[ You Cultivate the Flowing Spirit Sword Forms for 30 days. Due to your mediocre Comprehension Ability and Aptitude, your cultivation has made very slow progress. ]
[ You Cultivate the Flowing Spirit Sword Forms for 50 days. The repetition burns into your muscles. Your cultivation continues to make steady progress. ]
Alex watched the phantom figure in the dark void. It was a perfect
He felt the phantom blisters on his pale, delicate palms tear open, bleed, and heal over and over again.
He felt the deep, agonizing burn in his thighs and his chest.
His body was pushed to its absolute breaking point, forced to memorize the precise angle of every single sword swing until it became pure muscle memory.
[ You Cultivate the Flowing Spirit Sword Forms for 70 days. Your body continues to adapt the forms to fit your snake-like flexibility. Progress is steady. ]
By this point, the phantom wasn't just swinging a sword; it looked like it was performing a deadly, beautiful dance.
The blade moved seamlessly from defense to offense.
[ You Cultivate the Flowing Spirit Sword Forms for 90 days. You felt a sudden inspiration! Your mind and body perfectly align with the blade. Your skill 'Flowing Spirit Sword Forms' successfully entered Level 3. ]
Seventy days. Ninety days. He watched his phantom form adapt.
The awkward, stiff movements completely melted away.
Instead, his body moved like a violent, flowing river.
The Flowing Spirit Sword Forms were designed for fluid motion, and his snake-like flexibility made his strikes incredibly fast and deadly.
Whoosh!
The phantom stepped forward, dropping low to the ground, its flexible legs bending at an extreme angle.
With a flick of its slender wrist and a sharp twist of its hips, the wooden sword carved a perfect, fluid arc through the empty space.
[ You Cultivate the Flowing Spirit Sword Forms for 100 days. The simulation period is over. ]
[ Simulation Complete! ]
[ Flowing Spirit Sword Forms Proficiency increased greatly. ]
[ Current Proficiency: (27/1000) (Lv 3: Minor Achievement) ]
Flash!
The mental void shattered like broken glass.
Alex's mind was violently thrown back into reality. He collapsed sideways onto his soft mattress, his chest heaving wildly as he gasped for air.
Soon, the system began to feedback the physical sensation of practicing the sword forms.
There were no external physical changes like calloused hands or rough development of muscles, but his internal muscles began to adjust and regrow.
Alex gasped loudly, his body lurching forward on the bed, as pain continued to spread all over his body. His dark eyes snapped open, wide and frantic.
"Haa... Haa... Ahh!" He collapsed onto his hands and knees, his chest heaving violently.
His entire body was drenched in a thick layer of sweat. The thin white t-shirt he wore was completely soaked, clinging tightly to his skin.
The wet fabric turned almost transparent, clearly outlining the soft, tender swelling of his small breasts and the hard, puffy pink peaks of his nipples.
It felt like he had just trained for three months straight without a single drop of water.
"Haa... haaa..." He gripped the bedsheets with soft, trembling fingers, trying to ground himself.
If he grabbed a sword right now, he wouldn't need to think.
His body already knew the exact angle to strike, how to twist his body to dodge, and how to use the various muscle movements to gather enough energy to swing with explosive power.
"Level 3, as expected!" Alex whispered to the empty room. His voice sounded incredibly breathy and feminine in his exhaustion.
If it was in the real world, he would have never been able to do that, unlike the simulation projection, he had to eat, work and sleep.
He forced himself to sit up, his body felt different to him now.
The extreme training didn't just give him sword skills; it also forced his mind to deeply connect with his body.
To master the Flowing Spirit Sword, he had to fully accept how his body works.
He wiped the sweat from his eyes, but he was not done yet.. There's still Iron Body Foundation Art that should reach the proficient level to meet the breathing techniques requirements.
He didn't wait any more, and spent another ten points of source power to begin a new simulation.
[ Confirm Input: 10 points of Source Power? ]
[ Yes/No ]
"Yes," There was another prompt and Alex chose yes, closing his eyes as his heavy, panting breaths slowly started to calm down.
Instantly, the real world faded away, and his consciousness was pulled back into the dark, silent mental space.
This time, the phantom version of himself didn't grab a weapon.
Instead, it sat cross-legged on the invisible floor, resting its delicate hands gently on its knees.
[ You invest ten points of source power into the 'Rank 1: Iron Body Foundation Art' to Cultivate and Evolve. ]
[ You Cultivate the Iron Body Foundation Art for one day. Due to your mediocre Comprehension Ability and Aptitude, your progress is slow. ]
[ You Cultivate the Iron Body Foundation Art for ten days. Your body slowly absorbs the surrounding mana. Your progress is steady. ]
The time required for practicing breathing techniques was always longer than sword skills, but it was way more peaceful.
In the simulation, Alex watched his phantom self simply breathe in and out.
It was a specific, rhythmic pattern. Inhale deeply, hold, let the mana seep into the blood, and exhale the impurities.
He was trying to adapt to the mana, using the invisible energy to slowly strengthen his body from the inside out.
As the days ticked by in a flash, Alex felt a strange tingling sensation spreading through his chest, down his narrow waist, and into his limbs.
Because of his Naagin bloodline and the ongoing Ecdysis, the "Iron Body" technique wasn't turning him into a bulky, muscular man.
Instead, the mana was refining what his soft, pale skin, which remained flawless and smooth to the touch, but underneath, his slender muscles were becoming incredibly dense, like tightly woven steel wires hidden beneath delicate silk.
[ You Cultivate the Iron Body Foundation Art for 25 days. The mana loop stabilizes. ]
[ You Cultivate the Iron Body Foundation Art for 30 days. The mana flow becomes natural to your breathing rhythm. ]
He could feel the phantom's chest rising and falling rhythmically.
With every deep breath, his sensitive, swollen nipples rubbed against his shirt, sending small, distracting sparks of pleasure through his mind.
But in the simulation, he pushed past the distraction, focusing entirely on the flow of energy.
[ You Cultivate the Iron Body Foundation Art for 43 days. Your internal mana circuit agitates with energy. Your skill 'Iron Body Foundation Art' successfully entered Level 2. ]
The moment it leveled up, the phantom's breathing shifted. It became deeper, longer, and more profound. Alex could literally feel the mana weaving into his organs, fortifying them.
The days continued to blur past. Fifty days. Seventy days. Ninety days.
By the time the simulation neared its end, the phantom was pulling in thick streams of mana with every single breath, circulating it perfectly through his changing body.
[ You Cultivate the Iron Body Foundation Art for 70 days. The liquid mana flows effortlessly, constantly refining your physique. ]
[ You Cultivate the Iron Body Foundation Art for 88 days. Your body perfectly aligns with the breathing rhythm, constantly refining your physique. ]
[ You Cultivate the Iron Body Foundation Art for 100 days. The simulation period is over. ]
[ Simulation Complete! ]
[ Iron Body Foundation Art Proficiency increased greatly. ]
[ Current Proficiency: ( 451 / 500 ) (Lv 2: Proficient) ]
Flash!
Alex gasped, his eyes wide open as a wave of deep, vibrating heat washed over his entire body.
It felt like he was submerged in a hot spring. His real body eagerly absorbed the feedback from the simulation.
He took a slow, deep breath, naturally falling into the rhythm of the Iron Body technique. The mana in his bedroom rushed toward him, easily sinking into his pores.