In the small courtyard next door, Xiao Xun Er and Ling Ying kept a constant eye on Xiao Xue's movements.
The two discovered that Xiao Xue seemed to be cultivating at this moment; her entire being appeared to be in a state of emptiness.
In fact, this was true; at this moment, Xiao Xue was very seriously pondering a question.
"Over all these years, I've saved up so many experience points. Now that I've finally completed my advancement, I can continue to Upgrade."
"Just how many stars should I Upgrade first?"
While others were still struggling, facing immense difficulty just to break through a minor Realm, Xiao Xue was already agonizing over exactly how many minor Realms she should break through in a row.
On the Fighting Qi Continent, the most important thing is, of course, one's own strength.
If one's strength is only at the One-star Dou Zhe level, then even if you Cultivate a rare Heaven Rank Advanced Cultivation Technique, it would still be difficult to defeat a Dou Master who Cultivates a Yellow Rank Cultivation Technique.
However, at the end of the day, Rank is really just the accumulation of Fighting Qi energy.
Cultivating from one star to nine stars is an accumulation of quantity, while a Breakthrough in major Rank is a leap in the level of life.
From one to nine stars as a Dou Practitioner, one to nine stars as a Dou Master... even from a One-Star Dou Sheng to a Nine-Star Dou Sheng, it's all an accumulation of quantity!
Whereas Breakthroughs in major levels are leaps in life genes, belonging to Breakthroughs in quality.
With the System around, Xiao Xue naturally wouldn't "waste" her time on "quantitative changes" like absorbing Fighting Qi.
Compared to absorbing, compressing, and refining Fighting Qi to improve, she was more willing to use that time to study Dou Techniques and Cultivation Techniques.
A small matter like an Upgrade can just be left to the System.
—Extravagant!
Experts absorbing energy is common knowledge across the entire continent. It's not that no one relies on external forces to improve their strength, but such opportunities are truly rare and cannot be sought.
Even the fifth or sixth-grade Medicinal Pills, which are incredibly precious in the Jia Ma Empire, can only allow an expert to break through one or two minor Realms.
Meditating and cultivating is the daily routine of the continent's Cultivators.
However, for Xiao Xue, there was absolutely no need to absorb external energy through meditation. The efficiency was too low; it wasn't necessary!
It was just that inhumanly rich!
After all, at the same Rank, what determines combat power is willpower, Secret Techniques, mental amplitude, and so on.
For experts of the same Rank, if your Cultivation Technique Rank is much higher than the opponent's and your Soul Power is significantly stronger, then during a contest, the various advantages will be immediately apparent.
Proficiency in Dou Techniques and Cultivation Techniques cannot be improved by throwing points at them, so Xiao Xue naturally shifted the focus of her cultivation toward these areas.
As for how many stars to Upgrade now, the reason she was conflicted was that there were simply too many uses for experience points.
They can be used not only to increase Rank but also in other places.
The System was no philanthropist. Cultivation Techniques, Dou Techniques, Medicinal Pills, and the like were all available for exchange in the mall, and the quality was definitely not bad, but they all had one characteristic: expensive!
Deadly expensive!
Things like Heaven Rank Cultivation Techniques, Dou Techniques, and Ninth Grade Pills required points that were simply astronomical.
Furthermore, Xiao Xue never had the habit of spending all her experience points. To be precise, most "players" like to save up some experience points when playing games.
Because there's a benefit after an Upgrade, and that is—Full Mana!
You should know that, except for breaking through major Realms, there is no CD for breaking through minor Ranks by spending points!
In other words, she could completely Upgrade suddenly during a battle and immediately return to her peak state!
Physical strength, Fighting Qi, Mental Energy, and so on, would be instantly refilled!
This function has wonderful uses in many situations.
For Xiao Xue, these experience points couldn't be spent recklessly; naturally, she had to keep a portion for emergencies.
There were also some points to be saved for exchanging for various needed Medicinal Pills at any time.
As for exactly how much "capital" she had saved... that was a secret.
[As much as the plot requires]
Xiao Xue thought about it and decided to set aside the Upgrade for now, intending to exchange for a Cultivation Technique and a Dou Technique first.
She had waited for three years; one day wouldn't make a difference.
Rank could still be improved through her own cultivation, but if she upgraded too much and couldn't choose a suitable Cultivation Technique, she'd have nowhere to go to cry.
Xiao Xue exited the "Upgrade" interface and clicked on the "Cultivation Techniques and Dou Techniques" interface, only to be struck by that long list of chuunibyou names.
