[Tree-Skin Art — Explosive Impact: Any attack that makes contact with the Tree-Skin Art’s defense will be rebounded with a force of explosive impact.]
“Rebound with a force of explosive impact?”
“Isn’t that just a thorns effect?”
“Let’s see how effective it is!”
With that thought, Qi Ping focused his mind. A layer of bark-like, brownish tree skin instantly appeared, covering his entire body.
He then conjured a small Explosive Fireball and hurled it at his own palm.
Just as the fireball was about to make contact with the tree skin, a force of explosive impact surged violently towards it.
The moment they collided, the two explosive forces violently intertwined.
Under the destructive power of the Tree-Skin Art’s Explosive Impact trait, the core destructive force of the Explosive Fireball was greatly weakened and blocked. By the time the remaining energy and shockwaves struck Qi Ping’s body, their power had diminished significantly, utterly failing to breach the Tree-Skin Art’s defense.
Sensing the effect of this spell, a look of pleasant surprise appeared in Qi Ping’s eyes.
“This Explosive Impact trait isn’t half bad!”
“It both blocks the attack to injure the enemy and weakens the enemy’s assault…”
Qi Ping truly hadn’t expected the Explosion trait and the Tree-Skin Art to interact in such a way.
However, this meant Qi Ping no longer had a purely defensive spell.
The Blazing Explosion Net originally used extreme offense in place of defense, and now even the Tree-Skin Art was following suit.
“Is this meant to illustrate that the best defense is a good offense?”
Faced with this situation, Qi Ping didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.
But, it had to be said, no matter what attack came his way, after being weakened by the Blazing Explosion Net and the Tree-Skin Art’s Explosive Impact trait, its power would be drastically reduced.
“Excellent, my survivability has increased again!”
After testing the power of this trait, Qi Ping was quite satisfied.
Although his offensive methods were somewhat singular, his defense really wasn’t lacking!
In a way, the defensive effect of the Explosive Impact trait wasn’t necessarily worse than that of the Tenacity or Hardening traits; in some situations, it might even be stronger.
This counted as an unexpected bonus for Qi Ping.
“Now, both the Woodflame Art and the Explosive Fire spells have been cultivated to perfection. Work on the Tree-Skin Art can also be paused for now.”
“Next, I need to focus more energy on nurturing the Little Flower Sprite and the high-year spirit herbs, preparing the resources needed for Ya Ya’s breakthrough…”
Over these past four-plus months, Qi Ping had used [Plant Growth] to cultivate the Little Flower Sprite to the late first-tier level.
This skill was truly miraculous for plant-type spiritual beasts like the Hundred-Eyes Flower Sprite. Under normal circumstances, it would take many years for the Little Flower Sprite to naturally grow to the late first tier.
Yet now, under the effect of Qi Ping’s [Plant Growth] skill, it broke through to the late first tier in less than half a year and was currently progressing towards the first-tier peak.
Compared to four months ago when it was somewhat muddled and naive, the Little Flower Sprite had now matured considerably. However, its physical size and appearance remained largely the same as at the beginning; only the eerie purple glow in its eyes had grown stronger.
The strange purple patterns within its eyes also seemed to have increased.
Moreover, the [Hundred-Eyes Demonic Realm] skill the Little Flower Sprite could now unleash was far more powerful than Qi Ping’s version—not something his half-baked efforts could compare to. Although the power of the Hundred-Eyes Demonic Realm Qi Ping unleashed wasn’t bad either, the Little Flower Sprite could enhance this skill with all its inherent traits and passives.
In any case, in battles at the Qi Refining stage currently, this innate ability of the Little Flower Sprite was undoubtedly a formidable existence. It might even potentially affect Foundation Establishment cultivators with unstable Dao Hearts or weak wills.
“Gulu gulu… (Boss, you’re back?)”
As Qi Ping returned after testing the Tree-Skin Art’s power, a sprite-like purple figure flew over and wrapped itself around his arm.
