Chapter 70: I Must Buy It Even If It Costs an Arm and a Leg!
At that moment, Chen Xiang was still cursing on the fourth floor. He had thought it was something he might as well take since it was free, but he hadn't expected there to be lingering side effects. Even though the introduction said the aftereffects would only occur if one took too much, who would be foolish enough to continue eating something with known risks?
Only Chen Xiang and a female cultivator at the seventh level of Core Formation remained on the fourth floor.
That female cultivator had also nearly lost her spiritual focus from Chen Xiang’s sudden outburst, but her resolve was strong, and she quickly regained her composure. With a glare at Chen Xiang, she ignored him, steadied her mind, and began making her way toward the stairs leading to the fifth floor.
Chen Xiang was still absorbed in the system interface.
He certainly wasn’t going to eat that minor Spirit-Nourishing Pill now, so he could only resort to purchasing something from the system shop.
There were a few system-recommended medicines for enhancing spiritual sense.
Spirit-Nourishing Pill: Permanently increases spiritual sense by 1 point. Note: Overuse causes spiritual sense dependency, slowing future self-cultivation of spiritual sense!
Price: 20 reputation points (limit of 100 per day)
Void Essence Pill: Permanently increases spiritual sense by 5 points. Note: Overuse causes spiritual sense dependency, slightly slowing future self-cultivation of spiritual sense!
Price: 80 reputation points (limit of 20 per day)
Fragrant Soul Elixir: Permanently increases spiritual sense by 60 points.
Price: 1000 reputation points (limit of 10 drops per day)
…
“Damn!” Chen Xiang stared at the system’s descriptions, dumbfounded.
It turned out not only the minor Spirit-Nourishing Pill had side effects—so did the system’s own medicines! The severity of the side effects varied, but they were always present.
Of all the options, only the Fragrant Soul Elixir lacked a warning about side effects, which meant it presumably had none. But it was so expensive—a thousand reputation points per drop, with a daily limit of ten! Even if there were no limit, he couldn’t afford many drops.
Chen Xiang checked his personal stats. His current spiritual sense was just above that of an average seventh-level Nascent Soul cultivator.
Given that he was at the Great Perfection of Core Formation, this was already quite good! But under the pressure of the fourth floor, where the force was akin to the Great Perfection of Nascent Soul, it was still barely enough.
Helpless, Chen Xiang reluctantly considered purchasing a drop of Fragrant Soul Elixir.
Just then, a small box popped up in the lower right corner of the system interface, black characters on a white background, boldly stating: “Still troubled by weak spiritual sense? Click here and let this system show you a whole new world!”
Chen Xiang: “…”
His mouth twitched. At that moment, if there had been a table in front of him, he would have overturned it without hesitation!
What kind of prestigious system was this? It was all nonsense! This felt more like online shopping than cultivation.
Yet that didn’t stop Chen Xiang from clicking in.
“Spiritual sense too weak? Stay tuned—this system will solve your long-standing problems!” flashed an advertisement, followed by a special recommendation:
“Divine Refinement Technique: Advanced secret art. Cultivating this secret art can multiply spiritual perception. Note: Cultivating this art will increase the difficulty of the Lightning Tribulation, and requires a strong physique—otherwise, cultivation may cause bodily explosion and death!”
The recommendation was bolded and colorful. Chen Xiang’s jaw dropped at the words “Divine Refinement Technique”!
Damn, how could he not know a name as formidable as that? This was a true treasure!
“Buy it, I have to buy it! Even if I have to cut off my own hand, I’m buying it!” Chen Xiang exclaimed, barely able to contain his excitement.
He promptly purchased the Divine Refinement Technique.
“Ding! Congratulations, Host ‘Chen Xiang’, you have successfully redeemed ‘Divine Refinement Technique, First Layer’, costing 3000 reputation points!”
“Ding! Host meets the requirements to cultivate the secret art ‘Divine Refinement Technique, First Layer’. Begin cultivation?”
Two system notifications popped up in quick succession.
“Damn! Only the first layer? Isn’t that a rip-off?” Chen Xiang nearly coughed up blood when he saw the notifications.
He quickly checked the details.
The Divine Refinement Technique was a secret art, not a cultivation method. It was effective for practitioners of any realm, but the first layer required one to have reached the Great Perfection of Core Formation. The second layer required the peak of Spirit Severing, and the third layer was locked—insufficient permissions!
The second layer cost ten thousand reputation points! The third layer was locked entirely. However, there was a “bundle” for the Divine Refinement Technique, priced at fifty thousand reputation points! That hinted at the astronomical price of the third layer—likely even more expensive than top-tier cultivation methods!
Chen Xiang’s heart ached. Compared to this, the Fragrant Soul Elixir was a bargain!
But he had already bought the first layer of the Divine Refinement Technique, and he knew its benefits far surpassed what a few drops of Fragrant Soul Elixir could offer.
Without hesitation, Chen Xiang chose to begin cultivation.
“Ding! Congratulations, Host ‘Chen Xiang’, on successfully cultivating ‘Divine Refinement Technique, First Layer’.”
Boom!
As the system prompt sounded, it was as if a bomb had gone off in Chen Xiang’s mind. His sea of consciousness rapidly expanded, and his senses grew sharper by the moment.
It felt as if a new world had opened up within his mind, his spiritual sea expanding rapidly. Even the spiritual perception that had been confined within his body broke free, spreading from him as the center and blanketing the entire fourth floor.
If not for the powerful restrictions on the surface of the Ice Spirit Pagoda, his spiritual sense would have swept out for hundreds of miles!
“This feeling is simply wonderful!” Chen Xiang hummed contentedly, closing his eyes in bliss.
In an instant, his spiritual sense increased by half, and his perception nearly doubled. This was only the initial effect; it would certainly continue to grow over time.
The oppressive spiritual pressure on the fourth floor, which had weighed on him like a mountain, now seemed no more than a pebble to Chen Xiang—utterly insignificant!
With a smirk, Chen Xiang shot a smug glance at the female cultivator still struggling to hold on, then strode confidently toward the fifth floor.
The female cultivator, gritting her teeth, suddenly saw a figure appear before her—moving lightly, almost skipping, up toward the fifth-floor stairs.
Startled, she stared at the figure in disbelief.
A mouthful of blood spurted from her lips. She simply couldn’t withstand the blow; her mind wavered, her spiritual sense was shaken, and she spat blood.
“Impossible! How can you be so relaxed? You were struggling under the pressure just moments ago!” she cried out in utter shock.
Standing at the entrance to the fifth floor, Chen Xiang paused, turned, and gave her a gentle smile. “Is it that hard?”
“Is it that hard?” Those four words struck the female cultivator’s heart like four heavy hammers.
She had inherited the “Casting Evolution Technique” from her master on his deathbed, and it was because her master had been an alchemist focused on spiritual sense rather than combat that she had such formidable spiritual perception. She had always prided herself on her spiritual sense!
But now, someone could move freely and easily in a place where she had to fight with all her might against spiritual pressure, and even ascend to the next level. Most galling of all, he was also only at the Core Formation stage. A deep sense of defeat filled her heart.
Before she could respond, a flash of white light enveloped her, and she was transported out of the tower…
“To be continued…”