Chapter 9 (1/2)
3
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
“Are you OK?” For the first time, Neptune’s voice sounded concerned.
“I’m fine. Did I faint just now, or did I fall asleep?” Gu Ding’s face was sullen.
“Neither. You were in some sort of amazing trance and the rate of absorption of the medicine increased by more than tenfold. You have already fully absorbed that vial of medicine, and your Cell Index is now raised to 18. That’s 1 more point than was predicted.”
1“Oh.” Gu Ding’s reaction was plain.
It was Neptune’s first time encountering a situation like this, and he did not know how to react. “Your Cell Index of 18 is enough for you to practice the complete Ultimate Arts.
“Hm.” Gu Ding’s reaction was still plain. He opened the book of Ultimate Arts in his mind and started to read it.
The complete Ultimate Arts is divided into three major sections: attack, defense, and movement, each with twelve levels of difficulty. The main attack techniques are Steel Fist, Phantom Kick, Lightning Elbow and Flaming Knee. The defensive stance was named Righteous Body, and the movement technique was named Silent Step.
2The attack techniques had six stances in each level. The same goes for Silent Step, which also has six stances in each level, and every six stances returned you to the original position. Righteous Body has the least stances, which is only one every level.
Gu Ding remembered all the stances to heart, then started practicing them. He sped through the first level of stances. His high cognition allowed him to fully master the first level stances with two or three repetitions. He practices Ultimate Arts for the whole afternoon before he felt his muscles becoming sore.
“These stances are very strenuous to the body. Once you feel uncomfortable, you should immediately stop. Otherwise, it will cause irreparable damage,” Neptune reminded, ‘How about we stop here for today? You can brew some Cell Restorers tomorrow. You can only drink those medicines one per week. Otherwise, there’ll be side effects.”
1“Is there any way to continue practicing without burdening the body too much?” Gu Ding asked. He was not ready to call it a day yet.
“How about the Virtual Arena? Don’t tell me you’ve never been there before?” Neptune asked.
1“I have not. It costs 1000 Star Credits to register an account there. I don’t have that much money lying around.” Gu Ding smiled drily. “I’ve heard of the Virtual Arena before, and I’ve seen videos of fights there. Just that I’ve never been there myself.”
“Good time to register an account then. I’ve assessed the program and I think it’s a good place for you to practice battle techniques. You’ll just need to expend some Spirit.” Neptune encouraged him.
“Alright.” Go Ding nodded. He was not short of money anyway.
Neptune immediately loaded the login interface to the Virtual Arena. After paying the requisite fees, he received a message containing an invite code. After entering the invite code, he was brought to the character creation screen. Rather than ‘character creation’, it was more of a text field to enter one’s alias while in the Arena. The avatar in the Arena was based on one’s actual real-life stats, though there was an allowance of 20% that one could adjust. Gu Ding did not bother with the minor adjustments.
2As for his alias, he entered ‘LukewarmAssassin’.
6[Creating character ‘LukewarmAssassin’. Confirm?]
1“Confirm!”
[Character creation complete. Enter the Arena?]
“Yes!” Gu Ding was wondering in his heart. ‘If I’m not going in, why would I pay the 1000 Star Credits then?’
[Assessing Psychic levels. Neural connection complete. Teleporting to the Arena…]
Gu Ding’s vision turned dark. When he came to his senses again, he was already standing at the outer wall of the bustling Arena. He walked toward the reception desk as he heard the cheers of crowds from the inside.
“Good day to you, sir. Are you here to spectate, participate in a fight, or place a bet?” The young lady at the reception counter smiled sweetly.