A Setting That Was Reasonable in a Somewhat Unreasonable Way

"Morning already?" Lu Xingshi opened his eyes, ending his cultivation.

Last night had been a false alarm. The other party had not discovered him. They had searched during the first half of the night, then returned to Floating Goose Town cursing and muttering during the latter half.

Nothing as melodramatic as being discovered had happened.

All he could say was that Martial Arts Game Characters truly had no scent.

Over the course of one night, he had cultivated both the "Breathing Exercise" and the "Qi Guiding Art" to the third layer of perfection. Their proficiency had also become MAX, leaving no room for further advancement.

The proficiency needed to rise from the first layer to the second was 9. It should originally have been 10, but the Mental Fortitude attribute's extended trait, Unyielding Perseverance, had reduced it by 10%.

As for advancing from the second layer to the third, it only required 18 points. That was right, it had doubled; originally, it should have required 20 points.

Altogether, that was only fifty-four repetitions. At first, each round had taken roughly three minutes, so it could have been completed in nearly three hours. Now, it was even faster.

He suspected the proficiency requirements were so low because his Three-Dimensional Attributes were high. If someone with lower attributes cultivated them instead, the required repetitions and cultivation time certainly would not be so short.

More importantly was the learning itself. He learned a technique and immediately reached the first layer. Under normal circumstances, that should have been impossible.

He suspected there should have been a level before that, but because his Three-Dimensional Attributes were too high and the two techniques were too simple and easy to understand, it had been skipped outright.

"If it were a complete Peerless Genius with all Three-Dimensional Attributes at 100 points, these two techniques might reach the third layer of perfection the moment they were learned. No, they might manage it with only 20 points." Lu Xingshi guessed.

After reaching the third layer of perfection, the subsequent effects of both techniques had also been unlocked.

"I wonder what effects these attributes have. They're all just +1."

In Lu Xingshi's eyes, those attribute increases were truly too small.

Especially since they had no growth potential. Logically speaking, he had already reached perfection, yet there had not been the slightest change. It was no different from a fixed template.

Still, it did not matter. His Inner Force had reached 21 points. Just as he had imagined, while Inner Force was below 10 points, cultivating either technique once granted 1 point.

But once he passed the 10-point threshold, it took ten repetitions to gain 1 point.

After 20 points, it took a hundred repetitions. Fortunately, both of his techniques had reached perfection, making his cultivation faster. That was the only reason he had barely reached 21 points. He also had to thank his formidable aptitude; otherwise, even surpassing 10 points would likely have been difficult.

Now it was even worse. A hundred repetitions no longer increased it by 1 point. He did not know exactly how many repetitions it would take for it to rise.

That meant he had to switch to better techniques.

"It's just that cultivation consumes Health Points. I can't really keep this up." Lu Xingshi had also noticed that cultivating reduced his Health Points.

At first, the reduction had not been significant, but later, it became increasingly outrageous.

That made him think of martial artists training until their bodies were depleted.

This Game Villager's Health Points were now down to only 75%. He began considering how to restore them.

He had a way to restore them, of course. He could simply modify them directly.

"If the body is depleted, eating should solve it, right?" Lu Xingshi thought of this.

Then he took out a pile of food from the Game Inventory. It was a lavish Three Dishes and a Soup, which he immediately stuffed into his mouth.

After he ate, his Health Points indeed began to recover.

The food itself had no attributes. Aside from tasting good, it could only be sold. There were quality distinctions, though. The higher the quality, the better it tasted, and the higher its selling price.

Because Lu Xingshi had modified all of the management skills for the Game Villagers to max level, every product they produced and every dish they made was Max Quality, carrying the highest possible selling price.

Thus, the quality after consumption was also at its highest, and the benefits gained were naturally substantial.

"Well, damn. So you don't need to digest it? You just absorb it directly." Lu Xingshi grumbled.

After finishing the Three Dishes and a Soup, his Health Points recovered to 77%. Clearly, it was not enough.

"Ordinary food can't meet a martial artist's needs, so what about meat?" Lu Xingshi knew that martial arts training definitely required meat. Otherwise, where would the strength come from?

So this time, instead of Three Dishes and a Soup, he went straight for steamed buns, roasted whole lamb, fruit juice, and the like.

After wreaking havoc on the food for a while, his Health Points finally recovered.

"As expected, cheats are the foremost essential." Lu Xingshi did not feel much about it. He was not human, after all.

He could eat so much without feeling full at all.

"Logically, there should be corresponding attributes to represent this, like a stamina bar or vitality value. But because it's a half-finished product, it directly deducts my Health Points. Tell me, is that reasonable or unreasonable..."

"Wait, does that mean I won't suffer from insufficient stamina, but once I get tired, it'll still deduct my Health Points?" Lu Xingshi realized it. When he had sprinted at full speed before, he had thought he possessed infinite stamina. Turns out, once he reached a certain limit, it began consuming Health Points.

His Health Points had not been consumed before because his attributes were high and he had not yet reached the point of expenditure. But once he started practicing martial arts, the consumption became substantial.

That was why he needed to consume enough nutrients to support it.

"A half-finished product is like Semi-Datafication. It hasn't been fully datafied. It has its advantages and disadvantages."

"Once I'm powerful enough, I'll dissect this Martial Arts Game Character and take a look at its internal structure."

Lu Xingshi truly was curious, but he certainly could not do that now. It was not fully datafied, only Semi-Datafication. If he really looked inside, it would kill the Martial Arts Game Character.

If a vital area suffered severe damage, such as a ruptured heart or a shattered skull, its Health Points would instantly drop to zero and it would die.

"Eh, doesn't that mean Martial Arts Game Characters actually have corresponding physiological structures?" Lu Xingshi made the connection.

While he was thinking, he heard rustling sounds coming from the Official Road again.

After observing carefully, it seemed to be a merchant caravan. His thoughts immediately stirred.

"I'll find a way to blend in and see if I can follow them into the County Town."

Floating Goose Town was too small. The information Lu Xingshi had gathered was truly limited. He could not even get a clear answer about which great sects existed in the world. Some people said this, while others said that.

If he wanted to learn more, he could only inquire in the County Town.

Only a large place could offer enough sources of information. Small places had little movement of people and relatively closed-off news. Finding what he needed would naturally be far more difficult.