Golden Finger Mutation

After grinding away for so long, the time for harvest had finally come.

Xu Bai felt like an old farmer waiting for the crops to ripen, working diligently every day. When harvest finally arrived, the sense of comfort flooding his whole body was beyond description.

Back home, Xu Bai casually shut the door before eagerly taking out Iron Calculation Immortal's book.

The golden progress bar above was only a sliver away from completion.

Under Xu Bai's unblinking gaze, the progress bar finally filled.

Blue text appeared before his eyes, and streams of information poured into his mind.

You studied the Wild Divination Scripture and obtained the Four Xun Movement Technique.

You studied the Wild Divination Scripture and obtained the Four Xun Heart Sutra.

You studied the Wild Divination Scripture and obtained the Four Xun Array Formation.

Stream after stream of information entered Xu Bai's mind, leaving him completely stunned.

This... was too much information. He could hardly take it all in.

The blue text vanished, replaced by a new blue panel.

Name: Xu Bai.

Realm: Ninth Rank Martial Artist, Ninth Rank Diviner.

Bone Severing Blade Technique (Tier 1): Max Level.

Severing Slaughter Heart Sutra (Tier 1.5): Max Level.

Kidney Hammering Technique (Tier 1): Max Level.

Maple Leaves Like Rain (Tier 2): Max Level.

Four Xun Movement Technique (Tier 1): Max Level.

Four Xun Heart Sutra (Tier 1): Max Level.

Four Xun Array Formation (Tier 1): Max Level.

Comprehension (Max Level).

"I... have Essence?"

Feeling that faint, elusive presence in his mind, Xu Bai's heart trembled slightly.

This was truly unexpected. Looking at the "Ninth Rank Diviner" appended after "Ninth Rank Martial Artist," he was now certain that he was no longer a pure martial artist.

--I'm no longer pure.jpg In this world, aside from martial artists cultivating a breath of True Qi and Confucianists, Buddhists, and Daoists cultivating Divine Essence, most people of the martial world cultivated Essence, Qi, and Spirit.

Xu Bai had now figured out the golden finger's new function.

--Breaking occupational restrictions.

There were also people in the martial world who had tried it, and it was not even particularly dangerous, but there was a price to pay.

That price was simple: a jack of all trades, master of none.

After all, a person's mental capacity was limited. Who could cultivate their own path while also specializing in another?

But Xu Bai was different.

The difference was that he had a progress bar.

"I can cultivate more!" Xu Bai swiftly reached that conclusion.

As long as he comprehended enough, perhaps he could become proficient in everything.

Today's discovery was quite the pleasant surprise.

It took Xu Bai quite a while to calm down.

After the excitement came calmness, as though he had entered a sage-like state.

"No wonder it took so long to comprehend a Tier 1 technique. There were three skills in it."

Turning over the information in his mind again and again, Xu Bai took a step to the side.

His movement was very slow, yet that single step was extraordinarily profound.

Making use of the Four Xun trigrams, this step was incomparably more sophisticated than Iron Calculation Immortal's footwork.

The Four Xun Heart Sutra was a cultivation method. Like the Severing Slaughter Heart Sutra, it had already reached max level.

As for the Four Xun Array Formation...

Xu Bai lightly stamped his foot, and a pale white Eight Trigrams diagram appeared beneath him.

According to the Eight Trigrams, Zhen and Xun were wood, which gave rise to Li fire.

The Four Xun could produce fire.

With a thought from Xu Bai, flames burst forth in a distant corner of the wall.

The fire blazed fiercely, and its heat rushed toward him.

Fortunately, he reacted quickly and promptly withdrew the Four Xun Array Formation.

Good thing I acted decisively back then. If Iron Calculation Immortal had managed to set up this formation, he would have been quite difficult to fight. Xu Bai thought.

After pondering it for a moment, he temporarily set aside the idea of further experimentation and took out the book he had obtained from Yun Xiang.

