As it turned out, not every wish triggered an achievement quest. Li Shu had thought he'd figured out how the system worked, so this came as a bit of a disappointment.
Feeling the nine achievement points he'd just earned, Li Shu thought for a moment and decided to use them to upgrade his Dinosaur Leg.
"Too bad I've used up the [Super Blessing Potion]. Let's see what the [Blessing Potion] does."
[Blessing Potion]: Slightly increases your luck for one minute.
"I wonder if the effects stack?" Looking at the nine bottles of Blessing Potion in his [Dimensional Storage Space], Li Shu found himself entertaining a bold idea.
Regardless, he decided to give it a try. He only had enough achievement points for one upgrade.
Li Shu acted decisively, immediately putting his plan into action. He downed three bottles of [Blessing Potion] in one go.
"Upgrade [Never-ending Dinosaur Leg-LV3]!"
"Upgrading..."
Just as Li Shu had guessed, this upgrade cost eight achievement points. By that logic, the next one would probably cost sixteen.
"Upgrade successful. Congratulations, you have obtained [Never-ending Dinosaur Leg-LV4]!"
"[Never-ending Dinosaur Leg-LV4]: A regenerative edible weapon. Can be equipped on the leg. Gives off an enticing meaty aroma. Increases combat power by 5% when equipped!"
It worked! Li Shu jumped up in delight.
He couldn't tell whether the Blessing Potion's effects had actually stacked, but it undoubtedly bolstered his confidence in succeeding, so it had been well worth it.
As the saying went, if you believed, it was real; if you didn't, it wasn't. Once he had more to spare, he planned to ask the system whether the effects could stack.
[Combat Power: 78.75]
Seeing his combat power rise slightly, Li Shu was satisfied. At this stage, it was already quite an improvement.
On top of that, upgrading the Dinosaur Leg to LV4 had unlocked a new attribute: it gave off an enticing meaty aroma.
That was an excellent equipment skill, especially when fighting a glutton like Goku. Li Shu could already picture what would happen, and he couldn't help letting out a mischievous chuckle.
After all those upgrades, Li Shu felt a lot more confident about the quest to defeat Goku head-on.
Li Shu returned to the competitors' waiting area and continued watching Goku's match.
As soon as he arrived, he saw Nam attacking Goku with a move that came crashing down from above: Sky Cross Slash!
Goku... Hm?
[Combat Power: 83]
"No way." Li Shu froze. Goku's combat power had actually increased during the fight! That would make his quest even harder.
The result infuriated Li Shu. He now understood all too well what people meant when they said comparing yourself to others could make you miserable.
He'd worked so hard grinding achievements, nervously gambling on the odds when he upgraded, and nearly given himself a heart attack—all to gain a measly 3.75 points of combat power.
Meanwhile, Goku had simply taken a beating and gained three points of combat power.
"Sure enough, fear of pain is the biggest obstacle to the [Saiyan Bloodline]!" Though Li Shu felt a little indignant, he could understand it. If he just toughened up and took a few more hits, he wouldn't be that far behind Goku.
Seeing Goku in pain, Li Shu sucked in a breath. He immediately felt a little better. It really did look painful.
He'd had more than enough pain to last him a lifetime. Unless absolutely necessary, Li Shu would never willingly take a beating.
Watching the match, Li Shu couldn't help admiring Goku. Nam's combat power was only 45, and Goku could easily have taken him out in one blow. Instead, Goku held himself back, keeping his strength on par with Nam's so he could use the fight to hone his skills.
Again and again, he pushed Nam to his limits, forcing him to bring out even more powerful moves.
With that kind of martial arts spirit, Li Shu knew he couldn't compare. He couldn't do it.
If he were in Goku's place, he'd have taken Nam out in one blow. You want to hit me? Keep dreaming.
Once Nam had used up all his moves and Goku no longer felt pressured, Goku defeated his opponent in one decisive move and advanced to the final!
Seeing the dejection on Nam's face, Li Shu knew his chance had come. He stopped Nam as he was leaving to head home.
"Mr. Nam, I'm willing to help your hometown solve its water shortage." Li Shu spoke plainly as Nam looked at him in confusion.
He knew Nam came from a poor, isolated tribe with scarce water resources. People died of thirst every day, and life there was extremely hard.
Nam's wish was to win the prize money from the World Martial Arts Tournament and improve the water supply in his hometown.
Nam, who had been feeling down just moments before, immediately became excited. "Really? But why would you do that? Is there anything I can do for you in return?"
Everyone had a compassionate side. Seeing the simple, earnest Nam so moved and excited, Li Shu couldn't bring himself to stand by and do nothing. Even if it didn't trigger an achievement quest or earn him any rewards, he was still willing to help Nam.
What seemed like an insurmountable problem to Nam would take no more than a simple gesture from Li Shu. Why not help?
"The prize for winning the World Martial Arts Tournament is only a million, so I'll give you ten million!" Li Shu took out a Capsule and said, "The money's inside. You can use some of it to buy more Capsules and fill them with enough water to tide you over. Then use what's left to solve your hometown's water problem."
Nam took the Capsule in shock and asked cautiously, "Could you tell me where I can buy water?"
"Buy water? What water?" Li Shu said, at a loss. "See that well over there? Draw as much as you want. It's free."
"What?!" Nam's jaw dropped when he heard that.
"Mr. Nam, West City has plenty of water, so it's free. You don't have to pay for it."
Just then, Master Roshi appeared from who knew where and handed Nam another Capsule. "I have one too. Take back plenty of water."
Looking at the two benefactors before him, Nam was overwhelmed with gratitude and thanked them profusely.
Li Shu wasn't surprised to see Master Roshi. In the original story, Master Roshi had been the one to help Nam.
"Is there anything I can do for you?" Nam felt he could never repay their kindness, and insisted on doing something to help.
Li Shu and Master Roshi were helpless. After a great deal of persuasion, they finally managed to send Nam on his way.
"Congratulations, you have earned the achievement 'Nam's Wish.' Reward: one 500 ml bottle of [Ultra Divine Water], achievement points +2!"
"[Ultra Divine Water]: Uses the power of deadly poison to unlock a person's potential. Recommended for those with pure hearts. Endure it, and you'll take off on the spot. Fail, and you'll be memorialized on the spot."
Ultra Divine Water?
The moment he heard what he'd won, Li Shu was stunned. He wouldn't drink that stuff if it killed him.
In the original story, even someone as pure-hearted as Son Goku had been poisoned so badly that he was in agony, and it had left him with the roots of the Heart Virus.
What about him? Those 5,000 terabytes of study materials he couldn't get out of his head—after living in the internet age in his previous life and being subjected to the deluge of big data, was he still pure-hearted?
In the era he'd lived in during his previous life, anyone pure-hearted enough probably qualified as an endangered species in need of government protection.
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