3 hours later in the Livingwood Forest.
Four Liffox fell in quick succession after a short battle with William. With his current power, the Liffox didn't stand a chance even in numbers. His fireballs were too fast to dodge and too powerful to block, nearing the peak of the Qi Refinement Realm with the last upgrade.
The number of Magical Beasts in the Livingwood Forest must have increased again considering William had only been in the area for half an hour. To save time and energy, William decided to take a different route through the forest to the next expected Life Vein.
If his estimates were correct, five Life Veins were originally distributed evenly in the outer portion of the Livingwood Forest. With the closest two absorbed, William had a long trip to gather the last three Life Veins.
It wasn't until two hours had passed and William killed twelve more Liffox that the third Life Vein was in sight. His Beast Slayer Title was also upgraded to Uncommon at 25 kills, earning an additional Potential Point.
-Beast Slayer (Uncommon): You've personally killed at least 25 Magical Beasts. +10% damage to Magical Beasts.
-Discovered Life Vein: +3 Potential Points
-Absorbing Life Vein...
...
...
-Absorbed Lesser Life Vein: +5 Potential Points
-Life Element already acquired. Health increased.
...
-Life Affinity has met the requirements for Rankup, upgrading for free...
———
TALENT UPGRADED
Life Magic: (D --> C)
Next rank up: 300PP
———
Show my Potential Points and the System Rank.
———
POTENTIAL POINTS: 109
SYSTEM RANK: F (27PP to next rank)
———
So not only did the Life Vein upgrade my Life Element for free, but the System Rank still received progression as if I spent points myself. Awesome! William could now upgrade the System if he had something to spend the points on. Unfortunately, both of his Elements required a large number of points for the next upgrade.
After absorbing the third Life Vein, William now had 200 max health, and his Life Element had become much stronger. He could now sense the vitality of all living things within 50 meters, with no blind spots unless the creature was not living. It was now strong enough for the System to recognize it as a spell.
-Developed a new Magic spell: +1 Potential Point
-New Spell: Life Sense
Using this spell made it easier for William to detect herbs with high vitality but required some mana if he wanted to extend the range from 25 meters to 50 meters. The skill allowed William to better detect traces of the fourth Life Vein, which he found within an hour and a half. Surprisingly, there were no Magical Beasts on this route.
William absorbed the Life Vein for another 8 Potential Points and 50 more max health. William felt a bit like a tank after this, and his natural regeneration had probably improved since the last upgrade. Because he would never let the Liffox get close, William never had a chance to see how much damage they would deal to him.
I'm still not a Cultivator. It's better not to test fate like that.
He continued forward.
An hour later, there were still no Magical Beasts. The air was quiet, and Will became suspicious. He was close to the fifth Life Vein, but sensed a dangerous presence he shouldn't provoke.
Lets provoke it!
William entered stealth mode. He crouched down and slowly expanded his Life Sense until it was fully extended. The unknown beast was only 5 meters out of the range of William's spell, so he carefully stepped forward, ensuring that the beast wouldn't have line of sight to him.
Life Sense covered the beast. It didn't notice William, so he studied its shape, realizing it resembled a Wind Wolf laying in the grass. It was much weaker than the Wind Wolf that Briar's group fought against but was definitely still in the Foundation Establishment Realm. After fighting so many Liffox of various ranks, William was at least able to tell the difference in major Realms.
He hesitated. What if the fireball didn't do enough damage? Could he react in time to avoid being hit? He thought carefully, but William's worries dissipated when he remembered having over 200 health. He must be able to survive the first hit if anything!
William crept closer. A fireball was prepared in his hands with twice as much mana as before. He continued accumulating mana and focused all of it into the largest fireball yet. It was somewhat hard to control, but William managed to stabilize its form.
-Developed a new magic spell: +1 Potential Point
-New Spell: Giant Fireball
This has to do some damage! William threw the giant fireball at the Wind Wolf without a noise, hoping to not alert the creature. The giant fireball flew much slower than the regular fireball but was still very fast.
BOOM!
Success! The Wind Wolf was flung to the side by the massive fireball and suffered extreme burns. Its fur was damaged in many parts and continued to burn. The Wind Wolf didn't have the Life Element, but it used the Wind Element to funnel away the oxygen that was fueling the flames.
William was scared of its retaliation, so he had already prepared a second giant fireball and threw it out. The Wind Wolf had just extinguished the flames when the second giant fireball impacted, flinging it again.
The Wind Wolf still wasn't dead. It saw William and his nearly prepared giant fireball and launched an attack. There wasn't enough time for the Wind Wolf to cancel William's spell, but it managed to land a clean hit with its wind blades.
William spat blood and was thrown backward. At the same time, the Wind Wolf suffered a third direct hit from the giant fireball. The burns on its body spread and became more intense, consuming the beast. While William was struggling to stand up, the Wind Wolf was forced to use a large amount of Mana to battle the flames.
Status
———
STATUS: ( - )
-Health: 92/250
-Mana: 46/150
-Fame: 3
-Cultivation: None (No suitable techniques)
———
108 damage in one hit! Ouch! William was still coughing up blood, but he used some Mana to heal with the Life Element. He returned to full health, then prepared a fourth giant fireball for the Wind Wolf, who had nearly recovered from the flames.
It saw the giant fireball rushing towards it but was too weak to dodge this time. The Wind Wolf had truly been careless to allow a non-Cultivator human to enter its territory unnoticed. As the giant fireball smashed into the Wind Wolf, only regret could be seen in its eyes. Its body riddled with cauterized wounds fell to the side and landed with a thud.
-Defeated Wind Wolf: +3 Potential Points
-First Foundation Establishment beast kill: +10 Potential Points
10 Points for killing the first Foundation Establishment Realm beast! William was excited about his gains. If he could consistently kill Wind Wolves, his Point farming speed would increase significantly.
He took a moment to catch his breath, then approached the body of the Wind Wolf to ensure its death. With a quick confirmation, William was able to breathe easy and approached the nearby Life Vein.
-Discovered Life Vein: +3 Potential Points
-Absorbing Life Vein...
...
...
-Absorbed Lesser Life Vein: +5 Potential Points
-Life Element already acquired. Health increased.
...
-Your health has improved. Life expectancy 60 years.
William felt the blood in his veins flow faster, purifying itself and circulating through his body. His body became more muscular and no longer looked like a bunch of sticks put together. It wasn't a significant difference, but William felt he would be able to run a bit faster and lift more weight.
William was nearly out of Mana and didn't want to waste a potion just yet, so he decided to camp for a few hours in a tree like before. William still planned to gather the last Life Vein, but he wouldn't stand a chance against another Wind Wolf with his current Mana.