Chapter 107: Skill Upgrade

Lin Xue stared in surprise at the Experience value on her panel, which was steadily increasing.

It turned out that kills made by her servant would also be counted as Experience and added to her System.

This was truly an unexpected blessing.

She only had one servant, and that was Hong Yanzhi.

It seemed Hong Yanzhi, after regaining control of Luoyun Cave, was now settling accounts with those Demonic Beasts who had once tormented her.

Lin Xue couldn’t help but feel a bit concerned. During those ten-odd days, so many lesser demons had visited that room where Hong Yanzhi was bound.

Now that this little she-cat had Lang Buping and two hundred Yellow Wind Mountain demon soldiers as her backing, would she, in a fit of rage, slaughter every lesser demon on the mountain?

Wouldn’t that turn Luoyun Cave into a place where demon heads rolled and rivers of blood flowed?

If Hong Yanzhi truly wished to do so, Lin Xue could understand her.

After all, during those dozens of days, Hong Yanzhi had indeed suffered endless torment, even falling from a Grand Demon all the way down to a Silver-Body Lesser Demon.

Lin Xue had vaguely heard during her days in the demon lair that if a member of the Demonic Beast race advanced to Grand Demon and then fell back down, climbing back up again would be even harder than before.

Whether Hong Yanzhi could ever advance back to Grand Demon in the future was truly uncertain.

So, it was only natural for her to harbor such deep-seated hatred and overwhelming resentment.

She had to be allowed to vent it out.

Lin Xue silently counted in her heart.

The Experience increased more than a hundred times, and when it reached 28,500, it finally stopped.

No new System notifications appeared.

Lin Xue let out a sigh of relief.

It seemed Hong Yanzhi also knew her limits—she had only killed a bit over a hundred, and hadn’t wiped out everyone in Luoyun Cave.

The last time Lin Xue saw Hong Yanzhi, her body was covered in bite marks, with sticky filth on her head, face, and mouth. It was clear some of the lesser demons had gone too far.

Hong Yanzhi had likely singled out only those who had gone farthest in their abuse, killing them to vent her anger.

As for those Rat Demons left over from the Mouse Family, they too would surely be cleared out.

To Lin Xue, this was a good thing.

She had been fretting over her lack of Experience, and now a pile had just fallen into her lap—like a sleepy person being handed a pillow.

Lin Xue looked at her over twenty thousand Experience, feeling like a penniless pauper who had suddenly won a five-hundred-tael grand prize. Her hands trembled with excitement.

Now she definitely had enough Experience. Lin Xue no longer hesitated and spent five thousand points at once to condense five Crystal Stones.

She looked over at the Technique Panel on her own status panel.

Currently, the techniques in her Technique Panel included the Swiftwind Sword Manual, Heavenly Demon Transformation Art, Beast Refinement Codex, Beast Mastery Heart Sutra (Recognition Chapter), Changsheng Jue Intermediate Volume, Wood Spirit Detoxification Technique, Paper Substitute Technique, Qian Ji Zhi Meng, Water Control Formula, and Vine Technique.

Lin Xue first used a Crystal Stone on the Swiftwind Sword Manual.

This was currently her primary means of attack, so naturally, it had to be upgraded first.

After the Crystal Stone was used, Lin Xue suddenly felt a spark in her mind regarding the Swiftwind Sword Manual, as if she had gained a subtle new insight, wanting to comprehend something fresh.

Yet, after holding her head and thinking for a long time, she couldn’t quite figure out what new enlightenment she’d achieved.

Looking back at the panel, she saw that the “+” symbol had reappeared beside the Swiftwind Sword Manual, indicating she could continue to invest points.

Lin Xue immediately gave up on pondering herself and started madly tapping the System’s “+”.

Since she had a cheat, there was no reason not to use it—why waste her own brainpower?

After investing another five hundred points of Experience, Lin Xue felt a sudden clarity, her understanding of swordsmanship stepping up to a whole new level.

This new sword technique allowed her to better utilize her own strength and fully unleash the true power of the Zhuji Qi stage.

Lin Xue was overjoyed.

If she encountered another opponent like Shu Da in the future, she would now have the strength to face them head-on.

