Ding!
> 10,000,000 Spirit Stones required to upgrade to Level 5 (32x speed). Insufficient funds. Please collect more Spirit Stones.
Ray let out a long, dramatic sigh.
"Ahhhh… I could've reached Level 5 of Automatic Practice, but nooo…" he grumbled, crossing his arms.
It was all because the starting price for the second function was higher than the first one.
If only the system had matched the pricing, he would have been at Level 5 already.
But no he was stuck at Level 4.
He sighed again, but then shrugged.
"Leave it. Let's see what's happening now."
He glanced around the training platform, and his eyes widened.
The space had expanded massively, becoming several times larger than before.
And now…
Rather than just one shadow, there were four.
"Damn… now there are four of them!"
Stepping closer, Ray inspected the new shadows.
Each of them looked exactly the same.
But their movements felt sharper, cleaner.
After the function upgrade, their practice speed should now be 16× faster than before.
Ray raised his hand and summoned a skill book
WHOOSH!
The Saint-Level Technique flew out of the library, landing in his palm.
He smirked.
"Here, read it," he ordered, tossing the book toward one of the shadows at random.
Without hesitation, the shadow caught it, sat down, and began studying.
Ray grinned.
Now, the real test.
"System, how long will it take to perfect this skill now?"
Ding!
> To perfect [Void Stride: The Step Beyond Boundaries], a high Saint-level skill, estimated time: 245 million years.
Learning speed after upgrade to Level 4 increased by 16x!
New estimated time: 15.31 million years.
Ray froze.
Then his jaw dropped.
"DAMN!! That's a huge difference!"
Just a few simple upgrades, and hundreds of millions of years were cut down.
And this was just Level 4.
Ray's mind raced.
If he upgraded this function to Level 10… or Level 20… or even Level 30…
Wouldn't he be able to comprehend Saint-Level techniques in seconds?
That would be terrifying.
Then, another realization struck him.
The speed increased by 16 times
Wouldn't that mean
He could finally call himself a genius?!
Ray's eyes gleamed.
He turned to Shadow No. 2.
"You, practice swordsmanship," he commanded.
The shadow instantly started swinging a sword.
Ray watched closely.
Even though it was still training from scratch, he could already tell it was learning faster than before.
Excited, he asked, "System, how long will it take to reach novice-level swordsmanship now?"
Ding!
> Previous estimated time: 100 days.
Learning speed after upgrade to Level 4 increased by 16x!
New estimated time: 6 and a half days!
Ray jumped up in excitement.
"YESSSSSS!"
He started running around like a madman, laughing.
"This system is the best!"
As long as he kept upgrading, he would reach Sword Saint in no time!
Reaching the pinnacle in swordsmanship or any weapon wasn't impossible anymore.
His eyes flickered as he stared at the four shadows.
If he had four shadows, then
"Wait… does that mean I can practice four different skills at once?"
Ray's mind exploded with possibilities.
He had been surprised when the system didn't just double the speed, but also gave him an extra shadow.
Now, he could train multiple skills at the same time.
A wicked grin spread across his face.
"I'll name you guys…"
He pointed at the first shadow.
"You are Number One."
Then the second.
"You are Number Two."
The third.
"You are Number Three."
And finally, the fourth.
"And you Number Four."
Satisfied with his creative genius, he gave new commands.
"Number One, stop practicing that Saint-Level skill."
The shadow immediately let go of the book, returning it to the library.
Ray smirked.
"You'll study weapon cultivation instead."
In the cultivation world, Weapon Cultivators were specialized cultivators who focused entirely on the Dao of a specific weapon.
Trying to master a Saint-Level skill this early was pointless it would just waste time.
Better to focus on fundamentals first.
He then turned to the other three shadows.
"Number One, you'll practice daggers."
"Number Two, you'll practice swords."
"Number Three, you'll practice spears."
"Number Four, you'll practice bows."
Without hesitation, the shadows spread out, creating distance between each other before beginning their training.
Each of them started practicing their respective weapons, moving in sync, completely focused.
Ray grinned.
"System, all of them take the same time to reach novice-level, right?"
He was curious was his talent the same for every weapon?
Ding!
> Training time for different weapons varies based on natural talent.
Some skills are learned faster, some slower.
Not all cultivators have equal talent in everything.
If all talents were perfectly balanced, the world would not function properly.
Ray nodded.
That made sense.
If everyone was equally talented at everything, there would be no difference between geniuses and commoners.
But still, the system's learning efficiency was insane.
Ding!
> Estimated time to reach novice-level in all four weapons simultaneously: 6 and a half days.
Ray sighed, shaking his head.
This system was ridiculous.
It didn't care about talent.
It simply erased all talent gaps by relying on raw efficiency.
In other words
Everything depended on how much he upgraded it.
Ray clasped his hands together, looking at his shadows with admiration.
"You guys are my strength now."
With a smug smile, he blew them a flying kiss.
"Work hard for me, my dear shadows."
The shadows ignored him and kept training.
Ray stretched his arms, laying down comfortably.
He sighed with satisfaction.
He could already see his future
Lying down while becoming stronger.
BOOM!
Suddenly
Ray felt it.
A strange shift inside his body, as if something binding him had cracked open.
For a moment, he couldn't move, his entire body tensing as an invisible pressure surrounded him.
Then—
Crack.
Crack. Crack. BOOM!
A wave of euphoria flooded through him, a sensation so intense it was almost overwhelming.
Before he could even process what was happening—
He was kicked out of his Sea of Consciousness.
His eyes snapped open.
He gasped, his body feeling lighter, stronger, different.
Then
Ding!
> Congratulations, Host, for breaking through the mortal shackles and taking the first step in cultivation!
Current Cultivation: One-Star Rank (Mortal Realm).
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