The air in Tianhai Third High School's martial arts gym was filled with a familiar scent—a mixture of sweat and disinfectant—but today, there was an unusual restlessness in the air.
As soon as the class bell rang, the martial arts students did not disperse as they usually did. Instead, they spontaneously gathered outside the equipment room, their eyes filled with anticipation and a trace of barely concealed excitement.
"Line up! Get in line properly! Collect by student number! One portion per person—no pushing!"
The teacher responsible for distributing the medicine was an old martial arts master with graying hair and a stern expression. He was currently directing several upperclassmen to take sealed, palm-sized transparent plastic bottles from a large refrigerated container.
The bottles contained a pale green, viscous liquid. Under the bright lights of the gym, it emitted a faint green glow like fireflies, along with a light herbal fragrance and a barely noticeable bitter medicinal odor. It was none other than the basic Body Tempering Fluid distributed by the school each month!
"The Body Tempering Fluid is here!"
"Finally! I'll have to use it sparingly this month. Breaking through my bottleneck depends on it!"
"Tsk, tsk. I wonder how effective it is. I heard this batch is a little stronger than last month's?"
"Give me a break. How powerful can the basic version be? Better than nothing, I suppose..."
The discussion buzzed through the room.
For martial arts students from ordinary families who could not afford expensive body-tempering resources, the Body Tempering Fluid was the most important official benefit for improving their physical constitution and tempering their muscles and bones.
Every drop was precious.
Lin Xiao and Fatty Wang were also squeezed into the middle of the line.
Fatty Wang craned his neck, his small eyes filled with yearning. He kept muttering, "Brother Xiao, I heard this batch is an improved version, with slightly fewer side effects. I wonder if that's true..."
Lin Xiao said nothing, merely staring quietly ahead.
His face still carried a faint, barely perceptible pallor. The bandages securing his right arm were hidden beneath his loose school uniform, and the wound on his back still throbbed faintly.
Source Energy Points: -1.3.
The two mixed, warm currents from the low-grade Energy Stones slowly circulated through his body. Although they eased the feeling of depletion, they also brought waves of heat and a sluggish discomfort.
The Body Tempering Fluid? For his overdrawn body and his urgent need for Source Energy Points, it would be a drop in the bucket.
Soon, it was their turn.
Teacher Li expressionlessly shoved two plastic bottles into Lin Xiao's and Fatty Wang's hands.
They were cold to the touch.
Lin Xiao lowered his head and examined the bottle of pale green liquid in his hand.
Through the bottle wall, he could clearly see extremely fine, dust-like undissolved residue suspended inside. The color of the fluid was not completely uniform, either. The portion near the bottom seemed slightly darker.
The bitter odor mixed into the medicinal fragrance was also noticeably stronger than that of the other students' bottles.
The worst of the low-grade products?
The corner of Lin Xiao's mouth curved into a self-mocking smile.
Was this the treatment of lower-level students? Even the benefits they received had to be divided into different grades?
He twisted open the cap. A denser herbal fragrance mixed with a pungent medicinal bitterness rushed into his face.
According to the standard method, this bottle of medicine had to be divided into three doses and absorbed during a medicinal bath with special massage techniques. Only then could its effects be maximized and its stimulation of the meridians reduced.
But now...
A bold and dangerous thought slithered into Lin Xiao's mind like a venomous snake.
The modifier! Could it modify this?
Improve its effects? Reduce its side effects?
Even a tiny improvement would be better than nothing for him right now!
More importantly, if he succeeded, he might be able to explore more possibilities for applying the modifier to "external objects"!
The temptation overwhelmed the risk!
No matter how precious the Source Energy Points were, this was worth a try!
Lin Xiao quietly withdrew to a relatively secluded corner at the edge of the crowd. He leaned against the cold wall, blocking most of the surrounding gazes.
He focused his mind and used his thoughts to communicate with the dark-blue light screen in his consciousness.
Buzz!
