Fatal Blow was good, but that brief pause meant Lu Chen had to use it with care.
Yet as he sensed the way Fatal Blow exerted force, Lu Chen suddenly had a different thought.
"Fatal Blow is a method of exerting force. If I train for a long time, could familiarity erase its flaw of needing that brief pause?"
At that thought, Lu Chen's eyes lit up, but he quickly thought of something else.
"Wait, long-term training!"
"I remember, what lets me level up isn't called experience, but Trial Points. Could that mean experience and training? Long periods of training can erase disadvantages, which should also mean that if I use Trial Points to level it up, this disadvantage can be removed."
With that in mind, Lu Chen immediately looked at Fatal Blow, wanting to see how many Trial Points it required to upgrade.
System prompt: This skill can be upgraded. Trial Points required for upgrade: 3,000.
"Sorry for the trouble. I'll be leaving now."
Three thousand Trial Points made Lu Chen shake his head and retreat at once. That was simply not something he could obtain in a short time.
Still, Lu Chen was not angry as he withdrew. Though he could not obtain that many Trial Points right now, he had learned that this skill's flaw could be remedied.
"If I fix it, then every attack I make will be twice as strong as everyone else's, or even four times as strong. How powerful would I be then?"
At that thought, Lu Chen could barely suppress the smile on his face.
But he soon cast away the wild fantasies in his mind.
"Intermediate Fatal Blow probably won't be permanently active either. If I want every slash to land a critical hit, I feel like it will have to be Advanced. That would take far too many Trial Points."
After looking over Fatal Blow, Lu Chen turned to the other skill he had drawn: Conqueror's Haki.
Conqueror's Haki was an ability from the world of One Piece.
Armament Haki, Observation Haki, Conqueror's Haki, along with the Flying Strike Technique of great swordsmen—Sword Qi—and the Iron Cutting Technique, were abilities listed in One Piece's Swordsman skill pool.
This time, Lu Chen had obtained Conqueror's Haki. It was the user's own spirit.
Activating this ability could suppress the spirits of others and make them faint.
At high levels, Conqueror's Haki could even affect real-world matter through spirit alone.
Of course, Lu Chen was only at the very beginning of the beginner level. He could only activate it to suppress others when his emotions ran high.
At the same time, as a Gold-tier skill, it possessed more than just the active ability of Intimidation.
Conqueror's Haki: In One Piece, a kind of spirit possessed only by those with the qualities of a king. Those who possess Conqueror's Haki can intimidate and frighten opponents without lifting a hand, and can also make opponents weaker than themselves faint. Passive Ability: Spirit +10, Will +10, Pressure +10 Active Skill: Intimidation. Activate Haki to intimidate enemies. Those with weak willpower will faint directly, while even the strong will be cowed for a time and unable to move.
Like the Barbarian King Bloodline, Conqueror's Haki also had passive abilities that increased his attributes.
But unlike the Barbarian King Bloodline, which altered the body, Conqueror's Haki increased spiritual qualities such as will, spirit, and pressure.
And these things were also extremely useful to Lu Chen.
After all, this world contained sinister creatures, and the will increased by Conqueror's Haki happened to counter them.
After reading Conqueror's Haki's description, Lu Chen had now examined every skill gained from this level-up.
At the same time, Lu Chen calculated the basic attributes added by all the skills.
Strength +28, Agility +9, Constitution +44, Vitality +25.
Spirit +10, Will +10, Pressure +10.
Rage +10, Sharpness +3, Longsword Mastery +1, Basic Swordsmanship +1.
Lu Chen quickly calculated the attributes currently added to himself.
"The first layer is basic attributes, the second layer is will attributes, and the third layer is special attributes."
"My body is strong now, my vitality is abundant, and as for Constitution, it's nearly reached fifty."
Lu Chen was very satisfied with his physical strength. But after looking for a while, seeing Constitution at +44 and Agility at only 9 points gave him a headache.
"I remember that Swordsmen are known for agility, reaction speed, and skill, right? When I became a Swordsman, the basic attribute it added the most of was Agility—a full 9 points. So why has it turned out like this?"
Looking at the basic attributes stacked by various skills on the system panel, then feeling the tremendous strength and boundless vigor within his body, Lu Chen sank into deep thought.
"This Swordsman of mine feels like he's gone wildly off the beaten path."
Just as Lu Chen was lost in thought inside the room, someone knocked on the door.
At the same time, a soft, timid voice spoke nervously.
"A'Chen Great One, it's already evening. Shall I cook? You still have to join the patrol tonight."
"Got it."
When he came out of the room, Lu Chen found that the little girl had already filled the water jar and chopped some firewood.
Nodding in satisfaction, Lu Chen said, "Cook."
"By the way, what's your name?"
Only now did Lu Chen remember to ask the little girl before him for her name.
"Yi Nianwei. Great One can call me Xiao Wei."
"Understood."
After replying casually, Lu Chen had Xiao Wei start cooking. But when he saw her pick up a knife to cut the meat, Lu Chen shook his head.
The knife at home was not sharp, making the meat difficult to cut. But that was not why Lu Chen shook his head. What left him speechless was that Xiao Wei seemed to be planning to put only one or two jin of meat into the pot.
"Move aside. I'll do it."
Walking over, Lu Chen did not use a knife. He simply tore off more than ten jin of wild boar meat with his hands and put it into the pot.
"Next time you cook, make this much at once."
"Ah, Great One, that much? The food at home..."
"That isn't something you need to worry about. You just cook. I'll find a way to get food myself."
Lu Chen naturally knew that cooking less at a time would make the food at home last longer.
At the same time, with his current Constitution, Lu Chen could endure several days without eating.
Unfortunately, in a state of hunger, Lu Chen's strength would be greatly restricted. More importantly, he could not train at all on an empty stomach, and that was something Lu Chen would never allow.
"This might consume food quickly, but as long as my strength rises rapidly, I can hunt Barbarian Beasts. So I absolutely can't slow my growth in strength for the sake of food. That would be putting the cart before the horse."
While Lu Chen was thinking, Xiao Wei had already lit the fire and started boiling the meat.
Very soon, a large chunk of meat was boiling in the iron pot.
But looking at that chunk of meat, Lu Chen felt rather gloomy.
"Boiled white meat. The only seasoning is bitter salt. No peppercorns, no chili peppers, no scallions, ginger, or garlic—nothing at all. Sure enough, eating well in the Barbarian Wastes is hard!"
Though the food was not exquisite, Lu Chen had to replenish his nutrients if he wanted to increase his strength.
Therefore, he did not hesitate. He reached into the pot and fished out the chunk of meat.
"Great One, be careful, the water is hot..."
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