10x2
From (6) shooting star to (7) dim star it cost him 30000 points, but he was already used to it.
His spirit root, which already had a prototype form of a flower or lotus, began to transform again. The petals became clearer and were 33 in total, all mixed in colors. Its format became closer to that of a lotus.
The mysterious multi-colored glow began to merge into the petals and they began to glow brightly.
Gu Yuan felt a warm sensation in his soul as if he were taking a very comfortable bath. The spiritual energy around him felt so much closer to him that he even wondered if that was another kind of energy.
He waved his hand and the spiritual energy around him obeyed his order, as if his subordinate, despite him not having refined it.
[Congratulations, your spirit root is now comparable to the most inferior two elements spirit root, or a middle-grade three elements spirit root.]
He enjoyed and got used to the new sensibility first for a few hours, and then added more points.
From (7) dim star to (8) small star it cost him 150000 troll points.
His spirit root began to grow in size and number of petals, it's format got more delicate and detailed than before. Gu Yuan could sense that it even had the veins that any normal plant had.
When the transformation was over, the number of petals grew to a whopping 99. And each petal was brighter and bigger than before.
Gu Yuan's sensibility and domain over spiritual energy grew greatly, he was shocked at how easily he could control and absorb spiritual energy.
[Congratulations, your spirit root is now comparable to the middle-grade two elements spirit root or a high-grade three elements spirit root.]
"Huh? Is it not comparable to a spirit root with a single element?" Gu Yuan was shocked and his complexion changed.
[Single-element spirit roots were called heavenly spirit roots for a reason, they are much better and rarer than other spirit roots. Normally, only those with heavenly spirit roots have an almost guaranteed pass to the nascent soul realm, where all spirit roots are not as important anymore.]
"Why is it?" Gu Yuan was curious.
[Because when the nascent soul is formed, the spirit root becomes the secondary way to absorb and refine spiritual energy. The nascent soul, even one of bad quality, is better at doing this.]
"So... If a mortal without a spirit root with great luck reaches the nascent soul realm..."
[Yes, he will be roughly at a similar level in terms of spiritual energy absorption to others who were born with talent. But it is not absolute...]
"I see..." Gu Yuan sighed and marveled at how the world worked.
He looked at his remaining points and found that thanks to the last few day's accumulation because many people took a while to know about his feats (and get outraged), he had just enough to upgrade his spirit root another time.
[You should add points to your cultivation technique as well.]
"Why? it's enough as it is," Gu Yuan frowned.
[Well, don't blame me later, I warned you.]
"Damn it, just be direct!"
[I need to follow the rules, dude, the rules...]
Gu Yuan took a deep breath and thought hard about the panel's spirit suggestion. He felt that the other part wouldn't be saying that without any basis.
[Authority Technique: Firm Mountain Cultivation Technique (Excellent Mastery) (Body Tempering Chapter) (4)]
Gu Yuan clicked his tongue and knew he would need another endeavor if he wanted to push both his cultivation technique and spirit root to level (10).
Because he was much stronger than before, both physically and mentally, Gu Yuan wasn't scared of upgrading his understanding of the cultivation technique.
He upgraded his understanding successively until it reached (8) (Transcendent Mastery) level, only then did he begin to feel a little burdened by the great amounts of complex knowledge.
He instantly understood that by reaching that level he already surpassed the original technique by a large margin, he was in a territory forcefully created by the panel.
He also understood by reference what the panel's spirit meant when it said he would regret it. If he chose to break through to the second layer with his previous mastery over the cultivation technique, he would have wasted his incredible foundation and even weakened it.
By then, he would need to put lots of points to make his cultivation realm's quality return to (10).
[Body, mind, and technique. These three have to be equivalent for the foundation to be flawless, never forget it.]
But even after upgrading his mastery over the technique to (8), it was still insufficient if he wished to not waste his previous efforts, he had to upgrade it to (10) as well.
"I spent too many points..." Gu Yuan sighed and opened the windows to see the night sky beyond, "What kind of... honest deeds must I do this time?"
He wanted to innovate, rather than to just copy his previous acts. He also wanted to reach more people, and thus gain more points.
But the choices were narrow, he had strength comparable to an ordinary ninth layer, yes, but there were many people with similar strength and not a few Qi Refining cultivators with enough power to kill him easily.
He could only offend people with far lower strength than his, and people who didn't possess a great background.
In short, he was a villain who bullied the weak and feared the strong. Of course, he comforted himself by stating that he only bullied villains.
A few weeks later, people heard that Justice Fist acted again, more vicious than ever.
According to the rumors, he raped two thousand girls and massacred five thousand in a single night, he left the streets flooded in blood and bathed in flames.
Of course, it wasn't that exaggerated. Gu Yuan just provoked one small force after another by putting pire into their headquarters with a seemingly infinite source of flammable liquid.
Because he was much stronger than all those he provoked, he could do all that without worrying about being killed by large numbers of enemies. He simply ran away each time before he was exhausted.
Obviously, he never forgot to mock and humiliate his victims through letters and words. He would beat up lots of weaklings as long as he was sure he could escape.
Moreover, he did extensive research on those he chose to attack, he only did so to those he was sure he could handle the aftermath.
