The [Stone Palm Technique] was simple in design.
And more importantly—Li Fan could do it without standing up.
Li Fan inhaled slowly and formed the first hand seal.
His fingers moved stiffly, aching from bruises and swelling. He closed his eyes, steadying his breathing, and let the motion guide him.
A soft current stirred in his chest.
The Qi in his body—faint and sluggish—began to circulate. It wasn't a smooth flow. But the technique had been drilled into him countless times before. The body remembered.
Stone Palm.
The technique activated.
A strange warmth surged up from his dantian.
Qi erupted into his palms.
It wasn't an explosion—it was more like an electric tingle, sharp and raw. His hands trembled, glowing faintly with a greyish-red hue as the Stone Palm Technique finally came to life.
At [Beginner] level, the Stone Palm Technique enhanced his striking force and hardened his skin, but only for five minutes per activation. He remembered the exact detail now. After that, he'd need to wait at least a minute before activating it again—or risk backlash.
Li Fan palms felt heavier. They looked the same—scarred, callused—but beneath the surface, they throbbed with condensed energy. He raised one hand and lightly struck the wall beside his bed.
Crack.
A small fracture ran across the wooden plank.
Li Fan stared at the crack, his heart pounding.
Power.
It was real and tangible.
Soon, the warmth in Li Fan's arms began to fade.
His five minutes were up.
Li Fan slumped back with a sharp breath as the Qi in his palms dispersed like mist.
Li Fan turned to glance at his status where he immediately noticed a change.
Li Fan's breath hitched.
[Stone Palm Technique – Beginner – 71/100]
[Exp: 0]
His fingers trembled, but not from pain.
He hadn't moved. Hadn't struck anyone. All he'd done was activate the technique—and the numbers rose.
"I can grind mastery in techniques?"
His heart pounded in rhythm with the realization.
"If I gained two points… just for activating it once…" Li Fan murmured, eyes wide. "Then that means..."
He glanced at the panel again.
71/100.
At [Beginner] level, he could use Stone Palm for five minutes, then wait a minute before casting it again. He still had enough stamina left for at least four more tries.
Four more activations.
Two points each.
That was eight more points.
He would reach 79.
Not exactly revolutionary.
Li Fan let out a shaky breath and brought his hands together again.
His fingers formed the seal.
Stone Palm.
The warmth surged again.
He held it for five minutes, let it fade, then waited exactly one minute.
Rinse. Repeat.
Second activation.
> [Stone Palm Technique – Beginner – 73/100]
[Exp: 0]
Third activation.
> [Stone Palm Technique – Beginner – 75/100]
[Exp: 0]
His excitement climbed with each round. The more he used the technique, the more natural it felt. He could sense the subtle improvements.
Fourth activation.
> [Stone Palm Technique – Beginner – 77/100]
[Exp: 0]
Fifth activation.
> [Stone Palm Technique – Beginner – 79/100]
[Exp: 0]
By the time the warmth faded for the fifth time, sweat clung to his temples and neck. His breath came in short, uneven bursts.
But he couldn't stop grinning.
Every cycle had improved him—visibly.
This wasn't a theory anymore. It was truth.
If he kept going… he could reach 100. Maybe even break into the next realm of mastery.
He also noticed something else.
His EXP hadn't increased.
But… he had suspected that would be the case.
So while it didn't shock him, a faint flicker of disappointment still crept in.
Even so, Li Fan's excitement didn't fade.
Six months. That was all he had before expulsion. Before his life as a cultivator became much more unpredictable
And now, for the first time, he believed reaching Qi Gathering Stage 5 might actually be possible.
He didn't know how yet. But if he could grind skills through repetition, then…
Why not cultivation techniques too?
His breathing technique—Clear Mind Breathing Technique—was still stuck at [Beginner]. But if he could push it to Small Success, his cultivation speed would increase by at least fifty percent.
Great Achievement? Even more. And at Mastery, perhaps he could rival someone with mid-grade spirit roots.
If he couldn't improve his talent, then the only other way was to maximize what he had. A low-grade root paired with a perfected cultivation method could outperform someone lazy with natural gifts.
Of course, that was easier said than done.
Raising mastery in a cultivation technique usually took months—sometimes years.
But now, with this strange system shift, there was hope. And for someone like him, that meant everything.
He glanced again at the bottom of his status panel.
[Exp: 0]
Still empty of meaning. Still unexplained.
But the changes he'd already seen were too significant to ignore. If even one part of his panel had evolved, who was to say this wouldn't become something more too?
Li Fan took a deep breath. A thousand thoughts raced through his mind before he slowly forced them to quiet.
"My Qi will recover in four hours," he muttered. "I'll be able to use Stone Palm again then."
The sunlight streaming in through a crack in the wooden wall told him it was just before noon.
"Alright then."
A faint grin crept onto his lips.
"Today's goal—push Stone Palm to 100 points. Let's see what happens."