"Our leader gives you permission to use this room, as long as you tell us how long you'll stay." Tong led him to the Heaven Refining Tower, the tower that gathered Qi and condensed it.
Normally, it would take a disciple weeks of contribution just to cultivate there for a single day. Only a few top disciples could come and go freely.
"My master is now in secluded cultivation."
The words made Tong shiver. A miracle doctor going into seclusion, that was rare.
His curiosity was immediately piqued.
"May I ask why?" Tong asked formally.
"He said his enemy has begun to make a move."
At that moment, Tong's heart sank, and his face turned pale. His voice stuttered, "E-enemy?"
Even though he was at the ninth stage of Qi Condensation, stronger than most of the town, he still wasn't qualified to stand before a miracle doctor. And that miracle doctor had an enemy? Possibly living in this town?
"I don't know why," Wu Han sighed, showing a trace of confusion, "but my master told me to come here instead of going home, and then he quickly builds a secret array for his preparations."
"If you wish, I can visit your home for you. You're from the Wu Clan, right?" Tong asked, glancing at the emblem on Wu Han's chest. He might need to ask around, but there was nothing in this town that the Luo Clan's intelligence unit didn't know.
"Yes. I'd appreciate that," Wu Han said, bowing in gratitude, though in truth, Tong would now serve as his alibi.
Tong then left and gifted him a Luo Clan disciple robe, so he wouldn't attract as much attention as when he first arrived. Wu Han appreciated the effort and changed out of his old Wu Clan robe into the bright blue and white robes of the Luo.
Not only was it more comfortable, but its design was also sleek, made for movement, and breathable.
"And some fools still say money can't buy happiness." Wu Han smirked.
Now this was a suit fit for a proper mage, and the quality was high enough to make him question just how high it really was.
He undid his robe, revealing hardened muscles shaped by training. Qi in the air flowed into him like water into a sponge. Inside the tower, an ordinary cultivator's speed would be one and a half times faster than usual, but with Wu Han's absorbing rune, it tripled.
That not only helped his cultivation and recovery, but it also made certain things possible, like creating magical items.
Why hadn't he done it before? Lack of proper base materials.
Not every boat could survive stormy seas; it needed to be built with the right wood to match the design.
Wu Han hung the Luo Clan robe in midair, summoned ten spirit stones from his ring, and began forming a magic circle. The array appeared around the robe and multiplied with each stroke of his moving fingers, like a master artist painting across an ethereal canvas.
Line by line—circles, squares, and a hexagon, which was the most powerful shape but also required the most mana, so he had to limit its usage—the complex pattern stacked higher, draining his reserves as fast as the tower restored them.
Outside, this would have been nearly impossible, but here, he managed.
Still, it wasn't easy.
His body burned with heat, blood dripping from his nose. His internal circuits seared with Qi. Even if he could replenish it, his body wasn't meant to sustain that intensity for long.
On the verge of collapse, Wu Han clapped his hands together.
The final rune sigil engraved itself into the ritual, and everything collapsed into the robe.
Done!
The robe floated midair, fluttering softly as light shimmered across its surface, raising the question of what it could do.
Self-repair, check.
Temperature control, check.
Emergency shield, check.
Force redirection, check.
And best of all, self-cleaning and, of course, ironing.
It would stay crisp and fitted at all times.
It even had a built-in sensory array that provided a full 360-degree detection field up to three meters in case of sneak attacks.
Wu Han had learned from experience.
The natural Qi shield of a cultivator was useless unless one possessed overwhelming power, and his spell-based shield consumed too much mana to use repeatedly.
So, he had created what was essentially mage armor.
Still, it wasn't perfect. Its functions were limited, and systems like the sensor had to be turned on and off to conserve energy.
But overall, it was mostly self-sufficient.
Defense had always been his weakness, like most mages. Until he could use his soul body, he was still a mage trapped in a warrior's shell.
Without his magic, he wouldn't last long against any cultivator worth their salt.
Which led to his second problem: firepower.
Low-level spells wouldn't cut it against cultivators. He needed higher affinity to amplify his power, like when he used Luo Lan's yin energy to cast a spell instead of his own. That had allowed him to kill a cultivator on the same stage instantly.
But now that his affinity was limited to dark magic, his only real options were curses.
It had already proven effective when he cursed the Second Elder of the Wu Clan; his dark magic was far more potent than his elemental spells at this stage.
Still, he didn't want to be labeled a demonic cultivator.
From Wu Zhen's memories, cultivators were divided into three paths:
Righteous, the law-abiding, morally upright warriors;
Neutral, those who did whatever benefited them most without provoking either side;
and Demonic, the scourge of the world, those who would do anything for power.
And his methods… lined up almost perfectly with the last one.
While it was true his ways were demonic, being called one would only bring trouble and unwanted attention.
"Demonic" and "evil" were the same thing, just different words.
To Wu Han, only idiots wanted others to know they were evil.
True evil stayed hidden behind the curtain until it fell—by then, the show was already too far gone.
And the greatest of them all?
…it was still too early for him to answer that question.
Back to firepower. Now that his affinity couldn't be used publicly, if he didn't want to be toyed with or earn the wrong kind of fame, he needed a new way to fight—a new style, a new spell.
Wu Han summoned his spear and let it hang midair. He touched the shaft and closed his eyes.
In this world, every cultivation realm had three tiers of techniques: basic, advanced, and peak.
His Snake Spear was a basic-level technique for Qi Condensation.
The Storm-Slicing Sword was an advanced one but also limited to Qi Condensation.
Anything below your own realm was practically useless, as it restricted further progress.
That was why Wu Han needed to be cautious before anyone in the Foundation Establishment Realm; their power stood on an entirely different plane.
Then, the memory of the first time he used Sky Piercer returned to him.
I put too much energy into it, and it went wild… but the power it produced far surpassed the original technique. Even though it was makeshift...
Even the advanced-level Storm-Slicing Sword couldn't compare to Sky Piercer.
The basic principle of a technique was simple: draw Qi from within and unleash it through the weapon.
An advanced technique channeled Qi through both body and weapon, combining internal and external force.
But a peak technique? He had no idea how it looked or worked Wu Zhen Zhen and the Wu Clan had never possessed one.
Still, Sky Piercer showed promise.
The concept was born from him using technique as spell, and that was why the move went out of control.
So, what if he reversed it?
What if he used a spell as a technique?
He formed an invisible link between himself and the spear, controlling its flow, then straightened it, aiming out the window.
There was a rank-1 spell called Wind Blast that shot out a wave of air, but Wu Han reverse-engineered it, channeling the same magic into the spear and adapting its power using the principles of Storm-Slicing Sword.
By merging the two, he empowered and shaped the gathered wind into a storm strong enough to slice through metal.
The wind gathered, swirling violently around the weapon.
Then, with a sound like thunder splitting the air, the spear shot forward piercing the sky like a diving eagle, leaving a trail of emerald light and a roaring gale in its wake.
The result brought a rare, satisfied smile to Wu Han's face.
Now that… was a Sky Piercer!
He could perfect his stance, form, and grip like a normal warrior, but why bother?
He wasn't a warrior. He was a MAGE.
Why waste time practicing with a weapon when he could calculate every movement, embed it into the spear, and let it move exactly as he intended?
A new spell born from cultivation knowledge.
This is my own way of cultivation!