Chapter 262: Chapter 231: Great Sun Refining Shape Skill_l
With Xu Mu’s profound ideas, the inaccessible Lifebound magic treasure suddenly became attainable.
“Elder Xu, what do you think?” Ying Tianhong asked, rubbing his big hands together in eager anticipation.
“We can give it a try, but when you find the substitute materials, you need to show them to me first!” Xu Mu replied.
He didn’t plan to leave Ying Tianhong and act alone because he didn’t have much experience in crafting. Acting alone would consume too much Luck Value and energy.
It made more sense to let Ying Tianhong first make a replica, and then he would optimize it using the system.
“Of course! What about the method of crafting the magic treasure?”
“I’ll organize it when I get back and deliver it to you myself!”
“Haha! Then I will wait for you at home!”
Having secured a deal, the bustling Ying Tianhong left to continue browsing various secret books in the Law Transmission Pavilion. Unfortunately, the “Great Sun Refining Shape Skill” and the “Virtualization Skill” did not have specific jade slips.
In the end, Xu Mu only exchanged two paper books of the secret scriptures.
According to the rules of the sect, they needed to be returned within a year, and they could not be leaked to the outside.
Upon returning to his residence, Ye Bufan and his partner had already returned. They were busy in the yard and quickly came over to salute when they saw Xu Mu, then reported on the spiritual medicine seeds and living supplies they had bought.
Xu Mu didn’t really care about these details. He gave Jade Lingzi’s spiritual roots to them, asking them to take good care of them, and then retreated to his room.
The reason he hadn’t previously cultivated Jade Lingzi’s spiritual roots was because Xu Mu knew he wouldn’t stay at that cave dwelling for long. He would definitely need to move once he reached the Golden Core Stage.
As for the current cave dwelling, it was unlikely to be replaced within the next few decades.
This was a good opportunity to cultivate these spiritual roots. Even if they can’t bear fruit, they could be directly exchanged for Spirit Stones.
Simply keeping them sealed in his storage bag was a waste.
After returning to his room, Xu Mu didn’t hurry to study the two new secret books he’d obtained. Instead, he first organized the crafting methods for the Sky Devouring Pearl and the Kun Peng Wings, then rushed to Ying Tianhong’s residence to deliver them.
“Elder Xu, rest assured! With my ability, there will be results soon!”
“Then I’m counting on Elder Ying!”
With some reluctance, Xu Mu left behind fifty top-quality Spirit Stones and took his leave.
Research and development inevitably take money. Ying Tianhong couldn’t possibly pay for it himself. These fifty Spirit Stones were merely initial expenses. It would take at least three to five hundred top-quality Spirit Stones to even think about crafting a magic treasure.
“This old man is taking advantage of me!”
Typically, a cultivator at the early Golden Core Stage couldn’t come up with three to five hundred top-quality Spirit Stones. This was nothing short of extortion.
Luckily, Xu Mu didn’t need him to actually craft the item. As long as Ying Tianhong found potential substitute materials, Xu Mu could craft it himself when the time came.
After returning to his residence, Xu Mu took out the secret book of the “Virtualization Skill” and began to study its contents.
After he had memorized all the content, the system interface immediately showed the name of the Virtualization Skill.
[Seventh-tier Mastery Virtualization Skill; 8/6400]!
“I’ve been studying this book for three days, and yet my skill level is only eight points. The difficulty of practicing this is quite high! Luckily I have the system, otherwise it really wouldn’t be worth it!”
For ordinary people, the difficulty of practicing this skill was probably higher than that of eighth or ninth-tier spells.
Xu Mu had no hesitation, immediately started to increase points.
[Virtualization Skill+10]!
[Virtualization Skill+10]!
[Virtualization Skill+10]!
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[Transcendent Virtualization Skill; 0/0]!
By the time Xu Mu elevated the Virtualization Skill to the Transcendent level, more than three months had passed.
“Virtualization Skill!”
Xu Mu pinched the spell, and for the first time, he truly used the Virtualization Skill.
Under the influence of his handprint and incantation, his spiritual power was transformed into a peculiar form of mana. Under the influence of this mana, Xu Mu felt his body become light and floating.
With a thought, he instantly transformed into a wisp of red smoke that came out of his robe, shuttling in every corner of the room. Then, he tried to pass through the door, but was blocked by the Formation light curtain.
“As expected, it won’t work!”
Xu Mu sighed inwardly.
No gaps existed in the Formation light curtain. Even if he turned into a gaseous state, he couldn’t get out.
If this skill was able to permeate outside, then its utility would be unmeasurable.
In the end, after many trials, only two functions proved to be the most practical.
One is that after virtualizing, he could pass through small openings, the other is that he could shrink into a goose egg-sized ball and hide in small spaces without being easily spotted.
