A month passed in the blink of an eye.
The Yunzhong Valley in the clouds remained as serene as ever, with only one or two figures occasionally gliding through the air, swiftly disappearing into the distance.
Whenever new disciples in the Qi Induction realm saw a cultivator flying through the sky, their eyes turned envious, and their restless hearts soared along with them.
How they longed for the moment when they could fly in the sky themselves.
Regardless of the world, the ability to fly was an immensely coveted skill.
Unfortunately, only cultivators who reached the Foundation Establishment realm had the chance to master this skill. Disciples in the Qi Induction realm could only watch and rely on their legs for travel.
On this day, Su Hao finished his cultivation, opened his eyes from meditation, stood up, and, after a moment’s relaxation, extended his right thumb, quickly tapping it three times, forming three hand seals.
In the next moment, spiritual energy within Su Hao surged out reflexively from various parts of his body, evenly distributed.
“Hum~”
After a high-pitched hum, Su Hao was surrounded by a faint blue light, clinging to his body like a sacred angel descending, creating a powerful visual effect.
Su Hao raised his hand to inspect and found his palm covered with a thin, translucent, light-blue glove that changed shape with his finger movements.
Muttering to himself, Su Hao said, “Is this considered the Wind Spirit Protective Shield? This thin film does seem agile, but I wonder about its defensive capabilities.”
“Crackle~”
A sharp diamond-shaped spike formed in Su Hao’s palm, easily breaking through the light-blue Wind Spirit Protective Shield from the inside, extending out like poking through a soap bubble.
Su Hao adjusted the tip of the spike and gently poked the palm of his other hand.
“Ding!”
A crisp sound rang out as the spike was stopped by the blue light membrane outside the palm.
Su Hao increased the force but made no progress.
Su Hao chuckled, “Surprisingly, this thin protective shield is quite sturdy!”
Again and again, Su Hao exerted force, completely unconcerned about the diamond spike penetrating his palm. With Su Hao’s abilities, even if it pierced through, he could repair it in the blink of an eye.
“Ding~Boom!”
A section of the diamond spike broke off and flew into the air.
After almost exhausting all his strength to pierce, the diamond spike broke, yet Su Hao’s palm remained unharmed.
Recalling the scene where he took a blood sample in the Sanhe Peaks not long ago, Su Hao couldn’t help but think, “I noticed before that almost all cultivators have a protective shield. I thought it was the effect of some treasure, but now it seems to be a fundamental skill for cultivators!”
Although the external manifestations of the protective shields vary, the cultivation methods and effects should be quite similar. Using brute force alone won’t easily break through this defense. In other words…”
“We need to use the ‘Penetration’ runes!”
To test the protective effect of this shield, Su Hao generated another diamond spike and activated the ‘Level 1 – Penetration’ attached to it.
The diamond spike immediately transformed, its tip sparkling with a captivating glow, resembling the needles in the hands of a nurse. Without hesitation, Su Hao aimed for his palm and thrust.
“Ding!”
The faint blue light membrane on the palm faintly shimmered, still blocking the attack from Su Hao’s diamond spike empowered with ‘Level 1 – Penetration.’
Su Hao praised, “The defensive effect of this Wind Spirit Protective Shield is much stronger than I imagined! It wasn’t a waste of a month of my cultivation time! Looking at it this way, it’s quite valuable!”
Indeed, if the most valued defensive technique of cultivators could be easily penetrated, it would lose its purpose, and everyone would resort to assassination.
Su Hao casually drew another ‘Penetration’ rune, but this time activated it using spiritual energy.
‘Level 2 – Penetration’!
In the next moment, Su Hao aimed at his own palm.
“Puff!”
The diamond spike easily pierced through the thin blue membrane, creating a through-and-through hole in Su Hao’s palm as if poking through a piece of paper.
“Poof~”
At the moment the protective shield in the palm was broken, a chain reaction occurred. The Wind Spirit Protective Shield covering the entire body quickly collapsed, and the blue light disappeared.
Su Hao remained unperturbed, slowly pulling out the diamond spike from his palm, revealing a thumb-sized piercing hole, and blood flowed eagerly. However, the next moment, the wound wriggled and regenerated, returning to its original state in the blink of an eye.
