I slapped my thigh, feeling a sudden sense of enlightenment. So aside from fighting on the Storm Platform and gaining experience by killing players, there’s actually this method of leveling up through meditation! If I had known this earlier, I wouldn’t have wasted so much time!

So, I focused my mind and began cultivating again and again.

Right in front of me, dark clouds rolled in the air, gathering into the form of David Dean, who said in a deep voice, “The Qi Condensation stage is the first step for all cultivators in the Mortal World. If you can’t sense the spiritual energy between heaven and earth, then you won’t be able to comprehend any of the laws of nature. Whether you’re cultivating the laws of death, or the laws of fire, storm, and so on, you must first master the Qi Condensation stage. Little one, you need to fully immerse yourself in it and sense the existence of Qi. Only then can you truly break through yourself. Do you understand?”

“Mm.”

I nodded. Although I didn’t really understand what he was saying, I could feel that there really seemed to be some kind of energy flowing inside me. So, I closed my eyes and tried to sense the rhythm of this energy coursing through my body, actively adapting to and merging with this feeling. Before long, the energy inside me seemed to grow even stronger!

I even felt that all the pores on my body naturally opened up, absorbing the energy from the outside world on their own.

After completing a round of Qi Condensation cultivation, a pleasant chime sounded in my ear—

“Ding!”

System prompt: Qi Condensation successful. Congratulations, you triggered a critical hit and gained 2,000 experience points!

……

A critical hit from cultivation?!

I couldn’t help but be stunned. Isn’t this way too bizarre?

At this moment, David Dean’s face in the wind showed a hint of satisfaction as he smiled and said, “To think you actually comprehended the mysteries of Qi Condensation so quickly. Little one, your perception is truly extraordinary. If Henry Stone and Charles Ray knew how amazing your perception is, they’d probably regret it deeply. I really found a treasure.”

I smiled awkwardly. “Master, honestly, I don’t even understand what just happened.”

“No need to worry about it. Just cultivate naturally and go with the flow.”

“Okay.”

But inside, I was secretly delighted. The reason I could be praised like this by Master David Dean—could it really be because of my 94 points in Perception? Is my cultivation in the game really twice as effective as most people’s? If that’s the case, that’s great! It means the Perception stat is extremely important!

So, I kept meditating and condensing Qi over and over, and my experience points soared. At first, it took about ten minutes to trigger a critical hit, but as I got more skilled, I could trigger 4–5 critical hits every ten minutes. By the time it was past 10 p.m., my level had already reached 10, and I put all 15 attribute points into Agility!

At this point, my personal panel looked pretty impressive—

【July Flowing Fire】 (Undead Assassin)

Level: 10

Attack: 42–56

Defense: 28

HP: 1450

Critical: 0.45%

Perception: 94

Charisma: 0

Soul Star: 0

Contribution: 208

Combat Power: 102

……

With these stats, once I step onto the Storm Platform and multiply them by ten, that’s 560 attack and over ten thousand HP. I’m afraid even Billy and Logan Lane and that group of death cultivators still might not be my match. And if I can keep dominating the Storm Platform, the contribution points I earn will only increase, allowing me to keep building my advantage. I might really become king among the younger generation of Black Castle!

Three hours later, the Storm Platform opened again!

“Whoosh!”

I was instantly teleported to one side of the Storm Platform. This time, there were clearly more people competing—about 50+ in total. Among them were the Infernal Berserk Lion “Billy” and Logan Lane. Of everyone present, these two were probably the strongest.

First, I chose a skill. With a “whoosh,” a light screen unfolded before my eyes, and several selectable skills floated in front of me—

【Bloodsucking Blade】 (A-rank): After activation, 30% of the damage dealt in battle is converted to your own HP for 5 seconds. Selecting this skill costs 5 contribution points.

【Godslayer Blade】 (A-rank): Ignores 30% of the target’s defense and deals 165% damage to the target. Selecting this skill costs 15 contribution points.

【Hunter’s Edge】 (S-rank): Launches three attacks on the enemy. The first attack’s damage is based on attack power, the second on agility, and the third on critical. Selecting this skill costs 100 contribution points.

【White Robe】 (S-rank): Enter stealth mode in battle. After activation, the first attack on the target deals 200% true damage. Selecting this skill costs 100 contribution points.

……

Seeing this, I couldn’t help but take a deep breath, my heart racing. There’s actually a powerful stealth skill! This S-rank White Robe is simply a god-tier skill. Stealth in battle basically gives you a chance to escape, and under stealth, your next attack deals 200% true damage. That’s just too OP!

Looking at my remaining contribution points, I had 208 in total. I exchanged for one White Robe, one Hunter’s Edge, and with the rest, I could still get the somewhat mediocre Bloodsucking Blade. That’s it—at least I have a recovery skill now. Next, it’s time for everyone to start the slaughter!