Chapter 309: 6,000 Proficiency Points, Total Breakthrough! Swarming In—are These The Aloof Ghost Gods?
There were too many similar prompts, making Shangshan Che dazzled at a glance.
“Merge similar items.”
With a whoosh, the originally dense prompts became much cleaner.
And the first “big” prompt that emerged from the merge left Shangshan Che stunned.
【In the “Seed Battle,” due to experiencing multiple high-intensity combats, your skill, Natural Reason School Proficiency +1722!!!】
Holy crap.
Seventeen hundred proficiency points?
Shangshan Che blinked his eyes several times, confirming it wasn’t his eyes playing tricks on him.
“This is a windfall…”
He covered his mouth with his hand, suppressing his laughter, trying his best to maintain a calm demeanor.
But the corners of his mouth under his palm still couldn’t help but grin wider and wider. If it weren’t for being in public, Shangshan Che would almost have burst out laughing like a certain Komi.
Because this was for the “Skill and Reason” path he chose, which greatly increased the difficulty of proficiency growth— a full 1700 proficiency points for Expert-level Natural Reason School!
To know, ever since raising Natural Reason School to Expert level for so long, Shangshan Che had toiled daily without slacking, getting his head chopped by Kamizumi every day…
Struggling desperately, he had only earned 900 proficiency points.
And this one wave of Seed Battle had almost doubled that!
How could he not be happy, not delighted?
【Natural Reason School（Expert 911/10000）→Natural Reason School（Expert 2633/10000）!】
【Due to a significant increase in proficiency of your skill “Natural Reason School,” your understanding of all Natural Reason School techniques has greatly deepened!】
At the same time, the damage of all Natural Reason School techniques has greatly increased!】
This wave directly pushed Natural Reason School’s progress to nearly 30% of the Expert-level progress bar!
And because the current Natural Reason School converts every 1 point of proficiency into combat power in real-time.
So Shangshan Che could clearly feel that his sword technique now had a noticeable improvement compared to before the Seed Battle started.
With his sword technique level, he could easily sense it without even swinging his sword.
“But I only fought about ten matches in the Seed Battle at most, averaging over a hundred proficiency per match?”
Isn’t this a bit, too much?
Shangshan Che fell into thought.
Normally, even after a fierce battle that turned into a grueling fight, he’d only gain a few dozen proficiency points.
—Could it be the proficiency bonus from the “Seed Battle” as a “special event”?
Just like how proficiency grew more in the Sengoku Secret Realm.
After thinking it over, this idea seemed the most reasonable.
“Then we should hold more matches…”
Shangshan Che muttered, moving his gaze further down.
【Due to experiencing multiple high-intensity combats, you gained a new insight into “Sword Skill,” your trait·Sword Skill（4%） has now changed to Sword Skill（9%）!】
【Due to your trait·Sword Skill reaching 5%, your understanding of “Sword Skill” has further deepened!】
【Due to your trait·Sword Skill reaching 5%, your understanding of everything related to swords has deepened!】
【Due to your trait·Sword Skill reaching 5%, the damage of all your sword skills has received a slight increase!】
【Due to your traits·Sword Skill and Sword Principle both reaching 5%, you gained a new understanding of Natural Reason School Secret Technique·Three-stage Thrust!】
After many days, Sword Skill finally broke through the 4% bottleneck, leaping to the next bottleneck at “9%”.
Normally, Shangshan Che’s perception of this would be very clear, and he might even spend hours digesting the insights.
But after just now incarnating as Hundred-Eyed Demon and fully activating Hundred-Eyed Demon’s Eye to enter the “New World,” this change seemed rather insignificant.
This bit of improvement was easily absorbed and mastered by Shangshan Che.
The same went for the significantly improved Sword Principle below.
【Due to experiencing multiple high-intensity combats, you gained a new insight into “Sword Principle,” your trait·Sword Principle（10%） has now changed to Sword Principle（19%）!】
【Your understanding of “Sword Principle” has further deepened!】
Thus, both Sword Skill and Sword Principle received significant improvements after the Seed Battle, directly reaching the next bottleneck.
