Lu Siye had just finished showering when he walked out of the bathroom and glanced toward the apartment next door, puzzled.
Was the guy next door having a nightmare?
He was yelling so loudly!
Could he have run into another ghost?
Lu Siye paused by the wall and listened for a while. Once he was sure nothing had happened next door, he returned to the sofa and sat down.
Everything had been taken care of. It was time to check what he'd gained.
Full of anticipation, Lu Siye opened the system panel.
Host: Lu Siye Fear Points: 2685 Cultivation Power: Thirty years Martial Arts Techniques: "Dragon Elephant Prajna Skill," Second Layer; "Body Tempering Art" Special Items: Evil-Exorcising Fruit Knife; "Dragon Elephant Prajna Skill"
Lu Siye did some quick mental arithmetic.
The Kidney-Harvesting Ghost in the alley had given him over six hundred Fear Points, while the two Bound Spirits had contributed a little over eighteen hundred between them.
All three ghosts had given him a total of 2468 Fear Points.
An unprecedented haul!
Looking at the four-digit total of Fear Points on the panel, Lu Siye felt as if he'd gotten rich overnight.
Like a squirrel with its cheeks full of nuts, he rubbed his hands together excitedly.
He took "Dragon Elephant Prajna Skill" straight out of the system space and gently placed it on the table, then thought to himself:
"Strengthen!"
After the system deducted 400 Fear Points, Lu Siye got to watch the book put on another one of its wild performances.
Once the performance was over, "Dragon Elephant Prajna Skill" had successfully been strengthened to the third layer.
After spending eighteen minutes learning all nine new postures, Lu Siye pulled the few Red Dates he had left from under the table.
He poured them out and counted. Only twelve remained.
Once he'd eaten those twelve, he'd have to wait until the Red Dates and Red Ginseng arrived tomorrow before he could continue cultivating.
Lu Siye swept his hand over the table and strengthened the Red Dates, then swallowed them in one go and began cultivating the third layer of "Dragon Elephant Prajna Skill."
A little over an hour later, Lu Siye finished cultivating.
After circulating his qi and blood twelve times, he had fully transformed and absorbed the qi and blood provided by the twelve strengthened Red Dates.
Lu Siye carefully gauged how he felt. He was still nowhere near reaching the third layer's limit; he estimated he'd need over a hundred Red Dates, each strengthened once, to reach perfection.
Over a hundred. That meant he'd need more than a thousand Fear Points.
He opened the panel and looked at the 2165 Fear Points he had left.
For a moment, Lu Siye felt a twinge in his teeth.
So much for getting rich overnight. He was still a broke loser!
The old saying was right: studying martial arts took money.
He still had a long way to go on his path to slaying ghosts!
With his cultivation of "Dragon Elephant Prajna Skill" done for the time being, Lu Siye put the book away and went back to the bedroom to sleep.
"Grandpa! Your grandson's calling!"
"Grandpa! Your grandson's calling!"
"..."
Early the next morning, Lu Siye got a call from the delivery guy saying he had a package.
Lu Siye guessed it was his Red Dates and Red Ginseng. He hurriedly got dressed and rushed downstairs to the parcel lockers next to the security office.
Captain Li of the neighborhood security team was on duty today.
After greeting Captain Li, Lu Siye collected his parcel and hurried back to his apartment.
He eagerly opened it. Inside were two 500-gram bags of Red Dates and one 500-gram bag of Red Ginseng.
Red Dates were the fruit of plants in the buckthorn family and jujube genus. They turned red when ripe and could be used medicinally to nourish the stomach, strengthen the spleen, enrich the blood, nourish the body, and build strength.
Red Ginseng was processed ginseng. In addition to replenishing vital energy, nourishing the spleen and lungs, promoting bodily fluids, and calming the mind, it had warming medicinal properties and was known for its potent, powerful effects.
It was especially effective at replenishing vital energy, restoring yang, rescuing patients from collapse, and replenishing qi to control bleeding.
From the perspective of maintaining health and strengthening the body, Red Ginseng was an excellent tonic for those with insufficient qi and blood and a tendency toward yang deficiency.
People who were often cold, had cold hands and feet, felt dizzy and exhausted, had weak limbs, tired easily, suffered from shortness of breath, often felt cold in the stomach, had chronic diarrhea, or experienced insomnia and vivid dreams could all take Red Ginseng as a tonic.
Lu Siye had originally only meant to buy Red Dates, but the customer service representative had been so enthusiastic that she'd recommended Red Ginseng, which was even better for replenishing blood.
Red Ginseng cost much more than Red Dates, but Lu Siye had thought it over and decided to buy it anyway.
It was a good chance to see which of the two provided qi and blood that was more plentiful and pure.
Lu Siye opened the Red Ginseng first, took out ten slices, and held them in his hand as he began to strengthen them.
"Would you like to spend 10 Fear Points to strengthen 10 slices of Red Ginseng?"
"Strengthen!" Lu Siye confirmed, his eyes fixed on the Red Ginseng in his hand.
As soon as he spoke, a red glow swept over the Red Ginseng. Its color grew a deeper red, and the slices took on a faintly translucent sheen.
"Ding~ Strengthening successful. Congratulations, host. You have obtained Red Ginseng Slices +1*10!"
When the notification sounded, Lu Siye dropped the Red Ginseng into the hot water he'd prepared on the table.
After three or four seconds, the water in the cup began to turn red.
Half a minute later, it had turned a deep red, and a sweet aroma wafted toward him.
Lu Siye took a deep breath. He could feel several warm currents rising inside him, continuously nourishing his qi and blood.
Good stuff!
Lu Siye's eyes lit up. Just from the aroma, he could tell for certain.
When both had been strengthened once, the qi and blood provided by Red Ginseng were definitely purer than those provided by Red Dates.
Without hesitation, he drank all the hot water, chewed the ten slices of Red Ginseng, and swallowed them.
He even rinsed the cup several times with hot water and drank every drop. He couldn't waste a thing.
Boom!
Scorching qi and blood welled up in his stomach, turning into streams of warmth that pierced through his stomach wall and entered his bloodstream.
Lu Siye hurriedly set down the cup, moved to the floor, and struck the postures of the third layer of "Dragon Elephant Prajna Skill."
As Lu Siye changed poses, waves of heat rose from his body, and the temperature in the living room climbed rapidly.
About ten minutes later, his cultivation came to an end. The waves of Yang energy he had released returned to his body, and the living room's temperature instantly returned to what it had been before.
Lu Siye opened his eyes and looked excitedly at the bag of Red Ginseng on the table.
For the same cost of 10 Fear Points, the qi and blood provided by those ten slices of Red Ginseng were twice what a single Red Date provided.
Even though Red Ginseng cost several times more than Red Dates, Lu Siye still felt like he'd made a killing.
He poured more hot water into the cup, grabbed a handful of Red Ginseng, and began strengthening it. Then he soaked it in water to make a blood-nourishing tonic.
After drinking the tonic, Lu Siye continued cultivating.
Today, he was going to cultivate the third layer of "Dragon Elephant Prajna Skill" to perfection.
Waves of heat surged through the living room once more.
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