Chapter 53

[Metal Bar](Appraisal Level Too Low) X5

[Gem Of Pure Ki](1 Carat)

[Rare Amber](.5 Carat)

[Gem](Appraisal Level Too Low)X2

He couldn't appraise the books, but he could read the titles.

"Craftsmen Cultivation Technique"

"Fire Ki Transfusion Technique"

"Hardened Flame Technique Form 4"

He opened them all up, and found that he needed techniques 1-3 to use the fourth one so there was no way for him to use it. The other two were not only usable but very good for his skill set. He could hear growling in the distance and wanted to move so as to not encounter it.

Unfortunately, he was too late. A gorilla looking being he had never even heard about burst out of the trees which swiftly swung back into place. It had all dark red fur on its rough black skin; Its eyes burned with some kind of rage or passion as it leaped towards him. He used his focus to speed up his perception, but even with that its massive fist the size of Jake's body smashed directly into him.

Jake grabbed the sword out of the crate and tried to enchant it with decay, but after quickly realizing it was above common grade he dropped it and created a decaying flame spear and pointed it towards the beast just as it threw another punch. The spear pierced its skin, but it seemed more like a splinter than an attack. He slowed down a little bit but Jake was hit again. His health was dropping with each hit. He was smashed into a wall, but using thunder's howl from his hand he was able to burst out of the way.

The beast was clearly angry now with its fur starting to ignite like sparklers. He couldn't get close enough to the thing to hit it in melee combat, but he could throw spears at it until its stats were too low. He used a combo of decaying spears and electric bursts to slowly lower its speed until he could dodge its attacks by jumping normally.

He was trying to slowly take it down, but he wasn't taking it down fast enough to outpace it. It crashed its fists into the ground, sending a shattering pulse through the ground. Flame started ascending from the cracks and was drawn into the beast. An upside down tornado of fire was swirling around it and making the sparklers change into fully formed flames, signifying more power.

It lunged through the fire at Jake with killing intent. Without any other options, Jake went to reach for a potion, but did not have any in this world. He cursed into the air as the hit landed directly into his body, throwing him into a tree.

"ROOOOOOOoonk"

It's yell echoed throughout the forest as other beasts tried to roar louder to show dominance. This included a loud birdlike scratcher, prosed with all of the flames around the beast sucking together into a ball.

They both looked up as the ball of flames burst into a tiny, but pair of majestic birds. Their wings expanded to not even two feet long, even from far away Jake could see what had appeared. A pair of phoenix's. They once again lit ablaze into twin flames, bursting off together like shooting stars.

Just as they flew off a stampede of animals began running toward it, leaving Jake alone and hurt. His body wasn't too damaged to impair his movement, but he really didn't want to fight again. He grabbed the contents of the chest and put what he could in his inventory and carried the sword on his waist and the books in his hand. There was still one more thing of note in the area, a light red and white feather on a pile of ashes.

[Jewelry Appraisal]

[Phoenix Feather][Highest Common][Epic Material]

[Flame Healing]

Magic +25

[Flame Healing]

All fires you create heal you when they would damage you.

[Ashes Of Twin Flame][Unable To Appraise]

Being materials, he put them both in his inventory and started making his way back to the sect. He held the feather and used his flame claws to mend his body on his way, making it back just before nightfall. When he got back into his room he couldn't help but sigh. Even though he didn't think he was that strong, he still expected to at least defeat a single beast. He laid down and decided that he would make another craft later and cultivate now for more stats.

He opened up "Craftsmen Cultivation Technique" and started reading. It talked about moving ki through the body and inserting it all into a single precise strike to shape medal, or soft and slowly to make a needle-like movement with it. There are complete opposites, and it would apparently slowly get him used to longer term cultivation.

[Craftsmen Cultivation Technique] Learned

[10,000 Advanced Jeweler Exp Gained]

[100 EXP Gained]

[Advanced Jeweler Class Level Up]

[Skill Point Gained]

[Snake Summoning Technique]

Summon a snake, type, level, and amount dependent on the item used.

[Mana Forger]

Inject mana into metal 25% faster.

[Jeweler Knowledge]

Increase comprehension of jewelry by 50%

Combine's[Jewelry Repair] and [Deconstruct]

He stared at the option's for a few minutes. Mana forger wasn't super good, so he discarded that one almost instantly, but the other two were strong in completely different ways. He was trained from birth that he would always have at least one person to rely on, but in the cultivation world that simply isn't a thing.

He had nobody, and that could be at least slightly addressed with a summon, but being able to comprehend things faster was simply better. He made his final decision to take jewelry knowledge and retracted into his cultivation space.

He was determined to get stronger, but at the same time was just a little bit sad about how he felt like he was failing. After being such a powerhouse in the zombie quest, he was underwhelmed with himself. Complex emotional issues weren't exactly his specialty, so he cleared his head and jumped into the pool.