Whiteness. Familiar, isn't it? It feels like I haven't seen that big bulky stone shadow in years. "How are you doing?" Brandishing his thick sword at me, the Stone King's Shadow doesn't seem to care about formalities.

"Alright then, but this time I have a little help!" Taking out the Sword of Forgotten Minds, I hold it close. "Let's see how much better you are than me in swordsmanship!" Peeking back at his status, I see the swordsmanship skill. "Wait..." He doesn't let me ponder any further as his massive presence looms over me. "Fuck I forgot!" His giant sword comes crashing down from above, a sidestep barely enough to dodge it. "Wait, it wasn't... are you slower?" Then I remembered about my own stats. I facepalm in shame. "I'm so dumb, that whole Greed Dao event really messed up my mind." As his sword comes swiping from the ground, I send a fist to collide with it. Soft flesh and sharp stone collide, pushing back the mighty weapon. "You can't even damage me anymore."

About to laugh, I see a yellow glow build up around him. "Oh no you don't!" Kicking the ground, my choice of upgrading speed shows itself, my new sword beheading the giant head with ease. "You're just a shadow, don't get cocky now." With a gap in stats so enormous, even his superior wisdom cannot defeat me. Let alone his sense stat still in the gutter.

Back from the shockingly easy trial, I hold a brown pill. This time I can see through it.

Martial Boost Pill (D-)

>An esoteric pill of a brown shade. It contains the essence of mortal martial arts from an Immortal alongside complex technology. Increases one's martial proficiency by one increment each time.

>Can be used by anyone.

I don't wait for birds to sing underground before popping it into my mouth. Same texture and taste, before a powerful heat wildly torments my innards. Such pressure into my intestines and stomach, soon quenched under my brain's abrupt freezing aura. A clash between hot and cold that turns my chest and throat into a battlefield. I wince at the struggle, overflowing from both energy and withering desolation. I scratch at my neck, trying to get it all out. My eyes widen, screeching in attempts to see light.

With my blood boiling, it all suddenly stops, letting me slump face first onto the earth.

[Congratulations. Your martial proficiency reached First Rate.]

Guess this whole free upgrade era is gone. Now I have to suffer to get it. Despite all that, as my eyes home back in, a whole new world presents itself. Well, in my head at least. All of my memories feel embarrassing, how I couldn't read my opponents despite the ability to analyze them.

Checking the history tab again, I make sure to check, and soon see the classic one.

Preparations

Preparations - 07 [+]

>Objective : Train while you can. Press the [+] symbol above when you have spare time.

>Time remaining : 702:44:49

>Difficulty : Fated

>Mission Difficulty : None

>Mission Failure Penalty : None.

>Managing to defeat level 10 before the time runs out will grant : Rank Boost Crystal (F) x3, Sensory Pill (F-) x5

Honestly, I would say the reward decreased quite a bit. I think. Not like I know what a Sensory Pill even does. But purely based on rank, this is a pretty rough downgrade.

With a sigh, as my routine demands, I'm engulfed into whiteness.

"Let's see! I summon thee! Second status!" Flailing my arms like noodles, I watch a common puppet come out.

[Evolved Training Puppet Lv.6]

Age : 0

Mortal Cultivation : Martial Veteran (Acupoint Opening Realm - First Acupoint)

Mortal Title : Martial Veteran

HP | ⦿⦿⦿⦿⦿⦿⦿⦿⦿⦿ | (0.50 / 0.50)

DT | ⦿⦿⦿⦿⦿⦿⦿⦿⦿⦿ | (1.00 / 1.00)

STR : ▰▰▰▰▰▰▰ F-

SPD : ▰▰▰▰▰▰▰ F-

END : ▰▰▰▰▰▰▰ F-

SEN : ▰▰▰▰▰▰▰ F-

SOUL : ▰▰▰▰▰▰▰ N

WISD : ▰▰▰▰▰▰▰ F-

LUCK : ▰▰▰▰▰▰▰ N

Skills : Magnitude Blast - Lv.5, Crimson Arts - lv.1 [+], Night Vision - lv.1, Enhanced Vision - lv.1, Enhanced Reaction - lv.1

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"What the fuck is this?" I scratch my head and slice it apart with ease. It can't even react as my speed is too high without even using Internal Combustion.

As I pop a pill into my mouth, I stand there, in a daze.

Is this the result of pursuing Immortality? What was so hard even with much better stats turned countless times easier. I'm the one bullying them now. "No wonder the reward decreased, this shit is way too easy. I'm smurfing right now."

[System miscalculations detected.]

"Shit! No! I shouldn't have opened my big mouth! Come on now, I'm not destroying them, it's just me- urk!" Clenching my chest, I feel the earlier clash of climates rise once again. The pill must be in effect.

"Pleas-ah!! Sys-temeuuhhh!!!" I can't speak properly with that kind of pain coursing through my body. So I helplessly watch the system mock my earlier glee.

[Martial opponents are being reviewed...]

"Fuuuuck! It huuurts!" Gasping for the next breath, I soon lay on the ground like a dying worm.

[Flaw detected, updating...]

"Pleee- cough -ease..."

[Stats restrictions placed.]

"No... my moment! It was my... time to... shineeee fuck! You even took that away from urh! Me!"

[You are now unable to use base stats more than double your opponent's. This only includes the following : STR (Strength), SPD (Speed), END (Endurance)]

[Exception : Bosses]

"There's... bosses... too?" I'm slowly getting used to the pain, but it's not easy to remain conscious. After a while the infernal suffering just vanishes as I sense a bubble of relief explode right in the center of my brain.

"Ah?"

