The Difference in Martial Dao!

The power of the Finger Flicking Divine Ability, once unleashed, startled Chen Dengming.

He quickly moved closer to examine it.

The rock face looked as if it had been hit by high-caliber bullets, penetrated about two inches deep. Given the hardness of this rock, even a powerful crossbow would struggle to embed its bolt that deeply.

Furthermore, the penetrated area showed spiral patterns of qi energy drilling out, indicating highly concentrated force and considerable lethality.

"If I used Innate True Qi to cast the Finger Flicking Divine Ability, I could at most leave a shallow pit on this rock face. The power difference is more than tenfold."

Chen Dengming was quite shocked.

The power of Spiritual Energy was indeed far greater than Innate True Qi. The Finger Flicking Divine Ability was just a technique from his martial arts system focused on pressure points, not designed for massive destructive power.

But now, using Spiritual Energy, if he flicked someone on the head, their skull would probably explode.

Is this the power of a cultivator?

He had only just broken through to the first level of Qi Cultivation.

Chen Dengming suddenly felt a rare sense of excitement, anticipating becoming even stronger in the future.

But after sensing for a while, he frowned again.

Casting the Finger Flicking Divine Ability had consumed about a tenth of the Spiritual Energy in his body.

That amount of consumption... was a bit too much.

Or rather, he had too little Spiritual Energy in his body right now.

If flicking his finger consumed a tenth of his Spiritual Energy, how would he ever draw his forty-meter-long saber?

If he had used Innate True Qi for the Finger Flicking Divine Ability, he could have flicked hundreds of times without even breathing hard. He could have flicked cotton, because his Qi recovery speed was very fast, and his Innate True Qi was sufficiently abundant.

However, now when using martial arts with Spiritual Energy, not only was the consumption high, but the Spiritual Energy recovery was almost nonexistent.

"Did I gather too much Qi just now?"

"Or is the Three Yuan Spirit Gathering Technique too weak, and its Qi recovery speed is inferior to the martial arts cultivation methods I've learned?"

"I need to study this further!"

Encountering this new power, Chen Dengming became very enthusiastic and took out the first-tier Daoist Magic he had obtained at the Ascension Convention from his storage bag.

He planned to conduct a comprehensive study, from martial arts to Daoist Magic.

He would analyze the differences between the two, discard the dross and absorb the essence, and integrate a completely new "Cultivator Combat Plan" suitable for himself.

While Chen Dengming was researching his new combat system...

In the Lüo Family, Lüo Bing's mood was extremely terrible, causing the attendants serving her inside and outside her boudoir to tread carefully and nervously.

At this moment, Xi'er, her most trusted personal maid, tiptoed into the room. She glanced at the graceful figure on the rosewood lounge chair ahead and said nervously, "Young Miss, this time... it failed again."

"Mm, I know."

Lüo Bing's voice, as crisp as ice shards entering a pot, came through. She seemed indifferent, but the frustration in her brows was evident.

She lay languidly on the chair, half-sitting, half-reclining against the backrest. Her pair of agile, dark eyes met Xi'er's, and she let out a cold snort.

"How much material have we wasted already?"

Xi'er stuck out her small, fragrant tongue, feigning fear. "In the past three months, we've collected fifteen sets of materials. Thirteen sets have been wasted, and only two sets remain."

Lüo Bing knitted her delicate brows and gracefully stood up. Her figure's beautiful curve was captivating. She walked elegantly to the door and looked at the insects lying dead in a heap in the distance, shaking her head. "What's the result of the bounty?"

Xi'er put on an angry expression. "We still haven't found that mortal surnamed Chen. But recently, some bold Rogue Cultivators dared to claim they understood Gu Art. I thought they truly understood, but after they came to us, they only knew some insect control techniques. I punished a few of them, and now no one dares to falsely claim they understand it."

Lüo Bing said faintly, "I heard that mortal is being hunted by a Rogue Cultivator?"

Xi'er nodded. "Young Miss, do you think that mortal might already be dead? Either dead in the wilderness, or secretly killed by that Rogue Cultivator named Qian Yuan."

Lüo Bing shook her head. "Dying in the wilderness is possible. If that Rogue Cultivator killed this mortal, why would he keep it a secret? He would have publicized it long ago."

"Then..."

Xi'er looked at Lüo Bing tentatively with her large eyes, sighing inwardly.

She felt that her young lady was somewhat obsessed with Gu Art, perhaps due to her strong will. She wouldn't rest until she refined the Golden Silkworm Gu.

But this Gu was truly very difficult to refine.

According to Lüo Bing, perhaps that mortal who gifted her the Gu Art could help her in refining it. After failing to find him while sending someone to buy materials, she had issued a bounty in the Rogue Cultivator Gathering Place.

However, out of pride and status, her young lady hadn't directly named the mortal she was looking for, but instead presented herself as willing to accept anyone who could help.

Unfortunately, that mortal had gotten into trouble and fled the Rogue Cultivator Gathering Place, seemingly disappearing. This resulted in the bounty being like a wink at a blind man.

"Add the bounty to the notice. Whoever can help me refine the Golden Silkworm Gu will be rewarded with a hundred Low-grade Spirit Crystals and granted a hundred days of residency in Lüo Family Mountain City."

Lüo Bing waved her hand, speaking nonchalantly.

The reason for her persistence in refining Gu was that she had discovered the preciousness of this art.

The Gu Dao was a side path of Cultivation, but precisely because it was a side path, Gu Art was little known and extremely difficult to defend against during combat. She surmised that the mortal was able to instantly kill a cultivator by relying on Gu poison.

