Perfect-Grade Spells

Though there appeared to be only a single realm's difference between the Qi Gathering Third Level and the Qi Gathering Fourth Level,

it was truly the dividing line between the early and middle stages of the Qi Induction realm!

After reaching the Qi Gathering Fourth Level,

Shen Changchuan had already broken free from the weakest, lowliest bottom rung of the Immortal Path!

Though he was still an ant in the eyes of those high-level cultivators,

the current Shen Changchuan was at least a somewhat larger ant.

Naturally, that was worth celebrating.

However, Shen Changchuan had not let his excitement cloud his mind.

After resting briefly for a day,

he resumed his diligent cultivation.

Time flew by.

Since Shen Changchuan advanced to the Qi Gathering Fourth Level,

another month or so had passed in the blink of an eye.

Over that period, the other nearby villages that had originally submitted themselves to Great Bay Village in search of protection also learned that Great Bay Village had a new guardian.

One after another, they brought gifts to pay their respects and congratulate Shen Changchuan on taking up his post.

There were six such villages. Including Zhao Family Village, there were seven in all.

They were all small villages within roughly a hundred li of Great Bay Village.

They were minor cultivation families passed down through generations, with one or two mu of Spirit Fields at home—some even had only a few fen—barely sustaining their frail cultivation lineages.

These small cultivation families were all extremely weak.

The strongest members of their families were roughly at the Qi Gathering Third or Fourth Level.

They possessed only one or two spells.

All things considered,

Zhao Hantao of Zhao Family Village was instead the strongest among them and possessed the largest area of Spirit Fields.

Yet compared to Zhao Hantao's humility, as if he were practically kneeling on the ground,

the others, while exceedingly respectful toward Shen Changchuan and unwilling to offend him, were nowhere near as servile.

Only after some indirect probing did he learn

that the surrounding villages did not know Shen Changchuan's background or origins.

They merely believed him to be a collateral descendant of the Shen Family,

perhaps someone who had spent Spirit Stones to pull strings with some Great Figure within the family, allowing him to be assigned here to this lucrative post at Great Bay Village.

This was hardly strange.

After all, to members of these small families, the Shen Family was like a High Mountain Giant Peak towering over ants.

How could they possibly obtain internal information from such a great power so easily?

Not knowing Shen Changchuan's exact identity,

they simply treated him with the same respect and courtesy they had shown the previous Shen Shiying, without Zhao Hantao's groveling demeanor.

This caused a thread of doubt to arise in Shen Changchuan's heart.

Where had Zhao Hantao gotten news of his identity?

After all, Great Bay Village was so far from Tiannan City, the Shen Family's headquarters, and information was not easily conveyed.

But the thought only flickered through his mind.

Shen Changchuan had no intention of investigating it further.

Perhaps Zhao Hantao had learned it from Shen Shiying's family when they left?

Such matters had nothing to do with improving his strength. There was no need to dig to the root of it.

Afterward, Shen Changchuan did not clarify his identity to the other small families either.

He was not the sort of person who liked to throw his status around.

There was no need.

His two and a half years in Shen Family Manor had made him value his own strength far more than his identity as the Shen Family Patriarch's son.

Thus,

during the month or so after he advanced to the Qi Gathering Fourth Level,

aside from receiving visits and gifts from those small families, as well as occasionally inspecting the growth of the Spirit Grain seedlings in the Spirit Fields,

he spent virtually all his time cultivating himself.

Those successive visits from the small family patriarchs had actually been a good thing.

The gifts they brought were all Spirit Items.

Some brought spirit fruits, some medicinal herbs, and some of the poorer ones even gave several jin of Spirit Grain as gifts.

Shen Changchuan did not disdain any of it and accepted them one by one.

And these items

played no small role in his subsequent cultivation.

With Spirit Items assisting his cultivation,

in barely more than a month,

he not only stabilized his Cultivation Realm at the early Qi Gathering Fourth Level, but also advanced a great step beyond that foundation.

