The little box contained ten blister packs of capsules.
The instant he saw them, Xu Tui's eyes grew warm.
The capsules in the blister packs were the F-grade Energy Supplement Pills he'd bought that afternoon.
Xu Tui had only bought one pack.
Ten pills in a pack.
His father had brought ten packs—one hundred pills in all.
A full ten thousand yuan.
But what drew Xu Tui's attention were two rows of hard, transparent, sealed cases, five in each row, each about the size of his thumb. Inside each was a blue soft capsule.
He didn't recognize them.
But there was some fine print on them.
He lowered his head to look, then was startled. He jerked his head up and looked at his parents.
"Dad, this is E-grade Energy Potion. One capsule costs five thousand yuan, so ten of them would be..." Xu Tui was astonished.
These potions alone were worth sixty thousand yuan.
"What, you think your dad can't afford them?" Xu Jianguo chuckled. "My salary isn't high, but I've managed to save a little over the years."
"But Dad, I heard you need E-grade Authority to buy E-grade Energy Potion."
"Underestimating your dad again. I've got E-grade Authority, all right?" Xu Tui's mother, Zhang Xiuli, looked proud.
Her words left Xu Jianguo beaming with pride.
It wasn't often his wife praised him.
"Come on, I'm your dad. I've been through this before. I know that Gene Evolution University takes a lot of resources.
"I also know why you've lost so much weight these past few days.
"Use these for now. They should cover the cost of your training."
As he spoke, Xu Jianguo pushed another card toward Xu Tui.
"You'll definitely need money for all sorts of things at university. You young people like different things from us.
"So your mom and I didn't buy anything for you.
"There's fifty thousand yuan on this card. Buy whatever you like or need," Xu Jianguo said.
Xu Tui fell silent.
He knew his family's finances fairly well.
His parents had just handed him 110,000 yuan in one go. They'd practically given him the entire family's savings.
"Dad—"
"Just take it!"
Xu Jianguo cut him off before he could finish, already knowing what his son was about to say.
Suddenly, Xu Tui's Personal Communication Device vibrated.
"Hello, citizen Xu Tui. Your Personal Merit System has been activated. Current Merit Points: 6. F-grade Authority."
"Hello. Your personal account has received a disbursement of 50,000 yuan from the Special Treasury Account. Note: Bonus."
After reading the messages, Xu Tui grinned.
He hurriedly pushed the card back toward his father.
"Dad, look, I got a bonus of fifty thousand yuan. You should keep this money."
"A bonus? Fifty thousand yuan?"
Xu Jianguo and his wife were utterly bewildered.
Xu Tui explained everything, leaving the couple staring at each other in astonishment.
The student on the news—the smart, brave, and handsome one—was actually their son.
No wonder that figure had looked so familiar.
"Jinbu, how could you be so reckless? You actually went after members of the Dawn Redemption Traitor Organization?
"Those people kill without batting an eye!
"I don't care if you earn merits or anything else. I just want you safe and sound."
Once the truth came out, his mother panicked.
Xu Jianguo was silent for a moment, then pushed the card back in front of Xu Tui. His tone brooked no argument. "Take it. Your mom and I still have our salaries."
"When you get to university, study hard and work on improving yourself."
"Remember what your mom said. Whatever you do, you have to stay safe!"
After returning to his room, Xu Tui took a long time to calm down.
He spent a while packing his clothes and other necessities.
Though Xu Tui was very handsome, he still packed light, even when going on a long trip.
One large suitcase was enough.
He washed up and climbed into bed.
First, he swallowed an F-grade Energy Supplement Pill.
Then he meditated.
He entered the Illusory Internal Vision state.
This time, it took very little time—only four seconds.
At that moment, Xu Tui was only observing the effects of the F-grade Energy Supplement Pill. He wasn't using Mental Power Cultivation.
About thirty seconds later, the white light flowing from his abdomen throughout his body suddenly multiplied.
Before that, around three or four strands of white light representing energy had flowed out each second.
Thirty seconds later, once the F-grade Energy Supplement Pill had begun to take effect, the number of strands of energy white light flowing throughout his body suddenly more than doubled.
There were now ten to twelve strands of energy white light each second.
Xu Tui didn't rush to cultivate.
Instead, he quietly observed and contemplated while in this Illusory Internal Vision state.
Now and then, he switched to True Internal Vision to observe the changes in his body.
As he quietly contemplated, Xu Tui discovered that maintaining either Illusory Internal Vision or True Internal Vision consumed some Mental Power.
But the amount was very small.
When Xu Tui's consciousness—in other words, his Mental Power—didn't actively guide or interfere, most of the energy white light flowing from his abdomen went to the various organs throughout his body, accounting for seventy percent.
Of the remaining thirty percent, twenty-five percent flowed into activated Gene Points.
Only five percent flowed randomly into the gray points that hadn't been activated.
After observing for half an hour, Xu Tui discovered that the energy flowing into the gray points wasn't entirely random.
The energy white light in Xu Tui's body flowed into the unactivated Gene Points in his brain noticeably more often.
