Fang Hao spent a week or so diligently grinding the Directed Discharge spell from basic proficiency to intermediate proficiency. As expected, the xp bump from the spell proficiency upgrade leveled him to a level three foundation establishment stage cultivator. Now, purely considering his Qi Cultivation; Fang Hao was at the peak of the Early Foundation Establishment Stage. His Aura Fist Spell was also upgraded to the Vajra Strike Spell. After achieving lv3 Foundation Establishment as a Qi Cultivator, Fang Hao had naturally shifted his primary cultivation manual to the Divine Vajra Body Scripture.

Fang Hao had practiced the Vajra Strike spell for a while. When he made a jabbing motion with his forefinger and middle finger pointing towards the target, a thin buzzing purple beam of thunder would instantly emerge from from his forefinger and middle finger; like a laser beam. He didn't exactly test it's destructive potential as he didn't want to mess up his mansion; but he was pretty confident that it was much more potent than the Aura Fist spell.

The Vajra Strike spell could also be supercharged with directed discharge. Fang Hao could build up directed discharge, and release it via the Vajra Strike spell. The supercharged spell was multiple times more potent than a regular Vajra Strike spell, according to Fang Hao's guesstimate. Instead of releasing the Vajra Strike spell via his index and middle finger; Fang Hao could also opt to make a fist and release the Vajra Strike spell from his knuckles.

In that case, the spell's range was reduced by quite a bit; and instead of a thin laser beam, a crackling cloud of thunder was released. The crackling cloud of thunder would expand with distance and dissipate quickly. Fang Hao thought that the closed fist version of Vajra Strike would be suitable as a melee spell-charged sucker-punch released directly into his opponents body. What if the spell-charged sucker-punch was further supercharged by Directed Discharge? It was a closed range sneak attack combo with lot of potential.

Fang Hao then made a quick trip to the higher floors of the Bronze Spell Pavilion. He browsed through the various Grade 3 spells available for the Foundation Establishment Stage. Most of the spells required a reserve star rating with the respective palace to learn it, but didn't require the disciple to spend star points. Just having a certain number of stars with the respective palace made the disciple eligible to buy a copy of the spell by paying the contribution point fee.

Very few core inheritances at the Foundation Establishment level required the actual expenditure of stars. The Dark Thunder Manual, a set of powerful spells, was only available to those who had at least three stars with the Palace of Wind and Thunder. Actually buying the Dark Thunder Manual required a whooping 150,000 contribution points and 1 star point. Whereas; Thunder Pigeon, a single thunder attribute spell, required a disciple to have one star with the Palace of Wind and Thunder. The Thunder Eagle spell had a cost of 10,000 contribution points and required no expenditure of star points.

'The Dark Thunder Manual sounds sick. Conjuring spells of Dark Thunder, which is corrosive as well as incinerating, sounds kind of epic. But I am not eligible for it. Even if I were eligible, the thunder attribute my body cultivation scripture is partial to doesn't exactly sound like the dark corrosive sort.' thought Fang Hao.

Fang Hao was browsing through the spells, when another spell caught his eye. The spell was named as the Fire Serpent spell. It was described as an upgraded version of the Flame Snake spell, Suitable for Foundation Establishment Cultivator. Fang Hao had evolved the Flame Snake Spell into the Fire Serpent Spell using points, so he was obviously curious about it. He saw many spells, which were the stronger version of the spells he had learned in his Qi Condensation Days; and the spell description explicitly stated so.

Since he wanted to evolve his spells manually, buying the spells would a good reference. In case he didn't manage to evolve the spells manually, the bought spells could be learned directly. The price of each spell was around 8,000 to 12,000 points and each copy of the spell would persist for a month before destroying itself. Of course, as Fang Hao was the personal disciple of a Palace Head, he had a significant discount of 20% of contribution points AND he would get the spell copy for two months, instead of one month.

Over the next four months, Fang Hao bought a total of 14 spells (including Fire Serpent), spending around 115,000 contribution points. He had around 45,000 contribution points left. The steady annual stream of 50,000 contribution points was really convenient; otherwise he wouldn't be able to afford his spell spending spree. The spells Fang Hao had selected were the direct upgrades of the spells he had learned in his Qi Condensation days.

