Shi Fen is Drained (Revised)

It was unknown how much time had passed.

Shi Fen's consciousness gradually awakened, and he regained control over his body.

He placed the hammer in his hand onto the forge, reached out to pick up the black metal sphere, and held it in his palm to examine it closely.

"Heh! It's actually quite heavy."

He hadn't expected the metal sphere, which was a size larger than a fist, to weigh around 200 kilograms.

"Hm? 200 kilograms?!"

Shi Fen gave a sudden start, his mind snapping to attention.

"I think I succeeded."

This metal sphere hadn't been forged by Shi Fen through sheer skill alone; he wasn't sure exactly how many times it had been condensed. Whether the pig iron had been condensed a hundredfold, Shi Fen had no idea.

The Virtual Trial Space possessed auxiliary detection equipment that could accurately measure the exact value of the condensation.

This detection device was precisely the "answer sheet" for Shi Fen's qualification trial. Now, all that was missing was the answer for the ultimate forging of "hundredfold condensation."

As the moment to "hand in the paper" arrived, Shi Fen felt extremely nervous. Even though he knew in his heart that the metal sphere had high strength and wouldn't be damaged, his hands holding the sphere were still trembling.

He carefully placed the metal sphere into the detection device, nervously activated it, and waited anxiously for the results of his "exam."

"Hundredfold condensation."

Four characters appeared clearly on the screen of the detection device.

"It's done!"

Shi Fen's eighteen years of hard work had finally yielded a result today.

Before Shi Fen could even celebrate, he saw the "Virtual Trial Space" appear like a shattered mirror, with countless cracks glowing with golden light, looking as if it were about to collapse.

Then...

Shi Fen was forcibly "thrown" out.

His consciousness returned to his body.

"Damn it, what kind of situation is this?" Shi Fen opened his eyes abruptly, sat up from the bed, and couldn't help but grumble.

Shi Fen moved his body and gasped in cold air.

"Hiss..."

Shi Fen felt completely powerless, as if all his strength had been drained away; even the simple act of lifting his hand was incredibly difficult. Shi Fen sat stiffly on the bed, not daring to move recklessly for a moment.

Shi Fen's body was overly weak, as if he had been starving for many days and had collapsed from hunger.

"Why am I so weak?"

Shi Fen had only been able to sit up just now by relying on the inertia of his consciousness. Now, as he moved his body, he could only test his movements bit by bit, not daring to move too violently.

Shi Fen checked the time and was instantly dumbfounded.

April 19, 2056, 15:26.

"I actually stayed in there for so long. This epiphany is truly terrifying. If I had stayed in that state for a few more days and starved my body to death, I would have been in real trouble."

Shi Fen felt a lingering fear in his heart.

Entering the virtual consciousness space this time had almost cost him his life.

"Click, click, click..."

Just as Shi Fen was moving his body, he suddenly heard a faint, crisp sound coming from inside his head.

The surface of the golden light sphere in Shi Fen's sea of consciousness was constantly cracking, and even more dazzling golden light flickered from within the fissures.

"Boom!"

Following that, a loud noise erupted within his sea of consciousness.

The golden light sphere shattered completely. His mind was like a "balloon," and the explosion of the golden light sphere seemed to increase the total volume of gas inside the "balloon," forcing his entire mind to expand significantly.

Countless golden fragments, like the shrapnel of an exploding bomb, spread toward the edges of his mind, accompanied by the "shockwave" of the explosion. The golden fragments that reached the edges transformed into golden currents, filling the newly created void, and along with the previous white areas, his entire mind was rendered in gold.

As that loud explosion echoed in Shi Fen's mind.

Shi Fen's body, which had been moving, instantly froze. Along with that boom, a warm current surged out from his brain. After exiting his head, the warm current instantly split into countless streams, rushing toward his limbs, bones, and internal organs.

This warm current possessed miraculous healing power, and the physical weakness caused by hunger was instantly swept away.

The warm current permeated every part of Shi Fen's body, and the mysterious power fused into every corner of his being. Under the baptism of this mysterious power, Shi Fen's entire body—his bones, organs, blood, muscles, skin, and nerves—was undergoing a frantic evolution.

His body seemed to be receiving fine-tuning, erasing hidden injuries bit by bit.

Some scars on his skin vanished instantly, and his skin became delicate and smooth.

His bones became harder.

His muscles became more supple and powerful.

His internal organs became more resilient and robust.

