Chapter 91: Dungeon: The Strongest Man (1)
[Dungeon: The Strongest Man]
[Minimum requirement: Level 1 of Qi Gathering Stage]
[Description: A mine cave of ancient cultivators. Due to some unexpected events, the corpses of the ancient cultivators in the mine cave have undergone strange changes. Their bodies have merged with the cauldron and transformed into evil spirits. They wander around the mine cave all day long and cannot rest in peace.]
[Note 1: If you die in the dungeon, your main body will not be affected.]
[Note 2: The dungeon will be refreshed once every three months.]
[Note 3: When the dungeon is open, you can select the immersive mode.]
---
Su Chen looked at the description of the dungeon and quickly guessed where the prototype of this dungeon had come from.
Without a doubt, it was one of the peaks in the Qingyun Sect.
"Body merged with the cauldron and turned into an evil spirit."
Su Chen contemplated these words and quickly thought about the situation he would encounter in the Strongest Man dungeon.
If nothing unexpected happened, the enemies he encountered this time should all be physical cultivators.
However, before entering the dungeon, Su Chen first sorted out what he had gained during this period.
Let's not talk about experience points for now. What Su Chen was currently focusing on was the gold-based magical power he gained after defeating the Gold-Eating Ant-Man—Forging the Body into a Weapon.
And the Gold-Eating Ant-Man, who burned his life at the last moment, comprehended a trace of boxing skills—the Mountain Collapsing Fist.
---
[Forging the Body into a Weapon: entry level 1/1000]
[Effect: Can swallow gold to temper the body; become a body of fine steel and a plastic weapon body (weapon body type: unselected)]
[Mountain Collapsing Fist: entry level 1/1000]
[Effect: Its momentum is like a mountain, its fist is like a peak, and when it punches out... the mountains will collapse!]
---
Unlike other magical powers that have good effects in the early stages, the power of Forging the Body into a Weapon is very special.
Before this magical power reaches perfection, it is not much different from ordinary body-building techniques, and there is nothing praiseworthy about it.
But after it reaches perfection, it allows the cultivator's body to achieve a level comparable to that of magical weapons and treasures in a short period.
Moreover, the form of the magic weapon is chosen by the practitioners themselves.
For example, if Su Chen chooses to "cast his body into a sword," then after using this magical power, his body will have a sharp aura comparable to that of a spiritual sword.
Casting the body into a shield or a spear, etc., will also have similar special effects, which can be said to be extremely autonomous.
However, Su Chen had some other ideas about what kind of weapon he wanted to forge his body into; he wanted to forge the body into a furnace.
After all, forging the body into a sword is good, but for him at the moment, it is just icing on the cake for his already rich means of attack, and it is difficult to bring about a qualitative change.
But if he could forge his body into a furnace, then he might not only be able to make up for the original problem of insufficient defense but also further enhance his combat effectiveness under extreme conditions.
This was not a result of his imagination but a reasonable inference based on the existing cultivation system.
He should know that the so-called "golden elixir" of the cultivators is similar to the process of alchemists refining pills.
"The heavens and earth are the furnace; nature is the craftsman; yin and yang are the charcoal; and all things are the copper."
The body of a cultivator is like an elixir furnace, and the spiritual roots are like the medicinal materials needed for refining the elixir.
The Qi Gathering Stage is to cultivate medicinal materials and draw Qi into the body.
The Foundation-Establishment Stage is to refine medicinal materials and condense Qi into liquid.
The Golden Elixir Stage is to fuse the medicinal materials and gather the liquid into a pill.
The human body—isn't it also a small world?
If he could use his body as a furnace, the purple clouds as fire, and the blue lotus as wood...
Just to make up for the shortcomings of the two magical powers of water and earth.
Then his magical power of the five elements could be considered a complete achievement.
Su Chen had a hunch that as long as he could do this, his five-element magical powers would undergo some qualitative change.
Thinking of this, Su Chen couldn't help but sigh: "No wonder some people always say that in addition to cultivating the body, one must also cultivate the mind... Skills, body, and mind—all three are indispensable."
Magical skills are techniques; the physical body is the form; and the soul is the mind.
Su Chen's current skills have been cultivated to a high level, and it's time to focus on his body.
As for the spirit and soul that represent the 'heart'... that is not something he can cultivate for the time being.
Because cultivating the spirit and soul is the hallmark of a cultivator in the Foundation-Establishment Stage.
"My priority is to cultivate the level of the magical power of Forging the Body into a Weapon and practice the Mountain Collapsing Fist while I'm at it."
