Chapter 27

Opening the attribute panel, Ji Ran saw the mysterious energy bar rapidly decreasing. At the same time, the wolf-tooth bracelet on his wrist suddenly heated up.

The wolf-tooth bracelet was considered the lowest-level magical treasure. The last time, this phenomenon did not occur, probably because the Bone Blade Sword had absorbed all such energy. This time, without the Bone Blade Sword in hand, only the bracelet remained.

The wolf-tooth bracelet instantly melted, turning into a small patch of liquid. With a thought, Ji Ran transformed this small patch of liquid into a fingerless glove. However, due to the small size of the wolf-tooth bracelet, the glove was only a thin layer.

What effect would this glove have? Ji Ran was very curious. He was now hiding behind a large tree to avoid others. This matter involved deep secrets, and he did not want to let Lai Si and the others know. So, using the excuse of needing to relieve himself, he hid here to test the effects of this strange energy.

After a moment's thought, Ji Ran aimed at a brick-sized stone on the ground and punched it.

With a crack, the stone shattered. With Ji Ran's current strength, breaking a stone bare-handed was not very surprising, but it would only split into a few pieces, not turn into powder like this!

However, Ji Ran knew that his strength had not increased. The effect was entirely due to the concentration of force. When he punched, he felt his strength flow directly from his arm into his fist, with almost no loss along the way!

"…So the glove's ability is to concentrate force… Is this related to the original attributes of the wolf-tooth bracelet?" Ji Ran pondered.

He didn't know what to call this tool formed by melting and reshaping a magical treasure. But it was clear that it had new and useful properties that the original treasure did not have. Whether this effect was related to his will or the treasure's own properties needed careful consideration.

"Actually, this effect should be due to the speed being maximized. The faster the speed, the greater the impact. Concentrating force and increasing speed are closely related. And the wolf-tooth bracelet's original attribute is to enhance movement… Could it be that this thing is also related to the treasure's own attributes?"

He couldn't be sure, as he had too few magical treasures to experiment with. He had given the Bone Blade Sword to Uncle Lai Si, as he had no combat ability at that time and the sword was useless to him. Now, he had only two experiences: one with the wolf-tooth bracelet and the other with the Bone Blade Sword.

"The Bone Blade Sword's attribute is mainly for heavy strikes, enhancing attack power. My strike directly pierced through the true god's avatar and even damaged the avatar, which should not have been harmed. This must be related to the Bone Blade Sword's attributes. Also, the Bone Blade Sword has a震慑 ability, likely related to the mind, which is why it could harm the true god's avatar…"

The more Ji Ran thought, the more he believed. After all, this thing was formed from a magical treasure, so it was natural for it to carry the treasure's attributes. However, it seemed not all attributes were inherited, only a part. Fortunately, this part was significantly enhanced...

"Not only that, there must be other changes I haven't understood yet. But... the current conditions don't allow me to continue experimenting." Looking at the energy bar that was almost depleted, Ji Ran felt helpless. This energy was consumed too quickly!

Fortunately, it was just a wolf-tooth bracelet, so he could still hold on for a while. The Bone Blade Sword, on the other hand, would only last for an instant... It disappeared immediately after one strike and almost drained him. It seemed this energy needed to be cultivated and strengthened.

But how to strengthen it? Ji Ran was puzzled.

This energy was definitely a good thing, he was sure of that. For example, when he was restrained by the true god's avatar and couldn't move, this energy burst forth, breaking the restraint and giving him the ability to counterattack—swiftly, even Ban and Beck couldn't see it clearly.

From this, the energy's burst was absolutely a powerful tool for turning the tide in dire situations, a decisive killing move.

But since it was a killing move, it couldn't be used casually, as evidenced by the rapid energy consumption. Just one strike with the Bone Blade Sword depleted it and left significant aftereffects. Using it casually would be courting death.

Ji Ran remembered that when the energy burst forth, all his true qi and magical power boiled up and transformed into this special energy. The result... so much true qi and magical power condensed into just a little bit of special energy?

To cultivate this special energy to a level where he could use it freely in battle, how long would it take?

