Shen Changchuan arrived at Duobao Tower, personally escorted by Si Houqing.

After a round of haggling between Si Houqing and the shopkeeper, the owner of Duobao Tower ultimately gave Shen Changchuan a fifty-percent discount.

In the end, Shen Changchuan spent three hundred Spirit Stones to acquire thirty-six magical techniques.

Among them,

to deal with the Gale Falcon,

Shen Changchuan chose four targeted techniques: the Vine Cage Technique, Spirit Binding Technique, Vine Strangulation Technique, and Earth and Stone Gravity Technique.

According to his plan, if he could just lure that Gale Falcon to the ground, then with the Soul-Attracting Bell he got from the He Mountain Four Fierce, the Mysterious Two Forms Array Formation, and these new Trapping Techniques, there shouldn’t be any problem.

Especially now that he had reached the Qi Introduction Sixth Layer,

his strength had taken another leap.

That made victory all the more certain.

To that end,

Shen Changchuan even asked the Duobao Tower shopkeeper if they had any Spirit Pills that could attract Demon Beasts.

And as it turned out, they did.

Shen Changchuan ended up spending over fifty Spirit Stones on a single Beast Saliva Pill.

And just to be safe,

Shen Changchuan spent another twenty to thirty Spirit Stones on several Talismans.

All told, these preparations cost him over one hundred Spirit Stones.

The expense made Shen Changchuan’s heart ache.

But it was all worth it.

If he couldn’t deal with that damn beast, it would keep harassing Dawan Village, and the villagers could forget about ever living or working in peace again.

Besides,

the grotto-abode ruins of that Soul Emergence Realm expert were right beneath its nest.

If he couldn’t get rid of it, he could forget about everything else.

’Once I get back to Dawan Village and cultivate these new Trapping Techniques to Perfection, I’ll combine all my methods. I can’t say it’s a one hundred percent guarantee, but I should have at least an eighty percent chance of success!’

After a quick calculation, Shen Changchuan felt a surge of confidence.

With his preparations for the Gale Falcon complete,

Shen Changchuan naturally turned his attention to strengthening his own arsenal of techniques.

The vast majority of the thirty-six techniques he’d bought were for this very purpose.

’Elixirs are too expensive. Only whales can afford that game. Three hundred Spirit Stones wouldn’t even make a splash.’

’As for Magical Artifacts, they eventually become obsolete as your Cultivation grows. It’s a bit of a waste.’

’Only techniques are different. With my progress bar panel, I can cultivate them to Perfection and drastically increase my own strength.’

’At the same time, the number of Perfection Traits I get as suffixes keeps increasing, deepening my foundation. If my guess about the nature of these Traits is correct, then cultivating techniques will benefit me for a lifetime!’

With this idea in mind,

Shen Changchuan decided to go all-in!

He invested nearly all of his remaining Spirit Stones in magical techniques.

His plan was to master as many techniques as possible,

cultivating them one by one to Perfection to enhance his strength and collect more Perfection Traits.

He theorized that,

after a technique reached Perfection, the suffix Trait "Negligible [Element] Technique Cultivation Experience" referred to an accumulation of experience in that same element.

If he accumulated enough of this experience, then perhaps in the future, when he cultivated techniques of the same elemental system, he could master them almost instantly!

Even if the effect wasn’t that dramatic, it would still be great if it lowered the barrier to entry for cultivating High Tier Techniques.

This was extremely important to Shen Changchuan!

Coming from the Shen Family, he knew that in this world of Immortal Cultivation, the power of certain formidable Divine Techniques surpassed even that of Magical Artifacts, and they came without all the various restrictions...

Shen Changchuan had been thinking about this for a long time.

Now that he had enough Spirit Stones and an opportunity to use his new connections, he naturally had to seize this chance to acquire more techniques.

However,

’But going all-in requires wisdom, too.’

’As the saying goes, biting off more than you can chew is a big mistake. A jack of all trades is a master of none.’

’Even with the progress bar panel, I can eventually grind all sorts of Low Tier techniques to Perfection, but a person’s energy is ultimately limited.’

Though he was fully confident in his theories and plans,

Shen Changchuan hadn’t lost his head.

