Chapter 78: Condensing Essence Pills

Damian still had seven Skill Points remaining.

Leaving them untouched would hardly kill him, but after watching just how useful his cantrips had proven throughout the day, there was one investment he did not need much time to consider.

<Firebolt> and <Frost Ray> had practically carried his hunting session as they required no Spell Slots, consumed relatively little Mental Energy compared to proper spells and, most importantly, could be thrown around repeatedly!

He opened the two abilities.

[Name: Firebolt

Type: Cantrip — Evocation

Grade: Journeyman

Power: 10% Fire Damage

Effect: Launches a concentrated projectile of magical flame capable of inflicting Moderate Sear.

Advancement Cost: 2 Skill Points.]

Pfft, just two points?

Before Damian could confirm, another notification appeared beneath it.

[Myriad Arts Master detected.]

[Compatible Combat Skill advancement cost reduced by 50%.]

[Adjusted Advancement Cost: 1 Skill Point.]

"Oh right, that thing!" Damian exclaimed with joy.

He had just spent so much time dumping points into the Hundred Arts, which received no benefit from <Myriad Arts Master>, that he had almost forgotten the Feat was sitting there waiting to subsidize his violent tendencies.

Just one point to enter Adept?

Heh, might as well be free!

[Firebolt advanced.]

[Journeyman → Adept.]

[Power: 10% → 20% Fire Damage.]

[Status: Moderate Sear → Severe Sear.]

[Skill Points Remaining: 6.]

The familiar magical structure inside Damian’s mind immediately grew more sophisticated.

The spell did not simply become ’hotter’. Its mana compression improved, the projectile held together more efficiently during flight, and the fiery energy transferred into whatever it struck with far greater violence.

Damian shook his head with amusement.

Those Nightmare Corpse fellows had already been cooking like bacon on hot oil with the Journeyman version.

Shooting this at them at the Adept stage was just bullying at this point.

Naturally, <Frost Ray> followed.

[Name: Frost Ray

Type: Cantrip — Evocation

Grade: Journeyman

Power: 10% Cold Damage

Effect: Launches a concentrated ray of magical cold capable of inflicting Moderate Freeze.

Advancement Cost: 2 Skill Points.]

[Myriad Arts Master detected.]

[Compatible Combat Skill advancement cost reduced by 50%.]

[Adjusted Advancement Cost: 1 Skill Point.]

[Frost Ray advanced.]

[Journeyman → Adept.]

[Power: 10% → 20% Cold Damage.]

[Status: Moderate Freeze → Severe Freeze.]

[Skill Points Remaining: 5.]

Another wave of comprehension entered his mind, sharpening his understanding of cold-energy concentration and the manner in which the spell stripped heat from a target.

Considering the last Journeyman version had frozen a man’s head solid enough for it to shatter against the ground...

Damian glanced at the words ’Severe Freeze’.

"Might as well call me Absolute Zero now."

He had five Skill Points remaining.

This time, however, he did not return to his Mage abilities.

Damian tapped his lower lip thoughtfully before opening his Storage Ring and taking out one of the many Human Rank manuals he had accumulated from the Evergreen Sect.

The cover read ’Seven-Turn Sword Art’.

Indeed, it was a swordsmanship martial art.

A rather boring choice, right?

Spears had reach, sabers looked suitably domineering, and halberds were cool enough that ancient generals seemed contractually obligated to carry one while riding ridiculous horses.

Not to mention giant hammers let a man solve philosophical disputes by converting the opposing philosopher into paste.

Yet Damian had not chosen the sword because it was his favorite weapon.

He chose it because swords were versatile.

More specifically...

Flying Swords existed, and Damian could now craft those himself.

Why keep buying completed weapons when he possessed High Grade Two Artifact Refining?

Raw materials were cheaper, easier to customize and, once Damian became sufficiently competent, every weapon used by himself or his allies could be designed around their exact requirements.

And swords offered something even more interesting.

Damian’s physical Attributes had surpassed his mental ones rather dramatically.

STR 12.4.

DEX 16.6.

AGI 13.1.

CON 14.4.

At this point, continuing to roleplay as the traditional fragile Dungeons and Dragons Wizard standing behind everybody else while clutching his robe dramatically would simply be wasting stats.

