Chapter 60 Invincible Within the Same Realm
“Perfect state?”
“Does that mean proficiency has reached a full 100%?”
Lin Qi stared at the system prompt, feeling a hint of curiosity about this so-called perfect state. Previously, proficiency had a clear threshold: beginner at 100%, and after surpassing 100%, it would reset to proficiency 0%. This was a small barrier that had stalled many new players.
For martial techniques, progressing from beginner to proficient meant they could be executed without any side effects, only consuming one’s own vital energy without harming the body. This improvement was significant—it meant that once a martial skill was proficient, it could be used indefinitely as long as one’s energy remained sufficient.
Now, moving from proficient to perfect should have manifested some difference.
Yet after testing for a while, Lin Qi could detect no difference in his Stone Breaker Fist.
He then flurried a series of punches into the empty air—the shadows of his fists filled the sky, each strike resonating with the explosive power characteristic of Stone Breaker Fist.
“No, wait, the explosive force seems to have increased.”
Lin Qi then used the measuring device, casually throwing a few punches. With the Stellar Explosion Visualization technique already at 31% beginner proficiency, he could clearly feel subtle changes within himself.
“My normal punching strength has increased by 10%. Is this the effect of the first level perfect state of Stone Breaker Fist?”
He glanced at the power data on the device, a trace of shock stirring within him.
His baseline stats showed a strength of 493.7 kilograms and a speed of 16.6 meters per second.
Normally, his punches delivered exactly 493.7 kilograms of force, but the device from the White Feather Gang base measured his recent punch at 543 kilograms—a full 10% increase in power.
This perfect state effect on the martial skill was like a permanent buff.
Although his physical stats hadn’t changed, the force output rose by 10%, an impressive enhancement.
To put this in perspective, the strength of an extreme apprentice was 899 kilograms. With the first-level perfect effect of Stone Breaker Fist, that would rise to 988.9 kilograms—equivalent to the strength of a quasi-warrior, not even counting the normal explosive effects of the martial skill.
Once reaching quasi-warrior level, one would be the strongest beneath the full warrior tier.
“If I can bring all my martial skills to the perfect state, I might truly become invincible among my peers, just like those warrior prodigies,” Lin Qi thought, imagining the power if every technique he mastered reached perfection. “I wonder if learning similar explosive martial techniques and perfecting them would stack their effects?”
His gaze then shifted downward to the system’s martial skill list, resting on Thunderclap Palm.
Thunderclap Palm, first stage Thunder Run (beginner 10%).
Perhaps because Thunderclap Palm was a warrior-level technique with great learning difficulty, or for some other reason, progress for Ye Yiyun had been extremely slow—only beginner 2%.
Among Fang Zhen’s group, only Li Ranxing had learned it, reaching beginner 3%; no one else had even started. The supposed bug blocking martial skill learning was still unresolved.
After such a long time, only two had learned it, wasting Lin Qi’s effort to provide it without extra charge.
“Forget them for now. I’ll focus on bringing Leopard Shadow Step to perfect state first,” Lin Qi said without hesitation and extracted Li Ranxing’s data.
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Currently, among Fang Zhen and Ye Yiyun’s squads, Li Ranxing was the fastest to improve Leopard Shadow Step, reaching 61% proficiency, becoming one of his daily top five.
System: Congratulations! Player’s Leopard Shadow Step, first stage Wind Chase, proficiency increased to 100%.
“Excellent! The effects are clear. Now let’s see how Luo Wuzhang and Zhang Qingwei do,” Lin Qi looked at their names with anticipation.
Although Luo Wuzhang and Zhang Qingwei’s Leopard Shadow Step proficiencies weren’t as high as Fang Zhen and others’, they were close—52% and 54%—just slightly behind.
Ding!
System: Congratulations! Player’s Leopard Shadow Step, first stage Wind Chase, proficiency increased to 100%.
“Useless?” Lin Qi was speechless after absorbing Luo Wuzhang’s Leopard Shadow Step memory.
He hadn’t expected it to be ineffective at 52% proficiency.
