Tianyu stood on shaky legs, a fierce determination burning in his eyes. He knew he had to push through the pain, the fatigue, and his own limitations. He couldn't allow himself to falter. Every miss was a lesson; every failure was a stepping stone to success.

He executed the move again and again, missing each time. His arms burned, and his legs ached, but he refused to yield. Sweat poured from his face, his breathing grew heavy, yet he pressed on. Miss, miss, miss, miss—it became a relentless cycle.

[Host,] he heard her voice, [The system recommends that you stop and take a break.]

Tianyu's resolve remained unwavering. "No."

[Host,] Sophia chimed in again, her voice laced with concern, [If you continue, you risk injuring yourself.]

"I will not stop until he does!" Tianyu declared, referring to the relentless training avatar before him.

[Host,] Sophia tried to reason with him, [The training avatar is an illusion. It will never stop.]

"Then I will never stop!" Tianyu shouted adamantly, sweat pouring from his face, his determination unwavering.

Sophia's voice held a worried tone as she said, [Yes, host...]

Minutes turned into hours. One minute, two minutes, five, ten, twenty, thirty minutes—an hour. Still, Tianyu pushed himself, and the floor beneath him began to look as if a rainstorm had passed through.

Two hours passed, then three, then four. The floor beneath Tianyu was now crimson from the blood dripping from his hands. His body could barely stay upright, his form trembling with each movement. His arms could hardly lift the polearm, and his pace had slowed to a crawl. Every tiny movement sent waves of agony through his exhausted muscles, but he persevered.

Though his body was in tatters, his eyes remained crystal clear and focused. He had lost track of time; it could have been minutes or days. All he could see was the target before him, and he was determined to hit it. The more he swung, the worse his aim became.

However, focus alone couldn't sustain his fatigued body. His vision darkened around the edges, and his peripheral sight grew hazy.

"No! I will not pass out. I will not fall," Tianyu thought to himself. But it was a losing battle. His body had reached its limits hours ago. Only sheer willpower kept him going.

"I won't stop! I can't stop! I owe her too much!" Tianyu screamed inwardly, the image of Qin Li Mei flashing in his mind.

With a final burst of strength, fueled by his love for his newfound mother, Tianyu summoned the last reserves of energy. He performed another thrust, bringing his weapon close and dropping the butt to his hip. He pushed off with his rear leg, lifted his arms, and thrust forward in a stabbing motion. This time, his strike landed true. After all this time, he finally hit his target.

Looking in shock, he glanced at the training avatar, which had stopped moving and began to fade away. It signaled that Tianyu had completed this stage of the training manual. His body collapsed onto the ground, and he lay on his back, gasping for breath.

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With a triumphant laugh, he declared, "Hahahaha! I told you! I told you, Sophia! I wouldn't stop until he does!" Consciousness faded as he basked in his hard-fought victory.

Sophia chimed in, her voice filled with pride, [Yes, host. Congratulations on your victory.]

Qin Li Mei, who had watched her son push himself beyond his limits, was in tears. She couldn't find the words to express her emotions, nor could she bear to intervene. This was a battle he had to fight with himself—and it seemed like he had finally won.

The next morning:

With the pain still throbbing in his body, Tianyu attempted to get out of bed, only to be met with a jolt of agony that sent him back down onto the mattress. He winced and gritted his teeth, realizing he had pushed himself to the brink and beyond.

Sophia's voice chimed in, breaking the silence, [Good morning, Host! You have slept for 16 hours and have accumulated 16 experience points.]

Still groggy from his long slumber, Tianyu murmured, "16 hours? I was out for that long?"

[Yes, Host,] Sophia confirmed. [You passed out in the courtyard yesterday after your training.]

Tianyu rubbed his temples as he tried to piece together the events of the previous day. "That's right... I was in the courtyard. But why am I in bed now?"

[Host, after you lost consciousness yesterday, your mother called for help, and a large male neighbor assisted in carrying you to your bed,] Sophia explained.

