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Chapter 11
Perfect-Grade Fireball Technique
If the Mysterious Marvel Pill continued being sold as a monopoly product, then with so few competitors, customers who experienced its excellent effects would naturally return for more.
The downside, however, was obvious.
Each batch cost five spirit stones to produce, making the manufacturing cost extremely high. The failure rate was also considerable.
Furthermore, the so-called market with “few competitors” was not actually very large to begin with. More than half the wandering cultivators surviving within Great River Market were Foundation Establishment cultivators. Very few of them indulged themselves in worldly pleasures.
Still, at the current stage, the Mysterious Marvel Pill was the only true flagship product Na Jin could place before customers.
So even if the current profits were not especially high once costs were deducted, mass production remained unavoidable.
And Na Jin intended to keep going.
If his success rate improved, then his hopes for the future would improve as well.
By noon, Na Jin prepared beef rice as usual.
Ever since his Bigu Pill proficiency reached the Master level, the amount of beef he needed had decreased to the bare minimum. However, because the frozen demon bull meat had to be used quickly—and because he noticed that too much spiritual energy leaked from the flesh after beginning to refine Mysterious Marvel Pills—he started adding larger amounts of meat whenever he cooked.
After happily finishing a bowl, Na Jin let out a satisfied burp.
“What a fragrant smell!”
Not long afterward, he completed processing the ingredients for both Bigu Pills and Mysterious Marvel Pills before sitting beside the creek with a fishing rod.
Recently, Na Jin had discovered that fish and shrimp were becoming increasingly plentiful in the creek flowing down from the Lancang River. He intended to catch several fish and enjoy a truly luxurious meal for once.
While fishing, he opened his status panel.
Name: Na Jin
Lifespan: 27 / 75
Spiritual Roots: Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, Earth
Realm: Qi Refining Stage 3 — 76 / 100
Cultivation Method: Eternal Spring Art (Orthodox) — 257 / 300
Spells:
- Cleanliness Technique (Beginner) — 52 / 100
- Lightning Illumination Technique (Proficient) — 176 / 200
- Fireball Technique (Perfect) — 315 / 500
- Carefree Wanderer Movement Technique (Proficient) — 102 / 200
Profession: Tier-1 Alchemist
- Bigu Powder (Master) — 510 / 1000
- Mysterious Marvel Pill (Beginner) — 13 / 100
Achievement Points: 1
Looking at the panel, Na Jin felt extremely pleased.
His cultivation realm—which had remained motionless for a long time—had finally increased from 75 to 76 points. Reaching Qi Refining Stage 4 no longer felt so distant.
The progress of Eternal Spring Art, Bigu Pills, and Mysterious Marvel Pills was unsurprising.
However, his attention lingered briefly on the Fireball Technique and Carefree Wanderer Technique listed under spells.
When the Carefree Wanderer Technique advanced from Beginner to Proficient, the change it brought was speed. His daily mad sprints across the fields had not been wasted.
As for the Fireball Technique, which had already reached the Perfect grade, he had never properly tested it before. Until now, he only felt that igniting cooking fires had become slightly easier.
Half an hour later, the pit he dug for fishing still contained not a single fish.
“How can I waste time indulging in entertainment like this? I should cultivate instead!”
Na Jin tossed away the fishing rod and began hurling flames toward the deepest section of the creek.
BOOM!
The once-quiet stream instantly exploded into towering sprays of water as scorching steam spread everywhere.
Soon afterward, charred dead fish fell among the pebbles near the bank before floating downstream with the current.
Na Jin looked very satisfied with the Fireball Technique’s power.
One fireball had killed multiple fish.
As expected of a Perfect-grade Fireball Technique.
Soon, however, he sensed the amount of spiritual energy consumed and frowned in surprise.
“Huh? Before, each cast used ten percent of my spiritual energy. Now it’s not even half that… Does this mean I can cast twenty Fireball Techniques in one go?”
Doubling the number of casts represented an absolute qualitative transformation.
And beyond that…
The casting speed also seemed to have doubled.
Previously, when using fire to cook, he needed to form seals step by step while chanting incantations. Afraid of accidentally blowing up the stove, he carefully injected only tiny amounts of spiritual energy.
But just now, he created the flame casually without worry and immediately realized the Fireball Technique had fundamentally changed.
Ordinary cultivators required three breaths to cast Fireball Technique.
When Na Jin’s technique was at the Orthodox level, he only needed two breaths.
Now that it had reached the Perfect level, it activated within a single breath.
It had unquestionably become much faster than before.
“One breath… Even a Fireball Talisman couldn’t achieve that speed.”
Even talismans required time.
A cultivator still needed to inject spiritual energy into the talisman, draw out its internal power, and aim it toward the enemy. Only experienced users could activate them quickly and steadily in battle.
After all, external objects remained external objects.
Because one’s senses could sometimes be misleading, Na Jin cast Fireball Technique three more consecutive times toward the creek to verify his judgment.
“As expected. I wasn’t mistaken.”
Including the first cast from earlier, all four Fireball Techniques combined had only consumed twenty percent of his spiritual energy.
