James Lone concentrated, and the "Qi" inside the "ginger" in his body surged outward. His body slid backward over two meters with an eerie, ghost-like movement—far further than Teresa Taylor had managed.

A smirk tugged at his lips. "With my amount of Qi, I can perform this ghostly maneuver about ten times. This is absolutely a lifesaving and ambush skill!"

"Most of the time, I don't even need to move this far. If I could control it to stay within one meter, the consumption would be much lower!"

But no matter how hard he tried, using up all the Qi in his body in the process, James was unable to limit the maneuver to less than one meter.

Every time he activated the Qi, it would surge uncontrollably.

"My mastery is nowhere near Teresa Taylor's level. Her movements are fluid and precise, while mine are still clumsy and inefficient. Looks like this will require long-term practice."

James didn't feel too frustrated. After all, Teresa Taylor had been training for over 20 years, while he had only just started. Progress so far had been impressive.

Next, James began practicing Blood Burst.

After resting for over ten hours, the soreness in his muscles had finally disappeared, and his body had fully recovered.

"500% is only for emergencies—it's not viable for regular combat."

James decided to start at 100% intensity and learn Teresa Taylor's techniques: short, localized bursts of power to prolong endurance during a fight.

However, as soon as he tried, he realized just how difficult it was.

Watching Teresa Taylor during her fight with the mutated frog, her ability to fluctuate her power output seemed effortless. But when he tried it himself, it was anything but easy.

After two hours of practice, he had to stop, frustrated. Progress was minimal.

"From the day the purple mist descended, it's only been about ten days. For Teresa Taylor to have mastered it to this extent already... how long will it take me? Is she truly a martial arts prodigy?"

James frowned.

"My path forward is clear: two options."

"Either I keep increasing my overall constitution to extend the duration of 500% bursts and speed up recovery time."

"Or I continue increasing my overall constitution until a 100% or 200% burst is enough to crush all enemies!"

The goal was clear: boost constitution.

Screw it. If techniques don't suit me, I'll brute force my way through with raw stats!

Instead of wasting time fixing his shortcomings, he would amplify his strengths to an overwhelming degree.

If skill isn't enough, let the stats carry you.

James pulled out handfuls of Constitution Fruits and Will Link Fruits and began consuming them.

One handful.

Two handfuls.

Three handfuls...

Finally:

[Ding! Will Link upgraded to 7 stars...]

James's eyes lit up, and he immediately opened the ability's description:

[Will Link: 7 stars]

You can establish a Will Link with any creature in your line of sight, allowing communication through consciousness.Range: 100 kilometers.Max simultaneous Will Links: 20.You can create a Consciousness Space to pull all linked individuals into for communication.Max simultaneous Consciousness Spaces: 1.+20 Will.

Consciousness Space!

Excited, James activated the ability again and saw the familiar Will Bubbles.

Within his perception range, every creature was surrounded by shimmering, colorful bubbles. They looked fragile, like soap bubbles, vibrating slightly as if they could pop at any moment.

James's own bubble, however, was the sturdiest—completely stable and unmoving.

"Is this because of my increased Will?"

"How do I create a Consciousness Space?"

James experimented for a while and soon managed to separate a small, colorful bubble from his own Will Bubble. It was about the size of a quail egg.

He focused his consciousness into the small bubble.

Instantly, he found himself in a vast, pitch-black space.

With a thought, the space around him began to change.

A pristine, white floor stretched endlessly beneath his feet. Above him, the darkness turned into a starry sky, glittering with countless lights.

James smirked. "Interesting... A virtual world that I can shape at will, and I can bring others into it. It's like a consciousness-based BBS forum."

He continued refining the space with his thoughts.

Golden mist began rising from the white floor, swirling layer upon layer until it reached a height of over 100 meters.

Above the mist, an enormous golden throne appeared, radiating an air of authority.

In an instant, James's figure materialized on the throne.

Standing on the seat, it felt as if he were in the middle of a massive sports arena.

"I need... to be bigger."

His body expanded until it was as tall as a mountain.

He slowly sat on the golden throne, overlooking the Consciousness Space like a king surveying his domain.

Suddenly, he felt his mental energy draining rapidly. His mind grew foggy, like he hadn't slept for three days.

"This kind of consumption isn't physical—it's pure mental exhaustion," he realized.

Quickly, he withdrew his consciousness from the small bubble.

To his surprise, he could still see the scenery inside the Consciousness Space from the outside.

The white floor, the starry sky, the golden mist, and the throne—all were frozen in place, as if time itself had stopped.

"Is this... a save function?"

He also noticed that with time frozen, the space no longer consumed mental energy.

"It seems maintaining the space doesn't drain energy—only keeping it active does."

With 7 stars, he could create one Consciousness Space. But what about 8 stars? Or 9 stars?

Excited, James grabbed another handful of Will Link Fruits and began eating them.

Crunch.

Crunch.

He didn't know how many he ate, but there was still no upgrade.

Even though his constitution favored Will abilities, trying to upgrade from 7 stars to 8 stars using 1-star fruits was a monumental challenge.

James ate until he felt nauseous and was about to give up when...

[Ding! Will Link upgraded to 8 stars...]

James's heart leapt with joy. He immediately checked the updated description:

[Will Link: 8 stars]

You can establish a Will Link with any creature in your line of sight, allowing communication through consciousness.Range: 200 kilometers.Max simultaneous Will Links: 30.You can create up to 3 Consciousness Spaces for communication.You can forcibly pull a target into a Consciousness Space. Success rate and duration depend on the Will difference between you and the target.+30 Will.

James's eyes zeroed in on the biggest change: Forced Pull.

With a simple idea, he realized the potential of this ability.

For example, during a fight, he could forcibly pull an enemy's consciousness into his space mid-battle. Imagine if the enemy suddenly found themselves in mid-air in the Consciousness Space—wouldn't their body instinctively react inappropriately in the real world?

That split second of disorientation could be the perfect opening to defeat them.

"This... is a game changer."

James's smirk grew wider as he envisioned all the ways he could use his newfound power.