Chapter 13: Specialty Reward: Fang Shi Breathing Method

"Bang."

Fang Shi leaned against the security door, gripping the bone-chopping knife tightly, breathing slowly, in and out with great regularity.

This was using the breathing method learned before rebirth to restore the body's fatigue.

This breathing method was the most precious thing Fang Shi obtained before rebirth, costing him a full one thousand gold coins.

Gold coins were circulating currency recast using supernatural power after human settlements were established; it was said they possessed mysterious power.

Calculated by purchasing power, 1 gold coin equaled one hundred yuan before the apocalypse, so one thousand gold coins equaled one hundred thousand yuan.

Most importantly, purchasing the breathing method required signing a soul contract, forbidding external transmission.

Reselling it to recover costs was impossible; otherwise, the soul would be torn apart by the contract's power.

Even though Fang Shi had reborn, he had not the slightest thought of external transmission.

The mutation of attribute points proved he belonged to soul rebirth; the contract's power still resided within his soul.

Before his strength was sufficient, he dared not attempt to defy the contract's power.

"Under the effect of an unknown technique, your stamina has slightly recovered."

"Under the effect of an unknown technique, your stamina has slightly recovered."

"Under the effect of an unknown technique, your stamina has slightly recovered."

"Through continuous use, you have created a new specialty??? (I); please name it."

"As the first player to create a specialty, you receive a reward:??? (I) promoted by one rank."

"Through continuous use, you have comprehended a new specialty??? (I)."

"As the first player to comprehend a specialty, you receive a reward:??? (I) promoted by one rank."

This is possible?

Fang Shi's heart filled with joy; in his previous life, where had he received such treatment, encountering rewards four times in a row?

Moreover, this reward was completely an accident.

His original intention was to use the breathing method to restore stamina to cope with crises arriving at any moment.

He never expected that unintentionally, he became the first player to create and comprehend a specialty.

His previous self had spent three days just to let the breathing method form a specialty, so previously he had not considered profiting from it.

Fang Shi's previous idea was to use his high Perception of 19 and rich combat experience to comprehend Weakness Insight during combat.

Thereby obtaining the reward for the first comprehended specialty.

The result was that unintentionally, the willow cast a shadow and became lush; the breathing method became the first created and comprehended specialty.

"Naming successful:??? (I) → Fang Shi Breathing Method I."

"Reward distribution in progress, Fang Shi Breathing Method I → Fang Shi Breathing Method II."

"Reward distribution in progress, Fang Shi Breathing Method II → Fang Shi Breathing Method III."

"Ah!"

Fang Shi grunted, clenching his teeth tightly; one hand gripped the doorknob, while the other still held the bone-chopping knife tightly.

At this moment, the muscles all over his body were constantly shrinking and expanding, like loaches rolling.

Inside his body, it churned like knife-wringing; blood surged, muscle fibers constantly broke and reformed, and fat decomposed.

A magical power constantly optimized Fang Shi's body structure, improving his physical fitness.

This pain came quickly but left slowly, lasting a full half an hour.

By the end, Fang Shi was soaked as if pulled from water, skin flushed red, veins exposed, nearly exhausted.

However, a brilliant smile floated upon his face.

"【Fang Shi Breathing Method III】: This is a profound training technique; through long practice, your stamina recovery speed is improved. (Stamina recovery speed +30%)"

"Through cultivating Fang Shi Breathing Method III, your attributes are completed."

"Your Strength has permanently increased: 12 → 15."

"Your Agility has permanently increased: 14 → 15."

"Your Constitution has permanently increased: 12 → 15."

"

"Good! Good!"

Feeling the power surging within his body, even though Fang Shi was still weak, he could not help but cry out in approval.

What this breathing method was called before no longer mattered.

What mattered was that in this world, he was the first to practice it himself, the first to name it; calling it Fang Shi Breathing Method was not unreasonable.

Fang Shi of the previous life had practiced hard for two years, yet only reached the fourth layer.

So much so that the Strength attribute could not break through 20 points through self-cultivation; he could only bitterly beg for free attribute points.

Now, having just claimed two rewards, Fang Shi Breathing Method reached the third layer.

Most importantly, it even had the attribute completion effect.

There was absolutely no need to spend time training oneself; it was just like having practiced hard to break through to the third layer.

He only needed to undergo a period of training to reach the achievements of his past life.

At that time, his total attributes would surpass his pre-rebirth self.

If this continued, why worry about failing to enter the third rank in the future? Even becoming a fourth-rank legendary powerhouse would not be a fantasy.