Tianyu nodded, realizing that the "large male" mentioned was likely their neighbor, Mister Hao. The towering carpenter had always been a quiet but dependable presence in their lives.

Attempting to sit up again, Tianyu was met with a sharp pain that forced him to lie back down.

"Arrgh!" he exclaimed, unable to suppress his discomfort.

Qin Li Mei quickly entered his room with a worried expression. "Son?"

Tianyu managed a pained smile. "Oh, good morning, mother. Seems like I might have gone a bit overboard yesterday."

Qin Li Mei playfully smacked him on the head. "You think? If Mister Hao hadn't been around, you'd still be sprawled out in the courtyard."

Chuckling through his discomfort, Tianyu admitted, "Sorry about that. But, hey, I'm paying the price for it now, huh? I'll have to go apologize to Mister Hao once I can walk again."

Qin Li Mei laughed, exasperated. She left his room, closing the door behind her.

Tianyu looked around his room, his eyes settling on the small, glowing blue icon of his system interface. "Sophia?" he called.

[Yes, Host?] Sophia replied.

"How many experience points do I have in my pool now?" he inquired, mentally estimating that he might have around 60 points.

[Host, you currently have 274 experience points in your pool,] Sophia responded.

Tianyu's eyes widened in shock. "Eh? 274? How is that possible?"

[Host, after gaining 43 experience points from training your Cloud Chasing Foot Technique, you spent an additional 4 hours, 52 minutes, and 11 seconds training in your Basic Poleaxe technique, which gained you 215 experience points. Lastly, your 16-hour sleep granted you another 16 points, bringing your total to 274.]

Tianyu's confusion deepened. "But... I trained my polearm technique for less than 5 hours. How did I earn so many points from that when training my footwork technique only earned me so few?"

[Simple, host,] Sophia explained. [While training your footwork technique, each time you restarted, your experience multiplier also reset. However, when you trained your polearm technique, there were no breaks and no restarts after your initial failure. Additionally, the intensity of your training matters. The 4 hours, 52 minutes, and 11 seconds you spent in a state of hyper-focus, pushing your body beyond its limits, made your training session much more intense.]

Tianyu absorbed the information, nodding slowly. "I understand. So, the most effective way for me to gain experience points quickly isn't just to train for the longest time, but to push myself past my limits and always go above and beyond in my training?"

[That is correct, host,] Sophia confirmed. [However, the host must also exercise caution, as, as I warned you yesterday, you have injured yourself, which will impact your training.]

"Understood," Tianyu acknowledged.

He paused for a moment before asking, "Sophia, how much do avatars cost?"

[Host, the cost of avatars increases as you acquire more of them. They scale up in points,] Sophia explained.

"And how much would my first avatar purchase cost?" Tianyu inquired, already planning for the future.

[Host, the first avatar purchase requires 50 experience points, and this cost doubles with each subsequent purchase,] Sophia clarified.

"Got it," Tianyu said, mentally calculating. "And what types of avatars are available?"

[The host's request for an avatar is fulfilled by the system. There are no limitations on avatar functions,] Sophia replied.

Tianyu's eyes lit up with excitement. "Sophia, I'd like to purchase an avatar."

[Yes, host! What function would you like your new avatar to have?] Sophia inquired with an almost salesperson-like tone.

"I want this new avatar to be able to cultivate for me 24/7," Tianyu requested.

[Processing...]

The processing felt agonizingly long for Tianyu. He began to wonder if this request might be too much, a blatant cheat even. But then again, everything about this system was a form of cheating.

[Confirmed.]

[Congratulations, host! You have acquired a new avatar. This avatar will cultivate for the host permanently and will earn 1 experience point per hour for your experience pool,] Sophia announced.

A broad smile spread across Tianyu's face. He realized he had 224 experience points left to spend.

"Sophia," he said eagerly, "I'd like to make another purchase."