Chapter 31: Breakthrough
The heat dissipated. His heartbeat slowed back to normal and the tension in his muscles released.
Sebastian took a deep, steadying breath.
[Your Combat Power has increased by 55!]
[Current Combat Power: 137 (Average human: 100)]
He stood up and immediately noticed the difference.
His body felt lighter, more responsive. When he flexed his arm, he could see the muscle definition more clearly through his shirt. His posture was straighter, his movements more fluid.
Sebastian felt an overwhelming urge to test his new strength.
He dropped to the floor and positioned himself for push-ups.
Before the serum, he’d struggled to do ten push-ups before his arms gave out—a shameful showing for someone his age, but the original Sebastian had never bothered with physical fitness.
Now?
Sebastian started counting.
"One... two... three..."
The push-ups felt easier than they should. His arms weren’t shaking. His core wasn’t screaming in protest.
"Ten... fifteen... twenty..."
He kept going, barely feeling the burn yet.
"Thirty... thirty-five... forty..."
His form was still perfect. His breathing was controlled.
"Forty-five... forty-eight... forty-nine... fifty!"
At fifty, his arms finally started trembling. He pushed through one more attempt but collapsed on the fifty-first, his muscles finally reaching their limit.
Sebastian rolled onto his back, breathing hard but grinning widely.
"Fifty push-ups," he said aloud, almost disbelieving. "I just did fifty fucking push-ups."
Before the serum, he couldn’t do ten. Now he’d quintupled that.
And this wasn’t even close to his maximum potential—this was just the immediate result. As he continued training, his body would adapt and grow even stronger.
Sebastian stood up, rolling his shoulders and testing his range of motion.
Everything felt incredible.
He punched the air experimentally—his fist cut through the space with surprising speed and force. Not professional fighter level yet, but leagues above where he’d been this morning.
’Combat Power 137,’ Sebastian thought with satisfaction. ’I’m finally above average human strength. Ethan probably has around 250 or 260 based on that hallway confrontation. We’re getting closer.’
Sebastian looked at the remaining items on his desk—the Qi Gathering Jade and the Spirit Gathering Incense.
"Alright," he said, cracking his knuckles. "Time to accelerate my cultivation."
He grabbed one of the incense sticks from the wooden box and lit it, placing it in a holder on his desk. A thin stream of fragrant smoke began to rise, filling the room with a subtle, calming scent.
According to the description, this would increase his cultivation speed by 20% for the next hour.
Then Sebastian picked up the Qi Gathering Jade—a smooth, pale green stone about the size of a golf ball. It was warm to the touch and seemed to pulse faintly with energy.
He sat cross-legged on his bed, holding the jade in his left hand, and closed his eyes.
’According to the description, this contains concentrated spiritual energy equivalent to about ten hours of normal cultivation,’ Sebastian thought. ’Let’s see if it lives up to the hype.’
He focused on his breathing, cantering his awareness on his dantian.
Almost immediately, he felt something different. The spiritual energy in the jade wasn’t just passively sitting there, it was actively flowing toward him, drawn by his cultivation technique like water flowing downhill.
Threads of energy, much thicker and more tangible than the ones he’d been painstakingly gathering from the atmosphere, poured from the jade into his body.
It was almost overwhelming.
Sebastian guided the energy down into his dantian, watching as his cultivation progress bar began to climb.
[Current Progress: 26/100 → 30/100 → 35/100...]
The numbers were increasing rapidly, far faster than his normal rate.
’This is incredible,’ Sebastian thought, maintaining his focus.
The incense burning nearby was also helping—the spiritual energy flowed more smoothly, absorbed more efficiently.
He lost himself in the meditation, simply channeling the endless stream of energy from the jade into his core.
Time passed.
Finally, after what felt like both forever and no time at all, Sebastian felt the jade grow cool in his hand. The flow of energy stopped.
It was completely depleted. Sebastian opened his eyes and checked his progress.
[Current Progress: 71/100 to Level 1]
From twenty-six to seventy-one in a single session.
The jade had delivered exactly as promised—forty-five percent progress, roughly equivalent to ten hours of normal cultivation compressed into about an hour of active meditation.
And with the incense boost, it had been even more efficient.
Sebastian stood up, feeling the spiritual energy humming more strongly in his dantian now. It was no longer just a tiny ember—it was becoming a genuine flame.
He was almost at Spirit Apprentice Level 1.
Just twenty-nine more percent to go.
Sebastian looked at the remaining nine incense sticks. If he cultivated normally with the incense boost for a few more sessions, he could reach Level 1 tonight.
His eyes gleamed with determination.
"Let’s finish this."
Sebastian lit another incense stick, the fragrant smoke curling upward as he settled back into his meditation posture.
Twenty-nine percent to go.
He closed his eyes and focused on his breathing, reaching out with his consciousness to grasp those faint threads of qi in the air.
With the incense burning, they came more easily—the 20% boost made a noticeable difference in both the quantity and quality of energy he could absorb.
Time passed in a blur of focused concentration.
[Current Progress: 71/100 → 75/100 → 80/100...]
The well in his dantian was filling steadily, drop by drop, thread by thread.
Sebastian pushed through the tedium, maintaining his focus even as his legs began to cramp from sitting cross-legged for so long.
[Current Progress: 85/100 → 90/100 → 95/100...]
So close now.
The energy in his dantian was swirling more actively, responding to his cultivation technique, condensing and refining itself.
[Current Progress: 98/100 → 99/100...]
Sebastian drew in a deep breath, pulling in one final thread of qi from the air into his dantian.
[Current Progress: 100/100]
[BREAKTHROUGH ACHIEVED!]
[You have advanced to Spirit Apprentice Level 1!]
The moment the notification appeared, something changed in Sebastian’s body.
The energy in Sebastian’s dantian suddenly compressed, condensing from a loose collection of threads into something more solid, more concentrated. It felt like a small sphere of warmth had formed in his core, pulsing with steady power.
Then the energy exploded outward.