NOVPUB"Alright." Lin Yun nodded.
A soft hum-
A powerful mental attack soon fell upon Lin Yun.
Lin Yun’s face subtly changed.
His mental strength had reached the peak of the tenth level, while Xia Qingqing’s mental strength was merely at the peak of the ninth level, meaning they had a significant gap in their mental strengths.
According to the Cosmic Trading System, cultivators of the mental realm were quite formidable among cultivators of the same rank, but they had one weakness - their strength would diminish when facing someone whose mental strength was greater than theirs, regardless of that person’s primary cultivation system.
Mental strength was a hard power to enhance. Generally speaking, without a device like the Cosmic Trading System to aid them, people found it difficult to surpass their primary cultivation system in mental strength.
Furthermore, the mental energy enhanced by the Cosmic Trading System lacked something, so cultivators who trained their mental faculties using the Cosmic Trading System were generally weaker than other cultivators at the same level.
For these reasons, Lin Yun didn’t take Xia Qingqing’s mental realm power too seriously.
But at this moment, he realized he was wrong.
When Xia Qingqing displayed the power of her mental realm, it surpassed his expectations.
Hum-
At this moment, Xia Qingqing launched yet another mental attack in a completely different way than before, but the two methods complemented each other, amplifying the power of both attacks. no𝚟𝚙u𝚋.c𝚘m
Hum-hum-
Next, a series of relentless attacks fell upon Lin Yun.
"What-"
Lin Yun’s expression quickly changed, and he couldn’t help but exclaim.
He could feel the onslaught of Xia Qingqing’s attacks, each one stronger than the last. Perhaps it was a problem of coordination... nonetheless, it put him under immense pressure despite his strength.
At this moment, he realized, if he were to fight with someone else and a person were to affect him like this, his strength would certainly be greatly reduced.
For instance, if he were to duel with Lin Mengmeng and Xia Qingqing attacked on the side, he might not even stand a chance against Lin Mengmeng.
This had great implications.
Were all cultivators of the mental realm this formidable?
No, while many cultivators of the mental realm were indeed formidable, those trained under the Cosmic Trading System’s enhanced mental power were not as formidable.
Moreover, he was not an ordinary cultivator. His mental strength was tremendous, surpassing Xia Qingqing’s by a large realm, which should have significantly reduced her power.
So... Xia Qingqing’s power was not typical.
Lin Yun quickly compared some data from the Cosmic Trading System.
He soon found the answer: Xia Qingqing’s displayed mental realm power exceeded that of a typical cultivator of the mental realm. Specifically, the attack method Xia Qingqing used was not something an ordinary cultivator of the mental realm could execute.
Could it be that Xia Qingqing excelled in mental realm cultivation?
Lin Yun pondered silently.
Hum-
At this moment, Xia Qingqing was still launching her mental attacks.
Lin Yun dared not underestimate her anymore and responded with full force.
Cultivators of the mental realm differed from regular cultivators. Many of their attack procedures were quite unique and Lin Yun learned a lot while defending against them.
"Having a high level in mental strength is like having a high physical fitness. When two ordinary people fight, the physically fitter one has the upper hand. However, the most crucial elements are technique and... weapons. An individual with superior skills could easily defeat a more physically fit person, and could even take on one versus many.
If equipped with powerful weapons, that person could handle more than ten, dozens, or even hundreds of adversaries..."
A sudden understanding flashed across Lin Yun’s mind.
Skills of mental strength and cultivation practices were like techniques and weapons; good ones were extremely important.
Just like he needed to practice martial arts techniques and cultivation practices while training in martial arts.
He had now reached the late stages of the eighth level in martial arts. Because he had learned numerous martial arts techniques and excellent cultivation practices, and had a high level of understanding of many techniques, he could grapple with typical cultivators at the peak of the ninth level.
Moreover, he could even defeat many cultivators at the peak of the ninth level.
That was the role techniques and cultivation practices played.
If he only had a realm level and knew no martial arts techniques, he might not even be a match for cultivators at the realm level of martial arts seven.
The gap was that immense.
The principles of the mental realm and martial arts were the same.
Having only a realm level would not suffice.
...
The battle continued.
Many mental realm attacks were impossible to guard against, forcing Lin Yun to resist with pure mental strength. If his mental strength hadn’t reached the peak of the tenth level, he wouldn’t even dare to ensure that he could gain any advantage while fighting Xia Qingqing. If Xia Qingqing were to launch a surprise attack, and he was caught off guard, it was not impossible that he would lose.
"No wonder cultivators of the mental realm are usually stronger than other cultivators of the same level under normal circumstances. This sense of defenselessness really is unpleasant..." Lin Yun commented.
"It seems that I should also learn one or two defensive methods of the mental realm, even if I can’t attack others in this way, I should at least be able to defend against their attacks. Maybe even learn one or two offensive methods, which might prove miraculous at critical moments..." Lin Yun mused.
In the end, everything boiled down to money.
And in this case, money was Spirit Crystals.
If he had enough Spirit Crystals, he wouldn’t need to be so calculating in his spendings.
Although he earned a lot a year ago, over thirty trillion Spirit Crystals.
However, he spent it rather fast.
For instance, to upgrade from low tenth level mental strength to peak tenth level spiritual power, he still only needed a few hundred billion Spirit Crystals.
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To upgrade to eleventh level, he needed several tens of trillions of Spirit Crystals.
According to the cost for purchasing a robot with the strength of an eleventh-level martial artist, upgrading mental strength from the lower ninth level to the lower tenth level needed fifty billion Spirit Crystals, but upgrading from the lower tenth level to the lower eleventh level was not a tenfold disparity, but a hundredfold disparity, that is, five trillion.
To be precise, it’s not that upgrading mental strength from the lower tenth level to the peak tenth level requires a lot of Spirit Crystals, but upgrading from the peak tenth level to the lower eleventh level requires a lot of Spirit Crystals.
That’s why, even though Lin Mengmeng’s martial arts realm had already been advanced to the early stage of the ninth level, Lin Yun hadn’t upgraded her mental strength to the eleventh level.
The cost was too great.
Even if Lin Yun had put all the Spirit Crystals he earned last time into it, it wouldn’t be enough.
The consumption for cultivation was like building an inverted pyramid.
The further you get, the more resources you need. It’s not a linear increase, but a geometric one.
Take his eighteen thousand subordinates, for instance.
The year before last, they only consumed over thirty billion Spirit Crystals in a year.
Recently, they consumed over three hundred billion Spirit Crystals in a year.
And that doesn’t even count his and Lin Mengmeng’s consumption, or the people around him.
If you add that up... out of the over thirty trillion Spirit Crystals he earned, he only had over seventeen trillion Spirit Crystals left.
That is to say, this year, they consumed a total of over thirteen trillion Spirit Crystals.
Based on the current rate of increased consumption, the remaining Spirit Crystals are not enough for their half-year consumption, maybe even shorter.
"I really need to make money..." Lin Yun sighed inwardly.
If you don’t run a household, you don’t realize how expensive everyday necessities are. Sometimes he envied the people around him, his subordinates.
They didn’t have to worry about anything and could dedicate themselves to cultivation.
If they showed good talent, they could even receive training.
If he had the same treatment, he wouldn’t need to worry so much.
