Gua jolted awake. Even after he opened his eyes, the sensation lingered, a faint swelling at the back of his head.
It looked like the First Gate had opened.
That had happened... way too fast...
In a rather foul mood, Gua checked himself over.
Sure enough, just as he had expected, the acupoint was tiny...
All he could do was pull a miserable face and say, "Small things are cute too."
But in reality, it wasn't cute at all!
The First Gate, the Opening Gate, was essentially the most crucial part of the Eight Gates Released Formation. It removed the brain's restrictions on the body's chakra, allowing the user to push their physical energy consumption beyond its limits and thereby increase their speed and strength.
Opening this gate marked the true first step into the Eight Gates Released Formation.
But if this acupoint was too small, the amount of the body's restrictions you could release would be smaller, and so would the boost...
Since things had already come to this,
he might as well test it.
Gua climbed out of bed and began practicing right there in his room.
He struck a dramatic Ultraman transformation pose and barked,
"Eight Gates Released Formation, First Gate, open!"
In an instant,
a surge of energy was unlocked at the back of his head. A tiny bit of chakra from that area rapidly spread throughout his body, and his body's restrictions began to lift...
That's it?
Gua assessed his condition. There was an improvement, but... not much.
He felt the top of his head. No bulging veins or anything. He probably hadn't reached the later stages yet; that was when the veins would bulge.
He looked at his fist,
then aimed it at his tatami.
Bang!
He punched straight through the tatami.
Gua leaned