Chapter Fifty-Seven: Ever Renewed (Third Watch)

“Don’t let me see that idiot, or I’ll beat him so hard he’ll crap himself!”
“Number one in the world? What a joke!”
“I thought he was a good kid, but fame has gone to his head. How disappointing…”
“This is a disgrace to education, we must reflect deeply…”
“I think he’s fine. It’s normal for teenagers to be a little dramatic!”
“Bravo to the young man for daring to charge forward. In my heart, you truly are number one!”

The comment section of the “Number One in the World” video was in chaos. Countless people were hurling insults, some amused spectators cheered him on, while others lamented in anguish.

In just over an hour, tens of thousands of comments had piled up.

Gao Wu looked at the scathing remarks, but his face was beaming with joy. Today was truly a good day—he’d earned four million for nothing, and his video had gone viral.

Just as he’d anticipated, the fiercer the audience cursed, the higher the video’s traffic climbed. He would lose some followers, but that wasn’t a problem.

Old fans could no longer provide him with merit. Only by constantly attracting new followers could he gain large amounts of merit.

A viral video would always bring in a fresh crowd.

With nothing better to do, Gao Wu opened the Boundless Book of Merit. He had now accumulated 180,000 merit points.

Unfortunately, the Azure Dragon Divine Qi Spell required a million merit points to advance its realm. The other divine spells hadn’t been unlocked, so even with a surplus of merit, there was nowhere to use it.

Looking at his strength, it had risen by 0.1 points, clearly thanks to the Vajra Elixir.

The effect seemed similar to the first time he used the Blood Dragon Serum, but the base values were different, making the difficulty of improvement worlds apart.

Thirty vials of Blood Dragon Serum had boosted his strength to 9.3, more than doubling it. At this level, using more Blood Dragon Serum was ineffective, only temporarily enhancing muscle and bone explosiveness.

The Vajra Elixir not only increased his strength, but also simultaneously improved his bone density and tendon toughness. Calculating this way, ten vials of Vajra Elixir should push his strength to ten points.

In his view, a base value of ten should be the limit for advanced martial artists.

Limitless strength, combined with a transcendent physique and the Azure Dragon Divine Qi Spell, would allow him to sweep the arena, overpowering all martial artists of the same rank!

Gao Wu was confident in this. The only problem was he didn’t know when Huang Hai and the others would resolve their issues.

Getting Vajra Elixir for free was exhilarating, but being targeted by a group of demon cultists was far from ideal. Gao Wu was bold, but even he felt a persistent discomfort, as if a thorn was lodged in his back.

He had plenty of merit points but nowhere to spend them, which was even more frustrating.

After the competition ended, Gao Wu wasn’t given a chance to compete, but he no longer cared about that.

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This was also the last high school league of the year. Next week, schools would begin their winter holiday, and classes wouldn’t resume until March.

The martial arts team members had a twenty-day break, though they wouldn’t be dismissed until the 30th.

After the match, Huang Hai gathered the team and briefly discussed the training plan, urging everyone not to slack off.

Usually taciturn, Huang Hai surprisingly spoke for over half an hour. By the time Gao Wu arrived at Yunhu Villa, darkness had already fallen.

Gao Wu looked at the sumptuous dishes on the table, feeling somewhat embarrassed. “I’ll pay half the food expenses.”

He wasn’t intent on freeloading off Song Mingyue—it was simply too convenient here.

Many ingredients from other worlds were hard to purchase, requiring special channels.

Handling those ingredients was also troublesome. Song Mingyue’s resources allowed her to enjoy them effortlessly.

If he wanted the same quality, he’d have to pay at least twice the price.

He’d earned a tidy sum from Song Yunhe, and so easily, without bearing any blame. Gao Wu felt a bit sheepish.

“No need,” Song Mingyue shook her head slightly. To her, Gao Wu’s value was immeasurable. These material things meant nothing.

Gao Wu understood Song Mingyue’s temperament and didn’t insist. She treated him sincerely, and he reciprocated with honesty. Money hardly mattered between them.

