Golden characters emerged around Shen Bai.
The characters were like sacred scriptures born of heaven itself, their forms impossible to grasp.
Yet they were also like the murmurs of all living beings, ancient and terrifying.
When the characters appeared, the righteous aura blazing from the longsword in Shen Bai's right hand surged like a great river.
The golden Buddhist light in his left hand suddenly flared, like the sun.
The white radiance around him became gentle as jade, so pure it was intoxicating.
"All my abilities have been boosted fourfold. This feels incredible!"
Shen Bai only felt terrifying power filling his entire body. Compared to before, it was practically a qualitative transformation.
"It's just that the consumption is a bit intense."
In that short while, one-tenth of the qi in Shen Bai's body had already vanished.
Qi could be restored. Shen Bai estimated that this full-power state could only last for half an hour.
The time is still too short, Shen Bai thought.
If anyone knew what Shen Bai was thinking, they would surely draw their weapon and fight him to the death.
All divine abilities were amplified fourfold, and he could still maintain it for half an hour. That was considered short?
In a battle of life and death, victory or defeat could be decided in the blink of an eye, let alone over the course of half an hour.
Half an hour was enough time for a nap.
Shen Bai withdrew all the divine abilities around him and fixed his gaze on the empty air not far away.
After this qualitative transformation, the qi within Shen Bai's body had increased considerably again.
The qi around his two kidneys had already filled one-third of the space. Shen Bai was not far from completing the first treasure of the Three Treasures Realm.
A line of text continued to shift in the empty air.
Glowing Buddha Beads
Appraisal Progress: 0%
One wisp of Killing Intent can rapidly complete the appraisal.
"I still have one wisp of Killing Intent. Use it!"
Shen Bai did not hesitate and used his final wisp of Killing Intent.
The next moment, the Killing Intent vanished. As the smoke twisted continuously, new text appeared.
Appraisal Successful
Divine Ability Obtained: Great Compassion Palm
Great Compassion Palm lv.1 (Palm Technique +1): 1/100
A figure suddenly emerged in Shen Bai's mind.
This time, the phantom had changed.
A Buddhist aura rose from the phantom.
The phantom swung both palms in succession, and exquisite palm techniques manifested from its hands one after another.
Every palm strike seemed like the Buddha descending from heaven, mercifully saving the people.
Yet every palm strike was also like the reincarnation of a Vajra, suppressing demons and subduing evil.
A moment later, when the phantom vanished, a line of text appeared before Shen Bai's eyes.
A divine ability of the same type has been detected and can be converted into proficiency.
Convert into Vajra Demon-Subduing Fist proficiency?
Shen Bai: "?"
He had not expected this.
Shen Bai had seen the Great Compassion Palm before. After all, Wuhua had used it as well.
But Shen Bai had not expected that one divine ability could be converted into the experience value of another.
Shen Bai rubbed his chin and thought, Trying to swallow too much will only leave you unable to chew it. Since that's the case, I might as well convert it directly.
As a true grinding emperor, Shen Bai knew just how tedious it was to grind proficiency.
Now that there was a shortcut, Shen Bai was naturally willing to take it.
With that thought, Shen Bai's mind stirred.
The text before Shen Bai's eyes changed the next moment.
Converting...
Vajra Demon-Subduing Fist +1000
Shen Bai sucked in a breath. "Good! Very good!"
A divine ability of the same type had directly given him a thousand points of proficiency. It could not have felt any better.
Only Shen Bai knew how difficult it was to gain proficiency after reaching level three.
Both the speed and efficiency had dropped by a great deal.
Now, he had a shortcut.
If I obtain divine abilities of the same type in the future, I can save myself a lot of trouble, Shen Bai thought.
One divine ability gave a thousand points. It would save far too much time, making it well worth it.
"I'll eat first. After that, I'll grind Blood Sword Dance."
Shen Bai made up his mind.
Of all his current level-three divine abilities, Blood Sword Dance had the highest proficiency. Shen Bai wanted to grind Blood Sword Dance to level four first and obtain new attributes.
With that in mind, Shen Bai washed up briefly, left the pawnshop, and headed toward the street outside.
The streets were bustling, with commoners streaming past without end.
The cries of vendors, the sounds of haggling, and the occasional conversations formed a vivid picture of everyday mortal life.
Shen Bai arrived at the breakfast stall he frequented and ate something simple.
Many commoners around him were chatting, their intermittent words reaching Shen Bai's ears.
"Have you heard? Huaixi Village is gone."
"I heard about it long ago. The county yamen does not seem to have said anything. Who knows what Huaixi Village did?"
"Your information is nowhere near as well-connected as mine. I heard a monk went to the county yamen..."
Listening to the commoners' discussion, Shen Bai shook his head.
News could never be kept under wraps, especially news as enormous as the destruction of all Huaixi Village.
"From the sound of it, Wuhua still took everything upon himself."
Shen Bai paid and, with nothing else to do, headed to the apothecary.
He had originally planned to return and grind Blood Sword Dance, but Shen Bai realized that the Qi-Blood Medicine in the pawnshop seemed to be running low.
To avoid wasting time, Shen Bai decided to buy some Qi-Blood Medicine first.
Of course, Shen Bai also intended to ask whether there was any stronger Qi-Blood Medicine.
After all, every divine ability consumed qi and blood to some extent, especially Blood Sword Dance.
Apothecary.
The resident physician yawned and sat there listlessly.
The apothecaries of Ascending Cloud County were famously short on customers.
After all, as far as commoners were concerned, they usually endured minor illnesses on their own.
Every day, the apothecary was busy slacking off.
When Shen Bai entered the apothecary, the yawning physician came back to his senses.
"Shopkeeper Shen, you're here to buy Qi-Blood Medicine again? Has Zhang Chaofeng still not recovered?"
Shen Bai nodded. "Old Zhang has no restraint. There's nothing to be done about it. You know how it is—when a man gets older and worries that his days of happiness are numbered, he only grows more irrational."
The physician chuckled. "Zhang Chaofeng truly is a formidable man. At his age, he is still old yet unyielding. Impressive indeed. The usual prescription, Shopkeeper Shen?"
As he spoke, the physician prepared to write out the prescription for Shen Bai.
Shen Bai thought for a moment and asked, "Do you have anything stronger?"
The physician's hand holding the brush paused slightly. "Shopkeeper Shen, don't joke around. Medicines all carry some toxicity. If the Qi-Blood Medicine is too potent, I'm afraid Zhang Chaofeng will not be able to handle it."
Shen Bai waved a hand. "No matter. Old Zhang can take it."
The physician was merely an employee. Since the customer wanted it prescribed, there was nothing he could do.
One incense stick of time later, Shen Bai left the apothecary carrying the new Qi-Blood Medicine and headed toward the pawnshop.
Not much time was needed to travel from the apothecary to the pawnshop.
Moreover, Shen Bai was eager to return and grind Blood Sword Dance, so he walked even faster.
At this moment, just as Shen Bai was about to return to the pawnshop, his footsteps slowed.
At the entrance of the pawnshop, Zhou Qing stood with a longsword at his waist, looking around in every direction with an anxious expression.
Shen Bai was puzzled, but he still walked over. "Old Zhou, you came looking for me so early. Is something wrong?"
The moment Zhou Qing saw Shen Bai, his eyes immediately lit up. "Come on, let's talk inside. This is an order from the county yamen. Outsiders should not know about it."
Before you continue