The light screen emerged with difficulty, its radiance dim and its edges flickering erratically.
The number in the center remained glaring.
Source Energy Points: -1.3 Target locked: Unknown-formula Body Tempering Fluid (basic type, quality: inferior) Modifiable aspects scanning... (core restricted, analysis proceeding slowly)... Discovered: 1. Uneven distribution of medicinal components; sediment at the bottom causes a local increase in irritation (+15%); 2. Core energy factor "Greenwood Vine Essence" has insufficient activity (-10%). Solutions: 1. Slightly adjust the molecular structure of the sediment to reduce its irritation (effect: reduced burning pain); 2. Slightly increase the activity of the core energy factor (effect: slightly improved medicinal absorption efficiency). Source Energy Points required: 0.1 (energy consumption increased due to target complexity and core restrictions)
0.1 points! It was 0.1 points again! Deducting 0.1 from -1.3 would make it -1.4!
He would be even farther from the 3.0 points needed to repair his fractured bone!
Was it worth it? Lin Xiao stared at the clearly inferior medicinal liquid in his hand and felt the two restless currents of mixed energy inside his body.
This improvement might be insignificant to him, but this was an experiment!
An experiment to verify the modifier's control over "external objects"!
To hell with it!
"Modify! Both simultaneously!" Lin Xiao issued the command in his mind!
Command received! Source Energy Points deducted: 0.1! Source Energy Points: -1.3 - 0.1 = -1.4 Parameters being modified... (extremely slow)... 1%... 5%... 10%... (the light screen flickers violently)... 50%... 100%... Modification complete!
The notification carried a sluggishness that sounded almost overloaded.
At the instant the modification was completed, the Body Tempering Fluid in Lin Xiao's hand seemed unchanged to the naked eye.
It was still pale green, still contained sediment, and still carried the same medicinal fragrance and bitterness.
But how sharp were Lin Xiao's senses?
He could clearly "feel" that the somewhat violent and uneven energy fluctuations within the liquid had become much gentler and more uniform!
The irritating aura released by the sediment at the bottom had also weakened considerably!
Had it succeeded? At least partially!
Lin Xiao felt a flicker of joy.
He no longer hesitated. Taking advantage of the liquid's lingering chill from recently leaving the refrigerator, and of the surrounding students still lining up or excitedly discussing the medicine, he raised the bottle.
He tilted his head back and drank the entire bottle of pale green, viscous fluid in several loud gulps!
"Holy crap! Brother Xiao! Have you gone crazy?" Fatty Wang had just collected his own medicine. When he turned around and saw this horrifying scene, he was so startled that he nearly threw away the bottle!
"You can't drink that directly! It says so in the instructions! It'll burn through your intestines! You're supposed to dilute it in a medicinal bath!"
Several nearby students who noticed Lin Xiao's actions were instantly stunned!
"Lin Xiao! What are you doing?"
"Spit it out! Do you want to die?"
"Did Zhao Hu beat him stupid?"
The exclamations instantly drew the attention of even more people!
Even Teacher Li, who was distributing the medicine, frowned and looked over!
The entire bottle of Body Tempering Fluid entered Lin Xiao's stomach!
An indescribable, bizarre torrent resembling magma mixed with ice shards exploded in his stomach!
Immediately afterward, the violent medicinal power, mixed with the energy factors forcibly "soothed" by the modifier, charged madly toward the meridians in all four limbs and his entire body like a herd of wild horses running out of control!
"Urgh!" Lin Xiao grunted, his body suddenly going rigid!
Cold sweat the size of beans instantly broke out across his forehead!
His face changed from pale to an unnatural flush!
Pain! A burning pain spread from his stomach!
His meridians felt as though countless red-hot steel needles were piercing and tearing through them!
This was the inevitable backlash from absorbing undiluted Body Tempering Fluid without the special techniques needed to guide it.
Even with the modifier reducing the local irritation, the violent medicinal power was still beyond what his fragile stomach and untempered meridians could withstand!
