Yun Shu didn't know much about what it did. He only knew that this little thing was worth a lot.
It was worth over a hundred Origin Nurturing Pills.
That was ten Low-grade Spirit Stones!
"Junior Brother Yun's strength..." Lin Yang couldn't spare a thought to be shocked.
Yun Shu had already handed the Lightning Sable to him.
"I've sealed its cultivation with Talismans. Senior Brother just needs to take it back to the sect and hand it over to Steward Kong," Yun Shu said.
Steward Kong was the Fat Steward who had assigned the task.
In fact, Steward Kong was only a little plump. He was even quite well-proportioned, and though he didn't take much care with his appearance, he was still rather handsome.
Even now, the Purple Sable continued to struggle, clawing at Lin Yang's hand and even biting him.
Lin Yang channeled his Qi and Blood Power into his hand, and only then did the Purple Sable's movements begin to slow.
Yun Shu suddenly smacked the Purple Sable on the head. Its head wobbled, and it passed out, swaying unsteadily.
"Junior Brother Yun, you didn't hit it so hard that you killed it, did you?" Lin Yang asked, quite concerned.
"Don't worry, Senior Brother. Demonic Beasts at the Demonic Transformation level are incredibly powerful. They won't die that easily." Yun Shu smiled. "You should head back first."
"Good. Take care, Junior Brother. Once I've delivered it to the sect, I'll meet you at the next location." Lin Yang's expression was solemn.
"Mm." Yun Shu cupped his hands slightly. "Sorry for the trouble, Senior Brother."
Lin Yang said nothing more.
Yun Shu watched Lin Yang's departing figure, his eyes flickering.
He wasn't in a hurry to move on to the next task.
The next task was not far from here. Although it seemed somewhat inappropriate to send Lin Yang back, there was a good reason for it after all.
Yun Shu then flew off toward the forest.
The first light of dawn was faint.
Yun Shu took Origin Nurturing Pills out of his Storage Bag.
He had bought some Talismans and a few odds and ends at the sect, spending more than ten pills' worth. Now he had over eighty left.
"Ding. Energy Substance detected—Origin Nurturing Pill. Absorb?"
The voice sounded in his mind.
"Absorb!"
"Ding. Absorption successful. Your current Energy Points: 2,580."
With his ample Energy Points, Yun Shu was suddenly flush with resources.
Earlier, he had scraped together enough to break through to the second level of the Qi Condensation Stage, draining his balance completely. Now that he was well supplied, he could continue cultivating.
To keep wild beasts from disturbing him, Yun Shu decided not to cultivate a Spirit Art.
Instead, he planned to raise his Body Tempering level first.
He had broken through to the Extreme Realm of Body Tempering earlier, and had gradually consolidated his gains. Now he could start trying this.
Immovable Diamond Body.
Yun Shu studied it for a long time before he began cultivating.
It was an exceptionally profound body art, tempering the flesh with the spiritual energy of heaven and earth until the body reached a divine level.
Body Cultivators might not have such strict talent requirements, but their training still demanded relentless refinement. There was no rushing it, and Yun Shu never expected to achieve Great Accomplishment in a single day.
He intended to start at the beginning and cultivate slowly.
It was a technique for transforming Qi and Blood Power through motionless meditation.
Yun Shu sat cross-legged where he was.
His appearance didn't change in the slightest, but the Qi and Blood Power within him was constantly washed and transformed by Spiritual Energy, forming a new kind of power that relentlessly tempered his body.
The idea of the Martial Path reaching the divine was only a legend. Tempering the body bit by bit and gradually breaking through the limits of the human body—that was what Body Tempering was all about.
Body Cultivators had a hard road to walk.
This kind of tempering could not be completed overnight.
By noon, fine beads of sweat had formed on Yun Shu's nose. A thin layer of golden mist gradually covered his body.
The golden mist reflected the noonday sun, making Yun Shu look like a deity.
"Ding. You circulated Immovable Diamond Body once. Proficiency +1."
