Chapter 24: Results of Cultivation, A Great Advancement

Ten days passed in the blink of an eye, and the gains for Chu Danqing and Dabao were immense.

Dabao, in particular, had completely digested and absorbed the power obtained from devouring the Cave Beast Priest. If they were to encounter another Cave Beast Priest now, killing it would be effortless.

[Brutal Beast: Son of the Cave]
[Attributes]
[Health: 100%]
[Blood Rage: 90]
[Strength: 9]
[Agility: 9]
[Constitution: 9]
[Spirit: 1 (Locked)]
[Perception: 9]
[Talent]
[Bloody Fury]
[Skills]
[Rending Claws (Active) LV.9: Upon activation, attacks against enemies deal 9 additional points of rending damage and inflict a bleeding status. Consumes 9 points of Blood Rage per minute.]
[Bloodthirsty Pursuit (Passive) LV.9: When dealing damage to enemies with a bleeding status, gain a lifesteal effect and an additional 9 points of bleed damage.]
[Beast Instinct (Passive) LV.MAX]
[Combat Intuition (Passive) LV.MAX: Significantly improves combat reasoning and reaction speed. When health drops to 50%, enters a Fearless state.]

Beyond the improvements in attributes and skills, the true harvest of these ten days was the MAX-level skill, Combat Intuition, derived from Beast Instinct. Unlike the Berserk state, which sacrifices sanity to boost attributes, the Fearless state enhances resistance to negative status effects while allowing the beast to distinguish between friend and foe and follow Chu Danqing’s commands. There was no longer any need to worry about Dabao turning on Chu Danqing during a frenzy.

As for why the attributes didn't reach 10 and the skills didn't hit LV.10, that was on Chu Danqing. His foundation in Summoning Studies and Basic Summoning was not high enough. During the ten days he spent learning from the Holy Son, he had only managed to raise these two foundational skills to LV.5.

[Basic Summoning Studies: LV.5]
[Skill Effect: Increases all summon attributes by 5%; summons benefit from 10% of the Apostle's average attributes.]
[Basic Summoning: LV.5]
[Skill Effect: Increases summon talent and skill effects by 5%; increases summon growth potential.]

The Holy Son had explained that to raise Dabao’s five-dimensional attributes to 10 and his skills to LV.10, these foundational skills needed to be at least maxed out at LV.10. Basic skills cap at level 10; further improvement requires advancement into Mastery-level skills.

"Spending these ten days with you has been a pleasure, fellow Daoist," the Holy Son said, offering parting advice. "The roots of the skill that enhances the bleeding status remain in Dabao, though there is no strength left to support it. Once you have maxed out your foundational skills, you may seek out rare treasures to cultivate it further; there is a good chance it may see the light of day once more. You already know the method of cultivation, so you may try it yourself. Furthermore, I hope you will practice with diligence and not grow lax. The path of cultivation is like rowing a boat against the current; if you do not advance, you fall behind."

The Holy Son held Chu Danqing in high regard, as Chu Danqing had provided him with ample emotional value during their time together. Chu Danqing’s previous career—managing client relationships and maintaining accounts—had equipped him with enough social grace to navigate such interactions competently.

"I owe you my deepest thanks for your guidance, little master," Chu Danqing replied, taking the advice to heart.

"If fate allows, we shall meet again. Though by then, I likely will not remember you, for I am but a projection." As the words faded, the Holy Son’s figure slowly vanished.

Carrying his recorder and a thick stack of notes, Chu Danqing left the training chamber with Dabao.

"Let's go. We'll head to the attribute cabin to distribute our points," Chu Danqing decided, following the balanced approach recommended by the Holy Son.

Though called a "cabin," the reinforcement facility was a massive structure. Guided by a Life Apostle, Chu Danqing was quickly assigned an empty station.

[Current Attribute Points: 2]
[Hint: Please ensure your five-dimensional attributes do not deviate too significantly.]

"In any system, the five-dimensional attributes are essential and inseparable. The Paradise encourages comprehensive development," Chu Danqing mused. "It’s just not easy to gather that many points. Just to go from Reserve to First Rank requires 25 points for balanced development."

He allocated the 2 points into Agility and Perception.

[Would you like to enable anesthesia? This is a permanent feature; enabling it costs 100 Paradise Points.]

"No. I don't believe it can be that painful," Chu Danqing said, unwilling to waste points, especially since he feared anesthesia might affect the reinforcement results.

[Attribute allocation complete. Reinforcement beginning...]

The next moment, a searing, intense pain erupted from within. Chu Danqing’s face twisted, but due to the cabin’s mechanism, he couldn't scream, his face turning a deep shade of red as he held it in.

[Attributes]
[Strength: 5]
[Agility: 6]
[Constitution: 6]
[Spirit: 5]
[Perception: 6]

Ten minutes later, Chu Danqing stumbled out of the cabin, his limbs weak. Dabao caught him, preventing him from collapsing like a noodle.

"Are, you, okay?" Dabao looked at him with concern.

"I'm fine. Just need a few minutes to recover." Chu Danqing’s jaw ached from clenching his teeth, but there was no time to rest. "To the True Spirit Hall."

The True Spirit Hall was a special facility unique to the Dimensional Paradise among the five major factions. It was used to awaken the "True Spirit" power contained within equipment. There were four known outcomes: attribute enhancement, skill improvement, skill activation, and quality promotion. Equipment could be awakened multiple times depending on its quality and potential. The downside was that not all equipment possessed a True Spirit; one had to have it appraised at the hall first.

Chu Danqing suspected that only his *Grudge of the Kin-Eater* might possess a True Spirit; the rest were unlikely. He wanted to appraise them first because even if the weapons didn't awaken, items containing a True Spirit could be sold for a higher price. However, the cost of awakening was high, scaling with the equipment's quality and the potential for multiple awakenings. A piece of equipment with high awakening potential could serve a user well from the first rank all the way through the second. Such items, however, were incredibly rare.

"I, do not know, the way," Dabao said.

"I'll guide you," Chu Danqing replied, thinking he should buy Dabao a Type-1 information data chip soon to save himself the trouble of Dabao getting lost in the Apostle Plaza.

He directed Dabao toward the default area for Reserve Apostles, relying on his memory. As for teaching him, Chu Danqing had long abandoned that idea. The Holy Son had remarked that aside from combat, Dabao was like a piece of rotten wood—impossible to carve. The only reason he showed any spark in battle was due to his *Beast Instinct* skill.