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—
Sitting on the edge of the soft mattress, Alex took a slow, deep breath, trying to steady the frantic pounding of his heart.
The flickering blue spirit candles overhead cast dancing shadows across the polished stone walls of the bridal suite, continually reflecting his scandalous reflection at him.
Every time his chest expanded, the rigid boning of the skin-tight scarlet corset crushed his soft, plump D-cup breasts upward, squeezing the dense mounds together until a deep, shadowed cleavage spilled openly over the delicate scalloped lace.
'If 1,461 Source Power isn't enough to brute-force a major realm breakthrough, then I'll maximize every single ounce of combat power I can squeeze out of the Expert Swordsman Realm,' Alex thought, his dark grey eyes hardening with determination.
To defeat an opponent at the half-step Master level while trapped inside their own domain, relying on ordinary B-Rank combat power was suicide.
He experienced it firsthand, but what if his Rank 2 sword art and his Rank 2 Cultivation technique were pushed to the absolute peak of mortal comprehension?
"What would happen if both Rank 2 arts were pushed past Minor Achievement, past Major Achievement, all the way to Level 5 Perfection?"
"I should be able to break this seal on my body that's blocking my mana circulation and reach the half- step Master Swordsman Realm… and grasp the higher-order metaphysical laws of swordsmanship. "
In the real world, developing True Sword Intent and pushing Rank 2 martial arts to Perfection usually took decades of life-or-death hardships.
Alex, however, had the All Things Simulator.
"And there is also the Snake Demon Summoning that can be upgraded…"
"System," Alex commanded in the silence of his consciousness, focusing his mental intent onto his two core swordsman skills.
"Allocate 500 points of Source Power into concurrent cultivation and evolution of the Yin-Mercury Body Art and the Mercurial Frost Sword Art."
Five hundred points. That was five thousand days… nearly fourteen years of uninterrupted, grueling cultivation inside the mental void.
[ Concurrent Skill Simulation Selected: Target 1: Rank 2 Martial Skill — Mercurial Frost Sword Art (Lv 2 - Proficient) ]
[ Target 2: Rank 2 Cultivation Technique — Yin-Mercury Body Art (Lv 2 - Proficient) ]
[ Host Aptitude Status: Good (Enhanced by Phase 3 Ecdysis Foundation & Yin-Serpent Mana Circuit Lv 3) ]
[ Confirm Input: 500 points of Source Power for Concurrent Simulation (Rank 2: Yin-Mercury Body Art & Rank 2: Mercurial Frost Sword Art)? ]
[ Estimated Simulation Duration: 5,000 Days ]
[ Yes / No ]
"Yes," Alex chose without a second thought.
Whoosh—!
The bridal suite, the flickering blue spirit candles, and the silk-draped bed melted away into absolute darkness.
Alex's consciousness was sucked into the boundless, silent gray void of the simulation space.
Standing in the center of the endless expanse was his simulated avatar.
Free from the restrictive constraints of the scarlet corset and the mocking whispers of the Empress.
The avatar, dressed in a new training outfit, grasped the black iron longsword he usually used, with his silver-grey mana humming quietly within his mana circuits.
Unlike the clumsy, struggling simulations of his early days, this time his heightened comprehension and the improved aptitude granted by his Phase 3 Ecdysis kicked in immediately.
System prompts began to blaze across the simulator logs at a dizzying speed:
[ Starting the Simulation... Consuming 500 Points of Source Power!!]
[ Day 1: You stand in the silent void, holding your longsword with both hands. You immediately cycle the Yin-Mercury Body Art, drawing the simulated atmospheric Yin mana through your pores. Simultaneously, you assume the opening stance of the Mercurial Frost Sword Art. ]
[ Day 10: The 80% proficiency boost from your Level 7 Sword Mastery fully ignites. Your baseline aptitude, significantly heightened after your recent Phase 3 Ecdysis evolution, allows your mind to break down complex sword trajectories with effortless clarity. The clumsy friction of human thought melts away, replaced by cold, serpentine instinct.]
[ Day 70: You practice the twelve foundational forms of the Mercurial Frost Sword Art under a torrential storm of freezing rain. Every thrust and parry compresses the silvery-grey liquid mana in your meridians. The heavy, mercury-like flow begins to synchronize seamlessly with your heartbeat.]
[ Day 150: You focus entirely on the 'Mercurial' aspect of your sword art. You realize that liquid mana should not flow like water, but like dense, heavy quicksilver. You alter the internal mana loops in your body, thickening your mana slowly, allowing the condensed mana to surge into the tip of the blade at the exact moment of impact. ]
[ Day 320: Breakthrough! Harmonizing your Serpentine Musculature with your mana, your strikes gain terrifying kinetic density. A single flick of your wrist generates secondary shockwaves capable of shattering stone. ]
[ Your skill 'Mercurial Frost Sword Art' successfully enters Level 3 (Minor Achievement - 12/2000).]