[Congratulations. Your martial proficiency reached the Acupoint Opening Realm.]

"System... is the pain normal?"

[The potential side effects of the Martial Boost Pill include : Headache, nausea, diarrhea, emesis, hematemesis, angina]

"System, let me ask you differently, because I know how you behave. Are the side effects obligatory?"

[The potential side effects of the Martial Boost Pill have been introduced by the system to increase the feelings of immersion and challenge.]

"..."

"Go fuck yourself, how about that for a side effect?" Just as I finish my piece I realize something weird. "Hey, wasn't it nighttime?" No matter where I look, it's bright. No, it's too bright. I can see so well despite the lights being clearly off. "What's going on?" Not only that, but it keeps getting brighter before it abruptly stops.

[Your Brain Acupoint has finished its rudimentary opening. You have acquired the following skills : Night Vision (F-), Enhanced Vision (F-), Enhanced Reaction (F-)]

"What the hell? Isn't that a lot of skills??" I check them and realize how their rank doesn't match their usefulness. Especially the last one, that's busted.

Night Vision (F-)

>Peer into the dark, shadows and the absence of light unable to stray your eyes.

Enhanced Vision (F-)

>Your eyesight is enhanced, providing an accurate vision up to 500 meters.

Enhanced Reaction (F-)

>Your reaction time has been hastened by 250%.

Rummaging through the boxes, I grab the good old reaction time game. I focus and try a few times.

My average has been lowered to a staggering 4.44 milliseconds, C-Rank. When I look over to my statuses, I'm further impressed.

SPD : ▰▰▰▰▰▰▰ F → F+↑

It's the same on the other side, bumped up to C. To be honest, I don't mind the side effects anymore. This acupoint thing is really pleasant now.

"It's a skill, why does my stat reflects it? They don't seem to reflect Internal Combustion apart from DT... Well, I don't even know the standards for each rank, so maybe they do."

"System, are these skills passive?"

[Acupoints related skills and enhancements are only valid while the acupoint is intact. There exists methods to seal or cripple them. Until then, the obtained skills and enhancements will remain active.]

Yep, that's busted as fuck. It's not even fair at this point. 250%, that's a lot for reaction time. No, that's almost too much it clearly breaks the balance. Sure reaction time gets less vital as the ranks go up, a difference of double is only within a few milliseconds, but down the line it remains overpowered. You never know when this extra moment might save your life.

Still, I believe it's time to peek at the next puppet.

Sucked into the training space, the same puppet emerges from the flawless ground. A look at its status gives me confidence. Problem comes when I look at my own, this doesn't feel too good, but with Internal Combustion active, I manage to offset the potential threat and breeze through it.

A punch later, the puppet is obliterated. It only had 1.02 DT while I had double that. Along with my higher sense, speed and new skills, it wasn't hard.

Onto 'Preparations' nine, where the third acupoint has opened for the puppet. Seeing its level, I remember to have been hasty and not taken the pill. No matter though, it can't even fully come out from the ground as I blast through its head. I'm relieved Internal Combustion in here doesn't impact my true self. Otherwise I wouldn't feel safe enough to use it.

Though the higher my health, the longer I can theoretically withstand it.

"Now I have to deal with two... does it get worse if I eat both?" With an apprehensive heart, I consume both in one gulp, except I breathed for a moment so they went down the wrong pipe. After some coughing and panicking, I swallow them properly.

"Nothing?"

It's been a few seconds and- "Oh shit, shit, shit, shit!" I run in circles before jumping on my bed. I'm brutally assaulted by chest pain, as two forces almost collide. One from my heart, and another from the opposite direction.

I scream into my pillow for a few minutes before my tears can dry. At last, relief. But not one I can compare to the previous ones. I feel blissful, light and energized. Such peace, such a contrast from my agonizing torture a few seconds ago.

[Your Heart Acupoint has finished its rudimentary opening. Your lifespan has been extended by 200 years.]

[Your Reversed Heart Acupoint has finished its rudimentary opening. Your lifespan has been extended by 100 years. You have acquired the following skill : Enhanced Endurance (F-)]

"Phew..." Getting up from my bed, I read the messages and almost faint. Through sheer willpower I manage to check the new skill and fall on the bed once more. "The hell?! This is op! What the fuck is this? F-?? Are you crazy?! This is completely and utterly monstrous! Just like the previous ones!"

How could I not get excited? This skill is just... "Does it work in bed?"

Enhanced Endurance (F-)

>Massively increases your active stamina. You can fight 500% longer.

"Like... I guess you need to have proper stats and decent fitness for them to work better, but come on now. F-? Even A doesn't seem out of the question!" Now remained one last wonder from my previous unfortunate and painful experience earlier.

"System, why's my health stat still like this? I received extra lifespan, shouldn't it reflect somewhere?" I mean, three hundred whole years more is a lot. Since lifespan is related to health as far as I'm aware, it should bump it up at least a little. But what's this? It didn't change in the slightest.

[Your mortal lifespan has no impact on the overall measure of your health related stat.] With some frowning going on all over my face, I check both statuses but can't seem to find anything conclusive. "System, but then why do we lose health and max health based on age?"

[As one ages, one will gradually receive lethal wounds and diseases internally. As you are healthy, and have yet to receive permanent damage, your maximum health will remain the same.]

"Oh... that's underwhelming. Hey, system, what's my current life expectancy now?" I couldn't help but ask, it was morbid curiosity, as being aware of my own lifespan could breed unease.

[You can customize your own status and rarely the overall system. More options will be made available as they are unlocked during quests.]

"Customize? I can customize... why did you say that?!"

System, how could you betray me like this. Don't you know, oh almighty system? I'm a customization whore!