The Qualitative Change of a Thousand Points of Qi Transportation

"Damn, so sour,"

Chen Xia spit out an orange segment, frowning unhappily.

He didn't expect the orange he paid money for to be so sour. Back when he was a patrol officer in Weixi Town, he would have returned sour oranges like these.

But here in the realm, oranges were probably just a different variety that people liked sour.

Who's to say?

He just went out for a quick trip into the mundane world, having been right at the threshold, so breaking through to the next cultivation realm was par for the course.

Entering the mundane world was just part of the process.

Chen Xia was just bored and wanted to get out for a bit. Otherwise, he could have easily broken through to the seventh layer of the Sea Inversing Realm while sitting at home. But that would have been boring.

Carrying the bag of oranges, he pushed open the door. Zhang DaoMing was inside drinking wine. Seeing Chen Xia return, he smiled and said,

"Back so soon? You haven't gone out for a while, you should have stayed out longer."

"It was boring," Chen Xia shook his head. He deliberately held up the bag of oranges higher so that it would catch Zhang DaoMing's eye.

As expected, Zhang DaoMing looked over curiously and asked, "Are those oranges sweet?"

Chen Xia casually pulled an orange out of the bag, made a show of peeling it, popped a slice in his mouth, chewed it, and nodded, "Pretty sweet, want some?"

He held up half of the peeled orange.

Zhang DaoMing nodded, "Sure, my mouth feels nasty from the wine. I could use something sweet."

"Here you go," Chen Xia tossed over the half orange and then lowered his head, pretending nothing was amiss.

Zhang DaoMing caught it without suspicion and immediately stuffed it in his mouth and started chewing. But he soon stopped.

Silence followed.

A long silence.

Finally, Zhang DaoMing said in a deliberately calm tone, "These oranges have quite an...interesting sweetness to them."

Chen Xia spat out the orange slice in his own mouth and asked incredulously, "You really fell for that? Zhang, even a yellow dog wouldn't fall for that!"

A crushing strike indeed.

Zhang DaoMing looked at the orange peel in his hand and said nothing.

And that concludes our interlude.

Chen Xia sauntered back to his room, stretched, and started waiting for the day to pass.

When this day ended, he would gain another fortune point. Then he'd have exactly one thousand points. At that time, there would be a qualitative change in his fortune.

He wasn't sure whether the change would enhance his pill refinement abilities or his combat strength.

If it were up to him, of course he'd prefer increased combat strength.

After all, his current pill refinement skills were already good enough and didn't need significant improvement in the short term.

But combat strength was a different matter. He desperately needed more of that. Being able to defeat his opponent was more important than anything.

He hoped this shift in his fortune would be combat-related.

Sitting in his chair and resting his cheek in his palm, he gazed at the sky and waited for the moon to rise high and the sun to peek over the horizon.

A number flashed through his mind: 1.

That last point was instantly added. His total blinked to a tidy: 1000.

A gleam flashed through Chen Xia's eyes, but there was no major change. An explanatory text flashed through his mind:

【Insight: Your understanding regarding mystic arts has increased, allowing you to suddenly gain comprehension and mastery of mystic arts just by meeting the basic requirements!】

There was an additional short explanation below:

【Gaining insight into mystic arts cannot surpass one's current realm. For example, a third layer Sea Inversing Realm cultivator can only gain insight into third layer Heaven Mending Realm mystic arts at most.】

This made sense. Otherwise, it would be ridiculously heaven-defying for a Heaven Mending Realm cultivator to suddenly comprehend Saint level mystic arts.

But this 'sense' was only relative. Gaining insight into twelfth layer Heaven Mending Realm mystic arts when you were still in the first layer wasn't exactly reasonable either, was it?

For example, if you were battling someone at equal first layer Heaven Mending Realm level, with equal status and backing, the fight would be dead even with no clear winner. But then you instantly whip out twelfth layer Heaven Mending Realm mystic arts. How was that fair?

It'd probably blow your opponent's mind.

Currently at the seventh layer of the Sea Inversing Realm, Chen Xia could gain insight into up to seventh layer Heaven Mending Realm mystic arts.

His eyes lit up with a subtle glow. His divine sense seemed to open up and his soul peered inward to perceive this fortune and insight.

The spirit energy within his body started to quiver. His blood turned scalding hot, seeming to ignite. Another gleam flashed through the depths of his eyes.

Insight!

【Ignite Blood Extinguish Soul Method!】

【Ignite Blood: Burn one's own blood essence to increase mystic art power by 50 percent.】

【Extinguish Soul: Consume one year of lifespan with every breath to increase mystic art power by 100 percent.】

【Ignite Blood and Extinguish Soul can be used together, but Ignite Blood must be activated first before layering on Extinguish Soul.】

Chen Xia quickly looked it over and grasped the basics. This was him gaining insight into the Ignite Blood Extinguish Soul Method. But its effects differed greatly from the original version.

This Ignite Blood Extinguish Soul Method purely boosted his combat strength. The only thing it had in common with the original was that it still required sacrificing lifespan.

But Chen Xia didn't care about lifespan. He had no qualms with sacrificing a hundred or two hundred years—that was still too little in his opinion! If not for having to first activate Ignite Blood before he could use Extinguish Soul, he would have just left Extinguish Soul perpetually activated as a passive skill.

As for Ignite Blood, it consumed his vital essence and blood, but didn't specify how much.

The only way to find out was by testing it.

Chen Xia's divine sense stirred. He lightly tapped the table before him with a finger. The scalding blood in his body instantly boiled, bringing an intense burning sensation.

At the same time, a bright crimson streak flowed through the very depths of his eyes.

But there was no change in his strength. The spirit energy in his body didn't increase at all, nor was there any other change. His blood was simply boiling.

He stretched out a hand and held it in front of himself, then snapped his fingers.

Snap.

A common fire mystic art ignited, but it was much brighter and hotter than before, increased by 50 percent power like the description stated.

It seemed this Ignite Blood Extinguish Soul Method purely enhanced the power of one's mystic arts.

But therein lay the crux.

Chen Xia didn't actually have any go-to offensive mystic arts.

Could Heavenly Dragon Qi be considered a mystic art?

He wasn't sure. Chen Xia got to his feet and lightly stamped a foot. His body instantly vanished, reappearing dozens of miles away in an uninhabited area.

He raised a hand and drew it across his face as if pulling on a mask.

Pure white qi instantly manifested, but it only covered his face like a pale mask rather than his whole body.

Chen Xia's eyes glimmered. He could sense that his Heavenly Dragon Qi had indeed grown stronger compared to before. This meant the Ignite Blood Extinguish Soul Method was effective on it.

If that was the case, then the Reincarnation Extremity could also be considered a mystic art. Could it too be enhanced by this method?

The original Reincarnation Extremity allowed him to siphon away 30 percent of his opponent's strength, with the restriction that he couldn't siphon those much stronger than himself.

If Ignite Blood Extinguish Soul could affect Reincarnation Extremity as well, then wouldn't its numbers practically double, allowing him to siphon away 75 percent of his opponent's strength?

Could that even be called siphoning anymore?

More like outright robbing them!