A New Level

"It worked!"

After completing it for the third time, Tao Yu didn't care about appearances. He plopped down on the cinder-covered ground and panted, recovering his strength.

Smith had wanted Tao Yu to relax without sitting down right away, but when he heard those words, his eyes went unfocused.

"It worked?"

He'd already mastered it?!

From Tao Yu's first attempt, Smith had known that the highly talented student learned quickly. He'd even predicted Tao Yu could grasp the basics in a day!

But what was this about mastering it in three tries?

For one of those attempts, Tao Yu had simply watched Smith perform it. Smith had only corrected him during the next two!

It was only the basics, but that meant Tao Yu could now invest wish power in the ability to speed up his progress!

Thinking of that terrifying talent, Smith couldn't help feeling conflicted.

But the jealousy in his heart quickly subsided. His face lit up with shock and delight.

"Junior brother really is incredibly talented! So this is what A-rank talent is worth? It's unbelievable."

Then he turned to the other students, who were just as stunned, and said,

"See that? Now get to work! While I'm here, ask me anything you're having trouble with."

Tao Yu raised his hand and spoke up.

"Senior brother, I want to buy some Qi-Replenishing Soup to recover, then make the most of the momentum and accelerate my training with wish power."

"Sure. You all wait here and practice first. I'll take Junior Brother Tao Yu there, then come back and answer your questions."

Smith left the others where they stood to study on their own, then took Tao Yu to the cafeteria.

Zhang Wei and the others were left behind. They had plenty to grumble about, but none of them said anything. They could only watch as Smith led Tao Yu toward a large wooden building that looked like a warehouse. That had to be the cafeteria.

Tao Yu mastering the technique in three tries had shaken them, but it had also given them some confidence.

They didn't need to do it in three tries. They could master it in three days, right?

After all, this was just a simple skill broken down to make it easier to teach!

They could do it!

Meanwhile, Smith led Tao Yu to the cafeteria.

The Myriad Flow Dojo cafeteria was a large, single-story wooden building. Rows of square tables filled the inside. It wasn't mealtime yet, so the stools had all been turned upside down on top of the tables, like at a rural banquet.

The kitchen was already busy, even though mealtime hadn't arrived. Knives chopped in a steady rhythm, and a rich aroma drifted out, making Tao Yu swallow.

That smelled good.

"That's the Qi Replenishing Soup. It's one of the student perks. Anyone who studies here and can afford it gets some."

Smith explained warmly.

As a senior student who'd started working as an assistant instructor, he had some pull. He went to the kitchen and puttered around, then came back with three large bowls.

"Today's on me."

"Thank you, Senior Brother."

Tao Yu didn't refuse. Thirty units of wish power for a meal was downright extravagant in the Outer City.

The Qi Replenishing Soup was a brownish gray, a little like pork offal congee. Tao Yu didn't hesitate to pick up a bowl. He blew on it, then gulped it down.

Despite its name, it was more like congee, with a bit of texture and a strong, savory aroma of offal. It was rich and smooth; the flavor alone was excellent.

More importantly, as soon as he finished the bowl, Tao Yu felt a noticeable warmth spread from his stomach. It was digested and absorbed far faster than roasted meat.

Thanks to One Proof, Eternal Proof, Tao Yu was especially sensitive to this sort of thing.

"Now that's good!"

Without hesitation, Tao Yu drank the other two bowls as well, then licked them clean.

"Senior Brother, I'll practice accelerating my training near the cafeteria. You can head back first."

"Don't overdo it. You can also buy some ointment to keep on hand. It works really well and helps with training, too. They sell it here."

Smith reminded him.

"Got it."

After Smith left, the effects of the three bowls of soup gradually kicked in, and Tao Yu felt his qi and blood begin to churn.

He then turned his attention to the skill he'd just learned.

With the qi-and-blood circulation from the Breathing Technique, the movement tracking from Dynamic Vision, and his current physical strength, he was quite pleased to have mastered it in just three attempts.

He also had to credit One Proof, Eternal Proof's ability to ignore bodily pain. It had let him acquire a skill that took five hundred units of wish power to reach Deification.

Myriad Flow Stance: A technique for accelerating physical training. It works the major muscle groups throughout the body, strengthens the elasticity of the ligaments and meridians, and makes certain movements easier to perform.

On its own, Myriad Flow Stance was fairly ordinary. It didn't increase the human body's limits at all. In theory, it should have been less valuable than Basic Breathing Technique. Yet Deification cost more than three times as much as it did for Basic Breathing Technique!

It cost even more than Stealth: Aberration, currently his most expensive skill, and was surpassed only by his talent.

Stealth: Aberration could let him meld into shadows, and it was even more effective than Stealth: Python.

But considering that Ambush: Xenomorph only cost two hundred to enhance, even though it was arguably more useful than the two Stealth skills, Tao Yu still couldn't figure out exactly what determined the cost of enhancing a skill.

Maybe Ambush's enhancement cost that much because he already had the Shadow Power prerequisite from Stealth? Could he not develop Shadow Power through Ambush alone?

