The fervor sparked by the novel eventually faded. Even though Dilos had been invited to related interviews, press conferences, and even author signings, the buzz lasted only a little over a month before it died down.
After all, Dilos wasn't part of the entertainment industry, so the attention he received was limited.
Still, overall, Dilos was quite satisfied with what he'd gained. Honestly, he'd done much better than he'd expected—even better than the original author back on Earth in his previous life. Having a wealthy and influential friend help promote the book had certainly given him an advantage.
So Dilos had treated himself to a rare, lavish shopping spree. He got Chloe a red BMW X6M, the latest Apple desktop and laptop computers, and several expensive outfits that suited her style. He also bought himself and Uncle Gabe matching BMW X6Ms, one black and one blue. Lex's Lamborghini was nice, but it wasn't practical on most roads.
Dilos had originally wanted to buy a villa, but he wasn't an adult yet, and Gabe had no intention of using Dilos's money to buy one. So that plan had to be put on hold.
Lex hadn't been idle during this time, either. Aside from the Kryptonite in public areas, he was planning to get his hands on some privately owned meteorites as well. For that, he'd specifically sought out Chloe and gotten quite a few locations where meteorites had fallen during the meteor shower all those years ago. He was secretly buying them from families who might be living near one, going door to door.
This was definitely a good thing for Dilos. It would greatly limit the number of Metahumans in Smallville and spare him a lot of trouble and danger without him even having to do anything.
Running into people who'd become Metahumans because of meteorites every other day wasn't exactly a good thing. There were two reasons. First, their abilities varied, and not everyone had good character or self-control. Second, while Dilos had confidence in his own abilities, there were some powers he couldn't effectively deal with.
As for whether Lex would secretly study the meteorites, Dilos was sure he would. He'd do the same in Lex's place. But that didn't bother him; if anything, it came with considerable benefits.
And so Dilos fell back into his usual hectic routine. One thing was bothering him, though. Tiger-Leopard Thunder Sound was tempering his body, making him a little stronger day by day, but his Guoshu realm had hit a bottleneck.
In Guoshu, An Jin practitioners could send their internal energy out through the pores of their bodies. But at that stage, the body held little internal energy, and only a small amount could be drawn from the blood and qi. Releasing too much internal energy could cause someone to die from a loss of blood and qi.
The most basic requirement for reaching Hua Jin was being able to control every pore on the body and release internal energy through them. This was the pinnacle of An Jin. Once someone broke through to Hua Jin, they could use their internal energy more freely, because by then their training had reached the bone marrow.
They could also control the hair, muscles, skin, and organs throughout their body with ease. They could regulate their organs, circulate An Jin throughout their body, and greatly sharpen their senses. Their organs would be clean and healthy, their sinews and bones strong, and their bone marrow full. Even their fingernails would be exceptionally hard. With proper care, living to the age of 130 or 140 would be entirely possible.
Training in Guoshu required strengthening the bones, muscles, and bone marrow. The first two were easy enough to train at the Ming Jin and An Jin stages. The bone marrow, however, was the hardest of all.
The bone marrow produced blood, and internal energy was drawn from the blood and qi. When one's training reached the bone marrow, it was like replacing all the blood in the body—like the marrow-washing transformation in martial arts novels. Internal energy could then be drawn from the blood and qi far more effectively, increasing its efficiency. The energy contained in the blood and qi could also be replenished more quickly and easily from other sources.
And the best way to train to the point where one's skills reached the bone marrow was Tiger-Leopard Thunder Sound.
Dilos had reached the point where his An Jin was nearly perfected, but he didn't know how to break through to Hua Jin. He could vaguely sense that there was something he could get a grasp on, but he could never quite find the key. He could only remain stuck at this stage.
Dilos had a few guesses about his situation. Breaking through to Hua Jin required not only training the bone marrow, but also reaching a certain level of understanding of Guoshu techniques.
In his case, he probably hadn't reached that level in either area. For one thing, he'd only been deliberately tempering his bone marrow for a few months. Even the martial arts prodigies of his previous life had taken years to reach Hua Jin at the earliest.
Then there was his understanding of martial arts. His main discipline was Xingyi Quan, with some Baguazhang, Taiji, and Baji Quan mixed in. He vaguely remembered the eccentric masters who'd trained Guoshu to its peak—people like Yang the Invincible, Wang the Invincible, Li the Invincible, and Zhu the Invincible. Every one of them had mastered a wide range of martial arts and had a thorough understanding of their techniques. They could blend those arts together and make them their own, even developing their own styles.
All in all, his training in both areas was about equally mediocre. He was still some way from blending the arts together and developing his own style, let alone gaining a thorough understanding of his main discipline. Without some kind of opportunity, breaking through to Hua Jin quickly was simply impossible.
Looks like I'll just have to take it one step at a time. Once Dilos had thought it through, he stopped worrying and shifted his attention elsewhere.
"Chloe, when did you get interested in volunteering?"
Dilos looked at Chloe, who was enthusiastically pinning a volunteer badge to her collar, and felt puzzled. Lately, with Dilos becoming famous, plenty of people had been trying to get close to Chloe as his cousin. Once they learned she was editor-in-chief of the Torch School Newspaper, they'd started sending her all kinds of wild tips. As a result, Chloe had been busy with the paper almost every day.
Seeing Chloe skip the paper for once and go volunteer was a real surprise to Dilos.
Chloe hesitated, then said a little awkwardly, "I just want to do more good, that's all."
"Is it because Clark will be there, too?"
Dilos exposed her without hesitation. Whenever Chloe wore that expression, it was almost always because of Clark. Chloe did have a sense of justice and a kind heart, but it was hard to imagine her volunteering of her own accord.
"None of your business."
Chloe's cheeks reddened at his words. She glared at Dilos, annoyed that he'd seen right through her.
Dilos couldn't help rolling his eyes. "You still haven't given up?"
"Why should I?" Chloe replied matter-of-factly. "He's still single. If I gave up now, wouldn't I look like an idiot?"
"Then when you see him, stop getting so shy that you can't say anything!" Dilos scolded her irritably. What was this supposed to be? She wanted to pursue someone, but was too embarrassed to come out and say it—not even giving him a hint. Just watching her was exhausting.
"Uh..." Chloe drooped her head, looking dejected. Then she forced herself to perk up. "This time, I—I think I can tell him."
Just listen to her. She didn't even sound confident.
Dilos shook his head helplessly, inwardly sighing that his cousin was doomed to lose to Clark for the rest of her life.
Should I help Chloe win Clark over? Dilos wondered, uncertain.
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