Stingy Old Man

"I must practice my body cultivation technique and other techniques to increase my strength as soon as possible" Lu Shen decided clenching his fists. The battle had reminded him of the importance of constant improvement.

With a final glance at the fallen wood snake.

"Devour"

he devour the wood snake and he felt the warm energy flowing inside his body and Lu Shen sensed new power surging within him.

[ Host: Lu Shen

Bloodline Beast: Firewood Snake

Warrior Realm: Refinement (10%)(Early)

Age: 18

Race: Human

Strength: 120

Endurance: 100

Agility: 80

Luck: 30

Cultivation Techniques: Five Element Refinement Technique[none], Golden Body Technique[none], Silent Breath Technique[none]

Skills: Stealth, Swift, Inferno Strike, Wood Bind

Equipment: Origin Bracelet]

[ Wood Bind: A skill involves using spiritual energy to manipulate and control wooden elements, binding enemies and restricting their movements. The practitioner channels their energy into nearby trees, roots, or other wooden structures, causing them to grow rapidly and trap their target.]

Looking at his status, Lu Shen pondered over the bloodline refinement stages:

- Early (0% - 49%)

- Intermediate (50% - 89%)

- Peak (90% - 99%)

...

Seeing his bloodline name change and more vitality in his body, Lu Shen knew that he had gained wood element and he try to use five element refinement technique and his cultivation was faster than before and In his surroundings, he could see many colored lights like: red, blue, green, and more. He found himself particularly attracting green and red light of spiritual energy.

"So this is how the wood element feels"

"The fire element feels warm and destructive, while the wood element feels more vital and peaceful. I can also sense a slight increase in both my attack and defense"

"Every element has its own unique features" the spirit explained.

"The more elements one possesses, the better they can adapt to different environments and situations."

"So if I have the water element, then I can be more powerful in water areas and have better adaptation in those places"

...

.....

After searching for more than two hours, Lu Shen did not encounter any snake type demon beasts. However, he did come across some weak rank one demon beasts. Although he killed them and devoured them, he noticed that it only increased his cultivation and not his bloodline grade.

And he came to understand that for any bloodline upgrade to the next level, the spirit explained that Lu Shen could direct origin energy to his bloodline, but it would only upgrade its grade. However, if he upgraded his bloodline after reaching the peak of every realm of the warrior, he might evolve his bloodline into a powerful beast.

"That's the case, hmm. Then I will do that"

After calculating, Lu Shen realized that he had devoured almost 10 rank one demon beasts without any increase in his Bloodline grade. This realization struck him with frustration and a headache.

"When will I manage to kill enough of them to promote my bloodline?" 

Feeling overwhelmed and unsure of what to do next, Lu Shen racked his brain for a solution. Finally, unable to come up with a clear plan, he decided to focus on what he knew best, killing demon beasts to increase his strength.....

A hour later...

...

In his room, Lu Shen immersed himself in the cultivation of the Five Element Refinement Technique.

After three hours of dedicated cultivation, he improved his refinement by 2 percentage points,

"In just three hours, my cultivation increased by 2%" Lu Shen was shocked, toward the difference between levels of techniques.

'Top Earth techniques can increase so much in just three hours. What will happen if one cultivates Top Heaven grade techniques?'

Thinking that Lu Shen's bloodline refinement will increase greatly if he cultivates Top Heaven grade techniques his mouth watered, but it's a pity that he can't cultivate them. spirit had suggest that Top Earth grade (Five Element Refinement Technique) is compatible with him and if not compatible, it will just be a waste to cultivate it.

...

It was already 10 in the morning...

Lu Shen decided to shift his focus to the Golden Body Technique.

As he began practicing the Golden Body Technique, he felt intense pain coursing through his body. Despite felling discomfort, Lu Shen refused to give up and he understood that in the process of refining his body, pain was inevitable.

However, he also recognized that enduring this pain was essential if he wanted to become a powerful warrior. Lu Shen gritting his teeth, he channeled spiritual energy in his body, refining his skin, which was the first step in achieving iron skin and circulating spiritual energy throughout his body, Lu Shen focused on using it to refine his skin, aiming to reach the small success level of the first chapter of the Golden Body Technique.

After four hours of cultivating the body cultivation technique, Lu Shen continued to persevere in his training...

some time later....

[ Host: Lu Shen

Bloodline Beast: Firewood Snake

Warrior Realm: Refinement (15%)(Early)

Age: 18

Race: Human

Strength : 130

Endurance: 100

Agility: 95

Luck: 30

Equipment: Origin Bracelet

Cultivation Techniques:

Five Element Refinement Technique[none]

Golden Body Technique[none]

Silent Breath Technique[none]

Skills: Stealth, Swift, Inferno Strike, wood cage]

"Ha ha my strength increase so much"

"Shit, what smell is this?" Lu Shen wrinkled his nose at the foul odor coming through his body.

he observed and his body was discharging black liquid, a sign that it was expelling waste substances accumulated within his body. The foul smell emanating from his body indicated the presence of impurities of all those years. Lu Shen decided to clean himself. So He made his way to the bathroom to wash away the impurities and refresh himself.

