Chapter 74: Promotion to Level Two Qi Refiner

"Who are you?"

Luo Song's expression was horrified, still unable to believe it.

This situation was like a block tower collapsing, shattering into pieces in an instant.

But the Fire Feather People are living creatures, not blocks.

The impact of skin, muscles, internal organs, bones, and blood on humans is immense.

Not to mention the power and techniques contained within, which surpass the imagination of humans at this stage.

Luo Song asked himself, even if a corpse of a Fire Feather Person lay before him.

He could not achieve instant disassembly, let alone do so simultaneously against six Fire Feather People.

Had he not seen a human appear, Luo Song would have immediately turned and fled.

He feared it might be some unknown monster, the kind no one could stop.

"Then who are you?"

Fang Shi asked, having rushed here all the way.

He finally found a large building where humans had gathered.

Luo Song steadied himself: "I am the commander of the *** group, and the highest official at outpost S-56."

Fang Shi casually glanced at the nearly thirty Fire Feather Person corpses on the ground.

"Your strength is quite good, nearly level 6, right?"

Luo Song nodded: "I am two monsters short of reaching level 6."

"Monsters? You mean the Fire Feather People, right? What is the situation now?"

Luo Song said with worry: "I don't know. Current communication methods are limited; apart from the Mystic Seal, it is hard to communicate."

"But the battle inside the building is fierce, and the primal force is chaotic, making it hard to sense the Mystic Seal clearly."

Fang Shi continued: "I observed carefully; this building has twenty-three floors."

"You have people guarding the first five floors, sniping at the Fire Feather People climbing up."

"But there are more point-blank explosions on the upper floors; the damage I saw from outside was not less than thirty spots."

"And that is due to the angle of vision."

Hearing this, Luo Song grew increasingly anxious; he realized the Fire Feather People were not fools.

They fully utilized their mobility; while pinning down the main human force.

More of their strength went around to the enemy's rear to cause destruction.

And the human rear is the residents on the higher floors.

No wonder I have been guarding here for so long and felt the Fire Feather People's attack was not fierce.

There was no troop strength capable of completely crushing me.

It was as if they were adding oil like fools.

But Luo Song thought about it and found no way to break the deadlock.

The Fire Feather People's move was an open, straightforward strategy.

You guard the bottom, they attack from above.

You guard the top, they attack from below.

Using high mobility to inflict maximum damage on the enemy.

No! There is a way; as long as our forces are sufficient, and the strength above and below is equal, it will be as solid as a metal fortress.

Thinking of this, Luo Song looked at Fang Shi with bright eyes: "Luo Song earnestly requests your help, sir."

Fang Shi smiled: "I was just thinking the same; the Fire Feather People outside are scared of me."

"Seeing me, they run far away; they probably used some kind of transmission method."

"But I want to see where they will flee inside the floors."

Hearing this, Luo Song was secretly shocked.

But thinking of the scene when this person appeared, he could not help but believe it.

"Sir, please act quickly."

Fang Shi shook his head: "No rush; first, evacuate the residents from the upper floors to avoid getting in the way."

"Also, withdraw the soldiers; just guard well on the first floor."

Luo Song asked in confusion: "Is that not bad? What if those monsters climb in from the outer wall again?"

Fang Shi said indifferently: "With me here, they dare not. The remaining Fire Feather People inside the building have become isolated forces."

"Of course, if you are not at ease, leaving some people up there is fine too."

Fang Shi had long understood the nature of those otherworldly creatures.

The actions of otherworldly creatures have a purpose;

They seek to kill more humans.

Not to find a hard stone to gnaw on specifically.

However, this does not mean the Fire Feather People will let Fang Shi carry out a massacre.

Stronger Fire Feather People will surely arrive next.

To assassinate Fang Shi; that will be the most perilous moment.

"Very well." Luo Song finally nodded.

He could not believe Fang Shi's words, but he could not disbelieve his own eyes.

The scene just now was truly too intimidating.

Anyone who accomplishes such a feat will have full persuasiveness in every word and action.

"By the way, who exactly are you?"

Before leaving, Luo Song still wanted to ask; he was truly a bit curious.

Just what kind of divine figure was this mysterious powerhouse?

"My name is Fang Shi."

Fang Shi? A storm of shock surged in Luo Song's heart.

This name was renowned throughout the land.

He hailed from Ancheng, was Zhao Wenjun's master, and the creator of the Breathing Method.

He could be said to be the first person to gather the survivors of Ancheng.

After the battle at the Tower of Trials, his name spread widely throughout human society.

Nowadays, he still ranks first on the stele of the Second Layer.

Everyone who went to the Tower of Trials had paid homage to his achievements.

Furthermore, the matter of his contract with the gods made him full of legend.

Although the last matter had a certain level of confidentiality.

But as one of the few powerful figures in Ancheng, Luo Song still knew about it.

