The moment he broke through, Xiao Chen used his Divine Sense to observe his Dantian.

Sure enough, he saw that the Spirit Flower representing the Spirit-Nurturing Technique had already blossomed.

Enclosed within its five petals were seventy-two stamens, corresponding exactly to his current maximum of seventy-two streams of Magical Power.

Xiao Chen had no time to familiarize himself with his new cultivation level. He immediately turned his attention to the three cards that had materialized out of thin air before him.

Each of the three cards that appeared this time had a golden border.

[Source Plan Uplink II: As long as you are carrying any Magical Artifact, you will recover two streams of Magical Power every Quarter Hour.]

[Balanced Budget II: At the start of each year for the next forty years, you will receive ten thousand Spirit Stones.]

[Not Today: Provides one Blade of Night. Effect: The first time the wielder’s health drops below half, they will immediately enter an invisible state for a Quarter Hour. During this time, they cannot be targeted, and all negative effects will be removed. This effect can only be triggered once per day.]

Xiao Chen read through the descriptions of the three Augments.

First was [Source Plan Uplink II], a standard Magical Power recovery Augment.

It was the exact opposite of [Meditation], which he had encountered before, and was comparatively more practical.

’This option would probably be very effective for a build focused on kiting and attrition.’

’However, I’ve chosen the path of expanding my total Magical Power with an Inner Core, so this type of Augment is a bit of a waste for me.’

’I can basically rule it out.’

’Next is [Balanced Budget II]. For a golden Augment, its effect is quite impressive.’

’On its own, its value is in no way inferior to [Heart of the Alchemist].’

’After all, an Alchemist still needs to gather Spirit Grass, spend time on Alchemy, and then figure out how to sell the finished pills.’

’This one is much more convenient; you get the Spirit Stones directly.’

’It’s a decent backup option.’

’Finally, there’s [Not Today], the first equipment-type Augment I’ve seen.’

’The bad news is, the Defense Type Augment I was hoping for didn’t appear.’

’It just goes to show, even a master’s strategy ultimately comes down to luck.’

’The good news is, Blade of Night’s effect is extremely powerful. It can absolutely serve as a life-saving trump card.’

"I choose you!"

Xiao Chen made his choice without hesitation. He immediately sensed a purple cloak appear inside his Storage Bag.

Although the cloak seemed to have only a single effect, based on Xiao Chen’s understanding of Augments, it could actually be broken down into four distinct functions.

First was its ability to prevent a fatal blow.

When Blade of Night triggered, regardless of how high the opponent’s damage was, all overkill damage would be completely nullified.

The key point—completely nullified!

’In other words, as long as I have Blade of Night, I can withstand the first blow of any attack, no matter how powerful.’

’Even if a Mahayana cultivator showed up, they’d have to hit me twice.’

’And the most crucial part is that the effect is triggered passively. I don’t even need to wear it; just carrying it is enough.’

’It works even if the Cultivator doesn’t have time to react to an attack.’

’It’s the perfect counter to sneak attacks and those last-resort, life-for-a-life ultimate moves.’

Xiao Chen could just imagine some unlucky bastard in the future, saving an incredibly powerful hidden move as their ace in the hole.

’I wonder what the look on their face will be when they find me completely unscathed.’

The second function was the subsequent invisibility effect, which was equivalent to an Invisibility Technique.

’In truth, this effect by itself isn’t that useful to Cultivators. After all, everyone has Divine Sense and can use it to lock onto an enemy’s position.’

’Immobilizing or binding magic, like the Cyan Thorn Technique, could also counter an Invisibility Technique.’

’But when you pair it with the "cannot be targeted" property, the effect is a whole different story.’

’Unseen, untouchable, and can’t be restrained.’

’At that point, I can either seize the opportunity to attack or just quietly slip away.’

’It’s perfect for both offense and defense.’

The final effect was the removal of all negative effects.

’With the Divine Protection Veil, I’ll definitely never need this effect.’

Xiao Chen shook his head, but he wasn’t greedy. After all, the first three effects were already incredibly powerful.

’With Blade of Night, I won’t have to fear running into a Golden Core True Man on this trip to Hezhou.’

’If worst comes to worst, I’ll just run. I’ll be able to get away no matter what.’

’A Quarter Hour isn’t a long time, but it isn’t short, either.’

’Using my Vertical Earth Golden Light, I have enough time to escape a Golden Core True Man’s Range of Divine Sense. Even after the invisibility ends, they won’t be able to keep chasing me.’

’Even if they just picked a random direction to chase, I’d have time to switch to another one.’

All in all, with this Augment, his survivability had increased tremendously.

’Now that my safety is taken care of, the next step is Hezhou.’

Xiao Chen took out the point-redemption list again, his gaze locking onto the last two lines. ’True Essence Union Pills and Demon Beast Inner Cores... these are some great items.’

Since he had decided to go to Hezhou, he needed to make some preparations in advance.

For example, he needed to speak with Mei Yong about matters concerning the Demon Extermination Hall.

Of course, before any of that, he had to give Elder Chen a heads-up.

「Chen Family Mansion.」

Elder Chen was in his study, discussing the specific candidates for the trip to Hezhou with Chen Tianyuan, Chen Tianfeng, and the other clan elders.

In fact, a similar scene was playing out in the other major families as well.

At this point, reinforcing Hezhou to compete for the Rank-Breaking Spirit Pill had become a major affair that would affect the future of their families.

For them, not going was simply not an option.