Skin Tempering Realm

Dalvin began to work out the moment he rested from his fatigued state after 10 minutes. While he was indeed bored, he was not impatient nor as bothered as the simulation made him sound.

This made him wonder if he could influence himself in the situation or if the simulated self just mimicked his personality and memories but was a fundamentally different consciousness?

Because if we were being frank, some of the choices his simulated self had taken were not ones he himself would take. However, he had the advantage of foresight, so it was easy to say this, much like a person backseat gaming/driving.

He got up and began working out by trying to perform all nine foundational moves at once. In the beginning, he was unfamiliar with the moves, so the reason he did 3 each time was to familiarize himself with them; it was not that he did each one once.

Now that he had some familiarity with them, he went through all nine with ease, completing one cycle. He paused, expecting his blood energy to surge through his body slightly, enough to show that he was making progress towards Skin Tempering, but nothing happened.

Dalvin wanted to believe that it was because he had bad talent, but he knew that it was 100% because of the system. It was true to its word for sure, so Dalvin temporarily put aside all the other thoughts of being clever that had sprung up spontaneously and decided to be honest.

He opened the character screen to check his current values.

[Name: Dalvin

Race: Human

Physique: Spacetime Immortal Body (10% Awakened)

Age: 21

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Martial Arts Realm: Mortal (Foundation)

Martial Arts Technique: Earthquake Fist (Low-grade Human Rank)

Blood Qi: 100/100 (Breakthrough Available!)

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Cultivation Realm: Mortal (None)

Cultivation Mantra: None

Cultivation Base: 0/100 (Unable to Breakthrough)

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Power: 0.7

Qi: 0.5

Fortitude: 0.6

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Bloodline energy: 100%. (Next 1% in 00:00:00)

…]

Dalvin frowned. He had thought with there being a maximum value, he could accumulate over the value. If he gained 30 blood qi with each practice, then he should currently have 120 out of 100, not the exact amount needed.

Alternatively, it could be that he only gained 10 blood qi this time and he could actually continue to accumulate. However, to verify that, he would have to pop another pill in order to gain enough energy to do the entire exercise because even with his increased ability, he was not sure he could perform those crazy and demanding movements on his own.

Dalvin decided against experimenting. He had to prioritize his focus in this situation where every path led to death, and he still was not exactly sure that staying in one place was completely safe, especially with Feng Qi's recount of how there would be a wave of qi deviation for all cultivators every 24 hours at midnight.

He resolutely chose to breakthrough on the spot.

Immediately, Dalvin's face changed as he felt his body explode with heat. His energy body, despite his caramel skin, began to surge with a red glow as his blood churned furiously in his body as if it was being pumped by a turbo machine.

The sensation was slightly painful and slightly pleasurable, but mostly just discomfiting and intense. Dalvin remained in this state for a significant period of time, at least, that's what it felt like to him.

When the breakthrough came to an end, his blood surged back into its proper channels and resumed its normal behavior, but Dalvin felt as if he would never be the same. He stood upright and began to check his body, but he was immediately surprised by what he saw.

His time in the gym had reduced his body fat by a good amount, but his paunch and chubby arms and legs were still noticeable. However, their chubbiness had significantly reduced on all sides, making him become almost half as slim in an instant.

He did not gain any muscles nor did his body become defined, but he already looked like a healthy young man who kept himself well and watched his weight. He no longer looked like someone who overindulged and stayed at home most of the day.

Beyond that was the strength, the sheer strength!

Dalvin clutched his fists and squeezed, feeling like he could crush steel in his palms, but this was likely just an illusion brought about by his sudden explosion in power. He walked up to the edge of his cell and gently grabbed one part of the bar.

With a single arm, he easily bent it to one side until it was able to no longer move lest it snapped. He then did the same with another bar with his left hand, noting that the balance of strength in both arms was now equal though he was right-handed.

Dalvin stepped back and glanced at his body again. In the end, he couldn't stop the surge of dopamine that coursed through his body as he began to laugh lightly, feeling true and genuine glee at his current state.

How many times? How many times had he watched movies, anime, and read books, desperately wishing he could achieve the power of the characters within but feeling depressed because reality would never give him that chance?

And now? Now he had it. It was not enough to break mountains and split seas as they say, but it was enough to distinguish him from even the world's strongest man on earth.

And this was just the beginning. He was only at the entry point of the lowest realm in martial arts, the Skin Tempering Realm. Putting aside how many other realms existed apart from this one in the Martial Arts discipline, there was also the path of Immortal Cultivation.

If Martial Arts was linear growth with each stage - from 1 to 2 to 3 - then Immortal Cultivation was exponential growth!

Dalvin could only try to imagine the kind of power he would possess at those levels, as the current him probably could not even fathom what it would be like. Just this small breakthrough had caused him to feel reborn.

Dalvin calmed himself down and opened his character screen. It was time to check the various changes as well as how much it would cost him to breakthrough to the stage after this one.

[Name: Dalvin

Race: Human

Physique: Spacetime Immortal Body (10% Awakened)

Age: 21

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Martial Arts Realm: Skin Tempering Realm (Early)

Martial Arts Technique: Earthquake Fist (Low-grade Human Rank)

Blood Qi: 0/200 (Unable to Breakthrough)

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Cultivation Realm: Mortal (None)

Cultivation Mantra: None

Cultivation Base: 0/100 (Unable to Breakthrough)

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Power: 10.7

Qi: 10.5

Fortitude: 10.6

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Bloodline energy: 100%. (Next 1% in 00:00:00)

…]

An increase in 10 for all attributes! How frightening! Dalvin was deeply moved by this and understood why he felt so powerful now and especially why he could bend metal - even rotting metal - with one hand with ease.

He was thoroughly motivated and decided to consult the Earthquake Fist's manual and check the training regimen for the Skin Tempering Realm as well as what would be needed to supplement it.

When he looked through, he was surprised to see that the xueqi pill could still be used for this realm! That was certainly a godsend since he had only used half of the entire bottle so far.