18: Chapter 18 Fang Zhuo's martial prowess has greatly improved!

Five days later.

"Hubby~ I'm heading out now."

"I'll be back early tonight~"

Bai Shiwei had applied exquisite makeup early in the morning. After having breakfast with Fang Zhuo, she waved goodbye reluctantly by the door.

"Go on."

Fang Zhuo nodded.

Bai Shiwei walked up, gave Fang Zhuo a hug, and then put on her high heels, clicking away as she left.

Watching his wife's retreating figure, Fang Zhuo felt a bit helpless. When they first met, the impression Bai Shiwei gave him was more like that of a cold and aloof mature woman.

After spending these days together since getting their marriage certificate, he discovered she wasn't cold at all; in fact, she had become increasingly clingy lately.

"She lacks a bit of a martial artist's boldness... but that's fine too. If she were really the cold and aloof type, I might not be able to handle it."

Fang Zhuo shook his head.

He sat cross-legged in the center of the living room, gestured with his hand, and pulled eight spirit-nourishing pills from the system space.

Over the past few days.

As Bai Shiwei consumed resources during her cultivation, system notifications popped up one after another.

[Wife Bai Shiwei consumed one ice-flame marrow-cleansing fruit. Bai Shiwei's Life Level is Intermediate Martial Artist. Return coefficient is 4. Returned ice-flame marrow-cleansing fruit * 4.]

[Wife Bai Shiwei consumed one spirit-nourishing pill... Returned spirit-nourishing pill * 4.]

[Wife Bai Shiwei consumed one portion of vitality strengthening agent... Returned vitality strengthening agent * 4 portions.]

[Wife Bai Shiwei consumed half a bottle of bone strengthening pill... Returned bone strengthening pill * 2 bottles.]

[Wife Bai Shiwei consumed one spirit-nourishing pill... Returned spirit-nourishing pill * 4.]

"A total of eight spirit-nourishing pills!"

Fang Zhuo looked at the bright red pills lined up on the table in front of him. This was a massive fortune worth four million!

Even children from Advanced Martial Artist families couldn't afford to be so extravagant with spirit-nourishing pills.

For one thing, the medicinal effect weakens with repeated consumption.

Secondly, Federation martial artists prioritize raw physical power, focusing on improving their physical fitness; few people invest in spirit-nourishing pills to increase their mental power.

Of course, this excludes the stage of awakening a Martial Aspect.

Before level 15, many well-off families are still willing to spend 500,000 to buy spirit-nourishing pills for their children's martial arts future.

"With the second Innate Divine Ability 'Devour', when I ingest spirit-nourishing pills, I can absorb all the medicinal power. There's no such thing as medicinal effect attenuation, so my mental power will probably increase even more than I previously anticipated!"

"If I still can't awaken a Martial Aspect now, there's no justice in the world!"

"Come on, let's start!"

Fang Zhuo pinched the first spirit-nourishing pill and swallowed it in one gulp.

As soon as the medicinal power dissolved, a suction force spread throughout his body.

Every cell in his body became active in an instant, greedily absorbing the medicinal power.

"This..."

"This Innate Divine Ability 'Devour' is simply perverted!"

Fang Zhuo was dumbfounded.

In just ten minutes, the heat flow transformed from the spirit-nourishing pill was completely consumed and absorbed by his body.

The speed was three times faster than before!

Fang Zhuo's mental power increased a bit more, and he closed his eyes to meditate.

In the boundless starry sky, the signal coming from the fiery red planet became much stronger.

[Subject: Fang Zhuo]

[Life Level: 16]

[Mental Power: 26]

"It increased by a whole level directly?"

Fang Zhuo was overjoyed. Looking at it this way, before activating the Innate Divine Ability 'Devour', at least half of the medicinal power of those six consecutively consumed spirit-nourishing pills had been wasted...

"Continue!"

One after another, the spirit-nourishing pills were swallowed by Fang Zhuo.

Any Federation martial artist who saw this scene would have their jaws drop in shock.

What kind of martial artist takes drugs like this?

Are you tired of living?

Pill toxins!

Do you know what pill toxins are?

Relying on his Innate Divine Abilities 'Purification' and 'Devour', after digesting the remaining seven spirit-nourishing pills, Fang Zhuo felt his brain was more developed than ever before.

The birds flying outside the window, the pedestrians passing by downstairs, the security guard pacing at the residential complex entrance—every movement and trajectory slowed down.

"Has my mental power perhaps broken through level 30?"

Fang Zhuo narrowed his eyes slightly.

Without overthinking it, he immediately closed his eyes and began to meditate.

In the boundless starry sky.

The massive Martial Aspect finally revealed its true face.

It was a fiery red planet. As it rotated, it crushed a vacuum zone, and its surface radiated terrifying high temperatures.

"Martial Aspect... finally awakened!"

Fang Zhuo was excited.

