Talent: Dragon Vigor Tiger Might (Please Follow)

"Ah!!"

Lin Qi's eyes bulged as they suddenly flew wide open. Intense pain surged through his body.

His exhausted body convulsed, his muscles tightening and changing. The muscles in his hands and legs cramped instantly.

"Hiss~"

The sudden pain twisted Lin Qi's face, and he sharply sucked in a breath.

"Why does it hurt this much? Aside from the first time, it hadn't hurt this badly whenever the fusion rate increased by another 1%."

Lin Qi was puzzled. He had thought he had already adapted to the pain of increased fusion rates.

He had not expected to let his guard down. Five percent was clearly a threshold, and the intensity of the transformation was immense, worsening the pain.

Fortunately, he had prepared in advance. He pulled a towel off the bed, bit down on it, and silently endured the agony.

"Crack~"

"Mmgh~"

Veins bulged across Lin Qi's arms. Sweat poured down like rain, his eyes were bloodshot, and his teeth clamped tightly onto the towel.

It hurt. It hurt far too much!

The muscles throughout his body tore apart, his tendons snapped, and even his bones fractured.

Everything happened at the same time, continuously piling up.

Not only that, but his Five Zang and Six Fu Organs were also transforming, as though an invisible scalpel were slicing through them layer by layer.

The various pains made Lin Qi feel worse than dead.

"Hiss~"

His body seemed to be undergoing the entire process of shattering and rebuilding, a process no human could endure.

Fortunately, the ordeal lasted less than half an hour before ending.

"Phew~"

Lin Qi lay on the floor, too lazy to move. He stared quietly at the ceiling, feeling that being alive was wonderful.

His body was covered in sticky sweat, the floor was soaked with it, and a foul stench lingered in the air.

Only after a while did he climb off the floor. Overwhelmed by hunger and thirst, he immediately opened his backpack and took out box after box of Qi and Blood Capsules.

He swallowed them one after another, then opened an Energy Drink and drank it.

That was not enough. He opened the drawer, took out some Compressed Biscuits, and began eating.

Once the hunger and thirst faded, Lin Qi left his room, entered the bathroom, and began undressing and washing up.

Through the bathroom mirror, he could see layers of sticky black impurities covering his body.

"I thought the impurities in my body had already been mostly metabolized. I didn't expect there to still be this much."

"Splash, splash~~"

Hot water washed away the grime on his body, revealing the skin beneath.

"My skin is getting whiter and whiter!"

Lin Qi touched his skin. It was fair and bright, yet it carried an incredible toughness.

"My body proportions have improved, and my frame has gotten bigger again."

Lin Qi carefully examined his body. There were not many other changes, but the most obvious one was that his skeletal frame had grown larger once more.

This made him look even leaner. He stood tall and straight, his muscle structure had changed, and his lines were smooth and attractive. His entire body radiated vigorous vitality.

At last, he looked at the Panel, where several new messages had appeared.

[Template Fusion Rate has reached 5%. You possess 5% of Erlang Shen's talent.]

[Your physical foundation has been modified. Your talent has greatly improved, your constitution has changed, and your energy is abundant. You have gained the talent—Dragon Vigor Tiger Might!]

[Your comprehension has improved. You possess stronger insight into martial arts stances, Fist Techniques, Movement Techniques, and Spear Techniques!]

After reading them, Lin Qi found that they were roughly what he had expected.

Both his physical foundation and comprehension had improved.

However, the sudden appearance of a talent still made him curious, so he opened it to take a look.

[Dragon Vigor Tiger Might: Your energy exceeds that of ordinary people, and your constitution is unique. You can easily enter deep sleep and possess stronger recovery abilities.]

Lin Qi's expression brightened. Like Stomach Enhancement, this made him far stronger than ordinary people.

Moreover, he keenly noticed a new term: "talent."

Anything that could be called a talent was far superior to what others possessed. Take physical foundation, for example—some people were born with large frames and sturdy bones and tendons, making them much stronger than ordinary people.

That was one kind of physical foundation talent.

And abundant energy also counted as a talent.

This reminded Lin Qi of his previous life. There had been people who were full of energy every day, as if they would never get tired. Their bodies might not have been particularly strong.

Yet even if they slept only five or six hours a day, they could still study energetically and work at high intensity during the day. That was the benefit of abundant energy.

Although walking the path of martial arts, tempering the body, and surpassing ordinary humans would make one's energy increasingly powerful,

the existence of talent allowed people to possess abilities stronger than those of others at the same level.

[Dragon Vigor Tiger Might] was like that. Even if everyone was a First Realm martial artist, he would possess energy and recovery ability far beyond the rest.

"Now that I have the talent of [Dragon Vigor Tiger Might], I'm overflowing with energy and my recovery is formidable. Every day, I can devote more time to martial arts without worrying about reduced efficiency."

