu Qingshan had expected.

The master of the Corpse Refining Cave, Blood Corpse True Person—Xie Shi and Song Qing's master—was not a Qi Refining cultivator as Lu Qingshan had initially assumed, but an established Foundation Establishment cultivator.

The reason the Corpse Pool where Lu Qingshan was located used First-grade Corpse Strengthening Fluid was that the entire Corpse Refining Cave contained three Corpse Pools.

Two were used to refine first-grade Corpse Puppets, and the one Lu Qingshan was in was one of them. The other was used to refine second-grade Corpse Puppets.

Second-grade Corpse Puppets corresponded to Foundation Establishment cultivators, and only Foundation Establishment cultivators could refine them.

After learning the Corpse Refining Cave's true situation, Lu Qingshan could not help feeling a trace of relief.

Fortunately, Blood Corpse True Person had gone out and had not yet returned. Otherwise, escaping from here would almost certainly have been impossible.

Qi Refining cultivators still largely belonged within the realm of mortals. With proper planning, it was not impossible for mortals to kill Qi Refining cultivators. But Foundation Establishment cultivators were entirely different.

In the world of cultivators, crossing tiers was like climbing to heaven. Whether in the number or level of skills they possessed, Foundation Establishment cultivators far surpassed Qi Refining cultivators.

Coupled with Spiritual Sense Perception, in terms of combat power alone, Foundation Establishment cultivators could easily crush Qi Refining cultivators.