Only I Am A Reader
chapter-180

"That was… delectable."

Having spent every second of his time on Energy Circulation before sleeping, Leo felt indescribable comfort upon waking up. Truly, Internal Energy Breathing was the most awesome form of breathing!

Not to mention physical exhaustion, any kind of exhaustion simply didn't exist alongside the concept of Internal Energy Breathing. Mental energy was the first to get exhausted as it guided the energy around, but completing a minor cycle was all it took to achieve a complete recovery including the mental aspect!

In murim novels, Internal Energy Meditation was often used as a method for recovery. However, reading about it wasn't enough to understand its effect. In simple words, it felt like becoming one with nature, clear in both body and mind.

Even sleeping didn't seem to be necessary in that state, but Leo simply made use of this clarity to drift away into the world of dreams. Although he was still woken up early by his biological clock as usual, Leo felt like slept for the perfect amount of time for the first time in his life.

'Perfect.'

Jumping out of his bed, Leo could tell that his body had recovered even beyond its peak. This was just the result of one day of meditation, but this showed the miraculous effect of using the Scarlet Sky Breathing Technique while having the Physique to endure till the completion of a full energy cycle!

The second pill bottle was still left untouched, but Leo didn't sit back down to continue yesterday's routine. Although Internal Energy recovery and accumulation was known as Internal Energy Practice, that was just a part of what it entailed. For a newbie Martial Artist like Leo, he lacked a certain aspect of that practice… That was none other than Internal Energy Assimilation!

Without feeling the need to concentrate, Leo let the limited Internal Energy in his Dantian flow out without any restriction, allowing it to stretch and flow throughout his body, which in turn showed Leo a taste of a new peak!

________________

Personal Statistics:

Internal Energy: 2.1/2.2 (Scarlet Sky)

Physique: 2.49 (+1.66)

Mind: 0.44 (+2.2)

________________

His body was faintly radiating a scarlet aura, but Leo's eyes were focused on the book floating in front of him as he threw a basic punch in the air.

Bang!

This was but the most basic application of Internal Energy, and it was also the secret to the battle instructors' strength! Leo could barely count as a 3rd rate Martial Artist, but the current him was confident in beating Epilogue Arthur in a battle of physical strength!

'It's like a sightseeing of glory…'

Of course, such strength wasn't permanently his, the rate of consumption indicated that Leo's amount of Internal Energy could only support his current state for two or three minutes. In a real battle, Arthur was more than capable of stalling till that time was over before crushing Baekho's base physique…

However, it was merely a matter of time before this problem would become less and less important. Leo was only familiarizing himself with the base method of combat that Murim Martial Artists used, but he was still one pill away from becoming a proper one.

Compared to the more complicated forms of martial arts that defined the identity of Martial Artists, basic Internal Energy Application wasn't that hard to get used to. At the very least, there was no certain Internal Energy Channeling required.

'Meditation is really an all-solver.'

Leo's low Internal Energy limited him from practicing beyond a few minutes in one sitting, but he had purposely trained that way in order to test the efficiency of Internal Energy recovery through meditation. Surprisingly enough, all it took was a minor energy cycle lasting a little more than 5 minutes!

All the way until his lunch arrived in front of the door, Leo spent his time repeating this cycle of Internal Energy exhaustion and recovery. It wasn't enough to call him an expert as of yet, but he was a bit better than a newbie at this point.

"Hu!"

Sitting back on the bed, Leo finally removed the lid of the second pill bottle in his possession. He practiced in that state for a reason, but the feeling of always being short on Internal Energy was the opposite of fun! It was about time for his Dantian to grow up a little.

'Scarlet Cloud Pill.'

In comparison to the first pill that he got a taste of, the new pill that Leo held between his fingers had a fainter shade of red. The Blood Rose Initiation Pill just looked like a red ball, but the Scarlet Cloud Pill had a perfect circular shape decorated by dark red cloud patterns. Leo's knowledge of Alchemy was almost just any other resident from Earth, but he could still recognize the superiority of this pill.

It sounded like another pile of nonsense, but the original novel always showed that the more sophisticated a pill seemed to be, the higher its level would be. Naturally, this applied to the Scarlet Cloud Pill that acted as the base Internal Energy Boosting pill used by the core of the Heavenly Strength Society.

'This is going to take a while.'

After letting out a long breath, Leo threw the exquisite pill into his mouth. Unlike Initiation pills that could be easily refined in an hour or two, what he just ingested was something that required an extensive amount of time.

If the Blood Rose Pill was a small stream, then the Scarlet Cloud Pill was more like a river! Both pills were roughly the same size, but the energy held within the Scarlet Cloud Pill was estimated to be a year's worth of Internal Energy!

With a raging river flowing throughout his body, Leo no longer had the mind to focus on anything else other than the inside. Since his 'inner sight' was restored once he became a true Martial Artist, he was no longer feeling around through the dark!

Less than two days after emerging, Leo's second seclusion successfully started…