When Qi Chuan left the Exchange Pavilion, he not only had a record of qi refining techniques in his hand but also a bottle containing three Spirit Tempering Pills.
And the cost was merely twenty-five Lower Grade Spirit Stones.
… Alright, although with a hundred Lower Grade Spirit Stones, he suddenly felt a bit wealthy, the stones are used up quickly, and now a quarter of them were gone.
Unlike the Evergreen Technique bestowed by the family years ago, this Record of Qi Refining Techniques does not need to be returned to the family.
He can keep it himself, and practice the magic within it whenever he wants.
Returning to his own independent peak, it didn't take long for Qi Chuan to start trying to cultivate the Artifact Manipulation Skill.
After all, compared to other spells, learning the Artifact Manipulation Skill and mastering the Upper Grade Magical Artifact "Flying Ash" could maximize his current combat power.
On the bed, Qi Chuan sat cross-legged, with the Record of Qi Refining Techniques opened in front of him, his eyes focused on the page recording the Artifact Manipulation Skill.
"According to what is described, this Artifact Manipulation Skill is even more difficult than other common qi refining techniques?"
"However, unlike other spells, as long as you grasp the entry level of the Artifact Manipulation Skill, you can manipulate magical artifacts."
"As for the higher level of the Artifact Manipulation Skill, the enhancement to combat power is not as significant, unlike the Fireball Technique and other spells, which have a huge leap in power when advancing to a higher level."
With a slight glance, Qi Chuan quickly learned some information about the Artifact Manipulation Skill.
Then, he began to carefully watch the Artifact Manipulation Skill.
Before long, he had carefully read it once, and he slightly closed his eyes, repeatedly reflecting on what he gained from this reading, before opening them again.
[You carefully read through the Artifact Manipulation Skill and diligently try to comprehend it, attempting to reach the entry level, triggering a tenfold critical strike, achieving tenfold gains, and your understanding of the Artifact Manipulation Skill has slightly improved.]
As expected, a familiar line of text appeared before his eyes.
Soon, some understanding of the Artifact Manipulation Skill surged in his mind.
Compared to just reading and comprehending it once normally, the understanding of the Artifact Manipulation Skill that emerged was much greater, clearly boosted by tenfold understanding.
Qi Chuan immediately closed his eyes, sensing the information in his mind, and soon absorbed it all, feeling a noticeable improvement in his understanding of the Artifact Manipulation Skill.
This improvement was clearly not enough to allow him to reach the entry level of the Artifact Manipulation Skill.
However, if he continues to gain understanding of the Artifact Manipulation Skill at this speed, then surely he will reach the entry level very quickly.
"Then, continue to comprehend!"
Immediately, Qi Chuan continued to carefully watch the Artifact Manipulation Skill.
Also, some text continued to appear in front of him from time to time.
[You carefully read through the Artifact Manipulation Skill and diligently try to comprehend it, attempting to reach the entry level, triggering a ninefold critical strike, achieving ninefold gains, and your understanding of the Artifact Manipulation Skill has slightly improved.]
[You carefully read through the Artifact Manipulation Skill and diligently try to comprehend it, attempting to reach the entry level, triggering a twelvefold critical strike, achieving twelvefold gains, and your understanding of the Artifact Manipulation Skill has slightly improved.]
…
[You carefully read through the Artifact Manipulation Skill and diligently try to comprehend it, attempting to reach the entry level, triggering a sixtyfold critical strike, achieving sixtyfold gains, and your understanding of the Artifact Manipulation Skill has improved, and your Artifact Manipulation Skill has reached the entry level.]
Three days later, in the room, on the bed, Qi Chuan, who was sitting cross-legged, opened his eyes, and a line of text appeared before him.
Then he felt that his understanding of the Artifact Manipulation Skill in his mind suddenly improved significantly; combined with previous accumulations, it should have directly reached the entry level.
In response, Qi Chuan nodded slightly.
In the past three days, aside from routine cultivation method practices, he hadn't touched any other spells, focusing his energy on the Artifact Manipulation Skill.
Now, he finally succeeded in reaching the entry level.
It seems, as mentioned in the Record of Qi Refining Techniques, the Artifact Manipulation Skill is indeed more difficult than general qi refining techniques, taking him a full three days just to reach the entry level.
Then, Qi Chuan's gaze shifted to the gray dagger "Flying Ash" placed aside, contemplating the methods of the Artifact Manipulation Skill in his mind, chanting an incantation, and then curving his two fingers to point at the dagger.
At this moment, mana flowed out from Qi Chuan's dantian, and at the same time, there was a slight throb between his brows, due to the exertion of spiritual power.
This Artifact Manipulation Skill requires the joint application of mana and spiritual power.
For ordinary artifact manipulation, the mana consumption is relatively low, whereas spiritual power consumption is somewhat higher.
However, if one wishes to unleash the full power of an artifact to slay enemies, a substantial mana supply is needed.
But now, since there is no opponent, mana consumption remains relatively low for mere simple manipulation of the artifact.
Buzz.
Seen with the operation of mana and spiritual power, the "Flying Ash" dagger trembled slightly and then floated mid-air, zipping back and forth a few times before turning into a gray shadow, swirling around Qi Chuan, producing a sonic boom sound.
It seemed to have somewhat of a defensive effect.
However, it appears unlikely to defend against others' magical attacks, as this Upper Grade Magical Artifact is primarily an attack-type artifact, used mainly for slaying, with defense capabilities even less than the Golden Skin Technique.
But without an opponent now, Qi Chuan could not test the power of this Upper Grade Magical Artifact.
Therefore, he could only put away the "Flying Ash."
[You successfully cast the Artifact Manipulation Skill once and maintained it for a period, triggering a threefold critical strike, achieving threefold gains, and your understanding of the Artifact Manipulation Skill has slightly improved.]
Then, when Qi Chuan stopped running the Artifact Manipulation Skill and put away the artifact, a line of text appeared in front of him, and a bit more understanding of the Artifact Manipulation Skill emerged in his mind.
After assimilating it, Qi Chuan's understanding of the Artifact Manipulation Skill deepened once again.
"The entry-level Artifact Manipulation Skill is enough to operate this Upper Grade Magical Artifact for now, but if I could stack it to a higher level, it would naturally be even better."
Qi Chuan nodded slightly when he saw this.
Nevertheless, the enhancement of the Artifact Manipulation Skill should not require him to put much effort into cultivation; in the process of using artifacts, the Artifact Manipulation Skill will naturally advance continually, ultimately reaching the Perfection Level.
By then, even if high-level Artifact Manipulation Skill doesn't considerably enhance power, the flexible use of artifacts brought by Perfection Level Artifact Manipulation Skill would still likely significantly impact battles.
"Next, let's get some other common spells to entry level as a preparatory measure, starting with... the Invisibility Technique."
After reaching the entry level of the Artifact Manipulation Skill, Qi Chuan set his sights on other spells, finally deciding to first cultivate the Invisibility Technique.
"This Invisibility Technique is quite potent... at the entry level, it can fool the eyes of mortals, and at higher levels, even cultivators find it hard to detect."
After glancing at the Invisibility Technique information in the Record of Qi Refining Techniques, Qi Chuan began diligently reading and comprehending the Invisibility Technique.
[You carefully read through the Invisibility Technique and diligently try to comprehend it, attempting to reach the entry level, triggering a fifteenfold critical strike, achieving fifteenfold gains, and your understanding of the Invisibility Technique has slightly improved.]
Before long, a line of text appeared before his eyes again…