Chapter Sixty-Four: Turbocharged Whirlpool

After celebrating an unforgettable reunion festival with Luo Chen in advance, Elijie and Joanna finally departed. Now, Luo Chen’s life had truly settled into tranquility; every day was devoted to cultivation, and nothing else.

Still, if Luo Chen wished, he could always chat with Nicole. This bio-intelligent mind was his only companion during the holidays—and possibly a lifelong one, for she was now completely integrated with him, surviving by drawing energy through him as her medium.

Late at night, the tower on the rear mountain was especially quiet. Lying in bed, Luo Chen had already fallen asleep, but his mind was anything but calm.

In the virtual realm, Luo Chen was engaged in an intense battle with a red-haired beauty—Joanna, simulated by Nicole using the combat data she had collected.

With a sharp cry, Joanna’s palm erupted with fiery power, a scorching wave surging forth. The surrounding air instantly rose by fifty or sixty degrees, and Luo Chen, enveloped by the palm wind, felt parched and as if he were plunged into molten lava—an indescribable discomfort.

This was Joanna’s Scorching Flame Palm, executed at eighty percent strength. In the days before the end of her tutoring, Luo Chen had begged her to batter him with this move so Nicole could gather more data.

Luo Chen responded with both hands, finally neutralizing most of the flames, but a trace of fire still entered his body, setting his insides ablaze. At that moment, Joanna spun and swept out a leg. Her long, beautiful leg ignited with crimson flames, tracing a crescent arc that struck Luo Chen’s chest directly—a different combat technique created by the Golan family to complement the Heaven-Searing Art: the Flame Dance Kick.

Joanna’s tall, elegant figure performed this technique with the air of a true warrior queen—graceful, powerful, and extremely deadly.

Struck by the red crescent, Luo Chen, though he shielded himself with his arms, was sent flying more than ten meters before crashing to the ground, unable to rise for some time.

Joanna stood, leg retracted, proud and aloof—cold and dazzling as a rose with thorns.

Nicole floated in the air, white wings shimmering, and said, “Master, according to my data, you’ve now temporarily lost your combat capability. Would you like to recover and try again?”

“No, stop for now,” Luo Chen muttered. “The Golan family’s combat techniques are truly formidable. Joanna’s using only eighty percent of her strength, and after all these days, I still can’t last ten moves against her. Damn!”

Nicole drifted closer to him, offering encouragement. “Master, please don’t lose heart. Your awareness and reactions are improving every day. But as the ancients once said: ‘Rome wasn’t built in a day.’ All you need is time.”

Luo Chen nodded. “Of course, I can handle this setback. She’s much stronger than me, after all. But I will catch up—bit by bit!”

He was already quite satisfied with his progress. When Joanna had first used greater strength in actual combat, he’d been defeated in just eight moves.

Besides Joanna, Elijie was also standing beside the trial grounds. It was nice to see both women in the virtual realm, though neither had independent thought, even if their appearances were indistinguishable from the real thing.

Nicole said, “Master, your spiritual energy has reached a certain level. During this holiday, you could also learn better ways to use your spirit core.”

Luo Chen was curious. “Oh? The spirit core does more than just help absorb spiritual energy?”

Nicole giggled. “No, Master, it’s far more versatile than you imagine. Besides being the core of your spirit energy circulation, the spirit core can be seen as an engine. The spiritual energy in your body is its fuel. With proper control, you can raise or lower the output at will, which will greatly enhance your ability to release spirit energy.”

Luo Chen’s interest was piqued. Nicole’s new insights were always extraordinary. “So how can I use the spirit core to control output?”

“No rush, Master. I’ll explain it all gradually. But first, let’s discuss input—without energy input, there can’t be any output.”

Nicole stuck out her tongue. “Ah, I suppose that’s obvious. Anyway, here’s the main point. When you want to increase spirit energy output, you usually speed up the flow of spiritual energy, releasing more in a given time to enhance destructive power. But using the spirit core to boost output is different. You first seal the spirit core temporarily and funnel a large amount of spirit energy into it, overfilling its capacity. The energy then gets compressed, increasing its density—the more compressed, the purer and faster the released energy flow, and the greater the output. The structure of the spirit core is something I designed based on the turbocharging principle of ancient aircraft engines, so it has the same effect.”

Luo Chen exclaimed joyfully, “What an amazing method! Nicole, you really are brilliant—oh, sorry, I got too excited and swore a little, haha!”

“It’s alright, Master. Thank you for your praise!” Nicole smiled sweetly, delighted, and encouraged herself—keep it up, Nicole, you’re one step closer to your doctorate dream.

“By the way,” Luo Chen seemed to recall something, “Nicole, how much can this turbocharging increase the output? Can I input as much as I want?”

“No, not without limit,” Nicole quickly replied. “Master, your spirit core is made of spirit essence, which is much stronger than spiritual energy, but it still has a maximum pressure it can withstand. According to my calculations, an eighty percent boost is generally safe. Beyond that, it becomes dangerous—you could damage your vitality, and doubling the pressure is the absolute limit. Any more, and the spirit core could explode, leading to instant death or paralysis!”

Her expression grew grave. “Master, you must remember my warning!”

“Hey, I’ve got it!” Luo Chen couldn’t suppress his excitement. Even though he couldn’t boost endlessly, being able to increase his spirit energy’s destructive power by eighty percent out of thin air—where else could he find such a gift? He was eager to start learning this novel technique immediately.

Nicole added, “Master, twice the pressure is just your current limit. You can keep training your spirit core to increase its strength, and then you’ll be able to use even greater boosts.”

“Hahaha, wonderful! Nicole, from today on, this will be another key subject of my holiday training!” Luo Chen clenched his fists, his heart ablaze with passion. Just wait—by the end of this break, I’ll surely surprise everyone again!

[Don’t forget to cast your fresh recommendation votes—just a few for the author’s breakfast, please!]