"Zero point three-three degrees..."

Chu Mu murmured. ’It wasn’t that I thought it was too weak... it was actually stronger than I expected.’

After all, he’d run experiments before. A single Broken Spirit was equivalent to one degree of Spiritual Power. At his current cultivation level, if he depleted his Magical Power, he could fully restore it twice by directly absorbing the one degree of Spiritual Power from a single Broken Spirit, instead of performing breathing exercises to absorb ambient Spiritual Qi.

In other words, his total Magical Power was equivalent to 0.5 degrees of Spiritual Power.

And just now, casting that one spell had only consumed about a fifth of his Magical Power.

’Going by the cost, the Fireball Skill’s power should have been around 0.1 degrees.’

’Is it because of its Fire Attribute, or the Magic Model itself...’

Chu Mu pondered for a moment, made a mental note of the question, and circulated his Magical Power again.

The experiment just now, where he could feel the continuous draw on his Magical Power, had already proven that the Fireball Skill didn’t consume a fixed amount. Rather, once the spell was formed, he could choose to release it immediately or keep supplying more Magical Power.

This clearly required detailed experiments to get a proper result. He needed to find out how much Magical Power would give the Fireball Skill the best balance of power and efficiency.

Lost in thought, he unleashed another Fireball.

This time, Chu Mu used up nearly two-fifths of his total Magical Power.

Another flash of fire, another deafening BOOM.

"Category: Fire Attribute Spiritual Power Attack. Power: 0.56 degrees. Target Damage: Minimal."

’Twice the Magical Power cost, but not even twice the power...’

Chu Mu gazed at the two lines of data on the screen, pondered for a moment, and resumed his experiments.

This Magic Experiment Hall had once again exceeded his expectations. It was a pleasant surprise, even!

Detailed, clear data support, a fully-equipped testing area, and all the necessary props—it was a perfect fit for Chu Mu’s cultivation philosophy.

’This place is amazing,’ Chu Mu thought. ’I’ll have to come here often from now on!’

He completely forgot his earlier complaints about the Magic Experiment Hall, throwing himself wholeheartedly into his experiments.

With a three-hour time limit, Chu Mu didn’t dare waste time slowly recovering his Magical Power. He even did something unprecedented and used Broken Spirits to restore it directly.

In the limited time he had, he needed to gather enough data to support his future cultivation of the Fireball Skill.

After all, at his current financial state, he really couldn’t afford the price of the Magic Experiment Hall.

Again and again, Fireballs were formed, released, and detonated.

The scene repeated over and over in testing area number three. Chu Mu committed each new data point to memory, planning to organize them all properly once he got back.

He even decisively spent what little Spiritual Radiance Value he had left on the Fireball Skill experiments, just to fill in any gaps and ensure he didn’t miss anything.

Not until the three hours were up and the young attendant reminded him did Chu Mu reluctantly launch one final Fireball.

A BOOM echoed out, and another unique data point was seared into his memory.

’What a great place. Such a shame...’

Chu Mu shook his head and sighed. It was a great place, but unfortunately, he couldn’t afford it.

’If I could come here a dozen more times, my Fireball Skill’s cultivation progress would just shoot through the roof.’

[Name: Chu Mu.]

[Skills: Basic Blade Technique (Refined Skill) 2623/5000, Fireball Skill (Beginner’s Practice 63/100)]

[Body Refining Technique (1000/1000)]

[Blazing Fire Technique - Layer One (210/1000)]

[Alchemy: Dragon and Snake Soup (Refined Skill, 1300/2000), Grain Avoidance Pill (Beginner’s Practice, 5/100)]

[Spiritual Radiance Value: 11.1%]

Glancing at the Light Curtain Panel and seeing his Fireball Skill progress had jumped by more than half, Chu Mu felt an even deeper sense of regret.

It was obvious that randomly blasting spells in the mountains outside couldn’t even compare to practicing here in the Magic Experiment Hall.

