Chapter 331: Qi Accumulation

"It's actually like this?" Lu Yu couldn't help but exclaim in surprise, his eyes filled with astonishment.

He had originally thought that, like the 【Thirteen Taibao Hard Qigong】, it would first manifest traits that directly and intuitively improved physical defense, such as being invulnerable to blades and spears; he hadn't expected it to be Protective True Qi.

Although this was a rather powerful passive Skill, activating it required meeting a condition that seemed simple yet was crucial—the practitioner's internal True Qi must exceed one hundred points.

This meant that even if the practitioner managed to raise this martial art to the first level, if their internal True Qi failed to reach this standard, they still couldn't activate the trait to unleash its intended power.

However, having said that, for a Pulse Refining Realm Martial Artist, opening up a single meridian was enough to possess one hundred points of True Qi.

While opening the Extraordinary Meridians was certainly difficult, opening the first meridian was still an easy task.

Aside from this condition, this Protective True Qi trait was truly effective.

Once activated, physical defense capability increased by half immediately, nearly double the effect of being invulnerable to blades and spears.

One had to know, this was only the first level.

The 【Golden Bell Shield】 had a full twelve levels; calculating it out, the total physical defense capability could increase by six times.

This meant that 10,000 points of Constitution attribute would be equivalent to 70,000 points in actual effect. And this was just one trait unlocked at the first level.

Of course, this also led to two flaws.

The first was still the fear of meridian-cutting; after all, once the True Qi in the body was cut off and unable to flow, Protective True Qi was naturally out of the question.

The second flaw was even more intuitive; Lu Yu clearly felt that there was a palm-sized area on the back of his left calf where, despite the circulation of True Qi, it was significantly thinner compared to other parts.

"This is probably what they call a 'vital point'." Lu Yu's expression was grave, and he couldn't help but feel a bit helpless in his heart.

He secretly hoped that as the cultivation levels deepened, this vital point would become smaller.

Although the location was relatively Stealthy, a palm-sized vital point was truly too conspicuous.

Lu Yu added another point of Experience Value; this time, the proficiency increased by 160 points, directly doubling. "The second level requires 160 points..."

Lu Yu calculated silently in his heart; following this trend, the third level would require 320 points, the fourth level 640 points...

By the eighth level, it would reach 10,000 points. The ninth level would require 20,000 points.

Calculated this way, the Experience Value needed to raise it to the ninth level was only forty to fifty thousand points, just enough to satisfy the condition for unlocking the 【Vajra Indestructible Divine Skill】.

If he continued to raise it further, the required Experience Value would increase significantly.

The Experience Value required for the tenth level was twice that of the ninth level, which was 40,000 points.

The eleventh level required 80,000 points, and the final level, the twelfth level, was a staggering 160,000 points!

Lu Yu took a deep breath; with his currently remaining Experience Value, he could probably only raise it to the eleventh level.

And if he really did that, he could forget about raising other martial arts to full proficiency.

"Let's just raise it to the ninth level first." Lu Yu made up his mind and poured all of his remaining one hundred-plus Experience Value into it.

In an instant, the Protective True Qi surrounding his entire body became even denser; not only that, the True Qi within his body also increased accordingly. Lu Yu's eyes lit up immediately.

"Could it be that a trait for increasing internal True Qi has appeared?" He couldn't wait to check.

【Golden Bell Shield: Level 2, Traits: Protective True Qi Level 2, Qi Accumulation Level 1】

"Qi Accumulation? Not Qi Nourishing?" Lu Yu's mouth opened slightly in surprise, his face full of astonishment.

He subconsciously sensed the changes in his internal True Qi and discovered that, unknowingly, there were sixty or seventy more strands of True Qi in his body! If it were a normal Qi Nourishing trait, it would be impossible to produce such a significant effect.

"So..." Lu Yu couldn't help but swallow his saliva, "This Qi Accumulation trait, as a trait for increasing True Qi, actually has a better effect than Qi Nourishing?" He hurriedly clicked to view it.

【Qi Accumulation: For every level the skill increases, True Qi increases by an additional 20%】

"Twenty percent!" Lu Yu couldn't help but exclaim, his voice filled with pleasant surprise.

