Effects of the Potion

Watching the potion take shape inside the glass, Lin Ye laughed excitedly.

He carefully picked it up and examined the bottle with fascination.

The liquid was crystal clear, with blackish-red particles suspended within. They were translucent and gleamed like pigeon-blood rubies, looking incredibly enticing.

The particles drifted slowly, faintly tracing one circular path after another.

"Pop~"

When he pulled out the stopper, a cool, sweet fragrance flooded his nostrils. His body felt light as though he were stepping on clouds, ready to float away.

"Glug, glug~"

He drank it directly. Coolness mixed with a thread of sweetness, spreading from his mouth down through his throat.

The chill spread from his stomach throughout his body, like little icy snakes constantly slithering through his muscles, leaving no corner untouched.

"Hmm?"

Lin Ye frowned. He felt a greasy film rapidly forming over his skin, like the residue left after sweat dried. It was extremely uncomfortable.

He stripped off his clothes and hurried into the bathroom.

"Splash, splash, splash~"

The sound of running water mixed with vigorous scrubbing. The water flowing into the drain was faintly dark red.

Three minutes later, the bathroom door slid open with a swish.

Lin Ye walked out, grabbed a towel from the side, and dried his hair as he looked at himself in the mirror.

His muscles had not visibly grown, but their lines were tougher than after his previous stat increase, making him seem full of explosive power.

"Still a little too thin."

He silently called, "Monument." A mass of black mist emerged from the back of his hand, churning briefly before gathering into a black Monument.

On the lower half of the Monument, every condition for the achievement [Birth of the Black Goat] was marked as "Completed."

"Monument, unlock achievement—Birth of the Black Goat."

As he spoke in his mind, a familiar cool current spread from the back of his hand to every part of his body.

This time, the cool current lasted far less time than before, silently fading after only a few breaths.

He looked at the upper half of the Monument.

[Monument Master: Lin Ye]

[Strength: 0.60]

[Agility: 0.53]

[Constitution: 0.51]

[Intelligence: 0.54]

[Abilities]

[Yin-Attracting Constitution (1/10)]

[Potion Apprentice (1/10)]

[Potential Points: 0]

Strength and Constitution had each increased by 0.01, while Agility had increased by 0.02. Combined, the effect was nearly worth half a Potential Point.

The abilities section had also gained [Potion Apprentice (1/10)].

Just like Yin-Attracting Constitution, the (1/10) represented the number of times it could be used. One Potential Point could increase it once.

But that would be far too wasteful.

Unless something unexpected happened, he only needed to brew nine more potions to advance. It was not worth spending precious Potential Points.

With a thought, the Monument turned into a cloud of mist and withdrew into the Ouroboros mark.

"Hmm?"

Lin Ye tilted his head down and raised the back of his hand.

Looking at the Ouroboros pattern on his hand, his pupils contracted.

The scales on the black Ouroboros pattern had lit up at some point, emitting a dim black glow.

Not all of them had lit up. Only the scales around its neck, close to the serpent's head, were glowing.

He lowered his head and counted. There were 113 scales on the Ouroboros pattern in total, and 26 of them were lit.

The instant he finished counting, a stream of information surged from the Ouroboros pattern through his arm and into his mind.

About half a minute later, he sorted through his thoughts.

"Once they all light up, I'll enter that Church again."

He suddenly recalled the title of that abandoned website.

"Anyone who enters it will never enter only once."

"Hiss—"

Unable to stop himself from drawing in a sharp breath, he remembered the countless claw marks he had glimpsed inside that Church.

Even though he was somewhat stronger now, he had no doubt that monster could tear his body into pieces in a single strike, then spread them evenly across the ground.

That way, he would become a vivid, scarlet human canvas.

He lightly supported his chin with his left hand, his breathing growing heavy.

"Supernatural... this isn't the kind of supernatural power I signed up for."

He truly wanted to see whether he could use that monster to trigger a new achievement, but... not now.

