Before he could breathe a sigh of relief—
"OM!!!"
Lin Feng felt the evil aura of the cultivation technique flowing in the air suddenly invade his body through the meridian channels, widening them, which brought him an overwhelming amount of pain, making him bite his bottom lip to keep from screaming.
The energy continued to ravage his insides, starting by breaking his newly forged meridians one at a time, which caused him to double over in pain. He had to bite his tongue to keep from going unconscious. He summoned every ounce of his will to stay awake.
'I can't scream. If I do, it would attract everyone's attention. I wouldn't be able to explain what is wrong with me, which would lead to unwarranted investigation. Although the possibility of being found out is little, I can't take that risk,' he thought while lying on the floor, blood dripping from his mouth from almost biting his tongue off.
The pain continued to assault him for a few more minutes. Just when he thought he could no longer hold on, thankfully the pain started to subside. Then, a few moments later, it stopped altogether.
Taking his time, Lin Feng picked himself off the floor and sat cross-legged.
"Whew… thank the heavens it stopped. Wow, that was really dangerous. I thought my soul was about to fly away," he chuckled softly to himself.
He stretched out his sore muscles for a bit, then started to look internally at the situation of his body with his perception ability.
'This system perception mode is really great. Otherwise, I would have to wait till I become a Martial Master to use Qi and investigate my internal situation,' Lin Feng thought as his mind wandered.
He mentally instructed the system to switch it on.
That was when he felt it.
His eyes widened in horror as he sensed the situation inside of him.
His cultivation was dropping at a rapid speed.
1st Layer Martial Warrior
9th Layer Martial Apprentice
8th Layer Martial Apprentice
7th Layer Martial Apprentice
6th Layer Martial Apprentice
5th Layer Martial Apprentice
4th Layer Martial Apprentice
3rd Layer Martial Apprentice
2nd Layer Martial Apprentice
1st Layer Martial Apprentice
"WHAT!!!"
This time he couldn't stop himself from screaming as he watched in disbelief. For the second time, he experienced the despair of losing his cultivation.
His face turned pale at the implications.
'No… calm down, Lin Feng. Things are not simple,' he tried his best to stay calm.
"SYSTEM!"
[DING!...YES HOST]
"What the hell is going on with my realm?" his panicking voice asked.
[CALM DOWN HOST. THE USER'S CULTIVATION REALM IS NOT LOST. THE SYSTEM ASKS THE HOST TO CHECK IT FOR HIMSELF USING PERCEPTION.]
"Oh… okay."
He took a deep breath and applied perception to his whole body.
"Ehn?!!!"
"What is going on here?"
As he examined himself, he saw that his cultivation was not actually lost but was drawn back from its gaseous state and gathered into the first meridian channel. He also noticed that all his meridian channels had expanded to at least three times their original size. As well as all 360 meridians—they were extremely thick.
He also noticed that the other eight channels were blocked. This was what anybody who had just stepped into the Martial Apprentice realm would experience. But he still felt his 1st Layer Martial Warrior power inside that single meridian channel.
In disbelief, he raised his hand and punched the air.
"Swish! Swish!"
The air vibrated slightly.
"Ahh… what the hell? I still have the strength of the initial Warrior realm. No… this is—"
He punched some more and felt it carefully.
"No… this is 350 kg of punch power. But previously I had only 150 kg, which was already impressive, as an ordinary first-level warrior has only 100 kg, second level has 200 kg, and third has 300 kg. Doesn't that mean I'm stronger than a 3rd Layer Warrior, almost as strong as the fourth layer?"
Lin Feng initially thought so, but he shook his head and dismissed that thought.
"That's not right. How can I be third layer when I have only one open meridian while the remaining are blocked?"
He started to have a headache at the confusing situation.
"System, come and explain what is going on."
[AS YOU WISH]
[THE TECHNIQUE THAT HOST CULTIVATES IS AN EXTREMELY POWERFUL CULTIVATION METHOD NOT FROM THIS WORLD, AND IT IS ALSO EXTREMELY DOMINEERING, WHICH MEANS IT REQUIRES A MASSIVE AMOUNT OF ENERGY TO OPERATE IT AND ANY OF ITS FUTURE COMPANION ABILITIES.]
[IN THE HOST'S PREVIOUS SITUATION, IF YOU ATTEMPTED TO RUN THE SKILL, THE HOST WOULD BE SUCKED DRY AND DIE OF EXHAUSTION.]
[THE TECHNIQUE RESHAPED THE HOST'S BODY TO SUIT ITS USAGE REQUIREMENTS BY EXPANDING THE MERIDIAN CHANNELS BY MORE THAN DOUBLE TO TAKE IN MORE ENERGY.]
[AS WELL AS THICKENING THE MERIDIANS INSIDE TO HANDLE THE INCREASED AMOUNT OF QI ABSORBED.]
"That still doesn't explain the doubling of my strength," he scratched his head in confusion, the information getting too much for him to bear.
[SIGH...]
"Ehn? System, did you just sigh?"
[NO. IT IS YOUR IMAGINATION.]
"No, I definitely heard you sigh."
[THE MERIDIAN CHANNEL AND ALL MERIDIANS EXPANDED WITH DOUBLE THE ENERGY ALSO MEANS DOUBLE THE HOST'S BODY TEMPERING AND DOUBLE THE STRENGTH.]
The system ignored him and continued with the serious topic.
"Ehn… doesn't that mean I am now a 1st Layer Martial Apprentice, but I can defeat Martial Warriors at the third level and fight a fourth-level warrior, which has 400 kg of strength, for a few rounds before being defeated?"
[YES HOST.]
"Haha!"
He laughed out loud like a crazy person, then he realized a problem.
"So if an ordinary mid-level warrior from layer 4 to 6 increases by 200 kg every small realm, then at the second layer of Martial Apprentice I would be able to overwhelm the fifth layer… hiss…"
"Likewise, the later stages of Warrior increase by 500 kg from the 7th layer, and the 9th layer peak warrior has 3000 kg of power."
"If my power doubles with each channel I open, wouldn't that mean that I just have to reach the 4th layer to be invincible in the Warrior stage?"
He clenched his fist at the terrifying thought.
"System, if a first-stage Martial Master has a body strength of 5000 kg, I should be able to defeat them at the fifth stage and then be invincible in the Master stage as well."
[YES AND NO.]
[YES, IN TERMS OF PHYSICAL BODY, HOST WOULD BE HEADS ABOVE THE REST.]
[NO, BECAUSE HOST IS FORGETTING THAT THE PHYSICAL BODY ISN'T THE MASTER'S ONLY WEAPON. THEY CAN ALSO CLOAK THEMSELVES IN QI, INSTANTLY TRIPLING THEIR DEFENSE.]
[SO NO MATTER HOW STRONG THE HOST'S BODY IS, IT IS USELESS IF YOU CANNOT PENETRATE THEIR QI DEFENSE.]
[THEY CAN ALSO USE BASIC ATTRIBUTE SPELLS, SO THE SYSTEM ADVISES THE HOST NOT TO GET CARRIED AWAY BY MOMENTARY GAINS SO AS NOT TO OVERTURN IN THE GUTTER SOMEDAY.]
'Yes… that's true. I got a bit carried away. How can the Master realm be simple?'
Lin Feng nodded and mentally thanked the system.
"That's all good, but it would take a tremendous amount of energy to break through, almost three times as before," he said.
'Alright… first, let's get accustomed to the increase in strength.'
Lin Feng was about to do some body tempering exercises when—
"BOOM!"