【Sword Skill（4%）→Sword Skill（9%）!】
【Sword Principle（10%）→Sword Principle（19%）!】
Shangshan Che took a shallow breath, half-squinting his eyes as he let the air fully pass through his lungs, retaining every bit of spiritual energy within his body.
Exhaling only the pure air.
Spirit Control Technique also received a huge proficiency boost.
【In the “Seed Battle,” due to extremely frequent high-intensity use of Spirit Control Technique·Qi, your skill, Spirit Control Technique·Qi Proficiency +2388!!!】
【Spirit Control Technique·Qi（Master 744/8000）→Spirit Control Technique·Qi（Master 3132/8000）!】
Although the changes in Spirit Control Technique weren’t as obvious as Natural Reason School, his absorption and manipulation of spiritual energy and spiritual power had become even more proficient.
This was taught to him personally by Takizawa Kai, Tsuchimikado Ran, and Kamo Kiichi.
Observe opponents, learn and apply.
Facing opponents with “goods,” Shangshan Che had always done this.
Compared to Spirit Control Technique, the proficiency gain for Five Thunder Technique was relatively less.
After all, the former operated constantly, while the latter needed to be used reasonably, planned, and moderately to avoid depleting spiritual power and having no thunder available at key moments.
【In the “Seed Battle,” due to extremely frequent high-intensity use of Five Thunder Technique·Qi Union, your skill, Five Thunder Technique·Qi Union Proficiency +1612!!!】
【Five Thunder Technique·Qi Union（Expert 888/5600）→Five Thunder Technique·Qi Union（Expert 2500/5600）!】
“Looking at this, the days ahead really look promising…”
【Natural Reason School（Expert 2633/10000）】
【Spirit Control Technique·Qi（Master 3132/8000）】
【Five Thunder Technique·Qi Union（Expert 2500/5600）】
The proficiency of his three main combat skills appeared one by one before his eyes, making Shangshan Che reveal a warm, old farmer-like smile.
Nothing could be more joyful than clearly knowing he was steadily growing stronger.
【In the “Seed Battle,” due to repeatedly circulating Qi and Blood to repair the body, your skill, Dan Embracing Progress +26!】
【Dan Embracing（42/100）→Dan Embracing（68/100）】
【In the “Seed Battle,” due to repeatedly using Technique·Eightfold Fence, Eightfold Fence’s proficiency level has risen to “Proficient”!】
Following the three main combat skills, Eightfold Fence, which had saved Shangshan Che’s life countless times, and the “Dan Embracing Technique” that blocked Lili Zi’s critical strike, also saw significant improvements.
Especially Eightfold Fence.
Looking back now, Shangshan Che was very glad he had agreed to the request from Saionji Acting Instructor at Yagyu Dojo back then.
Otherwise, where could he find such agile and profound footwork outside?
Next was the seemingly dormant Rin Character Technique.
【In the “Seed Battle,” due to multiple uses of Rin Character Technique, your understanding of it deepened, Rin Character Technique Mastery Level +1%!】
【Rin Character Technique（10.004%）→Rin Character Technique（11.004%）】
Rin Character Technique seemed unused, but was actually used everywhere.
Steadily boosting 30 attribute points, and instantly activating a shield that could block fatal injuries… Without Rin Character Technique, many of Shangshan Che’s battles would have been much harder.
Not to mention the final “Overlimit State·Battle” that allowed him to touch Minamoto Shizuka’s figure.
Besides that, what surprised Shangshan Che even more was that the Limit Breaking Value, which had been cleared to zero by activating Overlimit State, had now somehow accumulated back to 80%.
Normally, this Limit Breaking Value only increased by one or two points after a day of high-intensity cultivation.
【Limit Breaking Value（80/100）】
Probably because the final life-and-death fierce battle with Minamoto Shizuka was too intense and too thrilling.
Shangshan Che nodded happily: “So theoretically, Limit Breaking Value can fill up in seconds? That’s pretty good.”
Rewarding the brave.
This was the perfect annotation for the terms “Limit Breaking” and “Overlimit.”
Following closely was the effect from Red Hannya’s new talent “Bloodthirsty Crimson.”
