The Divine Sun Sutra brought Bruno pain, but it also gave him important information.
First, the first volume directly pointed to the Furnace Realm, a new level. Bruno guessed it must be a level above Arcane Power Master.
Second, the first volume completed the explanation of The Ten Thousand Hells. Bruno could now meditate on the sky and the seventy-two snow mountains, continuing his training.
The Ten Thousand Hells now had eight forms: Luminous Bone, Bone Rebirth, Giant Bone Form, Blood Demon Form, Rot Chaos Form, Beast Devour Form, Bone Rot Form, and Bone Tomb Form.
These eight forms together represented the entire process of a person's life, death, and being sealed in a tomb. Each form had its own unique power.
But Bruno didn't understand any of it.
His talent was too low, and his understanding wasn't enough. It was too hard to read all this stuff.
If he couldn't understand, then he'd just leave it to the contract.
He reached into his mind and communicated with the contract. He used the stored training time from Bolantie.
"This time, the contract needs to cool down for more than two months. Is it because the deal got bigger, or because the reward is different?" Bruno thought about it, but he didn't really care. He already knew how to refill the contract energy.
Fifty years of cultivation time suddenly came rushing in.
[First year, I followed the The Divine Sun Sutra to refine my body, and made some progress.]
[Second year, I made some progress.]
[Third year, I made some progress.]
[...]
[Seventh year, I finally reached Stage 1. My hand strength reached 600kg, but I wasn't satisfied. I continued to cultivate.]
[Eighth year, my weak body structure got stuck at a bottleneck, and I made no progress.]
[Ninth year, the cultivation of The Divine Sun Sutra became harder and harder. I finally realized that the teacher was right. Only people with extraordinary talent could master this scripture.]
[Tenth year, no progress.]
[...]
[Sixteenth year, after years of effort, I finally broke through the bottleneck. Arcane Power seeped deeper into my skin, and I became a Stage 2 Arcane Power user.]
[My strength increased by 250kg again.]
[Seventeenth year, after entering Stage 2, I realized how important talent was.]
[Eighteenth year, I made a little progress.]
[Nineteenth year, I made a little progress.]
[...]
[Thirtieth year, after a long struggle, I reached the peak of Stage 2!]
[Now, my hand strength is over 1000kg. My skin is extremely tough.]
[I kept refining my body, never letting up.]
[Thirty-ninth year, I got stuck again. No progress.]
[Fortieth year, no progress.]
[...]
[Fortieth-ninth year, no progress. My terrible talent made me laugh at myself.]
[But I stayed optimistic. At least I reached the peak of Stage 2. Most people never even get past Stage 1, and some can't even start the meditation technique.]
[Fiftieth year, I suddenly had a flash of insight. But it was too late. I didn't have much time left to push Arcane Power deeper into my skin and reach Stage 3.]
Fifty years of daily cultivation, along with a flood of energy, rushed in like a wave. Bruno sat in the middle of it, unmoved.
His power suddenly surged.
500kg, 750kg, 1100kg...
His bones made a thunderous sound. His fists were as heavy as steel.
Bruno let out a heavy breath, clenched his fists, and looked at his arms. His muscles were thick and strong, clearly not someone to be taken lightly.
But he didn't get lost in his new strength.
"Too weak!" Bruno whispered to himself. "My talent is so bad. If I had better talent, I could have reached Stage 5, 6, even 7 in these fifty years."
The key was talent.
In this world, talent was the key to getting into a better rank.
Bruno calmed himself and thought, "Don't rush. There will be more chances later. After all, I have the contract. I can exchange talent."
But what could he exchange?
What did he even have to offer?
And why would someone with talent give it back to him?
Bruno's power had grown, but his mood was a bit troubled. He instinctively launched the Tiger-Wolf Combat Technique. His punches were like tigers, his movements like wolves. The air around him vibrated and spread out.
Finally, he smiled. As an optimist, he wasn't afraid of challenges. He had an advantage, after all.
The door suddenly knocked. Elena walked in, surprised by what she saw.
Bruno rubbed his nose and asked, "Elena, what's wrong?"
"You're different." Elena said, looking at him with a strange expression. "Did you finally master The Divine Sun Sutra?" She paused and shook her head. "No, that can't be right. How could you do it so fast?"
Bruno laughed awkwardly and changed the subject. "What did you need me for?"
"Well, I came to ask if you need help with work," Elena said without thinking.
Bruno's mouth opened slightly. "You want money and help?"
Elena clapped her hands. "Good, I like your confidence. But if you have problems, just send me a message anytime."
Bruno nodded.
Before she left, Elena said, "Now you're part of the martial arts school. From now on, you'll need to spend one day helping Mr. Nell teach. Okay?"
"Whatever you say," Bruno agreed.
When you get something from others, you have to do something in return.
After Elena left, Bruno smiled, his eyes shining. He muttered, "Right, I still have the 'ledger'. I can use that as a trading chip. I hope there's someone with talent who owes Elena money."
Thinking that, Bruno ran back to the old castle quickly.
Hornes Castle.
"Someone with talent?" Fabian frowned as he looked through the list in his hands. "This will take some time."
Bruno said seriously, "If there's someone with talent, let me know whenever you find them. Even a little talent is fine."
He really was stuck because of his weak body structure. If he had been a little better, he wouldn't have stayed at the peak of 2nd stage for fifty years.
Fabian didn't understand why, but he obeyed his master's orders. "No problem."
Four hours passed.
Outside the training room, Fabian called out, "Master, I found someone."
"Really?" Bruno opened the door and asked, "Who?"
Fabian held up a photo and said, "A freshman at Sunset University. Elise Haidi."
The photo showed a half-body portrait of a girl. She had bright eyes and white teeth, and she looked radiant. She had her hair in a ponytail, but she looked especially cold and distant, like she didn't want to be bothered by anyone.
"What's her deal?" Bruno took the photo and looked at it closely.
Fabian said, "She's 18. Her meditation and breathing techniques are both at High Rank. She's at the peak of 3rd stage. She got into the Arcane Power department at Sunset University. Her background is clean. She borrowed more than 2000 gold coins from the martial arts school."
"Wow," Bruno said, eyes wide.
Holy crap.
An 18-year-old at the peak of 3rd stage? That's pretty good.
He didn't care how much she had spent. After all, a 3rd-stage Arcane Power user could make a lot of money in many ways.
"Okay, I'll take this one," Bruno decided. He was going to reach out to Elise. This was a good chance.
Trading 2000 gold coins for a super strong talent? Definitely worth it.
Fabian blinked, wondering why Bruno wanted to do this himself. It would take time, right? But he didn't say anything. He just nodded and left.
Bruno went back to his room and dialed Elena's Sky Messenger.
"Hey? Bruno, did you have a bad day at work?" Her voice was still lazy.
Bruno asked, "What do you know about Elise?"
"Elise?"
"Yeah, Elise Haidi."
"Oh, her," Elena said, with a hint of disdain. "A fake genius."
Bruno's heart sank. "What do you mean? She's a top talent with High Rank in both meditation and breathing, right?"
Elena explained, "She borrowed money from us to buy the Psycho-Alchemical Tonic. That's how she got her High Rank in meditation. She's not real."
"I see," Bruno felt happy.
Elise had taken the Psycho-Alchemical Tonic, but she hadn't bought anything for her bone structure. That meant her bone structure was top-tier. Exactly what Bruno needed.
As Bruno stayed silent, Elena laughed strangely. "What? You like her? If you do, I'll take care of it for you."