Twenty days passed.
Amid Lin Ye's day-after-day bitter cultivation, the days slipped quietly by like grains of sand through an hourglass.
Every week, he spent his time in the Gravity Chamber, Martial Arts Hall, and Recovery Room, nourished by luxurious meals.
Linjiang District Third High School, fourth floor of the Martial Arts Pavilion, Gravity Chamber No. 2.
Lin Ye slowly lowered his fists and stood at the center of the gravity field.
By now, sweat had long since soaked through his training clothes, clinging tightly to his even more powerfully built body. A small, dark patch of sweat stained the floor beneath him. His chest rose and fell, his breathing steady and measured, carrying a peculiar rhythm.
With a slight movement of his thoughts, a pale blue System Panel unfolded before his eyes:
[Name: Lin Ye] [Realm: Body Forging Mid-Stage (275/500)] [Martial Arts: Primordial Stance · Great Success Grade (132/1000), Rolling Stone Fist · Consummation (1000/1000, Limit Break Available)]
His gaze first settled on the realm column. The panel was even more useful than a Blood Qi test, allowing him to check his progress in real time.
Compared with his previous 218, his Blood Qi Value had increased by 57 points in a little over twenty days, averaging more than two points a day.
That might seem like a lot, but Lin Ye wasn't satisfied with the pace.
After all, before this, he had mostly eaten basic meals and practiced Mastery Grade Stake Training, yet still gained nearly 80 points in a month. Now he was eating luxurious meals and practicing Great Success Grade Stake Training, but his cultivation speed was basically the same as before, with only a slight improvement.
How could he be satisfied with that comparison?
Though a little dissatisfied, he knew that the further Blood Qi advanced, the more accumulation and tempering each additional point demanded. That was a fundamental rule beyond his control. Otherwise, students wouldn't make slower and slower progress as they advanced.
Fortunately, his pace wasn't bad.
Lin Ye estimated it in his mind. If the other Martial Arts Students knew he still begrudged this rate of progress, they would probably question everything they knew about life. The more hot-tempered ones might even curse him for being ungrateful. After all, an ordinary Martial Arts Student, even with ample nutrition, could raise their Blood Qi by at most 15 to 20 points in a month. Fifty-seven points was three months' worth of progress for them.
And this was only what Lin Ye had accomplished in twenty days with ample resources. Even counting the few days spent waiting for his results, it was only about twenty-five days.
His gaze continued downward. When it landed on the martial arts column, the word "Consummation" after Rolling Stone Fist seemed to gleam with a warm, solid light.
That's right. After twenty days of effort, his fist technique proficiency had reached Consummation, a few days sooner than expected. Lin Ye knew he had the Gravity Chamber to thank for that. Once it exposed the flaws in his movements, he discovered that correcting small imperfections in his fist technique seemed to improve his proficiency faster than before.
However, with his current eye for detail, there weren't many flaws he could spot. After correcting the minor ones, his proficiency returned to its slow +1... +1 pace.
What's more, after reaching Consummation, he had gained a new understanding of Rolling Stone Fist.
The most obvious change was in his strikes. Unlike when he had reached Great Success Grade, when he could perform the moves with effortless ease, every movement of Rolling Stone Fist at Consummation now carried a sense of flowing completeness. He could inflict the greatest possible damage on an opponent while expending as little energy as possible himself.
At the same time, however,
Rolling Stone Fist's proficiency remained fixed at (1000/1000), unable to advance any further.
But there seemed to be another change.
His attention was quickly drawn to the three small characters that had quietly appeared after Rolling Stone Fist's proficiency bar.
[Limit Break Available]
Lin Ye didn't quite understand what they meant. What did "Limit Break Available" signify?
He focused his thoughts on those three characters.
In an instant, the text on the panel relating to Rolling Stone Fist rippled like water. Countless images of fist techniques, even more profound and ancient, rose from it and reassembled. A vast, pure stream of information, accompanied by an artistic conception as weighty as a mountain, surged into his mind.
"Mountain-Suppressing Fist..."
A moment later, those three words burned themselves deep into his consciousness.
This wasn't an entirely new martial art that he had to start practicing from scratch. Rather, after Rolling Stone Fist reached the utmost limits of Consummation, it had naturally given birth to a higher form, shaped by Lin Ye's own qualities. Rooted in Rolling Stone Fist, it elevated the technique's unstoppable Momentum into something steadier, more boundless, and unshakable: the will of a mountain. It was called Mountain-Suppressing Fist.
Every move and stance played itself out in Lin Ye's mind. Though the basic stances were still those of Rolling Stone Fist, the way he exerted force, the paths his Blood Qi followed, and the way he infused his mental intent had all undergone a fundamental change.
When he struck, it was no longer merely the impact of "a boulder rolling onward." His fist now carried the solidity and pressure of "a mountain suppressing the world." It was as if a single punch could suppress an entire mountain range and still a whole stretch of river.
Its power far surpassed Consummation-grade Rolling Stone Fist. Based on Lin Ye's judgment, its overall strength should have reached D-Grade Martial Art. But he would have to test it to know for sure. It should still be weaker than an Entry-Level Martial Art at Consummation.
Lin Ye believed the reason was that he hadn't sensed the "principle" emphasized by Entry-Level Martial Arts in Mountain-Suppressing Fist.
Even so, it had its advantages. Lin Ye believed its greatest advantage was that its grade matched his mastery. He didn't have to painstakingly practice it from the beginning; he had mastered Mountain-Suppressing Fist at Consummation outright.
He looked at the panel.
[Martial Arts: Mountain-Suppressing Fist · Consummation (1000/1000)]
It was still at Consummation, but the three words "Limit Break Available" were gone. No exploiting a bug this time.
Still, even at Consummation, its actual power and how well it suited him would need to be refined through practical use. It had simply spared Lin Ye the most time-consuming part: building up proficiency.
But that was already enough.
Lin Ye had been worried that, during the martial arts exam, Consummation-grade Rolling Stone Fist would be enough to hold the stage and deal with his opponents.
Now he didn't need to worry.
With Mountain-Suppressing Fist, he might not be able to rival the top examinees, but at least in martial arts, he wouldn't be inferior to ordinary elite students.
"Now, I've got a lot of time on my hands."
"It's time to practice Lost Track Steps."
Lin Ye murmured. With Mountain-Suppressing Fist at Consummation, all he needed to do from now on was practice it routinely to keep it sharp. There was no need to pour a great deal of effort into it anymore.
That meant he could begin the next step of his original plan.
A while later, he washed up and changed clothes, then left the Gravity Chamber and went to a Rest Room on the third floor of the Martial Arts Pavilion.
Several terminals sat there, connected to the school's internal network and available for looking up martial arts materials. Lin Ye switched one on, logged into his account, opened his collection, and selected Lost Track Steps. Then he formally clicked [Request to Borrow].
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