Chapter 137: The Final Moments (2)

Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

The tenfold increase in the upper limit of skill proficiency did bring a certain degree of trouble to Lu Ming.

But not much.

Lu Ming knew in his heart that his practice of the explosive fist was far superior to anyone else’s.

This was an advantage brought about by the system.

However, if he wanted to turn external advantages into his personal strengths, he had to rely on his own efforts.

And Lu Ming had always been a very hardworking person!

On this day, the rumbling outside Good Hope Village did not stop.

And on the same night, Lu Ming’s hard work paid off once again!

After nearly ten hours of hard training, his Explosive Fist had leveled up again!

Explosive Fist (Mastery) (1/100,000): World Realm Source Power Skill. After mastering it, it significantly enhances the punching power. You have mastered the applications of Explosive Fist, and your overall attributes +600! Your free attribute points +600!

Compared to the skilled level Explosive Fist, mastering it provided Lu Ming with an additional 300 points in all attributes and 300 points in free attribute points!

Adding to that, during these ten hours of rigorous practice, his Hand-to-hand Combat skill experienced a major breakthrough!

Hand-to-hand Combat Lv4i (500/4100) – Hand-to-hand Combat Lvyo (3500/7000)!

Strength and Stamina +162.4!

As a result, Lu Ming’s attributes became:

Strength: 1670.7

Physique: 1681.5

Agility: 1504.2

Free Attribute Points: 696

With just one Source Power Skill, Lu Ming’s attributes had nearly doubled!

That night, Lu Ming lay in bed after washing up, checking his attribute panel and feeling the explosive strength in his body.

“Great.”

Lu Ming was very satisfied with his attributes.

He then made a comparison.

“According to the physical fitness of an ordinary adult male, a normal person is at 5, Level 1 is 10, Level 2 is 20, Level 3 is 40, Level 4 is 80, Level 5 is 160, Level 6 is 320, Level 7 is 640, Level 8 is 1,280 and Level 9 is 2,560!”

“Therefore, my current attributes should be somewhere between level 8 and 9.”

“However, 1 have to consider that High-level Awakened possessed superpowers. The higher the level of the Awakened, the stronger their superpowers are. In a real battle, the superpower of an Awakened is a terrifying weapon, and my weapon is only my muscles.”

Being without superpowers or having low-level abilities put him at a disadvantage compared to high-level Awakened ones.

“In that case, my current strength at Level 8 should be considered average.”

Whether attributes higher than those of Level 8 creatures could compensate for the lack of superpower depended on the type and characteristics of the opponent’s superpower.

If the Awakened possessed a powerful ability like Bai Tianyu or Zhang Chengcheng, both at level 8, Lu Ming would probably have a hard time winning.

However, if the Awakened had visual enhancement and auditory enhancement, which had nothing to do with combat, Lu Ming would have a significant advantage.

“So, considering this, are there level 8 or 9 creatures in the Black Mist Zone? Or maybe even creatures beyond the Worldly Realm?”

The probability was high.

In comparison, Lu Ming’s current strength seemed not as exaggerated as he initially thought…

“Not just not as exaggerated, but not exaggerated at all.”

He suppressed the slight arrogance brought about by the sudden increase in strength and took a deep breath, “Keep going! Keep working hard! Can’t stop!” Because he felt that he was still too weak…

Day 135 of the Apocalypse Calendar, Monday.

In the morning, he did his regular exercises + Explosive Fist practice.

In the afternoon, he practiced Explosive Fist.

In the evening, he practiced Explosive Fist.

An almost perfect daily routine…

In short, Lu Ming spent a perfect day like this.

When it was time to sleep at night, the gathering place on Guangping Street was attacked—a group of exotic beast attackers led by a Tier 6 exotic beast. Nearly a hundred big and small exotic beasts, possibly driven crazy by hunger, launched an attack on the Guangping Street gathering place.

And they ended up becoming Lu Ming’s reserve food supply.

In short, a perfect day concluded with a bountiful harvest.

Day 136 of the Apocalypse Calendar, Tuesday.

