Eternal Life from the Golden Needle Technique

Chapter 446: Chapter 444: A Request

In order to improve his combat power as much as possible within six months...

「One day later,」

Shen Changchuan found his master, Master Wandering Dragon, and made a request.

”Oh, you want to cultivate a Tier Two Top Level Skill?”

After hearing Shen Changchuan’s words, Master Wandering Dragon’s brow furrowed slightly.

A Tier Two Top Level Skill...

It was a rank above Tier Two High Level, standing at the very peak of all Tier Two Magic!

Their power was also extremely formidable.

The ordinary combat methods of some Loose Cultivators in the Divine Travel Realm Early Stage, those from less distinguished lineages, were merely Tier Two Top Level Skills. This alone was a testament to their might.

But while they were powerful,

their cultivation difficulty was also extremely high!

The cultivation difficulty of an ordinary Tier Two High Level Skill was already several times that of a regular Tier Two Magic.

For the Tier Two Top Level category, the difficulty was more than ten times greater!

Even for someone who had advanced to the Soul Emergence Seventh Layer and whose Divine Sense had undergone further transformation, successfully cultivating a Tier Two Top Level Skill was by no means easy!

It required years upon years of hard work.

And once one’s focus was divided on this,

it would inevitably slow the progress of one’s Cultivation Realm... and there were less than ten years until the Sect’s centennial grand tournament.

In that amount of time,

raising one’s Cultivation from the Soul Emergence Seventh Layer to the Soul Emergence Ninth Layer,

was already a tight schedule in Master Wandering Dragon’s opinion, even with his personal guidance and a large supply of Cultivation Resources.

If he also diverted his attention to cultivating a Tier Two Top Level Skill...

”I do indeed have Tier Two Top Level Skills in my possession.”

”Skills of this level are certainly powerful. If you can cultivate one to Perfection, it might give you an edge against your peers who are also at the Soul Emergence Ninth Layer during the Sect’s centennial grand tournament.”

”But for all their power, the time and energy required to cultivate them are not insignificant. It will inevitably hinder the progress of your Cultivation Realm.”

”Moreover, the higher your Cultivation Realm, the stronger your Divine Sense becomes, which in turn lowers the threshold and difficulty of cultivating High Tier Skills.”

”A Tier Two Top Level Skill is something a Cultivator should work on after reaching the Soul Emergence Ninth Layer. While seeking to advance to the Divine Travel Realm, they have ample time to spend several years, or even more than a decade, of their leisure painstakingly cultivating it to Perfection.”

”At your current level of Soul Emergence Seventh Layer, the difficulty of cultivating a Tier Two Top Level Skill might be more than double what it would be if you were to cultivate the same skill after reaching the Ninth Layer Realm.”

”Are you sure you want to cultivate them now?”

Although Master Wandering Dragon believed in a teaching philosophy where disciples were responsible for their own lives and he wouldn’t interfere too much with their choices,

at this moment, he still couldn’t help but try to dissuade him tactfully.

Spending time and energy cultivating a Tier Two Top Level Skill right now...

It was simply not worth it.

”Master, I’m sure!”

In response to Master Wandering Dragon’s question,

Shen Changchuan answered affirmatively without much hesitation.

’A Tier Two Top Level Skill might be difficult for others to cultivate to Perfection, but that may not be the case for me!’

’With the accumulated experience and Traits from cultivating over a thousand skills to Perfection, the threshold for me to cultivate skills of the same type will be drastically reduced!’

’Besides, with the display function of my progress bar panel, as long as I’m willing to grind, I can naturally stack its progress bit by bit until it reaches the Realm of Perfection!’

’What’s more, I don’t lack Cultivation Resources like Spirit Stones and Elixirs right now anyway. I can use the opportunity of cultivating a Tier Two Top Level Skill to train, just like before—constantly depleting my Magical Power and then recovering it, tempering myself back and forth to accelerate the improvement of my Cultivation Realm!’

’It’s a great way to kill two birds with one stone!’

Of course,

these words involved Shen Changchuan’s deepest secret,

so he naturally didn’t say them out loud, merely reciting them in his heart.

”Master, please don’t worry. Your disciple knows what he’s doing. This isn’t a spur-of-the-moment decision.”

Shen Changchuan spoke frankly, his gaze resolute.

The idea of cultivating a Tier Two Top Level Skill...

had actually come to him long ago, during his battle with Qiu Kunsheng.

The trip to Heaven’s End Valley in six months was just what made him decide to act on this long-held idea sooner.

In that battle,

Shen Changchuan had already discovered some shortcomings in his combat abilities.

Namely, when facing enemies in a higher Realm than his own,

he lacked powerful offensive measures!

An ordinary Tier Two Magic, even when cultivated to the point of Perfection, was no longer very effective against an enemy one layer higher than himself.

Because by the Soul Emergence Late Stage, most Cultivators had more or less mastered one or two ordinary Tier Two Magic skills to Perfection.

In a clash of skills at the same tier,

the one cast by a higher-Realm enemy was undoubtedly more powerful and held the upper hand!

This had undoubtedly put Shen Changchuan at a disadvantage at the time.

Back then, in order to close the gap,

Shen Changchuan had no choice but to use his most familiar skill, the Cyan Wood Sword Light,

and consecutively unleashed nine beams of sword light in an instant.

By overwhelming his opponent with sheer numbers,

he barely managed to suppress Qiu Kunsheng.

But this clever trick was only a temporary solution, not a long-term one.

First of all, launching nine attacks in an instant...

...was something he could barely manage only with his most familiar Cyan Wood Sword Light.

With other Tier Two Magic skills, Shen Changchuan could at most cast them three to five times in an instant.

This might be because the Cyan Wood Sword Light was originally only a Tier One Top Level Skill and didn’t have as many casting requirements,

or it could be because it had been with Shen Changchuan from the beginning, so he was most familiar with its intricacies.

But regardless of the specific reason,

in short, Shen Changchuan could only rely on the Cyan Wood Sword Light to overwhelm opponents with quantity.

In that case,

if the battle dragged on, a huge opening would easily appear for the enemy to exploit.

What’s more,

unleashing nine beams of Cyan Wood Sword Light in an instant consumed a massive amount of energy.

The longer he fought, the more disadvantaged he became!

’An ordinary Tier Two Magic at Perfection no longer holds an overwhelming advantage at the Soul Emergence Late Stage.’

’And I can’t just greet a powerful enemy with a Divine Technique right off the bat, can I?’

’Divine Techniques are certainly powerful, but the cost is too great; a full-power cast consumes nearly a third of my Magical Power. If the enemy dodges it using some kind of Technique, the outcome will only go from bad to worse!’

’As it stands, only by cultivating a Tier Two Top Level Skill can I continue to maintain a combat advantage in the Soul Emergence Late Stage!’

Regarding this,

Shen Changchuan had thought it through very clearly!

Looking at Shen Changchuan’s resolute gaze,

Master Wandering Dragon opened his mouth slightly,

but in the end, he said nothing.

”Fine. Since you’ve made your decision, so be it.”

Master Wandering Dragon sighed inwardly, flipped his hand, and retrieved a Jade Slip from his Storage Bag, handing it to Shen Changchuan.

”Here are the Tier Two Top Level Skills your master possesses. Take a look and choose whichever one you need.”

’Since my disciple has already made his decision, I shouldn’t interfere by force.’

’On the path of Immortal Cultivation, the Dao Heart is very important.’

’If one’s will is forcibly bent by another, there will be no talk of future achievements.’

Still, although he thought this,

Master Wandering Dragon couldn’t help but feel a faint sense of regret.