Shen Changchuan could feel that if he continued cultivating arduously for another two months, he would be able to break through to the middle stage of the Qi Gathering Fourth Level!

Even Shen Changchuan found this rate of improvement somewhat unbelievable.

But upon thinking it over carefully,

it was not difficult to understand.

His aptitude for cultivation was not high, but neither was it too poor.

Now that he had ample Spirit Item resources, coupled with his relentless hard work and the transformation in his state of mind after escaping the suffocating environment of Shen Family Manor,

such progress was indeed only natural.

More than a month of effort

had improved more than just his Cultivation Realm.

With sufficient Spirit Items aiding his cultivation, Shen Changchuan was able to diligently grind away at new spells every day.

The result was that, over this month or so,

he successfully raised every spell on his panel to 100% progress!

Name: Shen Changchuan

Realm:

Early Qi Gathering Fourth Level

Cultivation Art:

Elephant Mountain Qi Absorption Art

Dharma Artifacts:

Two Golden Needles (quasi-low-grade Dharma Artifacts)

Spells:

Golden Needle Stab: 100% (Perfect Trait: slight improvement in hidden weapon accuracy, negligible metal-element spell cultivation experience)

Light Body Technique: 100% (Perfect Trait: slight increase in body speed, negligible Movement Technique cultivation experience)

Spirit Eye Technique: 100% (Perfect Trait: slight improvement in eyesight, negligible eye technique cultivation experience)

Wind Blade Technique: 100% (Perfect Trait: slight increase in sharpness, negligible wind-element spell cultivation experience)

Fireball Technique: 100% (Perfect Trait: slight increase in spell temperature, negligible fire-element spell cultivation experience)

Vine Technique: 100% (Perfect Trait: slight increase in spell toughness, negligible wood-element spell cultivation experience)

"All my spells have reached Perfect!"

Looking at the neat row of 100% entries under the spells section of the panel before him,

Shen Changchuan could not help but let out a long breath.

He felt refreshed from head to toe.

All the hardship of tirelessly grinding spell proficiency over the past month had been worth it!

All six spells had reached Perfect.

And the benefits brought by bringing these spells to Perfect did not exceed his expectations.

A new Trait had appeared after every spell.

With those Traits,

Shen Changchuan could clearly feel that Perfect-grade spells were a notch more powerful than before they reached Perfect!

Moreover, after consecutively bringing four spells to Perfect,

during this brief period of high-intensity cultivation,

Shen Changchuan discovered another hidden trait of Perfect spells.

Instant casting!

Before a spell had been cultivated to Perfect, casting each spell required his hands to form seals, coordinating with the circulation of spiritual power within his body before finally activating the spell.

This process took at least two or three seconds.

After reaching Perfect,

that time could be reduced to under a second.

But that was not the limit!

If he lowered the spell's output and reduced its power, then the time could be brought down to less than a tenth of a second!

That could truly be considered instant casting.

After several experiments, Shen Changchuan found that with a mere lift of his hand, he could unleash spells such as a Fireball Technique or Wind Blade Technique!

Although these instantly cast spells possessed only two-thirds the power of their full versions,

after some research, Shen Changchuan quickly found a way to make up for their diminished power.

Rapid fire!

By using the spell's instant-casting trait, he could activate the same spell repeatedly in a short span of time.

Just as Shen Changchuan, after training,

was already able to fire off three Fireball Techniques, Wind Blade Techniques, and other offensive spells in a single second!

Their power increased rather than decreased.

The significance of such a method

in battle went without saying.

His strength had surged!

"The current me could probably defeat three or five versions of myself from two months ago even if they joined forces, right?"

"If I faced that Demon Beast in the river again, I would now have at least an eighty percent chance of killing it!"

Feeling the increase in strength brought by bringing his spells to Perfect,

Shen Changchuan's heart brimmed with confidence.