Fuck that!

Damian wanted to become an overpowered <Bladesinger>!

Except his version could cheat across two different supernatural systems!

Imagine fighting Damian in Valoria.

You see a Mage in robes with a staff and a sword hanging at his hip.

Naturally, you think to yourself, the sword is his secondary equipment, right?

Then the damned thing leaps from its sheath, accelerates through the air like a guided supersonic missile, and tries to remove your head from one hundred meters away under the control of Spirit Sense and Daoist Arts.

Surprise!

Now imagine fighting him in Shengyuan.

You recognize the Flying Sword immediately, as it is your standard cultivator nonsense.

You avoid the blade, maybe block it, but then the sword’s guard lights up with Valorian runes.

"Ignis!"

The Flying Sword spits a <Firebolt> at your face, or perhaps <Burning Hands>.

And if Damian installed a powerful enough magical focus into the artifact...

You dodge the Flying Sword only for the little bastard to launch a full-powered Level 3 <Fireball> from thirty meters away.

Damian’s smile became increasingly weird.

That combination was currently something only he could create.

A Shengyuan Flying Sword built through High Grade Two Artifact Refining, modified with Valorian magical principles through Journeyman <Arcane Knowledge>, and operated by someone who possessed both cultivation and Mage spellcasting.

Beautiful!

Absolutely beautiful!

He opened the Seven-Turn Sword Art manual.

[Compatible Human Rank Martial Art Manual detected.]

[Learn Function available.]

[Seven-Turn Sword Art — Learn Cost: 1 Skill Point.]

Damian confirmed.

[1 Skill Point consumed.]

[Skill Points Remaining: 4.]

The knowledge arrived.

And immediately, Damian understood why Martial Arts were somewhat different from ordinary Valorian Skills.

The Eternal Proof System listed the Seven-Turn Sword Art as a single Martial Art at Entry mastery.

In practice though, it contained three interconnected components.

The first was passive.

<Seven-Turn Sword Mastery>.

This contained the basic handling system behind the entire art, the grip, stance, foot placement, cutting angles, thrusting, chopping, drawing, recovery and, most importantly, the seven transitions that gave the technique its name.

Every attack naturally flowed into another.

A downward cut could rotate into a horizontal slash, a failed thrust could turn into a draw-cut, and a blocked chop could redirect through the wrist into another angle without forcing the practitioner to fully reset their posture.

Nothing supernatural, just very refined killing acrobatics.

Then came the primary active technique.

<Seven-Turn Sword>.

The user deliberately chained those transitions together in combat, preserving momentum between attacks and forcing the opponent to continuously adjust as the sword changed direction.

And finally...

The Secret Art.

<Seven-Turn Sword: Reversing Current>.

Rather than releasing the accumulated momentum forward through successive strikes, the practitioner abruptly reversed the chain at a chosen transition, turning what appeared to be the beginning of the next attack into a violent countercut traveling along the opposite line.

Used correctly, an enemy reading the ordinary rhythm of the Seven-Turn Sword could practically walk themselves into the blade.

Used incorrectly, it was an excellent way to tear something important in the shoulder.

[Seven-Turn Sword Art

Rank: Human

Mastery: Entry

Contained Disciplines:

Seven-Turn Sword Mastery

Seven-Turn Sword

Secret Art — Seven-Turn Sword: Reversing Current.]

[Advancement Cost — Entry → Small Success: 2 Skill Points.]

[Myriad Arts Master detected.]

[Compatible Martial Art advancement cost reduced by 50%.]

[Adjusted Advancement Cost: 1 Skill Point.]

There we go.

Damian confirmed.

[Seven-Turn Sword Art advanced.]

[Entry → Small Success.]

[1 Skill Point consumed.]

[Skill Points Remaining: 3.]

The second influx was far more satisfying.

What had initially felt like instructions became experience.

Damian suddenly understood distances, timing, how much wrist rotation was too much, where the edge should align during each transition and how the hips transferred power into a cut.

He understood how to shorten a turn when fighting at close range and lengthen one when controlling distance.

His muscles had never practiced the sword, yet his mind now possessed the complete knowledge required to do so at Small Success.

