Shi Fen Was Drained Dry (Revised)

Before long.

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

He set the hammer in his hand down on the forging table, then picked up the black metal ball and carefully examined it in his palm.

"Heh! It's pretty heavy."

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

"Hm? 200 kilograms?!"

Shi Fen jolted, realizing what that meant.

"I think I did it."

Shi Fen hadn't forged the metal ball through his own skill, so he couldn't say exactly how much it had been compressed. He had no idea whether the pig iron had been compressed a hundredfold.

The Virtual Trial Space had an auxiliary testing device that could accurately measure the exact compression ratio.

This testing device was the "answer sheet" for Shi Fen's Qualification Trial. All that remained was to submit the answer for Extreme Forging's "hundredfold compression."

Now that it was time to "turn in his test," Shi Fen felt extremely nervous. He knew the metal ball was strong and wouldn't break, but his hands holding it still trembled.

He carefully placed the metal ball in the testing device, nervously switched it on, then waited anxiously for the "test results."

"Hundredfold compression."

The four words appeared clearly on the testing device's screen.

"I did it!"

After eighteen years of effort, Shi Fen had finally achieved his goal.

Before Shi Fen could even celebrate, he saw countless golden cracks appear across the "Virtual Trial Space," like a shattered mirror. It looked as though the whole place was about to break apart.

Then...

Shi Fen was forcibly "thrown" out.

His consciousness returned to his body.

"Holy crap, what the hell was that?" Shi Fen snapped his eyes open, sat up in bed, and couldn't help complaining.

Shi Fen tried to move his body and sucked in a sharp breath.

"Hiss..."

Shi Fen felt completely drained, as if all his strength had been sucked away. Even the simple act of lifting a hand was incredibly difficult. He sat rigidly on the bed, afraid to move.

Shi Fen's body was so weak, it was as if he'd gone hungry for days and starved himself into collapse.

"Why am I so weak?"

Shi Fen had only managed to sit up thanks to the momentum of his consciousness. Now he could only test his movements little by little, afraid to make any sudden motions.

When Shi Fen checked the time, he was stunned.

April 19, 2056, 3:26 p.m.

"I was in there for that long? This sudden enlightenment is terrifying. If I'd stayed in there for a few more days, I could've starved to death. Then I'd really be in trouble."

Shi Fen felt a lingering fear.

This time, entering the virtual consciousness space had almost gotten him killed.

"Crack, crack, crack..."

As Shi Fen moved his body, he suddenly heard faint cracking sounds inside his head.

The surface of the Golden Light Sphere in Shi Fen's Sea of Consciousness was splitting apart, and an even brighter golden light shone through the cracks.

"Boom!"

A moment later, a loud crash rang out in his Sea of Consciousness.

The Golden Light Sphere exploded completely. His mind felt like a "balloon," and the explosion seemed to increase the amount of air inside it, forcing his entire mind to expand.

Countless golden fragments burst outward like shrapnel, riding the "shock wave" toward the edges of his mind. When they reached the edge, the fragments became golden streams of energy and filled the newly formed Void Region. Along with the white area that had been there before, his entire mind was dyed gold.

As the crash echoed through Shi Fen's mind,

his body froze in place. Along with the crash, a warm current surged out of his brain. As soon as it emerged from his head, it split into countless streams and rushed toward his limbs, organs, and viscera.

The warm current possessed a miraculous healing power. The weakness caused by hunger vanished in an instant.

The warm current filled every part of Shi Fen's body. The mysterious power seeped into every part of him, and under its influence, his bones, organs, blood, muscles, skin, and nerves all underwent rapid evolution.

His body seemed to be undergoing fine adjustments, as old injuries were gradually erased.

The scars on his skin disappeared in an instant, leaving it smooth and delicate.

His bones grew harder.

His muscles became more flexible and powerful.

His organs grew more resilient.

His physique changed slightly, becoming perfectly proportioned.

Every cell in his body was changing.

