Chapter 51: Potential is Like a Spring
Name: Song Qi
Strength: 115
Constitution: 156
Agility: 158
Spirit: 698
Free Attribute Points: 21
Equipment: [Seven Deadly Sins · Envy]
Talent: God-level Summoning
Skills: [Summoning], [Soul Link], [Life Blessing], [Targeted Teleportation]
......
Song Qi's eyes widened in disbelief!
His strength had skyrocketed from 13 to 115 in one leap—a sudden increase of 102 points!
His constitution and agility, too, had soared from 36 and 34 to 156 and 154, respectively!
Altogether, his attributes had increased by a stunning 120 points!
And his main attribute, spirit, had jumped from 382 to an astonishing 698!
An increase of over three hundred points in his primary stat!
“No wonder they call it Origin Water—the effect is simply outrageous!”
Song Qi couldn't help but run his hand over his newly defined abs with lingering satisfaction.
After all, what man doesn’t wish for a flawless physique?
But Song Qi had chosen the summoner’s path; strength and constitution weren’t his main attributes, so he’d long since given up on such hopes for his body.
He never expected that, as fate would have it, a single bottle of Origin Water would grant him exactly that!
“Already handsome, now my physique is nearly perfect as well.”
“Tsk tsk tsk... If I dress up a little, who knows how many women I’ll dazzle out there.”
......
Outside the training room, the City Lord watched the numbers on his tablet display, but his expression remained calm.
“One bottle of Origin Water. Main attribute increased by 316 points, secondary attributes by 100 each.”
“An excellent improvement, but... for him, it’s only average.”
Instinctively, the City Lord now judged Song Qi by a different standard than the rest.
If these increases belonged to someone else, he would have been amazed and full of praise!
But with Song Qi, it all felt rather... ordinary.
He was not satisfied!
The City Lord realized he was being a little biased.
But then, considering that his double standards were aimed at Song Qi, he felt there was nothing wrong with that.
A genius should of course be measured by the standards of a genius.
Knock, knock, knock!
The City Lord rapped on the window.
“Take a rest. We’ll continue shortly.”
“Continue?!”
Hearing this, Song Qi, still lost in admiration for his abs, left the room with a puzzled look.
“Wait, City Lord, what did you just say? Continue with what?”
“Of course, continue with the second bottle of Origin Water,” the City Lord replied calmly.
“?”
Song Qi froze, then managed a smile that looked more like a grimace.
“But City Lord, I just finished the first bottle.”
“Two bottles in a day—I can’t handle that.”
The surge from Origin Water was incredible, but the process was excruciating!
He had nearly passed out from the pain just now.
And now the City Lord was telling him he had to go through it again?
“Two bottles a day?”
The City Lord sneered.
“If only it were that simple. Today, you’re going to finish all three bottles!”
“What?” Song Qi was nearly in tears.
Just the thought of another bottle made his insides ache in anticipation.
But now he was expected to drink all three in one day?!
He truly couldn’t understand what he had done to offend the City Lord to deserve this.
Seeing Song Qi’s reluctance, the City Lord’s face softened, coaxing and encouraging him.
“Song Qi, only those who endure great hardship can rise above the rest.”
“I became City Lord the same way, didn’t I?”
“And these three bottles of Origin Water were not easily acquired. If you want more, you might never get another chance.”
Song Qi gritted his teeth.
“Drinking them all in one day isn’t impossible, but you have to agree to one condition.”
“A condition? What is it?” The City Lord raised an eyebrow with interest; this was the first time Song Qi had ever made a request.
Song Qi rubbed his hands together, anticipation shining in his eyes.
“It’s like this, City Lord. I went out into the wild yesterday.”
“And I found that fighting monsters above my level not only gives more experience, but the difficulty isn’t too high for me.”
“So, City Lord, could you unlock access to high-level dungeons for me ahead of time?”
“I really want to improve!”
“Impossible!” the City Lord replied bluntly.
“I’m the City Lord, not a wish-granting machine!”
“The rules of the dungeons are the will of the world itself. If I could change them for you, would I still be stuck in the Seventh City?”
“The First City would have invited me back as an honored guest!”
After a moment’s thought, the City Lord teased,
“If you want to fight high-level monsters, just go into the wild.”
“A mediocre professional chooses dungeons; truly gifted professionals don’t spend much time in them anyway.”
Song Qi shrank back a little.
“But I’m only level 21. According to the rules, without a high-level professional leading, no one under level 60 can leave the city alone.”
“That’s simple,” the City Lord waved a hand.
“Come see me tomorrow. I’ll personally sign a permit for you to go out.”
“But... the wild is huge. How will I find monster hotspots?” Song Qi pressed.
“Fine, I’ll give you a map detailing every monster gathering in the area.”
“Are you satisfied now?”
“Heh, yes, very satisfied!” Song Qi’s gloom vanished, replaced by the sly grin of someone whose plan had succeeded.
The City Lord immediately realized what was going on.
Song Qi’s show of reluctance was just a ploy to get the exit permit and the map.
But he didn’t mind, and pointed at Song Qi with a chuckle.
“Alright, since you’re satisfied, let’s begin.”
With that, he shoved the second bottle of Origin Water into Song Qi’s hand.
“Remember what I told you—free attribute points can help you break through your limits. You haven’t used any yet, have you?”
Song Qi replied, “I remember. I’ve saved all my points.”
“Excellent.” The City Lord nodded, then began to explain the details.
“The first bottle of Origin Water has nearly exhausted your potential.”
“If you want similar effects from the second bottle, you’ll need to use your free attribute points.”
“Think of your potential as a spring. Right now, your spring is stretched to its limit—your own strength can’t stretch it further.”
“But attribute points are like an extra force pulling on that spring.”
“Once you apply that force, your potential spring will fluctuate for a short time, stretching even further.”
“But this new ‘potential’ is unstable and might disappear after a few hours.”
“Your task is to seize that brief window, draw out every bit of that temporary potential, and make it a permanent extension of your spring.”
“Do you understand?”
Song Qi nodded.
“I understand.”
He grasped the City Lord’s meaning.
Simply put, if his spirit stat’s theoretical maximum was 100, and he added a free attribute point now, his potential would fluctuate, raising his theoretical maximum to 110.
But those extra ten points were unstable and could vanish at any moment.
Now his goal was to raise his actual stat to that temporary maximum before those ten points disappeared—so that the potential would become permanent and impossible to lose.