His physique changed slightly, becoming perfectly proportioned.

Every single cell was undergoing constant change.

In just a few minutes of transformation, the improvement in physical fitness far surpassed the results of Shi Fen's 18 years of training.

Shi Fen felt as if he were soaking in a hot spring; every part of his body felt warm, the comfort seeping deep into his very bones.

"Ah..."

Shi Fen let out a soft, comfortable hum.

When the sensation of comfort finally faded away.

Shi Fen slowly opened his eyes, and he felt that the world was different.

The world was much clearer. His hearing, vision, sense of smell, and other senses had all been significantly enhanced. Scanning the room, he could clearly see the tiny black specks of dust on the white walls.

Shi Fen's gaze fell upon the water glass by the table; he hadn't had a drink in days, and he wanted some water.

Shi Fen's heart stirred, and suddenly, an invisible force instantly took hold of the glass. The glass actually began to hover slowly, drifting right in front of him.

"I've actually awakened spiritual force."

After a brief moment of thought, Shi Fen understood; wasn't the enhancement of his sensory abilities the very miracle of spiritual force?

Shi Fen picked up the hovering glass and took a small, gentle sip.

With a flick of his intent, his gaze swept across the furniture in the room, and instantly, the tables, chairs, coffee table, sofa, and stools all began to float. Under Shi Fen's control, they bobbed up and down.

"Quite interesting."

Shi Fen quickly adapted to this sensation.

He focused his gaze back on the water glass, applied his spiritual force, and the glass floated once more. Shi Fen controlled the glass, making it fly back and forth around the room.

Shi Fen played with it tirelessly, finding it incredibly fun.

After playing for over ten minutes, the glass landed in Shi Fen's hand.

This time, Shi Fen took a large gulp. After finishing, he controlled the glass to set it back on the table, muttering to himself, "Spiritual force is truly a wonderful thing. If used for forging, it will surely greatly increase the success rate."

After summarizing his thoughts.

Shi Fen sat cross-legged on the bed, slowly closed his eyes, and sent his consciousness into his sea of consciousness to examine the changes. Because he had been "kicked" out earlier, Shi Fen didn't know exactly what had happened inside.

He needed to go in now and take a good look.

His sea of consciousness had now become a golden ocean, with nine dark golden orbs floating within it, bobbing up and down like nine "buoys."

Above the golden ocean hovered an octagonal black mirror.

Shi Fen's spiritual force swept over the mirror, and the black mirror vanished as if it were merely a phantom. The sea of consciousness was silent, as if the mirror had never appeared at all.

Shi Fen snapped his eyes open.

"Thank goodness, I thought I had lost my treasure." Seeing the black mirror hovering before him, Shi Fen felt relieved.

Shi Fen felt speechless about the whole situation; every time things developed, they went beyond his expectations. This tormenting contrast was truly unbearable. It seemed that the great master enjoyed tormenting people.

Shi Fen muttered to himself as he reached out to touch the mirror.

"Ouch!" Shi Fen cried out in pain.

The black Octagonal Mirror had somehow instantly sliced open his palm, and a large amount of blood began to flow continuously from his hand.

The mirror acted like a sponge, crazily absorbing Shi Fen's blood.

Shi Fen felt a wave of dizziness.

"Oh no, too much blood loss." Shi Fen realized something was wrong.

Shi Fen tried to let go of the mirror he had been holding, but it seemed to have grown onto his hand, sticking firmly to his palm. It absorbed his blood in large quantities, and the speed of the absorption grew faster and faster.

Shi Fen felt his vision darkening and a wave of drowsiness washing over him. Feeling he couldn't hold on much longer, he used every ounce of his strength to shake his hand, trying to fling the mirror away.

Unfortunately, it was to no avail.

The mirror remained firmly "glued" to Shi Fen's hand; no matter how he struggled, it didn't budge, as if it wouldn't stop until it had drained him dry.

"It's over..."

Shi Fen's consciousness plunged into total darkness.

After Shi Fen lost consciousness, the mirror's blood-sucking speed did not decrease but instead increased. It drained Shi Fen's blood completely, and even after doing so, it continued to "devour" greedily. Within just a few seconds, Shi Fen's body withered until he was nothing more than a "human husk."

Miraculously, even as he turned into a "human husk," Shi Fen did not die, but remained in a state of deep coma.

As he fell into that deep coma, the brief 18 years of his new life flashed through Shi Fen's mind.