"I... reached Bronze 1 just like that?" Yifa muttered, shocked by the strange phenonon.
Of course, she could tell it wasn’t just so illusion. It happened within her body—her Dantian—so she knew better than anyone that it was real.
In all her years of cultivation, she’d never gained three drops of Qi in an instant.
"Stabilize your Qi quickly," Xu Tao, who had been observing her from the side, advised. "Letting it run rampant could harm your foundation."
"...!"
Realizing her mistake, Yifa quickly sat down in a lotus position and ditated.
She began circulating her Qi using her cultivation thod... but imdiately noticed sothing strange. ’There’s... three Dantians?’
Thanks to the system evenly distributing the Qi, she beca aware of a third one. But that small discovery spiraled into a bigger problem.
’I can’t circulate all the Qi with my current technique!’
Suddenly gaining a third Dantian with no prior warning left her flustered. Like most cultivation thods on Earth, hers only accounted for the two traditional Dantians. She tried adapting it on the fly, passing through the Upper Dantian—but it ended in failure.
"Ugh...!"
Blood dripped from the corner of her lips as the backlash struck her body. Yet she didn’t give up. She forcefully bent her Qi paths, attempting to create a new circulation by instinct. Again, it exploded inside her, causing further internal injuries.
"Breathe slowly." At that mont, Xu Tao placed a hand on her shoulder. "I’ll give you a path to follow. Try to imitate it." He explained, then inserted a sliver of Qi into her ridians.
"...!"
Yifa instantly sensed the movent of his Qi—hot and fierce—flowing through her body in what seed like a random sequence. Going back and forth between ridians at tis. But when she tried commanding her own Qi to mimic it, she was stunned at how smoothly it moved.
One cycle... two... three... By the fourth cycle, Xu Tao finally withdrew his hand.
"Good. Keep that rhythm and let your ridians morize it." He smiled, watching as Yifa’s cultivation stabilized.
Roughly half an hour later, she exhaled a warm breath and opened her eyes.
Her cultivation was fully stabilized. She had even built a surprisingly solid foundation... But what shocked her most was the strength coursing through her limbs—noticeably greater than she rembered from when she was previously at the Bronze Rank.
’Just one internal circulation thod can make this much of a difference?’
She studied the flow of her Qi with awe.
’If I can fully master this technique and properly utilize my third Dantian... then even in the real world, this thod could greatly benefit my cultivation!’
In that single mont, her view of Xu Tao shifted. The slight suspicion she once held turned into admiration—if not outright reverence. Though, if one looked closely, a faint glint of greed flickered in her eyes.
"Are you done?"
Noticing she had stopped ditating, Xu Tao glanced back. He checked her Qi flow and was genuinely impressed by how stable it had beco in such a short ti using a brand-new thod.
"Y-Yes, Mr. Master... No, Master Tao..."
With a hint of embarrassnt, she cupped her fists and bowed respectfully for the first ti.
Although Xu Tao had only taught her a single thing, Yifa had gained so much from it that she now saw him as her true master.
Despite reaching the Platinum Rank in her original cultivation, she’d never had a proper teacher. Her elental affinity was too rare for anyone to guide her. Aside from basic techniques available to the public, she never received any personal instruction.
Everything she knew was self-taught—or cobbled together from observing her peers.
She wasn’t so gold-spoon cultivator born into prestige. No—she was a true cultivator built from scratch, relying solely on her talent and grit.
"No need for such formality." Xu Tao smiled, then pointed behind him with his thumb. "Instead, can you stab these things with a sword? I caught them so you could level up quickly."
"Huh?"
Startled, Yifa stood and looked behind him... and imdiately broke into goosebumps.
"Hiiih~!!!"
Behind Xu Tao were... squirming, grotesque bugs.
No—upon closer inspection, she realized they were giant scorpions. Or at least, they used to be.
Their pincers, all eight legs, and stinger tails had been neatly chopped off at the first joint. Even their fangs were sliced away, leaving the Death Stingers completely harmless—like massive, twitching ticks.
They couldn’t move. Couldn’t fight. They just wriggled.
"What’s wrong?" Xu Tao asked, extending a hand with a brand-new sword. "Go for the eyes—they should be soft enough, even for a level 1."
"M-M-...?"
Yifa glanced back and forth between the sword and the dismbered monsters.
She could tell from Xu Tao’s expression that he ant well. He was offering her the perfect opportunity to level up.
Though disgusted by the sight before her, she rembered the countless lives she had taken to reach her current level. This much gore shouldn’t be affecting her! Steeling herself, she stepped forward and accepted the sword.
With careful steps, she approached one of the twitching remains of a once-proud Death Stinger.
As she neared, a label appeared above its head—confirming that this bug-like creature was indeed a level 250 Death Stinger.
With all its limbs severed, its eye sat conveniently at her sword’s height.
"Kuh...! Yaaah!"
With a loud shout, she thrust her blade forward, putting all her weight behind the strike.
The sword’s tip slid smoothly into the monster’s eye. Green fluid burst out—thick like blood. By sheer luck, she angled the stab perfectly, piercing its brain and killing it instantly.
SCREEECH!
The Death Stinger let out a hideous death cry before its body rapidly disintegrated into shimring light, replaced by a large, golden crate.
"I-I did it...!" Yifa cheered, only for her body to jolt monts later.
Though Xu Tao couldn’t see it, she was likely being flooded by notifications—Level Ups, kill logs, loot ssages... all at once.
"...Huh?"
But Xu Tao’s attention was fixed elsewhere—on the loot box itself.
There was sothing strange about it.
It wasn’t like the others. This one shone with a brilliant golden hue—sothing he hadn’t seen before.
"I..." Yifa exclaid again, unaware of his distraction. "I’ve reached level 65 in one go, Master Tao!"
"Wait a second." He raised his hand, halting her excitent. "Can you see the reward ssage? Read it out loud for ."
"Huh? O-Okay..."
Still a little unsure, Yifa opened the log and searched for the relevant entry.
[Calculating Level Difference... 249 levels. Granting Experience Points.]
[You have defeated an impossible-to-defeat enemy at your level! Rewards will be adjusted by 24900%.]
[Reward Granted: 1 Golden Large Loot Box, 10,000 System Points, 5,000 Gold]
"...An upgraded reward, huh?" Xu Tao muttered, rubbing his chin thoughtfully.
His mind began churning, considering the implications—only to shake his head shortly after.
"First, let’s just open it and see what’s inside."
Little did he know... another surprise was waiting.
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