Alchemies

Chapter 5: Breakthrough

It was 1pm. The sun had already passed its peak, and there were no visible clouds in the sky.

Alex arrives at the east gate of the university. He looked around and quickly found Hannah standing in the shade, and walked towards her.

Hannah was wearing a yellow dress with a white hat. It is about 170 cm tall and has a slender body. He took off his sunglasses when he saw Alex walking towards him.

"lex? Oh my God, look at you, you've grown up. How long has it been since I last saw you? 2 year? 3?" Hannah was surprised to see him so high.

"Hello, Brother. I'm sure it's been 2 and a half years since you last visited us. How are you?" Alex answered with a greeting.

"Oh, look at you so formally. If you have to ask, I'm fine. How's it going? How are aunt and uncle?" He starts asking about Alex's family welfare.

"I'm fine, brother. Mom and Dad are fine, too." He retaliated.

“Come, we go to the cafe or something. Here too hot.” Hannah said as she took Alex to a nearby cafe.

Alex was stunned to see all the cool little things the city had. He was amazed at how many people were constantly on the road, even on a hot day. The number of cars and vehicles, some of which he had never seen before. Tall buildings that make your neck almost broken just to see the top.

Alex felt very overwhelmed with everything. After they reach the cafe, Hannah enters, and Alex follows behind her.

'Woah,' felt the hot air from outside instantly turn to the cold air from the AC in the cafe, barely making him express his astonishment.

He rarely goes to an air-conditioned place, never this fancy. Most of the places he visited in his hometown had fans, not AC.

Hannah walked up to the empty table and said, "Sit here, I'll bring us some food, what do you want to eat?"

Alex didn't know what to say. "I don't know what's good. Maybe the burger is good?"

"OK," he went for a while and came back with 2 sets of burgers and drinks. They started eating.

“So, you live in a dorm right? Already have friends?” she asked.

"Yes. I have 3 roommates. They are friendly." Alex replied

"Good."

Alex and Hannah talked for a long time. Alex learned a few things about Hannah. It seemed like he was currently in his third year, and his final year of college. He rented a place a few blocks away from the university, where he and his 2 friends lived together.

After finishing their food. They stayed there and talked for a while. After chasing, around 3 pm they both say goodbye and leave.

Within a few minutes, Alex returned to the dorm. He was about to enter the room when he heard someone call his name.

"Hey Alex, where have you been?" Logan asked.

It seems Logan, Matt, and Eric just got back from the cafeteria.

“I went to see my cousin. He also attended university.” She said.

"Oh. Cool. Have you eaten? If not, you might have to go to the cafeteria before they close" Matt said.

"I ate outside. Oh yeah, can I keep the VR helmet on for a little longer?"

Matt looked at her and laughed, "You're addicted too, aren't you? Haha. Immortal Cultivation could do that. Go ahead, keep it as long as you want." Eric was very generous about the VR Helmets.

They all went into their rooms, put on helmets, and returned to play.

Alex opened his eyes back in the shop. He slowly stood up. He looked around the room, and thought, 'Hmm... The sun is still rising, should I fight some monsters and level up?'

The level system in this game is a bit strange, there are names, not numbers that can be remembered.

"What level am I at?"

He then opened his Status to check. What he saw surprised him.

[Players Name: Yu Ming

Cultivation: Nature 3rd Tempering Skin(131709/1500 Qi: 100%) [Tracked]

Talent: God

Spiritual Root: 5 elements of Yin-Yang root

Cultivation Method: Starry Sky Qi Absorption Method

'What? How could I have so much Qi?' he can't understand. ' If I remember correctly, I got about 500 after eating the pill from the fox's body. So why do I have so much now? I don't remember eating pills anymore or even cultivating while waiting, did I actually cultivate last night while I was asleep?'

Millions of thoughts flashed through his mind. He did not understand how he obtained so much Qi. He vaguely remembered starting to cultivate last night, but he fell asleep immediately.

'Maybe I cultivate while I sleep. They say you can play the game while you sleep. Maybe I did that.' He thinks.

'After all, since I have so much Qi, why don't I level up?' Alex decided to press the [Breakthrough] button.

He lost 1500 Qi. The requirement of leveling up the next level now reached 2500 Qi. He pressed the [Breakthrough] button again.

And again.

And again, and again.

'Oh. New name.' Alex stopped breaking through when he reached the 'Muscle Tempering: 1st Realm'. He looked at his status and realized that he had used 23,000 Qi, and the next requirement for a breakthrough was 10,000 Qi.

He still had enough remaining Qi, so he suppressed [Breakthrough] once again.

"Oh," Alex realized something when he saw his status once again. It seemed like the requirements for each region at this level increased by 5000 Qi. The next requirement is 15,000 Qi.

‘Wah, his needs went up a lot,’ he thought

He broke through once again.

He once again checked and found the requirement for level 4 was 2000. He still had half of his original Qi left, so he proceeded to click [Breakthrough] a few times once more.

He could not break through again after that.

'Woah,' Alex felt a strange feeling from his body. His body no longer felt. Her skin was smooth and shiny, and she could see the definition of the muscles inside her body, although she clearly remembered that she did not have that many muscles before.

He also felt very hungry. 'Do I have to eat in the game too?' he thinks. Fortunately, he lives in a tavern, so he can go out to eat whenever he wants.

For now, he checked his status once more.

[Players Name: Yu Ming

Cultivation: Tempering 6th Natural Muscle (8709/35000 Qi: 100%)

Body: Divine Body of the Sun God

Talent: God

Spiritual Root: 5 elements of Yin-Yang root

Cultivation Method: Starry Sky Qi Absorption Method

'Wow, that's great, ' he thought. He didn't really understand how good or bad it was, possessing the 6th realm of Muscle Tempering, but he assumed it must be good.

He was sure he was basically around level 15 in the game. But, he did not know how far he had to level up because he did not know about higher levels.

He decided to forget that thought and go downstairs to eat. He got a good meal for one silver and ate it with pleasure.

After he finished eating, he came out of the tavern. 'Buddy, if this game requires me to eat, and food costs 1 silver at a time, I will go bankrupt in no time.'

‘I should probably hunt those monsters more often.’ He thinks. He walked up to the city gate and saw the guards there inspecting the people coming in and out.

He approached one of the guards and asked if he needed to pay 2 more silver to leave the city for a few hours. Unfortunately, he did.

'Alright. I can pay it after I earn income from the monsters I will kill.' He thought and went towards the forest.