One day, with nothing to do, Zhang Chen endured until dusk. When the sky dimmed, he took a broom, a bucket, and a cloth, and made his way to the Incense Hall.
The entire hall was empty and silent, with only the Everlasting Lamp flickering continuously in the dim space.
Zhang Chen opened his Devouring Dharma Eye, his eyes gazing at the sculpture above the hall, drooling over the pillar of incense light that shot skyward.
Casually sweeping around the entire hall, he noticed no one was around. Zhang Chen eyed the sculpture, his agile body leaping up, taking the cloth to the back of the statue. Observing the swirling Incense Qi around the statue, Zhang Chen carefully assessed for any traps. Confirming there were none, he stretched out his hand, watching as the mouthparts of the Innate Mosquito slowly emerged from his palm, inch by inch probing into the dense incense.
This sculpture was merely consecrated through a Secret Technique, only effective for gathering, converging, and filtering incense, so Zhang Chen wasn’t worried about startling the owner of the incense.
Unless the owner of the incense descended a thought across time and space, this sculpture was a mere dead object.
However, this sculpture was not simple, as it was protected by mystical prohibitions. Yet, in Zhang Chen’s eyes, these prohibitions were full of various loopholes, and his Innate Mosquito mouthparts easily pierced through the flaws.
Then, as Zhang Chen operated Divine Techniques, a vast Incense Qi was absorbed, transformed by his Devouring Skill into an extremely pure, nameless Qi Mechanism.
Feeling the infusion of the Qi Mechanism into his body, Zhang Chen had a mysterious sensation in his heart: firstly, as long as he willed it, the Qi Mechanism would infuse his body, transforming into Innate Primordial Qi, subtly altering his root bones, making his physical form evolve towards an innate foundation.
The second use was his Golden Finger’s function, astonishingly capable of converting the Qi Mechanism into experience points.
The third use was to convert it into Magical Power to aid in his cultivation.
However, his current Qi Cultivation Technique was already at perfection, so unless he found a higher-level mantra, he could not progress further, and any cultivation would just be a waste of time.
"I need to grind skills and increase my strength. The most important thing for me is to enhance my power. Once my strength ascends, what can’t I have?" Zhang Chen muttered under his breath.
However, what delighted Zhang Chen was the fact that Incense Qi could indeed be converted into experience points, which was undoubtedly great news for him.
Think about it. Now that the Yellow Heaven Dao is spreading in the Northern Land, countless temples have been established, and immense Power of Incense is gathering. Wouldn’t that be my resource ground?
"Convert to points," Zhang Chen commanded in his heart.
As Zhang Chen inhaled a breath of incense, the points on his Golden Finger interface increased by one hundred.
Seeing the addition of one hundred points, Zhang Chen felt it was slow. But he knew it wasn’t the Devouring Skill’s lack of power, but his own low strength. His devouring speed was related to his strength; the higher his strength, the faster he could devour.
Although now he could only gain one hundred points per breath, as his cultivation progressed, dreaming of gaining ten thousand or even a hundred thousand points per breath wasn’t far-fetched.
Besides, gaining one hundred points per breath was no small amount, especially since he inhaled quickly, taking a breath with each two breaths rhythm. Zhang Chen hid behind the sculpture, enjoying his absorption.
Until almost midnight, when even the Incense Qi on the sculpture dimmed by a tenth, Zhang Chen calculated the time. It was time to stop; otherwise, there wouldn’t be time to clean the hall. When the morning scripture begins, if someone notices the hall hasn’t been cleaned, they will surely trouble him.
Looking greedily at the rolling Incense Qi on the sculpture, Zhang Chen felt inwardly amazed at the power of the Great Virtuous Master of the Yellow Heaven Dao, whose ability to absorb such a vast amount of incense far exceeded his imagination.
He glanced at the points he absorbed overnight, totaling one million. Calculating at thirty breaths per minute, Zhang Chen had absorbed for less than six hours, around one million points. Combined with the points he previously had, Zhang Chen now had exactly 1.2 million points.
"One million points in one night, it’s like dreaming, like picking up money. The Yellow Heaven Dao is indeed a good place. In the future, I won’t need to painstakingly gather points. As long as I settle down here, I’ll eventually upgrade all my skills, becoming a Twelfth Tier existence," Zhang Chen mused.
Having found a stable source of points, Zhang Chen was no longer stingy and calculating, but shifted his gaze to the skill interface, focusing on where to allocate the 1.2 million points.
The First Skill, Light of the True God, was at the Fourth Tier, requiring two million points, so Zhang Chen momentarily chose to forgo it. He had no intention of saving points, especially since a steady influx would follow. He decided to upgrade all his skills together, leaving no weak points.
He shifted focus to the Dragon Qi skill, which was currently at the Second Tier and required 200,000 points for an upgrade. Without a second thought, Zhang Chen allocated the points, instantly evaporating 1.2 million, and the panel representing the Dragon Qi skill altered and recombined, refreshing:
[Skill 2 (Second Tier): Dragon Qi (0/200000)] —> [Skill 2 (Third Tier): Dragon Qi (0/2000000)]
[Note: The change brought by Third Tier Dragon Qi: Beast Taming skill, which can be activated six times a day, each activation lasts for one hour. Can control Third Tier beast-type aberrations within a kilometer radius.]
"The change in the second skill is significant; first, the skill’s range increased from 500 meters to 1000 meters, and secondly, it can be activated six times each day, each for one hour. This means that if Zhang I continuously activate it, it can last for six hours, sufficient to complete a whole battle," Zhang Chen felt his heart throb with excitement, finding the second skill intriguing and worthy of further investment.
Most importantly, he could control Third Tier demon beasts, contemplating what enhancements he could achieve by advancing to the Fourth Tier with 2 million points, or the Fifth Tier, or even the Sixth Tier?
The White Bone Great Wall was simply his backyard.
"Not bad, not bad!" Zhang Chen praised, turning his focus to the other skills. With 1 million points remaining, he felt extravagant and aspiring, not holding back, ready to splurge it all.
He aspired to become a balanced, all-rounded hexagon warrior in the future.
The third skill, Blood Control Technique, was out of consideration, demanding an unimaginable 20 billion points, which Zhang Chen couldn’t even dream of.
Then Zhang Chen noticed the fourth skill, Water Control Technique, which was only at the Second Tier, crucially requiring just 100,000 points. The Water Control Technique was essential for Zhang Chen, as it allowed him to roam the Wangchuan River, all thanks to its marvelous utility.
Without hesitation, Zhang Chen allocated points to it, and he immediately witnessed the refresh and change in the Water Control Technique interface:
[Skill 4 (Second Tier): Water Control Technique + Weak Water (0/100000)] —> [Skill 4 (Third Tier): Water Control Technique + Weak Water (0/500000)]
[Note: Controls all third-tier water flows within a range of 200 meters. Can freeze third-tier aberrations within a two-meter radius in front.]
[Points: 900,000]
Zhang Chen’s eyes fell upon the Water Control Technique. Although the Water Control Technique at the Third Tier only slightly increased the control range, no additional surprises emerged.
However, observing his remaining 900,000 points, Zhang Chen didn’t hesitate to press on.
In an instant, the 900,000 points transformed into 400,000, and the Water Control Technique upgraded once more.
[Skill 4 (Third Tier): Water Control Technique + Weak Water (0/500000)] —> [Skill 4 (Fourth Tier): Water Control Technique + Weak Water (0/5000000)]
[Note: Controls all fourth-tier water flows within a range of 500 meters. Can freeze fourth-tier aberrations within a five-meter radius in front.]