Tao Yu stopped pondering it. He poured five hundred units of wish power into the skill, transforming it as soon as it had been created.

Crack, crack—

Before he even began practicing, the bones in Tao Yu's body creaked. His muscles tightened and his tendons bulged. A few seconds later, the tension faded, and it felt as though a third of the effects of the three bowls of Qi Replenishing Soup had already been used up!

The qi and blood that had been surging through him had also subsided a little.

Tao Yu clenched his fist and clearly felt an increase in strength. His body was still the same, but it seemed as if he was now making full use of the coordination between his muscles.

Myriad Flow Stance, Modified lv1: Provides excellent training results. It can coordinate all the muscles and qi and blood in the body, channeling strength into a single force. It increases the body's limits to a degree and unlocks a variety of difficult movements.

Channel strength into a single force!

No wonder he hadn't felt much physical strengthening, yet his strength had clearly increased!

Tao Yu was eager to test his stats, but quickly held himself back.

My physical limits have increased again. With the Breathing Technique and the boost from the Blood Orchid, I'll need time to develop that potential.

Tao Yu let out a slow breath. As he used the Breathing Technique to circulate his qi and blood, he practiced the Myriad Flow Stance as well. He put two hundred units of wish power per hour into accelerating each skill!

It was extravagant!

But time was money!

His body grew stiff and sore. His qi and blood churned nonstop, and his muscles twitched, aching and burning with a deeply satisfying soreness. Yet thanks to One Proof, Eternal Proof, Tao Yu endured it and forced himself to keep going.

As long as he could withstand the pain, he didn't need to worry about ruining his body. He could go all out!

As both skills accelerated at once, Tao Yu realized the effect wasn't as simple as one plus one equaling two. The Breathing Technique controlled his qi and blood, while the Stance moved it. After just one set, he'd already used up the rest of the Qi Replenishing Soup's effects!

At that rate, fifteen minutes of training consumed the energy from about two bowls of soup. Tao Yu was privately astonished.

It was a good thing the soup was available. In the Abyss, roasted meat alone wouldn't have kept him going, even if he'd eaten constantly. He couldn't have accelerated both abilities at once!

Deified abilities really did consume a lot.

Tao Yu was willing to spend a total of four hundred units of wish power per hour on acceleration, so he certainly wasn't going to skimp on Qi-Replenishing Soup when a bowl only cost ten...

The sky gradually darkened. After finishing another set, Tao Yu's tense focus began to waver, and his energy was running low. The soreness that had been building up hit him all at once, making his muscles twitch nonstop.

"That's enough for today."

Tao Yu dragged his exhausted body to the cafeteria and ordered two more bowls of Qi Replenishing Soup. The middle-aged woman serving him gave him a peculiar look.

Since the skill was already mastered, and wish-power acceleration gave him a plausible excuse, there wasn't much harm in drinking more soup. After all, no one knew exactly how much he'd accelerated his training.

There were plenty of students here. Some of the people practicing the dojo's core abilities probably drank even more than he did.

Even so, he'd stood out a little today, so Tao Yu decided to stop training for the time being.

He walked around to loosen up, then made his way to a corner of the dojo, where he stopped in front of a stone weight.

The weight was marked at one hundred kilograms!

Tao Yu lifted it one-handed with ease and could clearly feel that he still had plenty of strength to spare.

He hadn't even added much strain to the soreness in his muscles after training.

Resisting the urge to toss it in the air, Tao Yu quickly set the weight down again.

The human body's limit was probably a little over one hundred kilograms for a one-handed lift, and over two hundred for a two-handed lift. Someone could lift that much over their head and hold it for a while. For a deadlift, the human limit was probably around five hundred kilograms.

Tao Yu knew that after eating the Blood Orchid, his unassisted body—without relying on skills—had been a little stronger than that when he'd first returned.

But now, standing in front of this stone weight, he was certain he could toss it up one-handed and catch it!

He'd gotten stronger. And noticeably so!

This was what it meant to make full use of the limits increased by the Breathing Technique, the Blood Orchid, and the Stance!

And Tao Yu could feel that this still wasn't the limit of his potential. He could continue drawing out more.

But when he saw that his wish power had fallen to just over ten thousand, Tao Yu's mouth twitched.

He'd gotten stronger...

By spending money...

But Basic Breathing Technique, Modified had already reached over halfway through lv2. It let him control a more abundant flow of qi and blood.

Myriad Flow Stance, Modified had reached lv2 as well. It had also increased his qi and blood somewhat, while significantly improving his flexibility and other physical attributes. Since Deified skills were more efficient, the prerequisites would naturally be much better than those of the ordinary version.

He'd spent heavily this time because he wanted to start learning fist techniques as soon as possible, then master them!

Tao Yu had already planned it out: five fist techniques, two free slots, one at half price, one he'd buy himself, and one through a "Skill Loan." That would be all of them!

He'd try to learn all five before entering the Abyss again, then Deify each one before heading back to the Abyss to make money.

All five fist techniques would surely be harder to master and cost more to learn, but Tao Yu's main goal was only to master the basics...