"After all, although I major in swordsmanship, I can learn from others."
"If my guess is correct, then the Mountain Collapsing Fist skill should be able to be directly cultivated to the entry-level skill and comprehend the meaning of the fist."
"In this way, even if I can't integrate the fist into the sword technique, at least I can further enrich my fighting methods, which is a sure win."
After figuring this out, Su Chen immediately prepared to enter the "Dungeon: The Strongest Man" to practice.
If he was lucky, he hoped to see significant improvements in the skill proficiency of Mountain Collapsing Fist and Forging the Body into a Weapon after he came out of the dungeon.
In addition to practicing these two skills, Su Chen also planned to complete another task in this dungeon.
That was to see if his current level of innate magical power could be raised.
After all, in the joint examination dungeon, Su Chen not only killed four evil creatures in the Foundation-Establishment Stage with his own hands but also obtained a total of six soul crystal fragments (green).
He also received a lot of ordinary soul crystal fragments (white) in the white-faced spider's nest.
After combining these white soul crystals with the green soul crystals, his innate magical powers were not far from the second realm.
---
[Innate Magical Power: Heretic Path Incarnation: First Realm (20/30)]
[Current Experience Points: 4325]
---
"Although I know I'm dreaming, I still hope that this time... I can collect ten green soul crystal fragments."
Dungeon: The Strongest Man... Opened!
In the Dungeon of the Strongest Man, when Su Chen opened his eyes, he entered a dark mine cave.
"Ding-dong, ding-dong..."
The strange sound came to his ear, and Su Chen immediately looked in the direction of the sound.
A strange-looking 'Black Iron Cauldron Man' immediately came into view.
This Black Iron Cauldron Man had an iconic black iron cauldron body.
There were human limbs around the body of the cauldron, connected to the rotten flesh and blood that filled the space inside the black iron cauldron.
Coupled with the strange human face growing on the belly of the Black Iron Cauldron Man, he exuded an indescribable weirdness all over his body, making people feel very uncomfortable.
The Black Iron Cauldron Man, who was not far away from him, seemed to have not noticed his arrival at all.
He was still concentrating on digging the black ore embedded in the mine wall.
Under his curious gaze, it took a lot of effort for the cauldron man to finally dig out the black ore from the mine wall.
He held the fist-sized black ore in his hand and uttered two meaningless shouts in excitement.
Then he threw the ore directly into his black iron cauldron.
As soon as the ore fell onto the flesh and blood at the mouth of the cauldron, the rotten flesh and blood that were densely packed together in the cauldron immediately began to wriggle.
After consuming the black ore, some changes seemed to have occurred in the Black Iron Cauldron Man's body.
Not only did the black body of the cauldron turn a little green, but its size also became visibly larger.
Seeing this, Su Chen immediately checked the panel of the Black Iron Cauldron Man.
---
[Name: Black Iron Cauldron Man]
[Cultivation: Level 3 of Qi Gathering Stage]
[Features: A special creature whose body is fused with the cauldron. It is strong and has certain physical skills.]
---
Did he see a small soldier at the third level of the Qi Gathering Stage?
After confirming that it could not pose a threat and had no special features, Su Chen immediately walked toward it.
After getting about ten steps closer to the Black Iron Cauldron Man, the cauldron man, who had been silent for a long time, finally made some movement.
He turned around and looked in Su Chen's direction. The rotten flesh and blood in the Black Iron Cauldron seemed to be stimulated and instantly boiled.
"Meat... meat... meat!!!"
The Black Iron Cauldron Man looked at Su Chen, and the face on his belly immediately made an excited sound.
Then its slightly bloated body exploded and pounced directly towards Su Chen.
From the looks of it, it seemed as if it wanted to devour Su Chen on the spot.
Looking at the Black Iron Cauldron Man, who was only about 1.5 meters tall, Su Chen didn't even take out the Black Dragon Sword. He just stood there and assumed the starting posture of the Mountain Collapsing Fist, waiting for the opportunity.
When the Black Iron Cauldron Man came within three steps of Su Chen, he punched him hard.
Although this punch was not as powerful as the one that the Ant-Man had unleashed, it was equally powerful and created gusts of wind in the passage.
Boom!
His fist hit the Black Iron Cauldron Man's body, and immediately a crisp sound of metal and stone vibrated.
The next second, the body of the Black Iron Cauldron Man flew backward and hit the wall behind him, exploding into a large number of black metal fragments with a bang.