Other than the Fire Serpent spell, Fang Hao had heavyhearted and learned all the other spells. When he checked his status screen, the learned spells replaced the Qi Condensation version in his status screen. No wonder, that it took him a lot less effort to learn the spells than he expected. When he compared his Fire Serpent spell to the Fire Serpent spell he bought from the Sect, it was almost exactly same.

He had hoped to evolve one of the simpler spells manually, but as soon as he thoroughly learned the upgraded version he had from the sect, it replaced the old Qi Condensation spell in his status screen. He did gain tasty increments of xp and skill points for that; so it wasn't a loss as such. So Fang Hao had decided to not waste time in evolving those spells and just learned them all systematically. He had also managed to upgrade their proficiency to intermediate tier in those same four months with some practice. Fang Hao had spent another nine months or so to upgrade all his newly bought spells, along with Vajra Strike and Directed Discharge to Expert Proficiency.

Grinding the proficiency of these powerful spells gave him a lot more skill points and xp than the Qi Condensation spells. He would have continued grinding the spells to perfection, but grinding beyond expert was truly difficult. Fang Hao decided to try to upgrade a spell further if he received inspiration, like in case of Primal Thunder Reinforcement, or he would simply use skill points to upgrade them further rather than spending time and not gaining anything in return.

After completing a little over fifteen years in the sect, Fang Hao examined his status screen with satisfaction.

STATUS SCREEN Name: Fang Hao Race: Human Gender: Male Age: 29 years Titles: Lord Lard, Privileged Glutton Class: Cultivator Unused Skill Points: 751 Realm: Master Mortal Body Refiner Level: 2 (3) Current Experience: 740832 (768570) Level Up at Experience: 767186 (915285) Active Effects: Stats Physique: 39.3 Finesse: 34.3 Spirit: 39.5 Qi 112.6/114.1 Traits Calm Lucky Primal Instinct ?? Immortal Monk's Prospective Disciple ?? 1st Seal - Primordial Marrow 2nd Seal – Behemoth's Hide Manuals and Scriptures Sublime Qi Manual (1st Realm, 10th Layer) Divine Vajra Body Scripture (2 seals, 2 moves) Aura Fist Manual (+) (5th Layer) Primal Vajra Aura Scripture (*) (2nd Layer) Spells and Techniques Primal Thunder Reinforcement (Master) Fire Serpent (Perfection) Wind Sickle (Expert) Qi Barrier (Expert) Frost Shackles (Expert) Vajra Strike (Expert) Phantom Aura Steps (Perfection) Veiling Mist (Expert) Illusion (Expert) Telekinetic Arm (Expert) Call Storm Clouds (Expert) Thunder Web (Expert) Corrosive Splash (Expert) Imperial Roar (Expert) Hovering Leaves Step (Expert) Aura Blast (Perfection) Thunder Pigeon (Expert) Blood Thorn Vine (Expert) Aura Sacrifice (Perfection) Directed Discharge (*) (Expert) Codexes and Tactics Tantric Yang Codex

'While the xp gain for each individual spell proficiency upgrade isn't too significant, it tends to add up quickly over dozens of spells. More so in case of the Grade 3 Foundation Establishment spells. Next on the agenda, either I can seriously attempt to upgrade the Fire Serpent spell; or focus on layering more seals as per the Tantric Yang Codex. I haven't exactly reached a bottle neck in the Tantric Yang Codex, so I can squeeze more xp from it. As for the spells; the period of efficient xp / skill farming is over I think.' contemplated Fang Hao as he contemplated his plans for the near future.

'It is good in kind in a way that I can't just dump skill points into the Tantric Yang Codex to get more layers of seals. The grinding experience of creating more skills is sharpening my Qi and Spiritual Sense Control much more than I expected. Once I evolve the Fire Serpent spell, and hit the first real bottleneck in the Tantric Yang Codex; I suppose I will have to actually do some tasks or something to earn my xp. Maybe I can ask Master to get me some early Foundation Establishment level spirit beasts or rogue cultivators to kill for xp, perhaps?' mused the fatty.