Chapter 289 - 280: Hundred-legged Fire Walk, Pharmacist Perfection

Chapter 289: Chapter 280: Hundred-legged Fire Walk, Pharmacist Perfection

Fu Juemin pulled up his character panel. Under the Cultivation Technique section, a golden "+" was glowing next to every Martial Art he had learned.

When he killed the Old Turtle Spirit from Du Mountain Reservoir earlier, he had received two Skill Points. He’d used one and saved the other.

Killing Luo Zhengxiong had earned him another one.

And as for the Flood Dragon Level Centipede Spirit from Friend Mountain Mine, the one he had risked killing with a summoned lightning strike...

...it had given him a whopping four Skill Points all at once!

In other words, Fu Juemin now had a total of six Skill Points to spend as he pleased!

As for the Talent that the Centipede Spirit had dropped for him...

Fu Juemin’s gaze shifted downward, finally landing on a splash of brilliant red next to his Talent Bar.

—[Hundred-legged Fire Walk]!

A Red Level Talent, ranked even higher than his two Blue Level Talents, [Shadow Control] and [Gui Cang].

The splash of red was as deep as blood. It flowed slowly, exuding a faint, mysterious, and ancient aura.

’Truly worthy of a Flood Dragon Level Great Demon...’

Fu Juemin mused for a moment, then raised his hand toward the train window.

The sunlight streaming through the window edged his fair, slender palm in a faint halo.

Gradually, the halo intensified. A bewitching, orange-red flame suddenly flared up, quickly engulfing his entire palm.

’An actual flame...’

Fu Juemin studied the wisps of flame twining between his fingers as if admiring a priceless treasure, his eyes flickering with a myriad of strange lights.

The temperature in the train compartment gradually rose, but he felt no discomfort.

Suddenly.

"SHKT—"

From the back of Fu Juemin’s flame-wreathed hand, a sharp, pitch-black tarsus violently pierced through flesh and skin, bursting forth.

The tarsus was covered in fine barbs and shimmered with a dark light, exuding an indescribably evil and unsettling aura.

Fu Juemin frowned slightly. With a flip of his palm, the flames and the tarsus vanished without a trace. The skin on the back of his hand was smooth, as if it had never been broken.

He closed his eyes. In the dark space deep within his consciousness, a pitch-black Hundred-legged Fire Centipede covered in fiery patterns was coiled silently in the very center.

It remained motionless, yet all the other Demon Souls were pushed to the very edges, looking resentful but too afraid to protest.

A clear testament to its ferocious might.

’This [Hundred-legged Fire Walk]... "Hundred-legged" comes first, "Fire Walk" second. If I were to fully activate it, I’m afraid it would completely transform me into something inhuman...’

Although he had yet to fully unleash this Talent, Fu Juemin had a vague premonition of the shocking form it would take.

He had only just perfected his control over the Three Souls in One Body and Four Souls in One Body states, and had, with great difficulty, found a combat form for his [Demon Body] that was at least somewhat presentable.

He had just taken a step back from the path of the inhuman, and now, he feared he was about to head down it again, never to return.

’It’s rare to get a combat-oriented Talent, let alone a Red Level one. Not using it is out of the question.’

’I’ll have to see how I can integrate it into my current Demon Martial Arts system. If that doesn’t work, I might have to rebuild the entire thing...’

Fu Juemin thought to himself, staring at his palm.

His current Demon Body was built upon the foundation of three Talents: [Soft Bone], [Meat Mountain], and [Copper Hide].

The Four Souls in One Body state merely added [Shadow Control] to that foundation.

But now that he had [Hundred-legged Fire Walk], he would naturally have to replace the core of his Demon Body with this Red Level Talent.

Judging by its energy consumption alone, the power of [Hundred-legged Fire Walk] was likely even greater than Fu Juemin had anticipated.

Every time he so much as slightly activated it, his Qi Blood and Vitality drained away like water through an open floodgate. The power of this single Talent might even be comparable to his basic Demon Body state of "Three Souls in One Body."

’For now, I’ll keep it as a trump card. I shouldn’t reveal it publicly unless absolutely necessary...’

In truth, the solution to building a new Demon Body was simple: a sufficiently sturdy and stable physical frame, and enough "Innate Primordial Liquid."

With those two prerequisites met, he could experiment however he pleased.

At this thought, Fu Juemin’s gaze returned to his character panel.

When in doubt, spend points on the Martial Dao.

Six Skill Points were enough to upgrade either his Pharmacist Skill or Dragon Elephant Skill.

As for which to upgrade first?

It was without a doubt the Pharmacist Skill.

In the past, Fu Juemin had needed the power of the Dragon Elephant Skill to supplement his offense. But times had changed. His path for the Demon Body was now clear, and he had more powerful Demon Talents than he knew what to do with. So what was he lacking?

The only thing he lacked was the precious "Innate Primordial Liquid"—which, on his panel, translated to the [Life] Attribute.

The Pharmacist Skill was the obvious choice.

Having made his decision, Fu Juemin focused his thoughts.

The golden "+" next to the Cultivation Technique [Pharmacist Buddha’s Glazed Body] on his panel flashed—

"HUMMM—"

In a daze, it felt as though an invisible ripple emanated from Fu Juemin, passing through the wooden partition of his private compartment and spreading rapidly outward.

Cao Tian, standing guard outside the compartment door, seemed to sense something at that instant and spun around.

A few breaths later, however, a hint of confusion crossed his face as he slowly turned his gaze away from the door.

"WHOOOO—"

The steam train puffed out white smoke as it slowly chugged across a wide, flat plain.

In the fields, plants vied for life in a scene brimming with the vitality of spring.

Fu Juemin leaned against the window, his eyes closed, so quiet he seemed to be asleep.

Sunlight streamed through the window, casting shifting patterns of light and shadow across him. A profound silence flowed through the compartment.

It seemed to last but a fleeting moment.

And yet, it also seemed to stretch for an entire century.

As the minute hand on the golden pocket watch lying on the table ticked softly forward one notch, Fu Juemin quietly opened his eyes.

In that instant, the entire compartment was "filled with brilliant light"!

It was as if an infinite Glazed Buddha Light had blossomed into existence.

When the "light" dissipated, the room was still the same room, and the man was still the same man.

But somehow, everything felt different.

—[Pharmacist Buddha’s Glazed Body (Perfection: Life +20, Defense +20)].

Reflected on his base panel: [Life—27], [Defense—35].

"A body like glazed glass, clear inside and out, pure and without blemish."

Fu Juemin murmured to himself with downcast eyes, examining his own body.

The promotion of the Pharmacist Skill from Great Success to Perfection brought about changes that were both immense and yet subtly indescribable.

To be specific, an invisible film now coated the surface of his meridians, bones, and internal organs, as if his Protective Qi had extended inside his body.

A pure energy constantly welled up within him, ceaselessly washing over his body from the inside out, keeping him in a perpetual state of "Purity."

In his once-empty Dantian, his depleted "Innate Primordial Liquid" had not only been completely replenished but had more than tripled in volume.

With a slight turn of his thoughts, Fu Juemin made the drop of "Innate Primordial Liquid" split into three. He relaxed his focus, and they immediately merged back into a single drop.

’By that measure, my endurance has tripled.’

’I can activate the Second Form of my Demon Body three times in a row now...’

Furthermore, all the injuries he had sustained from the fire and lightning had completely healed.

Not only that, but his new skin was even smoother and more delicate than before, appearing almost translucent under the sunlight.