Most importantly, his aura would significantly weaken after virtualization, making it hard to detect unless the observer had a much higher level of cultivation.
If he hid in things like bottles, teapots, and pottery jars, it would be even more difficult to be detected.
“Uh? Why do I feel a bit like the Genie in Aladdin!”
Xu Mu ranted to himself.
Fortunately, he wouldn’t be like the Genie, stuck inside a small bottle unable to get out, he can always break free using his skills if he wanted to.
Of course, he couldn’t grant wishes like the Genie either.
Regardless, he was quite satisfied with this skill.
Then, Xu Mu took out the “Great Sun Refining Shape Skill” and prepared to continue his cultivation.
He still had some pills to replenish his energy, enough to raise the “Great Sun Refining Shape Skill” to proficient level.
Time swiftly passed, more than a month has gone by.
Fairy Moon Palace.
The training room.
Boom!
Xu Mu, bare-chested, was engulfed in pale white flames. His body shone as if coated in white gold. He swung his fists, slicing through the air, again and again, hitting the stone wall in front of him.
The deep thuds echoed from the stone wall; like powerful explosives detonating in a confined space.
The stone slab in front of him was made of a special material. No matter how hard Xu Mu attacked, it only indentated half a finger-width and quickly restored itself.
After a long time, Xu Mu, exhausted, finally took a deep breath and stopped.
“Who would’ve thought it would only be half a finger-width, seems like the gap between each Golden Core Stage layer really does get larger and larger!”
The stone wall in front of him is made of obsidian soft crystal, nearly a meter thick. Not only can it withstand intense attacks, but it can also dissipate the impact, preventing any significant noise. Fairy Moon Palace specially produced it for Golden Core Stage cultivators to practice their spells.
According to the information Xu Mu had, leaving a mark one millimeter deep on the obsidian soft crystal represents the attack power at the first layer of the Golden Core Stage. Leaving a mark half a finger-width deep, which is about two millimeters, represents an attack power at the second layer of the Golden Core Stage. Four millimeters represents the third layer of the Golden Core Stage.
One inch represents the fourth level of the Golden Core stage, one and a half inches represents the fifth level, and two inches represents the sixth level.
Four inches represents the seventh level of the Golden Core stage, six inches represents the eighth level, and eight inches represents the ninth level.
Of course, this is just a simple calculation of attack power, it does not represent actual strength.
After all, many magical objects and skills do not have attack power, and some magical objects or skills have attack power far beyond their realm.
Xu Mu didn’t have high hopes for the “Great Sun Refining Shape Skill” to begin with. He just wanted to use it to reduce the difficulty of breaking through. Now, having reached a proficient level of attack power equivalent to the second layer of the Golden Core Stage, he was very satisfied.
After testing the “Great Sun Refining Shape Skill,” Xu Mu performed another skill he learned from Lu Jingkong – the eighth-tier Space Grasp Skill.
His Space Grasp Skill had now reached a level of perfection and could condense four magical arms.
The four arms, covered in runes, were like a giant’s, they mustered a massive amount of strength and heavily pounded on the wall made of obsidian soft crystal.
Boom!
Four nearly an inch deep fist marks were clearly visible.
“No wonder it’s an eighth-tier skill!”
Xu Mu was excited. This attack from the Space Grasp Skill was equivalent to the simultaneous attack of four mid-Golden Core Stage practitioners. A typical early Golden Core period practitioner would probably be shattered in one hit.
“Unfortunately, it consumes a huge amount of spiritual power, I can’t use it recklessly!”
This one use of the Space Grasp Skill had consumed 80% of his spiritual power, and the spiritual power needed to maintain the spell was also immense. With his current quantity of spiritual power, he could only maintain it for ten breaths.
It’s just too extravagant!
But there’s no other way. After all, it was an eighth-tier skill, and it is at its perfection level. If it weren’t for his cultivation of the Kun Peng Tun Tian Jue which gave him a much higher spiritual power capacity than a typical early Golden Core period practitioner, he probably wouldn’t be able to use this ability at all.
Back when he was in the Foundation Establishment Stage, one usage almost drained him completely. Only by eating a pill did he manage to sustain himself for a while.
However, this spell was indeed extraordinary. Not only could it be used to attack, but also to defend. Most importantly, as long as he was willing to provide spiritual power, the spell could be maintained indefinitely.
“I hope I can refine the Devouring Heaven Bead soon, then I wouldn’t have to worry about the lack of spiritual power anymore!”
After finishing his meditation and recovering, Xu Mu continued to sharpen his skills.
Not only should one know how to perform a skill, but one should also know how to use it, and the system couldn’t help him in this regard.
He didn’t know how long it had been when the Pill Hall master, Du Yu, suddenly sent a message asking him to report to the Pill Hall.
“I thought they had forgotten about me!”