Chapter 309 - 29: Ten Thousand Spirits Martial Arts Skill

SPLASH!!

Waves churned on the wide river as cargo ships sailed through.

A tributary of the Red River, flowing from the northwest, passed by a magnificent high wall and cut through the other side of Satellite City No. 4.

The watchtowers on either side of the wall remained on high alert, with fully armed members of the City Guard Army patrolling the nearby port.

"We finally made it to Red Maple. Man, this weather is freezing."

"We ran into Water Beasts a few times on the way here. Looks like the rumors about the Red River are true. We might get another Beast Tide next spring."

"Ah, why worry so much? If the sky falls, there are taller people to hold it up. Let’s go, let’s go. We need to get into the city early. We have business in the Hive District later tonight."

The port’s waiting area was bustling with people. The White Ash Ferry sailed in from outside the city, bypassed the unloading zone packed with shipping containers, and pulled up to the riverbank.

Passengers disembarked from the ferry, wrapped in thick scarves and down jackets, and stepped onto the solid, flat ground as they entered the port.

"Red Maple City."

A Caucasian man in a black overcoat, carrying a brown leather case, blended into the crowd and walked down from the deck.

His ghostly green eyes swept over the surrounding crowd. He took off his wide-brimmed hat and surveyed the walled city in the distance, his gaze gliding past one tall building after another.

Finally, his divinatory intuition caused his gaze to halt.

He looked toward the bustling city center in the far distance, staring at a towering corporate skyscraper that stood unshaken.

A cold glint flashed in his eyes.

’The Holy Scripture...’

...

BZZZT!!

The violent medicinal power was gradually absorbed. With his eyes shut, Lu Chao’s complexion was rosy and his breathing was steady.

After a good ten minutes of digesting the potion’s power, he could clearly feel a subtle enhancement in his physique.

He then opened his eyes.

A sharp glint flashed in his eyes as he looked at his panel.

[Life Energy: 100→102!]

"A two-point increase?"

Lu Chao raised an eyebrow, a hint of surprise on his face.

Increasing Life Energy at the Superpower Level was exceptionally difficult. He had heard from Luo Shi that even four or five Senior-Level Nutritional Potions might not be enough to raise it by a single point.

And yet now...

’That’s it.’

’The energy mineral essence isn’t just more nutritious. More importantly, its energy has undergone a special compression process, making the body’s absorption and utilization efficiency more than twice as strong.’

He mused, beginning to understand the key.

It was a dual difference in both energy quality and compression concentration. The combined effect of the two was self-evident, not to mention he also had [Growth by Plunder] aiding him, making his absorption far more powerful than an ordinary person’s.

To a certain extent, in terms of boosting Life Energy alone, the energy mineral essence was nearly as effective for him as the Beast King Egg he had consumed in the past.

On the other hand...

[Potential Progress: 7%]

His gaze shifted downward, but Lu Chao wasn’t surprised.

Because he had awakened a new talent, his progress had reset to zero, and the difficulty of accumulating Potential Progress had doubled once again. He was already used to it and had plenty of experience with the process.

He wasn’t too disappointed, though, because he still had many unused benefits, such as his high salary and several portions of Advanced Nutritional Resources. If he used them all at once, he should be able to raise it a fair bit more.

Thinking of this, Lu Chao tapped his watch and entered the Superpower Bureau’s internal network.

[Energy Mineral Essence: 10,000 contribution points (one bottle)!]

[Advanced Nutritional Resources: 2,000 contribution points (one portion)!]

[High-Level Martial Skill: 40,000 contribution points!]

[...]

He specifically browsed the resources available for exchange with his high-level clearance. The information in the list was all there at a glance, including knowledge on high-level Superpower Potions.

’No wonder everyone says that a Superpower Team leader’s access to resources is, to some extent, tied to their team’s performance.’

His eyes grew brighter and brighter as he finally understood why.

’As long as I have enough contribution points, my cultivation will advance by leaps and bounds. I could even rely on resources alone to brute-force my way to the Peak of Limit-Breaking.’

’No wonder Li Xiyuan went through so much trouble to have me transferred away back then...’

Lost in thought, Lu Chao continued to browse the wealth of resource information on the internal network.

He even easily accessed and read the content of the Life Energy Development Theory that came after the 100-point threshold.

Soon, his gaze came to rest on the "Martial Arts Skills" section.

A thought struck Lu Chao, and he considered his current realm: the Limit-Breaking Level.

BZZT!

He slowly raised his hand, and a wisp of brown Qi Flame immediately appeared in his palm.

Focusing his gaze, he saw that the Golden Stone Flame was a sliver more solid than it had been right after his breakthrough. This was clearly a feedback effect from his increased Life Energy, which had in turn strengthened his Qi Flame.

’When I was refining the potion’s power earlier, my Golden Stone Fighting Skill seemed to struggle a bit.’

’All things considered, I’ve pretty much reached the end of the road with this Fighting Skill.’

The Golden Stone Fighting Skill only had four core levels, and Luo Shi had passed on practically everything he knew about it, holding nothing back.

Now, the martial arts skill held few secrets for him; he had reached its final stage. All that remained was a partial description of cultivation within the Limit-Breaking Level.

After all, Luo Shi himself was only at this realm, so naturally, he had no further knowledge to impart.

If he wanted to break through to the second Superpower stage, the Exploration Level, he would clearly need a new martial arts skill.

’Based on what Luo Shi told me, the key to the Limit-Breaking Level is the Qi Flame.’

A nostalgic look appeared in his eyes as Lu Chao mused, ’Only by continuously tempering the Qi Flame, solidifying it until it can take form, can I be considered to have reached the limit of this level. And throughout this process, because the Qi Flame is the materialization of the body’s energy, it will in turn feed back to strengthen my physique and increase my Life Energy.’

’Once I grasp the key to releasing the Qi Flame from my body, allowing me to form concussive waves of qi with every move, only then will I have truly stepped into the Exploration Level.’

’If I can compress the Qi Flame into my very cells and make it erupt from my pores at will to create powerful, explosive shockwaves—that is the realm of the Transcendence Level...’

Thinking of this, Lu Chao nodded slightly, having made his decision.