Lin Qi clenched his fist. The fatigue in his body had completely vanished, and endless strength flooded into his arm. He felt that he was in excellent condition.

More than ten minutes later, after tidying everything up, Lin Qi lay on his bed and emptied his mind. Then a thought suddenly surfaced.

"If [Stomach Enhancement] and [Dragon Vigor Tiger Might] count as talents, then do awakened special abilities count as talents too?"

"If I continue raising my fusion rate with Erlang Shen's talents, could I possibly awaken a special ability before the Seventh Realm?"

Thinking of this, Lin Qi inexplicably began to look forward to it.

The next day, at four in the morning.

Lin Qi opened his eyes, waking up even earlier than his alarm.

He got out of bed, used the bathroom, washed up, left a note for Old Mom Fang Huiyi, then grabbed his backpack and headed outside.

"Tianhai City at four in the morning really doesn't have any sun!"

Lin Qi rode his bicycle, eating Compressed Biscuits as he looked at the pitch-black sky and complained.

At four in the morning, Tianhai City had not yet brightened. Rainwater left behind from the previous night covered the surrounding area.

Only a few breakfast shops and market stalls had already begun bustling with activity.

At this moment, Lin Qi's eyes were bright and clear, and he was brimming with energy.

"The talent of [Dragon Vigor Tiger Might] is truly powerful. In the past, my body definitely wouldn't have been able to handle getting up this early."

Lin Qi could clearly feel the difference. When he usually woke at five, he only felt sleepy and exhausted, relying entirely on willpower to keep going.

Now, it was completely different. He had slept from midnight to four yesterday. In those four hours, he had fully entered deep sleep.

At four-thirty, there was only one security guard on the night shift at the gates of No. 2 High School.

When he saw a student in a School Uniform rapidly approaching through the darkness, he froze, thinking he was hallucinating.

"There are students who come to school to study at four in the morning? Isn't that taking competition way too far?!"

Lin Qi pushed his bicycle into campus. By then, the sky had begun to lighten, but it was still dark enough that anyone unaware of the time would think it was nighttime.

He made his way familiarly to the Martial Arts Classroom and began warming up.

Jiang Tao's Martial Arts Room did not have Lin Qi's fingerprints registered, so he could not unlock it. He simply trained in Jiang Tao's Martial Arts Room only at noon and in the evening every day.

After changing into a brand-new Martial Arts Uniform, Martial Arts Shoes, and socks, Lin Qi looked at himself in the mirror and felt completely refreshed. He had thoroughly shed his scrawny build.

Once the 200,000 Xia Guo Bi Third-Class Genius Loan came through, combined with the 50,000 Xia Guo Bi he had won from Yang Lei, he immediately upgraded his equipment.

He opened his backpack again, took out some Qi and Blood Capsules, swallowed three in one go, and then drank a bottle of Energy Elixir.

He could drink one bottle of Energy Elixir every day as well.

"My talent and comprehension are already high enough."

"I have 250,000 Xia Guo Bi on hand, which is enough."

"Next, I'll focus entirely on raising my qi and blood value, Spear Technique, and Movement Technique. I'll push for a higher ranking, obtain an independent Martial Arts Classroom."

Having set his goal, Lin Qi immediately began his stance training, throwing himself into it wholeheartedly.

Before long, he sensed something different. His body was like a furnace burning.

His heart beat rapidly, the muscles throughout his body rose and fell, and streams of qi and blood flowed through him like water, tempering his muscles and organs.

Steam began rising from his entire body.

The First Realm of martial arts was Flesh Refining. As long as one continuously tempered the large muscles of the body, one's Physical Fitness would improve significantly.

Today, Lin Qi could clearly feel that the efficiency of his tempering had increased.

It was faster than before!

And the fatigue from holding the Perfectly Round Stance was gone. The longer he stood, the more comfortable he felt.

One hour later.

[Through practicing the "Perfectly Round Stance," your qi and blood value has made a tremendous breakthrough. Qi and blood +0.3.]

[Qi and blood value: 7.0→7.4]

"My improved talent, along with the vast amount of resources I've consumed, has brought my qi and blood value a tremendous breakthrough as well."

"Today is already September 18. There are less than twenty days until the Monthly Exam. I can sprint toward a qi and blood value of 8.0!"

Lin Qi was delighted. After setting his goal, he continued practicing his stance.

Not far away, Chen Zichuan also arrived at the Martial Arts Classroom. The moment he saw a figure inside, he froze.

Someone had actually arrived at the Martial Arts Classroom earlier than him?

He checked the time. It was only five-thirty.

Someone was actually working harder than he was!

As he drew closer, the figure became increasingly familiar, and Chen Zichuan froze.

It was Lin Qi!