Standing in the courtyard, Ye Li stared blankly at the three words before him.
[Great Strength], [Thick Armor], and [Swiftness] represented three paths for martial artists.
At present, Ye Li could only choose one of them, which left him in a quandary. He hesitated over which one to pick.
The first one he ruled out was [Great Strength].
After all, once one's strength reached the Body Tempering stage, a network of blood energy covered the surface of the body and could dissipate force.
Adding 40% more force at this point would still have limited armor-piercing power. Picking up a sharp blade would be far more effective.
That left a choice between defense and speed.
After some thought, Ye Li crossed out [Thick Armor].
In the martial world, nothing was unbreakable, but speed could overcome anything!
Speed had the edge over defense.
If a speed-focused martial artist had a weapon capable of piercing armor, they could slice a defense-focused martial artist into pieces.
Even if their opponent was invulnerable, a speed-focused martial artist could always run if they couldn't win.
After all, not every speed-type ability user was a moron like the Flash or Quicksilver, relying on the Speed Force to punch people.
Even if that brain-dead Batman gave the Flash a lead-lined kryptonite dagger, the resurrected Superman wouldn't have been able to beat him like a dog in the Justice League movie!
So, after a bit of thought, Ye Li arrived at the conclusion that speed > strength ≈ defense, guided by his plain, common-sense worldview.
After all, even if you couldn't win, you could still run.
After a storm of brainstorming, Ye Li focused his attention on [Green].
The next moment, the [Swiftness] entry glowed, while the other two quickly faded and turned transparent.
In a higher dimension, the intangible rules of concepts began to weave together, attaching themselves to Ye Li as if threaded together with a needle.
Under the power of [World-Shocking Wisdom], the fundamental rules of the entire world were treated like a suit for Ye Li to wear.
What was this nonsense about a person being unable to have a second entry?
That wasn't a thing at all!
As an inexplicable sensation welled up inside him, Ye Li felt something new within his body after a brief moment of disorientation.
It felt like growing an extra dick or sprouting another arm, and Ye Li began to search for the source of the sensation.
[Swiftness]: While focused, speed increases by 15%.
Looking at the entry's effect, Ye Li followed its instructions and concentrated, gazing at the empty space before him.
Snap—
It was like flipping a hidden switch inside his body. For an instant, Ye Li felt the world fall silent.
Then the whole world seemed to shift into a higher gear and slow down.
The sensation was subtle, only about 80% as strong as before.
To Ye Li, the morning cicadas' cries stretched out in his ears. He could make out the birds' wings beating in the sky, and the falling droplets of water became noticeably slower.
After entering this state, Ye Li lowered his body and leaped forward.
"Thud!"
With a muffled thump, Ye Li sprang more than ten meters.
By the time he landed, he had leaped out of the courtyard. Excitement surged from the bottom of his heart!
"It doesn't feel like I've been sped up at all!"
The discovery thrilled Ye Li.
Because it meant the 15% entry didn't directly boost his running or jumping.
Instead, it accelerated his entire body!
It was as if Ye Li himself had gained 15% bullet time!
When [Swiftness] was active, the usual laws of physical collision remained in place!
The air offered the same resistance as before, and the damage he caused wouldn't increase just because he was moving faster.
It was like a character's speed increasing by 15% in a game, with no interaction with strength or defense—an independent multiplier.
Therefore, he didn't need to worry that his strength would fail to keep up with his speed and prevent him from making full use of it.
The entry simply built upon his existing limits!
Perhaps this sort of bonus had its pros and cons in combat, but Ye Li quickly thought of another use for it:
Cultivation!!!
The 15% acceleration applied to his whole body.
Could he cultivate while [Green] was active?
If so, the 120 minutes it normally took to digest a Dragon Tiger Pill could be reduced to 102 minutes.
At the same time, cultivating, fighting, sleeping, and traveling would all be boosted by 15%, giving him nearly three extra hours each day to cultivate!
For a moment, Ye Li felt his heart surge with excitement.
But as he relaxed, his focus faded, and the world before his eyes returned to normal in an instant.
The change made him pause. Then, somewhat helplessly, he thought:
What I need to do next is maintain my focus throughout the day and turn this entry into a constant state, keeping the 15% bonus active at all times. That's the only way to maximize its power.
Also, this new variable means I'll have to revise my plans.
As Ye Li pondered, his original plan had been to devote all his time to cultivating the Azure Dragon Force until he broke through to the Post-Heaven Realm.
But this new discovery told him that once a cultivation technique had been perfected, it could awaken an entry.
This discovery had thrown all of Ye Li's plans into disarray.
Now he would have to gather a large number of cultivation techniques and test their limits by controlling the variables.
For example, would cultivating techniques of the same type to perfection awaken an entry?
Or, as he suspected, would different types of techniques trigger entries of the corresponding type?
And would a more profound and difficult technique produce an entry of higher quality?
Just to collect entries, Ye Li would have to search for all sorts of cultivation techniques and martial skills, then cultivate each one to perfection.
Just one [Swiftness] entry could increase his cultivation speed by at least 15%.
If he could combine multiple entries into the right set, wouldn't the effect turn the world upside down?
Just thinking about it made Ye Li's liver ache.
He hadn't expected to be collecting gacha cards and stamps all over again after reincarnating.
The problem now was... he didn't have many cultivation techniques or martial skills to practice.
Ye Li walked back into the courtyard, head lowered as he pondered how to master a large number of martial skills and cultivation techniques in a short time.
This wasn't a matter of one or two books. Ideally, he needed a large collection of cultivation manuals of different types to choose from and test.
As he thought it over, Ye Li set his sights on the Azure Dragon Gang's library.
He clenched his fist lightly and thought, My reputation as a genius still isn't loud enough. The gang even lumped me together with that Lu Xiuyuan.
Next, I'll show them an even more terrifying talent.
Thinking this, Ye Li turned his attention to the other martial skill he was currently practicing:
Nine Chapters Fist Manual (3/500)
Until he found a new cultivation technique, he planned to devote some of his effort to advancing this martial skill.
Compared to the Azure Dragon Force, which required him to breathe and practice at a set rhythm, speed, and posture,
the Nine Chapters Fist Manual could keep pace with Ye Li's improving physique, allowing him to strike faster and faster.
He could only practice the Azure Dragon Force once every fifteen minutes, but with the Nine Chapters Fist Manual, his current physical condition allowed him to practice it as many as five times.
With twenty-five hours of intensive practice, he could bring this martial skill to perfection.
So, in addition to the Azure Dragon Force, Ye Li planned to set aside some time every day
to push this martial skill to its limit!
[Recommendation Ticket]
[Monthly Ticket]