"Ding-dong! The burial of the C-class zombie body is complete!"
"Added 20 apocalypse coins."
"Gained 3 points in Strength attribute."
"Gained 2 points in Constitution attribute."
"Gained 2 points in Endurance attribute."
"Acquired skill: Mastery of Xing Yi Quan."
"Level 2 Grave has been emptied, please bury again."
As the synthesized voice finished speaking, a hot surge of energy once again swept through Alex's body. That sensation of bodily enhancement reappeared! Alex felt as if his body had momentarily lost its gravitational pull, as if he was about to fly. The fatigue from the intense battle vanished in an instant, replaced by a surge of energy throughout his body.
A few minutes later, as the exhilarating sensation of the sudden increase in attributes faded, Alex felt back to normal. "So it was a C-class zombie! It increased my attributes so much!" Surprised, Alex called up his body attributes again.
"System! Show my attributes!"
[City of Darkness (Mid-Level) City Lord's Name: Alex]
[Gender: Male]
[Constitution: 82]
[Mental: 66]
[Strength: 83]
[Endurance: 82]
[Agility: 80]
(Average value for an adult male human is 60)
[Skills: None]
[Items: Sinful Knife (Basic), Spatial Bag (Basic)]
[Apocalypse Coins: 78]
Alex was pleased with the significant increase in his physical attributes but was puzzled to see the skill column still showing "None." He distinctly heard the synthesized voice announce that he had acquired "Mastery of Xing Yi."
"System! Why hasn't the newly acquired Xing Yi Mastery skill been added to me?"
[Sorry, skills acquired from burying zombie bodies must be purchased to be obtained.]
"Hmm?" Alex frowned. "So, I need to use apocalypse coins to buy the skill to acquire it?"
[Yes!]
Alex nodded in understanding and decided to make the purchase. "System, I want to buy the Xing Yi Mastery skill."
[Initializing system shelf...]
[Initialization successful...]
[Please make your selection!]
Accompanying the electronic voice, a display resembling a shelf appeared before Alex. It was mostly empty, save for a lone, ancient-looking martial arts manual icon floating in the first slot of the shelf.
[Xing Yi Mastery: One of the traditional Chinese martial arts, a striking technique with great lethality, including Dragon, Tiger, Bear, Snake, Swallow, Monkey, Horse, Chicken, Sparrow, Crocodile, Hawk, and Eagle forms. Each form provides different enhancements to the practitioner. This technique can be applied to swordsmanship. Purchase for immediate mastery of all Xing Yi forms. Price: 50 apocalypse coins (1 in stock).]
Fifty apocalypse coins seemed a reasonable price, especially for a skill that could enhance his combat techniques. Although Alex's physical attributes were strong, his actual combat skills were poor, limited to basic swinging without any real technique. Mastery of Xing Yi could potentially double his combat effectiveness.
Considering it a good deal, Alex decided, "Purchase Xing Yi Mastery!"
[Eligibility confirmed, processing purchase...]
[50 apocalypse coins deducted.]
[Purchase successful.]
[Current apocalypse coin balance: 28]
The moment the purchase was successful, Alex suddenly felt as if he had been enlightened, instantly grasping the essence of Xing Yi and acquiring numerous memories and experiences related to the martial art.
It was as if he had diligently practiced Xing Yi for decades. His body crackled and popped, undergoing some kind of evolution.
Five minutes later, Alex had completely mastered Xing Yi. Now, with his physical attributes at the peak of human potential and armed with the scientifically sound, effective technique of Xing Yi to fully unleash his energy, Alex felt confident in facing even world-class combat sports champions.
Gently pushing the sleeping Lin Mancha aside, Alex got up and donned his clothes. He then practiced the entire set of Xing Yi forms in the room. "Huff... Huff huff huff...!" In the room, the sound of his punches roared as his figure alternated between the forms of a tiger, an eagle spreading its wings, and then suddenly a dragon or snake. The intense whooshing sound eventually woke Lin Mancha.
Lin Mancha felt sore and weak all over, with a tearing pain in certain parts of her body. She groaned softly as she tried to get up. But the velvety softness of the blanket was too light, and it immediately slipped off as she moved, revealing her even whiter skin underneath.
Alex, who had just finished practicing, turned sharply to look at Lin Mancha, his eyes filled with heat as he walked over to her again. Lin Mancha's eyes showed a hint of fear: "Master... you just took me for nearly two hours... I really can't... Ah... Mmm..."