Chapter 32: Talent: Dragon Essence, Tiger Vigor (Requesting Follow Reads)

“Ah!!”

Lin Qi’s eyes bulged out in sudden shock, intense pain surging through his body.

His exhausted body convulsed, muscles tightening and shifting—his hands and legs instantly cramped.

“Sss~”

The sudden, searing pain twisted his face; he gasped sharply.

“Why is it this painful? After the first time, every 1% increase in fusion didn’t hurt this much?”

Lin Qi wondered inwardly—he thought he’d grown accustomed to the pain of fusion increases.

He hadn’t expected it: 5% was clearly a threshold, a massive transformation that intensified the pain.

Fortunately, he’d prepared in advance—he’d taken a towel from the bed and bit down on it, silently enduring the agony.

“Crack~”

“Mmmh~”

Lin Qi’s arms bulged with veins, sweat poured down him, his eyes turned bloodshot, teeth clenched tightly on the towel.

Pain—so excruciatingly painful!

Every muscle in his body tore, tendons snapped, even his bones cracked.

All of it happened simultaneously, piling up relentlessly.

Worse still, his internal organs were undergoing transformation—as if an invisible scalpel was peeling him layer by layer.

The barrage of pain made Lin Qi feel death would be preferable.

“Sss~”

His body seemed to undergo the entire process of shattering and remolding—a torment no human should endure.

Fortunately, the agony lasted less than half an hour before ending.

“Huh~”

Lin Qi lay on the floor, too drained to move, staring silently at the ceiling, marveling at how good it was to be alive.

His body was coated in sticky sweat; the floor was soaked, reeking of foul odor.

After a moment, he rose from the floor, gripped by intense hunger and thirst—he immediately opened his backpack and pulled out box after box of Blood-Energy Capsules.

He swallowed them one after another, then drank a sports drink.

Still not enough—he opened a drawer and ate some compressed biscuits.

The hunger and thirst subsided; Lin Qi stepped out of his room and entered the bathroom to undress and wash up.

In the bathroom mirror, he saw a thick layer of black grime clinging to his skin.

“I thought I’d already metabolized most of the waste in my body—turns out there’s still so much.”

“Splash splash~~”

Hot water washed away the dirt, revealing the skin beneath.

“My skin’s getting whiter!”

Lin Qi touched his skin—it was bright and pale, yet possessed extraordinary resilience.

“My body proportions improved too—my skeleton’s grown larger.”

Lin Qi carefully examined his body; other changes were minor, but the most obvious was that his skeleton had grown significantly larger.

This made him appear slimmer, his posture upright, his muscle structure altered—smooth, elegant lines radiating vibrant vitality.

He finally looked at his interface—several new entries had updated.

【Fusion level reached 5%. You now possess 5% of Erlang Shen’s talent.】

【Your body’s foundation has been refined, your talent greatly enhanced, your constitution transformed, your vitality strengthened. Talent acquired—Dragon Essence, Tiger Vigor!】

【Your comprehension has improved. You now possess greater insight into martial arts stances, fist techniques, footwork, and spear techniques!】

…

After reading it, Lin Qi found it largely matched his expectations.

His body’s foundation and comprehension had both improved.

But the sudden talent made him curious—he tapped to open it.

【Dragon Essence, Tiger Vigor: Your vitality far exceeds the norm. Your constitution is unique. You easily enter deep sleep and possess superior recovery ability.】

Lin Qi’s expression brightened—this was just like his previous Stomach Enhancement: vastly superior to ordinary people.

He also sharply noticed a new term: “talent.”

Only things far surpassing the norm were called talents—like body foundation: some were born with larger skeletons, thicker sinews, vastly stronger than ordinary people.

That was one kind of body foundation talent.

Exceptional vitality was also a talent.

This reminded Lin Qi of his past life—some people were perpetually energetic, never tired, their bodies not necessarily strong.

Yet even with only five or six hours of sleep, they remained sharp and alert all day, able to study intensely or work at high capacity—such was the advantage of great vitality.

Though on the martial path, one hones the body and transcends humanity, vitality naturally grows stronger.

But talents grant abilities surpassing others at the same level.

【Dragon Essence, Tiger Vigor】 was exactly that: while all were First-Stage martial artists, he would possess far greater vitality and recovery. “Now that I have the 【Dragon Essence, Tiger Vigor】 talent, my vitality is abundant, my recovery formidable—I can devote more time daily to martial arts without worrying about efficiency loss.”