【In the “Seed Battle,” you experienced multiple high-intensity combats, and under the effect of “Bloodthirsty Crimson,” your body and spirit received comprehensive reinforcement!
Thus—your Physique +3, Willpower +4, Charm -5, Spiritual Arts +1!】
【Note: Charm attribute deduction from Bloodthirsty Crimson only applies when incarnated as “Red Hannya” or wearing “Hannya Mask·Red.”】
The Charm deduction can be ignored; better to see it as a gain.
—Bro, I’ve incarnated into Red Hannya with negative Charm, and you’re still joking around with me?
A fierce and evil aura also helps enhance the “Ghost God” presence, intimidating petty troublemakers.
So this wave equates to a direct gain of 13 attribute points!
Shangshan Che’s attributes now aren’t what they used to be; the difficulty and value of 13 points far exceed the initial 30 points!
With this thought, Shangshan Che glanced at his current base attribute panel—
【Shangshan Che】
【Physique: 85】
【Willpower: 68】
【Charm: 15】
【Spiritual Arts: 77】
The extra attributes were probably minor boosts from Hundred-Eyed Demon Incarnation.
This powerful four-dimensional panel was even higher than when he previously incarnated as Four-tailed Fox with Hannya Mask at his waist.
Shangshan Che reckoned that with just his base attributes now, he could thoroughly thrash the Ootama Hoshi who once forced him to use “Wrath.”
One could only say, the light boat has passed ten thousand heavy mountains.
Right, and the Sea of Qi…
Earlier against Minamoto Shizuka, the situation was urgent, and Shangshan Che hadn’t had time to check.
With internal vision, he discovered that the Hundred-Eyed Demon Incarnation Card hadn’t fused with Uguisudori’s Feather.
Instead, it had settled in the Sea of Qi to govern the territory, turning the “Sea of Qi Three Kingdoms” into four… its deep ink-like color almost identical to the void outside the Sea of Qi.
Shangshan Che looked closer and found that among the four, the newly born Hundred-Eyed Demon Sea of Qi was actually the strongest.
But it didn’t provoke any other existences in the Sea of Qi.
Just like that, neither contacting nor provoking, coexisting peacefully with the original inhabitants of the entire Sea of Qi.
Like a high mountain flower keeping people at a distance.
Therefore, the already constantly expanding Void Qi Sea’s expansion speed increased by about 50%, and the quality of the Qi Barrier also improved.
A qualitative change.
The more Qi Barrier in the Void Qi Sea, the lower the difficulty of subsequently opening acupoints.
Shangshan Che smiled contentedly.
After so many restless guys needing the tangible giant hand to discipline them, finally came a reassuring Hundred-Eyed Demon.
As expected of her.
—Besides the bountiful proficiency gains, there were also Seed Battle rewards and…
As Shangshan Che was thinking, his gaze suddenly lingered on an unremarkable prompt.
How did Basic Five Elements Onmyōdō also upgrade from “Beginner” to “Proficient”?
Whatever, not important.
—In this Seed Battle, Shangshan Che proved with real combat that any technique or skill he invested time in cultivating could be used in high-intensity battles.
Previously using them less was just because the opponents were too weak.
“Flame Armor definitely needs to consume one opportunity.”
Shangshan Che thought.
The Seed Battle rewards included two Completion Opportunities for Wild God level and below inheritances, plus one self-selected Wild God level, roughly equivalent to Five-Star and below inheritance opportunities!
One of the Completion Opportunities definitely had to go to “Heavenly Cycle Flame Armor.”
This thing, layered with his custom multi-layer Qi Circulation, was like a super turtle shell—hard to break, and quick to recover even if broken, reliable every time.
Although insufficient against top powerhouses like Minamoto Shizuka, it was very effective against the next tier and weaklings.
Once Shangshan Che truly mastered Heavenly Cycle Flame Armor, human wave tactics would be useless against him.
—But Sister Nanjo seemed to say Heavenly Cycle Flame Armor only needed a “Ghost God opportunity” to redeem, so it wouldn’t consume this “Wild God opportunity.”
The remaining one could be used to get some Soul Ash or intelligence… no loss at all.
Anyway, many uses; the Seed Battle organizers were quite user-friendly.
