Power Critical Hit Returns!

After a long while, Dugu Yan finally calmed her emotions and hugged Ye Lingling.

"I'm fine now, thank you, Lingling..."

After saying this, she nodded toward Li Jingzhe: "Please forgive my lack of composure."

"The Snow Silkworm and Red Ginseng will be delivered first thing tomorrow morning... I'm off!"

Clack, clack.

Watching the two women walk away, Li Jingzhe flicked the ten black cards in his hand, the sound of gold coins hitting his account seemingly echoing in his ears.

"I'll go exchange these for Gold Soul Coins first thing tomorrow. One million... tsk, I really am a genius. Robbery? Where would I find a robbery that pays this fast!"

Li Jingzhe muttered to himself, his face filled with unconcealable joy.

To master the Dragon-Elephant Prajna Technique, resources were the key. Those ten portions of Snow Silkworm and Red Ginseng probably wouldn't last long, so it was perfect—taking this entire million and converting it into cultivation resources was what one might call a virtuous cycle!

Right, I still need to set aside a portion of the money to hire someone to hunt spirit beasts...

Although his spirit power had already reached level ten, the first layers of the Muscle and Tendon Classic, Lingbo Microsteps, and Dragon-Elephant Prajna Technique were not yet perfected.

However, judging by the cultivation efficiency of his initial practice tonight, it should only take a few days to perfect all three, at which point it would be time to hunt his first spirit ring.

I need to buy Whale Rubber too. That's good stuff for increasing physical strength, which in turn increases the age limit of the spirit rings I can absorb... Whale Rubber combined with the Dragon-Elephant Prajna Technique should be able to push my first spirit ring to an unprecedented height...

According to the system, the higher the quality of the spirit ring, the greater the chance of unlocking good items at higher levels...

[Ding...]

Just as Li Jingzhe was thinking, the system chimed.

[Detected that the host has completed the first instance of spreading cultivation methods and martial arts. System store opened.]

"System, you didn't mention this before!"

Despite what he said, Li Jingzhe's mind was already racing... A system store?

Could it be that cultivation methods and martial arts could be bought directly?

If that were true, he would have to complete the Nine Yin Manual and Nine Yang Manual at all costs. As everyone knew, one restored mana and the other restored health. If he could gather both, plus the Muscle and Tendon Classic to improve his constitution and the Dragon-Elephant Prajna Technique to boost his physical stats... damn, becoming a god wouldn't be far off!

At this thought, Li Jingzhe couldn't sit still any longer and immediately pulled up the store interface.

Hm?

One look was all it took for Li Jingzhe's pupils to shrink violently. The store didn't have cultivation methods or martial arts, but it had even more precious things... Lesser Restoration Pill... Bosi Qu Snake Gallbladder... Greater Restoration Pill... Viper Precious Blood... did it even have the Vermilion Fruit, a martial arts treasure that grants sixty years of internal energy?

Sixty years of internal energy, that's sixty years of cultivation!

Even the martial arts legend Zhang Sanfeng only had a lifespan of two sixty-year cycles...

Li Jingzhe felt a surge of heat in his heart.

But then he saw the price tags for these heavenly treasures and martial arts resources.

[Lesser Restoration Pill: Shaolin treasure, top-tier for healing, nourishing energy, recovering internal power loss, or potentially increasing internal power slightly... 100,000 Gold Soul Coins]

[Bosi Qu Snake Gallbladder: Mystical and peerless; consuming it refines the physique, invigorates blood and strengthens bones, gradually increasing strength. Limit of one hundred; one can increase cultivation by one year... 1,000,000 Gold Soul Coins]

[Greater Restoration Pill: Shaolin treasure, a holy product for healing and health. Consuming it eradicates injuries and can increase cultivation by five to ten years... Price: 5,000,000 Gold Soul Coins]

[Viper Precious Blood: Cultivated by the eccentric Liang Ziweng using medicine on snakes for decades. Consuming the snake blood can preserve youth, prolong life, repel insects and avoid toxins, and increase internal power by about thirty years... Price: 30,000,000 Gold Soul Coins]

[Vermilion Fruit: Martial arts treasure; consuming it increases cultivation by sixty years... Price: 60,000,000 Gold Soul Coins]

[Note: One year of cultivation is approximately equal to 1 level of spirit power]

Splash. It was as if a bucket of cold water had been poured over his head.

"Damn it, System, come out here... explain this. How is each one more expensive than the last? Huh? You dare ask for sixty million Gold Soul Coins for one Vermilion Fruit? System, you're something else, you're the best..."

"You really are a crook. No wonder you wouldn't give me any heavenly treasures before; you were waiting for me here, weren't you?"

Li Jingzhe gave a thumbs-up to the air, feeling deeply depressed. Then he looked at the ten black cards in his hand... Damn, he'd sold them too cheap!