“Mhm, how’s the practice with the Hundred-Eyes Demonic Realm going?” Qi Ping asked.
“Gulu gulu… (It already meets the requirements Boss mentioned! I can freely control its power level now!)”
“Gulu gulu… (Is Tong Tong amazing? Hehe…)”
“Very amazing!” Qi Ping praised.
This was something Qi Ping had insisted the Little Flower Sprite practice diligently. He didn’t want the Hundred-Eyes Flower Sprite to be merely a sprite that relied solely on bloodline instinct to use its innate abilities.
If the Hundred-Eyes Flower Sprite wanted to possess formidable combat strength, it had to practice the Hundred-Eyes Demonic Realm to a masterful level. Only then could it seize the best moments to strike and grasp opportunities for victory in battle!
The current Azure Sky Domain was anything but peaceful. With the Hundred-Eyes Flower Sprite possessing strong combat power, Qi Ping would feel much more at ease.
Furthermore, only with deeper comprehension of its bloodline power would the possibility of further bloodline transformation become higher.
Otherwise, relying solely on Qi Ping’s Plant Growth, the Hundred-Eyes Flower Sprite couldn’t progress very far.
“And what about the casting speed of the Hundred-Eyes Demonic Realm?” Qi Ping continued questioning.
“Gulu gulu… (Instant casting… Tong Tong can’t do that yet for now. But it’s been shortened to a little over one breath’s time.)”
“That’s already excellent!”
Qi Ping ruffled the Little Flower Sprite’s purple hair in praise.
“Gulu gulu… (Boss, don’t worry, I’ll work hard. Anyone who dares to bully Boss, Tong Tong will pull them into the Hundred-Eyes Demonic Realm and destroy them!)”
“Alright, you must be tired. Go back to the soil and rest properly.”
“Gulu gulu… (Then I’m off to sleep. The soul power consumption was quite high; need to recover.)”
The Little Flower Sprite originally liked to sleep for most of the day anyway.
After starting to practice the Hundred-Eyes Demonic Realm and soul power as instructed by Qi Ping, its waking hours became even shorter due to the consumption of soul power. Sometimes, even when the little spirit fox wanted to play, it couldn’t find the Little Flower Sprite available.
For Qi Ping, raising the Hundred-Eyes Flower Sprite was particularly worry-free.
After Qi Ping emphasized the need to practice diligently, the Little Flower Sprite would generally practice earnestly as instructed whenever it had time.
Although it didn’t possess the same will to grow stronger as Ya Ya, it was still meticulous in practicing its soul-based innate abilities.
Coupled with its innate talent, the Little Flower Sprite was undoubtedly much stronger than other Hundred-Eyes Flower Sprites of the same level.
However, regarding willpower training, Qi Ping hadn’t yet figured out how to train the will of his animal companions.
The path of Immortal Dao was not easy. Talent and resources alone weren’t enough, even for spiritual beasts, who relied more heavily on their bloodlines.
Therefore, training the will of spiritual beasts had to be put on the agenda. It was just that Qi Ping currently lacked the corresponding knowledge and techniques.
Qi Ping, focused on diligent cultivation and nurturing spirit herbs, had no plans to actively involve himself in external conflicts. For now, the proper course was to peacefully enhance his own strength and that of his animal companions to the limit of his current resources.
Previously, if not for the unavoidable need for cultivation techniques, knowledge, and resources, he wouldn’t have actively sought out external trade or channels to purchase such things.
Although this was Qi Ping’s mindset, a message in his communication talisman forced him to prepare for action.
[Brother Qi, intelligence suggests that recently, three elite disciples from hostile sects have headed towards Blackrock County. It’s speculated they might be specifically searching for and attempting to surround and kill me, or they could be targeting Lin Qingshu.]
[In this situation, I cannot simply wait for death. Therefore, I plan to find an opportunity to subtly reveal my location, then set up an ambush with preparations for a counter-kill!]
[For this battle, I need your assistance, Brother Qi!]