But for the remaining one Completion Opportunity and one self-select opportunity, Shangshan Che hadn’t decided what to choose.
Whether to fill a shortcoming or strengthen a strength, he couldn’t figure it out right away.
Better to discuss with Nanjo Emi or other Ghost Gods later and reference their opinions.
Thinking of this, Shangshan Che also remembered he could go to Kyoto to meet that legendary Sword Saint… probably one of the strongest existences in the current Mortal Realm.
Who knows, maybe he’d get some pointers from Sword Saint Adult and pluck some real golden fleece from him.
Speaking of which, if the Minamoto Family hadn’t moved, they’d probably be near Kyoto too.
Shangshan Che rubbed his hands, somewhat anticipating the Kyoto trip.
This wave of Seed Battle rewards was too generous; just thinking about it made him unusually excited.
—Lili Zi got TOP4, seems like she got “Flesh Furnace.”
【Flesh Furnace: Place demon corpses inside, refine to obtain “Demon Essence” that enhances the body.】
Hmm, not bad.
This item suits Lili Zi with her weaker physique well; feeding her ten or eight clumps daily, her Qi and Blood would skyrocket?
It’d also let him go all out in sparring without holding back.
It’d be tough on the demons in Tokyo region who barely survived the Special Affairs Office’s sweeps… tough luck, everyone work hard.
With a sympathetic shake of his head for the common folk, Shangshan Che thought maybe he’d join Lili Zi in sweeping them up later, collecting some Soul Ash and Soul Spirit Points along the way.
Adding “incognito visit” to his packed future schedule, Shangshan Che prepared to open the real grand prize in the prompts!
—Because he directly drew Three-and-a-half Star Hundred-Eyed Demon, the Three-Star and Three-and-a-half Star pools seemed to have merged into a super grand prize pool!
—Plus a demon item exclusive to Hundred-Eyed Demon Incarnation.
But at that moment, Shangshan Che’s ears twitched, hearing a series of footsteps surging from the path he came.
Accompanied by bursts of surprised greetings.
“Eh? How come it’s you, Brother Aotian?”
“Haha, Winter Mountain Jun is also here for Little Brother Shangshan, right.”
“Anhe, Murakami, and Your Excellency Uban? You all…”
“Together, together!”
“Looks like we’re all aiming for Shangshan Jun, so let’s go together…”
What the hell?
Shangshan Che was baffled.
Had he unknowingly committed some major crime, or had the Four-tailed Fox disguise been exposed, leading a bunch of Ghost Gods to team up and catch him?
Wrong to claim rewards and slack off?
No, better slip away first…
Just as Shangshan Che stood up, he heard that large group of footsteps instantly close from dozens of meters away right in front of him.
No way, a group of Ghost Gods wouldn’t let the duck that reached their hands fly away?
Shangshan Che’s mouth twitched slightly.
He looked up and saw a group of Ghost Gods from all over, surrounding him like fans with eager gazes.
The aisle rest area was packed with people, completely blocked.
“Shangshan Jun.”
“Hello, Shangshan Jun…”
“I’m…”
In an instant, a bunch of business cards made by various Ghost Gods’ special methods were eagerly shoved over for Shangshan Che to pick at will.
……
At this time, outside the aisle.
Quick to react, Tamamo, self-assured as ahead of all sasaeng fans and crazy enthusiasts, stood at the aisle entrance to the rest area with hands on hips.
She patted her sister’s back, chuckling smugly,
“Let’s go, Chisa! We’re gonna take the first photo with Elder Brother Shangshan!”
“Yeah!”
Chisa pursed her lips, nodding vigorously, her emotions inevitably surging.
The two trotted into the aisle.
But before going far, the aisle was blocked by a group of rude guys.
What a joke, we’re going to see Elder Brother Shangshan…
Tamamo glanced up and suddenly saw Shangshan Che blocked in the crowd by a bunch of smiling burly men, unable to move.
She looked closely and realized those “burly men”‘s faces were all etched clearly in her memory.
Exceptionally vivid!
Under Chisa’s puzzled yet hesitant gaze, Tamamo’s jaw dropped, unable to close.
These… these are the lofty Ghost God Adults from before?!
