The first thing Ye Jun did the next morning was consume the Meridian Reforging Pill. It was too valuable, so he was extra careful. Fortunately, Song Liangxue had left instructions on how to use it.
'I have to eat it while being submerged in hot water? Easy!'
Ye Jun was treated harshly in the clan, which was also why he lived in a hut. It was located on the outskirts of the Ye Manor, connected to the Wildlands, and no one really visited it.
'Better for me.'
It didn't take him long to gather wood and build a fireplace. Then he boiled water in it until it was extremely hot.
Looking at the wooden bathtub, Ye Jun sighed and undressed himself. "I hope this works out."
Once he was naked, he checked his body and smirked. "This guy really worked hard, huh. What a body. And nice meeting you, my little brother."
He took out the Meridian Reforging Pill, a round green pill, and swallowed it in one go. Without wasting any time, he entered the bathtub and hissed, feeling the water burn his skin.
Still, he endured it and dipped his whole body into the boiling-hot water. Just the next second, the pill started showing its effects too, as deep coldness permeated his entire being in no time.
The contrast between the heat outside and the cold inside sent immense pain through every fiber of his being. Not to mention, the coldness shattered every single one of his meridians, which was even more painful than shattering bones into dust.
Several minutes full of agony passed, as even the water began to cool down. In fact, it absorbed the cold from his body and almost turned into ice.
That was when another change took place in Ye Jun's body. After the cold wave, a heat wave spread from the center of his chest across his body. Every single cell burned, bringing him extreme agony.
'Damnit! Fucking damnit!'
Assassins were used to pain, but even then, it was too much for Ye Jun. But he refused to give up and endured it. Even if it would kill him, he refused to lose.
Several more minutes passed where the cycle repeated. Meridians crushed, then reformed, and then crushed again. Heat waves followed by cold, then heat again. It continued, tormenting Ye Jun to no end.
Finally, the seemingly endless cycles ended, the water completely evaporated by then. He remained still in his position for a while, gasping and panting heavily.
When he finally managed to get a hold of himself, he cursed, "Fucking hell! It basically restructured my insides."
He quickly checked his status.
...
[Attributes System]
Cultivation: Mortal
Physique: Tempered (33%)
Comprehension: Mortal (15%)
Blank Points: 0
Dao Affinity:
Death (0.1%)
Fire (2%)
...
"Finally! It worked!" Ye Jun exclaimed in delight. "I advanced to the Fourth-Stage Body Strengthening Realm."
The power system of this world was similar to cultivation novels. Starting with the Body Strengthening Realm, there were the Qi Condensation Realm, Soul Tempering Realm, Origin Core Realm, and so on.
Ye Jun was only aware of these realms, but there were definitely more. Each realm was divided into nine stages, with the tenth being the boundary between two major realms.
The first three stages of the Body Strengthening Realm focused on strengthening the body through normal means. Even a person back on Earth could reach this through extremely hard training.
That was how Ye Jun reached it. However, the problem with his meridians started there. From the Fourth Stage onward, one needed to absorb the Heaven and Earth Essence, also known as Qi, and use it to strengthen their body.
Since his meridians were damaged, he could never reach it. But now things were different. His meridians were reforged into new ones, and he could finally feel the Qi flowing around him like wind.
He had finally stepped into the Fourth Stage of the Body Strengthening Realm.
Ye Jun stepped out and began to do some exercises and punching to sense the changes. After a few minutes, he wore his old robes with patches again and thought, 'That's better than I expected.'
He glanced at the status and thought, 'Just as I thought. Physique is for body cultivation. The percentage likely represents stages.'
At first, it was stuck at 29% and only increased after he reforged his meridians.
'Those extra 3% are probably because of the agility attribute I added. That's a lot. I wonder what her realm is?'
The morning sun rose above the Wildlands, spreading its warm sunlight everywhere and starting the day for Bright Star City.
It was a new day with a new beginning for Ye Jun.
He glanced at the sky and grinned. "Time to collect some debt from my juniors."
Now that he knew how his system worked, he had no plans of cultivating properly. After all, he belonged to a clan of martial artists. Every day, hundreds of people practiced their martial arts and trained heavily to secure a great future.
They would become his targets from today onward.
Just as he was about to move toward the training grounds, his stomach growled as he grimaced. "Aghh! I forgot to eat!"
Ye Jun searched through his memories and remembered he had some bread left. That was how he lived in this clan, which made him even more determined to grow stronger quickly and leave it behind.
As for eating the bread, he didn't mind much, since he had eaten worse to survive on the streets before starting his journey of becoming an assassin. This was nothing.
Once his breakfast was done, he left his hut and headed toward the southern section of the Ye Manor.
Passing by the ancient Chinese-style buildings, he sensed some people looking at him while others simply ignored him and went on their way.
'Better this way, since it also suits me. I can farm attributes in peace.'
Soon, he entered the training grounds of the Ye Clan, where many teenagers were practicing together. However, Ye Jun didn't look at them. Not at all.
His gaze fell upon the numerous attribute bubbles floating around the grounds, and a toothy grin instantly formed on his lips.
'What a delicious sight!'