Entering the Microscopic

The next day, Su Fan went to the market town, but he didn't notice any changes.

However, he still bought five hundred jin of Spirit Rice and over a hundred jin of smoked Demonic Beast meat.

He also bought over twenty mid-grade Talismans at the Myriad Treasures Tower, spending all the Spirit Stones he had.

Xu Wen, although sometimes boastful, had connections in the Lesser Yang Sect and was quite reliable.

Even though the market town showed no signs of trouble, Su Fan chose to trust him.

After returning, Su Fan started tinkering in his yard again.

That night, he was fortunate to have survived.

How could Su Fan make the same mistake again and let Bandit Cultivators easily jump into his yard?

He bought several "Mother-Child Warning Talismans" in the market town and placed them on the courtyard wall and the main gate.

If anyone climbed over the wall, the child talisman would be triggered, and the mother talisman on Su Fan's waist would instantly self-ignite.

Every night before sleeping, he would also set up a few "Firework Talismans" in the yard.

If anyone walked through the yard, several fireworks would shoot up into the sky.

Additionally, the house door had been replaced.

The new door, made of Black Ironwood, was over five inches thick, and an additional hidden lock was installed inside.

After finishing all this, Su Fan finally felt a lot more at ease.

The following ten-plus days passed very productively.

Twice a day, morning and evening, he cultivated the Primordial Chaos Technique.

The rest of the time was spent practicing swordplay until he was exhausted, then practicing various spells.

In his previous life, he was incredibly lazy, but after coming to this world, he became diligent.

He had no choice; the cultivation world was not easy to navigate.

Without strength, you didn't even have the right to lie down and do nothing.

Moreover, there were no games, no social media, and no attractive girls on live streams here, making life incredibly boring.

If he didn't find something to do, he would have gone crazy long ago.

While cultivating, Su Fan watched the "Proficiency +1" messages pop up from time to time, and the progress bar on his status panel steadily increase. It truly felt like the grind of playing games back in the day.

In the dead of night, he also had to study the basics of Talismans.

Su Fan didn't rush; he first practiced various basic brush strokes on Xuan paper with a brush.

Only after becoming proficient did he attempt to simulate and copy several Talismans.

In just a few days, he used several hundred sheets of Xuan paper practicing the brushwork for drawing Talismans.

His fight with the Bandit Cultivator that day made Su Fan realize a problem: his Magic Sword couldn't be wielded effectively in confined spaces.

Therefore, Su Fan remembered the martial art called "Xingyi Quan."

That's right, that was its name.

However, it was completely different from the martial art of the same name in his previous life.

Xingyi Quan was a boxing technique inherited from ancient Body Cultivation Path methods.

Body Cultivators, who constantly fought Demonic Beasts, created this boxing technique by drawing inspiration from the combat styles of seven powerful Demonic Beasts: the Azure Bear, Fierce Tiger, Ink Dragon, Kui Ox, Stone Ape, Wind Falcon, and Dragon Elephant.

Compared to the Nine Extremes Consecutive Slashes, this boxing technique was a bit of a hassle.

Before cultivating, one had to visualize the appearance of the Demonic Beasts in their mind and then practice the boxing by contemplating the beasts' forms.

This requirement was too harsh.

Ancient Demonic Beasts had long gone extinct, so where was he supposed to find them?

Even if he could find them, he wouldn't dare approach them.

They could crush him with a mere breath without even moving.

He had no choice but to copy the images from the Bestiary of Demonic Beasts, paste them on the wall, and look at them for a while each day. Only then could he barely get started with the boxing technique.

At midnight, after completing a round of Nine Extremes Consecutive Slashes, Su Fan leaned on his sword, recovering his stamina.

He opened his status panel, and the progress of several spells had been updated again.

[Name] Su Fan
[Lifespan] 36/92 years
[Realm] Qi Refining Second Layer: 99/100
[Cultivation Methods]
1. Primordial Chaos Technique (Tier 1): 22/100
2. Body Tempering Art (Tier 2): 45/200
3. Demonic Saint Body Art (Tier 1): 100/100

[Spells]

1. Qi Gazing Art (Great Accomplishment): 297/400

2. Light Body Art (Microscopic): 1/800

3. Spirit Concealment Art (Great Accomplishment): 245/400

4. Nine Extremes Consecutive Slashes (Minor Accomplishment): 7/200

5. Xingyi Quan (Initiate): 9/100

[Skills] None

[Spiritual Power] None

Except for the cultivation method, which remained stagnant, several spells had progressed significantly.

Spirit Concealment Art and Qi Gazing Art had both advanced to Great Accomplishment.

Nine Extremes Consecutive Slashes had also broken through its tier, now reaching Minor Accomplishment.

Only Xingyi Quan was a bit of a letdown.

Although he had barely reached the Initiate level, practicing it dozens of times barely increased the proficiency on the panel once.

Those dozens of Magic Coins had been wasted.

What surprised him was that the Great Accomplishment Light Body Art had advanced once more, with the panel displaying its realm as "Microscopic."

Without waiting for his stamina to fully recover, Su Fan eagerly began to experiment.

He formed hand seals, chanting the incantation silently.

A mysterious power rapidly spread through his body, making him feel incredibly light, as if gravity no longer held him.

A gentle breeze could now blow him away.

With a mere thought, his body, like a piece of paper, drifted diagonally to the rooftop.

Immediately after, Su Fan was seen floating around the small courtyard.

As long as he moved his mind, his body would follow his will with perfect freedom.

Light as a feather, swift as the wind, and all done unexpectedly and silently.

Su Fan was a bit bewildered.

This was...

You call this Light Body Art?

