Chapter 439: Powerful Effects

One year later.

The protective barrier of the Time Afterimage Training Ground slowly descended amidst a low, humming sound.

Gao Jie Ming walked out shirtless, sweat sliding down his well-defined muscular contours, causing tiny wisps of white mist to steam off the ground beneath his feet.

His breathing was steady and long; every inhalation and exhalation caused the elemental energy within the laboratory to resonate faintly.

"Hoo..."

Exhaling a long, turbid breath, Gao Jie Ming felt the surging power within his body and let out a satisfied sigh.

Faint golden patterns were vaguely visible beneath his skin, the external manifestation of his Body Refining Art breaking through to a new level.

He clenched his fist casually, and the air in his palm was squeezed into a series of sharp, crackling pops, causing the space itself to ripple slightly.

He did not test his specific strength values, for there was no need.

Every cell in his body was conveying a clear message: powerful, resilient, and full of vitality.

Compared to a year ago, Gao Jie Ming's physical fitness had undergone a qualitative leap.

Walking to the dedicated bathroom next to the training ground, a medicinal bath barrel carved entirely from obsidian was already prepared.

The liquid inside was a strange dark gold, with tiny specks of spiritual light floating on the surface, emitting a complex scent that mixed the fragrance of herbs with the smell of sulfur.

This was a formula Gao Jie Ming had finalized after repeatedly improving upon a nourishing medicinal bath recipe recorded in the Dadaoshuge, combined with his understanding of alchemy from the Wizarding World.

Stepping into the barrel, the warm medicinal liquid enveloped his entire body.

Instantly, a slight stinging sensation came from the surface of his skin, which then transformed into a gentle, nourishing feeling.

The medicinal power seeped into his body through his pores, resonating with his body strengthened by the Body Refining Art, further stimulating cellular activity.

Gao Jie Ming leaned against the barrel wall, closed his eyes, and let the medicinal power permeate him.

The cost of each unit of material for this medicinal bath formula was not particularly high.

But the problem was—this was for bathing.

A single soak required enough medicinal liquid to fill the entire barrel.

Calculated out, the cost per soak was nearly ten million low-tier military merits.

This was almost equivalent to the majority of the harvest a Level 5 Wizard would gain from participating in a single plane war.

Such extravagant investment naturally brought matching returns.

Light footsteps came from outside the bathroom, followed by a respectful knocking sound.

"Enter."

A Black Giant Priest, over two meters tall, pitch-black all over, with a liquid metallic luster flowing on its body surface, pushed the door open and entered.

It held a recording crystal in its hand, its movements surprisingly elegant.

"Master, these are the statistical data from the measurements just taken on you."

The Black Giant Priest suspended the recording crystal beside the bath barrel and activated the projection.

On the light screen, dense data began to scroll:

【Physical base strength increase: 52.7 times】

【Average elemental resistance increase: 43.9 times】

【Physical impact resistance increase: 61.2 times】

【Nervous reaction speed increase: 38.4 times】

【Cell regeneration efficiency increase: 57.6 times】

【Energy storage capacity increase: 48.3 times】

【Injury tolerance limit increase: 35.1 times】

Each item of data is accompanied by detailed measurement methods and comparative benchmarks.

Gao Jie Ming watched quietly, his expression calm.

A fifty-two-fold comprehensive increase.

This meant that in terms of pure physical strength, he had completely surpassed the standard line of a Level 4 Wizard or Soul Transformation Stage cultivator, reaching the average level of a Level 5 Wizard or Void Refinement Stage cultivator.

The combination of the medicinal bath and the extreme training of the Time Afterimage was indeed shockingly effective.

But...

Gao Jie Ming suddenly frowned, suppressing the urge to sing out loud.

As his physical strength leaped to a new level, he keenly sensed a trace of disharmony.

The balance of the three treasures—Jing, Qi, and Shen—had been broken.

His body was too powerful, his blood and Qi were so full they were nearly boiling, to the point where his control over his emotions had dropped significantly.

He was more easily influenced by the hormones secreted by his body, leading to states of impulsiveness, excitement, and excessive fighting intent.

In daily life, this might not be a big problem.

But for a wizard who needed to precisely manipulate laws and calmly analyze the battlefield, this was a potential risk.

"The body is moving too fast."

Gao Jie Ming sighed and made a decision.

Next, he must pause the strengthening of his physical body and turn his attention back to the polishing of his spiritual power and the refining of his spiritual power.

