Chapter Eight: Fulfillment

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(Renamed for ease of reading at a friend's suggestion—please support and vote!)

“Ssssss…”

Just as he was about to vent his frustration, a sudden noise from the depths of the mist stirred his vigilance.

“Who’s there?”

“Show yourself!”

The sound was strange and intermittent, grating on the nerves.

With a furious shout, Brother Hu’s voice echoed, and the figure hidden in the mist slowly emerged.

Upon seeing the scene before him, Brother Hu’s eyes widened, his expression gradually turning grim as he instinctively tightened his grip on his longsword.

“By the gods above… What on earth has happened here?”

...

Cui Xiu staggered through the mist, trying to use the trees to determine direction, only to find that the fog seemed endless, with no boundary in sight. Confronted with such a situation, his face was equally grim.

At this moment, aside from the longsword in his right hand, an unfamiliar bundle had somehow appeared on his back.

If one looked closely, they would notice the hem of his clothes had been severed, and the bundle bulged with several hard objects inside.

“It seems that harvesting source energy from that skull wasn’t just a coincidence.”

Unable to find a way out and exhausted, Cui Xiu decided to rest, sorting through his thoughts.

He had acquired the child’s skull some time ago, and the gray mist within was nearly depleted by his strange ability; only wisps occasionally seeped into his palm, the process slow.

Checking the source energy condensed by the gray mist, it had now accumulated to 0.46.

Cui Xiu looked around and found a relatively clean spot, leaned against a tree trunk, and opened the makeshift bundle.

Inside, four or five human bones appeared before his eyes.

These bones glimmered faintly, not dried but with a jade-like warmth, attesting to their extraordinary nature.

Among them, he could clearly distinguish which part of the body each bone had come from.

Cui Xiu gently traced his hand over them; the gray mist that seeped out upon contact confirmed that these bones were of the same type as the skull he had previously obtained.

Though they did not all come from the same body.

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“If I absorb all the gray mist from these bones, I should be able to gather a bit more source energy,” Cui Xiu estimated.

He had already harvested considerable source energy from the child’s skull. Though the bones acquired later contained less mist, their combined quantity ought to suffice.

With enough source energy, he could use it to enhance his martial arts. That would help him recover and perhaps even strengthen his body further.

At this thought, the restlessness brought on by the mist gradually faded from his mind. Regardless of circumstance, enhancing his strength could only be a good thing.

Unfortunately, his previous bundle, abandoned by the roadside in the forest to allow greater mobility while facing Ah Tie, had contained only a few changes of clothes and some rations.

Now trapped here, everything else was manageable, but the lack of food reserves was worrying. If he could not escape soon, he would face real danger.

Though the fog-covered forest might provide some sustenance, it was not an ideal solution.

Yet, given the situation at the time, he had not thought it through; the peculiarity of the mist was unexpected, and his haste left no room for regret.

...

Time slipped by as the source energy value ticked upward.

He didn’t know how long had passed, but just as Cui Xiu felt his aching limbs regaining some strength, he finished absorbing all the gray mist from the bones before him.

Sensing the change, he hurriedly summoned the gray mist panel, and its new display finally allowed him to breathe a sigh of relief.

Cui Xiu —

Martial Arts: Thirteen Basic Sword Forms (Proficient · 8%), Ninth Set of People’s Broadcast Calisthenics (Beginner · 0.8%)
Source Energy: 1.15

Seeing the source energy value stop increasing, Cui Xiu felt both pleased and slightly disappointed.

The pleasure was obvious; the disappointment stemmed from how useful source energy was to him. If he could harvest more from the bones, it would have been even better.

Still, accumulating some was good fortune.

He steadied his breath, emptied his mind, and focused on the gray mist panel.

Previously, he had used source energy to enhance his swordsmanship in haste. Now, with no one around—though he remained vigilant—he could devote more attention to the transformation brought by source energy, and anticipation rose within him.

As for this bit of source energy, Cui Xiu intended to use it solely for the basic sword forms.

Swordsmanship, already his main reliance thanks to prior enhancements, was the most prudent choice.

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Besides swordsmanship, there were no other viable options. The broadcast calisthenics seemed unreliable, and Cui Xiu had no idea what improvement there would entail; it simply wasn’t a good choice.

With his purpose clear, Cui Xiu wasted no time, focusing his mind on the Thirteen Basic Sword Forms.

He had already spent much time here absorbing the gray mist from the bones; it was not a place to linger.

His priorities were to improve his swordsmanship, restore his body, strengthen his power, and then leave this place.

Upgrade!

He silently repeated the word, gathering his will and recalling games from his previous life to relax his mind.

In an instant, the gray mist panel’s Thirteen Basic Sword Forms flickered and then became solid once more.

Upon inspection, the panel had changed.

Cui Xiu —

Martial Arts: Thirteen Basic Sword Forms (Perfected · 8%), Ninth Set of People’s Broadcast Calisthenics (Beginner · 0.8%)
Source Energy: 0.15

With the sword forms elevated to the perfected realm, Cui Xiu’s body underwent another transformation, much as it had in the rushed enhancement during his last confrontation.

Swordsmanship experience poured into his mind, flawlessly merging with his memories.

A surge of warmth washed through his body, strengthening him further.

Already robust from the previous upgrade, his muscles beneath the plain robe became more streamlined and balanced, his physique appearing even more powerful.

The greatest change was in his right hand.

Cui Xiu could feel that, after reaching perfection in swordsmanship, his right arm brimmed with strength, able to lift anything with ease.

Of course, this was merely an illusion born from the sudden increase in power.

Additionally, the fatigue and soreness throughout his body vanished, and his spirit soared.

Despite remaining in peril, Cui Xiu could not help but feel a touch of joy at these changes.