In reality, the lower the Rank of the Cultivation Technique, the more overbearing the name often was.
Profound Rank ones were okay, but many Yellow Rank Cultivation Techniques had names that were truly impressive, always giving off a feeling of "In all of heaven and earth, I alone am honored."
Yellow Rank truly lived up to its name!
Whereas many Earth-Grade Cultivation Techniques generally had low-key and casual names, and Heaven Rank ones gave an even more restrained feeling.
The Great Dao is simple, after all!
Xiao Xue didn't look at any of these established Cultivation Techniques; instead, she clicked on a special category—
The "None" next to "Heaven," "Earth," "Profound," and "Yellow."
[Prompt: Do you want to spend 200,000 experience points to unlock the "None" Rank Cultivation Techniques?]
Xiao Xue chose "Yes" without hesitation.
Naturally, Xiao Xue couldn't just casually pick a low-Rank Cultivation Technique to get by, and Advanced Cultivation Techniques cost too many experience points; she simply couldn't afford them right now.
If she chose an Advanced Cultivation Technique now, her points would likely be exhausted, and if she encountered an emergency in the future, she would inevitably be caught short.
Furthermore, she might not necessarily be able to handle an Advanced Cultivation Technique in a short amount of time.
And if she chose a low-Rank Cultivation Technique now, it would naturally be detrimental to her future development, and Xiao Xue wouldn't do something like "pulling up sprouts to help them grow."
Therefore, that kind of Cultivation Technique with growth potential was the most suitable for her.
However, this kind of growth-type Cultivation Technique naturally couldn't be chosen just because one wanted to.
Just unlocking the growth-type "None" Rank Cultivation Techniques required a full 200,000 experience points!
Moreover, this was only the [Unlock]; it only meant that you had the qualification to choose a "None" Rank Cultivation Technique!
And aside from Heaven-Defying opportunities that might allow a Cultivation Technique to Upgrade, the only way to make a Cultivation Technique advance was to throw experience points at it!
Even though Xiao Xue had saved up a lot of savings, this expenditure was enough to hurt her deeply.
However, for Xiao Xue, this was a highly profitable deal, worth spending a fortune on!
Anyway, she had plenty of ways to quickly obtain experience points, so she wasn't panicked in the slightest.
Huh? You're asking what way? Isn't it just exploiting a bug... no, heavenly secrets must not be revealed.
As a high-level gamer in her past life, Xiao Xue was very skilled at using special channels to enhance the gaming experience.
At least in the short term, her experience points were still sufficient.
After picking back and forth in the "None" Rank Cultivation Technique section, Xiao Xue finally chose a water-attribute Cultivation Technique—the Water Transformation Art.
Cultivation Techniques on the Fighting Qi Continent are actually a way of utilizing Fighting Qi, turning the ownerless Fighting Qi around oneself into one's own use.
And the Water Transformation Art, as the name suggests, is the liquefaction of the Fighting Qi around oneself and then integrating it into one's body.
"Move aside a bit, don't stop me from drinking the northwest wind."
Well, it could also be called—"A Discussion on the 108 Ways to Drink the Northwest Wind."
Or—"A Discussion on How to Get Water Out of Air."
None-Rank Cultivation Techniques are just that simple and full of meaning.
Exiting the "None" Rank area, Xiao Xue went to the "Profound" Rank section and exchanged for a Black Rank High-Grade Dou Technique, the Mist Sword.
Sword Cultivators are cool!
In fact, whether it's the Sword Cultivators within the cultivation world or the readers who like playing with swords, they all unanimously agree—Sword Cultivators are the most badass!
While the consensus of everyone else is—
Those who play with swords are the flashiest!
There was an important reason why Xiao Xue chose this sword technique, which was—one could ride the sword to the sky.
Everyone, tell me loudly, who can refuse Sword-riding flight?!
—No one!
Strength is temporary, but coolness is a lifelong matter!
Although the System mall also had "Flying Combat Skills," the current Xiao Xue naturally didn't have that many extra experience points to exchange for them.
Therefore, this Mist Sword, which could both fight and take her to the sky, became her first choice.
Humans always have a strange yearning for the sky.
Brother Xun once said: "Once a human, one wants to become an immortal; born on the ground, one wants to go to heaven."
Of course, as a legend of the roasting world from that era, Brother Xun's words definitely had some deeper meaning.
Xiao Xue, however, had a calm expression, without the slightest bit of excitement.
"It's not like I haven't flown before; it's just going to the sky!"
What kind of skill is going to the sky yourself? Truly skilled people are the ones who send others to the sky!