Lin Xiao clenched his teeth so hard that blood seeped from his gums!
He endured the churning nausea and the tearing pain in his meridians, concentrating all his willpower as he guided the two mixed currents of warmth from the Energy Stones.
Working with the medicinal power that the modifier had just "soothed," he forcibly circulated and channeled them through his body along the force-transmission route optimized by Long Fist!
This was a tug-of-war between willpower and pain!
His body was like a balloon on the verge of bursting. Blue veins bulged beneath his skin, and his body trembled faintly out of control.
"Quick! Go call the school doctor!" Teacher Li's expression changed drastically, and he hurriedly shouted.
Fatty Wang turned deathly pale with fright and was about to rush out.
However, after those suffocating dozen or so seconds—
Lin Xiao's rigid body suddenly relaxed!
The violent torrent of medicinal power, as immense as a tsunami, seemed to have been forcibly combed and subdued by an invisible hand!
It was still surging fiercely, but the intensity of the impact and the tearing sensation suddenly lessened by more than half!
A gentle, vibrant warmth began replacing the burning pain. It flowed along the optimized route, nourishing his parched, damaged meridians and exhausted muscles!
The agony receded like the tide, replaced by a strange, refreshing sensation accompanied by a faint tingling itch!
It was as though parched earth had finally welcomed sweet rain!
Lin Xiao exhaled a long, deeply satisfied breath of turbid air rich with medicinal fragrance!
The flush on his face quickly faded. Although he still looked tired, his eyes shone with astonishing brightness!
He could clearly feel a purer and gentler power than he usually absorbed from the Body Tempering Fluid rapidly merging into his body!
The healing of the fracture in his right arm seemed to have accelerated ever so slightly!
The two mixed warm currents inside him were also washed, fused, and soothed considerably by the gentle medicinal power!
It worked! And the effect had far exceeded expectations!
The modifier had not only reduced the side effects, but had genuinely improved the efficiency of medicinal absorption, albeit slightly!
"Phew... refreshing!"
Lin Xiao wiped the cold sweat from his forehead. His face wore a roguish grin filled with excitement despite having narrowly escaped disaster. He even moved his left arm, whose soreness had been greatly reduced. "Fatty, what are you making such a fuss about? The instructions are for ordinary people. Your Brother Xiao has an extraordinary constitution!"
Everyone around him was completely dumbfounded! Their mouths hung open in shock!
"He... he's fine?"
"And... and he says it's refreshing? He drank the whole bottle directly! And he's still fine?!"
"Holy crap... what kind of constitution is that? An iron stomach?"
"His complexion seems... even better than before? Is it just my imagination?"
The discussion instantly erupted!
The gazes directed at Lin Xiao were filled with disbelief and curiosity!
He had drunk an entire bottle of basic Body Tempering Fluid directly and only broken into a sweat? He had even called it refreshing?
This completely overturned their understanding!
Fatty Wang's mouth hung open as he stared at Lin Xiao, who looked full of life, then at the bottle he was still carefully holding. His entire worldview had suffered a tremendous impact.
Just then, a cold voice carrying a hint of scrutiny rang out from the edge of the crowd. "An extraordinary constitution? I'm afraid that may not be the case."
The crowd parted as if pushed aside by an invisible hand. A tall, strikingly beautiful figure walked in.
Her fitted dark-blue uniform outlined her perfect curves, while the emblem on her shoulder glinted coldly beneath the lights.
Her features were exquisite yet as cold as ice sculpture. Her eyes were sharp as a falcon's, carrying an almost penetrating force—she was Qin Bing, the beauty of Special Operations Ninth Division!
Her gaze, like a searchlight, instantly locked onto Lin Xiao's face and the now-empty bottle of Body Tempering Fluid in his hand. Her voice held a chilly firmness that brooked no argument. "Student Lin Xiao. Regarding this batch of Body Tempering Fluid... and your 'extraordinary constitution' just now, I think you need to explain yourself to me."
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