Now and then, energy white light also flowed into an unactivated Gene Point in his left calf.
As for the gray points in other parts of his body, the energy white light flowed into them very rarely.
The F-grade Energy Supplement Pill only replenished his energy for half an hour before its effects wore off.
After his training, Xu Tui wasn't hungry at all. On the contrary, he felt full of strength.
That was probably the effect of the F-grade Energy Supplement Pill.
He swallowed another F-grade Energy Supplement Pill.
This time, Xu Tui began using his Mental Power to influence the direction of the energy flow.
He continued directing it toward the Gene Point in his left calf.
The Gene Points in his head were tied to abilities that were too complicated. Xu Tui didn't dare touch them yet. He wanted to learn more at Huaxia Gene Evolution University before working on them.
Half an hour later, the F-grade Energy Supplement Pill's effects wore off. The Gene Point in his leg had only swelled a little; it hadn't activated.
This time, though, Xu Tui felt something distinct.
His left calf felt a little sore.
It seemed like he'd activated a Gene Point related to his left calf.
When his training was over, Xu Tui checked how he felt again.
He no longer had the powerful, energized feeling he'd had after taking the first F-grade Energy Supplement Pill.
He'd probably used it up during his training.
But neither did he feel the extreme emptiness he'd experienced after training over the previous two days.
"Should I try the E-grade Energy Supplement Potion?"
A few seconds later, Xu Tui swallowed a little blue pill—well, it was probably a blue soft capsule.
Then he entered the Illusory Internal Vision state.
He could feel it even without entering the Illusory Internal Vision state.
The instant he swallowed it, his stomach felt as if something had exploded.
Wave after wave of heat surged throughout his body.
Xu Tui felt more alert than ever.
His Mental Power immediately began guiding the energy.
The energy white light produced by the E-grade Energy Supplement Potion was more than ten times as strong as that of an F-grade Energy Supplement Pill.
Each time it flowed out, there were ten to twelve times as many strands as with the F-grade pill.
At that moment, guided by Xu Tui's conscious intent, the energy surged toward the Gene Point in his left calf, the one he'd been working on.
Almost at the same instant, Xu Tui's entire left calf began to feel swollen and sore. It even started to hurt.
"That's probably a bit too much."
Strengthening a Gene Point directly brought changes to the body.
If Gene Points in a particular area were strengthened too much, they could damage the body.
That was what the information Xu Tui had received after the Gene Aptitude Test said.
With a thought, Xu Tui split the energy white light flowing toward his left calf into two streams.
Forty percent continued flowing into the Gene Point in his left calf, while he redirected the other sixty percent into a Gene Point in his right hand.
He chose it at random.
The swelling in his left calf eased considerably.
But before long, his fingers began to feel swollen and sore too.
Still, the discomfort was within what he could bear.
This continued for fifty minutes.
The blue E-grade Energy Supplement Potion really was worth five thousand yuan a capsule. It lasted ages!
It had been fifty minutes, and it was still supplying energy.
What staying power!
Then, at the very instant the fifty-first minute began, the two gray Gene Points Xu Tui had been working on—one in his left calf and one in his right hand—swelled and began to glow at the same time.
A sharp pain shot through his left calf and right hand.
Both Gene Points activated simultaneously.
Xu Tui relaxed.
Eighteen Gene Points.
By now, Xu Tui had activated eighteen Gene Points.
Judging from how his body felt, these two newly activated Gene Points in his left calf and right hand would definitely improve his physical abilities.
There was a very good chance they were improvements to what was known as the Limitless System.
At that moment, however, the blue capsule's effects were still going strong. It really did last a long time.
Five thousand yuan a capsule, after all.
He couldn't waste it.
Just as he was thinking that—
A wave of uncontrollable exhaustion suddenly washed over him.
Xu Tui immediately understood: his Mental Power was about to run dry again.
After figuring out Mental Power that morning, Xu Tui had searched online, including all sorts of small forums, for information about it.
There was basically nothing useful.
But there was one widely accepted theory.
The Battery Theory.
Human Mental Power was a bit like an old battery from a century ago.
If you drained it completely in one go, it took a while to recover, and it could even harm your body.
If you left some charge, it recovered quickly and without harm.
In short, when using Mental Power, you shouldn't let it run completely dry.
You should fall asleep just before your Mental Power was depleted and let it recover.
Xu Tui didn't understand the details, but the theory seemed to make sense.
So, the instant the uncontrollable exhaustion hit him, Xu Tui let his consciousness scatter, and his Illusory Internal Vision faded away.
He completely relaxed, emptying his mind. Under the weight of his exhaustion, he fell asleep at once.
Before falling asleep, he had just one thought.
"Such a waste!"
"The blue capsule costs five thousand yuan, and its effects haven't worn off yet. What a waste..."
Well, it's Qixi Festival. Zhu San wishes all his brothers and sisters a happy Qixi Festival, and wishes all lovers in the world a happy ending. And may every one of you be loved and cherished by many!
Before you continue