When he offended about everyone he could offend, he quieted down outside the capital, in a cave in the woods. He was afraid he would somehow be tracked down by his enemies even though he put on a disguise and was much stronger than them.
Of course, he wasn't afraid of those much weaker than him, but afraid of being outnumbered to a ridiculous degree or even attracting the attention of someone he shouldn't offend.
He knew there were secret methods to track people based on their auras, but he thought it was unlikely for a cultivator living in a mortal country to possess such a method.
Moreover, only someone in the late stage of Qi Refining could use such a technique proficiently.
This method operandi of his had a few drawbacks, the first being that the quality of the trolls diminished. Because he just humiliated them and burned their headquarters, and didn't exactly put the lives of many at risk, so their hate was lower.
But he compensated it with a large number of victims. No matter how small the individual gain was, the great numbers made up for it.
In any case, he vowed to never show himself as Justice Fist again, just in case he made some troublesome enemy without knowing.
About a week after his actions, his troll points also completely stabilized and stopped growing. He managed to amass...
[Troll points: 10.008.421]
A turbid breath escaped his mouth and Gu Yuan was slightly shocked by how much he gained.
[Before you get too cocky, let me reveal something to you. Every time you advance your cult8vation realm, the points necessary for upgrading anything will increase, multiplied by 5! So you better not think a mere ten million is a lot.]
"Shit! Why did you only tell me such an important thing now?" Gu Yuan's eyes were bloodshot and he clenched his teeth.
[What is the hurry? You are unable to advance your realm before even if you wanted.]
[Now that you know this, you should understand the importance of doing your best in every realm. Not only your foundation will remain strong, but you will also save lots of points by being patient.]
Gu Yuan calmed down and began to prepare himself, but there was nothing more to do. The cave was rock and lime, he only had supplies with him.
He thought for a whole and decided to add points to his spirit root first.
750000 troll points were subtracted in an instant, his spirit root began to transform again. The (8) changed to (9), which was the great star level.
As if being transformed into a star, the spirit root began to glow with unfathomable splendor and multiple colors.
The 99 petals began to get bigger and full of details, like living petals. Gu Yuan felt like each petal contained infinite mysteries.
When the transformation was over, the spirit root was three times bigger than before, and it was just like a bright star with a magnificent glow.
Gu Yuan not only felt his sensibility and control over spiritual energy improved many times compared to before but also felt like his previous mind was full of fog and muddled with dirt.
He felt his new mind to be more clear, like the limpid starry sky or a clear water pond without ripples. What once confused him, was now easy for him to understand.
[Congratulations, your spirit root is now comparable to a high-grade two elements spirit root, you aren't far from the level of a heavenly spirit root!]
"Still not at the level of a single element spirit root..." Gu Yuan muttered and continued to savor the fruits of the transformation.
He spent a few hours getting used to his new state before adding points again.
3750000 troll points were spent and the (9) changed to (10), which was the morning star level.
The reason it was called morning star was that meant to be bright even beside the brightest heavenly bodies in the sky. It could be seen despite the time and space, and no one could ignore it.
His consciousness sank into a familiar but different space, he saw his spirit root hanging in the void like a great being, he felt smaller than sand when close to it.
"Is this going to be like last time?" he muttered with a blank look.
[Not quite... You won't suffer by standing here for a long time or something like that.]
"Then?"
[You are here to observe, just that.]
Gu Yuan was silent and began to do what the panel's spirit said, observe.
The spirit root that had long since become like a flower began to grow again, its 99 petals began to swing as if currents of air existed in that space.
It stopped glowing like a star and instead became like a silent dead cosmical object, but it continued to transform magnificently.
But strangely, the petals seemed to become too heavy to continue attached to the flower, even though gravity didn't exist in that space.
The magnificent petals began to fall off and accumulate below the spirit root's core, forming something like soil.
The spirit root's core was like a seed that used the fallen petals as the soil and spiritual energy as the water.
The spirit root began to grow roots and grow again in that soil, absorbing nutrients like a true plant.
When the spirit root began to grow from that seed state, it was still multi-colored but much smaller. It had only nine petals, and each seemed alive and fragile.
Although he had no eyes in that state, Gu Yuan seemed to be blinded by the strong glow that the reborn spirit root began to emanate.
It was like a true star descended into that space, bringing light to the darkness. And indeed, it was like his muddled mind was illuminated and sublimated as it began to transform along the spirit root.
The soil began to get smaller as it was absorbed by the spirit root until it finally was exhausted to nothingness.
The spirit root was now as big as when it was yet level (1), but it shone several times brighter than when it was (9).
Gu Yuan's consciousness returned to his body and he immediately noticed that his body was emanating a strong glow that illuminated the whole cave and even beyond.
A bolt of multi-colored light transcended the space and reached the clouds, making it clear to everyone close that something special occurred somewhere.
A vortex of spiritual energy was formed, but Gu Yuan suppressed his body's urge to absorb it. He was still not ready to advance his realm.
[Congratulations, your spirit root is now comparable to the most inferior single element spirit root, also called heavenly spirit root.]
[By the way, I recommend that you run away, your spirit root caused a commotion and some people might think a treasure was born.]