---
[You killed a Black Iron Cauldron Man (level 3 of Qi Gathering Stage) and gained 30 experience points, Black Iron Ore*1...]
[Black Iron Ore]
[Type: Material]
[Description: A common ore that can be used to make weapons]
---
Su Chen looked at the panel information after killing the Black Iron Cauldron Man, and the expression on his face did not change much.
After all, with his current strength, a Black Iron Cauldron Man at the third level of the Qi Gathering Stage could no longer provide him with too many rewards.
Su Chen took out the black iron ore that the Black Iron Cauldron Man had exploded and held it in his hand.
The next second, he crushed the hard black iron ore.
The metal power was quickly absorbed by his body...
---
[Forging the Body Into a Weapon: 11/1000]
---
Looking at the experience points of Forging the Body into a Weapon, Su Chen whispered, "Sure enough, the minerals in this dungeon can also serve as nutrients for practicing Forging the Body into a Weapon."
Thinking of this, the green lotus in Su Chen's pupils began to spin continuously, activating the ability of perspective and looking towards the surrounding walls of the mine.
He observed all the scattered ores in the mine wall. After a moment, he rushed to a mine wall and punched it with his Mountain Collapsing Fist!
Bang!
With this heavy punch, the solid wall shook instantly and broke into many cracks.
However, Su Chen did not choose to continue punching but instead looked at the crack in the wall with some surprise.
You have to know that his fist had killed the Black Iron Cauldron Man with one punch.
At present, it has only small cracks in the wall.
No wonder the Black Iron Cauldron Man seemed to have been digging for a long time. Was this ore vein so hard?
After being slightly surprised for a moment, he finally punched the wall of the mine again.
Bang, bang, bang.
He stopped only after all the black iron ore in the mine wall was knocked out.
He held the piece of black iron ore in his hand, which was a circle larger than the one that exploded from the Black Iron Cauldron Man, and crushed it.
---
[Forging the Body into a Weapon: entry level 26/1000]
---
Looking at the increased experience gained from "Forging the Body into a Weapon," Su Chen nodded with satisfaction and looked around.
Within a twenty-meter radius of his mineral vein, there was still a lot of black iron ore that had not been dug out.
If he absorbed all of this black iron ore, he could increase his experience points for "Forging the Body into a Weapon" to around 500.
In a sense, this is equivalent to him saving 500 experience points out of thin air.
Although his experience points were now increasing rapidly through his daily practice,
Not to mention that it takes a huge amount of experience—'1 million'—to reach the level of Dragon Sword Intent above the Dao entry level.
Just to improve his cultivation to the perfection of the Qi Gathering Stage, he would need a full '20,000 experience points.'
Not to mention that he also needed to accumulate more experience points for the future learning of "water-based magical powers" and "earth-based magical powers."
Therefore, he should save as many experience points as possible.
You should know that most skills and supernatural powers are relatively easy to practice in the initial stages.
Relying on his practice in the initial stage and accumulating experience points in the later stage is undoubtedly the most reasonable way to use experience points.
Money is saved, not spent!
In the following period, Su Chen transformed himself into a hardworking little miner and began to dig ore in the mine.
If he chose to use swordsmanship to mine, he would be able to dig out all the black iron ore in the walls in ten minutes at most.
If some Black Iron Cauldron men occasionally appeared during this process, Su Chen would take the time to kill them and gain some experience points simultaneously.
Three days later in the game.
"Huh... has it reached its limit?"
Su Chen looked at the "Forging the Body into a Weapon" that could not be upgraded any further and stopped mining with some regret.
He knew that if he wanted to continue to improve the skill level of "Forging the Body Into a Weapon," he would need to find some special ores.
---
[Forging the Body Into a Weapon (Furnace Type): small success 1/2000]
[Effect: Can swallow gold to temper the body, turning it into a body of fine steel and becoming a plastic weapon body]
[Special Effect Furnace: Increases the pill absorption effect by 10%]
[Mountain Collapsing Fist: small success 146/3000]
---
In three days, Su Chen not only raised the skill level of Forging the Body Into a Weapon to 'small success.'
Moreover, when this skill was upgraded from 'entry-level' to 'small success', he chose the 'furnace shape' as the body he wanted to cast.
The effect of this furnace did not disappoint him.
In addition to the basic enhancement of physical attributes, there was also a very special effect, which was to increase the absorption effect of his elixir.
This was undoubtedly a huge improvement for Su Chen.
For the same pill, others could only achieve at most 100% effect, but he could achieve a maximum of 110% effect.
This was not just about improving the effect; it was also about efficiency!
