Chapter 89: Golden Light Spell Perfected

"Siye, what time is it now? Has the Yin hour arrived?"

After parting from the others, Chen Shicheng rushed back to his inn room at top speed, and as soon as he entered, he asked impatiently.

"Hmm, let me calculate." Hui Siye counted on his fingers and said, "Less than half an hour left."

"That's good!"

Chen Shicheng plopped onto the bed, sent La Tiao to the side to play with Hui Siye, and opened the Attribute panel.

【Draw the Ground as Prison】

【Golden Light Divine Spell】

【Plum Blossom Three Variations】

The three skills he acquired tonight lay safely in the skill bar, making his mouth grin wildly, and he couldn't help glancing at the Merit Points.

【1108】

Four digits.

Not too many, not too few.

The Merit Points cost to upgrade a skill isn't fixed; it varies with the skill's difficulty. For a skill like Slaying Immortal Sword Intent, throwing in ten thousand Merit Points produces not even a bubble, while a skill like Incense Crafting only cost him 29 points.

Therefore, without knowing whether the Merit Points are enough to perfect all skills, some compromises must be made.

Given the need, the Golden Light Divine Spell, one of the Eight Great Divine Spells of the Daoist Sect, inevitably becomes the top choice.

Then allocate points accordingly!

【Year 1: You diligently practice the Golden Light Divine Spell, but without a master's guidance you cannot obtain the true method, and can only linger in the introductory stage.】

【Year 30: Countless setbacks gradually give you some understanding of the Golden Light Divine Spell, revealing that unlike other skills, it is not merely a Qi‑cultivation skill.】

【Year 59: You finally realize that the Golden Light Divine Spell extracts your own Essence, Qi, and Spirit—refining the body, condensing Qi, stabilizing the soul—strengthening and focusing will, allowing 20% of the Flame attribute to be overlaid onto the Essence attribute, and the spell reaches the Proficient level.】

【Year 73: As you further excavate the Essence, Qi, and Spirit, the golden light enveloping you becomes dazzling, a full foot thick, reaching the unbreakable golden state; even without the blade aura of Slaying Immortal Sword Intent, it can no longer harm you. It can overlay 50% of the Flame attribute onto the Essence attribute, and the skill reaches the Mastery level.】

【Year 166: With broad profound cultivation and radiant brilliance, the golden light coating you, after cultivation, becomes thinner, eventually less than a fingertip thick, yet Defense Power becomes even more formidable. The blade aura of Slaying Immortal Sword Intent can only inflict slight damage on you. It can overlay 70% of the Flame attribute onto the Essence attribute; the skill reaches Perfection, sufficient to dispel ghosts, cut demonic qi, command divine generals, as unyielding as a golden vessel, blazing and radiant—this is called Golden Light.】

【Merit Points: 942】

No wonder it's one of the Eight Great Divine Spells of the Daoist Sect; without the boost of Merit Points, he probably could never cultivate to the Perfect state in his lifetime.

But this also relates to his comprehension; after using Merit Points many times, he found his comprehension ranks near the bottom among the masses, if not the very last.

If the Patriarch Bodhi had hammered his own head back then—no, even the Three‑Star Slanted Moon Cave wouldn't have taken him in, let alone the Beggar Sect of wuxia.

That's just tough! "It's fine, my comprehension is lacking, but I make up for it with diligence. Haven't I succeeded through hard study and practice!"

After consoling himself, Chen Shicheng activated the Perfect‑level Golden Light Divine Spell; instantly golden light enveloped his body, wrapping his clothes as well, turning him into a glittering golden‑shining Naruto?

Although he didn't want to admit it, aside from lacking the black stripes on his body and the fox ears on his head, his state truly resembled Naruto in Nine‑Tails mode.

A faint golden light covered his entire body without a single gap, turning him into a golden‑bodied Chen Shicheng even flashier than a golden Buddha. Moreover, the edges of his clothing would intermittently flare like burning flames, a streak of golden fire, as if his whole being had become an energy entity.

A very strange feeling.

Chen Shicheng raised his hand in front of him and clenched it; the power, as described, increased by a considerable segment. Based on the current Flame attribute value, his Essence attribute has reached 58.1, once again surpassing the Divine attribute, becoming the highest attribute.

But all this is not without cost.

Feeling the True Essence wildly draining inside his body, Chen Shicheng felt somewhat troubled.

He discovered a flaw that isn't really a flaw in Merit Points allocation: the higher a skill's level, the greater its True Essence consumption.

Even after reaching max level, with skill control smooth, he can maintain the minimum True Essence output, but the consumption still exceeds the entry‑level baseline by several times.

If the Blood Killing Pearl weren't lodged in his dantian, he might not sustain the skill activation for three minutes, just like the Slaying Immortal Great Formation.

"Looks like I need to ask the guard of Iron‑Forging Town to help replenish True Essence."

Seeing only about half of his True Essence reserve left, Chen Shicheng began to reminisce about life in the barracks.

Hui Siye, as soon as he returned, lit a stick of Reverence‑God Incense, lying in the corner with a satisfied face, rivaling the homeless man Amelika in enjoyment.

Hearing Chen Shicheng's muttering, it lazily glanced at the golden‑light‑clad Chen Shicheng and disdainfully shook its head.