Let "Shen" and "Qi" catch up to the pace of "Jing" to restore the balance of the three treasures.

Coincidentally, the low-tier military merits consumed for configuring medicinal potions over the past year were also too vast, and he needed time to recover.

However, the benefits brought by a powerful physique were not limited to combat power.

Through the ability of the Qi Refining Art to mutually transform and influence the three treasures of Jing, Qi, and Shen, Gao Jie Ming's spiritual power strength and spiritual sense strength were also increasing at an astonishing speed during this period.

The speed of this increase was far more efficient than any other method Gao Jie Ming had tried before.

Therefore, Gao Jie Ming was not too worried about his body being too strong.

He roughly estimated that at this trend, in less than a hundred years, his spiritual sense strength would reach the critical point for advancing to a Level 5 Wizard.

Combined with his mastery of spiritual energy laws, which had already exceeded 10%...

"By then, becoming a Level 5 Wizard will be a matter of course."

But thinking of this, Gao Jie Ming suddenly fell into deep thought.

He realized a problem: in terms of the wizard system, advancing was simple and clear.

As long as the mastery of laws and spiritual sense strength met the standards, one could advance logically.

But on the cultivation system side, the situation was completely different.

For a Soul Transformation Stage cultivator to advance to the Void Refinement Stage, they needed to "comprehend the path they were walking."

Translated into wizard concepts, this meant needing to raise the mastery of a certain law to 100%.

The difference here stemmed from the fundamental differences between the two systems.

In the Wizarding World, the core of advancing from Level 3 to Level 6 was "understanding of laws" and "strength of spiritual sense."

As long as you understood and accumulated enough, you could advance.

It was like a progressive exam; reaching the passing score meant passing.

In the Cultivation World, Nascent Soul Stage cultivators had already shed the shackles of lifespan and possessed endless longevity.

This leap in life form made the way cultivators thought completely different from short-lived species.

The realms of cultivators were originally created by humans, and with completely different ways of thinking, the requirements for advancement were naturally different.

On the scale of endless lifespan, spending tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of years to comprehend a Great Dao was a perfectly normal thing in their eyes.

Therefore, the gap in combat power between Soul Transformation Stage cultivators could be shockingly large.

After all, the core goal of this realm was originally "improving combat power."

Some old monsters who had immersed themselves in the Soul Transformation Stage for millions of years, relying on their extreme study of their own paths, could even fight head-on against Great Ascension Stage cultivators across realms.

Of course, Soul Transformation Stage cultivators who had immersed themselves for longer than that basically did not exist—because those who could live that long in the Soul Transformation Stage without advancing were all monsters with exceptional talent.

After millions of years of accumulation, they are often able to ascend directly to immortality, skipping the intermediate realms.

Only those with relatively ordinary aptitude who felt the pressure of survival would choose to advance to the Void Refinement Stage to continue their cultivation path.

"Compared to those monsters, I am definitely not exceptionally talented."

Gao Jie Ming had a clear understanding of himself.

So he must choose to continue advancing to the Void Refinement Stage.

Fortunately, he did not have to wait until he became a Level 6 Wizard to advance.

With his speed of mastering spiritual energy laws, he should be able to raise his mastery of spiritual energy laws to 100% before his spiritual sense strength met the standard for advancing to a Level 6 Wizard.

While thinking, the color of the liquid in the medicinal bath gradually faded, and the medicinal power had been completely absorbed.

Gao Jie Ming rose from the bath barrel, water sliding down his body.

With a wave of his hand, the moisture on his body twisted and transformed into a simple black robe, which he automatically put on neatly.

Walking out of the bathroom, he came to the core console of the laboratory.

Since there would be no changes in his strength improvement in the short term, it was time to plan the next step.

Gao Jie Ming chose to perfect the Incense Divine Dao.

This was also a direction he had set long ago.

After thinking for a moment, Gao Jie Ming cast his gaze on cross-space transmission technology.

Now that the research on cross-space transmission technology was basically mature, it was time to officially install it into the system.

Once successful, he would be able to call upon the energy reserves of the Purgatory Sulfur Plane at any time when fighting in any plane, equivalent to carrying a mobile Wizard Tower with him.

"Get this part done first."

Gao Jie Ming called up the holographic structure map of the Incense Divine Dao and tapped lightly on the "Cross-Space Energy Transmission Module."

"Then, consider the others."

(End of chapter)