Improvement

Creak~

A tingling sensation rose from deep within his marrow, making Tao Yu feel as though ants were crawling all over him. He could scratch and scratch, but never reach the itch.

It took him a long while to recover from the sensation. Then he felt something completely different.

Unified force!

After his Stance Training had reached Deification, the strength of his whole body had already been unified into a single force. Now, however, Tao Yu could clearly feel a power brewing from his qi and blood, rising and falling along with them.

And whenever he needed it, he could use his qi and blood to circulate and unify that power!

It couldn't be projected beyond his body, but...

Tao Yu casually tapped a finger forward. Though a stab of pain shot through it, fine cracks had already appeared across the stone lock in front of him.

The cracks weren't very obvious, but making them with a casual tap of his bare finger was still an astonishing feat!

An ordinary person would have their throat crushed by a flick of the finger!

"Manifest Strength and Hidden Strength? Not quite, but it's somewhat similar..."

Tao Yu pondered as he began to digest the information that came with his newly deified skill.

Five Forms Unification - Modified lv1: Unifies force, significantly raising the body's limits.

To a certain extent, force could already accomplish things that seemed utterly inconceivable. It could control and strengthen the internal organs, purge toxins, and cleanse the blood.

But it wasn't the same as the internal energy he knew from stories. It was a latent power spread throughout the body. The stronger the body and the qi and blood, the stronger the force!

When needed, it could be activated and circulated through the qi and blood, further training the body and even the internal organs.

Aside from Shadow Power, which worked best in combination with stealth and ambush, this was the first power system Tao Yu had mastered that could just barely be called supernatural!

Shadow Power was simply too specialized, and couldn't be used to strengthen himself.

Five Forms Unification, on the other hand, could significantly raise his body's limits!

It was also gentler and easier to control.

The previous layers of limit-boosting had already begun to show diminishing returns, with the effects growing weaker and weaker. This had come at exactly the right time.

"Haha, going from zero to one is the hardest. This feeling is incredible."

Tao Yu was exhilarated.

This was probably one way for an ordinary flesh-and-blood body to rival machines and mutated bodies.

The method might be different, but the pressure Li Hui had once put on him, and that of Dojo Master Liu Yi, probably came from the same kind of power.

"Once the regular Myriad Flow Five Forms are fully integrated, it should let you grasp your qi and blood. Maybe the secret Breathing Technique helps catalyze it into force?"

Tao Yu had some guesses.

Because of the special nature of his Deification, there were now certain things he couldn't ask about outright.

If people thought he was secretly learning someone else's secret technique, there would be another bloodbath.

The dojo master was actually a pretty good guy. He'd even taught him the skills for free. Tao Yu didn't have the heart to do that to him.

Besides Five Forms Unification - Modified, which had brought the greatest gains, each individual boxing style also came with some useful additional abilities.

Deifying a single boxing style cost less than deifying Stance Training—somewhere between two and three hundred units. Its improvement to his body wasn't as great, either, but each style had its own strengths in combat and specialization.

Myriad Flow Crane Form - Modified, for example, had the best overall effects. Along with its training and combat methods, it improved training efficiency and fighting skills.

Most importantly, it also granted him Spiritual Sense, which was similar to detecting clear murderous intent and hostility. Though the World Will's information warned that certain concealment methods could hide them, it was still an excellent ability.

Tiger Form focused mainly on explosive power, adding another edge to his Assassin one-strike style.

Bear Form improved his ability to withstand blows and his endurance.

Python Form increased the flexibility and strength of his tendons, greatly improving his grappling and strangling abilities.

Ape Form improved balance and overall ability. Ultimately, it was Ape Form that coordinated the other forms in Five Forms Unification.

Besides that, Tao Yu had also learned the Saliva Swallowing Technique he'd been longing for, and deified it as well.

Saliva Swallowing Technique - Modified greatly improved digestion and absorption, somewhat increased his ability to store energy, and gave him a certain resistance to poison.

It was an ordinary skill, and deifying it had cost only a hundred units of Wish Power. Still, Tao Yu felt that, for him, its effects were every bit as valuable as Five Forms Unification. It was a skill of strategic importance.

One Proof, Eternal Proof let him recover from injuries through Wish Power and food!

He'd already experienced just how much Wish Power recovery could consume.

Now that he was stronger, the cost of healing would be even higher!

By contrast, a few bowls of Qi Replenishing Soup and some time could make up for several hundred units of Wish Power.

Saliva Swallowing Technique - Modified greatly improved his ability to digest and absorb food, making it a perfect match for One Proof, Eternal Proof.

If necessary, he could even drink dirty water just like the animals.

Well, as a normal person, Tao Yu wasn't about to try that on a regular basis...

"Money really does flow like water."

Looking at the less than eight hundred units of Wish Power he had left, Tao Yu deeply missed the days when he'd had a fortune of over ten thousand.

At first, he'd spent lavishly to speed up his Stance Training so he'd have more time to learn the boxing styles. Later, Tao Yu had adjusted the acceleration to get better value for his Wish Power.