“If Zhang Qingwei can’t do it, I’ll have to wait until tomorrow,” Lin Qi looked at his last extraction slot, feeling more urgency to repair the martial arts hall.
Though he had recruited an additional 200 vagrants these three days to help repair the hall, progress was only at 55.6%. With sufficient materials, it would take over a week to complete.
But with the extra recruits and the 160,000 bits expense tomorrow, the materials would only be enough to bring the hall to 75% repaired.
“Looks like I have to sell that batch of mature Blood Essence Rice,” Lin Qi mused.
He had no extra cash on hand, and short-term player earnings were insufficient. The only way to quickly raise a large sum was to sell several hundred kilograms of mature Blood Essence Rice.
He then extracted Zhang Qingwei’s data.
Ding!
System: Congratulations! Player’s Leopard Shadow Step, first stage Wind Chase, proficiency increased to 100%.
“As expected, no luck.”
“Guess I’ll try again tomorrow.”
Lin Qi looked at the unchanged Leopard Shadow Step proficiency, realizing that over 50% proficiency no longer improved the skill. Fortunately, the system wasn’t foolish—it hadn’t extracted his already perfected Stone Breaker Fist first stage.
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Five hundred meters deep beneath the martial arts hall.
“Everyone, push harder! This monster’s already been worn down to the point of vomiting blood.”
“Reinforcements will arrive in two minutes. With a dozen more Thunderclap Palms, it should be done!”
“Frontline, watch your positioning! Dodge attacks and be mindful of teammates behind you.”
Fang Zhen distracted the one-of-a-kind Horned Gold-Eating Rat while coordinating over a dozen players, creating attack opportunities for Ye Yiyun and Li Ranxing.
The monstrous rat, over three meters long, seemed enraged beyond reason. It lunged and struck at Fang Zhen and others wielding alloy shovels, biting and ramming with ferocity. Its coppery eyes were now bloodshot.
Three days.
Three full days that these grey-clad humans had been persistently harassing it. Though it defeated them each time, every battle left its innards bruised by the force of Thunderclap Palm.
Under normal circumstances, its terrifying regenerative ability would restore it fully within two or three days. But these humans kept coming back.
Over these three days, it had been disturbed more than thirty times—not even able to sleep.
Today, it vowed to devour every last one of them; even if they burned to ashes, not a speck would remain.
Boom!
The rat swung its tail with over a ton of force, slamming a player into the wall, killing him instantly.
Bang!
As the rat finished off one player and was about to rip him apart, Ye Yiyun struck its side with a Thunderclap Palm, lightning flashing from her hand.
Howl!
The rat yelped in pain, as if its kidneys had been sliced. Blood dripped again from its mouth, but its sharp claws lashed out at Ye Yiyun, narrowly missing as it prepared to tear her apart.
A figure appeared on the rat’s other side, delivering another Thunderclap Palm to its flank.
The rat’s body shrank like a shrimp in agony, blood spurting freely. It no longer cared to tear Ye Yiyun apart; instead, it rammed into two frontline players, sending them flying twenty meters away, fleeing toward the opposite end of the main tunnel.
“Block it! It’s trying to escape!”
Fang Zhen immediately ordered the others to intercept the fleeing beast.
Three days.
They had spent three sleepless days wearing down this Horned Gold-Eating Rat. If it escaped now and reset, all their efforts would have been in vain.
“Die!”
At that moment, one player after another unleashed full-strength Stone Breaker Fist attacks on the rat. Although each was flung aside uselessly, their assaults briefly slowed its flight.
“Combined strike! Target its right kidney!”
Seizing the moment, Li Ranxing and Ye Yiyun both caught up to the rat with Leopard Shadow Step. Despite suffering heavy injuries from Thunderclap Palm’s backlash, they simultaneously struck its right-side abdomen with Thunderclap Palms.
Crack!
Everyone present heard the sound of something tearing. The rat then charged its head into the nearby mine wall, shrieking and thrashing wildly, forcing everyone to keep their distance.
Within less than thirty seconds, it collapsed motionless onto the ground.