Before long, four days had passed.
"Bang! Bang! Bang..."
At that moment, dull thuds like the beating of war drums rang out from the bathroom of a room on the forty-ninth floor.
Li Jinshui stood bare-chested in a stance beneath the shower, water pouring straight down over his head.
His body temperature was frighteningly high. His skin had turned completely red, and he looked like an iron brand fresh from the furnace. The moment the cold water touched his skin, it hissed and rose in wisps of white steam.
Li Jinshui gritted his teeth and held on. The qi-blood within him had long since become a flood bursting through a broken dam, surging outward from his Ren-Du Meridians and sweeping into the acupoints around them.
The Thoroughfare Meridian, the Belt Meridian, the Yin Linking Meridian, the Yang Linking Meridian, the Yin Heel Meridian, and the Yang Heel Meridian!
The six meridians were simultaneously flooded by his raging qi-blood. One acupoint after another burst open, and as his meridians tore apart inch by inch, they were also reconstituted inch by inch.
Fine beads of blood gradually seeped from the pores all over his body, then quickly dried in the heat of his skin, forming a thin layer of scabs. He looked even redder than before.
"BANG—!"
At last, accompanied by one final muffled boom from within him, like a thunderclap that shook the heavens, the last meridian and acupoint finally opened.
All six meridians connected!
The qi-blood within him instantly flowed together like a hundred rivers meeting the sea, coursing through his entire body. The six meridians converged with the Ren-Du Meridians, and all Eight Extraordinary Meridians were fully connected.
[Basic Stance Technique (Proficient 0/1000)]
"Phew!"
Li Jinshui's tense body suddenly relaxed. He let out a long breath of scorching, stale air and lowered his stance.
The pain he had endured this time had once again far surpassed anything before.
When his Stake Standing had reached Minor Achievement, he had only opened one entire meridian. This time, he had opened six at once. Heaven Rewards Diligence was becoming more and more brutal.
Still, the result was excellent!
His Stake Standing had finally reached the Proficient stage, which meant he had officially become a "Second-Rate Martial Artist"!
Although, by the standard realm classifications, he was only at the weakest, basic Second-Rate level, the qi-blood in his body had more than doubled. He was probably close to a First-rate Martial Artist already.
"As expected of E-Class Exotic Beast Meat. This stuff works fast. I should be able to handle a much larger amount of dietary supplements now. I have to reach perfection in Stake Standing within two months, then start training in Ninth Grade Stake Standing."
Li Jinshui's strength and qi-blood had returned to their peak, while the joy of his breakthrough had eased much of his mental fatigue.
A few days ago, after he'd deliberately revealed his qi-blood level to Huang Lichen, four senior executives had approved his request for a daily dietary supplement.
The official allowance was one catty of E-Class Exotic Beast Meat per day, but Li Jinshui believed in spending tomorrow's money today. Each day, after collecting his catty of beast meat, he would draw another three catties in advance, take it back to his room, and eat while training.
When he had first begun Stake Standing, eating five catties of F-Class Iron-Skin Beast meat in one sitting had nearly made him throw up. In truth, his body had been resisting because it couldn't handle any more high-energy supplements.
Later, when his Stake Standing reached Minor Achievement, his body's tolerance improved, but the beast meat had also been upgraded to E-Class. He could still only handle four catties a day, which happened to give him 100 points of Stake Standing proficiency.
So over the past four days, he had eaten a total of sixteen catties of beast meat, filling his proficiency bar and advancing his Stake Standing to the Proficient stage.
"Next, it's time for Lightning Pulse Step."
Li Jinshui's gaze sharpened. He stepped out of the shower, picked up the battery pack by the door, and strapped it to himself.
Then he took out a C-Grade Supplement Potion.
According to Ye Mei and the others' arrangements, after his resources had doubled, Li Jinshui could claim two D-Grade Supplement Potions each week.
But he had asked to exchange them for C-grade ones. Naturally, he wasn't getting two C-grade potions a week. They were exchanged according to their price: four D-grade potions equaled one C-grade potion, so he now received two C-grade potions a month.
