33: Chapter 33 Huge Upgrade

When the white light descended, Zhen Lu was already standing in the plaza of the Realm of Holy Light.

The deep purple starry sky rotated slowly overhead, and the glowing white stone paving stretched out in all directions, extending as far as the eye could see.

It was a busy time; some people were forming parties in front of the portals, some were setting up stalls to hawk their wares by the roadside, and others were just stepping out of the gates.

Zhen Lu stood at the edge of the plaza, leaning against a stone pillar, not moving.

He had spent over five days in the Wuxia World, but less than a day had passed in reality.

He took a deep breath and opened his personal panel.

The moment the panel popped up, the entire interface flickered. It wasn't a glitch; it was updating. Lines of text jumped out one by one, appearing as if someone were typing them.

[ Skill fusion and advancement detected... ]

[ Basic Physique: Iron Shirt (Temporary) + Thirteen Guardians Horizontal Training (Temporary) → Mastery Grade Physique ]

[ Basic Combat: Great Stele-Breaking Hand (Temporary) + Eight Extremities Fist (Temporary) → Mastery Grade Combat ]

[ Basic Saber Technique: Six Harmonies Saber Technique (Temporary) → Mastery Grade Saber Technique ]

[ Basic Spear Technique: Pear Blossom Spear (Temporary) → Mastery Grade Spear Technique ]

[ Basic Balance: Eight-Step Cicada Chase (Temporary) → Mastery Grade Balance ]

[ Attributes updating... ]

Zhen Lu stared at the panel without blinking.

The names in the skill list were changing. The temporary gray tags disappeared one by one, replaced by black, permanent ones.

Basic Physique, Basic Combat, Basic Saber Technique, Basic Spear Technique, Basic Balance. All five basic skills jumped from "Basic" to "Mastery" simultaneously.

Then the attributes began to jump.

[ Physique: 5 → 13 ] (Physique + 8; the original 5 points of Physique, plus the 6-point bonus from Mastery Grade Physique, plus one point of Physique bonus each from Basic Combat and Basic Spear Technique, totaling 13.)

[ Strength: 6 → 12 ] (Mastery Grade Combat + 3, Mastery Grade Saber Technique + 1, Mastery Grade Spear Technique + 1, Mastery Grade Balance + 1, totaling 6 points; plus the original 6 points, for a total of 12.)

[ Agility: 6 → 14 ] (Mastery Grade Combat + 2, Mastery Grade Saber Technique + 2, Mastery Grade Spear Technique + 1, Mastery Grade Balance + 3, totaling 8 points; plus the original 6 points, for a total of 14.)

[ Spirit: 5 → 5 ] (Unchanged)

After the attributes finished jumping, a long list of special effects popped up. Zhen Lu read through them one by one.

[ Special Effect: Iron Skin ]

Source: (Mastery Grade Physique)

Effect: Skin becomes tough, providing physical damage reduction. Resistance to blows is greatly increased. When receiving physical attacks, damage is reduced by a certain amount. Increases with Physique level.

[ Special Effect: Iron Bones ]

Source: (Mastery Grade Physique)

Effect: Bone density increases, enhancing impact resistance. Probability of fractures is reduced, with extra resistance against blunt weapons and heavy attacks.

[ Special Effect: Crack ]

Source: (Mastery Grade Combat)

Effect: Deals additional armor penetration when attacking. Increases attack effectiveness against armored or hard targets, with a chance to shatter armor.

[ Special Effect: Burst ]

Source: Eight Extremities Fist (Mastery Grade Combat)

Effect: Increases explosive power when attacking. In close-quarters combat, can interrupt enemy actions or postures.

[ Special Effect: Consecutive Slash ]

Source: (Mastery Grade Saber Technique)

Effect: Increases blade speed; each slash in a combo is faster than the previous one.

[ Special Effect: Wind Control ]

Source: (Mastery Grade Spear Technique)

Effect: When using spear-type weapons, increases block success rate and can deflect part of the attack's force.

[ Special Effect: Speed ]

Source: (Mastery Grade Balance)

Effect: Increases short-duration sprint speed, usable multiple times. Explosive movement speed increase, lasting 3 seconds, with a 5-second cooldown and no limit on usage count.

Zhen Lu read through these lines of special effects from beginning to end twice.

