Chapter 31: Severed Limb Rebirth

Watching Shuigu Tang leave, Chen Shicheng didn't react, but leaned on the bed, closed his eyes, and pretended to nap.

After a while, seeing that she had truly left, he opened his eyes, patted La Tiao, and pointed at the open window.

The little fellow immediately understood, rolled off the bed, sprinted to the window, leapt up to close the two wooden windows, and thoughtfully grabbed the latch with his mouth to lock them securely.

Then he darted back into Chen Shicheng's arms, rolling around and begging for pats.

"Such a good boy!"

Looking at the perceptive La Tiao, Chen Shicheng's lingering frustration from not finding Yu Wei in reality dissipated, and his mood calmed.

As Shuigu Tang had said, because of disturbances in Bu Xian Shan, both Lian Tie Town and reality are unstable, and now is not the best time to act.

Moreover, reality is not a game; even if you die, you can't just revive and recover.

With La Tiao and two bodyguards' help, winning is already so hard that any slight mistake in reality could truly turn him into a Yang Guo.

Therefore, for safety, it's best to be fully prepared before acting.

Coincidentally, many players have been gathering here lately, and he could arm himself by scattering money.

Although Shuigu Tang is a bit of a money‑lover and gets reckless around gold, her demeanor shows that in‑game gold and silver still have purchasing power.

Based on gold's buying power in the game, scattering four hundred liang, even if all turned to stone, would weigh enough to crush Yu Wei, that perverse murderer!

Of course, that's later; right now the priority is the newly unlocked, complexity rivaling a celestial tome, Universal Rainfall, and he doesn't know what level his Merit Points can raise it to.

【Merit Points: 338】

After confirming his Merit Points balance, Chen Shicheng didn't pour everything in recklessly as before; instead he tapped a few times, paused to let the flood of memories in his mind settle.

【Year 1: You study the Spell Practice Method diligently day and night, delving into its mysteries but make no progress.】

【Year 3: Advancement stalls; you can only expend Qi and blood to keep using Skills, extracting trivial experience, progressing slowly.】

【Year 11: Skills show faint signs of upgrading, Spell comprehension germinates in your mind, but weakened Qi and blood forces a gradual, patient approach.】

【Year 17: You successfully upgrade, Universal Rainfall reaches the Proficient level.】

"My intelligence should be fine!"

Chen Shicheng opened his eyes, rubbed his head as his heartbeat rose and fell, and began to doubt his own intelligence.

The earlier Basic Sword Technique and Eight‑Step Cicada Chase, though they consumed more Merit Points than Universal Rainfall, were all at the Perfect level.

But this Healing Spell, only at the second‑tier Proficient level, already cost him seventeen Merit Points.

If he were to train it straight to Perfect, the required Merit Points would be several times more than other skills; Chen Shicheng suspects that as the Skill upgrades, difficulty may increase exponentially, and Merit Points consumption could become astronomical.

The subsequent upgrades confirmed his suspicion.

【Year 1: You find the upgraded Skill requires more Qi and blood, limiting you to three uses per day.】

【Year 88: The aged you finally, after countless uses, discover the Skill's next path.】 【Year 159: The near‑death you finally have a flash of insight, Universal Rainfall reaches the Mastery level.】

【Merit Points: 162】

Chen Shicheng ultimately missed a small amount.

Besides his intellectual limitation, Qi and blood turned out to be the biggest obstacle to Skill upgrades.

Spell‑type Skills should be driven by True Essence, meaning they become a player's primary Skills at level six.

Qi and blood can substitute True Essence to barely use Skills, but in quality and quantity they cannot compare to True Essence.

Even though his level is five points higher than other players because of the Elixir, at the Proficient level he can only use Skills three times a day, and at Mastery it drops to once.

Fortunately, after Mastery he can freely control the Skill's range and effect to reduce Qi and blood consumption; otherwise the Skill would be useless in combat.

Seeing his right arm riddled with scars, Chen Shicheng raised his hand without hesitation, stamped a seal, and began chanting the incantation with minimal Qi and blood consumption.

As nearly a tenth of his internal Qi and blood was drained, the side room became windless, and wandering Yi‑mu spirit energy coalesced into green droplets hovering around his body.

The next moment, his hand pressed directly onto his chest.

The raindrop‑shaped Yi‑mu essence instantly hit its target, accompanied by the fresh scent of a forest after rain, seeping into his body like a swallow diving into trees. "Ugh, that feels great!!!"

Grass strains to grow beneath the stone, and tree roots burst through the rock!

Chen Shicheng didn't know how to describe the feeling, only felt joyous, as if boundless vitality erupted within him.

The icy, life‑filled energy coursed through his body, finally converging on his wound‑ridden right arm, where the injuries began to heal at a visible speed.

His internal bones crackled "ka‑ka", aligning and gradually fusing back into their original ivory‑white form.

After an indeterminate time, as the Skill's duration ended, Chen Shicheng came back to his senses.

The right arm's injuries had fully healed; the skin was smooth and fair, with no scar, and except for a faint pinkish hue at the former wound, indistinguishable from the surrounding color, one could hardly tell the arm had nearly been lost.

However, the minimal Qi and blood consumption was insufficient for limb‑recreation.

His left arm remained as before, bare and barren; aside from reduced pain, there was no improvement.

"While it's still hot, fire another one!"

Feeling his body relaxed, Chen Shicheng didn't hesitate, gave his all, and launched another Skill at himself.

This time the scene was far larger; if the previous was a light drizzle, this Skill was a torrential downpour, with countless Yi‑mu essences entering his body and converging on the broken right arm.

The pain instantly turned to itching, and the intolerable Chen Shicheng quickly removed the white cloth wrapped around the wound.

Under his shocked gaze, the broken arm's bones began to grow, stopping at the elbow; muscles and vessels seemed to gain life, countless granulation tissues spiraled around the new bone, and the skin writhed to envelop the newly formed limb.

(End of Chapter)