Next, she turned her attention to the Beast Refinement Codex.

This technique could quickly raise a Body Tempering Stage lesser demon to Condensation Core Stage Grand Demon—there was no doubt it was a miraculous skill.

However, it was only effective on Serpent Cores from the Body Tempering Stage.

Once a demon advanced to Grand Demon, the amount of demonic energy required for further progress increased geometrically.

Continuing to use the Beast Refinement Codex to slowly absorb Body Tempering Stage Serpent Cores would be like a drop in the ocean.

And the demonic energy in Condensation Core Stage Serpent Cores was too powerful— trying to absorb and digest them with this technique would obviously be beyond one’s abilities, easily leading to loss of control and death by body explosion.

So, though the Beast Refinement Codex was miraculous, its limitations meant it could only be applied to the Body Tempering Stage.

Lin Xue wondered, what would happen if she upgraded it with a Crystal Stone?

She used the second Crystal Stone on the Beast Refinement Codex.

A “+” appeared after the name of the Beast Refinement Codex.

Lin Xue took a deep breath and pressed the “+”.

Another five hundred points of Experience gone.

A new layer of knowledge about the Beast Refinement Codex appeared in her mind, adding fresh content.

To her delight, Lin Xue discovered that the new content was indeed as she’d guessed—it allowed the absorption of Condensation Core Stage Grand Demon Serpent Cores.

The only requirement was that the user themselves must have reached the Condensation Core Stage.

From now on, if she took the Demonic Beast path of cultivation, even after becoming a Grand Demon, as long as she had Condensation Core Stage Serpent Cores on hand, she could still use the Beast Refinement Codex to rapidly advance her cultivation.

In theory, she could even rely on eating Serpent Cores all the way up to Yao Wang!

Lin Xue suddenly thought, if Zhang Zongnian were here and learned the Beast Refinement Codex could help him reach the Yao Wang realm, how happy would he be?

She didn’t even know if he was still alive.

At the thought of Zhang Zongnian, her heart grew heavy.

She stared blankly for a while before regaining her spirits and spending the remaining three Crystal Stones on Qian Ji Zhi Meng, Paper Substitute Technique, and Wood Spirit Detoxification Technique, investing five hundred Experience into each.

Each of the three skills was upgraded to different degrees.

Qian Ji Zhi Meng’s power had grown even greater, while its spiritual power consumption had dropped considerably.

Only, the flying needle was still stored in Hong Yanzhi’s Inner Treasury. Lin Xue planned to ask for it back when she saw her.

The upgraded version of Paper Substitute Technique was even more formidable. Before, it could only be used when receiving a fatal attack.

Now, it could be used at any time, turning a paper figure into her own likeness, even making it perform simple actions—making it almost impossible to distinguish from the real thing, perfect for deceiving enemies.

Wood Spirit Detoxification Technique now not only allowed the wooden thorns to neutralize poison, but if the wooden thorns were crushed into powder, it would also have some healing effect.

Seeing such earth-shaking changes in her techniques and a great boost in overall strength, Lin Xue was ecstatic.

She glanced at her panel and found she still had 21,000 Experience left—more than enough.

On a whim, she spent another four thousand Experience to condense four more Crystal Stones, upgrading the Heavenly Demon Transformation Art, Beast Mastery Heart Sutra (Recognition Chapter), Water Control Formula, and Vine Technique, and invested five hundred Experience into each.

After upgrading, the Heavenly Demon Transformation Art gained a new qi-concealment ability, allowing her to hide her demonic or spiritual energy and keep others from seeing her true strength.

The Beast Mastery Heart Sutra (Recognition Chapter) was now complete, transforming into the full Beast Mastery Heart Sutra.

Lin Xue now had perfect mastery over it, reaching a level of consummate skill.

She could transmit her thoughts to her servant remotely and even seize control of her servant’s body, commanding them to act as she wished.

Lin Xue was tempted to try this remote control, but then thought better of it— Hong Yanzhi was probably busy slaughtering demons to avenge herself and reestablish her authority.

It would be inappropriate to control her right now, so she held back.

Water Control Formula and Vine Technique also saw their powers enhanced.

Lin Xue suddenly felt inflated with confidence, as if she were now frighteningly powerful.