Lu Siye drew back his fist with satisfaction and returned to the sofa.
The nine stances of the Dragon Elephant Prajna Skill weren't just for training. They also helped him control the strength of his entire body.
That meant Lu Siye wouldn't end up like characters in novels who couldn't control their strength after a breakthrough and broke things by accident.
He took the Dragon Elephant Prajna Skill down from the table.
A single pirated novel had been enough to strengthen into a peerless technique. He wondered what astonishing martial arts the dozen or so other pirated novels might turn into.
He could hardly wait!
Lu Siye casually picked up a copy of Crossing the Storms, Laying Low Until Invincible, Then Emerging from Seclusion.
He tore off the plastic wrapping, rubbed his large hand over the exquisite cover, and silently recited in anticipation, Strengthen!
Seconds passed, but the system gave no notification, and the pirated novel in his hand showed no sign of changing.
Puzzled, he opened the beautiful cover.
Suddenly, his whole body went rigid. He stared fixedly at the pirated novel in his hands, his eyes widening further and further as his hands began to tremble uncontrollably.
He dropped the book and cautiously approached the plastic bag full of pirated novels. With trembling hands, he tore open the wrapping on another one.
One, two... five... nine...
There were eleven in all. Every one had an exquisite cover, but every page inside was blank. There wasn't a single word on them—not even a punctuation mark.
Worse, the paper used to bind the pages was incredibly flimsy. The slightest touch tore it apart.
"You son of a bitch! You dared sell Fourth Master eleven books of blank paper..."
Lu Siye's eyes were bloodshot, and the veins on his forehead bulged. A voice in his mind kept trying to soothe him, telling him to treat it as a lesson he'd paid for.
But the more he tried to let it go, the angrier he got. The more he backed down, the more he felt he'd been cheated. He couldn't take it anymore. Snatching up one of the blank books, he stormed out and slammed the door behind him.
Two minutes later, after sprinting two kilometers, Lu Siye returned to the spot where he'd bought the books.
The place was completely deserted, without a single person in sight. Furious, he hurled the book in his hand into the flower bed nearby.
The pirated novel was like a solid brick, embedding itself deep in the soil.
"Just you wait, old bastard. You'd better hope Fourth Master never catches you, or I'll make you write eleven martial arts novels on the spot!"
Lu Siye had stormed over in a rage, and he left just as furious.
Back in his room, Lu Siye picked up all the blank books from the floor and tossed them into the plastic bag.
He sat down on the sofa, picked up the technique from the table, and flipped through it. As he looked at the many blank pages at the back, he stroked his chin, deep in thought.
The blank pages at the back of the Dragon Elephant Prajna Skill hadn't been there before it was strengthened. The strengthening had only revealed a dozen or so pages of the first layer's contents, leaving the rest of the pages blank.
"System, can this technique be strengthened again?" Lu Siye put the technique back on the table and asked tentatively.
"Yes!" the system replied.
"Great. Strengthen it!" Lu Siye was overjoyed.
As soon as he spoke, the technique on the table began flipping through its pages like crazy once more. Countless strokes, words, and diagrams appeared out of thin air, imprinting themselves on the blank pages one by one and radiating a golden, divine glow.
After another two minutes, the strengthening was complete. The contents of the second layer had appeared on the pages.
"System, why didn't you give a notification this time?" Lu Siye asked curiously.
He'd noticed that at some point, the system had grown rather quiet. Before, it had given a notification every time it strengthened something.
"Following the host's request three hours ago, the system enabled automatic default and silent modes."
Three hours ago?
Lu Siye thought back. He'd been strengthening Red Dates around that time, and he'd been so close to his limit that he'd told the system to stop talking.
"Uh... sorry, System. You're not mad, are you?" Lu Siye asked cautiously.
"The system is not a living being and has no emotions. It cannot become angry." The system's voice remained icy.
"That's good. Turn off automatic default and silent modes." Lu Siye let out a sigh of relief.
System Dad was essential to his survival in this dangerous world. He couldn't afford to upset it.
"Ding~ Disabled."
After confirming that the notification sound was back on, Lu Siye checked the system panel.
Host: Lu Siye Fear Points: 617 Cultivation Power: Five years Martial Arts Techniques: Dragon Elephant Prajna Skill, First and Second Layers Special Item: Evil-Exorcising Fruit Knife
He closed the system panel and stroked his chin, thinking.
"Five years of Cultivation Power must mean the strength I gained after mastering the first layer of the Dragon Elephant Prajna Skill!"
"As for Fear Points, I remember I had 937 before. Strengthening the first layer cost 20, and strengthening ten Red Dates cost 100... So strengthening the second layer cost 200?"
Lu Siye's eyes widened. Good grief, the second layer cost ten times as much as the first, huh?
It hurt to spend the points, but he still had to get stronger. Otherwise, if he ran into another Evil Ghost, he might not make it out alive.
He picked up the technique from the table and began to study it. The second layer added nine new stances, each one seemingly much harder than those in the first layer.
Eighteen minutes later, he had completed all nine with ease. Not one had been difficult.
This confirmed once more that he really did have excellent talent.
Lu Siye spent the entire afternoon training.
But he didn't dare strengthen ten Red Dates at once again. Instead, he strengthened them two at a time.
At nine that evening, after eating his fortieth strengthened Red Date, he heard a clearer, louder dragon's roar and elephant's bellow within his body than before. Waves of heat poured from his skin, distorting the air around him.
His body was like a furnace, his blood surging like waves!
The second layer of the Dragon Elephant Prajna Skill was complete!
Though he'd mastered the divine skill, the cost was that he had very few Red Dates left. It looked like he needed to restock.
He opened his phone and tapped on Taobao.
Lu Siye ordered two packs of Red Dates and one pack of Red Ginseng from the nearest seller, adding a note asking the shop to send them by the fastest delivery service available.
Just as he was about to close Taobao, he noticed that some sellers offered martial arts techniques too.
On a whim, Lu Siye picked out two manuals and placed an order, again asking the shop to use the fastest delivery service available.
But he didn't go straight to bed. Instead, he took out the Body Tempering Art that the iron-tower-like Meng Jianmin had given him.
Lu Siye had originally planned to strengthen the Body Tempering Art, but the system said it couldn't be strengthened. That left him rather puzzled.
Could it be that the technique was too basic and its potential was already fixed?
Never mind. If it couldn't be strengthened, then it couldn't be strengthened. Time to train!
The Body Tempering Art wasn't as complicated as the Dragon Elephant Prajna Skill. It mainly consisted of a standing meditation exercise and a simple set of punches.
Lu Siye mastered the Body Tempering Art in just half an hour, but he didn't feel that his strength had increased by much.
He checked the system panel again.
Host: Lu Siye Fear Points: 217 Cultivation Power: Thirty years (Dragon Elephant Prajna Skill increased it by twenty-five years; Body Tempering Art increased it by five years) Martial Arts Techniques: Dragon Elephant Prajna Skill, First and Second Layers; Body Tempering Art Special Item: Evil-Exorcising Fruit Knife
Thirty years of Cultivation Power—what level did that put his strength at?
Lu Siye felt the scorching blood surging through his body. He had a hunch that if he ran into the Takeout Ghost that had knocked on his door before, he could pin him down and beat him to a pulp.
"I've only got a little over two hundred Fear Points left. Looks like I need to replenish them." Seeing his Fear Points, Lu Siye suddenly felt a sense of urgency.
He opened the Town Watch APP and began searching for missions.
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