Combined with <Perfect Combat Instinct> and his ridiculous physical Attributes?

He really needed a sword!

Soon, very soon heh heh heh...

Then the next advancement appeared.

[Seven-Turn Sword Art

Current Mastery: Small Success.]

[Advancement Cost — Small Success → Great Success: 3 Skill Points.]

[Myriad Arts Master detected.]

[Compatible Martial Art advancement cost reduced by 50%.]

[Adjusted Advancement Cost: 2 Skill Points.]

Damian looked at his remaining three points then smiled.

Why stop halfway?

He confirmed again.

[Seven-Turn Sword Art advanced.]

[Small Success → Great Success.]

[2 Skill Points consumed.]

[Skill Points Remaining: 1.]

BOOM!

The difference was immediate.

If Entry had given Damian the knowledge and Small Success had transformed that knowledge into practiced familiarity, then Great Success began pushing the entire art toward instinct.

The seven transitions were no longer seven movements he consciously remembered, but one continuous system.

Every possible position of the sword now seemed to contain several natural roads into another strike, defense or counterattack.

A thrust could become a cut before it fully extended, or a block could borrow the enemy’s impact and turn into another strike.

Damian understood how the angle of an opponent’s weapon, the position of their feet and even the direction of their retreat could determine which of the seven turns should come next.

<Seven-Turn Sword: Reversing Current> also became considerably more vicious.

At Small Success, the Secret Art relied upon deliberately misleading an opponent before reversing the accumulated attack sequence.

At Great Success, Damian understood how to disguise the reversal inside the natural flow of the art itself.

An opponent could recognize the Seven-Turn Sword, understand the Secret Art existed, actively watch for the reversal, and still misread which transition Damian intended to reverse.

Damian slowly raised one hand as though holding an invisible sword, his wrist moving through several small turns.

The motions felt strangely natural.

"...Okay."

Now he really needed a sword.

One Skill Point remained.

Damian took out another manual, and this one was far more famous throughout Shengyuan.

<Object Control>.

Calling it famous might actually undersell the matter.

Any cultivator who reached Qi Condensation eventually encountered some version of the Daoist Art because it formed the practical foundation behind remotely controlling physical objects with Refined Qi.

Whether it was weapons, tools, formation flags, and eventually Flying Swords.

Damian technically possessed pseudo-telekinesis already through <Divine Sense>.

The problem was that using Divine Sense for sustained object manipulation was like using an expensive microscope as a hammer.

Could it work? Sure.

Should it? Probably not.

Divine Sense was powerful, precise and independent of his normal senses, but keeping it extended consumed too much of his spiritual resources for Damian to treat it like casual telekinesis throughout a fight when <Object Control> was specifically made for that job.

[Compatible Human Rank Daoist Art Manual detected.]

[Learn Function available.]

[Object Control — Learn Cost: 1 Skill Point.]

Damian selected it.

[1 Skill Point consumed.]

[Skill Points Remaining: 0.]

Knowledge entered his mind once again.

This technique worked by extending Refined Qi beyond the body, attaching it to an external object in the form of threads, and manipulating that object through changes in force, direction and spiritual intent.

Damian immediately understood how crude his Divine Sense method had been.

"Hoh?"

His first Daoist Art, huh?

Interesting.

Even more interesting was the spending pattern.

When Damian originally earned nineteen Skill Points in Valoria, virtually everything had gone back into Valorian abilities.

Now he had earned two hundred and forty-two Skill Points from Shengyuan cultivators and almost every point had returned to Shengyuan powers.

Only two points had escaped back into Valoria through his two cantrips.

"Local money supporting local industry!"

Heh.

Damian closed the Skill Upgrade System for now, as there were many things he wanted to test.

Unfortunately, Willowbank Front currently possessed a woman named Ning Ruomei waiting somewhere beyond enemy lines, so disappearing without notice would be particularly stupid.

He informed Jian Rui and the other youngsters that he would be absent for a while, then made certain Mu Qingyao received the message as well.

Then Damian entered the command tent, closed the entrance and opened the Permanent Realm Passage, with space distorting as he stepped through.

......

Valoria greeted him with peace.

Blessed, wonderful peace.

Damian appeared inside his Rosewood Town residence, closed the passage behind himself and did something incredibly productive.