The data support alone would allow any Cultivator to constantly fine-tune their magic, discovering the casting method and process that best suited them.

For that reason alone, trying to figure it out by blasting spells in the mountains would take forever!

Chu Mu thought silently, a sense of worry creeping in. His monthly income was tiny, but his expenses just kept growing.

’I need to find a way to make money...’

As he pondered this, Chu Mu walked out of the Magic Experiment Hall. He glanced back, and in just that short time, he saw at least a dozen other Cultivators going inside.

Talk about making money hand over fist. This monopolistic Magic Experiment Hall was the very definition of it!

However... Chu Mu looked around the Marketplace before him and suddenly shook his head with a smile.

’In this Jade Emperor Valley Marketplace, how many businesses *aren’t* making money hand over fist?’

Supportive policies, a monopoly, and the threat of violence to back it all up—in any era, that’s a recipe for effortless profit!

Without pausing, Chu Mu headed straight for Li’s Trading House. His mind was filled with precious experimental data, and forgetting a single point would be a tremendous loss!

As soon as he returned to his room and closed the door, Chu Mu immediately picked up a brush and began recording in his experiment log.

He wrote down lines of data, compared them in tables, and finally compiled it all to determine the definitive experimental result: the Fireball Skill casting method that, based on all his data, was most suitable for him.

By supplying a quarter of his Magical Power—roughly 0.12 degrees of Spiritual Power—to cast a Fireball, he could achieve an output of 0.35 degrees of power.

At his current cultivation level, this represented the perfect balance of spell power, Magical Power consumption, casting time, and interval.

Based on this, he drew up a clear data sheet for his Fireball Skill:

Magic: Fireball Skill.

Category: Fire Attribute Spiritual Power Attack.

Magical Power Cost: Approximately one-quarter of total Magical Power, or 0.12 degrees of Spiritual Power.

Divine Sense Cost: After casting Fireball Skill twelve consecutive times (with two Magical Power recoveries), mental fatigue begins to impact casting efficiency.

Fireball Skill Casting Time: Approximately six seconds (Tentative).

Fireball Skill Casting Range: Optimal at six meters, maximum of ten meters (Based on Divine Sense range; tentative).

Fireball Skill Power: Optimal at 0.35 degrees, maximum of 0.61 degrees (Max-power casting will exhaust all Magical Power and places a great strain on Divine Sense).

The data was as clear and precise as it could be for now.

But, of course, this data was only temporary.

It was all based on his cultivation level as of today.

His own cultivation level was obviously not going to stay the same.

Even if the progress was minuscule day-to-day, his uninterrupted daily cultivation would accumulate into significant gains over time.

As his cultivation advanced, so too would his Divine Sense and Magical Power—in both quality and quantity.

The growth in the quality and quantity of his Divine Sense and Magical Power would naturally affect the casting, cost, and power of his spells. 𝚏𝕣𝕖𝚎𝚠𝚎𝚋𝚗𝐨𝐯𝕖𝕝.𝕔𝐨𝕞

So, the clear data he had now would naturally change over time.

Nevertheless, this data was incredibly important for his Fireball Skill cultivation; it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to call it his guiding principle.

’Casting speed is the top priority,’ he thought, his gaze sharp. ’Six seconds... is too long!’

Chu Mu’s eyes flickered, his gaze finally settling on the casting speed entry in his notes.

Six seconds...

’What can I even do in that time?’

’In six seconds, I could swing my blade and take a dozen heads!’

’In six seconds, I could cross several hundred meters!’

’In a real fight, taking six seconds to cast a spell... even a hundred lives wouldn’t be enough to save me from being cut down.’

’I have the tools of a Cultivator now, but turning them into skills that can actually save my life and defeat enemies... I still have a long way to go!’

He closed his experiment log and set down the brush. Letting out a long breath, Chu Mu went to his bed and sat cross-legged. The daily routine of Qi Cultivation began once more.

...