Second-rate Martial Artist

Soon, four days passed.

"Bang! Bang! Bang..."

Inside the room on the forty-ninth floor, a series of dull thuds, like the rhythmic beating of war drums, echoed incessantly from the bathroom.

Li Jinshui maintained his stance with his upper body bare, the water from the showerhead above him crashing down in a steady stream.

His body temperature was alarmingly high, his skin flushed a deep red. He was like a branding iron fresh from a furnace; the moment the icy water touched his skin, it hissed and evaporated into wisps of white steam.

Li Jinshui gritted his teeth, holding his position firmly. The blood and qi within him surged like a burst dam, using his Ren and Du meridians as an axis to sweep and expand toward the surrounding acupoints.

The Chong meridian, Dai meridian, Yin Wei meridian, Yang Wei meridian, Yin Qiao meridian, and Yang Qiao meridian!

Six meridians were flooded simultaneously by the violent surge of blood and qi. Acupoints burst open one after another, and as his meridians tore apart inch by inch, they were reconstructed just as quickly.

Fine beads of blood gradually seeped from his pores, only to be instantly evaporated by the intense heat of his skin, forming a thin, bloody scab that made him look even redder.

"Bang—!"

Finally, accompanied by a dull roar from within his body that sounded like a thunderclap, the last meridian acupoint was breached.

The Six Meridians were fully opened!

The blood and qi in his body instantly returned to the sea like a hundred rivers, coursing through his entire frame. The six meridians converged with the Ren and Du meridians, completely opening up the Eight Extraordinary Meridians.

Basic Stance Technique (Proficient 0/1000)

"Hoo!"

Li Jinshui's tense body suddenly relaxed. He exhaled a long, scorching breath of turbid air and withdrew from his stance.

The pain he endured this time far exceeded anything he had experienced before.

When his stance technique reached the minor success stage, he had only opened one meridian at a time, but this time he had opened six at once. Heaven Rewards Diligence was becoming increasingly brutal.

However, the results were excellent!

His stance technique had finally reached the proficient stage, which meant he had officially become a Second-rate Martial Artist!

Although, according to the hierarchy, he was currently only at the weakest level of the second-rate, his blood and qi value had more than doubled, likely rivaling that of a First-rate Martial Artist.

"As expected of E-Class Exotic Beast Meat, the effects are truly fast. I should be able to handle a larger amount of dietary supplementation next. I must reach the perfection stage of my stance technique within two months, and then I will practice the Ninth Grade Stake Standing."

Li Jinshui's physical strength and blood and qi had returned to their peak, and the mental exhaustion he felt was largely washed away by the joy of this breakthrough.

Ever since he took the initiative to reveal his blood and qi value to Huang Lichen a few days ago, his request for "daily dietary supplementation" had been approved by the four executives.

Although the regulation stipulated one jin of E-Class Exotic Beast Meat per day, Li Jinshui, well-versed in the concept of spending in advance, would collect his daily jin and then overdraw three more, bringing them back to his room to eat while he trained.

Previously, when he was just starting his stance technique, eating five jin of F-Class Iron-Skin Beast meat at once had nearly made him vomit; in reality, his body was resisting, unable to handle such high-energy supplementation.

Later, as his stance technique reached minor success and his body's tolerance improved, the meat was upgraded to E-Class. He could only handle four jin a day, which was just enough to add 100 points of proficiency to his stance technique.

Thus, over the past four days, a total of sixteen jin of exotic beast meat had been consumed, successfully filling the proficiency bar and allowing his stance technique to enter the proficient stage.

"Now then, it's time for the Lightning Pulse Step."

Li Jinshui's gaze sharpened. He stepped out of the shower, picked up the battery pack placed by the door, and strapped it directly onto his body.

He then took out a C-Grade Supplement Potion.

According to the arrangements made by Ye Mei and the others, after his resources were doubled, Li Jinshui was entitled to two D-Grade Supplement Potions per week.

