As Gu Chen's thought stirred, five points of his ability points were transformed into five years of cultivation experience. It was as though someone was infusing him with power. A great surge of inner energy suddenly emerged within him, merging into his original inner energy. The combination caused his inner energy to increase significantly compared to before.
Feeling the abundant inner energy within his body, Gu Chen did not hesitate. With another thought, five more points of ability points were transformed into cultivation experience.
In an instant, another great surge of inner energy emerged within him, and it could be seen that on the panel, his cultivation had also reached thirty years.
At this time, Gu Chen maneuvered the inner energy that came from thirty years of cultivation to his chest and began to slowly refine the malevolent residual Yin energy lingering there.
This refining process took a full half-hour before it was successful.
The reason it took so long was mainly that Gu Chen's cultivation was only at the realm of Containing Energy; he hadn't reached the Vessel Opening Stage. His heart's blood vessels were too fragile, so he could only proceed with caution.
If he had reached the Vessel Opening Stage and cleared the blood vessels of his heart, he could have refined that bit of Yin energy in mere moments.
With the Yin energy gone, Gu Chen felt his body lighten. The previously persistent pain in his chest vanished as well.
With the hidden trouble eliminated, Gu Chen felt even more unrestrained. Looking at the remaining forty-two points of ability points on the panel, he moved his mind and this time, the ability points on the panel decreased by twenty points instantly, which were exchanged for twenty years of cultivation experience.
Boom!
Gu Chen's entire body trembled as a great amount of inner energy emerged from all over his body, and at that moment, he heard a 'pop'. Blood splattered from all over his body.
This was because the sudden surge in power was too much for his physical body to bear, causing numerous capillaries throughout his body to burst.
Fortunately, Gu Chen still maintained some reason and did not rashly turn all the remaining forty-two points of ability points into cultivation experience. Otherwise, he suspected that the sudden emergence of a vast amount of inner energy could have easily burst his body apart.
If that had been the case, then Gu Chen might have been the first martial artist in history to die from having inner energy that was too overwhelming.
But the panel would naturally not be mistaken, which meant that in this realm, he could accumulate more power.
So, with a thought, Gu Chen did not proceed as recklessly as before and chose to only transform ten points of ability points.
Whoosh—
Instantly, along with the disappearance of ten points, a full ten years' worth of cultivation inner energy emerged within Gu Chen.
At that moment, Gu Chen experienced a sensation of fullness in his body, similar to the feeling of being overstuffed from eating too much. It was because the inner energy had increased too rapidly within a short time, and his physical body couldn't bear it, reaching a critical point where it needed time to assimilate.
Continuing to force a promotion could likely lead to the same result as before, or even worse.
Therefore, Gu Chen set aside thoughts of further increasing his cultivation.
Now, he turned his attention to martial skills.
In the land of Jiuzhou, martial skills are distinct from inner techniques and have different stages or realms. Hence, in the distant past, martial sages categorized martial skills into several stages that have been followed to this day.
These are: Entry-level, Beginner, Novice, Complete, and Perfection; a total of five realms.
Moreover, the ability points on the panel can be used not only to increase cultivation but also to enhance the realm of martial skills.
Thus, as Gu Chen's mind stirred, three points of ability points vanished, and on the panel under martial skills, the status of Iron Shirt Technique changed from complete to perfection.
In the instant the Iron Shirt Technique reached perfection, Gu Chen felt his skin tighten all over, and a great amount of corresponding martial knowledge flooded into his mind.
At that moment, his body began to shed its old skin, a phenomenon that only occurred when Iron Shirt Technique reached great perfection.
Soon, Gu Chen shed his old skin, revealing new skin underneath. His new skin appeared fair, taut, and glossy. Of course, there was more to it than that. With Iron Shirt Technique at perfection, it meant that no matter what, his body was as if clad in an iron shirt, and ordinary swords would have a hard time penetrating his defenses.