With each reading, the sensations in his body became clearer. "Iron Skin" made his skin feel as if it were being tightened by something—not uncomfortable, but perceptible.

"Iron Bones" made his bones feel heavier, as if they had been changed from wood to iron.

"Crack" and "Burst" radiated heat in his palms and on his knuckles, as if waiting for a chance to throw a punch.

"Consecutive Slash" made his fingers automatically find a grip angle for a saber; if a hilt were there, his hand would want to grasp it.

"Wind Control" made him stand more steadily, with a lower center of gravity.

"Speed" made his ankles feel slightly warm, as if something were ready to launch him forward from the soles of his feet at any moment.

These were just what was reflected on the panel; in actual application, there would also be bonuses from moves. This improvement was simply too massive.

He exited the panel and leaned against the stone pillar.

People were still coming and going in the plaza. No one noticed him, and no one knew what had just happened to him.

He didn't intend to go back in again. He had stayed too long this time, obtained too many skills, and his attributes had surged too violently.

He needed time to digest it all—not just physical digestion, but mental digestion as well.

Those images, that blood, those pale faces, those people kneeling on the ground kowtowing, those figures falling amidst the firelight.

Those things were heavier than the skills, more enduring than the special effects, and harder to digest than the attributes.

He straightened his body and took one last look at the plaza.

The deep purple starry sky was still rotating. The portals were still glowing. Players were still coming and going.

He clicked exit.

The white light dissipated, and Zhen Lu opened his eyes.

The ceiling of the Beehive Apartment. A twelve-square-meter space; a few changes of clothes were piled on the table, the communicator sat by the pillow with its screen still lit. Someone next door was taking a shower, the sound of the pipes coming through dully.

But his body felt wrong.

When he sat up, the bed board creaked. It wasn't a problem with the bed board; it was that his weight had changed—it had become solid.

He looked down at his hands; his fingers looked the same as before, but when he clenched his fist, his knuckles creaked—they felt heavier and crunchier than before.

He got out of bed and stood on the floor; the floor didn't creak, but his knees felt a different kind of force, as if his whole body had dropped half an inch.

He walked over to the narrow mirror on the wall and looked at himself. It was the same face, twenty-four years old, ordinary-looking.

But his shoulders were a bit wider than before; his muscles had thickened. The deltoid muscle between his collarbone and acromion bulged, stretching the sleeves of his T-shirt a bit tight.

He took half a step back, performed a simple movement, and jumped in place. His knees' reaction was different from before.

Previously, when he jumped up and landed, his knees would automatically bend to absorb the force—that was the body's instinct.

Now it was also instinct, but faster, steadier, and the sound of landing was lighter.

The "Speed" special effect from Eight-Step Cicada Chase also had a reaction in reality; his ankles felt warm, as if ready to launch him forward at any moment.

The attributes had been brought out. Twelve points of Strength, fourteen points of Agility, thirteen points of Physique—all brought out.

They weren't just numbers in the game; they were solidly carved into this physical body in reality.

He raised his right arm and threw a punch into the air. The wind from the punch wasn't strong, but when he retracted it, his shoulder didn't ache, his elbow joint didn't creak, and the entire force-generation process was as smooth as water flowing through a pipe. The "Burst" special effect from Eight Extremities Fist lay dormant in his fist, like a curled-up hedgehog.

Then, he was hungry.

It was the kind of hunger that burned from his stomach to his throat. His stomach felt like it had been wrung dry; there was nothing in it, acidic liquid churned upward, and his mouth tasted bitter.

He glanced at the communicator by the bedside: 7:10 PM. He had stayed in the game for over five days, but less than a day had passed in reality.

He hadn't eaten for a day, so logically he should be hungry, but the current hunger felt wrong.

It was his body restructuring, muscles growing, bones becoming dense, skin becoming tough—all of these required energy. A massive amount of energy.

He grabbed the communicator, stuffed it into his pocket, and went out.

The elevator descended to the first floor, and he walked quickly out of the Beehive Apartment, standing on the street side. Shops along the street had signs of various colors lit up, and heat exhaust pipes extended from the sides of the buildings, puffing out a stream of white steam every few dozen meters.

He turned into the nearest noodle shop and ordered a bowl of beef noodles with two eggs. The noodles were served, and he finished them. It wasn't enough. He ordered another bowl and finished it all, soup and noodles alike.