However, he had requested to swap them for C-Grade. Naturally, it wasn't two C-Grade potions per week, but rather a price-based exchange—four D-Grade potions equaled one C-Grade—so he now received two C-Grade potions per month.

Now that he was a Second-rate Martial Artist, the entry-level Lightning Pulse Step was certainly not enough. Besides, this thing had a "can be upgraded" tag, making it a definite stock with potential that he had to prioritize.

A mere C-Grade Supplement Potion, a mere eighty thousand yuan—if he had to use it, he would!

"Gulp, gulp, gulp..."

He tilted his head back and downed the entire C-Grade potion in one go.

The liquid hit his stomach and exploded, feeling like he had swallowed a ball of burning fire; the immense medicinal power was far beyond that of a D-Grade.

Li Jinshui didn't hesitate to flip the switch on the battery pack strapped to his legs, cranking the power to the maximum.

"Zzzzt..."

Accompanied by the harsh sound of electricity, arcs of blue lightning instantly erupted, coiling 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 felt his blood and qi plummet. With his feet moving in the Lightning Pulse Step, he flashed back and forth across the room.

A moment later, the medicinal effect faded.

Li Jinshui hurriedly turned off the battery pack on his legs and shivered. His hair, which had been standing straight up, finally trembled and slowly softened.

Lightning Pulse Step (Skilled 0/300) (Can be upgraded)

"Damn it, a whole C-Grade potion and only 200 proficiency points?" Li Jinshui couldn't help but curse when he saw the panel data.

If he had switched to Basic Lightness Skill, a single session like this 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 exceeding basic techniques, this conversion rate was simply absurd.

After all, it was only the transition from Beginner to Proficient; there was no reason for it to be this exaggerated.

Something is wrong. This martial skill is definitely not right...

Li Jinshui rubbed his chin. It seems I need to find an opportunity in the next few days to fleece Old Huang for a standard Ninth-Grade Martial Skill to make a side-by-side comparison.

Having made up his mind, he stopped overthinking, tidied up his room, and lay back on his bed to rest.

Early the next morning.

Li Jinshui dashed toward the cafeteria to once again request an advance on his E-Class Exotic Beast Meat.

With his extraordinary meridians now cleared, his body's tolerance had undergone a qualitative leap; he felt that eating seven or eight pounds of exotic beast meat a day wouldn't be a problem.

However, to play it safe, he only took four pounds of Poison-Tumor Frog meat before hurrying back to his room.

As always, he devoured the meat and began practicing his stance!

[Devouring the strong while being weak, Heaven Rewards Diligence, Basic Stance Technique +2]

[Devouring the strong while being weak, Heaven Rewards Diligence, Basic Stance Technique +2]

After a whirlwind of consumption, four pounds of E-Class Exotic Beast Meat were down his gullet and fully digested.

Li Jinshui rubbed his stomach, feeling only half-full; he estimated that another four pounds would bring him close to his limit.

He was satisfied with this tolerance level and looked back at the Heaven Rewards Diligence panel.

[Basic Stance Technique (Proficient 50/1000)]

"Damn it!"

Li Jinshui cursed out loud again.

Although he had expected that the conversion rate of food supplements would inevitably drop after his stance technique reached the Proficient stage, he hadn't anticipated such a harsh decline—it had been cut in half.

At this rate, to raise his stance technique from "Proficient" to "Mastery," he would need a total of 80 pounds of E-Class Exotic Beast Meat to gain the required one thousand proficiency points.

Tsk, this is troublesome again. My food supplement quota is clearly not enough...

Li Jinshui frowned and began to calculate.

Even if his current resources were increased to one pound of exotic beast meat per day, that would only be 60 pounds over two months.

He had already used up 20 pounds in advance over the past few days, leaving him with a quota of only 40 pounds.

"Forty pounds. Starting tomorrow, I'll switch to eating eight pounds a day. I'll finish it in five days, and then I'll go find Old Huang!"