’A large part of every day must be spent in seated meditation, refining Magical Power to maintain the growth of my Cultivation Realm.’

’The remaining time for cultivating techniques isn’t much. And unfortunately, the more complex and high-tier a technique is, the harder it is to advance its progress toward Perfection.’ 𝓯𝓻𝒆𝙚𝒘𝓮𝙗𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝒍.𝙘𝓸𝙢

’I can’t just abandon cultivating my Realm and focus all my energy on practicing techniques.’

’Therefore, mastering techniques from every single element is impossible. I have to pick one or two to focus on.’

Shen Changchuan was very self-aware.

Perhaps in the future, when his Cultivation Realm reached Soul Emergence—or even the realms beyond it, like Divine Travel or the Profound Pill Realm—and he had a vast lifespan, then he might have the time to pursue mastery of all elemental techniques...

But for now,

he’d better forget it.

He had to use his resources where they would be most effective.

With that thought in mind,

Shen Changchuan naturally turned his focus to his most powerful offensive technique:

the technique recorded on a Fragment found at the back of the *True Understanding of Magic*. He’d obtained the book, compiled by the He Mountain Four Fierce, from the ruffians themselves. The technique was called Cyan Wood Sword Light!

This particular technique,

Shen Changchuan had been practicing it for a long time, but even now, his progress was only at 3%.

At that rate, he hadn’t even reached the Entry Level.

He’d only just barely learned it.

To cast it, he had to stand still, form the hand seals, and mobilize his Magical Power for nearly ten seconds just to condense the sword light. It was completely useless in actual combat.

But its power...

...was truly terrifying.

Shen Changchuan had practiced it once in the wilderness. A single, complete blast of Cyan Wood Sword Light was as fast as lightning, and its power could devastate an area over ten meters wide.

At the time, Shen Changchuan sensed its explosive might and knew that even a five-layered Golden Bell Technique couldn’t have blocked it!

Unfortunately, perhaps because his Comprehension was lacking,

ever since he’d successfully learned it and made Cyan Wood Sword Light appear on his progress bar, he had only managed to cultivate it to 3%.

To cultivate it to Perfection...

...would take who knows how long.

But the suffixes that appeared on his progress bar panel after a technique reached Perfection gave him hope.

’If I can also cultivate the Cyan Wood Sword Light to Perfection, then with its power, I could even fight someone at the Qi Introduction Seventh Layer!’

’And with such a powerful technique, once I advance to the Qi Introduction Seventh Layer, I’ll be able to unleash even greater power, maybe even dominate the entire Qi Introduction Late Stage!’

With this in mind,

from the thirty-plus other techniques he had purchased,

he selected a large number of Basic Magic techniques related to sword light, sword shadows, and the Wood Element, such as the Sword Light Technique, Gathering Sword Technique, Spiritual Light Sword Shadow, Sword Aura Technique, Swift Sword Technique, Cyan Wood Needle, Falling Wood Technique, Withered Wood Book, Wood Creation Technique, and so on.

Based on his perceptions during cultivation,

the Cyan Wood Sword Light seemed to be a fusion of Wood Element power and a sword-light type of technique.

If his theory was correct,

and similar techniques really did accumulate experience after reaching Perfection,

then these numerous Basic Magic techniques,

would likely require less and less time and energy to cultivate the further he went!

Eventually, all that accumulated experience, bit by bit, could be applied to the Cyan Wood Sword Light!

Of course,

besides the many forms of Basic Magic he bought to help cultivate the Cyan Wood Sword Light,

Shen Changchuan also bought a few other assorted techniques: a High Tier Breath Concealment Technique; the Spiritual Light Swift Shadow Technique, a type of Body Technique; and the Fire Element spell, Fire Dragon Technique.

He considered them supplements to his existing skillset.

....

After purchasing all the technique manuals,

Shen Changchuan gazed at his suddenly much lighter coin pouch and decided against wandering around the Workshop any further.

He bid farewell to Si Houqing,

and returned to his temporary room at the inn. He planned to rest and restore his spirit in preparation for the arena battle in three days.

However,

Shen Changchuan hadn’t been resting for long,

when a member of the Wu Family came calling.