Chapter 88: Chapter 88: Blood Spirit Spike

Time flies, and undercurrents flow in Celestial Profound City.

Inside the cave dwelling, Lin Chang’an continues to paint talismans daily to earn spirit stones and cultivate as usual.

“Is this the power of a top-grade magical artifact!”

With the cold cyan light swirling around, the upgraded Cyan Bamboo Sword easily slices through the hard spirit stone, making Lin Chang’an extremely satisfied.

The Cyan Bamboo Sword merges with the Iron-Backed Demon Mantis’s forelimbs, ascending to the ranks of top-grade magical artifacts.

Other parts of the Iron-Backed Demon Mantis weren’t as hard as its forelimbs, so a cyan armor, an upper-grade defensive magical artifact, was forged.

Although the Cyan-Horned Bull has thick skin and flesh, it still doesn’t compare to a defensive spirit pet like the Profound Water Turtle. With this set of cyan armor, its defense greatly increases.

However, he personally has two upper-grade defensive magical artifacts but lacks a top-grade defensive magical artifact.

“I didn’t expect the gap between top-grade and upper-grade magical artifacts to be so vast.”

After carefully comprehending it for a while, Lin Chang’an nodded silently. It’s not just about the mana it carries; the hardness and sharpness are on completely different levels.

If you were to clash an upper-grade magical artifact against a top-grade one, the upper-grade magical artifact would probably be chopped apart after a few hits.

“No wonder a top-grade magical artifact is the symbol of a Foundation Establishment Cultivator.”

Feeling slightly sentimental, Lin Chang’an manipulated the Cyan Bamboo Sword to swiftly shuttle through the cave dwelling before storing it in his storage bag once he became familiar with its use.

“I now possess a tier two spirit pet, the Cyan-Horned Bull, and a top-grade magical artifact, the Cyan Bamboo Sword. My strength is far beyond what it used to be.”

Lin Chang’an mused silently to himself. Spirit pets, magical artifacts, arrays, spells—the four external factors that directly impact combat strength—he already possesses two of them.

A tier two array is currently beyond his reach, aside from the cost; no one in the market is selling tier two arrays right now.

Even within the Three Major Sects, tier two arrays are only for inner sect disciples.

This is also a kind of monopoly by those in higher positions.

As for the remaining three, he temporarily has spirit pets and magical artifacts.

“What’s left are spells.”

With a furrowed brow, Lin Chang’an thought to himself. The Foundation Establishment spells he can learn in Celestial Profound City are all basic spells and don’t significantly enhance his strength.

“The Wood Spirit Spike, during the Qi Refining Stage, could almost easily threaten cultivators of the same stage, but after advancing to Foundation Establishment, it clearly lacks potential. Even paired with a top-grade flying needle magical artifact, it doesn’t have the astonishing power it had during the Qi Refining Stage.”

At this moment, Lin Chang’an waved his hand, and four flying needles, used during the Qi Refining Stage, appeared before him. Since his breakthrough, he hadn’t stopped experimenting and researching.

Though their power is decent, it falls short of the ability to easily threaten cultivators of the same stage as before.

“From Yun Yao, I learned that a senior from Li Huo Palace discovered this small spell a hundred years ago. It dominated during the Qi Refining Stage, but after reaching Foundation Establishment, it wasn’t deeply studied.”

Lin Chang’an sighed inwardly. There are high-level spells, but they are secrets that are never passed down by the Three Major Sects. Even in Celestial Profound City, outsiders wouldn’t leak such high-level items.

“Compression and rotation, all based on the stable and meticulous control of wood attribute cultivation techniques and longtime practice, place a heavy burden on the fingers…”

In the cave dwelling, Lin Chang’an seemed to have come up with an idea during this time. He had previously purchased many insights on spell cultivation from the market, including even the incomplete spells of Tribulation Cultivators and Demon Cultivators.

Most of these have significant side effects, but it’s the only way a loose cultivator can access high-level spells.

“Ultimate compression and rotation, what if I disregard the physical burden?”

Days later, Lin Chang’an seemed to have had an epiphany within the cave dwelling, and an eager expression appeared on his face.

“Many Demon Cultivators, Tribulation Cultivators, and even some loose cultivators practice one or two spells as a last resort, causing significant burden to the body, typically only used in desperate situations.”

After all, in times of crisis, with one’s life hanging by a thread, who cares about physical burdens?

Whether one’s survival matters or not, at the very least, they should drag the opponent down.

“But I have a self-healing body, not using it would be a waste.”