Compared to the skill instantly reaching perfection, which no longer astonished it, it cared more about the guard of Iron‑Forging Town that Chen Shicheng kept mentioning; it didn't even know whose child this thing had its eye on, probably about to cause some bloodshed! Meanwhile, La Tiao, seeing its master all golden, instantly got interested, darted to Chen Shicheng's feet, spun around and leapt high.

"Ahem, La Tiao, come bite me."

Seeing La Tiao circling him, Chen Shicheng's eyes shifted, and with ill intent he crouched and placed his finger in front of it.

"?" La Tiao stared at the golden finger before it, bewildered, not knowing what its master meant.

"Bite me with all your might, don't be afraid, go!"

Chen Shicheng nudged his finger forward, encouragingly saying.

La Tiao looked at Chen Shicheng's finger, carefully opened its mouth, and gently bit down.

Huh? Can't bite? La Tiao was a bit indignant; since waking from a long sleep, it found its bite force astonishingly strong—no table leg in the house, even a stone, it could gnaw. Now it can't bite a finger of its master? Seeing the master's encouraging eyes, La Tiao, for pride's sake, exerted all its strength and bit.

"Creak—crack—"

The sound, like an old lady gnawing on cowhide, rang out, making Chen Shicheng laugh instantly.

Don't be fooled by La Tiao being only level 0; its bloodline is truly remarkable. The innate skill Blood Flesh Devour grants its teeth and bite force an abnormally extreme power.

Give it an iron ingot and it can chew it like a biscuit, yet now it is helpless against a single finger of its own master.

After consoling the dejected La Tiao, Chen Shicheng finally felt at ease and raised a finger; the blade aura of Slaying Immortal Sword Intent, though restrained, pressed a little by little onto his arm.

One unit of force, barely noticeable, like carrying an empty bag.

Three units, some feeling but still light, like a bag filled with stuff that feels a bit heavy.

Five units, this time there was a change: the golden light on his body was sliced by the blade aura, creating a slit less than a millimeter, unable to advance further; compared to a fingertip‑thick golden light, such damage is negligible.

Chen Shicheng hesitated briefly, then summoned his full strength and slashed down.

This strike not only dealt blade aura damage but also added physical damage equal to 58.1 Essence attribute. The golden coating on his body blocked it for less than a second before the blade aura pierced through, leaving a deep, bone‑visible wound on his arm, with blood gushing out instantly.

Chen Shicheng halted the Golden Light Divine Spell, cast a burst of Universal Rainfall on the wound; after the wound healed, he swung his fist hard, his excitement evident.

"This Defense Power, strong, invincible!"

Compared with Yu Wei's unnamed defensive barrier, his Gold Light Spell is clearly superior in defense.

It can not only output True Essence at any time to mend breached spots, but also increase the refinement Attribute, allowing him to masquerade as a Refinement Body cultivator.

As long as there is no one‑shot kill ability, he can, with the Gold Light Spell, grind anyone to death, even those a realm above him.

Rounded off, he is on par with the Heavenly Pride who slays enemies beyond his level in novels!

After confirming his defensive capability, Chen Shicheng turns his attention to the remaining two Skills.

【Draw Ground to Form Prison】

【Plum Blossom Triple】

Using Draw Ground to Form Prison to supplement the Heavenly Gang Thirty‑six Methods Fragment is merely his speculation, not guaranteed to succeed, and is experimental in nature.

Meanwhile, Plum Blossom Triple is a displacement Skill he urgently needs right now, so the order of acquisition is irrelevant.

Merit Points, keep adding them!

【Year One: Because of the Perfect‑level Eight‑Step Chase Cicada, you effortlessly raised Plum Blossom Triple to the Proficient level, allowing you to borrow force from thin air and change direction instantly.】

【Year Three: In a sealed room filled with obstacles, you can fluidly roll and shift, the Skill reaches Mastery level, and you can borrow force twice.】

【Year Eleven: You easily raise Plum Blossom Triple to the Perfect level, leaping into the heights and borrowing force three times in succession, never touching the ground, soaring like an immortal for hundreds of meters.】

【Merit Points: 931】

Chen Shicheng feels the memories churning in his mind, and his heart is somewhat numb.

Merit Points cultivate Skills, and the concrete progress surprisingly varies according to existing Skills.

Since he already possesses the Perfect‑level Eight‑Step Chase Cicada, the Skill type being similar saves some Merit Points consumption.

He organizes his memories, tips his toe, and the whole body darts to Hui Siye like a phantom; before it can react, True Essence circulates as if stepping on flat ground, his form violently retreats and returns to the starting point.

"You, born in the Year of the Monkey, have no spare time?" Hui Siye opens a slit in his eyes and says wordlessly.

"Testing the newly learned Skill, Hui Siye, you keep enjoying!"

Chen Shicheng casually waves his hand, preparing to test the idea of completing the Skill.

"The time is about right; Yin Time is approaching," Hui Siye taps his fingers and reminds.

"Hm? So fast?"

Chen Shicheng immediately abandons adding points, hurriedly pulls out incense‑making tools and the Yinxiang Incense materials, and arranges them on the table.

(End of Chapter)