He had even wanted to meet Fang Shi in person.

Luo Song, who had practiced Traditional Martial Arts and cultivated the Breathing Method.

understood even more deeply the martial essence contained within it.

One could say that this seemingly simple Breathing Method could only be created by someone who had mastered the culmination of Hua Guo's martial arts.

His martial arts before the apocalypse must have reached an unfathomable level.

He was worthy of being called a grandmaster of his generation.

No! Even 'grandmaster' does not do him justice.

This was a Cultivation Technique capable of changing the very essence of life, truly pushing the human body to its limit.

It was simply opening a new era for Hua Guo's martial arts.

He could truly be called a Great Grandmaster!

A figure who truly founded a school and established a lineage.

This made Luo Song even more curious; as a successor of the Six Harmonies Fist.

He was also renowned in the Traditional Martial Arts circle, yet how had he never heard of such a god-like figure?

This once made Luo Song suspect that perhaps there were hidden sects in this world just like in novels.

But such a figure existed in only one place in the apocalypse, nowhere else.

Because inside the Tower of Trials, there was no news of so-called hidden sects at all.

It was as if a figure like Fang Shi had appeared out of thin air.

Unfortunately, on the day Fang Shi reached the summit of the Tower of Trials.

Fang Shi disappeared without reason, and even Jiang Xian, who had made an appointment, was left behind.

This made Luo Song quite regretful; he still wanted to ask this Great Grandmaster about martial arts problems.

Who knew that today he would have the fortune to meet him, and he was as powerful as the rumors said.

He was a true Great Grandmaster.

Monsters that were infinitely dangerous in the eyes of ordinary people could be instantly killed.

If the current situation were not inappropriate, Luo Song would have immediately asked Fang Shi for advice.

Thus, Luo Song's attitude became even more respectful; he clasped his fists and bowed, saying, "Thank you, Advisor Fang, for your help."

"Hmm, go quickly."

After Luo Song left, Fang Shi casually found a sofa in the hall and sat down.

He actually also wanted to go up and kill monsters immediately.

But the conditions did not allow it; the reason was very simple.

Fang Shi was tired; he needed rest.

Even machines have fuel limits, let alone humans?

Fang Shi's strength was too great; at the beginning, there were still Fire-Winged Humans who came to die out of overconfidence.

By the end, no one knew how the news spread.

Fire-Winged Humans would run as soon as they saw Fang Shi, not fighting him at all.

Forced by the circumstances, Fang Shi could only start a chase.

This resulted in increased physical exertion.

Especially when chasing multiple Fire-Winged Humans who split up and ran away.

To prevent the experience points from escaping, Fang Shi used Use Second Layer to accelerate multiple times, which further exacerbated the consumption of stamina.

Gradually, Fang Shi became unwilling to continue like this.

So he began to carefully ponder methods of acceleration.

Explosive techniques like Use Second Layer were not considered.

These consumed too much stamina.

What Fang Shi needed was a method with low consumption that could last a long time.

He first thought of Wind-element Qi.

Wind-element Qi has the effect of enhancing one's own speed.

This was evident when practicing Bai He Sword Art.

The principle is simple: it reduces air resistance during movement.

What Fang Shi now wants to do is extract this technique from Bai He Sword Art.

Turn it into a basic state, one that allows him to convert the spiritual energy around him into wind spiritual energy without needing to activate Bai He Sword Art.

Thus accelerating himself—not just his movement speed, but also his sword-strike speed.

The result, naturally, was no result.

Bai He Sword Art was so exquisite; how could Fang Shi, without the 30x Comprehension bonus, possibly dismantle it?

Still, it wasn't entirely without gain.

A flash of insight from Fang Shi brought his Bai He Sword Art to perfection.

"【Bai He Sword Art (Perfected)】: Your understanding of this sword art has reached perfection. You may spend a minimum of 4 magic power points to merge with the wind; during this time, all your actions gain a 200% bonus, lasting 6 seconds."

Merge with the wind?

Naturally, Fang Shi decided to try it, to understand the effect of this technique.

Yes, it was indeed a technique.

"Sword Art" also belonged to the cultivation methods of Qi cultivators.

What would a technique without magic power look like?

However, the techniques recorded in "Sword Art" could only be activated once a sword art had been perfected.

Or, gradually learned during the process of reaching perfection.

This attempt caused the very strike that had just entered the door.

Fang Shi merged with the wind and instantly caught up to the fleeing Fire Feather Man.

And he unleashed Burn the Qin, Boil the Crane, instantly killing them.

The only regret was that merging with the wind only boosted action speed.

It did not enhance neural reaction speed.

Someone with insufficient neural reaction speed could not fully utilize it at all.

Even so, Fang Shi was satisfied—he now lacked no reaction speed, only the physical skill to match it.