One had to know, the mental cultivation method he had previously practiced specifically for increasing a martial artist's internal True Qi only had an effect of ten percent.

And now, the 【Golden Bell Shield】, as a body-refining martial art, had an effect on increasing internal True Qi that was actually much better than that specialized mental cultivation method; how could this not make him feel extremely pleasantly surprised.

Looking at it this way, the 【Golden Bell Shield】 was worthy of being a first-class martial art.

To confirm it for sure, Lu Yu slowly moved his gaze upward, finally settling on the True Qi column.

True Qi: 5195/3056

Sure enough, the True Qi bonus shown in the parentheses had increased from the previous 50% to 70%.

This meant there were sixty or seventy more strands of True Qi, roughly equivalent to opening several acupoints.

"An additional 20% increase in True Qi." Lu Yu couldn't hide his excitement. After all, this was just the beginning.

If he raised it to the ninth level, the Qi Accumulation trait would reach level 8, at which point it could increase the True Qi value by an additional 1.6 times.

Based on his current 3,000 points of Origin True Qi, by then, his total internal True Qi could reach around 9,500 points, just one step away from the 10,000-point mark—just that little bit short of being able to unleash the ten-fold power of the Sun-Shooting Arrow.

If he raised it to the tenth level, his True Qi would definitely exceed 10,000 points.

Of course, the Sun-Shooting Arrow could only be used once; once unleashed, his internal True Qi would basically be exhausted, and he feared even his Protective True Qi would disappear.

"I'm afraid Qi Accumulation is not the most significant trait for increasing True Qi." Lu Yu pondered to himself.

Perhaps there existed a trait where for every level increased, it could increase the martial artist's internal True Qi by an additional 30%; this might be the difference between top-tier mental cultivation methods and ordinary ones.

"Continue, looking forward to unlocking even more powerful traits next." Lu Yu clenched his fists tightly, full of anticipation.

The last upgrade consumed 160 points of Experience Value; this time, he added 320 points directly.

Instantly, the internal True Qi grew stronger by a few degrees, and the Protective True Qi on the surface of his body became increasingly dense.

Even the True Qi at the vital point increased quite a bit; judging by the effect, it was roughly equivalent to other parts of his body at the second level.

However, the size of the vital point did not change; it was still as large as a palm.

"It seems the defensive effect is similar to the previous level, which is acceptable." Lu Yu muttered to himself, his gaze then shifting to the skill bar.

【Golden Bell Shield: Level 3, Traits: Protective True Qi Level 3, Qi Accumulation Level 2】

No new traits were unlocked; Lu Yu had been mentally prepared for this.

Qi Accumulation Level 2 brought the additional True Qi bonus to 40%. He turned his gaze to Protective True Qi, and after a moment of thought, clicked to view it.

【Protective True Qi: Passive skill, for every level increased, physical defense increases by an additional 50%; current level 3, additional 1.5 times defense; additionally, this passive only takes effect when the practitioner's internal True Qi is greater than 500 points】

"Just as I thought." Lu Yu narrowed his eyes slightly.

As the defensive effect of the Protective True Qi improves, the activation conditions have also become much more demanding.

If there are no other martial arts mental cultivation methods to increase True Qi, the practitioner's internal Origin True Qi must reach around 360 points, which is an increase of more than three times compared to the requirements at level one.

"I fear the requirements will be even higher in the future."

Lu Yu thought to himself; fortunately, his internal True Qi was quite robust, so he likely would not face the awkward situation of having a high enough Realm but being unable to activate the trait.

Of course, if he were to unleash a lethal move, that would be a different matter entirely.

"It seems I must cultivate more mental cultivation methods." Lu Yu sighed and added another 640 points of Experience Value.

This time, no new trait appeared. After glancing at it, Lu Yu continued to add points.

This time, the consumed Experience Value climbed to 1280 points.

Just then, he noticed that the form of the Protective True Qi circulating on his body surface had undergone a subtle change.

Originally smooth like a protective barrier, it had now sprouted some small spikes.

"Could it be..." A flash of inspiration struck Lu Yu's mind, and he hurriedly looked at the Skill bar.