Chapter 108: Let's Set a Small Goal First

This left him feeling somewhat reluctant; after all, buying an intermediate Heavenly-tier martial skill would completely drain his funds. Just a few minutes ago, he still carried the aura of a wealthy man, but now, he didn’t even dare to spend on a single martial skill!

This only strengthened his resolve to earn more reputation points.

He decided to set a small goal first—like earning a hundred million. Then he could buy two copies of an advanced Heavenly-tier martial skill, use one and throw the other away. Such extravagance—who could rival that?

“Sigh, forget it. I’ll start by looking at the low-level Heavenly-tier skills. I’ll save my reputation points for crucial moments. As for the higher-level ones, I’ll wait until I have the money!” Chen Xiang sighed.

He immediately pulled up the system interface for low-level Heavenly-tier martial skills.

Although these were low-level, they still caught his eye.

“Blood-Cutting Ghost Finger”: Low-level Heavenly-tier martial skill. With one finger, it cuts off the pulse, instantly stopping the flow of blood in the opponent’s body, rendering them rigid. At mastery, it can trigger a remote explosion of the blood.

Price: 4,000 reputation points.

“Great Heavenly Creation Palm”: A martial skill from another dimension, low-level Heavenly-tier. This palm technique embodies the meaning of creation and destiny, breaking the heavens with the palm and shattering all things with force.

Price: 5,000 reputation points.

“Snowfall Sword Burial Style”: Low-level Heavenly-tier martial skill. This sword method has two branches—the Snowfall Style and the Burial Style. One emphasizes speed, the other power. Mastery allows the user to annihilate enemies in a single invisible strike.

Price: 3,500 reputation points.

...

Though the descriptions weren’t as flashy as those for intermediate or advanced Heavenly-tier skills, just reading them made it clear they were formidable.

Most importantly, the prices were within his means, making low-level Heavenly-tier martial skills the perfect choice for him. Yes, that made sense.

Having decided to buy a few low-level Heavenly-tier skills to keep in reserve, Chen Xiang pondered carefully. After all, this was a matter tied to his worth; he couldn’t be careless.

The Blood-Cutting Ghost Finger seemed impressive—able to halt blood flow and, at mastery, remotely ignite blood—but it was too gruesome. For Chen Xiang, a well-mannered youth of the new century, it wasn’t suitable, so he passed on it.

The Great Heavenly Creation Palm was something Chen Xiang recognized—it was the skill used by the formidable Biyang Xiaoyan! The Snowfall Sword Burial Style looked good too, combining speed and power, but its price was a bit low, which made him hesitate.

“Forget it. I’ll just get the most expensive one—surely it won’t be a scam!” Chen Xiang, holding to the idea that the priciest was the best, gritted his teeth and decided.

He then purchased the Great Heavenly Creation Palm.

“Ding! Congratulations, host ‘Chen Xiang’, on successfully redeeming the low-level Heavenly-tier martial skill ‘Great Heavenly Creation Palm’, consuming 5,000 reputation points!”

Seeing the successful redemption, Chen Xiang winced slightly at the cost but quickly clicked to cultivate the skill.

“Ding! Congratulations, host ‘Chen Xiang’, on successfully cultivating Great Heavenly Creation Palm.”

Boom!

Chen Xiang’s body stilled as golden, mysterious characters flowed like a river into his brow. In moments, they fully entered and vanished.

A smile curved Chen Xiang’s lips as he absorbed the sudden influx of martial knowledge in his mind.

After a while, he steadied himself and muttered in awe, “Sure enough, a genuine Heavenly-tier skill. It’s tens of times stronger than the fourth-stage Emperor’s Seal technique!”

Next, he upgraded his skills. First, he perfected the Emperor’s Seal and the Four Symbols Ultimate Sword Technique. This time, the upgrade succeeded without restrictions.

He also noticed his progress bar increased. He learned that each use of a martial skill raised proficiency, so he need not worry about lacking mastery points.

Then he upgraded the Great Heavenly Creation Palm.

“Ding! Congratulations, host ‘Chen Xiang’, on successfully upgrading Great Heavenly Creation Palm, consuming 1,000 mastery points. Current progress: 10%.”

A system prompt sounded, and Chen Xiang almost wanted to curse. Only 10% progress for 1,000 mastery points? That meant a low-level Heavenly-tier skill required 10,000 mastery points to max out! Where was he to find so many mastery points? He had already recycled all useless skills and spiritual artifacts; everything left was essential for him.

“Sigh, I’ll just take it step by step. Low-level Heavenly-tier skills are like this; intermediate and advanced ones must be bottomless pits,” Chen Xiang muttered.

...

Chen Xiang organized his system inventory and felt his strength had risen a notch. Confidence filled him from head to toe.

Next, he took out the high-level Nascent Soul he had been rewarded with. After snarling at it for a moment, he asked the system for the cultivation method of the second Nascent Soul.

“Hey system, quickly give me the cultivation method for the second Nascent Soul,” Chen Xiang called out.

“Ding! Congratulations, host on successfully redeeming the secret method ‘Heavenly Profound Nascent Soul Transformation Method’, consuming 2,000 reputation points!”

“Tsk!” Chen Xiang pursed his lips after spending another 2,000 reputation points. He now had only about 1,700 reputation points left. He felt utterly broke, especially since he had 16,000 points only moments ago.

The ‘Heavenly Profound Nascent Soul Transformation Method’ was also a secret technique. To cultivate a second Nascent Soul, ordinary cultivators must be at Nascent Soul fourth layer or above but below the Divine Transformation stage. They extract their Nascent Soul and seal it with the secret method, causing their cultivation to drop sharply to the peak of the Golden Core stage without an actual Golden Core inside.

They then condense a new Nascent Soul, survive the second triple-nine Heaven tribulation, and form another Nascent Soul inside the Purple Mansion. Just before it fully forms, they absorb the sealed Nascent Soul into the Purple Mansion, completing the second Nascent Soul cultivation. Using their original Nascent Soul increases the success rate, but their cultivation does not recover, nor does their innate talent change.

Chen Xiang, however, was different. As a system user, the Nascent Soul from the gift pack was pure and flawless, nearly identical to one cultivated naturally. Thus, he did not need to re-cultivate; he only needed to merge the high-level Nascent Soul into his body.

After thoroughly checking the secret method to ensure no omissions, he began cultivation.

Previously, he had arranged some formations in his room. This time, he added several subtle precautions—highly concealed—so he would sense if anyone tampered with them.

...

...

At dawn the next day, as daylight broke faintly, Chen Xiang emerged from his room feeling refreshed.

The inn had already begun work. He first checked out, then headed toward the Feng family’s estate.

The previous night’s cultivation of the second Nascent Soul had been remarkably successful—effortless, one might say. Now, his Purple Mansion housed two identical Nascent Souls sitting in meditation.

Each Nascent Soul’s every movement synchronized perfectly with his mind, with not a hint of discomfort.

Moreover, the second Nascent Soul had another benefit: it could assist him in cultivation!

In other words, it was like two people cultivating, but only one reaped the rewards.

Although progress from normal cultivation was slow, it was better than nothing!

“To be continued...”