Hunger

Dalvin snapped out of the trance and felt his expression sour. He knew that he had been daydreaming, but the content felt so real and, most importantly, it hit too close to home. Even as he sat down now, he felt ashamed and disgraceful for taking the easy way out.

However, he could no longer justify it because the questions the silhouette had asked him… no, that he had asked himself, were valid. This was just the entry level of entry levels; the difficulty did not get easier than this.

Yet, even at the easiest difficulty, he still could not do it? Then if the difficulty increased later - which it definitely would - how would he cross that hurdle then?

Dalvin hesitated for a bit and sighed. He eventually pushed himself up from his sitting position and walked up to that section of the wall that was mostly unharmed and entered a strong and steady stance as portrayed in the martial arts manual.

With a grunt, he struck the wall at full force and grimaced deeply when he felt the pain, but immediately followed up with another punch from his other arm at full force. The first few times were filled with agony, but it did decrease a bit later as Dalvin's knuckles became more and more numb to the pain.

He was squeezing his teeth and almost holding his breath, his eyes closed to think about other things to distract from the pain while he hammered the wall at full force. It was only after his tenth consecutive punch that Dalvin began to feel a stirring in his body, starting from his fist and moving to the other parts slowly.

Immediately, he became excited because he knew that he had activated his blood energy and that every punch from here would continue to temper his skin slowly but surely. As such, he entered the rhythm and did not care about the pain much anymore.

In fact, much like going to the gym, after the first few days of pain, the rest was not so bad. One would even find themselves developing a masochist tendency for the pain of physical exertion, gaining joy from it.

Dalvin was currently in this state. He was going at it with no hesitation and he couldn't help but even wonder why he had hesitated in the first place? Sure it hurt, but it was not debilitating nor was it crippling, so what was his whining all about?

However, Dalvin was currently looking at the problem from the other side of the shore. Crossing a turbulent river was scary if the bridge was aged and shaky when you were on the starting side, but after you bit the bullet and crossed it safely, you would feel your earlier fear was foolish.

Dalvin continued to punch until he suddenly felt his body become weak, and he could not lift his hand anymore. His face changed when he wondered what was wrong until his entire body roared with discomfort and his stomach made a loud sound.

Suddenly, he understood; He was out of energy!

Unlike immortal cultivators whose energy requirements were supplied for free by heaven and earth, martial artists supplied the energy for their practice from their own bodies, namely from the nutrition from food they consumed.

It was even there in the Earthquake Fist, warning him not to practice on an empty stomach and to eat food heavy with meat, fish, and eggs in order to see the best progress. There was no mention of pills because they were likely expensive and not easy to make, so not everyone could just rely on them 24/7 to practice.

Dalvin had eaten before he was sucked into this place, and that was honestly what had sustained him until now. However, after burning the little energy he had in this short practice, he was now famished and in a bit of trouble.

Unfortunately, pills could not be substituted for food. If he swallowed xueqi pills, he would be like a sleepy person drinking caffeine to stay awake. Sure, it would keep you active and free from fatigue for a few hours - or its duration - but the problem you tried to avoid by taking it would come back in full force right after.

Dalvin's stomach began to rumble, and he clutched it with a troubled expression. It was not even midnight yet, and he had to wait for 3.00 pm in the afternoon to return to earth, around 15 hours in total!

In the end, he could only remember the left path of the junction where he had been killed by something obscure. In the courtyard there, he had seen three doors, and one of them was labeled 'Cooking and Dining Area'.

Dalvin could only hope his answer would be found there because he was out of options. If he foolishly swallowed all the pills he had, it would not be enough to last even 3 hours, much less 15.

Of course, he was not going to go there himself despite his discomfort. He immediately opened his character screen to see how much blood qi he had gained and whether his sacrifice was worth it.

[Martial Arts Realm: Skin Tempering Realm (Early)

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

Blood Qi: 3/200 (Unable to Breakthrough)]

Dalvin was speechless. All of that for three measly points? He immediately regretted not using the xueqi pill right away and trying to cheapen out by practicing without using it so he could save it for higher levels of Skin Tempering.

"System begin simulation," he could only command with a sigh.

[10.25 pm. You had made a mistake while practicing and were now absolutely famished. You knew that without food in a short period of time, your situation would greatly deteriorate though you might not die.]

[10.26 pm. You broke the bars of your cell and walked out, moving rapidly towards the destination you had in mind.]

[10.27 pm. Once again at the bend you turn left. Before you do so, you instinctively glance right and saw that something seemed to have changed at the hallway that was visible before was now covered in darkness, like a black maw that swallowed up all light.]

[10.27 pm. You shivered with fear and immediately stopped looking, scurrying down the hallway towards the courtyard door. This was just as well, as a set of white teeth that were shaped like sharpened canines appeared in the void and smiled at you silently.]

[10.28 pm. You reach the door to the courtyard and stopped with your hand on the handle. You took in a deep breath and remembered where the door you where looking for was. You then opened the door and sprinted crazily towards your target.]

[10.28 pm. You reached the door to the Cooking and Dining Area and threw it open before rushing in and closing the door behind you. A breeze passed by you, making you feel as if you had narrowly dodged something.]

[10.29 pm. In fact, you could hear a low wail that could be the sound of whistling or of a ceramic plate being scraped behind the door. You were sure that it was the sound of the being that captured you the last time, and even without a translator, you could tell from the tone of its wail that it was filled with regret and hatred that it had failed to capture a good meal in time.]