It was rare for Lu Ming to leave home but today, it took him about an hour going back and forth.

It was mainly to observe the progress of the Black Mist’s contraction.

He discovered that the Black Mist had already shrunk into the city area of Nanxiang.

After returning home, Lu Ming deeply felt that his time in Nanxiang was running out, so he redoubled his efforts to practice the Explosive Fist.

During dinner, Huo Sheng came to visit and briefly discussed with Lu Ming the progress of the Black Mist’s contraction and the monsters that had penetrated from the Black Mist Zone.

According to Huo Sheng’s estimation, in about 150 days of the Apocalypse Calendar, the entire Nanxiang would be completely engulfed by the Black Mist Zone. This was like a final time warning given to Lu Ming.

On the other hand, the creatures that had seeped through the Black Mist which had cracked several times, became a minor issue.

For example, the Level 6 mutated beast that appeared yesterday was a trespasser.

Also, the many creatures that Lu Ming had accidentally killed in the past two days.

In short, there seemed to be a huge restriction on infiltrating Nanxiang from the Black Mist Zone. This restriction prevented high-level creatures from crossing the border at ail.

Huo Sheng believed that the level limit should be below Level 7, which was at most Level 6.

At least for this period of time, no one had seen a Level 7 creature in Nanxiang.

Huo Sheng confirmed again and again that even a level seven creature would be considered inferior before Lu Ming. Satisfied with this knowledge, he left contentedly.

Lu Ming also felt very happy.

Today’s conversation not only helped him determine the final time frame.

It also made Lu Ming realize that even cross-dimensional creatures would have a hard time threatening his life.

Thinking about it, there should be no external factors interfering with Lu Ming’s normal life in the remaining ten-plus days.

Day 137 of the Apocalypse Calendar, Wednesday.

In the morning, he completed farming his daily attributes and moved on to practicing the Explosive Fist.

At around 4:30 pm in the afternoon, Lu Ming encountered a setback.

His Hand-to-hand combat skill had encountered a bottleneck.

Or rather, he had maxed out his Hand-to-hand combat skill!

Hand-to-Hand Combat Lvioo (Maximum): You have completely mastered the essence of Hand-to-hand Combat. Your fist and kick skills have already reached their peak!

After checking the skill description multiple times, Lu Ming had to admit that Lvioo might be the limit for these ordinary skills.

Although he could not rule out the possibility of future opportunities leading to further improvements in Hand-to-hand Combat, at least for now, he had reached the end of enhancing this basic skill.

“But it’s still not bad.”

Lvioo Hand-to-hand Combat meant a tenfold boost in the cultivation of the Explosive Fist.

Although he could no longer increase his attributes from his Hand-to-hand combat skill, he still had not maxed out his Explosive Fist training, right?

Explosive Fist (Mastery) (30,000/100,000).

At the current rate of practice, Lu Ming could obtain more than 10,000 points of Explosive Fist Proficiency in a day. So he believed that by the time the Black Mist completely covered Nanxiang, his Explosive Fist would enter the next level.

Putting aside the matter of Hand-to-hand Combat, Lu Ming immersed himself once again in the joy of practicing the explosive punch.

Day 138 of the Apocalypse Calendar, Thursday.

Lu Ming’s fitness skill had reached level 29.

The proficiency of the Explosive Fist had reached (43,000/100,000).

His attributes became:

Strength: 1940-5

Physique: 1951.3

Agility: 1517.5

Free Attribute Points: 696

At night, more exotic beasts attacked, but they all ended up becoming Lu Ming’s food reserves.

In the middle of the night, Zhang Lixin brought people to deal with the exotic beasts and sent them to Lu Ming’s private freezer.

The next day was Friday, the 139th day of the Apocalypse Calendar.

After Lu Ming learned of this, he specially went to the freezer to take a look and found out that the amount of exotic beast meat he had stored had already exceeded what he could consume.

So, he simply took out a portion of the exotic beast meat reserve and gave it to Wang Xiong and Huo Sheng, telling them to distribute it as they pleased..