Lin Ye looked calmly at the experience points for Soul Whale Fist.
An afternoon of hard training had earned him only 2 experience points—not much.
But it was already good. It was progress he could see.
It was nothing but tedious practice. He had patience to spare and could endure the solitude.
He returned to his desk, sat down, and leaned back in his chair to gaze at the ceiling, his fingertips tapping lightly on the desktop.
"If things keep going like this, it'll take about two months to master the second layer."
That was assuming he had the Monument's ability to prove something once and have it remain proven. Without the Monument, it would probably take at least six months.
As for people of average talent, it would likely take two years at the very least, perhaps even three or five.
And that was only the step from the first layer to the second. The time needed to go from the second to the third would only be longer.
No wonder he'd heard some older students say that the third layer was a major hurdle.
At this rate, even if ordinary students trained diligently every day, they'd be nearly thirty by the time they were ready to attempt the third layer.
Without the perseverance to keep at it day after day, they'd almost certainly be over thirty by then.
But by that age, their bodies would already be starting to decline. Breaking through to the third layer would be almost impossible.
He shook his head. "It's hard. The martial path is hard."
Without the Monument, perhaps he, too, would have stumbled at the threshold of the third layer.
He relaxed his body. A few minutes later, he sat up and silently began preparing the potion ingredients.
Before long, five glass bottles filled with a dark red, viscous liquid sat on his desk.
He didn't pay them any more attention. It was still early, so he picked up the Rhine Script Dictionary beside him and began reading.
Unlike the Elementary Potionology Notes, it didn't take much mental effort.
When he looked up again, it was already late at night. He glanced at the clock: 23:47.
He rubbed his face, got up, and washed it in the bathroom. He felt much more alert.
Back in his bedroom, he drew the curtains. The pale moonlight streamed in, turning the dust on his desk into flecks of shattered diamonds.
He placed the five bottles of dark red liquid by the window and let them sit as time passed, second by second.
"Beep, beep—beep, beep—"
The timer on his alarm went off, and Lin Ye pressed the button to stop it.
It was past midnight.
He looked at the five potions. Almost simultaneously, a silvery moonlight shimmer spread across the glass.
Then came the familiar change: the silver glow twisted into strands like silver worms and burrowed into the liquid.
The dark red, viscous liquid quickly cleared, and tiny black-red particles appeared.
But soon, the silver light inside two of the bottles suddenly faded.
The floating black-red particles crumbled the next moment and settled at the bottom of the bottles, forming a cotton-like residue.
Lin Ye gave a slight nod. Three of the five bottles had succeeded—a 60% success rate, which was already quite good.
He picked up one of the failed potions and examined it. The cottony substance at the bottom gradually turned into something like sludge.
"What would happen if I drank this?"
The thought had barely crossed his mind before he suppressed it.
Better to make steady progress than take risks. There was certainly no need to put himself in danger.
He picked up a bottle of Night of the Black Goat, pulled out the stopper, and drank it in one go as he started the timer on his phone.
The familiar cool fragrance filled his nostrils. Then a chill, like a cold little snake, spread from his stomach through his body. It felt wonderful.
The oily sheen from his sweat, which had dried off, quickly appeared on his skin again. But this time, he didn't rush to the bathroom. He sat motionless in his chair.
"113 seconds."
A short while later, he looked at the timer on his phone. The number 113 made him feel a little uneasy.
The changes in his body had stopped at the 113-second mark. That was how long the potion took to enhance his physical attributes.
Another ten minutes or so passed before he put down his phone and went into the bathroom.
"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh..."
After the sound of running water stopped, he returned to the bedroom and sat down.
He checked his phone timer. It had stopped at 14 minutes and 53 seconds.
"Subtract the time it took to enhance my physical attributes, and that leaves 13 minutes."
Thirteen minutes—that was how long Dark Night Blessing lasted.
"13... 113... Is it a coincidence?"
Lin Ye frowned. In the Ancient Rhein Civilization, the number 13 symbolized Hell, bad luck, and disaster.
Simply put, 13 was an ominous number.
In the past, he wouldn't have cared about such things. But by now, the many signs were enough to prove that some of them were real.
He couldn't help thinking more deeply about it.
After a few seconds of silence, his gaze fell on the Ouroboros mark on the back of his right hand. The number of illuminated scales had reached 52.
"As expected. Another 13."
He'd have to be more cautious about taking potions. At this rate, five more bottles would probably illuminate all the scales.
But given how uncertain it was whether he'd trigger an achievement, he might need even fewer.
"Monument."
Black mist poured out of the Ouroboros mark, and the black Monument appeared.
[Monument Master: Lin Ye]
[Strength: 0.63]
[Agility: 0.55]
[Constitution: 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]
His strength and constitution had increased by 0.01. With his current physical abilities, his punching power was probably over 200 kg.
Two hundred kilograms was the minimum standard for the second layer of Soul Whale Fist. It was also one of the standards for a silver-level boxing coach certified by the Boxing League.
In truth, he was still a good distance away from the second layer of Soul Whale Fist.
Just as he'd thought, with the Monument and the potion's help, he'd be stronger than others at the same level, and his potential would be higher, too.
Besides that, his agility had increased by 0.02, just as it had last time. It made him feel as if his body had grown lighter.
Of course, that was only an illusion.
Agility probably corresponded to nerve response speed, physical dexterity, coordination, flexibility, and other such qualities.
Those things had improved, which was why he had the illusion that his body had grown lighter.
Overall, a single bottle of Night of the Black Goat had brought him an improvement worth about half a Potential Point.
Besides that, the number of uses recorded beside Potion Apprentice had increased by 3.
His earlier guess had been more or less right. Failed brews simply didn't count.
He put away the Monument and stored the two remaining bottles of Night of the Black Goat in the bottom drawer.
Leaning back in his chair, he gazed at the moon outside the window, lost in thought.
He didn't know how much time passed before the humid summer-night breeze dampened his hair. Only then did he come back to himself.
The crescent moon was reflected in his eyes. Last night's feeling of ease, as if he were high above the clouds and gazing down over the land, rose in his heart. Lin Ye's gaze was calm and resolute.
The road ahead was long, but he wasn't lost.
Just as the clouds would eventually clear and the sun would appear, all he had to do was keep moving forward. The path lay right beneath his feet.
"Knock, knock."
"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, dressed in a white lab coat, sat across from Zhuang Huaizhang's desk.
He had a square face, thick eyebrows, and large eyes. He looked upright and honest.
"Senior Brother," he greeted him.
This was his senior brother, Qin Zhixu.
The teacher's first disciple and the person currently in charge of the laboratory.
He came from a Brahmin family in the city, and his mother was one of the vice presidents of Coast University.
Supposedly, she was an executive vice president, but she'd never shown her face. None of their fellow disciples had ever met her.
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