Chapter 78: Chapter 78: The Swordsman Face of the Little Paper Man!
The previous Accelerated Casting method was a cultivation Secret Technique and, in terms of efficiency, it was far inferior to the cultivation method of the Heart of Woods Magic Potion.
However, now, even after perfecting it for use on other Pet Beasts, this Accelerated Casting cultivation is a complete cultivation method in itself, not just the application of a secret potion. This is quite regrettable.
[Accelerated Casting Cultivation Secret Technique: On the first day, rapidly have the Pet Beast perform its own Skills over twenty times continuously, while also consuming resources according to its Race Attribute. This is used to advance its Level, with the amount of Skill usage each day increasing by twenty percent from the previous day’s, and the consumption of resources must also be daily! Typically, cultivation is completed in five to seven days.]
[Pet Beast Attributes, Level, Type, etc., Resource Analysis: Use resources of the same Level as the Pet Beast and resources of the same Attribute as the Pet Beast. For Pet Beast Types: Plant Type should use water, soil, and energy-type resources; Animal Type should use consumable resources; Undead Type should use energy-type resources and other quick-acting resources. Furthermore, after the Pet Beast uses its Skills on that day, it cannot release any other Skills.]
[Note: During cultivation, prepare a large amount of Magic Potions for Energy recovery, in case the Pet Beast quickly depletes its Energy and cannot complete the expected cultivation.]
[Note: During cultivation, the shorter the interval between Skill releases, the better!]
It has to be said, this cultivation method isn’t really that difficult. Even Su Ping saw it as relatively simple.
The cultivation method Sun Chaoju used previously was actually quite similar: letting the Pet Beast frequently use a single Skill while also consuming corresponding resources daily. However, Sun Chaoju only used it for the Forest Wolf, and the resources were fixed, unlike the perfected method, where resource use became more flexible.
No wonder the success rate of Sun Chaoju’s cultivation varied. In fact, Pet Beasts are different from each other. Even among the same species of Forest Wolves, some absorb certain types of resources better, while for others, the effects might be unsatisfactory. All of these could potentially be the reasons why a Pet Beast might fail to fully grasp Accelerated Casting.
As a Breeder, one must adapt and apply knowledge flexibly based on the Pet Beast, not just rely on rote memorization. Otherwise, the final outcome is predictable.
Initially, it wasn’t Sun Chaoju himself who attempted the awakening on Woodhead. Instead, his subordinate low-level Breeders and apprentices used rote memorization, which led to Woodhead’s failure to grasp Accelerated Casting. And the same principle applies to other types of Pet Beasts.
Su Ping couldn’t be bothered to think about cultivating other Pet Beasts. For now, his focus was naturally on the Forest Wolf and Paperman, and how to cultivate Accelerated Casting in them.
It must be said that the cultivation cost of Accelerated Casting is much higher than that of his own Heart of Woods. The Heart of Woods is just a Magic Potion. Accelerated Casting, however, requires more. Besides the daily consumption of specific resources, one must also prepare Energy recovery Magic Potions. This is to prevent the Pet Beast from running out of Energy and failing to complete the required Skill usage.
Thinking about it this way, when Woodhead reached Elite Peak, Sun Chaoju’s people demanding three million worth of cultivation materials from Qin Xiaoxue wasn’t really extortion, in a sense.
For the Forest Wolf, he could somewhat copy the methods Sun Chaoju had used. For Ordinary Level, materials like Gold Tree Fruit could be used, and for Elite Level, Crystal Grapes, Spirit Tree Berries, and the like. But what about the Necromancy Series?
For an Undead Pet Beast like Paperman, the ideal supplementary food would be paper. However, it could survive without paper, as Undead Types are not demanding about food. Moreover, since paper is made from tree bark, plants, and other such materials, it’s not unsuitable for consumption.
With just a thought, Su Ping came up with several low-level Necromancy Series resources worth trying. With that in mind, Su Ping opened his eyes and nodded. However, before he could fully process this, he abruptly stood up.
The reason was that right in front of him, on the coffee table, stood something. Su Ping recognized the body—it was Paperman’s—but the face instantly sent a cold shiver down his spine. For the first time in his life, he felt his ’sanity points’ plummeting.
On the Paperman’s face, which should have had human features, all other facial characteristics were gone. Even the previous blush had vanished, replaced by a bizarre ’A’! Yes, just a pitch-black ’A’. Even more abstractly, below this ’A’ was a ’◇’ symbol. What the heck is this?
Fortunately, the little Paperman, seemingly not expecting Su Ping’s strong reaction, was also startled. "WOAH? (What’s wrong... Master?)" it uttered.
Indeed, it was the little Paperman. Su Ping looked at the little fellow’s A-shaped face, his eyelids twitching rapidly. "What’s up with your face?" he asked.
At this, the little Paperman appeared extremely proud, though it was quite a challenge for Su Ping to discern any proud expression on that face. "WOAH. (A true Swordsman... should never let anyone read his expressions to guess his thoughts!)" it declared.
The little Paperman was citing lines from the Swordsman videos it had watched over the past few days.
"So?" Su Ping looked at the little Paperman, which had its arms crossed and had given him such a shock after not seeing it for several days. He was puzzled by its meaning. So it turned its face into an A?Across his past and present lives combined, he had only ever heard of an "A-shaped waist," never an "A-shaped face"! And with a ’◇’ too, what kind of ghost was that?
In response to Su Ping’s question, the little Paperman suddenly perked up, seeming excited and thrilled that even its ’Master’ hadn’t grasped this layer of meaning. "WOAH!! (So, every Swordsman should have a poker face!)" it exclaimed.
??? It was only then that Su Ping understood. Looking at the utterly abstract ’A’ on the little Paperman’s face and the pitch-black ’◇’ below it, he realized—this was supposed to be a poker face?! It was the first time in Su Ping’s entire life he’d heard that this was what a poker face looked like.
"How did you know what poker is?"
The little Paperman skillfully opened a drawer and took something out. Sure enough, it produced a deck of playing cards.
"WOAH! (I will become the strongest Swordsman, so my poker face is the biggest A!!)" the little Paperman declared, full of pride.
Su Ping buried his face in his hand.
"Then why did you choose this suit? Aren’t spades or hearts bigger?" After glancing at the rule explanation card included with the deck of playing cards, Su Ping asked curiously.
This time, however, the little Paperman seemed somewhat sheepish. It opened its mouth and said with embarrassment, "WOAH... (The shape of hearts, that’s too hard to draw...)"
Su Ping suddenly felt that to prevent his designated second Pet Beast from coming up with such abstract oddities, he really needed to pay close attention to the little Paperman’s psychological development. Also, he should take the opportunity in the next few days to cultivate its Accelerated Casting.