Chapter 11: The Pill of Vitality and Strength

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After waking up, Di Qiu found that night had fallen. Gazing at the dim, dark sky, she rubbed her eyes. As her vision shifted, she saw that only the incense pillar in the entire pavilion still emitted a faint starlight glow, its burning intensity seemingly unchanged.

Di Qiu rose and instinctively searched for the time displayed above the screen—it was already counting down with one hour remaining.

The screen now showed over a dozen names, each followed by tags like [Grade D] and [Grade C].

She counted seventeen names and recalled that there had been eighteen people initially, including herself.

“So that means everyone else has cleared the level? Now I’m the only one left?” Di Qiu yawned, suddenly remembering that a system task was still in progress. She checked her panel, which indicated that the side quests had been completed.

In her inventory, there lay a black pill emitting a faint blue glow.

[Body-Strengthening Pill: True to its name, consuming this pill can improve physical constitution and enhance bodily strength. Even the weak, elderly, and women can become as strong as oxen. One punch can defeat ten veteran masters!]

After reading the pill’s description, Di Qiu stroked her chin, skeptical. “Is this for real?”

Regardless of truth or falsehood, she thought, only by trying would she find out.

Without hesitation, she took out the pill and popped it into her mouth. Her calm expression instantly twisted into a grimace—the bitterness was overwhelming.

She instinctively wanted to spit it out but, thinking this was a reward for completing a system task, she endured the bitterness and swallowed it whole.

After several breaths, the bitterness in her mouth finally faded somewhat.

As for her body, the transformative, rejuvenating sensation she expected did not appear.

She only felt more alert.

But since she had just awakened, it was hard to say whether this alertness was due to the pill or simply the rest she had taken.

After waiting a dozen more breaths, still no other changes occurred.

Could it be that the immortal cultivation pills were ineffective after crossing into this dimension?

Di Qiu was puzzled but resolved to keep testing.

Recalling the description that one punch could fell ten veteran masters, she clenched her fist and glanced around. Finally, she struck the ground with a punch.

A loud rumble erupted, and the earth beneath her fist formed a deep crater.

Her eyes lit up as she stared at her fist; the pain was not absent but only a faint abrasion.

This was the power of an elixir!?

Who said this cultivation system was useless? It was incredibly effective.

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With her constitution suddenly greatly enhanced, brimming with energy and a thirst for exploration, Di Qiu immediately began randomly throwing punches in place, testing if she could strike with a power that could shatter mountains.

“Heh ha!”

Mimicking martial artists from films, she clenched her fist, charged power, and threw a punch forward. Black mist surged with the wind of her fist, and with a loud “boom!” the stone wall ahead collapsed.

Di Qiu’s face showed astonishment. “Is this really the strength I just unleashed?”

Excited by her newfound power, she threw left hooks and uppercuts, shouting with joy, before dashing out of the pavilion, wildly swinging her fists.

Up and down, left and right, she threw no fewer than a hundred punches.

...

“This is truly eye-opening. This girl doesn’t seem to be incapable of using supernatural abilities. Could it be she hasn’t opened her Heavenly Eye yet?

Her silky, evasive movements don’t look like she’s oblivious to the anomalies. Still, it’s impressive—those anomalies swarm so close, yet she dodges every attack.”

Four mid-level personnel from the Micro Bureau, standing above the dark veil, watched the spectacle, waiting for the assessment to conclude.

In their view, over a dozen anomalies surrounded Di Qiu, and at the moment she threw a punch, all but the S3 anomaly launched excited attacks.

Finally, she had made a move.

During her slumber, some anomalies had already been absorbed and merged by the S3 anomaly, greatly enhancing its strength compared to the start.

Fortunately, these were mirror anomalies; if the originals had been unleashed, they would have been much harder to handle.

Watching Di Qiu’s movements now, it was hard to believe she had smoothly dodged attacks from all these anomalies. Such fluid motion was beyond even the veteran students at the academy—no matter how experienced, they might not move this gracefully.

If she truly knew nothing about these anomalies, she was indeed a bit lucky.

These officials had been on watch here for a full seven hours.

This assessment had revealed an extraordinary scene; no one expected that after the S3 anomaly’s seal was lifted, it wouldn’t obliterate everything at once but would instead gradually consume the entire empty city. The mirror anomalies always acted unpredictably.

Because of this delay, all seventeen examinees except Di Qiu passed the test alive.

In previous assessments, a 99% pass rate was not impossible, but for all to survive under such harsh conditions was unprecedented.

What was even more astonishing was that after all the other candidates had left the arena, Di Qiu remained here sleeping, completely unharmed.

Thus, everyone was curious whether Di Qiu possessed a hidden secondary ability that prevented anomalies from attacking her. If such a power existed, it would be remarkable.

But at this point, they were unsure whether it was due to a secondary ability or because Di Qiu merely behaved like an ordinary person.

Although these mirror anomalies were copies, their mentality, traits, intelligence, and habits were identical to the originals. When they initially subdued the anomaly code-named “Devour,” the original was far from cooperative.

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“Devour” initially parasitized a deity statue in a wild temple. When the ninety-eight thousand one hundred thirty-ninth person entered the temple to burn incense and make a wish, the seal would be lifted.

The S3 anomaly’s intelligence surpassed that of a normal human. Besides hiding its presence, it could simulate all forms of high-level criminal tactics.

Capturing this anomaly had cost them considerable effort.

...

When Di Qiu threw her one hundred and thirty-eighth punch, she suddenly felt something soft and slippery.

A fleeting shadow flickered before her eyes, resembling a silhouette.

In this atmosphere, the first two words that popped into her mind were “anomaly.”

Honestly, having grown up with this education, the worldview of this world had long been subtly ingrained in her subconscious.

In such an environment, it was hard not to think of this world’s peculiar phenomenon—anomalies.

Realizing this, Di Qiu’s reaction was a jolt of fear.

Though educated about anomalies, she had never dealt with them directly since childhood.

Who wouldn’t be afraid of anomalies? At least, Di Qiu believed she wasn’t as brave as she imagined.

She needed some time to adapt to this environment.

However, this fear was soon dispelled by the power surging within her body, replaced by a restless eagerness.

Coincidentally, this was the test field. Anomalies here were normal; perhaps she had inadvertently triggered one.

After all, having personally experienced the absurdity of catching ten fish in a row in a pond yesterday, triggering an F-grade anomaly, she had come to accept even the most bizarre events.

Not to mention the system’s erratic task releases and the unexpectedly strange ways she completed them.

Di Qiu raised her hand, sweeping it through the air, focusing on the sensation between her palm and the air.

Perhaps it was because of the vigorous punches she had just thrown, mobilizing her internal energy and blood flow, but this time she truly felt reborn, fully aware of the airflow around her.

Her right hand touched something hard and solid.

Looking toward her right palm, she saw a vague outline obscured by black mist, preventing her from seeing details.

Without hesitation, she clenched her fist and smashed it into the shadow.

“Boom!”

Besides the sound of her own exertion, she also heard a chorus of sharp, eerie screams—expressions of displeasure, anger, and an outburst of rage.