95: Conjecture about proficiency

The tingling sensation wasn't fleeting.

It transformed into countless tiny currents, coursing through his body, as if exploring a brand new continent.

Lin Yu clearly felt that his physique, with its 500-point limit, was undergoing some peculiar optimization by this power.

The hidden dangers left behind from forcefully breaking through his limits with massive injections of potions, the violent medicinal energies accumulated deep within his body that couldn't be fully absorbed—all of these were now being sought out one by one by the gentle golden lightning, then crushed, decomposed, and re-integrated into his limbs and bones.

His muscles trembled at an imperceptible frequency, becoming denser and full of explosive power.

His bones emitted fine, subtle sounds, growing tougher, like refined steel.

Even his skin, nourished by this power, became smooth and flawless like jade; the tiny needle marks from the frantic potion injections had now vanished without a trace.

It even gave one the illusion of a leap in life's very essence.

Lin Yu walked to the enormous floor-to-ceiling mirror in the suite and looked at himself in the reflection.

The person in the mirror seemed to have grown a few centimeters taller, and his previously slightly narrow shoulders were now broad and straight.

The muscle lines beneath his T-shirt were no longer exaggerated or twisted, but instead presented a streamlined form full of power, every inch containing explosive energy.

He was no longer the somewhat pale youth from years of dormancy.

Nor was he a walking medicine cabinet with an abnormal physique due to drug use.

Now, he was unequivocally a walking hormone, a perfectly built tough guy.

This internal and external strength brought his sense of control over his body to an unprecedented peak.

This unexpected pleasant surprise ignited a fervent warmth in Lin Yu's heart.

He zapped himself many more times until the sensation began to wane before he stopped.

After stopping, Lin Yu began to ponder his method of grinding proficiency.

Since it was effective... should he do it again?

Once this thought arose, he couldn't suppress it.

He almost subconsciously wanted to perform Card Transformation again, to summon that Lightning Spell imbued with a million times its power again.

But as soon as he raised his hand, he abruptly stopped.

No.

In his mind, the pale, ghostly face of the Insect Dwelling lobby manager and Boss Zhong's seemingly calm but subtly sharp demeanor flashed instantly.

A single accident could be attributed to a natural disaster, or some kind of abyss energy resonance; they could convince themselves of it.

But if the same natural disaster occurred a second time in the same place within a short period... it wouldn't be so easy to adapt.

That wouldn't be a natural disaster; it would be a man-made calamity.

At that point, let alone Boss Zhong, even the Insect Dwelling headquarters would absolutely turn the place upside down, sparing no expense to find the source of that 'man-made calamity.'

He didn't want to become the hunted target for now.

So, a different approach?

Directly zap himself?

Amplify it a million times and give himself a thorough 'electrotherapy' with the Lightning Spell?

As soon as this idea emerged, he immediately quashed it.

What a joke.

He would be electrocuted to a crisp.

His 500-point physique already felt a huge burden just from acting as a 'turret' to fire outward once.

If he were to use his own body as a 'target,' the consequences would be unimaginable.

Lin Yu sighed, feeling a bit conflicted.

He pulled up his attribute panel again, his gaze falling on the golden proficiency bar of the Lightning Spell.

[Proficiency: Gold (1048576 / 100000000)]

The next level, Red Mythic.

The proficiency required was a number that made his eyelids twitch.

One hundred million.

What kind of concept was that?

Lin Yu quickly calculated in his mind.

A standard Lightning Spell, from incantation to release, even for a gifted mage, would take at least three seconds.

One hundred million times would be three hundred million seconds.

Converted, that's five million minutes, eighty-three thousand-plus hours.

This meant that an ordinary professional would need to continuously cast the Lightning Spell for nearly ten years, without eating, drinking, or sleeping, to pile this basic skill up to Red Mythic level.

Ten years to forge a sword.

This was the true law of this world.

And what about himself?

One million-fold amplification counted as one million proficiency points.

In other words, he only needed one hundred times to cover what others would take ten years to achieve.

But the problem was, where would he cast these one hundred times?

The backup system of this Insect Dwelling probably couldn't even withstand one more time.

His own body wouldn't allow it either.

It seemed he needed to strengthen his body first.

This thought flashed through Lin Yu's mind.

Should he stack some passive enhancements or auxiliary skills?

In terms of attack power, a basic skill amplified a million times seemed absolutely sufficient for now. In fact, it was severely overflowing.

If a Gold proficiency skill could cause such a commotion, what about Red?

Lin Yu looked at the dazzling one hundred million proficiency cap on the panel, pondering.

What was an insurmountable chasm for others was merely one hundred skill releases for him.

If handled properly, he could even grind out several Red Mythic skills within a single day.

Thinking of this, Lin Yu's heart again burned with excitement.

He immediately opened the virtual light screen in the room and began searching the internet.

He needed guides.

He needed truly valuable core information about skills, proficiency, and professional advancement.

However, reality quickly poured cold water on him.

What was displayed on the light screen was all common, run-of-the-mill stuff.

"Must-read for Beginners! Top Ten Easiest Basic Skills to Improve Proficiency!"

"Shocking! A certain Three-Turn Archmage shares tips for fast leveling, and the answer is...!"

"On the Importance of Teamwork in Grinding Proficiency."

Lin Yu clicked on each one, then closed each one.

These so-called guides were full of nonsense.

They either advised people to join large guilds and form groups, or recommended buying expensive training courses and auxiliary potions.

The truly crucial information, those studies involving the underlying rules of the world, were all treated as top-secret by major powers and were never publicly disclosed.

What could be found online were all scraps, or even deliberately released misinformation.

Lin Yu felt a bit exasperated.

He was now like someone sitting on a massive treasure mountain but couldn't find a suitable pickaxe.

Just as he was about to give up, an inconspicuous search result appeared in the corner of the light screen.

It was a website snapshot of an old forum that had long ceased operation.

The title was: "Conjecture on Proficiency Caps, an Old Soldier's Ramblings."

Lin Yu, as if by some strange impulse, clicked on it.

The page loaded slowly, full of mosaics and garbled text, but the content of the post was clearly displayed.

The poster's ID was "Medal of Honor."