Even so, because the Breathing Technique and Stance Training were always being practiced together, he couldn't stop his Wish Power from draining away day after day.

Fortunately, the results were satisfactory. He'd achieved most of what he'd hoped for, though it was a shame he was still some distance from the limits his body could currently reach.

"Even though Five Forms Unification - Modified raised my ceiling and reduced the diminishing returns, the efficiency of Wish Power decreases as my strength grows. I'm afraid even three or four times as much Wish Power won't get me the gains I used to."

Tao Yu sighed inwardly. The Blood Orchid, Basic Breathing Technique, and Stance Training had all increased his physical potential and raised his body's limits, so training had been incredibly fast.

But as his body improved, the efficiency of Wish Power fell, and diminishing returns became more noticeable—just as it got harder and harder for professional athletes to improve.

"Even with One Proof, Eternal Proof, I should be able to keep breaking through my limits once I reach my theoretical physical peak. But the pace will definitely be painfully slow."

Five Forms Unification had eased the problem for now, but he still had to consider what came next.

He could only improve his remaining potential through steady effort. If he wanted another period of explosive growth, he'd need more ways to raise his limits!

"If I get the chance to save up, I could consider deifying a skill for the second time."

Though Tao Yu lacked knowledge about the Outer City, he could still tell from his own abilities that some enhancement skills might conflict. He couldn't just specialize in everything indiscriminately.

Ideally, they'd complement one another like the Myriad Flow Five Forms. At the very least, they needed to have little to no conflict, so he could live with the drawbacks.

He still lacked the knowledge to work out the details.

But at least there shouldn't be a problem with stacking a second Deification onto one of his existing skills!

After pondering for a while, he settled on Basic Breathing Technique - Modified.

It was the cheapest skill for raising his physical limits. Deifying it a second time would cost only around thirty thousand units of Wish Power. The most effective option, Five Forms Unification - Modified, would cost over two hundred thousand—more than the Bullet Time talent.

But keeping up with the daily cost of steady training while saving thirty thousand Wish Power would be no small expense. His parents would have to save for ten years without eating or drinking. That was roughly equal to four times what the Li family had when their assets were seized...

Quickly brushing aside those thoughts, Tao Yu patted his cheeks.

His ideas were getting a little dangerous.

"Right now, Wish Power items and skills aren't everywhere in the New settlement. They're still a decent source of income, though I'd be at risk if I got surrounded..."

The money in his pocket had led Tao Yu to find Smith.

"Senior Brother, I'm about to head to the Abyss. I won't be coming in for a while."

Tao Yu found Smith and gave him a heads-up.

It was perfectly normal. Smith had also spent five days of the past half-month in the Abyss; his base was simply in the Real World. He went to the Abyss purely to keep himself from going mad.

"Sure, I figured you'd be going soon. Haha, I don't even know how much money you've spent. Training full-time is really hard to keep up."

Smith wasn't surprised. He had a job and an income at the dojo, which even helped him afford Wish Power acceleration.

Even if this junior brother had found someone willing to invest in him, he was still living off his savings.

"You're at lv3 in Crane Form. Why not apply for an assistant instructor position? The dojo's benefits are pretty good."

Smith made the suggestion. He thought his junior brother had talent and could try working part-time while training.

Tao Yu's Crane Form was actually only lv2, but since he'd deified it, its aura was more than enough to pass for lv3. Judging by the Five Forms Unification he'd already achieved, his skill could rival lv4. That was also how he'd managed to learn the Saliva Swallowing Technique.

"I'll think about it. But right now, if I don't work hard in the New Frontier, I won't even have a place where I can stay safely for five days. I don't have a choice."

In truth, Tao Yu had nearly drained the Myriad Flow Dojo of everything except its secret Breathing Technique. And the assistant instructor's pay couldn't cover his expenses anyway—unless the dojo master gave up his position for him.

But there was no reason to reject a kind offer outright, and he got along fairly well with Smith.

"Brother Tao, are you heading to the Abyss too? Want to go together?"

Zhang Wei had been listening in. He and Tao Yu had teamed up before, and two people really did have a much easier time in the Abyss than one.

"We're too far apart. Maybe another time. I'll get going. I still have to prepare a few things."

Tao Yu waved to them both, politely declining Zhang Wei's invitation to team up.

"Sure. Safe travels. You can buy a few Qi Replenishing Pills at the dojo to keep on hand."

Smith launched into another sales pitch, but the item he recommended really was quite effective.

"Okay."

Tao Yu was indeed planning to bring a few Qi Replenishing Pills. They worked about as well as Qi Replenishing Soup, but were easier to carry and store. They were also quite a bit more expensive, at fifty units of Wish Power each.

They weren't really meant for everyday training. They were for emergencies, to quickly restore stamina in the wilderness.

They worked much faster than eating meat or the like, and were even more effective with Saliva Swallowing Technique.

With so many deified skills that consumed stamina, Tao Yu would have filled his whole backpack with them if he'd had the money.

They were far more cost-effective than using Wish Power to recover...