Hot spring bathhouse, changing room.
Just like he had done with Acting Grand Master Jean before, Nolan carefully removed Barbara's clothes piece by piece, then carried her into the steaming spring, continuing the "cultivation" between the two of them.
However, considering that this was Barbara's first time cultivating in this way, he didn't push her for too long.
After about half an hour, he helped her dry off, then brought her to the living room.
At that moment, the other girls were already having dinner. Nolan brought Barbara along to join them, eating another round himself while conveniently introducing Barbara to everyone.
He also introduced everyone to Barbara. Soon enough, they had all grown familiar with one another.
When they learned that Barbara was actually Jean's younger sister, the others gave Nolan a disdainful glance.
Nolan, however, didn't look the least bit embarrassed. He simply focused on enjoying the delicious dishes Noelle had prepared.
After dinner—
Ningguang handed him the sword manuals he had asked her to bring back, smiling faintly as she said:
"There are six sword techniques in total. If that's not enough, I'll help you find more."
"This should keep me busy for a while. Thanks!" Nolan happily took the manuals, giving Ningguang a grateful kiss on the lips.
"Just that? Not nearly enough~"
Clicking her black high heels against the floor, Ningguang stepped closer, pressed her lips against his, and pushed him down onto the sofa, straddling his body.
While letting her have her way, Nolan spared some attention to look through the manuals:
Hidden Shadow Swordplay, Soul-Chasing Swordplay, Seven Stars Hooking Moon Swordplay…
All six techniques were of secret level. If he raised them all to their maximum level, fusing them into an arcane-level skill would be a simple matter.
But there was no rush to start practicing tonight. He decided to leave that for tomorrow. Right now… with a swift motion, Nolan flipped Ningguang beneath him.
—
Time passed quickly, several days flashing by.
During these days, Nolan spent his time either cultivating with the girls inside the Wonderland or practicing new sword techniques within the belly of the cosmic behemoth.
He even invited Yoimiya to reside within the Wonderland, and before long, she too was "pinned down" to join him in intimate cultivation.
After just a few days, solely through this close-contact method of cultivation, his progress had skyrocketed:
Lv103 (2,730,455 / 13,000,000)
And thanks to this diligent cultivation, Barbara, Yoimiya, and the other newly joined girls of the Wonderland had already been raised past level eighty.
Their growth meant the strengthening of their bond-skills—ultimately all feeding back into Nolan's own growth.
Besides that, his training inside the cosmic behemoth's stomach, cutting down hordes of insects, had yielded enormous amounts of experience.
[Adventure EXP: 26,683,152]
With over twenty-six million points, leveling up twice in a row wouldn't even be a problem.
Truly, the sheer number of bugs inside that creature's stomach was absurd—he had already farmed more than twenty million points, and yet they didn't seem to diminish at all.
This place really lived up to its name: a paradise for grinding experience!
Without hesitation, Nolan poured a massive amount of points directly into his level:
> Adventure EXP -24,269,545
> Lv103 (2,730,455 / 13,000,000) → Lv105 (0 / 15,000,000)
The immense power of two consecutive level-ups exploded within his body, strengthening every single cell and even his soul.
Soon, the familiar strengthening process came to an end. Nolan clenched his fists, feeling a strength unlike anything he had ever experienced before.
With his current strength, even if he were to face the Shogun head-on, he might not necessarily fall behind!
---
Name: Nolan Walker
Level: Lv.105 (0 / 15,000,000)
Race: Human
Titles: Honorary Knight, Distinguished Citizen of Liyue, Legendary Adventurer, Honorary General of Watatsumi Island, Sumeru Sage
Innate Talent: Entangling Affection
Skills:
- Lumine's Authority: Divine Level Lv.10 (Starsea Manifestation, Boundless)
- Musou no Hitotachi · Divine Level Lv.10 (Musou State)
- Domain of Objective Illusory Shadows · Divine Level Lv.10 (Unobservable State)
- Flowing Sky Shot: Arcane Level Lv.10 (Frostglow Arrow)
- Elemental Mastery Lv.10 (Max)
- Martial Arts Lv.10 (Subtle Mastery)
- Hidden Shadow Swordplay Lv.10 (No Shadow)
- Soul-Chasing Swordplay Lv.10 (Spirit Mark)
- Ceremonial Ninja Sword Art · Oni Rider Stance Lv.1 (0/5000).
- Three-Element Sword Art · Arcane Level Lv.1 (0/5000)
- Hook Moon Severed Shadow · Seven Stars Lv.1 (0 / 5000)
Specialties:
- Beloved by Maidens (Exclusive)
- Unmoving Gospel of the World Tree (Exclusive)
- Threads of the Northern Wind (Exclusive)
- Spiritual Core (Exclusive)
Adventure EXP: 2,413,607
---
Beyond his level increase, Nolan had also trained all six sword techniques Ningguang brought back for him to maximum level. When fusing them into an arcane-level art, he succeeded with just four of them.
This became the Hook Moon Severed Shadow · Seven Stars Lv.1 (0 / 5000) listed on his panel.
Now, he already possessed three new arcane-level sword arts. Once they reached maximum level, he could attempt a fusion toward a divine-level art.
But reaching max level on arcane-tier techniques purely through practice—even with the endless swarm of insects inside the cosmic behemoth's stomach—wasn't something that could be done in a short time.
If he wanted to push them quickly to maximum and fuse them, the best option was still to spend Adventure EXP.
Raising an arcane-tier skill from beginner to full mastery required 225,000 points—a trivial matter for Nolan now.
After all, he could always head back into the cosmic behemoth's stomach, cut down some bugs, and farm it all back easily.
So, without hesitation, he poured in a massive amount of points:
Adventure EXP -225,000
Ceremonial Ninja Sword Art · Oni Rider Stance Arcane Level Lv.1 (0 / 5000) → Lv.10 (Descent of the Demon God)
Adventure EXP -225,000
Three-Element Sword Art · Arcane Level Lv.1 (0/5000) → Lv.10 (Three Lives, All Things)
Adventure EXP -225,000
Hook Moon Severed Shadow · Seven Stars Arcane Level Lv.1 (0 / 5000) → Lv.10 (Judgment of Life and Death)
Looking at the three fully maxed Arcane Level skills on his panel, he now met the minimum requirement for fusing a Divine Level art.
Naturally, Nolan decided to try.
Fusion:
Ceremonial Ninja Sword Art Lv.10 (Descent of the Demon God) + Three-Element Sword Art Lv.10 (Three Lives, All Things) + Hook Moon Severed Shadow Lv.10 (Judgment of Life and Death) =
Judgment Art · All Things to Nothingness Lv.10 (Descent of the Demon God, Three Lives, All Things, Judgment of Life and Death)
A new sword art appeared on the panel. Unfortunately, it was still in the Arcane Level category.
Luck hadn't favored him this time—meeting the bare minimum requirements wasn't enough to push it up to Divine Level.
But that wasn't much of a problem. He could feel that this new arcane sword art was already extremely close to the divine level.
He still had two more secret-level sword techniques at maximum level on his panel. Learning another one or two and fusing them would earn him yet another Arcane Level skill.
Then, by fusing that one into the mix, he was certain the breakthrough would come!
And with the Lantern Rite Festival only a few days away, he might as well head over to Liyue, see if Ningguang and the others needed any help, and while at it, ask for a few more sword techniques.
—
(End of Chapter)
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