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

Shi Fen felt as if he were soaking in a hot spring. Every part of his body was warm, and the comfort sank deep into his bones.

"Ah..."

Shi Fen let out a soft, contented moan.

When the comforting sensation finally faded,

Shi Fen slowly opened his eyes. He felt as if the world had changed.

The world was clearer. His hearing, eyesight, sense of smell, and other senses had improved noticeably. As he scanned the room, he could see every speck of black dust on the white walls.

Shi Fen's gaze fell on the water glass beside the table. He hadn't had any water for days and wanted a drink.

With a thought, an invisible force instantly seized control of the glass. It slowly rose into the air and floated over to him.

"I've awakened Spiritual Force."

Shi Fen thought about it briefly and understood. Wasn't the improvement in his senses a sign of Spiritual Force's power?

Shi Fen picked up the floating glass and took a small sip.

With another thought, he looked around at the furniture. The table, chairs, coffee table, sofa, and stools all rose into the air. Under Shi Fen's control, they bobbed up and down.

"This is pretty fun."

Shi Fen soon got used to the feeling.

His gaze settled on the water glass again. Spiritual Force acted on it, and it rose into the air once more. Shi Fen controlled it, making it fly around the room.

Shi Fen couldn't stop playing with it. He found it incredibly fun.

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

This time, Shi Fen took a big gulp. After drinking, he controlled the glass and set it on the table, then said to himself, "Spiritual Force really is great. Using it for forging should greatly increase my chances of success."

After briefly gathering his thoughts,

Shi Fen sat cross-legged on the bed and slowly closed his eyes. His consciousness entered his Sea of Consciousness, and he examined the changes. Since he'd been "kicked" out, Shi Fen had no idea what had happened inside his Sea of Consciousness.

Now he wanted to go in and take a good look.

His Sea of Consciousness had become a golden ocean. Nine dark-golden spheres floated in it, bobbing gently like nine "buoys."

Above the ocean of his Sea of Consciousness hovered a black, eight-sided mirror.

Shi Fen swept his Spiritual Force over the mirror. It vanished like an illusion. His Sea of Consciousness was utterly silent, as if the mirror had never appeared.

Shi Fen abruptly opened his eyes.

"Thank goodness. I thought my treasure was gone." Seeing the black mirror floating in front of him, Shi Fen relaxed.

Shi Fen felt rather speechless. Things always unfolded in ways he hadn't expected. The whiplash was torture. It seemed that big shot liked messing with people.

Muttering to himself, Shi Fen reached out and touched the mirror.

"Ow!" Shi Fen cried out in pain.

Somehow, the black Octagonal Mirror had instantly cut open Shi Fen's palm. A large amount of blood began flowing from his hand.

The mirror was like a sponge, greedily sucking up Shi Fen's blood.

Shi Fen felt dizzy.

"Oh no, I've lost too much blood!" Shi Fen thought in alarm.

Shi Fen immediately released the mirror, which he'd been holding. But it seemed to have grown onto his hand, pressed tightly against his palm and sucking up large amounts of his blood. It was drawing blood faster and faster.

Shi Fen's vision began to darken, and a wave of drowsiness swept over him. Feeling that he couldn't hold on much longer, Shi Fen summoned all his strength and flung his hand, trying to shake the mirror off.

Unfortunately, it was no use.

The mirror stayed firmly "stuck" to Shi Fen's hand. No matter how he struggled, it wouldn't budge, as if it wouldn't stop until it had drained him dry.

"It's over..."

Shi Fen's consciousness sank into darkness.

After Shi Fen passed out, the mirror's blood-sucking speed not only failed to slow, but increased. It completely drained Shi Fen's blood, then continued to "suck" furiously. Within just a few seconds, Shi Fen's body visibly shriveled until he was nothing but a "dried husk."

Strangely, even after Shi Fen had become a "dried husk," he wasn't dead. He was merely in a deep coma.

As he sank into a deep coma, the brief eighteen years of his new life flashed through Shi Fen's mind.