"Body Fortification : Body Fortification is the act of using qi energy to strengthen the body. Only with this method can you obtain greater heights as a cultivator. The process involves absorbing energy, then directing it into your body in order to achieve the desired effect.
This process can be lengthy, depending on the amount of qi you can safely absorb and infuse. Ultimately, once the process is repeated several times, the body will undergo rapid changes including resistant to cuts, damage, bleeding, ailments and more."
"This sounds pretty awesome." Young Jade said as he read the alert out loud.
"Help > Body Fortification."
" The process of body modification can be done by absorbing energy then directing it to one of three places -- the flesh, which will make you more resistant to damage. The muscles which will make your muscles tougher, and finally the bones which will make your frame resistant to damage or breakage. You can absorb energy then begin the process from the Status menu."
"Status > Open." Young Jade commanded. Now that he thought about it, this was the first time he'd taken a good look at his Status.
At the top of the menu was a brief description of him as a whole:
[Name : Jade, Young]
[Age : 15 Years Old]
[Affinity : Lightning (Evolved)]
[Martial Style : None]
Followed next by his stats:
[Health : 75 / 75 (65%) ]
[Qi : 259 / 259]
[Stamina : 35 / 121 (64%) ]
[Power : 7 (23%) ]
[Speed : 4 (15%) ]
[Agility : 3 (2%) ]
[Intelligence : 5 (68%)]
Finally, near the bottom other info related to his growth could be seen:
[Cultivation Rank 0, Level 3 / 99*]
[Soul Sea Grade 3]
[Physical Resistance : 0%]
[Elemental Resistance : 10%]
[Body Reinforcement (Outer) - 0] +
[Body Reinforcement (Inner) - 0] +
[Body Reinforcement (Frame) - 0] +
"Status [1] : The status screen is where you can check out the current progress of your growth. Here, your progress towards improving each stat is mapped via a %, minus Qi which increases through cultivation. Whenever a percentage reaches 100%, you will gain a slight increase in the corresponding stat. Try performing activities related to the stat you'd like to improve in order to grow."
Young noticed the plus sign next to each of the Body Reinforcement options and decided to choose one.
[You lack qi energy to infuse into your skeleton.You must have at least 100 units absorbed.]
This was the system's response after Young Jade clicked [Body Reinforcement (Frame) - 0]+.
He clicked the other two just to see which required the least amount of qi to start. Finally Outer reinforcement seemed most feasible, requiring only 5 qi to get started.
If understood properly he could simply use the energy within his own body to reinforce his flesh, but this would take much longer. He decided to experiment with the mass of lightning energy within his soul sea instead.
Much like last time he hovered before the large mass of energy in his spiritual body, but this time he focused exclusively on pulling the energy inside himself. He watched as his Saturation meter quickly began to rise.
"42%....53%...65%..."
After surpassing the 50% mark Young's body began to tingle, around the 65% mark the energy had become overwhelming. He stopped around 75%, as his body had already begun to shake and shudder as he sweated profusely to keep the energy controlled.
"This is much harder than I expected. I can't contain much of this energy at all.." Young thought to himself as he focused on the second phase of the process -- sending the energy into his skin. The process itself was uncomfortable,and at times downright painful. It was also extremely time consuming. He was now walking a fine line between infusing and absorbing the energy just to keep from passing out. Occasionally pain would surge through his body, traveling along his skin itself as he began to suffer electricity burns due to the wild nature of unbridled lightning.
"I can't rush this.." He thought to himself as he struggled to obtain an even deeper focus. Ultimately the first attempt took a little over three hours to successfully complete and the result was less than exciting:
[Body Reinforcement (Outer) - 0 (0.75%)] +
At this rate it would take him fifteen days of nonstop absorption and infusion in order to completely complete Body Reinforcement Rank 1.
"Do I really have that sort of time?" Young thought to himself as he fell backwards onto the ground. He laid there for some time, mostly gazing up into the night sky. He wondered if anyone at Golden Leaf Martial School even noticed he was gone. He knew the answer to this however, no.
It was now late afternoon, perhaps an hour or two until sunset. For his first day he'd accomplished quite a bit and he'd been active for much of it. More than anything he felt like resting but the looming threat of death cast a shadow on any comfort he might gain.
With this in mind he sat up and decided to do whatever he could do for a few more hours.
"Help > Saturation"
"Saturation refers to the amount of excess energy within your body. The saturation level is expressed in percentage, but you can increase the upper limit by expanding your qi and health points."
"Hmm. So technically if I raise either qi or health I can increase the overall amount of energy my body can safely absorb.." Young thought to himself.
"I wonder if there's a way I can.." His thought stopped short, as he realized it was possible but….
"It will definitely hurt…"
Young took several deep breaths before he closed his eyes once more and began the process of absorbing energy from his soul sea. He realized that perhaps he was wrong about the process. Rather than thinking of it as a two step process, he should perform both absorption and infusion simultaneously. The problem was….as he expected.
Teeth grinding pain! The flow of energy was already difficult for Young Jade to handle, but a steady and constant stream was even worse. If he allowed too much energy to flow directly into the infusion the sensation of electric shock would begin to overcome him. Conversely, if he dialed it back it was pointless.
Regardless, he persevered for as long as he possibly could. He dealt with the occasional alerts:
[-3 HP]
[- 1 HP]
He bared with it until his health reached critical status and he was forced to stop. Once more he laid against the cool, stone ground and gazed up at the stars. Night had fallen some time ago, how long he wasn't entirely sure.
The one thing Young was certain of was that this method yielded much better results.
[Body Reinforcement (Outer) - 0 (2.83%)] +
"At this rate it would only take me two days of constant training but--"
Young Jade's muscles were seizing, his body tingling at this point. This would all be for nothing if he was forced to recover after every single attempt. Still, Young Jade felt somewhat hopeful so he decided to push caution to the wind. He was already in a dangerous situation full of risk, but with risk comes reward.
"I'm going to do it!" He said as he lifted his fist upwards into the air and clenched it.