98: Come on, Taikoo!

That old veteran said that above red, there were still more transformations!

Lin Yu didn't hesitate in the slightest, not even giving himself half a second to rest.

His hands, moving so fast they blurred, danced once more.

A new cycle began!

One hundred times.

Two hundred times... five hundred times... nine hundred ninety-nine times.

Lin Yu's mind was stretched to its limit, and fine beads of sweat seeped onto his forehead.

Nearly a thousand consecutive extreme operations, even for him, brought a fatigue that originated from his very soul.

But his eyes shone with astonishing brightness.

The final layer!

The one thousandth million-times cycle, completed!

The Exquisite Finger Snap card, carrying a billion points of proficiency, emitted a restrained yet profound white light in his hand.

Activate!

Snap!

A finger snap, as if from ancient times, echoed in his consciousness.

Lin Yu eagerly pulled up his attribute panel.

Exquisite Finger Snap (Red · Myth)

Proficiency: Red (1,000,000,000 / 1,000,000,000)

Then... nothing.

Nothing happened.

The color hadn't changed.

No new abilities were added.

Behind the proficiency bar, there wasn't even a new upper limit number, just a simple "MAX" displayed.

The anticipation on Lin Yu's face instantly froze.

What's going on?

He refreshed the attribute panel repeatedly, but the result remained unchanged.

Did that old veteran lie?

The moment this thought surfaced, an indescribable sense of disappointment welled up in his heart.

He had spent nearly three hours performing thousands of extreme operations, and all he got was a capped red skill?

No.

That's not right.

Lin Yu violently shook his head, forcefully dispelling the negative emotions.

The old veteran's rambling justifications in the forum, the details about troop numbers and code words, didn't sound like lies.

Or was he just too foolish, believing everything?

Where was the problem?

Lin Yu forced himself to calm down.

He looked at the description in that post again.

"The panel can't be screenshotted, nor can it be photographed..."

"The proficiency will turn into a color I've never seen... an ancient color..."

Since he could see it, why couldn't Lin Yu?

Could it be... a possibility flashed through Lin Yu's mind.

Eye of Analysis!

He activated this passive ability without hesitation.

Within his eyes, countless tiny data streams flashed at light speed.

The entire world was instantly deconstructed and reassembled in his vision.

He cast his gaze back to his attribute panel.

This time, he saw something different.

Beneath the crimson text of Exquisite Finger Snap, a small annotation, hidden by some power of rules and only visible under the Eye of Analysis, slowly appeared.

Skill proficiency has reached the 'Limit Break' tier. Proficiency required for the next tier, 'Primeval': 10,000,000,000

The color of that annotation was not gold, not red, nor any known color.

It was an indescribable, ancient, dusty color, as if it had accumulated the brilliance of endless ages.

Limit Break!

Primeval!

Ten billion proficiency!

Lin Yu's heart suddenly skipped a beat.

That old veteran hadn't lied!

He, just like Lin Yu, possessed some kind of analytical ability that could see through appearances, which was why he could see this true path of advancement, hidden by the world's rules!

However... Lin Yu's brow quickly furrowed again.

This "Primeval" tier, aside from its impressive-sounding name, seemed to have... no bonuses?

The skill effect hadn't changed at all.

What was this supposed to be?

An honorary title?

Lin Yu started calculating again.

One billion proficiency required one thousand cycles, taking nearly three hours.

Ten billion proficiency would require ten thousand cycles!

Thirty hours!

A full day and night, plus more!

Moreover, as the number of cycles increased, the mental energy consumption was real.

In less than three hours just now, he had already felt obvious fatigue and mental drain.

If he were to continuously perform thirty hours of extreme operations... he would probably suffer a mental breakdown and become an idiot before the skill even advanced.

Give up?

This thought appeared for only an instant before he completely extinguished it.

Are you kidding me!

This was the only path to the divine throne!

A grand path hidden by the world's rules, and at least for now, exclusive to him, Lin Yu!

What was a mere mental drain?

What Lin Yu lacked least was medicine!

A hint of madness flashed in his eyes.

Without the slightest hesitation, he raised his hand again.

But this time, he didn't imprint Exquisite Finger Snap.

A blank card appeared.

From his storage space, he took out a bottle of the most standard mental stabilizer, purchased on the black market.

Card Transformation!

mental stabilizer (White)

Ghost Card!

Multiplication Card!

The familiar process started again.

But this time, the target was no longer a skill card, but a potion card!

When the last Multiplication Card was embedded.

Lin Yu activated the card.

Buzz!

There was no earth-shattering commotion.

Just a flash of light on the empty space in front of him.

The next second.

A mountain of mental stabilizers, emitting a faint blue glow, appeared out of thin air, instantly filling half of the suite!

One bottle.

Ten bottles.

One hundred bottles.

One thousand bottles!

A total of over ten thousand standard mental stabilizers piled up into a small mountain in the room!

This was still not enough.

Lin Yu looked at his hands again.

The entire Multiplication process, from Card Transformation to release, took ten seconds.

Too slow!

Ten thousand cycles meant one hundred thousand seconds.

It had to be optimized!

His brain was working furiously, his Eye of Analysis breaking down every one of his movements into countless data frames.

A 0.1-second hand-raising delay.

A 0.03-second card-switching gap.

A 0.2-second energy injection fluctuation.

All of it was time that could be compressed!

He closed his eyes, performing frantic simulations and deductions in his mind.

Once.

Ten times.

A hundred times!

When he opened his eyes again, his entire demeanor had changed.

It was an extreme, completely procedural, precise, machine-like calmness.

He glanced at the time on the virtual window.

5:58 AM.

The sky was already beginning to lighten.

And he was about to begin a thirty-hour, secluded ascetic practice.

Lin Yu casually picked up a bottle of mental stabilizer, twisted open the cap, and drank it all in one gulp.

It was indeed much better than the cheap stuff he had drunk before.

The cool liquid slid down his throat, a refreshing sensation rushing straight to his brain, dispelling all fatigue.

He slowly raised his hands and placed them in front of him.

A new blank card appeared.

Imprint Exquisite Finger Snap.

The optimized, brand-new process, refined to its extreme, was about to begin.