Still not enough. The owner looked at him with a strange expression but didn't say anything. Zhen Lu paid the bill and left.

The second place was a dumpling shop. He went in and ordered four liang of pork and cabbage dumplings. He finished them, still hungry. He ordered another four liang. Finished them, still hungry.

The owner was a chubby auntie in her fifties; she looked at him while holding the empty plates, wanting to say something but stopping herself. Zhen Lu paid the bill and left.

The third place was a fast-food joint, the kind that sold boxed meals. Braised pork, stir-fried vegetables, scrambled eggs with tomato, and a bowl of rice. He finished it, then ordered another. Then another. Then another. People eating nearby started watching him; he paid the bill and left.

Time moved from seven to eight o'clock.

The fourth place was a steamed bun shop. The fifth was a congee shop.

The sixth place, the seventh. He didn't remember what he had eaten; he only remembered he kept eating, kept paying, and kept walking.

His stomach was like a bottomless pit; he didn't know where the things he stuffed inside went. But he could feel his body accepting this food.

Muscles were drinking the soup, bones were chewing the buns, skin was swallowing the rice. Those attributes, those special effects, those things brought out from the game were using this food as bricks and mortar to rebuild his physical body from the inside out.

By nine o'clock, he was finally full.

He stood by the street and looked up at the holy light cross overhead for a while.

He took a deep breath. The air held the smoky smell of barbecue, the heat of stir-frying, and the smell of gasoline from the roadside. Previously, he hadn't found these smells pleasant, and he still didn't, but his body's sensitivity to these smells had changed.

He could distinguish the difference between charcoal fire and wood charcoal in the barbecue smoke, could smell whether soybean oil or peanut oil was used in the stir-fry, and could separate the smell of gasoline from the white steam of the exhaust pipes.

He clenched his fist, his knuckles creaking; he relaxed it, then clenched it again—it still creaked. Twelve points of Strength, more than three times what it was before.

He turned around and walked back. His feet stepped on the ground; every step was steadier than before.

He could perceive the flatness of the road surface, the thickness of his shoe soles, and the pressure points on his soles.

The "Speed" special effect from Basic Balance rested quietly in his ankles; it wasn't active, but it had a presence, like an extra layer of socks inside his shoes.

Back to the Beehive Apartment, entered the building, took the elevator to the forty-second floor. One of the lights in the corridor was broken, flickering on and off; his eyes automatically adapted to the light, enabling him to clearly see the fire hydrant at the end of the hallway and the old cardboard boxes piled in the corner.

He swiped his door open, walked in, and closed the door.

The room was still the same room: twelve square meters, the bed tucked into the wall, the table flipped down from the wall surface, the window facing the heat exhaust of the building next door. But the room had become smaller; the space that previously felt just right for turning around now felt cramped.

He sat on the edge of the bed and looked down at his hands.

His fingers were thicker, his knuckles larger, the flesh of his palms thicker.

He stood up, walked over to the narrow mirror on the wall, and turned sideways to look at his shoulders and back. They were thicker. Not the exaggerated thickness built in a gym, but that natural, symmetrical thickness, as if they had been like that all along.

Iron Shirt and Thirteen Guardians Horizontal Training had reshaped his skin and bones; there wasn't much change visible on the outside, but the texture inside was completely different.

He clenched his fist, looked at himself in the mirror for a second, then turned around and sat back on the edge of the bed.

Zhen Lu placed the communicator by the pillow and lay down.

The feeling of fullness in his stomach began to slowly dissipate; the food was completely absorbed, turned into energy, and sent to all parts of his body.

He closed his eyes, and his brain automatically began to review—Iron Skin, Iron Bones, Crack, Burst, Consecutive Slash, Wind Control, Speed. Seven special effects, five Mastery Grade basic skills, a dozen attribute bonuses.

He had gone to the Wuxia World and stayed for so many days; the things he brought back were more than all his previous missions combined.

The humming sound from the heat exhaust vent started up again. Previously, he had found this sound annoying, but now his ears automatically filtered it out, and his attention could focus on subtler sounds: the sound of someone turning over next door, the sound of water dripping from the pipes downstairs, the sound of the elevator opening and closing in the corridor.

He turned over and pulled the quilt up to his shoulders. Tomorrow's matters could wait until tomorrow.