Right now, he was too weak. So weak that he did not possess even the slightest ability to resist.

"Did the scales light up because of the potion? Or because I unlocked an achievement?"

He gently massaged his temples and lowered his gaze.

"At the moment, I only know how to enter. I don't know how to leave."

"Do I need to unlock the triggered achievement before I can leave? Or is there another mechanism?"

A sense of urgency rose in his heart. If that monster hunted him down in that damned Church, he could not imagine where his path to survival might be.

Poison it with a potion? Would something like that fear poison?

Besides, he did not have any poison-type potions.

"Whale-Kill Boxing Hall."

A name appeared in his mind.

Perhaps practicing martial arts was the only path available to him now, the only way he might gain the ability to confront that monster.

He nodded to himself. No matter how many external tricks he had, they could never compare to becoming powerful himself.

He also preferred this kind of strength, where great power belonged to oneself—just like when he had challenged the Ozaki Eight.

And he had an advantage: potions.

With martial arts training combined with the effects of potions, he would become stronger than martial artists at the same level, and he would be able to go farther in the future.

He pushed open the bathroom door and took one step forward, instantly crossing nearly two meters.

Hmm?

He turned back in surprise and stared at the bathroom door.

"Effect Two: Receive the Blessing of the Dark Night. For a period after consumption, movement speed is greatly increased."

Remembering the effect of [Night of the Black Goat], he smiled and returned to the bedroom in just three or five steps.

More than ten minutes later, he stood in the passage beside his bed, looking at the time displayed on his phone screen.

"The effect probably began after that cool current disappeared. I didn't notice because I was showering."

"It lasted around ten minutes. My speed increased drastically, beyond the limits of a normal human."

If he had to put it into a concrete number, then during the potion's effect, he could run one hundred meters in eight seconds!

It might seem like only two seconds faster than a top athlete, but those two seconds represented several insurmountable chasms—the difference between man and superhuman.

But thinking back to how it had felt, it was not that his physical fitness had actually reached such inhuman levels.

It was more like he had truly received a blessing. He felt as though the wind flowed beneath his feet, and he was moving by stepping on it.

Amazing.

"If I have this speed, then that monster... probably, maybe, possibly won't be able to catch me?"

He looked at the empty glass that had held [Night of the Black Goat], anticipation flickering in his eyes.

He needed to find an opportunity to brew a few more bottles and keep them in reserve.

He sat down at his computer desk and searched for information about Whale-Kill Boxing Hall.

Before long, he had gained a general understanding of Whale-Kill Boxing Hall's background. It was a martial arts school that taught Ancient Fist Technique.

There were dozens of martial arts schools of all sizes in Coast City, but most merely taught modern combat sports such as Sanda and boxing.

There were only three martial arts schools that truly taught Ancient Fist Technique.

The unified registration period for martial arts schools ended at nine o'clock on the first Monday of every month—which was tomorrow.

No, it was already past midnight. It was today.

"Five thousand for the registration fee..."

He muttered to himself. He was still quite short on money.

Then he suddenly thought of the Purple Tulips outside that medieval Church. Such unusual plants should be worth a fair amount, right?

He turned on his computer and logged into Coast University's procurement department intranet. He had been looking in the wrong place before; he should not have searched on shopping platforms.

Before long, he found an image that looked exactly like those Purple Tulips.

"Scientific name: Nether-Reaching Flower. It has extremely powerful anesthetic effects. Unit price... 800!"

His eyes lit up.

Eight hundred, eight hundred would be eight—

The golden face of that monster suddenly appeared in his mind, and five long, sharp black claws seemed to materialize before his eyes.

"I'd die, wouldn't I?"

Early that morning, at the dining table, Lin Ye set down his porcelain bowl and looked solemnly at Jiang Weilan.

"Mom, I want to sign up for a martial arts school to train my body, but I'm still a little short on the registration fee."