Up to this point, Su Hao had clarified three characteristics of the Wind Spirit Protective Shield:
1. The more spiritual energy used when activating the shield, the stronger the protective ability.
2. From the inside, the thin membrane of the Wind Spirit Protective Shield can be easily penetrated without damaging the structure.
3. When subjected to external attacks, it consumes energy proportional to the attack. When the energy of the Wind Spirit Protective Shield is depleted, it collapses. If the attack exceeds the energy limit, the Wind Spirit Protective Shield can be instantly shattered.
While wiping away the blood from his palm, Su Hao sighed lightly, “This Wind Spirit Protective Shield, despite its merits, is nothing more than that. Under my ‘Level 2 – Penetration,’ it’s as fragile as tofu!”
After obtaining the test results, Su Hao immediately realized that relying solely on the Wind Spirit Protective Shield for self-defense was wishful thinking. This method of calculating defense based on spiritual energy was nothing against higher-level cultivators.
“However, as long as I transform into ‘Child of Fate,’ with a complete set of diamond armor protection, along with ‘Level 5 – Hardening,’ ‘Level 5 – Deflection,’ ‘Level 5 – Barrier,’ ‘Wind Spirit Protective Shield,’ and then add ‘Spatial Counter Barrier’! Protecting my life would be more than enough!”
Su Hao praised the strength of his own defense, giving a thumbs-up, “Excellent!”
……
After mastering the ‘Wind Spirit Protective Shield,’ Su Hao discovered a significant advantage of the cultivation techniques in this world: extremely fast activation!
It could be cast with just a finger seal, almost instantaneously. It even surpassed the speed at which Su Hao activated rune formations, making it quite advantageous.
Since there were benefits, Su Hao thought of learning more practical techniques for future research. If he could reduce the difficulty of practicing techniques from one month to one day, it would be immensely beneficial.
“Next, continue practicing the second technique, ‘Wind Drifting Body Technique’!”
Su Hao, currently feeling hungry, checked the time in the pinball space and found it was already mealtime. He then retrieved information from Yashan using the little black room and discovered that the meal was ready.
He walked to the table, sat down, and muttered to himself, “Time for a meal, time for a meal! Skipping even one meal makes me hungry! Yashan, this assistant, being on the other side of this huge planet, can still help me with things. Truly impressive!”
Su Hao reached into the air, grabbing a hot roast chicken, then another reach for a plate of fresh vegetables, followed by a drink, stir-fried meat, ribs…
Su Hao’s table was soon filled with various dishes!
Su Hao expressed satisfaction, “Having Yashan cook for me all the time is indeed a wise choice! During this time when he has nothing to do, I’ll teach him basic runology! Having to give him tattoos every time is not practical! Moreover, in the future, I’ll have him research ‘Alchemy,’ which also requires runic assistance.”
While enjoying the delicious meal, Su Hao thought about Yashan’s future study and research issues.
As Su Hao’s experiences increased, his requirements for an assistant also grew. Powerful and loyal were just prerequisites; they also needed to possess extensive knowledge and robust ‘research capabilities’!
In the future, Su Hao would undoubtedly have more and more projects to research. However, no matter how formidable Su Hao was, he was still just one person!
At the same time, he could only focus on one project and couldn’t multitask.
For instance, when Su Hao was diligently practicing ‘techniques,’ which required a significant amount of time, he couldn’t simultaneously research topics related to spiritual energy and runes.
This is where a proficient ‘research-oriented’ assistant would come in handy, helping him handle less critical projects.
“If Yashan can optimize the practice of ‘techniques,’ wouldn’t I have to endure a month of hardship like this?”
After filling his stomach, Su Hao returned the meal tray through space and then lay contentedly on the bed.
“Another month of hard work is ahead! I’ll sleep first and think about it later!”
Although it was tough, with anticipation, Su Hao could immerse himself in rigorous training!
As Su Hao fell asleep, Feng Cheng sat alone outside the stone peak, listening to the night wind rustling, holding two sweet potatoes in his hands, nibbling slowly. He eagerly awaited the appearance of Senior Brother Feng Wei carrying two rabbits, peering into the distance with hopeful eyes.
“Why hasn’t Senior Brother Feng Wei come out recently? Could it be that Senior Brother Feng Wei has already reached the Nascent Soul stage? Truly worthy of Senior Brother Feng Wei, such terrifying talent…”