Probably until he broke through the Bronze stage, which in martial arts games is breaking through the Small Circulation, and in xianxia games, passing the first heavenly tribulation. At that point, true qi and magical power would undergo a significant qualitative change, increasing by several dozen times. Now, he was only level 25, and he needed to reach level 40...

To truly study the mysteries of this special energy, he had a long way to go.

"Whatever, let's give this energy a name first." Since he couldn't study it in detail now, he might as well put it aside for now. But giving it a name would make it easier to refer to later.

"True qi and magical power condensed... what should it be called... Okay, let's call it True Essence." As soon as Ji Ran thought this, the row of question marks on the attribute panel disappeared, replaced by "True Essence."

He was surprised that the attribute panel had this function. But no matter how surprised he was, it couldn't be used as a strength, so he didn't need to worry too much about it.

After rejoining the group, Ji Ran couldn't sleep and continued thinking about True Essence.

True Essence could be formed by the fusion of true qi and magical power, but how to fuse them was still unclear. Did he have to activate that energy and fuse a magical treasure every time? But using the energy to activate the wolf-tooth bracelet didn't consume true qi or magical power... Did he need a real magical treasure? Could pseudo-magical treasures used for skill practice not provide this ability?

If so, those cheap materials couldn't be used to cultivate this ability, which was a bit frustrating...

To train this killing move to a point where he could use it at will, how many magical treasures would he need to refine? This wasn't a game where rare materials refreshed regularly, and even if he couldn't get them, he could have others craft them for him...

Thinking about this, Ji Ran felt his heart break...

It seemed this thing could only be used as a killing move. At least in the short term, he couldn't rely on it. So, improving his level and sword skills was the right path to enhancing his strength!

He needed to level up! To find a shortcut to leveling up! If he could only level up by killing monsters, who knew how long it would take. Cooking and refining equipment could add a bit of experience, but for him now, it was like a drop in the bucket.

This way, in the later stages, his strength might not keep up with the professionals in this world. Just being strong in the early stages was useless.

In the game world, quests were the main source of experience. But now, there was no quest system to grind experience. What could he use to level up? If there were dense areas of monsters like in games, it would be fine, but this wasn't a game world. Once monsters were killed, it would take a long time for new ones to appear, unlike in games where they respawned after a while.

What was the future of this thing? Ji Ran was in pain, scratching his head.

The natives of this world could improve their strength through cultivation and practical combat. And he... could also rely on practical combat! If he could cultivate, combining practical combat experience and cooking and refining experience...

Wait, cultivation?

Ji Ran suddenly thought of this word. In the game, cultivation was unnecessary. Leveling up by fighting monsters and completing quests was the main path, and no one had the patience to sit for hours cultivating. Practicing sword techniques was fine, as it involved movement, but cultivating internal energy and magical power, which required days of seclusion, was something no player would do.

But now he was in reality! Why couldn't he cultivate in reality? He had cultivation methods! Heart Sword and Will Sword were the highest-level internal cultivation methods. If he could cultivate, even without experience, improving the level of the cultivation method would be beneficial!

Think and do! Since he couldn't sleep, he might as well try!

Ban was on watch, and the others were resting around, either leaning against trees or lying on branches on the ground. Ji Ran was half-sitting, and not far away, Lydia was nestled in Aileen's arms, both seemingly asleep.

Ji Ran didn't want to wake anyone, so he carefully raised his body and leaned against the tree behind him. Then, he closed his eyes and tried to cultivate his internal cultivation method.

He had never cultivated an internal cultivation method before, but that didn't mean he had no idea how to do it. He had read so many novels and could figure out some patterns.

He first chose the Heart Sword cultivation method. Heart Sword was agile and suited his preferences—after all, as the saying goes, the fastest is the unbeatable!

The Heart Sword cultivation method had a set of internal cultivation verses. In the game, these verses were just background information, explaining the characteristics of the method, and were almost useless in combat. But now, since he wanted to cultivate, he needed to understand these verses thoroughly.

Now, Ji Ran increasingly felt that the cultivation methods in the game might be real. Otherwise, how could he have brought this system with him and have it work in a different world?

Regardless, Ji Ran now focused all his attention on the Heart Sword cultivation verses.