In the evening, Noah stood in front of his modest cottage, eyeing a tightly wrapped delivery at his doorstep. Just as he bent down to pick it up, he heard a voice call from behind him.
"Hey, are you the one who ordered a door-to-door delivery?" the courier asked, glancing at the address label.
Noah nodded, showing the last digits of his phone number to confirm. The courier checked it, then handed over the receipt, looking slightly stunned when Noah casually signed and hoisted the large package with one hand, heading inside without breaking a sweat.
Inside, Noah eagerly tore open the delivery package, revealing a custom-made glass bathtub—a full 160 cm long by 70 cm wide—and a glass stirring rod about half a meter long. Another package contained a glass container holding ten liters of ultra-pure sulfuric acid at a concentration of 98%, an item he had sourced from the dark web to bypass all the bureaucratic hassle. In the soft glow of his bathroom lights, the glass shone and gleamed.
Noah moved the bathtub into the bathroom, donned a pair of protective gloves, and then filled the tub with purified water from several buckets he'd picked up at the local Walmart. Carefully, he unscrewed the glass lid on the sulfuric acid container and began to pour it slowly along the inner walls of the tub. As the acid mixed with the water, the solution released a gentle heat that spread through the room, steam swirling up as he stirred the mixture with the glass rod.
Once the solution was diluted enough, Noah removed his gloves and tentatively dipped a finger in. Satisfied with the warmth, he stripped down, leaving only a protective hood on, and lowered himself into the bath. The diluted sulfuric acid stung his skin slightly, but he kept his face neutral, determined to endure.
If exercise is essentially controlled muscle breakdown and recovery, why not go straight to the source and speed up the process?
With his physical resilience reaching 1.3, Noah's skin had gained an almost unnatural toughness. He'd found that it took a fair amount of pressure to even scratch him, and any wound would scab over in record time. Feeling both intrigued and empowered, he settled into the tub, practicing his Zixia magic skill, sinking into a meditative state as his body entered a balancing act between self-destruction and regeneration.
By seven the next morning, Noah took a deep breath, emerging from his trance with a feeling of quiet triumph. His eight strands of true energy were dormant in his core, but their power pulsed subtly. He noticed he'd accumulated as much Qi in one night as he had over two previously—just by boosting his physical fitness. Just the thought of the gains he could make with a fitness level of 1.4 or 1.5 made him giddy.
But as he moved to get up, he felt a painful prickling sensation across his body. His skin, especially from the neck down, was red, raw, and swollen as if he'd been simmering in the world's spiciest soup. Every inch of him screamed as he carefully climbed out of the tub. He gritted his teeth through the stinging, every step feeling like he was being skinned.
A prompt popped up on his status bar:
You completed a 9-hour, 17-minute bath in diluted sulfuric acid. Repeat five times to increase physical fitness cap by 0.1.
Noah's eyes lit up. His theory had worked. Carefully balancing bodily destruction with regeneration did indeed push his limits. He made a mental note to try a session that combined the acid bath with electroshock therapy next time.
After gingerly toweling off and putting on his clothes, Noah glanced at the time—still early enough for school. Ignoring his body's protests, he scarfed down breakfast and began doing push-ups on his living room floor.
With his strength stats at 1.4 and fitness at 1.3, Noah had passed the upper end of human physical limits, able to crank out over 3,000 push-ups with no added energy boosts. But today, the combination of soreness from his skin and sheer determination pushed him beyond his previous record, tallying over 5,800 push-ups before his arms gave out. Sweat poured from his body, only to intensify the sting with each drop like salt in a wound.
Still, he felt unsatisfied. "At this rate, it's just too slow. I need some real weights," he muttered, feeling frustrated at the time it took to push his limits.
With ten minutes to spare before class, Noah grabbed his bag and bolted for school. The sprint that would have left him breathless just days ago was now a breeze, his body humming with newfound stamina. Even though the stinging persisted with every step, he barely registered the burning sensation anymore, the thrill of newfound power overriding the pain.
Onlookers were left in the dust, gaping as he passed by in a blur. Another notification pinged:
You completed a 2024-meter run at a 2:20/km pace. Repeat 15,328 times to strengthen durability. Physical damage: 0.11%. Self-repair possible at 1.5 physical fitness.
Noah's eyes narrowed with determination. This was only the beginning.
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All right, my exams for this week are done. So, I will try to consistently upload for maybe the next 2 days. And here is one of the promised Bonus Chapters. There will be more. Maybe...
So, this is my first time doing this. I hope you guys can help me improve by providing your feedback, and some stones would be nice. (づ ◕‿◕ )づ