Defense Skyrockets

"You have practiced the Phantom Movement Technique. Congratulations, you have triggered a hundredfold critical strike and received a hundredfold reward!"

Yes, as he mastered the Phantom Movement Technique, he triggered a hundredfold critical strike, gaining a hundredfold the insight, experience, and technique... elevating the Phantom Movement Technique to the first level in one go.

With a movement of his feet, his speed surged, and while a phantom image appeared in his original position, his true self had already arrived elsewhere, leaving enemies unable to defend against him.

Although the first level of the Phantom Movement Technique was slightly stiff and the phantom was easily identified, it could still serve as an effective means of self-preservation and escape when caught off guard.

Having mastered the first level of the Phantom Movement Technique, Qin Dongcheng's ability to escape and survive had at least doubled; this was the brilliance of the technique.

The Heaven Concealment Art handled concealment, while the Phantom Movement Technique handled escape; the combination of the two was immensely useful for survival, truly complementing each other perfectly.

In the future, even if he encountered an irresistible enemy, he could escape or hide if he couldn't win.

Happily adapting to his vastly increased Phantom Movement Technique and learning to use it as naturally as his own limbs, Qin Dongcheng continued his cultivation in peace, his days calm and fulfilling.

Not long after, the Mission Hall issued a mandatory mission, and unsurprisingly, this mandatory mission was indeed related to alchemy and medicine production.

The mission required him to refine ten Golden Wound Pills, with a reward of ten sect contribution points. It didn't seem like much, but one had to remember that he also received a substantial stipend every month due to his status as an outer disciple.

Not only did he have a stipend, but he also had the ten-point sect contribution reward, not to mention that he had moved into the Osmanthus Garden and was qualified to exchange for cultivation techniques of the first five realms of martial arts.

So, from a purely commercial perspective, he hadn't lost anything; in fact, he had earned quite a bit.

With his level of attainment in alchemy, he could refine three or four Golden Wound Pills at most in one go, and even if he failed a few times, he could still refine about five a day.

Therefore, it would only take him two days to complete this month's mandatory mission, leaving the remaining time entirely to himself.

Unlike other Alchemy Apprentices who could only refine one pill at a time, if they failed a few times a day, they might not even be able to produce a single finished pill.

The mandatory mission of ten Golden Wound Pills would likely take them about half a month to complete, so one could imagine how little cultivation time was left for them.

It was indeed better to keep a low profile; this way, even when mandatory missions were assigned, the difficulty wasn't that high, and he could finish them quickly, leaving the rest of the time for himself.

To avoid finishing too quickly and triggering an increase in the difficulty of future mandatory missions, Qin Dongcheng spent over half a month completing the task, finishing it right on schedule, which was about the same amount of time as the other Alchemy Apprentices.

No one suspected him of intentionally hiding his skills, and not many people cared, as everyone was very busy during this period.

More and more demons and monsters were entering Luo Cloud Prefecture from the surrounding prefectures, and it seemed there was some force behind it, fueling the chaos and wanting to throw Luo Cloud Prefecture into turmoil. It had been several months, and the unrest had yet to subside.

This led to an increasing demand from the sect for various healing pills, so many Official Alchemists and Alchemy Apprentices received quite a few mandatory alchemy missions.

Qin Dongcheng didn't know much about this; after all, with his current status and position, there was nothing he could do even if he knew, so why worry?

When the sky falls, the tall ones hold it up; all he needed to do was cultivate, refine pills, and gather herbs in peace... As the days passed, Qin Dongcheng grew closer and closer to the mid-stage of the Skin Phase.

Perhaps it was truly influenced by high-level demons and monsters, but there was no snow in the Bamboo Forest Valley this year. No, it was no longer this year, but a new year had arrived. Even at the end of last year, there had been no snow in the Bamboo Forest Valley, and many places in Luo Cloud Prefecture had seen no snow either.

Not only were many farmlands affected, but many Herb Fields were also impacted.

Fortunately, Luo Cloud Prefecture had been peaceful for a long time and had accumulated many resources and treasures over the years, so even when a disaster occurred, it was quickly quelled.

This made Qin Dongcheng yearn even more for higher levels; he wondered what kind of existence could actually influence the weather.

He also didn't know how much time he would need to reach that level and possess the strength to influence the weather.

"You practiced the Diamond Skin Refining Fist once. Congratulations, you have triggered a two-hundred-and-fifty-fold critical strike and received a two-hundred-and-fifty-fold reward!"

That night, while practicing the Diamond Skin Refining Fist as usual, he didn't expect that, in a moment of distraction, he would trigger a critical strike again—a two-hundred-and-fifty-fold one at that.

His blood energy began to surge and soar, and the tempering of his skin grew rapidly. Qin Dongcheng hurriedly swallowed a few Blood-Replenishing Pills and gnawed on some dozen-year-old ginseng.

He put all his effort into stabilizing the situation within his body, absorbing the fortune brought by this critical strike reward.

His cultivation, which had already been approaching the mid-stage of the Skin Phase, reached the peak of the early stage at an astonishing speed and then charged toward a higher level.

Soon, he broke through the bottleneck and shackles, stepping into a new level.

Mid-stage of the Skin Phase!

His blood energy became increasingly vigorous and pure, and his skin became firmer and tougher, layer upon layer like cowhide, with astonishing defensive power.

With every movement, over 1,200 kilograms of force surged, and with the blessing of Dragon Vigor Tiger Might, it could surge to about 2,500 kilograms, or about 5,000 jin.

He was currently only a practitioner in the second realm of martial arts, having just stepped onto the path of the Martial Artist not long ago.

His strength hadn't increased much; after all, the Skin Phase mainly tempered and improved the skin, which primarily increased defensive power, with limited gains in strength.

Moreover, strength was only one part of measuring power; defense, speed, reaction, combat techniques, and secret arts also had a significant impact on strength, and sometimes they could even be the deciding factor.

Strength was just one of them, and the biggest improvement was his defensive power. After the breakthrough, Qin Dongcheng's skin defense had at least doubled.

In the future, when facing various attacks, he could effectively resist them with his skin; it was already becoming difficult for ordinary swords, spears, sticks, and clubs to injure him.

If these weapons were in the hands of ordinary people, whether they could even injure Qin Dongcheng was an unknown.

In his past life, although he couldn't block bullets with his physical body yet, by the time he cultivated to the perfection of the Skin Phase, he would likely be able to achieve that.

After testing his current skin defense, Qin Dongcheng was quite satisfied. After consolidating and adapting, he headed to the Herb Field early the next morning.

He hadn't been there for a few days, so it was time to pick a batch of precious herbs. He wondered how his luck would be today and if he could trigger a thousandfold critical strike.