Chapter 36: Level Up

In the following two days, Li Wei didn't rush to take on any commission tasks; instead, he stayed in his room without coming out.

On the first day, he injected the C-grade gene fluid.

The purpose of changing to this gene fluid was, of course, to strengthen himself. He wanted to quickly enhance his body, pushing its strength to the level of extreme training.

Originally, he had great expectations that this injection would directly lead to a breakthrough. However, it seemed that the potential of his body was indeed too poor. For someone with average aptitude, after reaching a certain level of physical training and having a few D-grade gene fluids as a foundation, injecting a C-grade gene fluid had a good chance of breaking through the limit level. However, even after using two D-grade and two C-grade gene fluids, Li Wei had still not broken through.

He sensed it himself; his body had reached a bottleneck. Another injection should probably break through, regardless of anything else... right?

Feeling a bit depressed, he put this matter aside and then took out the C-grade blood and flesh core, absorbing it completely.

The Book of Myriad Laws, which had already absorbed a D-grade gene fluid, finally unsealed its fifth page.

Familiar calligraphy appeared on the originally blank page, displaying a certain aesthetic charm. This time, the fifth page presented four options.

"Upgrade Sharingan."
"Upgrade Steel-Cutting Flash."
"Acquire a new ability, Dark Vision."
"Acquire a new spell, Mage Armor."
...

This time, luck was good; all four options were excellent, but it gave Li Wei a dilemma.

A happy dilemma.

Both upgrade options were good, and both new abilities were excellent; Li Wei wanted them all. Unfortunately, only one ability could be chosen for a single page.

The Dark Vision ability would be very useful in special situations, but its applicability was relatively low, so he eliminated it first. The upgraded Steel-Cutting Flash would undoubtedly increase in power, but for now, it was still sufficient, and the urgency for an upgrade was not high.

What really made Li Wei hesitant was the options for upgrading Mage Armor and Sharingan. The former could provide him with decent defensive capabilities, something he currently lacked. It could directly compensate for one of his weaknesses. As for Sharingan, it was currently the core power that allowed him to fight opponents at the limit level. Without the penetrating insight of Sharingan, he would lose many advantages.

After some contemplation and inner conflict, Li Wei ultimately chose Mage Armor.

After all, even if Sharingan wasn't upgraded, its basic ability effect still existed. Obtaining Mage Armor, after patching up his defensive shortcomings, his combat power would immediately have a very intuitive improvement.

Watching the disappearance of the other three options, Li Wei felt a pang of pain in his heart.

Closing the Book of Myriad Laws and retracting it, Li Wei sat in front of the desk and began to read the book, "Basic Energy Bullet Engraving Techniques."

This book was obviously designed for beginners, with no theoretical discussions or long-winded explanations about the principles of rune technology. It got straight to the point, starting with a detailed explanation of the process of making an energy bullet and breaking it down into corresponding steps.

In other words, if you wanted to make an energy bullet, just follow the steps in the book. Smart people might quickly learn, and even fools could eventually learn through practice—it was just a matter of time.

Oh, and there was also the issue of money.

Li Wei bought quite a few materials. The most expensive one was the engraving dagger, a small knife that cost fifty blue crystals. In addition to that, there were some physical white crystals and an energy converter.

All these items added up to the value of two purple crystals, almost burning through all his savings.

The preparations were not difficult. He quickly connected the engraving dagger to the energy converter using energy lines, then inserted standardized white crystals into the energy converter.

The next step was to follow the content and design blueprint in the book, using the energy-filled engraving dagger to engrave the energy from the white crystal onto the bullet. It couldn't pause, and the process had to be continuous. It must be done in a single stroke.

However, on the first attempt, Li Wei failed. He didn't even have a chance to engrave; at the moment the energy flowed through the engraving dagger, he felt a loss of control, and the energy couldn't condense on the tip of the dagger.

The book explained this as a manifestation of the user's insufficient control over energy. The user needed to concentrate, control the energy inside the engraving dagger, and guide it throughout the process.

Li Wei, who was catnapping in the room, spent an entire day trying but still couldn't successfully condense the power.

During this time, Judith came to see him once, and Li Wei remembered her words.

"This is the most basic engraving dagger. Generally, people can master how to control energy and condense it within half an hour to an hour. Those who have completed extreme training can learn even faster. Li Wei, you actually spent a whole day and still couldn't figure it out?"

At that time, Judith's expression was very puzzled. In her mind, Li Wei was a genius who mastered two extraordinary abilities. How could he not do such a simple thing?

To this, he could only remain silent.

Judith also comforted him, saying that perhaps Li Wei's talent did not lie in the Chain of Wills. After all, controlling external forces required a strong willpower. Advanced runemasters were people who had gone far in developing their willpower through the Chain of Wills.

But when she left, the strong disappointment on her face made Li Wei very uncomfortable.

He hated this feeling.

So, that night, he didn't even sleep, repeatedly attempting to control the energy circulation within the white crystal with his own willpower.

Unconsciously, he had burned more than three hundred white crystals, and they were all money.

Finally, at dawn, he could barely complete the condensation of energy.

His head was about to explode from fatigue, and he fell asleep directly. On the second day, he spent the entire day practicing, only reaching the standard of maintaining energy condensation for ten minutes.

This was the minimum requirement for making an energy bullet. Otherwise, if the energy was cut off in the middle, all previous efforts would be in vain.

Although he had finally succeeded, Li Wei felt no sense of happiness in his heart.

Compared to something others could achieve in ten minutes, he spent two whole days on it—how could he be happy?

Sighing heavily in his heart, he put down the engraving dagger and placed a new white crystal into the energy converter.

Doing these things, he felt a little lost, and there was a thought of giving up in his heart.