Twofold Root Bone Amplification

Fang Han hurried to the underside of his bed and pulled out a wooden box.

Opening it, he found many pieces of broken silver inside, amounting to roughly twelve taels.

Though he was merely a collateral branch descendant, he was still a member of the Fang Clan. Over the years, through gifts from his elders during holidays and festivals, he had managed to save up a little.

These twelve or so taels of silver were his entire savings from all these years.

"10 silver should mean ten taels of silver. One amplification requires ten taels, so twelve taels can only amplify one talent..."

Fang Han's gaze shifted between the two options, "Root Bone Talent Amplification" and "Sword Art Talent Amplification," and he quickly reached a decision.

Sword art talent was certainly tempting. It could speed up his cultivation of martial skills and give him greater talent in battle, but the most urgent matter at hand was breaking through to the Flesh Refining Realm within a month.

Root bone talent affected the speed of Stance Training and was the talent most helpful for breaking through to the Flesh Refining Realm.

"Recharge."

Having made his decision, Fang Han took out ten taels of silver and recharged them.

The ten taels of silver in his hand vanished instantly, replaced by a change on the panel.

[Host: Fang Han]

[Root Bone Talent Amplification: 0x (Level 1 amplification requires 10 silver)]

[Sword Art Talent Amplification: 0x (Level 1 amplification requires 10 silver)]

[Possessed Wealth: 10 silver]

His possessed wealth was no longer zero, but had become 10 silver. His guess had been right—ten silver meant ten taels of silver.

"Amplify Root Bone Talent!"

Fang Han took a deep breath, focused his thoughts on the [Root Bone Talent Amplification] section of the System Panel, and chose to amplify it.

The panel changed again.

[Host: Fang Han]

[Root Bone Talent Amplification: 2x (Level 2 amplification requires 100 silver)]

[Sword Art Talent Amplification: 0x (Level 1 amplification requires 10 silver)]

[Possessed Wealth: 0]

"Twofold amplification?!"

Fang Han's heart pounded wildly.

His "Possessed Wealth" had returned to zero, replaced by the words "2x" after Root Bone Talent Amplification.

In other words, under the System Panel, his root bone talent was now twice what it had originally been.

A twofold amplification was an utterly astonishing boost!

Take IQ from his previous life as an example.

An ordinary person's IQ was around ninety, while a genius had an IQ of over 140.

A twofold increase in IQ would already be enough to propel an ordinary person's intelligence into the ranks of geniuses.

He had originally thought it would increase by a few tenths at most, yet it had directly doubled.

It was an enormous surprise.

"Hm, no... why hasn't anything changed?"

Fang Han suddenly realized that after the talent amplification, his body did not seem to have undergone any obvious changes.

There was no warm current, no rumbling; his muscles, bones, skin, and flesh remained as before... There was no sign at all that his root bone had improved.

He could not help doubting the system's "amplification." Could the system he had obtained be some counterfeit, shoddy product?

"The system probably wouldn't lie to me. I'll know once I try!"

Fang Han suppressed the worry in his heart, carefully pushed open his door, and entered the cold, desolate courtyard.

The night was deep, and all was silent. Only the chirping of insects and the occasional distant bark of a dog could be heard. His parents' and younger sister's rooms were pitch-black, clearly showing that they were all fast asleep.

He walked to the center of the courtyard, lowered his waist and planted his stance, setting his feet in a ding-ba stance as he assumed the posture of the Fang Clan's Basic Body Forging Technique—Crane Stance.

Crane Stance was a fundamental method for tempering muscles, bones, skin, and flesh, while nurturing the physique.

Most precious of all, as the fundamental cultivation method for Fang Clan descendants, this technique was exceptionally exquisite. Among the various stance training methods in Liangshui City, it could rank among the best. It was a body-tempering method many people yearned for but could never obtain.

He had not started as a beggar, nor as a servant, but as a clan descendant. Though he was only from a collateral branch, that alone already made him immensely grateful.

"Huu—inhale—"

With deep, rhythmic breathing, Fang Han's muscles slowly tightened and relaxed. His thoughts sank into his body as he drew qi and blood from his flesh.

Following a particular circulation route, he guided his qi and blood through his body.

A change unlike anything before soon emerged.

A scorching current of qi and blood, far more surging, condensed, and vigorous than when he had practiced his stance in the past, burst forth without warning from the depths of his limbs and bones.

Under that surging current of qi and blood, its circulation no longer carried its former sluggishness and resistance.

His qi and blood was like a tamed wild horse, and like a raging river. Guided by Crane Stance, it violently washed over the membranes of his entire body!

"Hiss!"

Fang Han could not help sucking in a cold breath. He nearly failed to hold his stance and withdrew from his Stance Training.

It was too vast! Too fierce!

This was simply incomparable to the trickling-stream-like qi and blood he had possessed in the past.

With the support of twofold root bone talent, every breath he took and every pulse of his muscles generated and mobilized far more qi and blood than before.

He could clearly feel this majestic qi and blood tempering and nourishing his skin membranes, which had long ceased improving, again and again at an unprecedented speed.

The skin membranes that had remained stagnant for so long due to being stuck at a bottleneck were now, beneath the onslaught of that fierce qi and blood, like parched earth receiving sweet rain after a long drought. They greedily absorbed the energy, emitting a faint yet vibrant hum.

His long-stagnant skin membranes had actually begun growing again.

They became tighter and more resilient, the connections between his fascia more compact, and even deep within his muscles came a faint sensation of swelling.

In the past, not long after holding his stance, he would feel exhausted, his qi and blood depleted and impossible to sustain.

But now, he instead felt strangely full of strength, as if he could remain standing forever.

He had always believed that he had reached the limit of Skin Refining, but in truth, it had merely been a false limit.

There was still room for improvement in Skin Refining!

At last, he understood why he had still been unable to break through to Flesh Refining after a full two months.

The reasoning was simple: if he had not reached his true limit, how could he possibly break through to the next realm?

Time sped by amid his focused cultivation. The chill in the air grew thicker, and before long, it was dawn.

"Huu..."

Fang Han slowly withdrew from his practice and exhaled a long breath of turbid air from his chest.

His undershirt had long been soaked through with sweat, and his body was overcome by deep fatigue, but an unprecedented blazing light burned in his eyes.

Though he had not broken through to the Flesh Refining Realm in one go, he had clearly felt hope for a breakthrough.

The door to the Flesh Refining Realm, which had once seemed impossibly distant, had now been pushed open by a crack in his heart, allowing the light of hope to shine through.

"One month... there's hope!"

Fang Han clenched his fists and felt the lingering surge of qi and blood within him, not yet fully settled. A confident smile appeared on his face for the first time since he had received news of the assessment.

After drawing water in the courtyard to wash up, he quietly returned to his small room and fell into a deep sleep, filled with a sense of security and anticipation unlike ever before.