He sat on the sofa for several minutes doing absolutely nothing.

"Ahhh..."

Wonderful.

Eventually, however, business called.

Damian opened his Exchange Storage and removed three small containers before placing them carefully upon the table.

The first held a Condensing Essence Pill, the second contained an Essence Surge Pill, and the third carried an Essence Purifying Pill.

Damian had possessed them for some time, but until reaching Qi Condensation there had been little reason to properly investigate their Valorian adaptations.

That had changed.

He touched the Essence Surge Pill first.

[Cross-Realm Item Detected.]

[Dual-Realm Adaptation Analysis Complete.]

[Item effects may differ depending upon the governing power system of the realm in which they are used.]

[Item: Essence Surge Pill

Grade: Uncommon (Valoria), High Grade Two (Shengyuan)

Effect 1 (Valoria): For individuals from Level 6 through Level 10, Experience gained from eligible activities is doubled for twelve hours. The adapted effect is unsuitable below Level 6 and ceases to function beyond Level 10.

Effect 2 (Shengyuan): For Qi Condensation cultivators, the pill greatly increases the efficiency of absorbing, refining and utilizing Spiritual Energy for approximately twelve hours. Its usefulness declines sharply beyond Qi Condensation. Body Tempering cultivators cannot withstand the medicinal force and may suffer catastrophic meridian rupture.]

Damian whistled.

"Well then."

Qi Acceleration Pill’s big brother had arrived!

It had the same general concept, but operated at a higher bracket, specifically the Journeyman levels instead of Novice.

He moved to the Condensing Essence Pill.

[Item: Condensing Essence Pill

Grade: Uncommon (Valoria), Mid Grade Two (Shengyuan)

Effect 1 (Valoria): Grants 10 Experience Points upon consumption to eligible individuals from Level 6 through Level 10. The adapted effect does not function below Level 6 or above Level 10.

Effect 2 (Shengyuan): Gradually releases a concentrated reserve of refined Spiritual Energy over approximately twelve hours, directly contributing cultivation progress to a Qi Condensation cultivator. Body Tempering cultivators cannot safely contain the medicinal release and may suffer catastrophic bodily rupture.]

Damian’s eyebrows rose with pleasant surprise.

Ten EXP?

Excellent!

His greatest fear had not materialized!

If Grade Two pills still gave one miserable EXP each, then progressing through Journeyman would have required industrial quantities of medicine.

Could <Supreme Synthesis> produce enough eventually? Probably.

Would Damian enjoy processing thousands upon thousands of pills every few levels? Absolutely fucking not!

Ten EXP changed the equation completely.

Unfortunately...

[Adaptation Limitation Detected!]

[Repeated use of Condensing Essence Pills causes diminishing Valorian Experience returns.]

[For every ten pills consumed without an effective adaptation cleanse, the Experience granted by subsequent doses decreases by 10% of the pill’s original adapted value.]

[Minimum Experience per pill after maximum adaptation: 1 EXP.]

Ah.

There was the bastard.

So it was the same rule structure as the Qi Nourishing Pill, but times ten.

First ten pills gave ten EXP each, the next ten pills gave nine EXP each and so on.

Still, it was much better than the Novice-tier version.

Finally, Damian appraised the Essence Purifying Pill.

[Item: Essence Purifying Pill

Grade: Uncommon (Valoria), High Grade Two (Shengyuan)

Effect 1 (Valoria): Purges a substantial portion of accumulated medicinal residue, organic toxins and moderate-grade foreign contaminants that are not themselves diseases or illnesses. Repeated use produces diminishing cleansing efficiency.

Effect 2 (Shengyuan): Removes accumulated pill toxins, medicinal residue, bodily impurities and moderate foreign substances. Each successive dose becomes less effective, cannot create absolute purity and excessive repeated use eventually leaves behind residue originating from the Essence Purifying Pill itself.]

Then came the interesting part.

[Synergistic Item Interaction Detected!]

[Essence Purifying Pill can reset Condensing Essence Pill Adaptation Count.]

[After a successful reset, the next 30 Condensing Essence Pills consumed will not increase the Adaptation Count.]

[After the protected 30-pill period ends, Adaptation Count begins accumulating again from zero.]