Light Body Art, from Initiate to Minor Accomplishment and then Great Accomplishment, all showed improvement.

But no one could have imagined that advancing to "Microscopic" would yield such heaven-defying effects.

Was this still a low-grade Tier 1 spell? He suspected even the mid-grade Wind Riding Art wouldn't be much better.

Light Body Art was considered a chicken rib for cultivators.

It was meant as a stepping stone, to be discarded once one learned Wind Riding Art.

Of course, no one else would obsessively practice a low-grade spell dozens of times a day like him.

Wait...

Something felt off.

Su Fan opened his status panel. It showed Light Body Art (Microscopic): 2/800.

Ever since he started practicing spells, successfully casting one would increase the proficiency by one.

He had always assumed it was the instinctive memory of this body at play.

But he would never believe that his previous self could have practiced Light Body Art to such a heaven-defying degree.

Now, with Light Body Art at the "Microscopic" realm, casting it once just now only increased the proficiency on the panel by one.

Su Fan pondered for a moment, then held his sword with both hands and performed Nine Extremes Consecutive Slashes.

This time, he practiced with extreme seriousness, ensuring every slash followed the sword manual precisely, striving for perfection.

After nine slashes, Su Fan opened his panel. Nine Extremes Consecutive Slashes (Minor Accomplishment): 8/200.

Su Fan suppressed his inner excitement and closed his eyes to rest.

Once his stamina recovered, he earnestly performed it again, then opened his panel.

Nine Extremes Consecutive Slashes (Minor Accomplishment): 9/200.

Su Fan's breathing grew rapid, and his heart began to pound violently.

It seemed he had been overlooking the true function of the panel.

The purpose of this game-like panel wasn't just to quantify attributes.

It was like when he played games back then: every time a spell was successfully cast, the proficiency would be forcibly increased by one.

Compared to the easier-to-cast low-level spells, Nine Extremes Consecutive Slashes was considerably more complex.

The entire sword technique included changes in stance, spiritual power circulation, and methods of exertion, with many details.

When Su Fan first started practicing the sword, he was quite serious. Later, he just started hacking away carelessly.

He was practicing randomly, to put it mildly.

To verify what he had in mind, Su Fan had seriously practiced it twice just now.

As a result, after both attempts, the proficiency of "Nine Extremes Consecutive Slashes" on the panel increased by one.

It seemed that even a slight flaw meant it wasn't a successful execution, and the proficiency on the panel wouldn't react.

In the past, he often had to practice more than ten times for the panel's proficiency to increase by one.

So, according to the game's rules, the proficiency of all spells could be grinded out.

This was the true purpose of the game panel.

Effort would always be rewarded.

No wonder every time a spell advanced, inexplicable insights and experiences would flood his mind.

Especially after advancing to "Microscopic," his understanding of the Light Body Art deepened.

In other words, if he hadn't been practicing randomly, the Nine Extremes Consecutive Slashes might have already reached great mastery.

What kind of effect would it have if the Nine Extremes Consecutive Slashes were grinded to "Microscopic"?

Then, in the future...

After "Microscopic" advanced, would there be even more heaven-defying changes?

Thinking of this, Su Fan felt a surge of heat rush from his spine to the top of his head.

Goosebumps erupted all over his body, and every pore trembled.

"This is going to be amazing..."

Only now, in this world, did he finally have the capital to establish himself.

After the excitement, an indescribable sense of relaxation followed, filling his entire body.

Ever since he arrived in this world, there had always been a vague sense of crisis weighing on his heart.

At this moment, it felt as if all the gloom had vanished.

His body felt light and buoyant, more pleasant than soaking his entire body in hot water in a bathtub.

"The future is promising..."

When I become a powerful cultivator in the future, I'll find a place with beautiful mountains and clear waters and just lie down until I die.

Su Fan took a deep breath and rubbed his face with both hands.

His previously excited and agitated state immediately cooled down.

He gently tore off a piece of dead skin from his face, revealing a large patch underneath.

The abnormality in his body was getting worse.

Although his skin no longer peeled off in sheets, it became drier, forming large patches of dead skin.

The most terrifying thing was that his strength was still slowly increasing; compared to before, it had already more than doubled.

And his appetite had also grown; he needed three large bowls of Spirit Rice at every meal.

Su Fan was truly starting to get scared.

He returned to his room, found the "Body Tempering Art" cultivation method, and studied it carefully.

He wanted to see if there was a problem with his body cultivation.

But after flipping through the entire book, he found no clues about the physical abnormality.

Putting down the cultivation method, he suddenly smacked his forehead.

"I'm such an idiot..."

Su Fan suddenly remembered the words described in the general principles of the demonic cultivation method.

If he guessed correctly, this physical abnormality was most likely related to that demonic cultivation method.

He took out the "Demonic Saint Body Art" from his storage bag and flipped through it page by page, sentence by sentence.

He turned to the section on initial cultivation and read it carefully.

As Su Fan expected, the physical abnormality was indeed caused by this demonic cultivation method.

What was described in the opening general principles of the cultivation method wasn't just bragging.

When a cultivator circulates the method and draws heavenly lightning into their body, a Dao Seed is planted in their chest.

This lightning Dao Seed would have a dormancy period of several months.

The earlier the Dao Seed is activated, the better the effect on transforming the body cultivator's physique.

In the ancient "Heavenly Demonic Sect," disciples would undergo life-and-death trials to activate the Dao Seed early.

Once the lightning Dao Seed is activated, it would slowly transform the body cultivator's physique.

This process would take about a month.

Finding the cause of the physical abnormality finally made Su Fan breathe a sigh of relief.