[ Day 350: Your sword strikes become noticeably heavier. A single casual flick of your wrist leaves lingering frost ribbons in the air. However, you realize that constantly calculating wind resistance and air friction is holding back your true lethal speed.]
[ Day 500: With your sword art advancing to Minor Achievement, your physical body begins to show signs of strain. You started to focus your attention toward the 'Yin-Mercury Body Art'. You sit cross-legged most of the time, forcing your cells to absorb the heavy cold mana as you practice. ]
[ Day 600: In the silent mental void, you swing your blade over one million times against howling atmospheric gales. You observe how high-velocity currents part around solid objects.]
[ Day 750: Agonizing bone-tempering. The liquid mana circulating in your body begins to penetrate your bone marrow. The calcium lattice of your skeleton is reinforced by a dense, silvery-blue crystalline structure. Your physical defense and weight resistance increase significantly. ]
[ Day 800: Guided by your innate Serpentine Musculature and biological evolution, an epiphany strikes your subconscious! You realize that a sword strike should never "cut" through the air or overpower resistance with brute force; it must achieve absolute harmony with fluid dynamics, sliding between atomic gaps as if the atmosphere itself were welcoming the edge.]
[ Day 850: Sudden Inspiration Triggered! Your physical body achieves complete aerodynamic synchronization! ]
[ TALENT AWAKENED: 'Aero-Dynamic Slash Alignment' (Lite White)]
[ Description: The user's body intuitively understands fluid dynamics down to the molecular level. Every swing of the sword perfectly parts air molecules, eliminating aerodynamic drag. From now on, your strikes make absolutely zero sound and travel at terrifying, frictionless speeds! ]
[ Day 980: The dual currents of frost and mercury reach harmony. As you exhale, fine frost crystals form on your eyelashes and skin, yet your internal body remains boiling with fluid vitality. ]
[ Day 1,100: With physical air resistance completely conquered by your new innate talent, you completely abandon all surface-level physical optimization! You shift 100% of your cognitive focus toward internal mana control, spatial vibration, and the metaphysical aspects of the blade.]
[Your skill 'Yin-Mercury Body Art' successfully enters Level 3 (Minor Achievement - 45/2000).]
[ Day 1300: The liquid mana circulating in your veins becomes denser, resembling molten starlight. The bone density of your simulated vessel multiplies. Your mana pathways no longer resemble simple conduits; they expand into a multi-layered three-dimensional matrix.]
[ Your level successfully upgraded to Expert Level 2. ]
[ Day 1,850: You integrate the extensive arcane knowledge and runic mana-loop theories memorized from Second Order Wizard Reina Dalwyn's study during your Azure Sea memory dive. You begin applying Wizardry Array knowledge to your sword techniques! ]
[ Day 1,858: You attempt to superimpose optical light refraction and pure Yin mana-mirages over the frictionless edge of your blade.]
[ Day 2,200: Sudden Inspiration & Skill Derivation! ]
[ NEW RANK 2 SWORD SKILL DERIVED: 'Mirage-Moon Frost Step' (Lv 1 - Entry) ]
[ Type: Movement / Optical Decoy Martial Art ]
[ Description: By weaving refined Yin mana loops into your aerodynamic footwork, every step leaves behind an ultra-realistic, frost-infused phantom decoy that continues moving while your true body vanishes into silent, frictionless stealth.]
[ Day 2,750: You sit motionless atop a simulated frozen peak for a year. You meditate on the concept of 'Severing.' You realize that even if physical armor can be reinforced by magic, spiritual links and internal mana conduits possess natural metaphysical seams.]
[ Day 3,100: Combining your high-density liquid Yin mana with the penetrative frequency of the Sword Seed, you deduce a lethal, armor-piercing technique! ]
[ NEW RANK 2 SWORD SKILL DERIVED: 'Glacial Piercing Needle' (Lv 1 - Entry) ]
[ Type: Single-Target Penetration / Internal Mana Disruptor ]
[ Description: Condenses Yin-Mercury mana into an invisible, razor-thin needle along the tip of the blade. Upon contact, the strike ignores external physical/magical defense, directly invading the target's internal meridians to flash-freeze their mana core and disrupt spiritual connections!]
[ Day 3,600: Deduction Progress: Mercurial Frost Sword Art -> Lv 4 (Major Achievement - 145/5000), Deduction Progress: Yin-Mercury Body Art -> Lv 4 (Major Achievement - 22/5000)]
[ Day 3,600: Your understanding of the sword transcends physical and magical forms. The sword is no longer a tool of iron; it resonates with your soul. A profound genetic and cognitive mutation begins to take place in the deepest parts of your spiritual sea!]
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