But before he could begin, blue text appeared before his eyes again.

A large number of fusion options detected. Fusion in progress.

Ninth Rank Martial Artist + Ninth Rank Diviner = Ninth Rank Loose Cultivator.

Fusion successful!

Wait!

Xu Bai's eyes widened.

Damn it, it had appeared out of nowhere and startled him.

What the hell was a Ninth Rank Loose Cultivator? He was not mentally prepared for this yet!

The True Qi within his body and the Essence in his mind continuously blended together. Moments later, a golden energy linked his mind and body.

Xu Bai closed his eyes and sensed it for a while before opening them again.

A barely perceptible delight flickered in his gaze.

That was slick! Little Gold.

True Qi and Essence had fused, carrying the traits of both. That was far too slick.

"So that means I've become a Loose Cultivator?"

"A Loose Cultivator... I don't belong to martial artists, I don't belong to diviners, yet I belong to both martial artists and diviners. Isn't that all-rounded?"

"Hmm... this fused energy needs a name."

Xu Bai's train of thought was quick. Once he understood the situation, he immediately thought about naming it.

He could not possibly just call it energy. That was too tacky.

Xu Bai thought for a long time, and in the end... the energy he had considered tacky received an even tackier name.

--True Yuan Power.

Of Essence, Qi, and Spirit, Essence referred to Essence, Qi referred to True Qi, while the Spirit cultivated by Confucianists, Buddhists, and Daoists was called Divine Essence.

Although he had yet to obtain Divine Essence, that did not stop him from naming it in advance.

With the golden finger's usual nature, fusion was merely a matter of time.

Wait, didn't it say there was a large number of things to fuse? Xu Bai quickly realized there were still things that had not fused, and doubt rose in his heart.

That doubt was swiftly dispelled.

Blue text appeared once more.

Severing Slaughter Heart Sutra + Four Xun Heart Sutra = Four Directions Slaughter Heart Sutra.

Fusion successful!

The True Yuan Power within his body began to gradually increase. Xu Bai clenched his fists, and it felt as though something within him had shattered.

That was a breakthrough in realm! New text appeared before him, and his realm changed.

Name: Xu Bai.

Realm: Eighth Rank Loose Cultivator.

Bone Severing Blade Technique (Tier 1): Max Level.

Four Directions Slaughter Heart Sutra (Tier 2): Max Level.

Kidney Hammering Technique (Tier 1): Max Level.

Maple Leaves Like Rain (Tier 2): Max Level.

Four Xun Movement Technique (Tier 1): Max Level.

Four Xun Array Formation (Tier 1): Max Level.

Comprehension (Max Level).

Tier 2. His heart sutra had reached Tier 2! He had successfully stepped from Ninth Rank into Eighth Rank.

The True Yuan Power within him doubled, becoming even more obedient to his will. He had grown far stronger than before.

There should still be more fusions, right? It did say a large number. Xu Bai thought.

Time slowly passed. After waiting for half an incense stick's time, Xu Bai silently rose to his feet.

This golden finger was not rigorous enough.

Look at this mess. There were clearly only two items, so why call it a large number?

Little Gold, you're not very good at this.

Naturally, the golden finger, which Xu Bai had given a nickname, did not answer him.

"Hmm... the next book!"

Since there were no more fusions, Xu Bai shifted his focus and began grinding through the next book.

He picked up the book he had obtained from Yun Xiang, but did not open it. Instead, he merely stared at it without blinking.

Xu Bai had not forgotten that Yun Xiang had rigged this book with a mechanism and that it could not be opened carelessly.

"Right, I almost forgot." Xu Bai remembered something and hurriedly got up to find a brazier.

He tossed the book he had already comprehended into the brazier and lit it with a firestarter. Only after everything had settled into dust did he finally relax and continue grinding.

While Xu Bai continued grinding away, elsewhere, in the Liu Family of Sheng County, the woman in white held a case file and read through it carefully.