Some of the items in the Simulation Shop had colors, while others—things that were harder to define—had none.
Gray meant severe side effects.
That was also why this item cost only one Simulation Point.
Without its side effects, an item like this would be rated at least purple.
As for the price, it would probably need two more zeroes added.
At the same time, its effects were terrifying: fifteen times the explosive power and reaction speed for three seconds.
As for the devastating nerve and brain damage afterward, that was only to be expected. A person's reaction speed and explosive power depended on the nervous system and brain, after all.
This elixir was trading a lifetime for three seconds of glory.
Still, Zhao Cheng redeemed it, keeping it as a trump card.
If a situation ever arose in real life where he needed it, it would be an emergency of the highest order, most likely a matter of life and death. Compared to his life, a little damage to his nerves and brain was nothing.
However bad things got afterward, it was still better than having his enemy dance on his grave.
With fifteen times the explosive power and neural reflexes, Zhao Cheng's swordsmanship was enough to kill even a Swordsman.
The former was one thing, but what did the latter even mean?!
It was basically bullet time. One second for everyone else would be fifteen seconds for him.
A Swordsman's reflexes were fast, but not that fast.
After redeeming it, Zhao Cheng started thinking about redeeming the Purification Elixir too, even though just yesterday he'd thought it was useless.
But now...
The Ultimate Potential Stimulation Elixir (Gray) and the Purification Elixir cost only eleven Simulation Points in total. With them, he could be a real man for three seconds in the real world, without any lasting harm.
The only question now was whether the Purification Elixir would show up in the Shop.
As for saving Simulation Points, safety in the real world always came first. Only by staying alive could he grind dungeons more effectively.
Zhao Cheng understood that perfectly well.
After buying what he needed, Zhao Cheng redeemed one Simulation Count and began a simulation.
As usual, he practiced swordsmanship in the darkness. He used a Full Recovery Potion once along the way. After two hours, his swordsmanship proficiency had increased by 6 and his Quietude proficiency by 1%.
His improvement in mastery this time wasn't as great as last time.
If his proficiency increased by 2% every time he practiced swordsmanship, that would be ridiculous.
Afterward, the Blood Moon appeared, and Zhao Cheng rushed to the Heavenly Phoenix Pavilion. After resting for fifteen minutes, he took up his sword and fought a fierce battle. In exchange for a broken left arm, he cut down the Fist Art Master and gained 1 Source Point. This time, no Treasure Chest dropped.
Then Zhao Cheng found a basement and somehow sealed it off, continuing to practice his swordsmanship in the darkness.
This time, though, he didn't use a Full Recovery Potion to recover. Instead, he directly squeezed his life potential dry to practice swordsmanship.
He relied entirely on his willpower to sustain this kind of exertion. He didn't know how much time passed. His swordsmanship proficiency increased by 2, but his mastery didn't improve at all.
In fact, if not for his Hyper-Dimensional Body erasing the negative effects, his mastery would have regressed.
Zhao Cheng had proven through experience that overexerting his life potential to train yielded half the results for twice the effort.
Then Zhao Cheng's consciousness jolted, and he returned to reality. All his exhaustion and pain vanished at once, and he was back to full strength.
He looked at the log.
During the first hour, you trained hard in swordsmanship. Swordsmanship proficiency +3
During the second hour, you trained hard in swordsmanship. Swordsmanship proficiency +3, Quietude proficiency +1%
During the third hour, you went to the Heavenly Phoenix Pavilion and killed 1 Grunt. Simulation Point +1
During the fourth hour, you stayed in the darkness. The influence of the strange power weakened. You pushed your body and mind to the limit, brutally training in swordsmanship.
During the fifth hour, you continued pushing your body and mind to the limit, brutally training in swordsmanship. Your swordsmanship proficiency +2. You died. Cause of death: your life force was exhausted.
Summary: Your exploration progress this time was extremely low. Simulation Point +1.
This was the first time Zhao Cheng had survived until the fifth hour in a dungeon.
As it turned out, a lightless environment really could slow the loss of life force.
There was something seriously wrong with that moon.
Zhao Cheng fell silent and thought it over for a while. This time, he redeemed two Simulation Counts and began his second simulation.
He practiced swordsmanship, gaining 6 proficiency, but his mastery didn't change.
He killed a Grunt and gained 1 Simulation Point. He was injured, but because he was more practiced, the wound was less severe. His bone was only cracked, not broken.
Afterward, Zhao Cheng started exploring the map, heading to places that might have been Longteng Building and Zhengshang Office Building to confirm what they were.
This time, Zhao Cheng searched three buildings in a row before he finally located Longteng Building.
On the nineteenth floor of Longteng Building was the Longteng Boxing Gym. There, Zhao Cheng encountered a Fist Art Zealot over two meters tall. He exchanged two blows with the monster before it pounced on him and killed him.
By then, Zhao Cheng had found three locations containing monsters and discovered four types of them. Compared with his first simulation, the changes were undeniably huge—though the process was a bit hard on him.
At that point, Zhao Cheng had 10.4 Source Points and 12 Simulation Points.
He didn't run a third simulation. The third one would cost four Source Points, which was a bit too steep.
After reflecting on his two simulations, Zhao Cheng practiced his breathing technique for a while to calm himself down, then lay down and went straight to sleep.
When he woke up in the morning, he went through his usual workout. His swordsmanship conversion rate increased by 1%, and his mastery conversion rate by 7%, both extremely consistent.
In the morning, he stared into space and let his mind race.
In the afternoon, he studied the fist manual and let his mind race.
Halfway through the mental storm, it was time for kendo class: sword practice and another mental storm.
But while Zhao Cheng's mind was halfway through its storm, his swordsmanship instructor, Wu Nian, came to find him. He told Zhao Cheng that the process of joining the Kendo Class was complete, then handed him a box of incense.
It was sandalwood incense for swordsmanship training, with the effect of calming the mind and focusing one's thoughts. It was better than the incense used in the general kendo classes—and more expensive.
So the school provided it free of charge, in limited quantities, only to members of the Kendo Class. This box was enough for a week.
Wu Nian also told Zhao Cheng that apart from Tuesdays and Thursdays, when the general kendo classes were held, he should come to District 3 of the gym after class on the other three evenings for an extra hour of instruction. He asked Zhao Cheng to let his family know and arrange his schedule accordingly.
He also said that tomorrow was a special day. Everyone in the Kendo Class would be there at seven, so Zhao Cheng could meet the others. They might one day fight shoulder to shoulder.
All of this meant Zhao Cheng was no longer completely in the dark about the Kendo Class.
That evening, it was the familiar routine again: watching TV, practicing swordsmanship, then simulating at midnight. He gained 10.4 Source Points and redeemed a Full Recovery Potion. The Purification Elixir still hadn't appeared, but that wasn't a big deal.
In the first simulation, he practiced swordsmanship and killed a Grunt, but still got injured. Then he explored the map, confirmed the location of Zhengshang Office Building, and unlocked a new monster: the Despairer of Fist Arts. It killed him with two punches.
In the second simulation, he practiced swordsmanship and killed a Grunt, getting injured again. Then he explored the map. He wasn't killed, but his luck wasn't great. He only roughly identified one location where a monster was present, and died when his life force ran out.
A little exploration, a little more strength—there was always something to gain.
He slept, woke up, and repeated the same daily routine, until that night...