Now that he was a "Second-Rate Martial Artist," an entry-level Lightning Pulse Step was clearly no longer enough. Besides, the skill had the suffix "upgradeable," so it was definitely full of potential. He had to prioritize training it.
It was only one C-Grade Supplement Potion, only eighty thousand yuan. He could afford to use it!
"Glug, glug, glug..."
He tilted his head back and downed the entire C-Grade Supplement Potion.
The moment it entered his stomach, the potion exploded inside him, like a ball of blazing fire. Its tremendous medicinal power far surpassed that of a D-grade potion.
Without hesitation, Li Jinshui pressed the switch on the battery pack strapped to his legs and turned the power all the way up.
"Zzzzt..."
Accompanied by a piercing electric buzz, streaks of blue lightning instantly leaped out and coiled around his legs.
[Gathering Spirit from the Mundane, Heaven Rewards Diligence, Lightning Pulse Step +5] [Gathering Spirit from the Mundane, Heaven Rewards Diligence, Lightning Pulse Step +5] ...
Li Jinshui's qi-blood plunged as he used Lightning Pulse Step, darting and turning back and forth across the room.
A short while later, the potion's effects wore off.
Li Jinshui hurriedly switched off the battery pack on his legs and shuddered. Only then did his stiff hair, which had been standing straight on end, gradually soften and settle down.
[Lightning Pulse Step (Proficient 0/300) (Upgradeable)]
"Damn, I used an entire C-grade potion and only got 200 proficiency?" Li Jinshui cursed when he saw the stats.
If it had been Basic Lightness Skill, one potion would have increased his proficiency by at least 500 points.
Even if Lightning Pulse Step was a Ninth-Grade Martial Skill with energy requirements far beyond those of basic martial skills, that conversion rate was still ridiculous.
After all, he'd only gone from the Initiation stage to the Proficient stage. There was no reason for it to be this extreme.
"Something's off. There's definitely something wrong with this skill..."
Li Jinshui rubbed his chin. "I'll have to find a chance in the next few days to get a conventional Ninth-Grade Martial Skill from Old Huang and compare them."
Having made up his mind, he didn't dwell on it any further. He tidied up the room, then went straight to bed to rest.
Early the next morning.
Li Jinshui hurried to the cafeteria to draw more beast meat in advance.
Now that his Eight Extraordinary Meridians were connected, his body's tolerance had improved tremendously. He felt he could probably eat seven or eight catties of beast meat a day without a problem.
To be safe, though, he took only four catties of Poison-Tumor Frog meat before hurrying back to his room.
As always, he devoured the beast meat, then stood in his stance and circulated his power!
[Weak Devouring the Strong, Heaven Rewards Diligence, Basic Stance Technique +2] [Weak Devouring the Strong, Heaven Rewards Diligence, Basic Stance Technique +2] ...
After a hearty meal, all four catties of E-Class Exotic Beast Meat were gone.
Li Jinshui rubbed his stomach. He felt only half full, and figured he could probably eat another four catties before reaching his limit.
Satisfied with his increased tolerance, he checked the Heaven Rewards Diligence panel.
[Basic Stance Technique (Proficient 50/1000)]
"Damn!"
Li Jinshui cursed again.
He'd expected the conversion rate from dietary supplements to drop now that his Stake Standing had reached the Proficient stage and he was still eating E-Class Exotic Beast Meat.
He hadn't expected it to drop so sharply—by half.
That meant he would need a total of eighty catties of E-Class Exotic Beast Meat to raise his Stake Standing from "Proficient" to "Major Achievement," a thousand points of proficiency.
"Tsk, this is a hassle again. My dietary supplement allowance clearly isn't enough..."
Li Jinshui frowned and began calculating.
Even with his current resources increased to one catty of beast meat a day, he would only get sixty catties in two months.
He had already drawn twenty catties in advance over the past few days, leaving only forty catties in his supplement allowance.
"Forty catties. Starting tomorrow, I'll eat eight catties a day. I'll finish it in five days, then go find Old Huang!"