Sun Han quickly went to the underside of his bed and pulled out a wooden box.
Opening it, he found a bunch of silver fragments inside—about twelve pieces worth.
Even though he was just a branch family member, he was still part of the Sun family. Over the years, through New Year's gifts and other occasions when his elders gave him rewards, he'd managed to save up a bit.
These twelve or so pieces were his entire savings.
"Ten silvers must mean ten pieces of silver. One amplification costs ten pieces. With twelve pieces, I can only amplify one talent..."
Sun Han's gaze moved between "Root Bone Talent Amplification" and "Swordsmanship Talent Amplification." He quickly made his decision.
Sure, swordsmanship talent was tempting. It would speed up his martial technique training and make him better in combat. But right now, the most urgent thing was breaking through to Flesh Refinement within a month.
Root Bone talent affected how quickly you could train foundational techniques. That was the talent that would help most with breaking through to Flesh Refinement.
"Deposit."
Decision made, Sun Han took out ten pieces of silver and deposited them.
The ten pieces in his hand instantly vanished. In their place, the panel changed.
[Host: Sun Han]
[Root Bone Talent Amplification: 0x (Level 1 amplification requires 10 silvers)]
[Swordsmanship Talent Amplification: 0x (Level 1 amplification requires 10 silvers)]
[Current Wealth: 10 silvers]
His wealth was no longer zero—it had become 10 silvers. He'd guessed right. Ten silvers meant ten pieces of silver.
"Amplify Root Bone talent!"
Sun Han took a deep breath and focused his intent on the [Root Bone Talent Amplification] line on the system panel, choosing to amplify it.
The panel changed again.
[Host: Sun Han]
[Root Bone Talent Amplification: 2x (Level 2 amplification requires 100 silvers)]
[Swordsmanship Talent Amplification: 0x (Level 1 amplification requires 10 silvers)]
[Current Wealth: 0]
"Two times amplification?!"
Sun Han's heart raced.
"Current Wealth" had returned to zero. In exchange, next to Root Bone Talent Amplification, the words "2x" appeared.
In other words, under the system's effects, his Root Bone talent was now double what it used to be.
Double amplification—that was an insane boost!
Take IQ from his past life as an example.
An average person's IQ was around ninety. A genius's IQ was 140 and up.
Doubling someone's IQ would be enough to take an average person into genius territory.
He'd thought it would increase by maybe ten or twenty percent at most. He never expected it to straight-up double.
What a pleasant surprise.
"Wait... huh? Why isn't there any change?"
Sun Han suddenly realized his body didn't seem any different after the talent amplification.
No warm current flowing through him. No rumbling. His tendons, bones, skin, and flesh all felt the same... There was no sign his Root Bone had improved at all.
This made him doubt the system's "amplification." Had he gotten some kind of knock-off system?
"The system shouldn't be lying to me. I'll know once I try it!"
Sun Han pushed down his worries, tiptoed to his door, and stepped out into the cold courtyard.
It was late. Everything was quiet except for crickets and the occasional bark of a distant dog. His parents' and sister's rooms were pitch black—they were all clearly asleep.
He walked to the center of the courtyard, sank his hips, and planted his feet in a figure-eight stance, taking the starting position of the Sun family's basic body-tempering technique—the "Crane Form Stance."
The Crane Form Stance was the fundamental method for refining tendons, bones, skin, and flesh, and for nurturing one's physique.
Most valuable of all, as the foundational cultivation method for Sun family disciples, it was exceptionally refined. Among all the stance techniques in Waterwell City, it easily ranked among the best—a body-tempering method many people desperately wanted but couldn't get.
He wasn't starting as a beggar or a servant—he was a family member. Even if just a branch family member, he was still grateful for that.
"Breathe in... breathe out..."
With deep, rhythmic breaths, Sun Han's muscles slowly tensed and relaxed. He sank his awareness into his body, drawing Qi and Blood from the flesh and blood within him.
Following the specific circulation path, he guided his Qi and Blood to flow.
A different sensation appeared quickly.
A surge of Qi and Blood—far more powerful, condensed, and active than anything he'd felt during past stance training—came rushing out from deep within his limbs without warning.
Under this surging current of Qi and Blood, the circulation no longer felt slow or sluggish like it used to.
His Qi and Blood became like a tamed wild horse, like a rushing river. Under the guidance of the Crane Form Stance, it crashed fiercely against the membrane throughout his entire body!
"Hiss!"
Sun Han couldn't help but gasp. He almost lost his stance and fell out of the technique.
Too powerful! Too intense!
This was nothing like the weak trickle of Qi and Blood he'd had before.
With his Root Bone talent amplified by 2x, every breath, every muscle movement generated and mobilized far more Qi and Blood than before.
He could clearly feel this massive surge of Qi and Blood tempering and nourishing his long-stagnant skin membrane at an unprecedented speed, over and over again.
His skin membrane, which had been stuck at a bottleneck and hadn't improved in ages, was now like parched earth meeting rain under this fierce Qi and Blood wash. It greedily absorbed the energy, giving off a faint but vibrant "hum."
His stagnant skin membrane was actually starting to grow again.
The membrane became tighter, tougher. The connections between the fascia grew stronger. Even deep within his muscles, he felt a subtle swelling sensation.
Usually when he practiced the stance, he'd quickly feel his Qi and Blood depleting, too exhausted to continue.
But now? He felt full of power, like he could hold the stance forever.
He'd always thought he'd reached the limit of Skin Refinement. But the truth was, that limit had been fake.
There was still room to grow in Skin Refinement!
He finally understood why he hadn't been able to break through to Flesh Refinement even after two whole months.
The reason was simple: he hadn't actually reached the true limit. How could he break through to the next realm if he hadn't?
Time flew by as he focused on training. The cold deepened. Before long, it was dawn.
"Whew..."
Sun Han slowly ended his practice, exhaling a long breath of stale air.
His shirt was soaked through with sweat. His body felt deeply tired. But his eyes burned with a fiercer light than ever before.
Even though he hadn't broken through to Flesh Refinement in one go, he'd clearly felt the hope of a breakthrough.
The door to Flesh Refinement that had seemed so impossibly far away now felt like it had cracked open in his heart, letting in a ray of hopeful light.
"One month... there's hope!"
Sun Han clenched his fists, feeling the lingering echoes of surging Qi and Blood that hadn't fully settled in his body. For the first time since the assessment announcement, a confident smile spread across his face.
After washing up at the courtyard well, he quietly returned to his small room and fell into a deep, peaceful sleep, filled with anticipation he'd never felt before.