Of course, Fang Hao could have opted for assignments like taking care of herb plantations or helping the forging of spirit materials...but that required quite a bit of knowledge and lot of effort. These wouldn't require the support of body cultivation, but instead require talent in other areas. Caring for herbs would require a lot of dedication to herbology of spirit herbs, whereas being an apprentice forger demanded stringent requirements of flame control. But Fang Hao had never explored these paths, he was focused on earning contribution points and practicing his spells along with cultivation.

With time Fang Hao got more and more proficient with his chosen assignments and steadily progressed with them, exceeding his targets and hence earning more contribution points. He used the spirit wine he got to practice the Divine Vajra Body Scripture and all four of his spells. Other than earning xp whenever he expelled up his spells, he also earned some xp when he successfully completed his assignments. Not to mention the xp he received for killing the goats. Killing a goat and completing both his assignments granted him around 280 xp per week. Which was more or less comparable to what he got for fighting in the non-lethal arena as an outer disciple. This also meant that once he was set, and started succeeding in arena fights, his xp rate would also increase!

Increase in xp for learning spells was also another source of xp form him. Each time he learned a basic spell, he would gain around 100xp. Upgrading the basic spell to experienced would earn him an additional 400 xp and to Expert it would earn additional 900 or so xp. When he succeed in upgrading his Aura Infusion spell from Expert level to master level, he earned 4 additional skill points and around 1600xp. Similarly upgrading a spell to Intermediate earned him 2 skill points, and upgrading to expert earned him 3 skill points.

After some analysis, Fang Hao concluded that one of the fastest ways to grind skill points would be to buy a large amount of low level spells and learn them just to the basic level for the 1 skill point. Most of the spells at the Qi Condensation level was very easy to comprehend for him and he didn't take more than a couple of days to gain basic proficiency in it. But how could he afford the tens of thousands of contribution points to mass learn these spells? But he could consider it when he had a set of decent equipment, good stock of various charms and some powerful spells at the expert or master Level. Master spells could also be further upgraded, but the skill point cost was a hefty 8 skill points!

But Fang Hao found that it was very difficult to upgrade his master level aura infusion spell in a short time. He soon concluded that ti was better to train the spells at the lower levels and upgrade at the highest levels. After a year of cultivation and assignments, Fang Hao had managed to level up to the 2nd level of Qi Condensation and also practice the first step of the next seal of the Divine Vajra body scripture. This speed was quite fast for an inner disciple...but not too eye catching. And as an inner disciple, he had kept quite a low profile..not visiting the arena, sticking to the two farming/butchering chores and cultivating and practicing the rest of his time.

Of course, he made sure to finish whatever wine he got weekly. He also got around a couple of Qi condensation pills per week with the wine, which he hoarded. He had managed to earn around 3000 contribution points and hoarded around 90 qi condensing pills along with the low grade spirit stone he already had. His wealth was quite good for an inner disciple with just one year in the sect, and he could have easily met his goals of equipping himself as planned. But he was saving the Qi condensing pills for a breakthrough. While these pills weren't that valuable to a Qi Condensation disciple, it could still be used as a cultivation resources up to the late stages of Qi Condensation. And Fang Hao had planned to make up quality with quantity if better alternatives weren't available in the future. Also who knows wether a great elder might be offended or not, if he sold the pills for contribution points. Fang Hao checked his status and decided that he was ready for the next stage of his power-up plan.

STATUS SCREEN

Name:

Fang Hao

Race:

Human

Gender:

Male

Age:

18 years

Titles:

Lord Lard

Class:

Cultivator

Unused Skill Points:

54

Realm:

Qi Condensation Realm

Level:

2

Current Experience:

67379

Level Up at Experience:

75737

Active Effects:

Stats

Physique:

11.9

Finesse:

10.1

Spirit:

12.5

Qi

42.5/42.5

Traits

Calm

Lucky

Primal Instinct

?? Immortal Monk's Prospective Disciple ??

1st Seal - Primordial Marrow

Manuals and Scriptures

Sublime Qi Manual (1st Realm, 10th Layer)

Divine Vajra Body Scripture (1 seals, 1 moves)

Aura Fist Manual (+) (1st Layer)

Spells and Techniques

Aura Infusion (Master)

Flame Snake (Expert)

Wind Blade (Expert)

Elementary Qi Barrier (Expert)

'Hmm I have a decent stats for one year as an inner disciple. I now have around 3000 contribution points and should buy a control spell to restrict opponents. Aura Fist will become available when I advance the Aura Fist Manual next level and I already have the cultivation method for the 2nd layer of the Aura Fist Manual unlocked in my head. And a good defensive magic tool should be available if I am ready to sell the low grade spirit stone worth 500 contribution points. Things might still be a bit tight to afford two of these items, but I should be able to manage with another couple of months of the chores if required. Finally then I can unleash the majesty of Lord lard in the arena!' thought Fang Hao as he was pumped and decided to go to the Scripture Pavilion for buying a control spell.