Lin Qi clenched his fists; his fatigue had vanished completely, boundless strength surged into his arms—he felt superb.

After fifteen minutes, having tidied everything, Lin Qi lay on his bed, emptying his mind—when suddenly, a thought surfaced.

“If 【Stomach Enhancement】 and 【Dragon Essence, Tiger Vigor】 are talents, then are awakened special abilities also talents?”

“If I continue increasing Erlang Shen’s fusion level, could I possibly awaken a special ability before the Seventh Stage?”

Thinking of this, Lin Qi unexpectedly began to feel anticipation.

…

The next day, 4:00 a.m.

Lin Qi opened his eyes, waking earlier than his alarm.

He got out of bed, used the restroom, washed up, left a note for his mother Fang Huiyi, then grabbed his backpack and headed out.

!

“At 4 a.m. in Tianhai City, there’s definitely no sun!”

Lin Qi rode his bicycle, munching on compressed biscuits, gazing at the dark sky and grumbling.

At 4 a.m. in Tianhai City, dawn hadn’t broken; the streets still held last night’s rain.

Only a few breakfast stalls or market shops were already bustling.

At this moment, Lin Qi’s eyes were bright and clear, brimming with energy.

“The 【Dragon Essence, Tiger Vigor】 talent is truly powerful—before, waking at this hour would have crushed me.”

Lin Qi felt it clearly: normally, waking at five meant only exhaustion and drowsiness, sustained only by willpower.

Now, it was completely different—he’d slept from midnight to four, four hours, and had entered deep sleep.

…

At 4:30 a.m., only one night-shift security guard stood at the gate of No. 2 High School.

In the darkness, he saw a student in uniform sprinting toward him and froze—thought he was hallucinating.

“Someone at school at 4 a.m.? That’s insane!”

Lin Qi pushed his bicycle into campus; the sky was faintly lightening, yet still pitch black—anyone unaware would think it was night.

He walked straight to the martial arts classroom, beginning to warm up.

Jiang Tao’s martial arts room couldn’t be unlocked without his fingerprint—so Lin Qi trained there only at noon and night.

He changed into a brand-new martial arts uniform, shoes, and socks; looking in the mirror, he felt reborn—completely shed his scrawny frame.

With the 200,000 third-tier genius loan in hand, plus the 50,000 he won from Yang Lei, he immediately upgraded his gear.

He opened his backpack, pulled out three Blood-Energy Capsules, swallowed them at once, then drank a vitality tonic.

He could drink one vitality tonic daily.

“My talent and comprehension are already high enough.”

“I’ve got 250,000 Xiaoguo coins—more than enough.”

“Now I’ll focus entirely on boosting Blood-Energy, spear technique, footwork—climb higher in rankings, earn an independent martial arts room.”

Lin Qi set his goal and immediately began standing Zhuang , fully immersed.

Soon, he felt something different—his body burned like a furnace.

His heart pounded rapidly, muscles rippled, waves of blood-energy surged through him, forging his muscles and organs.

Heat began rising from his entire body.

The First Stage of martial arts is Flesh Refinement—by continuously refining large muscle groups, one’s physical quality improves dramatically.

Today, Lin Qi clearly felt the efficiency of his training had increased.

Faster than ever before!

The fatigue from standing Hunyuan Zhuang was gone—he felt more comfortable the longer he stood.

One hour later

【Through standing “Hunyuan Zhuang,” your Blood-Energy has achieved a major breakthrough. Blood-Energy +0.3】

【Blood-Energy: 7.0 → 7.4】

…

“With talent enhancement and the massive resources I’ve consumed, my Blood-Energy has seen a huge breakthrough.”

"Today is already September 18th; less than twenty days remain until the monthly exam—I can push for a blood qi value of 8.0!"

Lin Qi felt a surge of joy, set his goal, and continued standing in the stance.

Not far away, Chen Zichuan arrived at the martial arts classroom and froze instantly upon seeing a figure inside.

Could someone have arrived here even earlier than him?

He checked the time—it was only 5:30.

Someone was even more obsessed than him!

As he drew closer, the figure became increasingly familiar; Chen Zichuan was stunned.

It was Lin Qi!

……

(End of Chapter)