Chapter 9: Chapter 9: Flesh and Blood Mutation
Evening fell, and the moon hung among the treetops.
A cool breeze blew. Within the dormitory complex, Fang Can’s figure danced unceasingly in the moonlight.
He was currently practicing the Tiger’s Hunger Fist Skill, unhurriedly following the progress bar on his panel.
If his "From Rock Bottom" talent gave him an aptitude that surpassed the world, then the existence of the panel pointed him down a royal road to the ultimate peak.
For some reason, Fang Can found that his stamina recovered with abnormal speed after he transmigrated.
His muscles, once pushed to the brink of soreness from his training, would mostly recover within two hours.
But this came with a massive increase in his appetite. Just now in the cafeteria, he had single-handedly devoured two large bowls of rice along with three plates of stir-fried pork and green beans.
Thankfully, the Tiger Slaughter Sect provided meals. Otherwise, the two taels of silver he had left wouldn’t even last him a month.
As for the reason behind his rapid stamina recovery, he could only attribute it to his second talent, [Indomitable], which increased his recovery speed the lower his health was.
Back in his dorm, now able to see the progress bar, Fang Can began practicing his fist techniques again.
Reading the description of "visualization and manifestation" in the info panel, Fang Can guessed this was the fundamental principle of this world’s mind-over-matter nature.
It used a living creature’s body as a workbench and their mind and stamina as consumables to perform a sort of human transmutation.
The purer and more advanced the mind, the less time and energy it required. If you weren’t crazy, if you didn’t go to extremes, you’d never have a chance to get ahead.
However, unlike before, now that he was out of his "overclocked" state, Fang Can’s progress bar was increasing no faster than a file downloading from the cloud.
Goddammit. Even though Fang Can was putting all his effort into visualizing and training, after two hours, the progress had barely budged by a total of 0.5%.
In Fang Can’s eyes, the Eighty-Eight Tiger Slaughter Grotto Heavens Cultivation Technique in the info panel was like a manipulative goddess who was only interested in rich suitors.
When he was a peerless genius, his spirit and dreams were more precious than gold, and he could almost win her over in just an hour.
But now that he was out of his overclocked state, with his average aptitude, his will and dreams were worth less than the mud at the bottom of a river.
As a normal person, you couldn’t even dream of touching her pinky finger without groveling for at least a month.
And as for actually getting to first base? That would cost extra.
’Has even cultivation become this materialistic?’ Fang Can thought, looking helplessly at the 89.7% on his progress bar.
At this rate, filling the remaining 10% would take at least two or three days of hard labor.
’Looks like I need to show this goddess something drastic. Superpower, let’s do this!’
With that thought, Fang Can’s right fist shot toward the wall without warning.
THUD.
With a dull thud, Fang Can felt the skin on his knuckles must have already turned black and blue.
And then, with his body now injured—a negative status effect—he looked at his panel, hoping for the payoff.
——Estimated time to completion: 18 hours, 32 minutes——
’It worked, just as I thought. One punch shortened the time by almost two hours.’
Seeing the result, Fang Can broke into a satisfied smile. ’So, come on out, my peerless aptitude! From Rock Bottom, activate!’
As the thought crossed his mind, Fang Can began to slam both his fists hard and repeatedly against the cold stone wall.
With each consecutive punch, he felt his world-shocking intellect begin to soar, and the time on his panel shortened even further.
Estimated time to manifestation: 18h 32m → 17h 35m → 16h 13m → 15h...
’Let’s stop here for now. A good chance to test the healing effect of Talent 2.’
Fang Can stopped punching. By now, his fists were dripping with blood from the repeated impacts.
The time on his panel had been reduced to 3 hours and 32 minutes.
Compared to the danger posed by taking arsenic, this kind of flesh wound was hardly in the same league.
’But three hours is good enough.’ Fang Can narrowed his eyes, the corners of his mouth curling up slightly. Facing the high-hanging moon, he began to practice his fist techniques, one strike at a time.
In this state, the progress bar advanced slowly and steadily toward 100%.
90% → 91% → 92%...
Time passed. Finally, four hours later, surrounded by darkness, Fang Can saw his progress bar roll over to 100%.
Info Panel:
You have successfully manifested the Cultivation Technique: "Eighty-Eight Tiger Slaughter Grotto Heavens"
...
In that instant, Fang Can felt a distinct flow of heat—something far too real to be mere fantasy—surge forth from the acupoint over his heart.
Sensing this extraordinary change, he continued performing the movements of the Tiger’s Hunger Fist Skill, starting over from the very first form.
Sure enough, as his movements changed, the warm current followed the guidance of his mind, surging toward one acupoint after another.
Wherever it went, the heat began to spread out, strengthening the muscles and bones around the acupoints.
Fang Can felt his body temperature rise wherever the warm energy flowed. Though he was outdoors on a cold night, it felt as if a bonfire had been lit inside him.
By the time he finished one repetition, the warm current was completely spent, and Fang Can was drenched in sweat, looking as if he’d just been fished out of water.
’So this is the sensation of qi?’
Fang Can’s eyes shone brightly, as if he had discovered a new world.
It had taken him less than a day to generate a sense of qi and circulate it for one full cycle.
And on his panel, the info column updated accordingly.
Info Panel:
You have completed one full practice of "Eighty-Eight Tiger Slaughter Grotto Heavens". EXP +3
Eighty-Eight Tiger Slaughter Grotto Heavens Level 1: (3/1000)
Flesh Transformation: 0.0002%
...
’Flesh Transformation? Could this be the first Realm of the Martial Dao that Yang Lie mentioned, [Shedding the Mortal Body]?’
Fang Can wiped the fine beads of sweat from his forehead. If one complete practice of the Tiger’s Hunger Fist Skill only yielded this much progress, he would need to perform it 500,000 times to reach 100%.
’At three minutes per repetition, even if I practiced for a full eight hours every day, it would still take ten years to finish.’
Fang Can shook his head. That was far too slow. There had to be other ways to speed it up, like raising the level of the Cultivation Technique, which should also accelerate his training speed.
Fang Can gently clutched his stomach. The hours of continuous punching, even at an unhurried pace, had consumed a huge amount of his stamina. The feeling was even more pronounced after he had truly completed the fist technique for the first time.
’I’m turning into a bottomless pit. How many meals a day do I need?’ Fang Can muttered, turning back to his room to pull out a few flatbreads he had swiped from the cafeteria.
Squatting on the threshold of his doorway, Fang Can gnawed at the flatbread in his hand by the light of the moon.
After the simple meal filled his stomach, he got up and continued to circulate the Cultivation Technique, tirelessly enjoying the sensation of qi from his acupoints flowing through his entire body.
After practicing a dozen more times, Fang Can checked the time and went back inside to sleep.
After all, he had morning classes in the training hall tomorrow. There would be plenty of time to practice his fist techniques in the future. He shouldn’t worry about short-term gains and losses, but instead prepare for a long-term battle.
Eighty-Eight Tiger Slaughter Grotto Heavens Level 1: (74/1000)
Flesh Transformation: 0.0045%
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