A bit of information was also transmitted back from within the fiery red planet:

[Subject: Fang Zhuo]

[Life Level: 16]

[Mental Power: 29]

[Martial Aspect: Scarlet Flame]

[Innate Divine Ability 1: Purification]

[Innate Divine Ability 2: Devour]

[Innate Divine Ability 3: Unknown]

"Scarlet Flame..."

Fang Zhuo murmured to himself, a thoughtful look appearing on his face. This Martial Aspect of his was indeed not one of the nine recorded Superior Martial Aspects in the Federation.

Could this Scarlet Flame planet actually exist in the starry sky?

Generally speaking, the Martial Aspect that a martial artist meditates on and awakens does not exist in reality... But for some reason, Fang Zhuo always felt that the Martial Aspect he meditated on, this planet, was too realistic!

Or perhaps it was just because his mental power was too high?

Fang Zhuo shook his head, not dwelling on it, and flipped his hand to take out the remaining cultivation resources from the system space.

Four ice-flame marrow-cleansing fruits, four portions of vitality strengthening agent, and two bottles of bone strengthening pill were placed quietly on the table in front of him, wafts of fragrance piercing his nose.

"The ice-flame marrow-cleansing fruit can completely solidify my martial arts foundation. With the Innate Divine Ability 'Devour', I can absorb 100% of the medicinal effect, so there's no such thing as the effect being discounted due to missing the optimal age...!"

Fang Zhuo grabbed an ice-flame marrow-cleansing fruit and took a big bite.

"Crunch~"

The ice-flame marrow-cleansing fruit, originating from Origin Star, one of the Federation's seven stars, was truly worthy of being a heavenly treasure worth one million. Just in terms of texture, it was crisp, full of juice, and sweet—definitely a rare treat.

The medicinal effect was even more miraculous!

As soon as the first bite was swallowed, the power of 'Devour' within Fang Zhuo spread, and the medicinal power contained within was sent into every cell of his body.

A numbing sensation spread from the inside out.

After eating one ice-flame marrow-cleansing fruit, Fang Zhuo felt his body was much more refreshed, and the meridians in his body had been washed and combed through countless times.

"Continue!"

Fang Zhuo reached for the remaining three ice-flame marrow-cleansing fruits, no longer savoring the taste, and began to wolf them down.

Tearing into them with big bites.

Unaccountably, he thought of the experience of being treated coldly by his father-in-law at the Bai family.

"Eat, eat, eat!"

"Charge, charge, charge!"

"Strive to break through to Intermediate Martial Artist in this wave, advance towards Advanced Martial Artist early, and let my father-in-law eat the table sooner!"

Fang Zhuo wasn't petty, but he wasn't magnanimous either.

After consuming the four ice-flame marrow-cleansing fruits, with the Innate Divine Ability 'Devour' in effect, not a single bit of medicinal power was wasted. The foundation that Fang Zhuo had lacked polishing during his high school years was perfectly made up for.

Thanks to this.

The hidden potential of his body was also unearthed.

His physical fitness increased by a small notch, and his Life Level rose from 16 to 17!

Fang Zhuo gathered his remaining strength, tore open the remaining four portions of vitality strengthening agent, tilted his head back, and drank them 'glug glug'.

After finishing, he wiped his mouth, twisted open the bottle containing the bone strengthening pills, and started stuffing them into his mouth like Zhu Bajie eating flat peaches.

Both the vitality strengthening agent and the bone strengthening pill were produced by the Federation's Great Martial Artist Group, specifically for beginning and Intermediate Martial Artists to enhance their physical bodies.

While the medicinal effects were potent, there were also many impurities and pill toxins.

With Fang Zhuo's method of gorging, if it weren't for the dual escort of his Innate Divine Abilities 'Purification' and 'Devour', he wouldn't have been able to do it without either one.

Even so, he fell into quite a bit of trouble.

His body felt like a furnace or a frying pan; the medicinal effects were like pouring oil on fire, and he suffered for a while.

Half an hour later.

The medicinal effects were completely digested and absorbed by the Innate Divine Ability 'Devour'. Fang Zhuo let out a long breath, and the white vapor condensed into an arrow in front of his mouth.

It was exactly that: breathing out like an arrow!

This was the explosive power only possessed by an Intermediate Martial Artist.

Fang Zhuo opened his eyes abruptly, a flash of brilliance passing through them.

In his consciousness space, that fiery red planet Martial Aspect, Scarlet Flame, was transmitting information bit by bit:

[Subject: Fang Zhuo]

[Life Level: 21 (Intermediate Martial Artist)]

[Mental Power: 29]

[Martial Aspect: Scarlet Flame (Superior)]

[...]

"Level 21!"

Fang Zhuo narrowed his eyes slightly and thought to himself: "Not bad, these several million worth of cultivation resources were well spent!"

Physical fitness increased by four levels!