2: Chapter 2: Frenzied Spending on In-App Purchases Leads to a Spectral Increase in Strength
Although that warm current from just now came and went quickly, what it left behind had truly taken root in Wang Pingan's body.
And Wang Pingan truly felt this sudden surge of power, even developing the illusion that he could punch through a wall.
He clenched his fists, his knuckles letting out a crisp popping sound.
This wasn't an illusion.
The muscle lines in his arms seemed a bit firmer than they were just a moment ago.
He could feel a brute strength hidden beneath his skin that he had never possessed before.
"I have to try it."
Once this thought arose, he could no longer suppress it.
He threw off the covers and nimbly put on his shoes; the slight dizziness from the concussion had long since vanished without a trace under the wash of that warm current.
The hospital's rehabilitation training room was at the end of the corridor, and there was no one around at this time.
Wang Pingan pushed the door open and immediately locked his gaze onto the half-person-high power-testing sandbag in the corner.
He was familiar with this thing.
High school seniors had to undergo physical tests every month, and he almost had a psychological shadow from this thing.
He remembered clearly that before his car accident, during the last test of the summer vacation, the peak power he hit with all his might was 96 kilograms.
Wang Pingan walked up to the sandbag and stood still.
He took a deep breath, recalling the feeling of that power flowing through his arms just now, and then threw a punch quite casually.
No winding up, no roaring—just a very plain straight punch.
"Bang!"
A dull thud echoed in the empty training room.
The sandbag swung back violently, and the numbers on the electronic display above began to scroll frantically.
Wang Pingan's eyes were glued to the screen.
The numbers started from 0, instantly skipping 50, 80, 90...
Then, without the slightest pause, it broke through the 100 mark!
Finally, as Wang Pingan's heart nearly stopped beating, the number settled steadily at "112 kg."
112 kg!
Wang Pingan's pupils contracted suddenly.
With just those 10 pay-to-win points and those 1,000 star coins, his punching power had skyrocketed by 16 kilograms out of thin air!
This was no longer a matter of luck or being in good form.
This was a qualitative change!
It was proof that his strength had officially stepped over the threshold of a "First-Rank Martial Artist"!
He stood there, his body trembling slightly with excitement.
In his past life, for those few thousand dollars in performance bonuses, he had bowed and scraped before his superiors, wearing a fake smile and trampling his dignity underfoot.
In this life, he just moved his finger and spent 1,000 star coins to obtain power that he couldn't have achieved in over a decade of hard cultivation in the past.
This feeling...
...was so damn good!
A strong, almost greedy desire grew wildly from the deepest part of his heart.
He wanted more!
He wanted to be stronger!
He never wanted to return to those days of being mediocre and powerless, watching opportunities slip away and envying others from behind!
Wang Pingan walked quickly back to his ward and locked the door behind him.
He opened his personal terminal and looked at the string of numbers "49,000.00" remaining in his account; his breathing grew heavy.
Thirty thousand was for medical expenses; that had to be kept.
The rest... nineteen thousand!
This number was no longer money in his eyes.
Those were 190 pay-to-win points!
It was the ladder to a stronger realm!
Two little people were fighting in his head.
One said, "Wang Pingan, calm down! This is money your parents traded their lives for. You have to spend it sparingly. What if you need it for something else later?"
The other little person slapped him directly and roared, "Use it for what? The greatest use is right in front of you! What is money? Money is just a bastard; you have to spend it to get things done! What do you lack most right now? Strength! Once you have strength, will you ever lack money? Now that an opportunity is right in front of you, you're still hesitating? Are you stupid or what?"
Yeah.
Am I being pathetic?
Wang Pingan curled his lips in self-mockery.
The regrets of his past life and the mediocrity of this one were like two mountains pressing down on him, making it hard to breathe.
Now that he finally had a crane that could move those mountains, he was actually worrying about the cost of fuel?
To hell with rationality!
To hell with being frugal!
In both my lives combined, I've never been this extravagant!
Today, I'll live like a king!
A flash of madness crossed his eyes, and without any more hesitation, he clicked on the Martial Artist Association's official mall.
[low-grade spirit crystal]
Quantity: 19.
Total Price: 19,000 star coins.
Address: Room 703, Inpatient Building A, Shen City Third People's Hospital.
Confirm Payment!