After washing himself, Lu Shen revisited his idea of purchasing a house in core area of Azura cloud stronghold, as this place was small to cultivate for him. However, upon checking his bank balance on his broken phone, he was heartbroken to find that he lacked the money to afford even an simple house in outer area of stronghold. The realization left him feeling disheartened, as he recognized that acquiring a suitable blade would be a considerable challenge for him.

"Sigh, I only have 10,000 in my account" Lu Shen sigh.

"And even if I receive my pay of two thousand today from my workplace, I can only hope that the academy will offer amount of money for me"

"hai,hai"

After sighing a few more times and realizing it was almost time for work, Lu Shen began to make his way towards the shop. Ten minutes later, he arrived at his workplace. Upon entering the shop.

"Boss, are you here today?"

"Boss, are you here today?" After not receiving a response, Lu Shen called out again.

Lu Shen entered the shop and made his way to the office room, expecting to find the owner there. However, to his surprise, the owner didn't respond to Lu Shen's call. It might indicate that he wasn't in the office. But upon opening the door, Lu Shen found the shop owner lost in deep thought.

The shop owner appeared to be in his mid thirties or early forties, with a thick beard covering his face, indicating that he hadn't trimmed it for a long time. Despite this, he looked very handsome with his blue hair. Although he didn't seem to have a high warrior realm, he had strength body.

"Why didn't you answer my call?"

"You called me? Oh, sorry about that. I've been having a hard time today because of my own problems" The shop owner replied.

"hai,hai"

After sighing several times and he continued,

"You must be here for your pay, right? Here." The shop owner said extended his hand, handing Lu Shen an envelope.

Lu Shen took the envelope and asked thinking sometime.

"I can do anything for you"

Lu Shen knew it was not his place to intervene in the shop owner's family problems, as it might cause misunderstanding. but he understood that the shop owner had given him a job during his hard times, And he was grateful for it. so he felt that if he could repay favors done by others, then he would help as much as he can.

After thinking for a moment shop owner.....

"What is your bloodline grade?"

Lu Shen was taken aback by the owner's question

"Top grade snake type bloodline."

Upon hearing Lu Shen's response, Li Lan was taken aback. He decided to use his bloodline skill to check Lu Shen's strength and bloodline. To his surprise, he couldn't figure out Lu Shen's realm or powers.

Instead, he could only sense that Lu Shen was stronger than the average warrior refinement realm cultivator. This realization left Li Lan even more intrigued by Lu Shen's sudden increase in strength, in just short time.

In his prime, Li Lan was a formidable warrior. However, due to certain events in his past, he was forced to conceal his true identity and live a humble life as a shop owner of cake shop.

Taking Lu Shen under his wing at work, Li Lan saw in him a kindred spirit someone who, like himself, had no family and understood the loneliness of in this dangerous world. Li Lan felt Lu Shen as his own little brother.

He was seriously shocked this time. Hearing about Lu Shen's bloodline had initially caught him off guard, but now he was truly astonished. Lu Shen was just a poor boy without any resources, yet in just two day, he had become this strong.

Li Lan couldn't help but wonder about Lu Shen's potential and how strong he would become in the future.

"It seems you're doing quite well already. You're already in the refinement realm"

This time, it was Lu Shen's turn to be shocked. He had been using a technique to conceal his warrior realm, so he was surprised that Li Lan had sensed his true level.

'How did he find out about that?'

"He used his Bloodline skill, but he only knows that you're strong and nothing more than that" Spirit explained in Lu Shen's mind.

'Truly, there are many mysterious abilities in this world'

Seeing that Lu Shen didn't respond, Li Lan felt that Lu Shen's behavior was very good. If he wanted to survive in this world, he would have to conceal his abilities and who does not have a secret?. After all, in this world, people often met unfortunate ends without knowing how or why they died.

Nodding his head, thinking something...

"Come with me"

"yes" Lu Shen nodded and following him.

....

As both walked into the storage area, Lu Shen's eyes widened as he see the sight of numerous weapons, books, shop materials, and even some advanced technology neatly organized on the shelves. 

"You see, these are just samples. You probably haven't seen this much wealth in your life" Seeing Lu Shen gawk at his collection, Li Lan teased, 

"...."

"Stingy old man, you're mocking me? I am also a warrior and I will earn more in the future than you" Lu Shen said in annoyance.

"Ha ha ha, you're quite confident, aren't you, kid?" Li Lan chuckled.

After saying that, he walked to the right side of the room and pushed a button. A screen appeared and he inputted some code. Suddenly, the room shook, and then everything inside it flipped, revealing rows of many weapons of different sizes.

"These are weapons I have, some are from ruins I found, and some are from my enemies"

After explaining that, he went to an advanced locker box, he input a password and took out something and show it to Lu Shen.

"do you know this?"

Lu Shen looked at the round like object emitting dense spiritual energy. The surrounding energy increased significantly in a short time.

"this i don't know"

Lu Shen had never seen this object in his life, nor had he received any information about it in the academy.

"Yeah, I almost forgot. How could you know this?" Li Lan said, shaking his head.

"this is...."