With the Boundless Book of Merit in hand, he would one day be an unrivaled powerhouse, if not the world’s number one. No matter how much he owed Song Mingyue, he could always repay it.

Besides, their interests aligned and they were close friends—talking about money was too vulgar!

He then asked, “My grandfather’s health isn’t good. Now that I have money, I want to buy him some supplements. Do you have any recommendations?”

Song Mingyue was a bit surprised. She knew Gao Wu was adopted, and at an age where he already understood the world. She didn’t expect him to be so close to his family.

She was Song Yunhe’s legitimate daughter, yet their relationship was distant. She had little inclination to show filial piety.

To be honest, she rarely thought of her father at all. She almost envied Gao Wu’s bond with his family…

“What’s wrong?” Gao Wu noticed Song Mingyue lost in thought and assumed she was troubled.

“The choice of medication depends on your grandfather’s health. Otherworldly supplements are potent, but require liver and kidney processing. Taking powerful tonics rashly can strain those organs and actually do harm,” Song Mingyue explained softly.

“I see, I oversimplified it. I’ll ask him carefully when I get home.” Gao Wu wasn’t in a hurry; his grandfather’s health wouldn’t be solved in a short time.

He then asked, “What about Huang Hai and the others?”

“They need to wait until your body grows further. At least thirty days,” Song Mingyue replied. She’d overheard Huang Hai and the others’ conversation and deduced their purpose. Any body-enhancing medicine required time to take effect; there was no way to strengthen overnight.

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The effects of the Vajra Elixir were so strong that it would take at least thirty days for the benefits to manifest fully.

Thus, the timetable was almost unchangeable.

She explained the reasoning to Gao Wu, who nodded in agreement.

“In twenty-two days, the Xuetao Cup will begin. My grandfather can return to Dongjiang under the pretext of hosting the event. We’ll see how he handles things then…”

Such major matters were not her decision to make as a junior; she could only follow her grandfather’s arrangements. With her present, she would never let Gao Wu suffer any loss.

Gao Wu and Song Mingyue discussed their strategy, and his confidence grew.

After dinner, Gao Wu and Song Mingyue sparred, focusing on the roaming dragon palm and sword techniques. While his physical attributes could be increased by medicine, martial cultivation could only be advanced through personal training—there were no shortcuts.

For safety, Gao Wu chose to stay at Song Mingyue’s home. At this point, a few more days made no difference.

In the following days, school was suspended for the holidays.

Every other day, Huang Hai gave Gao Wu a vial of Vajra Elixir and a bottle of Thorn Dragon Energy Fluid.

Gao Wu followed the regimen, injecting the elixir and visiting Song Mingyue in the evenings to train. The potent effects of the Vajra Elixir and Thorn Dragon Energy Fluid allowed him to progress daily, growing stronger each day.

With a constitution score of fifteen, the powerful medicines gradually revealed his remarkable vitality.

No matter how much he pushed his body, it could quickly recover to peak condition, dispelling any negative effects of the drugs. Even the lost lifespan was slowly regained through training.

After using three vials of Vajra Elixir, Gao Wu felt his physical strength had reached the level of the Mad Dog. In this state, he could withstand the Mad Dog’s attacks purely with his body’s resilience!

Moreover, his strength continued to grow, without any of the side effects of biochemical modification surgery. He possessed limitless potential—far superior to the Mad Dog, by a wide margin…

Soon, it was December 29th. The day after tomorrow was the New Year’s Spring Festival, and the martial arts team would officially break for vacation.

Gao Wu asked Huang Hai if he could have the remaining vials of Vajra Elixir.

With a twenty-day holiday, it would be inconvenient for him to visit Huang Hai daily.

To his surprise, Huang Hai readily agreed, handing over the remaining six vials of Vajra Elixir and the Thorn Dragon Energy Fluid.

As a coach, he could see Gao Wu improving every day—exactly what he wanted.

Although the Vajra Elixir was valuable, it was nothing compared to Gao Wu. Its side effects were so severe that no other martial artist could use it. Gao Wu was determined to become the world’s number one; how could he let such an opportunity slip away?

Once the Xuetao Cup was over, they would finally harvest the fruit that had ripened!