The Clouds Will Part, Just Keep Moving Forward

Lin Ye looked at the experience points for Soul Whale Fist with a calm gaze.

A whole afternoon of grueling practice had only increased his experience by 2 points; it wasn't much.

But in reality, it was already quite good; this was visible progress.

It was merely tedious, hard work, but he did not lack patience, nor was he unable to endure loneliness.

He returned to his computer desk, sat down, leaned back in his chair to stare at the ceiling, and tapped his fingertips lightly against the desk.

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"Calculating it this way, it will take about two months to reach the second level."

This was based on the foundation of his Monument, which granted permanent mastery upon first achievement; without the Monument, it would likely take at least half a year or more.

As for those with average aptitude, they would probably need two years, or even three to five years, just to get started.

And this was only moving from the first level to the second; the time required for the second to the third level would only be longer.

No wonder he had heard some senior students say that the third level was a major hurdle.

At this level of difficulty, even if an average student practiced diligently every day, by the time they were qualified to attempt the third level, they would be at least nearly thirty years old.

If they lacked the perseverance to stick with it day after day, it was basically a certainty that they would be past thirty.

But by that time, the body would have already begun its decline, and trying to break through the third level would be nearly impossible.

He shook his head, "Difficult, the path of martial arts is truly difficult."

If not for the Monument, perhaps he too would have fallen before the threshold of the third level.

He relaxed his body, and after a few minutes, he sat up and silently took out the potion materials to begin brewing.

Before long, five glass bottles filled with a dark red, viscous liquid were placed on the computer desk.

He didn't pay them much more attention; the hour was still early, so he picked up the Rhine Script Dictionary from the side to read.

This was different from the Elementary Potionology Notes; it didn't require much mental effort.

When he looked up again, it was already late at night; he glanced at the alarm clock: 23:47.

He rubbed his face, got up to wash it in the bathroom, and felt much more awake.

Returning to the bedroom, he pulled back the curtains, and the bright white moonlight shone in, turning the dust on the desk into crushed diamonds.

He placed the five glass bottles containing the dark red liquid by the window to sit undisturbed, as time ticked away second by second.

"Beep--beep--"

The alarm timer went off, and was subsequently pressed off by Lin Ye.

It was midnight.

He looked at the five potions; almost simultaneously, a silver radiance of moonlight shimmered on the walls of the glass bottles.

Then came the familiar change: the silver radiance looked like wriggling silver nematodes as they burrowed into the liquid.

The dark red, viscous liquid quickly became clear, and black-red granular particles appeared.

But soon, the silver radiance inside two of the bottles suddenly dissipated.

The floating black-red particles also shattered the next moment, settling to the bottom of the glass bottles as cotton-like sediment.

Lin Ye nodded slightly; three out of five bottles were successful, a 60% success rate, which was already quite good.

He picked up one of the failed potions to observe it; the cotton-like substance at the bottom was gradually turning into something like sludge.

"What kind of reaction would there be if one drank this?"

This thought had barely surfaced before he suppressed it.

Steady progress is best; there was no need to take risks, and even less need to take risks with himself.

He picked up a bottle of Night of the Black Goat, pried off the stopper, and downed it directly while starting the timer on his phone.

The familiar cool fragrance surged into his nostrils, and then the chill spread from his stomach to his entire body like a cold little snake, feeling extremely comfortable.

The oily film from his sweat drying off quickly appeared on the surface of his skin, but this time he didn't rush to the bathroom, sitting motionless in his chair.

"113 seconds."

Before long, looking at the timer on his phone, the number 113 made him feel somewhat sensitive.

The physical changes disappeared at the 113th second; this period was the time the potion spent enhancing his physical constitution.

After another dozen minutes or so, he put down his phone and walked into the bathroom.

"Splash~ splash~ splash~"

After the sound of running water, he returned to the bedroom and sat down again.

He looked at the phone timer, which was stopped at 14 minutes and 53 seconds.

"Subtracting the time for physical enhancement, that leaves 13 minutes."

13 minutes, this was the duration of the Dark Night Blessing.

"13... 113... is it a coincidence?"

Lin Ye frowned; in Gulyain civilization, the number 13 is a symbol of hell, misfortune, and disaster.

Simply put, 13 is an ominous number.

If it were before, he wouldn't have cared about such things, but now, various signs were enough to prove that certain things truly existed.

This forced him to think more deeply.

After a few seconds of silence, his gaze fell upon the Ouroboros mark on the back of his right hand, where the number of illuminated scales had reached 52.

"As expected, another increase of 13."

He would have to be more cautious when consuming potions; at this rate of growth, consuming five more bottles would likely light up all the scales.

But considering the uncertainty of triggering achievements, the actual number would likely be even lower.

"Monument."

Black mist surged from the Ouroboros mark, and the black Monument appeared.

[Monument Master: Lin Ye]

[Strength: 0.63]

[Agility: 0.55]

[Physique: 0.54]

[Intelligence: 0.54]

[Abilities]

Yin-Attracting Constitution (1/10)

Potion Apprentice (4/10)

Soul Whale Fist "First Layer" (3/100)

[Potential Points: 0]

Strength and physique had increased by 0.01; with his current physical fitness, his punching power was likely to exceed 200kg.

200kg is the minimum standard for the second layer of Soul Whale Fist, and also one of the criteria for a silver-medal boxing coach certified by the Boxing League.

In reality, he was still a significant distance away from the second layer of Soul Whale Fist.

Just as he had thought before, with the support of the Monument and potions, he would be stronger than others at the same level, and his upper limit would be higher.

Besides that, agility had increased by 0.02, just like last time, which made him feel as though his body had become a fraction lighter.

Of course, this feeling was merely an illusion.

The agility attribute should correspond to neural reaction speed, physical flexibility, coordination, and suppleness.

It was because these aspects had improved that he experienced the illusion of his "body becoming lighter."

Overall, the improvement brought by one bottle of Night of the Black Goat was equivalent to half a potential point.

In addition, the count for the Potion Apprentice suffix had also increased by 3.

It was much like his previous guess, except that failed concoctions did not count toward the total.

He put away the Monument and placed the remaining two bottles of Night of the Black Goat into the bottom drawer.

Leaning back in his chair, he looked at the moon outside the window, lost in thought.

He didn't know how much time had passed until the humid summer night breeze dampened the tips of his hair, bringing him back to his senses.

With the crescent moon reflected in his eyes, the sense of ease he felt last night—as if suspended high above the clouds, overlooking the world—surged into his heart, and Lin Ye's gaze became calm and firm.

Though the road ahead was long, he was not lost.

Just as clouds part to reveal the sun, one only needs to keep moving forward; the path is right beneath one's feet.

*

*

*

"Knock, knock."

"Please come in."

On the third floor of the laboratory building, Lin Ye carried his backpack and pushed open the office door.

A man nearing fifty, wearing a white lab coat, sat across from Zhuang Huaizhang's desk.

He had a square face, thick eyebrows, and large eyes, exuding an air of integrity.

"Senior brother," he said, greeting him.

This was his senior brother, Qin Zhixu.

The teacher's first disciple and the current person in charge of the laboratory.

He came from a Brahmin family in the city, and his mother was one of the vice-principals of Coast University.

It was said she was an executive vice-principal, but she had never appeared, and none of them, his fellow disciples, had ever seen her.