However, ordinary Gu worms and poisons were useless to her. Only the Golden Silkworm Gu could have some effect.

But this Golden Silkworm Gu was extremely difficult to refine.

Based on her transmitted message, none of the Fellow Daoists from the Ascension Convention back then had managed to refine the Golden Silkworm Gu. It seemed there was some secret knack they hadn't grasped, or perhaps their research into Gu refinement wasn't profound enough.

"Green Hill Mad Dragon—"

A sharp and surging blade energy, ten feet long, swept out with a roar.

A deafening boom erupted as a massive boulder on the cliff opposite was directly split in two by the sharp and powerful blade energy. It even carved a deep gully into the ground, with the cracked boulders collapsing to either side.

"Hoo hoo—"

Chen Dengming panted heavily, looking at the split boulder. The cut surface was as smooth as a mirror, clearly demonstrating the ferocity and sharpness of the strike.

In terms of destructive power, this strike, powered by Spiritual Energy, was more than ten times stronger than when he had previously used Innate True Qi.

If it were blade energy produced by Innate True Qi, it would be long enough, but it could at most cleave a deep gully into the boulder. Splitting a ten-foot-tall boulder directly was impossible.

Now, although the blade energy was shorter, it had become much stronger. If he encountered a cultivator using a Golden Bell Qi Shield Talisman for defense again, he might not be unable to break through it.

However, the cost of this strike in terms of Spiritual Energy was truly immense.

After unleashing this single strike, a blade energy of only ten feet long had consumed seventy percent of the Spiritual Energy within Chen Dengming. He could at most unleash one such strike.

If he were to increase the length of the blade energy, he wouldn't even be able to unleash one strike.

"No wonder. After becoming a cultivator, they only engage in magical combat, and I've hardly seen anyone use martial arts driven by Spiritual Energy. The general environment leads to few people practicing martial arts, and the lack of exquisite martial techniques is one aspect, but another is the excessive consumption."

"Daoist Magic and martial arts are entirely different combat paths.

Daoist Magic uses the Spiritual Energy within one's own body as a medium to leverage the Spiritual Energy of heaven and earth, achieving ten times the destructive power with one part of the effort. The incantation is the password to leverage the Spiritual Energy of heaven and earth.

Martial arts purely excavate one's own strength, unleashing their inner power for destruction. Although there are techniques like 'four taels deflect a thousand pounds,' they ultimately cannot compare to the direct borrowing of heaven and earth's Spiritual Energy through Daoist Magic."

Chen Dengming took out a book and began to flip through it.

The title on the cover read four large characters.

It wasn't Sun Tzu's Art of War, but Great Fireball Technique.

This was the simplest Tier 1 Level 1 Daoist Magic.

Its destructive power, however, could not be underestimated.

Chen Dengming began to circulate his Spiritual Energy and form hand seals with a relatively clumsy technique.

As his fingers formed seals, the Spiritual Energy within his body seemed to intertwine with the surrounding Spiritual Energy like threads.

As his hand movements changed, the surrounding Spiritual Energy, like threads, came under his control, leveraged by the threads of Spiritual Energy within his body.

Gradually, a mass of Spiritual Energy, comparable to the total amount within his body, coalesced outside him like tangled threads.

The air itself seemed to become restless.

A suppressed Spiritual Might, accompanied by crimson Spiritual Energy, rapidly condensed outside his body.

"Chirp!"

Chen Dengming let out a low cry, and a massive fireball materialized out of thin air.

With a point of his finger, the fireball shot out.

Like flying a kite, he could feel his Spiritual Energy acting as the kite string, guiding the flying fireball, allowing him to barely alter its trajectory slightly.

But as the fireball flew further away, this control weakened.

In less than half a breath, the fireball had flown ten feet away. It abruptly severed its connection with his internal Spiritual Energy and fiercely impacted a large tree opposite.

With a "boom," the tree exploded, scorched charcoal scattering with sparks. The high temperature, carrying a wave of heat, rushed forward, pulling at his hair and tugging it backward.

Chen Dengming quickly dodged.

A moment later, he approached the scorched tree to examine it.

He found that the spot hit by the fireball was completely charred. When he touched it, the wood easily crumbled, having turned to carbon.

The power of the explosion had also shattered half of the tree, which was large enough for two people to embrace. Its destructive power was considerable.

If one ignored the damage from the high temperature, its power was still significantly inferior to the blade energy he had just unleashed.

But if the damage from the high temperature was included, the two were roughly comparable.

However, this Tier 1 Level 1 Great Fireball Technique had only consumed one-tenth of the Spiritual Energy within him; the main consumption was the Spiritual Energy manipulated in the air.

Daoist Magic was like a special method for arranging Fire Spiritual Energy into a specific combination.

And the incantation was the key to igniting that combination.

The Spiritual Energy within his body was the hand holding the key and turning it.

The only regret was that for this Tier 1 Level 1 Daoist Magic, he could not cast it instantaneously. Including the hand seals and casting, it required about one and a half breaths.

During such a long period, if he were fighting himself, with one aspect using martial arts and the other using Daoist Magic, the one casting Daoist Magic would have already been killed by the blade strike, without even needing the Blood Centipede Gu to act.

Chen Dengming glanced at the new message that appeared in his status panel.

"Daoist Magic: Great Fireball Technique (Beginner 1/100)"

The beginner's script looked a bit irritating.

"Practice, keep practicing. You'll get the hang of it after a hundred times. I'll grind ten thousand times, I don't believe I can't cast it instantly."

There will be another update at 11 AM during the day!