[WARNING!]

[Each effective Essence Purifying Pill permanently increases all future Valorian Experience requirements by 30% of their original value.]

Damian’s face immediately soured.

"...You poisonous little shit."

Marrow Cleansing had been bad enough at ten percent, but this thing charged thirty!

Granted, its benefit was dramatically better.

It cleared the adaptation counter and gave thirty completely protected Condensing Essence Pills before the counter even started moving again.

That was monstrous.

It was also the kind of deal where the salesman gave you a free car and quietly attached your house to the financing agreement.

Damian pulled out parchment.

Time for math!

An ordinary person going from Level 6 to Level 11 needed to clear the Journeyman requirements for Levels 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10.

Sixty for level 6, seventy for level 7, eighty for level 8, ninety for level 9 and one hundred for level 10.

All together, that was four hundred EXP.

Without an Essence Surge Pill, the Condensing Essence adaptation curve worked beautifully.

First ten pills: 100 EXP.

Second ten: 90 EXP

Third ten: 80 EXP

Fourth ten: 70 EXP

Fifth ten: 60 EXP

Exactly four hundred!

"Only fifty pills, huh?" Damian muttered as he stared at the sheet.

That was... extremely reasonable.

With Essence Surge active, everything doubled.

So ten pills gave two hundred, another ten at nine EXP each became another one hundred and eighty for a total of three hundred and eighty.

Just twenty EXP short to hit level 11.

With the third adaptation band giving eight EXP per pill, doubled to sixteen with the Essence Surge.

One pill brought the total to 396, and two would bring it to 412.

"Twenty-two pills with an extra boost of 12 exp after entering level 11."

Damian tapped the parchment.

Nice.

Very nice!

Then came his own situation.

Because Past Damian had apparently enjoyed sabotaging Future Damian.

He currently possessed 13/66 EXP.

Thanks to the Marrow Cleansing Pill, his requirements were permanently ten percent higher than normal.

To reach Level 7, he still needed fifty-three EXP.

Afterward came seventy-seven, then eighty-eight, then ninety-nine, then one hundred and ten.

Damian added them all up, making a total of 427 EXP.

Without Essence Surge, fifty Condensing Essence Pills provided exactly four hundred, so he would still need twenty-seven extra exp.

The sixth adaptation band gave five EXP each, so six more pills provided thirty.

"Fifty-six pills."

Still manageable actually, not nearly as bad as he thought.

With Essence Surge, the target effectively became half.

The first twenty pills produced 380 EXP after doubling, so he needed forty-seven more.

Third-band pills produced sixteen each, and three pills would give forty-eight.

Damian slowly wrote the answer. "Twenty-three."

Twenty-three Condensing Essence Pills plus one Essence Surge Pill could theoretically carry him from his current 13/66 all the way through the Journeyman bracket to Level 11.

Assuming, naturally, nothing unexpected interfered with the adaptation and each level transition behaved normally.

Damian leaned back.

That was absurdly good.

Then his gaze drifted toward the Essence Purifying Pill.

Thirty-percent permanent increase per effective pill, huh?

He thought about the Marrow Cleansing Pill he had swallowed merely to test whether it could reset Qi Nourishing resistance.

That single experiment was still taxing every level he would ever gain.

"Poison."

Pure fucking poison!

And the Essence Purifying Pill was three times worse!

One dose would raise all future Experience requirements by another thirty percent of their original values!

No thank you!

Its effect was certainly incredible.

Reset the adaptation limit completely, then let a person consume thirty Condensing Essence Pills without the counter increasing at all before diminishing returns even began again.

Hmm, why did it seem like it was built for those idiots who gorged on Marrow Cleansing Pills in the previous stage?

Taking the first ten pills for 100 EXP, then using the Essence Purifying Pill to clear your limits for 30 pills that gave another 300 EXP was already 400 EXP total by this point, and after the freebie was over, you could take a fresh ten pills for another 100 EXP, making 500 EXP total.

Unless your exp requirements per level was 100 EXP per level, this was overkill.

Damian pushed the Essence Purifying Pill several inches away as though physical distance might prevent it from ruining his Character Sheet.

"Tsk. Why are all the best cleansing medicines loan sharks?"