Because there is an interval between taking many pills!
For example, Su Chen could only take one Peiyuan pill a day.
One Peiyuan Pill could provide him with a minimum of 500 experience points.
If he had not practiced 'Forging Body into a Weapon', he could only gain a minimum of 500 experience points from Peiyuan Dan per day.
But after having "Forging Body into a Weapon," his experience points from taking the Peiyuan Pill every day became 550 points.
50 more per day, 500 more per ten days, 5,000 more per hundred days...
If he rounded it off, this meant he gained a huge amount of experience points out of thin air.
Win, win hard!
Su Chen felt that his choice to practice the "furnace type" of forging a body into a weapon was truly wise!
According to his previous experience in practicing skills, the effect of a skill would often increase as the skill level increased.
In every realm after the 'Perfection Level,' either the original skill effects undergo a qualitative change or new skill effects are added.
Therefore, he waited until he had mastered the skill of 'Forging Body into a Weapon' to the extreme state.
Not only would the original elixir-enhancing effects be greatly enhanced, but there would also definitely be some other better-skill effects.
Win, win twice!
Although he had only heard of people using others as furnaces, he had never seen people train themselves to become furnaces.
But he had to admit that his current method of casting his body into a furnace was indeed the most suitable route for him.
After all, experience points are what he lacked the most and what he needed the most.
He would not let go of any skill that could improve the efficiency of gaining experience points!
And because the black iron ore had lost its effect on him now, Su Chen quickly left the mine where he had stayed for three whole days.
As he walked out of the mine tunnel, a larger mine cave immediately appeared before his eyes.
Not only was the space here larger, but the cauldron people active here were no longer just the Black Iron Cauldron people; there was a new type.
---
[Bronze Cauldron Man]
[Cultivation: Level 6 of Qi Gathering Stage]
[Features: A special creature whose body is fused with a cauldron. It is strong and has certain physical skills and simple magic.]
---
Unlike the Black Iron Cauldron Men, who only knew how to perform physical skills, the newly emerged Bronze Iron Cauldron Men could already perform some simple magic skills.
With the help of the green lotus pupil, Su Chen quickly guessed why they could use simple magic skills.
If he was not mistaken, the reason they could perform simple magic skills was because of the complex patterns on the body of the bronze cauldron.
Thinking of this, he became curious about the people who made these bronze cauldrons.
According to the description of the dungeon, the birth of these cauldron people was the result of the fusion of the body and the cauldron after the death of the cultivators of Kangding Peak.
But the problem is, he had known for a long time that Kangding Peak used the cauldron to practice physical skills.
But what he couldn't understand was why Kangding Peak placed so many cauldrons in one mine.
It couldn't be that the cultivators in Kangding Peak needed to carry the cauldron on their backs when mining, right?
This reason was not only far-fetched but also very illogical.
Which miner would carry a big cauldron on their back while mining in a mine? Isn't that totally crazy?
So after thinking about it, he felt that perhaps it was because the cauldron in Kangding Peak had some special effects that he was not aware of.
So much so that even in the mine, Kangding Peak had to place some cauldrons here to suppress or solve certain special problems.
Thinking of this, he felt that he knew too little about the Qingyun Sect.
Because in the game, he had been staying at Danyang Peak and concentrating on making elixirs.
Even though he had been an inner disciple for some time, he had never been to other peaks, so he was not very clear about the situation at other peaks.
Danyang Peak had a special "Yangming Earth Fire," used to help the monks in the peak refine elixirs.
The Sword Pavilion of Cangjian Peak was also a special place.
Then what about the remaining Qingyun Peak, Wanfu Peak, and Kangding Peak?
At this moment, Su Chen was full of curiosity about the secret of Kangding Peak.
Perhaps in this dungeon, he could get a glimpse of the answer.
Thinking of this, Su Chen immediately walked towards the cauldron people in the distance.
His appearance instantly attracted the attention of many miners in the mine, causing them to stop mining and surround him.
Looking at the large number of cauldron people walking towards him, Su Chen took out two white bandages from somewhere and began to wrap them around his hands while walking toward the cauldron people.
He muttered to himself, "I have never tried to integrate the Zhen character of the Dragon Transformation Sword Technique into Mountain Collapsing Fist before. Now is a good time to give it a try."
"I hope you can hold on a little longer; at least... don't spoil my fun."
As soon as he finished speaking, Su Chen took a step forward and rushed towards the dozens of cauldron people in front of him.
"It seems like you are all surrounded by me!"
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(End of this chapter)