Although the system valued the Thousand Spider Poison Hand at five hundred thousand, it was only a second-rate martial art that harmed others and oneself, with massive side effects... but it was perfectly suited for the Dugu family...

As the saying goes, what is suitable is the best... Why hadn't he opened his mouth wide and fleeced them for a fortune back then?

Think of Scoundrel; he dared to sell a pile of scrap metal for ten thousand Gold Soul Coins a set. The key materials were provided by the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect themselves, and the parts were made by the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda's craftsmen. Scoundrel was only responsible for the core parts and final assembly...

But what he sold were cultivation methods and martial arts—the rarest, top-tier goods on Douluo Continent. Once learned, they could be used for a lifetime. At this moment, his mind was filled with that line from the Buddha... The scriptures cannot be passed on lightly!

Well, although the cultivation methods and martial arts he sold could only be practiced by the buyer and couldn't be spread a second time...

And if others succeeded in their practice, he could receive a critical return of cultivation...

Wait?

"Thinking about it this way, it doesn't seem like a loss?"

"It seems there's still profit to be made!"

[Ding, detected that Dugu Yan has practiced Thousand Spider Poison Hand, spirit power increased by 1 level, equivalent to several months of effort. Host receives cultivation return and triggers a critical hit, gaining: 1 year of cultivation]

Hm?

"Dugu Yan has already achieved results?"

"Such an impatient fellow..."

Immediately, Li Jingzhe could clearly feel an unfamiliar internal energy emerge within his body. This energy was starkly different from his own, exuding a sinister aura that stood in complete, distinct opposition to his native power.

Yet, in the next second, the Muscle and Tendon Classic began to circulate on its own, drawing upon Li Jingzhe's internal energy. The heat rising from his dantian acted like a hunting jellyfish, swiftly enveloping that sinister energy and guiding it along his meridians to complete one major cycle... then two... then three...

After a full three major cycles were completed, Li Jingzhe instinctively exhaled a breath of stale air, feeling refreshed and invigorated.

He immediately sat cross-legged, circulating the power of the Muscle and Tendon Classic to perceive the changes within himself... Hmm?

"It shrank?"

"No, that's not right. It's not shrinking; it's being purified!"

Li Jingzhe was stunned for a moment, followed immediately by a surge of joy.

The returned sinister power had been led by the Muscle and Tendon Classic's energy, circulating through the meridians to be gradually assimilated, compressed, and solidified. By now, it had completely merged into the Muscle and Tendon Classic's energy, becoming indistinguishable from it.

"In other words, the power gained from the critical return has completely become my own?"

The reason for the illusion of "shrinking" was simply that the Thousand Spider Poison Hand was, after all, only a second-rate martial art. Both the quality and quantity of the power it cultivated could not compare to a top-tier, supreme, super-class technique like the Muscle and Tendon Classic.

Moreover, his power was a fusion of the Muscle and Tendon Classic, the Dragon-Elephant Prajna Technique, and the Lingbo Microsteps!

"This way, I don't have to worry about my power being impure or someone pinpointing my weak spot to break it in one move!"

Li Jingzhe thought to himself.

When he first saw that he could enjoy critical returns of power, he had been worried about ending up like Jiumozhi—broad but not refined, suffering from qi deviation, and ultimately losing all his power. Now, it seemed that worry was entirely superfluous.

One could only say that what the system produces is truly top-tier!

Li Jingzhe instinctively glanced at the system interface.

[Host: Li Jingzhe]
[Martial Soul: Scripture Depository]
[Current Realm: Soul Master]
[Soul Power Level: 11.3]
[Techniques and Martial Arts: Muscle and Tendon Classic, Dragon-Elephant Prajna Technique, Lingbo Microsteps]

"Level eleven? Not bad, not bad!"

Li Jingzhe was delighted.

"Others have to obtain a soul ring upon reaching level ten, otherwise their cultivation speed slows down, and excess soul power accumulating in the meridians can cause blockages or even bodily explosion. Being able to exceed the limit by one or two levels is already the absolute peak..."

"But it seems my cultivation speed won't have a chance to slow down."

"Furthermore, the Muscle and Tendon Classic cleanses the meridians and strengthens the bones, improving my aptitude... the Dragon-Elephant Prajna Technique increases my body's tolerance... my meridians' capacity to withstand excess soul power will also increase. Hiss... if I never go to obtain a soul ring and rely on the Dragon-Elephant Prajna Technique to bear the returned power, could I, over time, create a level-one-hundred Soul Master?"

Pfft—

Li Jingzhe amused himself. Others practice for a hundred thousand layers of Qi, while he becomes a level-one-hundred Soul Master?

Hilarious!

If that day ever truly came, even the five Great God Kings would be left dumbfounded!