Yun Shu had worried that wild beasts might disturb him, but they only circled the outermost edge of his defenses before bolting away as if frightened by something.
Yun Shu knew that from this moment on, he had made it!
Beasts were most sensitive to auras. Perhaps, to them, Yun Shu's aura was now no less terrifying than that of a peerless Fierce Beast.
It was no exaggeration to say that Yun Shu's physical strength was now on par with a Demonic Beast at the Demonic Transformation level!
"It took two full hours just to take the first step in Immovable Diamond Body. The path of a Body Cultivator is truly arduous," Yun Shu sighed softly.
Body Cultivators wielded tremendous strength, but it could only be achieved through day after day of accumulation.
Although Yun Shu could skip the arduous training, he still had to keep refining, fusing, and honing his body.
"Thankfully, I've made it through the initial stage. It should get much easier from here," Yun Shu guessed.
The technique was astonishingly powerful.
If not for Yun Shu's decent comprehension and the system's assistance, he might not have been able to understand it even now.
After all his experiments, Yun Shu had finally figured it out. His comprehension was decent, but nowhere near heaven-defying. The system, however, was constantly helping him.
It had started with his ability to succeed on the first try and gain proficiency every time.
Most of that was thanks to the system. When he practiced something for the first time, even if he was merely copying a cat's movements, he would gain a point of proficiency as long as he managed to imitate it, no matter how it turned out.
From there, his progress would build layer upon layer.
Only after reaching Minor Accomplishment would he truly have mastered the basics and begun to look the part.
That might also be how ordinary people learned, except the Proficiency System could speed the process up.
Take his Immovable Diamond Art, for example.
It was unquestionably a top-tier Body Tempering art. At the very least, among the Spirit Arts Yun Shu could currently access, it was already at the very peak.
This Spirit Art was so obscure and profound that even the Female Protagonist would have to mull it over, wouldn't she?
Yun Shu's fists blurred as he practiced Thunderclap Fist. The naked eye could see a faint golden force covering his fist. It should count as Spiritual Energy, though it had evolved from his Qi and Blood Power and belonged to his physical body. For now, Yun Shu called it physical force.
Was it powerful? It was powerful enough.
Yun Shu punched a massive old tree and pierced straight through it.
The rest of the trunk remained completely unharmed.
That alone showed just how powerful his punch was.
"My strength is far beyond the Body Refining Peak now. If I can get close, I could probably kill a Qi Condensation Stage cultivator with one punch, couldn't I?" Yun Shu's eyes flickered.
He loved this feeling of being filled with power.
It was intoxicating.
"But I came to the Myriad Sword Pavilion to learn swordsmanship, and somehow ended up with a whole set of Body Cultivator techniques—and I've even trained them pretty well. No, I still need to improve my Sword Intent."
At the thought, he couldn't help clicking his tongue. There weren't many people as true to their original purpose as he was.
"Ding. You circulated Sword Intent once. Sword Intent proficiency +1."
"..."
"Ding. You circulated Sword Intent once. Sword Intent proficiency +1."
The improvement of Sword Intent was the most fundamental and also the most immediately apparent.
It could be seen in the might of one's swordsmanship.
It was said that those whose Sword Path reached the divine could connect their minds with their Sword Heart. With a single thought, their Long Sword could cut down every enemy.
But that was only a legend.
Yun Shu could only wield his sword as if it were an extension of his arm. The Long Sword felt like part of his own body, and the mysteries behind it were beyond words.
"Ding. You circulated Sword Intent once. Sword Intent proficiency +1. Current proficiency: 200. You have reached Tier 3!"
Tier 3 Sword Intent!
Delight appeared in Yun Shu's eyes.
His Sword Intent had improved rapidly, but when he saw the Energy Points it had consumed, his delight faded at once.
"I gained over two hundred proficiency points, but it took more than four hundred Energy Points. Does that mean the further I go, the more Energy Points I'll need?"
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