Coward's Savior

On the bottom, third tier, there were three items available for exchange.

These three items refreshed at random and were usable in the real world.

Every one of them had two prices.

Take the three items currently on display.

Full Recovery Potion x3 (virtual: 10 Simulation Points, real: 100 Simulation Points)

Purification Elixir x1 (virtual: 10 Simulation Points, real: 100 Simulation Points)

Coward's Savior x1 (virtual: 300 Simulation Points, real: 3000 Simulation Points)

Here, "virtual" meant that after redeeming an item, it would appear in the item slot on the Panel. It could only be used from there to take effect, and no physical object existed.

"Real," on the other hand, meant conjuring an object out of thin air and making it appear in the real world. It could be used not only by the person who redeemed it, but also by others.

That was why redeeming a physical item cost ten times as much.

Of the three items in the Shop, Zhao Cheng had used the Full Recovery Potion before. It restored 80% of his condition.

The potion was perfect for training, as it could greatly extend the time spent practicing.

The second item, the Purification Elixir, cleared negative conditions of Level 3 or below.

Its effects were remarkably thorough. No matter what illness a person had—even one named after them—one dose was enough to cure it. Even severed limbs could be reattached if promptly put back in place, without leaving any lasting problems. But it couldn't regrow limbs for someone who had lost them.

As for the third item, Coward's Savior, its name might sound mocking, but there was a reason it cost so much.

Only its name was abstract. Its effects were tangible.

Coward's Savior: Reorganizes the human body's gene sequence and excavates its genetic potential to the utmost, bringing every aspect of a person's physical attributes to the limits of their genes' perfect development.

This effect was basically like sending someone back to the start and remaking them from scratch. It was equivalent to reallocating their stats.

To put it simply, it was like resetting a character's innate stats in a game. Not only did it max out their stat potential, it also corrected all the negative effects that had occurred during their development.

Suppose someone's innate Constitution had a maximum value of 10. That number represented the full potential they could achieve; once they reached adulthood, their Constitution could reach 10.

But if they suffered from malnutrition while growing up, or developed various bad habits, their Constitution might only reach 9 by adulthood, or even just 8.

And that was assuming their innate Constitution had a maximum value of 10. If someone started with an innate Constitution of only 7, the same experiences might leave them with a Constitution of just 5 by adulthood.

Coward's Savior erased all the negative effects that had occurred during a person's development. Zhao Cheng already felt that alone was worth 300 Simulation Points.

And as for maxing out innate stats, Zhao Cheng felt it was being sold far too cheaply.

Without the slightest hesitation, Zhao Cheng used the Shop's locking function to lock in Coward's Savior.

Of course, even after resetting his stats and remaking himself, Zhao Cheng wouldn't suddenly gain divine strength and be able to lift a giant cauldron without training.

Human genes had their limits. Being able to lift a giant cauldron was a genetic mutation—or, more precisely, the result of a special trait. That was something closer to the source than genetic expression.

Even so, it was worth it.

Once the negative effects of development were erased, one could put it this way: he would have an innate body. It wouldn't be an innate Dao body, but as the saying went, "Can one gather their qi and become so supple as to be like an infant?" An innate body would undoubtedly have far greater potential for growth than an ordinary one.

As for becoming more handsome or having his limbs develop better, those were minor details. Yet in a certain sense, the name Coward's Savior was perfectly apt.

Perhaps in Zhao Cheng's subconscious, this effect was what best suited the name, and so it had manifested in this way.

Zhao Cheng returned to his senses and glanced at the time on the electronic clock on the table. From the moment he woke up, to running a simulation, to now, only a few minutes had passed.

When the simulation had just ended, Zhao Cheng had glanced at the time. There had been almost no difference between the time before and after the simulation—though it was possible that the gap had simply been too short to notice.

Zhao Cheng wasn't sleepy in the slightest. He was like a child who'd just gotten a new toy: until he'd played with it enough, he wouldn't be able to sleep a wink.

"I want to see what exactly is in that Heavenly Phoenix Pavilion."

Zhao Cheng had a vague sense that he understood how this "game" was supposed to be played.

Wasn't it just a matter of grinding? He might not have much else, but he certainly had no shortage of liver for this sort of thing. Other people were humans with livers; he was a liver with a human attached.

Panel:

Selecting spacetime coordinates...

Deploying Hyper-Dimensional Body...

Simulation begins!

The familiar darkness returned, and the Void Kalpa Sword was back in his hand.

Without hesitation, he swept his sword through the air, moving with Wind Severing!

As his sword moved, the sword he envisioned in his heart gradually grew clearer and more vivid.

Then, at a certain moment, his sword form suddenly shifted, imbued with a touch more spirit.

Log:

17th Basic Swordsmanship 6th Revised Edition Proficiency +1

17th Basic Swordsmanship 6th Revised Edition Level +1

His swordsmanship had risen directly from Lv. 7 to Lv. 8.

He had only just reached Lv. 4 during the day. In just two simulations, over the course of a few hours, his swordsmanship had reached Lv. 8. He was only two levels away from the master rank at Lv. 10.

Improved swordsmanship and a refined sword form meant that, with the same Vitality, Zhao Cheng could not only train for longer but also get more done in each unit of time.

Zhao Cheng could clearly feel the process by which his spirit and body were being "refined."

He felt as if he had become a red-hot lump of iron, while the sword in his hand was a massive hammer.

Each time he swung his sword, the hammer struck him once, making his spirit and body "purer" as every impurity was hammered away.

Log:

Quietude Proficiency +1%

Quietude Proficiency +1%

Lv. 8 swordsmanship was worlds apart from Lv. 4. Combined with the changes in Zhao Cheng's innate talent for the sword, the speed at which his realm advanced had increased dozens of times over.

The greater the gap between swordsmanship level and realm, the faster the realm advanced.

Although that speed would plummet as his realm improved, for now Zhao Cheng was experiencing the thrill of "cheating."

And because this was a simulation, Zhao Cheng didn't have to worry about overtraining and depleting his life force. He focused only on improving his swordsmanship and sword realm, so this training session lasted exceptionally long.

Still, Zhao Cheng couldn't completely exhaust his Vitality and mental strength, so midway through, he used a Full Recovery Potion to keep going.

Until the Blood Moon appeared!