Many times, he could clearly envision operations bordering on miracles, yet simply could not execute them.

In short, his mind understood, but his hands did not.

Of course, the cost was high—his magic power was now down to just 1 point.

This put him at a disadvantage for the coming battles.

But it didn't matter; Fang Shi had killed his way through the journey.

His experience points were full; his second purpose for staying in the parlor was to level up.

After leveling up, his magic power would recover slightly.

"Do you wish to consume 21,000 experience points to reach level 7?"

"Yes."

"Please select your promoted class."

"Qi Cultivator."

"You have advanced to level 2 Qi Cultivator."

"You gain 4 + Intelligence (14-10)/2 = 6 skill points."

"Your health increases by 8 + Constitution (18-10)/2 + Robust 1 = 13 points."

"Your magic power increases: 5 → 6."

"You gain the class feature 【Mystic Intuition I】."

"【Mystic Intuition I】: You are exceptionally sensitive to changes in spiritual energy and others' actions. You gain a +2 bonus to Insight and Magic Technique Identification checks. If you have 10 or higher ranks in these skills, the bonus increases to +4."

This feature enhanced Fang Shi's ability to identify magic techniques.

It allowed him to more easily discern what technique an enemy was casting, enabling better countermeasures.

It was a decent feature.

"Name: Fang Shi"

"Race: Human"

"Attributes: Strength 19 (+1), Dexterity 19 (+1), Constitution 18, Intelligence 14, Perception 21, Charisma 15"

"Class: Level 5 Martial Artist / Level 2 Qi Cultivator"

"Rank: Qi Refinement"

"Health: 88/88"

"Magic Power: 2/6"

"Experience: 32/28,000"

"Attribute Points: 3"

"Feature Points: 1"

"Survival Points: 3103.2"

"Race Feature: Versatile I"

"Life Skills: (omitted)"

"Class Skills: (omitted)"

"Personal Trait: Extraordinary Perception"

"Personal Features: Iron Will II, Athletic I, Excellent Memory I, Resilient I, True Dragon Armor III, Shi Breathing Method IV, Lightning Step I, Lightning Reflexes III, Weakness Insight I, Robust I, Primordial Resistance I, Sword Art I"

"Class Feats: Flurry of Blows I, Unarmed Strike I, Toughness I, Crushing Blow I, Deflect Arrows I, Improved Initiative I, Force Strike I, Leap Step I, Iron Will I, Magic Power Control I, Magic Power Conversion I, Spiritual Power Absorption I, Mysterious Intuition I"

"Combat Feats: Sword Art (Mastery), Bai He Swordsmanship (Mastery), Multiple Strikes (Double Strike)"

This time, he didn't get the reward for being first to reach level 7.

Of course, Fang Shi had been cultivating at the Heavenly Sword Sect for quite some time now.

It was perfectly normal for someone to overtake him.

Fang Shi didn't feel it was a pity, especially since the Bronze Treasure Chest from the last first-to-level-6 reward—

—hadn't really yielded anything good either.

"Detect Magic (Scroll)"

"School: Divination"

"Caster: Wizard"

"Caster Level: 6"

"Spell Components: Verbal, Somatic, Material"

"Range: 25 meters"

"Area of Effect: A 25-meter radius emanation centered on the caster"

"Duration: 24 hours"

"Saving Throw: None"

"Spell Resistance: No"

"Spell Effect: Omitted (too long, not padding the word count)"

This spell scroll was what Fang Shi had gotten from opening the treasure chest.

For him, it was practically useless.

First, the spell's effect was of no use to him.

Second, Fang Shi couldn't use it.

Although the scroll recorded a spell, not just anyone could use it freely.

Either you yourself had mastered the spell on the scroll,

or you had the skill to use magic devices, with a check value of 1 + the scroll's caster level.

Fang Shi met neither requirement, so naturally there was no question of him using it.

Although after he advanced to Qi Refiner, he did have a caster level.

And each level gained as a Qi Refiner provided one caster level.

So theoretically, Fang Shi could also learn Wizard spells.

But in practice, Qi Refiner and Wizard were two different systems.

Their fundamental theories were completely different.

One was the Eight Schools doctrine, the other was the Yin-Yang and Five Elements doctrine.

Studying across systems would yield half the results with double the effort, and success wasn't even guaranteed.

Perhaps those high-realm great Wizards and Qi Refiners could fuse the two together with full mastery.

But that didn't include Fang Shi.

Rather than spending effort researching these spells, he'd be better off getting some law-cultivation Cultivation Techniques.

At least the spells recorded in those, Fang Shi could understand.

Ten minutes later.

"Advisor Fang? Advisor Fang? The residents have been evacuated."

Luo Song stood respectfully beside Fang Shi, calling out softly.

Fang Shi slowly opened his eyes and surveyed the hall packed with residents.

"Good, I'll set off now."