"Hmm… what should I upgrade next?" he asked himself as he calculated how much of an improvement having [Spirit Sense] and [Spirit Aura] at Level 20 was compared to how they were before.
After mulling over it for a bit, each level of [Spirit Sense] increases its range by 200 meters and its duration by 10 minutes, basically double what it gave out in the previous ten levels. From another perspective, upgrading [Spirit Sense] was better than upgrading [Qi Purity] in terms of range, but it would somewhat lose out in terms of how long it lasts. In any case, the range of the skill had more or less doubled, now allowing him to see far beyond the periphery of the nearby town, albeit still blurry.
On the other hand, upgrading [Spirit Aura] to Level 20 increased the range of the skill from 100 to 500 meters, while the boost in density had been increased by roughly 75%. In any case, the amount of qi inside the domain was now double what it was normally, prompting Arthur to think that he had created a small haven for cultivation. Of course, with the skill's range now reaching the confines of Jian and Qin's house, he was certain they'd sing songs of praise regarding the God of Spirit Slag once morning came around.
Nevertheless, that was a sight saved for later. He still had around 6000 more points to spend.
"Should I upgrade [Spirit Analysis]?" he could not help but ask himself once more as he looked at the upgrade screen in front of him, focusing his attention on a skill he would rarely use. With each upgrade needing 500 points, that would only leave him with a thousand points or so, prompting him to start producing even more Spirit Slag.
Though, once he thought about it, there wasn't really much of a need for him to upgrade [Spirit Analysis] to Level 20. Sure, it would allow him to analyze things of an incredibly high realm compared to him. But even in its current state, it already allowed him to analyze things that were at the Stellar Foundation Realm. In fact, the thing he had analyzed with the highest cultivation so far was Jian's brother, and he was only at the 9th Stage of the Nascent Foundation realm.
Of course, there was Huang Yongzhen, whose cultivation was far beyond the range of Arthur's [Spirit Analysis] back then, but people like that were hard to come by in normal circumstances.
Naturally, he also thought about how upgrading [Spirit Analysis] to Level 20 would allow him to identify more stuff. But before he could continue that train of thought, another thought popped up in his mind soon after.
'But would I have any use for it?'
With that in mind, he decided to leave [Spirit Analysis] for later.
Then again, there was another skill in his repertoire that also needed 500 System Points per level. However, its purpose was more malicious than [Spirit Analysis], making Arthur recall some unsavory memories that had happened quite some time ago.
"[Spirit Overflow]…" Arthur murmured, shivering at the thought of upgrading it. Although he knew that the skill would eventually be useful later down the line, as a spirit vein, there wasn't much of a reason for him to upgrade such a skill like this, especially with how spirit veins were not really being targeted all that often.
And so, without much surprise, he also crossed out the option of upgrading [Spirit Overflow], given how there wasn't much point in him upgrading it.
"I guess I have to choose over upgrading my stats, [Qi Conversion], or the Spirit Receptor Module again," he said, realizing that other than upgrading [Qi Conversion], [Spirit Sense], and [Spirit Aura], there was not much point in him upgrading any other skills.
"Well, now that I think about it, I could also save these points and come back to it at another time when I have more… but at times like these, there's only one thing I can do if I'm this indecisive."
"Sisa, what do you think I should do with the remaining points?" Arthur asked without hesitation, prompting Sisa to sigh in response. "I know I'm an assistant and all that, but you having difficulty coming to a decision has probably got to be one of the worst reasons to be asking me."
Ignoring Arthur, who was chuckling at her words, Sisa went silent before telling him, "Your best choice would probably be to upgrade either Qi Purity or [Qi Conversion] as usual. Of course, if you don't mind waiting for some more time, you could probably amass enough points and upgrade the Spirit Receptor Module to the peak of Tier 5… or spend it on the first two again if that's what tickles your fancy."
"So, Arthur. What are you going to do?" she asked soon after, prompting Arthur to go silent for a bit, giving off the feeling that two sides were fighting inside him, only for one side to win soon after. With a slightly pained sigh, he told her, "I think… I'll save the points for now."
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"An incredibly rare choice, if I do say so myself," Sisa said in response to his words. "So, what are you gonna do while you wait?"
"Well, what I usually do, obviously," Arthur replied, only for a thought to pop up in his mind soon after. "Now that I think about it, I should probably check the ongoing quests I have."
Ding!
With a quick command, he closed the upgrade screen as the screen containing all of his ongoing quests appeared in front of him soon after. Checking through the requirements needed for him to complete the two quests he had, he could not help but focus his attention on one of the quests, specifically the system quest.
[System Quest: The Makings of a True Spirit Vein (3)]
To be recognized by the human race and to aid the human race in their cultivation, the user has embraced what it is like to be a spirit vein. However, the user's journey of becoming a true spirit vein does not end here. In fact, far from it. Although it might seem like spirit veins are inanimate, they are capable of doing things that even living beings would only dare to dream.
Unfortunately, the user is still far from being the likes of those true spirit veins. With that, the system wants the user to achieve a few things that would allow them to be more like a spirit vein. In exchange, once the user achieves these things, a wider world shall be opened to them.
Mission Prerequisite: Buy [Tier 0 — Receptor Conceptualization] Mission Requirements:
Increase your [Size] to Early Spirit Nucleus (100/100).
Increase the number of people that recognize you to 10 (10/10).
Aid one person in breaking through to the next realm of cultivation (0/1).
Mission Rewards: 2500 System Points, a new module for the Spirit Improvement System
"When did I…?" Arthur asked himself, wondering when he had accomplished the requirement of having ten people recognize him. But before he could even finish asking that question, he recalled the group of five that appeared near Jian and Qin's house in the middle of the night, huddling around the pile of Spirit Slag above him.
Skipping the part where he went on a rampage against the group of five because of what they planned to do with the couple, after looking at this specific requirement being crossed out, it seemed that the system considered them to be people that recognized him, or rather, his presence.
"Well, I guess that only leaves me with one more requirement to go before I complete this quest," he said. "I should probably use [Spirit Aura: Infusion] on Jian or Qin later in the morning… but I should probably only infuse one point of qi into them."
"Sure, they may be at the Essence Gathering Realm, but I'm pretty sure there's still a possibility of them experiencing whatever the five experienced." After thinking about it for a bit more, his mind calmed down as he muttered to himself, "Well, if any of the two are fine after being infused with one point of qi, then I'll gradually increase it until they reach their limit."
With that in mind, Arthur spent the rest of the night checking out the capabilities of his newly improved [Spirit Sense] while at the same time talking with Sisa about random things to pass the time. Of course, [Qi Conversion] still activated every 10 minutes throughout the night, gradually forming a large pile in front of the light blue dodecahedron.
…
Morning.
"Haah…" Jian could not help but let out a yawn as he headed out the door, scratching his butt as he took in the fresh air in his surroundings. Though, just as he was about to do his daily routine and proceed to do what he needed to do for the day, he could not help but notice that there was something different today.
"Eh? Eh???" Fortunately, after a minute of probing, Jian quickly found out what was different, prompting him to head back inside before dragging Qin out. As it was the morning, it was no surprise that Qin found it a nuisance for Jian to be doing something like this so early. But when he told her to sense the qi around them, Qin could not help but change her mood as she knew Jian wouldn't say that for no reason.
"What the… did you crush some high-grade Spirit Slag or something? Why is the qi here so dense?" Qin muttered with great surprise and confusion, prompting her to look at Jian. But before Jian could answer her question.
Whoosh!
A great amount of qi surged into Jian's body, prompting him to sit down on the ground cross-legged, quickly assimilating the qi into his own cultivation.