Chapter 94: Acceleration

Zheng Yichen paused right where he was. He meticulously flipped through the last dozen pages of the Notebook, making sure this was indeed the narrowest safe passage listed. He let out a small sigh of relief. Two meters wide was his absolute limit. By squeezing himself tightly, he could still get through. Any narrower—one meter—and he’d either have to turn back or take a daring risk.

How the Notebook’s original owner had mapped these paths, Zheng Yichen had no idea. He could only call that person a genius. Speaking of which, the sky here remained perpetually gloomy and dim. Telling the precise time was impossible. After locating the final landmark, Zheng Yichen pulled some food from his bag and chewed on it. Based on his hunger, nearly two days had likely passed. Hmph, he had been walking for quite a long time.

He also noticed that the deeper he went, the harder it became to control his Projection. If this difficulty kept increasing at its current rate, he would lose connection to his Projection completely after moving half this distance again. Without the link, the Projection would simply collapse.

“Hmm… this is it.” Zheng Yichen examined the final entry in his Notebook, comparing the drawn picture with the pool before him. They were identical. The pool measured 3 by 3 meters—a bit small for his size—with unknown depth. It was filled nearly to the top with a deep red liquid that resembled blood, leaving about half a meter unfilled.

According to the Notebook, this entire pool of liquid was the key to increasing one’s strength. As for how to use it… it was simple. Jump in, and either absorb it all or drink it up.

“This is really…” Zheng Yichen muttered, pulling a metal tube from his bag to use as a straw. Yet as soon as the metal tube touched the surface of the crimson liquid, the submerged section dissolved instantly. Zheng Yichen froze. Was this stuff super-concentrated sulfuric acid or something?

Staring at the shortened metal tube, he hesitated. After a long while, he still couldn’t bring himself to leave over this risk. He dipped the very tip of his tail into the pool instead, letting it gently touch the red liquid. An icy, electric shock sensation instantly surged through his entire body. It wasn’t painful though. To sum it up… it felt incredible.

As for physical improvement, maybe because he had absorbed far too little, the boost felt minor. Even so, Zheng Yichen remained very cautious. Instead of jumping in immediately, he continued using his tail like a probe, slowly absorbing… no, more accurately, the liquid actively wormed its way into his body upon contact.

Surprisingly, the liquid seemed far less abundant than expected. In just half an hour, the red pool had dropped by nearly half a meter. Bored while he waited, Zheng Yichen carefully read the final few pages of the Notebook. They contained information about the red liquid.

The substance was called ‘God’s Blessing’. Rumor said it was related to divine blood… though gods in this world were long since extinct. Whether it was truly connected was impossible to prove. And even if it was, who would have the capability to verify it?

After reading some more, Zheng Yichen suspected the blood connection might not hold up. For one, the pages mentioned that this pool’s red liquid would slowly refill once used up. However, the refill rate was so slow that accumulating an entire pool again would take centuries, even millennia. Furthermore, its strengthening effect only worked the first time someone used it. Crucially, this “first time” wasn’t just a dip; it lasted until the person reached their maximum absorption capacity for the liquid.

Reaching this limit meant any later attempt at absorbing more would transform the precious strengthening liquid into lethal poison. The result would mirror his metal tube—instant dissolution. Additionally, the red liquid could only exist within this specific pool. No method could ever carry it away.

The effect? Over that half-hour, Zheng Yichen definitely felt his physical strength soaring rapidly. It wasn’t just enhancing his body; it was a deeper kind of refining. Even his accumulated Mana was undergoing the same refining process: its quantity grew while its quality improved at the same time.

Overall, his body and Mana increased the fastest. His Mental Energy showed the slowest progress last. That icy, electric shock never faded or became something he could ignore. Instead, it maintained the same intense, incredibly stimulating level throughout, constantly electrifying his Mental Energy.

Assured the pool posed no threat, Zheng Yichen finally jumped right in. The red liquid, which had only been slowly diminishing, immediately began visibly dwindling at a rapid rate. As for the depth? When his feet hit bottom as he leapt in, he gauged it was about six meters deep.

“Mmm… empty.” Looking down into the pool now completely devoid of any red liquid, Zheng Yichen climbed back out. He stretched his limbs. In just two short hours, it felt like he’d gained decades of growth. What irked him, though, was that his overall size hadn’t changed at all. Only minor appearance details shifted: his Scales looked darker, tougher, slightly more resilient; his wings had extended a bit in size; the formerly somewhat bulky shape of his claws had vanished entirely, replaced by a leaner, more streamlined look.

It was like his whole dragon body had undergone subtle compression and fine-tuning—his height and build identical, yet now possessing a sleeker, more slender aesthetic. Zheng Yichen felt utterly indifferent to this though. No matter how “elegant” he looked, if no one kept him, it remained utterly useless. His taste in appearance remained steadfastly fixed on the Human Form.

He squatted beside the now-dry pit for a very long time. Only after that sensation of being stuffed so full he couldn’t move eased somewhat did Zheng Yichen wobble his body and slowly stand up. He genuinely felt overstuffed this time. To maximize this unique strengthening opportunity, he’d powered through purely on sheer stubbornness. His current gains represented this mysterious place’s accumulation over hundreds, maybe thousands of years. The pool was bone dry now, not even a hint of moisture remained.

Judging by the Notebook’s records, anyone finding this place for the next several centuries would likely find absolutely nothing here. As for Zheng Yichen’s gains? His raw physical strength had likely increased sixfold, though he’d need a proper test back home for exact figures. His Mana Capacity, however, was clearer; it had ballooned over ten times its previous amount. Oddly, he felt that ratio was somewhat low. Based on his original Mana levels, reaching a tenfold increase through natural accumulation would have taken him maybe three or four years. The lowest boost was his Mental Energy—only roughly doubling, maybe tripling at most.

To sum up: this secret location essentially fast-tracked roughly five years’ worth of hard-earned power growth. Five years… such a tiny amount in the eyes of the Dragon Clan. An unknown centuries-long accumulation traded for just five years of acceleration? Hmph. The price for taking a shortcut to strength in this world was truly enormous.