"Name: Fang Shi"

"Race: Human Race"

"Attributes: Strength 15, Dexterity 15, Constitution 15, Intelligence 14, Perception 19, Charisma 15"

"Class: Level 1 Martial Artist"

"HP: 15/15"

"Experience: 280"

"Attribute Points: 0"

"Survival Points: 39"

"Racial Feat: Versatile I"

"Life Skills: Concentration 12, Sense Motive 6, Science 14, Mathematics 12, Chinese 15, English 10, Finance 13, Computing 9, Cooking 8, Driving 6"

"Class Skills: Stealth 8, Hide 10, Listen 10, Search 12, Tumble 15, Taunt 6, Heal 10, Jump 14, Intimidate 7, Swim 6, Climb 6, Spellcraft 5, Survival 10, Throw 12, Estimate 2, Balance 2, Bluff 2, Concentration 2, Craft 2…"

"Personal Feats: Iron Will I, Athletic I, Keen Memory I, Toughness I, Natural Armor I, Shi Breathing Method III"

"Class Feats: Rapid Strike I, Unarmed Strike I, Steel Bones I, Crushing Fist I"

Fang Shi's current physical condition could practically be said to stand at the pinnacle of the human pyramid.

Moreover, it was extremely well-balanced—those stronger than him didn't necessarily match his constitution and dexterity.

Those with better constitution and dexterity than him didn't necessarily match his strength.

Combined with a string of feat bonuses, calling him among the very best of humanity wouldn't be an exaggeration.

Such a starting point gave him far more of an advantage than in his previous life.

In his previous life, even though his physical condition was stronger than that of an office worker who never did manual labor—

In reality, as long as one could successfully kill a single walking corpse and open the attribute panel, even the weakest person could use attribute completion to raise Strength, Dexterity, and Constitution to 10 points.

Fang Shi's 2-point advantage in strength was negligible.

12 points of strength was certainly stronger than 10, but against a fully-formed walking corpse with 12 points of strength, the difference wasn't much.

Reaching Level 2 also required full cooperation—after all, 1000 experience points was no joke.

That meant killing at least 100 walking corpses.

This wasn't a computer game where a simple click of the mouse would do.

In a computer game, when a person got hurt, it was just a number on the health bar going down.

In reality, every action consumed stamina—people needed to eat and sleep.

Moreover, once injured, one needed to recover; combat power would drop, making it impossible to hunt walking corpses, and even unable to flee when facing danger.

Because of this, an ordinary person would need about ten days to reach Level 2.

All of this was predicated on being lucky enough.

If one got careless and got hurt, or fell into a walking corpse encirclement, then it was no longer a question of leveling up, but of staying alive.

Based on Fang Shi's original attributes and feats, along with his previous life's experience, taking on a walking corpse one-on-one was a breeze; three or five were no problem either.

But going beyond that was dangerous—not because he couldn't win, but because in an apocalyptic environment, preserving a certain amount of strength was important, in case sudden danger struck and he couldn't run in time.

But now, he could at least take on ten.

So Fang Shi's plan needed to change. According to his original plan, he would pick locks and climb, going door to door to find lone walking corpses.

Walking corpses couldn't pick locks, so naturally they were trapped inside their homes.

The residential compound he lived in was an old one, generally six-story buildings.

Each building had four units, with a total of ninety-six households.

And Fang Shi only needed to find 69 walking corpses to make up the 100-kill count and advance to Level 2.

Even if the numbers fell short, adding another building would be easy.

This method was naturally extremely inefficient, but it had the advantage of being safe.

Now it was different—the boost in attribute points gave Fang Shi the confidence to go out onto the streets to hunt.

Although it was easy to be surrounded by walking corpses, it didn't matter—the streets were full of buildings everywhere.

With Fang Shi's physical fitness and 6 points in Climb, he could fully climb up into a building's apartments before being surrounded, escaping the encirclement.

After all, walking corpses couldn't climb, and the walking corpses inside a single apartment were never as numerous as those on the street.

However, this plan could only be carried out tomorrow morning.

What Fang Shi needed most right now was rest. Having skipped dinner, after the killing and transformation, he was already starving and exhausted all over.

His combat power had plummeted sharply; going out now would be suicide.

On his way home, he also grabbed his takeout delivery.

Even though it was somewhat damaged, Fang Shi didn't care.

What era was it now—no need to be picky.

There was no food at Fang Shi's home, and going out to find more was too dangerous.

Anyway, in his previous life, what environment hadn't he endured? In the wild, for survival, he'd eaten all kinds of bugs and rats.

These takeout orders just had slightly damaged packaging and a bit of spillage.

It didn't affect eating or drinking at all—compared to the terrible diet of his previous life, this was already far better.

At this moment, night had completely fallen, and the bright moonlight spilled onto the ground.

In a city without light pollution, it appeared so bright.

One after another, dark shadows streaked across the city skyline, weaving between buildings and streets.

From time to time, cries rang out—unlike the rotting, feeble sounds of walking corpses, they were Gao Ang and powerful.

Fang Shi locked the doors and windows tightly, drew the curtains, and ate by feel, accompanied by occasional screams from outside.

In this pitch-black environment, his eyes could only barely make things out, but he didn't dare pull open the curtains at all.

After the world became game-like, so-called walking corpses were only the lowest of the low.

Under the night sky, there are even more dangerous monsters—true creatures from another realm.

And only three days remain until their complete arrival.

Fang Shi must rapidly strengthen his power within these three days; otherwise, survival will become even more arduous.