When the account balance instantly shrunk to exactly thirty thousand, Wang Pingan didn't feel distressed; instead, he felt a thrill of putting everything on the line.
The delivery robot's efficiency was frighteningly high.
In less than half an hour, there was a knock on his ward door.
Nineteen brand-new small metal boxes were neatly stacked on a tray and delivered to him by the robot.
Wang Pingan closed the door and opened all nineteen boxes.
For a moment, the entire ward was enveloped in a faint white fluorescence, and the air was filled with a refreshing aura of energy.
He sat cross-legged on the bed and picked up a spirit crystal.
[Energy source 'low-grade spirit crystal' detected. Absorb and convert into pay-to-win points?]
"Yes!"
The spirit crystal in his hand quickly turned to powder.
[pay-to-win points: 10]
Without pausing, he picked up the second one.
"Yes!"
[pay-to-win points: 20]
The third piece...
The fourth piece...
Like a beggar who had been starving for three days and nights facing a table full of delicacies, he frantically devoured the "food" before him.
The number of pay-to-win points on the system interface also soared rapidly.
50... 100... 150...
When the nineteenth spirit crystal also turned to powder and slipped from his fingertips, his total pay-to-win points settled steadily at 190.
Wang Pingan looked at the five basic attributes on the system panel; this time, he didn't choose to max out a single point.
He still understood the Barrel Theory.
Only by improving in all areas could he go further.
"Distribute all pay-to-win points evenly among the five basic attributes!"
He issued the command.
[Command received. Distributing pay-to-win points...]
[Strength +30]
[Speed +40]
[Constitution +40]
[Spirit +40]
[Recovery +40]
The moment the distribution was complete, a scalding torrent several times stronger than before exploded within his body!
"Ugh!"
Wang Pingan let out a muffled groan and leaned back, falling heavily onto the bed.
It was too intense!
If the previous warm current was a stream, then this torrent was a river bursting its banks!
Crackle! Pop!
He could clearly hear his bones making overburdened cracking sounds, as if they were being crushed by an invisible hand and then reassembled with stronger materials.
Muscle fibers were frantically tearing and reorganizing; with each reorganization, they became tougher and more full of explosive power.
Beneath his skin, his blood surged like liquid mercury, its scalding temperature almost setting him on fire.
He could feel his blood qi value climbing at a terrifying speed!
99...
100!
"Boom!"
In his mind, it felt as if an invisible shackle had been violently shattered by this rampaging torrent of blood qi!
The shackles of a Pseudo First-Rank Martial Artist were broken!
He had officially entered the realm that all students dreamed of—First-Rank Martial Artist!
But it wasn't over yet!
There was no sign of the blood qi value stopping its ascent.
110... 130...
The warm current continued to surge through his limbs and bones, remodeling every corner of his body.
He could clearly feel himself becoming stronger by the second, as if undergoing a complete metamorphosis!
Finally, when the last trace of the warm current merged into his body, the violent energy slowly subsided.
Wang Pingan slowly sat up from the bed.
He looked down at his hands; his skin had become finer, even possessing a faint jade-like luster.
He lightly clenched his fist, and a slight sonic boom echoed in the air.
He pulled up the system panel.
[host: Wang Pingan]
[Realm: First-Rank Martial Artist (blood qi value 138/300)]
[Strength: 13.5]
[Speed: 13.2]
[Constitution: 13.6]
[Spirit: 17.2]
[Recovery: 13.8]
[pay-to-win points: 0]
Looking at the data on the panel, Wang Pingan's eyes were filled with unprecedented confidence.
From a "Pseudo First-Rank" whose blood qi value was stuck at 98 points and could drop at any time, to now being firmly established in the early stage of a First-Rank Martial Artist, his strength had undergone a qualitative leap.
All of this took less than an hour and 20,000 star coins.
The regrets of his past life, the mediocrity of this one—the gloom that had weighed on his heart was washed away completely by the surging power within him at this moment.
He knew that from today on, everything would be different.
He, Wang Pingan, would rewrite his own life!
Just as he was immersed in this powerful sense of strength, the system interface before him suddenly flickered.
A new line of information popped up.
[Newbie Benefit: Basic Martial Art "Federal Military Body Boxing" can be upgraded to "Proficient" level for free. Claim?]