Their speed was also vastly faster than before, to the point where Fireball Talismans could not even compare.
After confirming the results, Na Jin could not help but smile happily.
Even though he cultivated Eternal Spring Art daily, the amount of spiritual energy he could absorb and convert remained limited. No matter how hard he tried, he usually recovered only one-fifth of his spiritual energy reserves.
Because of this, he previously avoided deeply researching offensive spells. He feared running out of spiritual energy during emergencies.
But now, the Fireball Technique consumed very little energy.
Which also meant—
He could effectively double his daily proficiency gains.
Yet this was not what made Na Jin happiest.
“Compared to talismans, this is unbelievably fast. In unexpected situations, I could completely catch enemies off guard. I finally have a method worth showing others!”
Until now, Na Jin possessed no truly effective combat methods. He had lived like insignificant dust, too weak to attract anyone’s attention.
But remaining unnoticed by others and actually possessing combat power were two entirely different matters.
As the trembling anxiety in his heart gradually calmed, Na Jin suddenly wanted to raise his head and shout toward the heavens.
But after thinking carefully, he decided it was still better to remain humble.
“When I break through again and become a mid-stage Qi Refining expert, then I’ll shout at the heavens.”
Picking up a fish cooked to death by the steam near the shore, Na Jin happily thought about tomorrow’s delicious meal.
“Mm. Since I caught one fish today, that should count as one point of fishing proficiency!”
Great River Market sat on the outermost edge of Jade Cauldron Region, bordering the Million Mountains of the Eastern Wastelands.
According to a travelogue written several years ago by a Foundation Establishment cultivator, the existence of a Tier-1 spiritual vein constantly attracted countless cultivators to this place.
Most were wandering cultivators.
Members of great sects usually stayed only temporarily for business purposes, while even the managers of inner-city shops rotated every few years.
As a whole, Great River Market therefore resembled a massive wandering cultivator marketplace driven largely by spontaneous civilian activity.
The market itself was divided into major and minor sessions.
The major market opened once per month.
Minor markets opened on the 1st, 4th, and 7th days.
Naturally, some cultivators still set up stalls even outside official market days, but foot traffic during those periods remained sparse.
Ten days had passed since the previous minor market session.
A plump figure rushed toward the market at dawn like a speeding arrow.
Zeng Wen had been unusually fortunate.
Only a few days after entering the mountains, he successfully hunted a Tier-1 demon beast and obtained several thousand jin of demon beast meat. Since his storage sack was small, he could only stuff a portion inside.
Satisfied with his gains and knowing when to retreat, he descended from the mountains.
Ten jin of Tier-1 demon beast meat could be sold for one low-grade spirit stone. Even the beast’s bones contained spiritual energy and could be sold as materials.
This harvest alone would support him comfortably for quite some time.
After returning home yesterday, he visited a butcher acquaintance to process the meat before swaggering magnificently toward Thousand Fragrance Pavilion.
The beauties there were excellent.
And his performance remained as stable and impressive as ever.
However…
Compared to the mighty prestige of fighting ten women simultaneously last time, this performance felt somewhat lacking.
Thus, before dawn even fully arrived, he abandoned his illusion of heroism and hurried toward the market to seek another transaction with that young friend from before.
Upon entering the market, Zeng Wen saw several cultivators already setting up stalls.
Among them sat Elder Chen upon a small mule, leisurely selling talismans.
“Has Daoist Na not arrived yet?”
“He hasn’t. He’s probably refining pills at home.”
“Then does that mean he won’t come today?”
“If he still hasn’t arrived by this hour, then he probably doesn’t intend to come.”
Disappointment immediately filled Zeng Wen’s face.
He chatted with Elder Chen for a while about his experiences in the mountains. But once customers began approaching the old man’s stall, Zeng Wen politely took his leave.
Just before departing, however, he noticed Elder Chen cautiously pulling at a hesitant customer’s sleeve.
“Daoist friend… are you interested in learning about the Divine Hidden Flame Protection Talisman?”
“What is that? A talisman that hides spiritual aura?”
“You know Spiritual Hermit Master of the Divine Talisman Sect? Let me tell you something known only to insiders…”
Hearing this, Zeng Wen’s expression turned strange.
The sales pitch sounded awfully familiar.
After walking some distance away from the market, realization suddenly struck him.
Wasn’t this practically the same tactic Daoist Na had used on him before?
“Damn it. That old man learned something dangerous.”
Back then, Na Jin never directly guaranteed anything while selling the Mysterious Marvel Pill. He merely implied things ambiguously, so Zeng Wen never felt truly deceived.
Moreover, the pill’s effects were indeed mostly consistent with Na Jin’s descriptions.
Therefore, Zeng Wen simply concluded that Elder Chen had shamelessly copied Na Jin’s sales techniques.
Meanwhile—
The actual victim, Na Jin, was currently at home wearing an apron while respectfully bowing before Lord Guan’s statue.
“I’ve already failed several times. That should be enough by now. Please let me succeed today! Lord Guan, I even burned incense for you today, so you absolutely must help me!”