At this moment, Lin Chang’an became enlightened. Since cultivating this ancient cultivation technique, relying on the blessings of the Profound Celestial Immortal Vine, which gave him such a powerful self-healing body, he hadn’t properly researched it, which seemed like such a waste.

“Abandon the physical burden and something like this, which risks blood and breath during desperate situations…”

Suddenly enlightened, Lin Chang’an, with glowing spirit, began deducing the Wood Spirit Spike spell in the cave dwelling.

…

Half a month later.

“Indeed, my train of thought was correct!”

At this time, a deep pit appeared on the cave wall, and with an excited smile on his face, Lin Chang’an’s finger was still bleeding, but the wound was visibly healing.

“I have a self-healing body, so there’s no need to worry about physical burdens. With my Foundation Establishment cultivation acting in full force with this spell, others might worry about ruining their fingers or even arms, but I have no such concerns.”

Excited, Lin Chang’an raised his hand and placed a tier two lower-grade Vajra Talisman on the stone stump in the cave dwelling.

In an instant, golden light flickered, manifesting a defense akin to a golden bell.

With a solemn expression, Lin Chang’an operated his improved version of the Wood Spirit Spike, and a flash of blood light appeared instantly.

Pfft!

Amidst the blood mist, Lin Chang’an’s hand was a bloody mess, and the fingers gripping the flying needle exposed white bones.

Yet, at this moment, his face was full of excitement, and his eyes had only the distant golden light in them.

The defense of the Golden Bell is equivalent to the full defense of an early Foundation Establishment cultivator. Even with his Foundation Establishment Divine Sense, he only saw a flicker of blood light.

The golden light defense was directly pierced through front to back.

The upper-grade magical artifact, the Green Phosphorus Needle, went deeper into the rock layer behind the cave dwelling.

“The Wood Spirit Spike! Its power is no longer that of a Qi Refining Stage spell. With extreme compression and rotation, an instantaneous burst, even the body of an ordinary Foundation Establishment cultivator can’t withstand it.”

Looking at his finger with exposed white bones and the veins in his arm torn due to the violent mana, Lin Chang’an’s face showed a smile.

The powerful self-healing body was rapidly recovering, turning an injury that would require an ordinary Foundation Establishment cultivator to recuperate for one or two months into something he could feel would heal in just the time it took to burn an incense stick.

By adding some extreme self-harming measures, madly compressing and rotating, a stronger power was directly unleashed. Similarly, the backlash damage to the cultivator himself also increased.

“Already a trace of blood light influenced by my blood and breath, the name Wood Spirit Spike doesn’t quite fit anymore. It should be called Blood Spirit Spike instead.”

The immense power made Lin Chang’an show a satisfied smile. After all, this spell hasn’t changed; he only added a method of violently using his arm and didn’t change the spell itself.

With a raise of his hand, looking at the upper-grade magical artifact flying needle somewhat damaged after breaking through the tier two lower-grade talisman’s defense, Lin Chang’an nodded silently.

“If Blood Spirit Spike is paired with a top-grade magical artifact, its power will increase by another level, and given the speed of the blood light just now, even I wouldn’t be able to dodge it.

Setting aside other factors, even a mid-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator might capsize.”

Of course, real combat involves considering many external factors.

“But it’s enough; at the very least, ordinary Foundation Establishment cultivators, even those from sects, have never heard of such a powerful spell.”

With a satisfied smile, Lin Chang’an was content. Although his cultivation hasn’t increased much during this time, his strength has made a significant leap.

If he gets another top-grade flying needle magical artifact, he’d have the confidence to threaten a mid-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator.

After all, in addition to this spell, he also has a powerful self-healing body, making mana recovery or injury recovery extremely strong.

“Talisman painting, cultivation, there truly is ample time.”

Looking down at his continuously healing finger, Lin Chang’an showed a satisfied smile. This recovery ability, even the Cyan-Horned Bull and similar common demon beasts can’t compare to him.

He nearly wasted his most powerful physical attribute.

With a self-healing body, as long as his vital points (head, heart) aren’t harmed, he’ll never lose his combat effectiveness.

In the days that followed, Lin Chang’an resumed his routine of daily cultivation and talisman painting to earn spirit stones.

As for alchemy, it was temporarily set aside during this time.

Thanks to the continuous influx of outsider cultivators into Celestial Profound City, Lin Chang’an’s tier two talismans sold exceedingly well in the market under the table.

…

On this day, the sky over Celestial Profound City was clear and cloudless.

“Lu Turtle! You’ve finally returned from the Demon Beast Abyss; do you have the courage to come out and fight!”

Suddenly, a fierce shout echoed through the sky.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep