Refinement Coefficient

Zhao Cheng hadn't studied the Heavenly Phoenix Soaring Fist in detail. Simulation time was limited; he couldn't afford to waste it.

After giving it a cursory look, he clicked on the Enhancement Stone in his Inventory and used it.

At once, a mysterious power flowed into the Void Kalpa Sword, activating some hidden mechanism within it. The Void Kalpa Sword, which had been utterly devoid of luster, immediately began to glow faintly.

This light was invisible to the naked eye, but he could sense it with his mind.

It was dim—so dim that he would instinctively overlook it—but it was undeniably there.

At the same time, as the Void Kalpa Sword changed, the sword in Zhao Cheng's mental image also began to glow faintly.

Log:

Void Kalpa enhanced to +1, +1 effect: all attributes increased by 20%

Quietude enhanced to +1, +1 effect: Refinement Coefficient increased by 20%

Only then did Zhao Cheng realize that enhancing Void Kalpa could actually bring about a change in his own level of life.

On second thought, though, it made sense.

Void Kalpa and he were one. Its form was a reflection of his mental image.

When his mental image changed, Void Kalpa changed with it. And conversely, when Void Kalpa changed, his mental image changed too. That made perfect sense.

The change to Quietude wasn't an increase in progress, but an additional enhancement.

The Refinement Coefficient was easy enough to understand. Practicing Quietude was a process of refining the body and spirit, making them purer and purer.

Depending on the method, one's talent, and one's fortune, even people who reached the same peak of Quietude could have vastly different four-dimensional attributes and Vitality.

The Refinement Coefficient determined how high those values were.

This was another way of increasing all attributes.

And there was one crucial point: the foundation of this increase in proficiency lay in Zhao Cheng's mental image, and that was shared by his real body and his simulated body!

As for the Void Kalpa Sword:

Void Kalpa (White) +1

Evolution Progress: 0.1%

Durability: 85/100 (can be restored by consuming Vitality)

Sharpness: 1

Toughness: 1

Hardness: 1

Special Effect: Heart-to-Heart

+1 Enhancement Effect: all attributes increased by 20%

At this moment, all of Void Kalpa's actual attributes had become 1.2.

Void Kalpa's enhancement was difficult to sense directly, but the change in the Refinement Coefficient took effect immediately.

Zhao Cheng could clearly sense his spirit becoming purer and more resilient on its own, its "density" steadily increasing. The process wouldn't last long, but neither would it be over too quickly.

Feeling this change, Zhao Cheng fell into thought.

After several seconds of deep contemplation, he murmured, "I've decided to do something that goes against my ancestors."

Then, without the slightest hesitation, Zhao Cheng opened the Shop and spent one Source Point to redeem the White Enhancement Stone from it.

Each time Void Kalpa's enhancement level increased by 1, the cost doubled.

+1, +2, +3, +4, and +5 cost 1, 2, 4, 8, and 16, respectively.

But going from +5 to +6 required a Blue Enhancement Stone. One hundred White Enhancement Stones could be combined into a single Blue Enhancement Stone, after which the cost continued to grow according to the same pattern.

Zhao Cheng could only say that the Panel really wasn't smart enough. If it had told him sooner that the enhancement's effects were this good, how could he possibly have waited until now?

The Panel had led him astray!

After finishing with the enhancement, Zhao Cheng struggled to his feet. His mind and stamina had recovered quite a bit by now; it was just that his arms and shoulders hurt terribly.

If his breathing hadn't been following the breathing method every moment, and if his willpower hadn't been stronger than an ordinary person's, the pain would probably have made him cry out long ago.

Even so, his body still felt weak, and the slightest bigger movement brought a burst of agonizing pain.

However, he had no Recovery Potion left to use.

Still, he couldn't waste time.

Based on his experience from the previous simulation, he had died in the fourth hour.

It had taken him less than ten minutes to get from the square to the Heavenly Phoenix Pavilion, and only about three minutes to make his way around to the back. After that, killing the monsters had taken just over three minutes.

It was the recovery afterward that had taken more than half an hour before his mind had settled.

As for counting up his spoils earlier, that had taken only two or three minutes.

By that rough estimate, he had perhaps another ten or twenty minutes to move around.

That wasn't much time, and his body wasn't up to any strenuous activity.

So Zhao Cheng figured that since he was going to die anyway, he might as well use this life to take a look at Moyun University and squeeze whatever value he could out of it. Just waiting around to die was a waste.

He wanted to see for himself just how terrifying the hidden danger mentioned in the log really was.

He'd go see how deep the water was, and whether a young man like him could handle it.

Moyun University wasn't far from the Heavenly Phoenix Pavilion, only about a ten-minute walk.

Though Zhao Cheng was badly injured, with no need to worry about lasting consequences, he walked quickly. The journey hurt, but after a while, he got used to the pain.

The gates of Moyun University were quite imposing, with a marble entrance and two stone lions at the front. They had simply been badly weathered by now.

As for the university's name, there was no trace of it left.

Zhao Cheng guessed this was a school because these were the only buildings in the area that looked like one.

If the universities in this world were inside skyscrapers, then he would take the loss.

There was no movement in the teaching buildings.

There was no movement in the place that might have been a sports field.

The Martial Arts Hall...

"Hmm? The Martial Arts Hall?"

Zhao Cheng could faintly hear movement. Even from far away, the sound seemed like thunder when he listened closely.

He crept over and peered into the ruined Martial Arts Hall by the faint light. A group of gray figures were practicing their punches.

At the very front, a figure standing well over three meters tall, looking like a mountain built entirely of muscle, had his hands clasped behind his back as he paced among the crowd. Every so often, he would suddenly throw a punch and correct the forms of the other gray humanoid monsters, who were only about two meters tall.

The three-meter-tall monster had a face as if it had been carved by knives and axes. Though rough-hewn, it radiated a masculine, imposing air—as if all it lacked was the word Invincible written across its face.

"???"

"What kind of moves are these?!"

Before Zhao Cheng could think any further, the monster with the face that practically screamed Invincible suddenly turned its head and locked eyes with him.

The other's gaze was just as Hollow and lifeless, but that single glance made Zhao Cheng feel a mountain's weight bearing down on him.

At once, the hair on Zhao Cheng's body stood on end. Every cell screamed a single message: extreme danger.

Destruction! Destruction! Nothing but destruction!

This extreme terror instantly triggered the Blood Battle Level 1 effect, driving Zhao Cheng's mind, which had only just calmed down, into a state of intense excitement.

A red glint flickered in his eyes.

But before he could move, a fist came crashing down like a meteor. The thick wall shattered, the stones crumbled to dust, and Zhao Cheng's body flew more than ten meters before breaking apart in midair, scattering into fragments before it could even hit the ground.