Chapter 0051: Upgrading and Strengthening to Increase Power

After returning to his room, Di Ping took out the city map that Cheng Chao had found for him and studied the route. Using a marker, he marked the path he thought would be easier to travel. This route followed the main roads, some of which were quite wide. He recalled that the trees along the roadside were either small or, after the mutation, had grown larger but not to the extent of the enormous trees near the entrance of the community, which were already the size of an adult's waist before the world changed. As such, the damage to the road surface was likely to be less, making it easier to traverse.

After confirming the route, Di Ping quickly washed up, and then, as he was about to go to sleep, he casually flipped through a book. Suddenly, he remembered that earlier in the day he had killed three wild boars and earned energy points, but he had not used them for any upgrades. He realized that while he had collected the points, he hadn't yet figured out how to use them. In the game, collected points were stored in a tavern system, but he wasn't sure if this system worked the same way here.

He silently summoned the system, and the interface appeared before him. Clicking on the tavern, he saw that the "Soul Energy: 30" was displayed at the top. In the tavern window, two heroes were listed: the barbarian Buji and the mage Gina. Clicking on their portraits showed their information, including level, class, skills, and equipment slots, which were all empty. At the bottom, there were two options: "Dismiss" and "Upgrade." Buji's upgrade to the next level required 15 soul energy points, while Gina's upgrade required only 10. The two heroes, despite both being from the same system, had different upgrade costs.

Di Ping quickly deduced the reason: Buji was a C-grade potential hero, while Gina was D-grade. The different potential levels meant that each hero required a different amount of energy to level up. It seemed that heroes with higher potential levels needed more energy to upgrade.

With only 30 points of soul energy, Di Ping could upgrade Gina to level 3, but he wondered how much energy he needed to upgrade himself, since his potential was B-grade. After studying the tavern system for a while, he couldn't find an option to upgrade himself, nor could he determine how much energy was required. Feeling frustrated, he reluctantly closed the tavern window.

Just as he was about to dismiss the system, he noticed something unusual. He hadn't paid much attention before, but when he casually glanced at the top left corner of the screen, he saw a new avatar—his own. He hadn't noticed when it had appeared, and if he hadn't happened to look at that moment, he would have missed it entirely.

He hurriedly clicked on his own avatar, and sure enough, a new window popped up with the following information:

"Castle Host: Di Ping, Class: Warrior, Level: First-tier Level 1, Current Buildings: Castle, Manor, Tavern, Recruitable Heroes: 2"

At the bottom of the screen, there was an "Upgrade" button. Di Ping was overjoyed and quickly clicked it. A new window appeared, stating that upgrading to the next level required 20 soul energy points. Di Ping was right—heroes with different potential levels required different amounts of energy for upgrades. As expected, the energy required for an upgrade was twice as much for his current potential compared to Gina's D-grade.

Now that he had 30 energy points, Di Ping decided it was the right time to upgrade. Strength was important, especially since he was leaving tomorrow on a rescue mission. The stronger he was, the better. He clicked the "Upgrade" button without hesitation. However, after doing so, he felt no immediate change in his body. It seemed like nothing had happened.

Just as he was beginning to feel disappointed, a sudden wave of heat surged through his body. Energy seemed to rise from deep within, and his blood felt like it was boiling, rushing violently through his veins, crashing like an ocean in turmoil. His heart pounded in his chest like a giant drum, and the blood, carrying intense energy, washed through his entire body.

At that moment, Di Ping felt as if he had become a lobster being heated over a fire, with his skin burning red. It seemed as though his blood was on the verge of bursting out of his body. Intense pain surged through him, wave after wave, crashing against his body. The pain was so overwhelming that he could hardly breathe. His bones cracked, and his flesh felt like it was being seared by flames. Di Ping curled up on the bed, drenched in sweat, his body wracked with agony.

His screams of pain were accompanied by tight fists gripping the bed sheets. His teeth ground together, emitting a harsh, grinding sound. Time seemed to stretch painfully long, each second intensifying the agony in his body.

But just as he thought he could bear it no longer, the boiling blood within him began to subside. The pain gradually faded, replaced by a soothing, almost tender sensation that swept through his body. It felt as though a gentle hand was caressing him, bringing comfort and relief deep into his bones.

The swollen meridians, once stretched to the limit, now felt relaxed and comfortable. His bones seemed to hum with satisfaction under the warm energy that flowed through them. Every part of his body that the energy touched became warm and numb, as though new flesh were growing in the places it passed.

This wave of warmth lasted for nearly a minute before gradually fading away, leaving no trace behind, as if it had never happened. However, Di Ping could clearly feel his strength had increased, and his physical constitution had been strengthened.

After the energy dissipated completely, Di Ping carefully assessed the changes. It seemed that the strength gained from leveling up was not substantial, only around 200 pounds, which was trivial compared to his current 4,000-pound strength. However, considering that each level increase brought this much strength, and in the game, reaching level 10 was equivalent to having 2,000 pounds of strength, that would be a ton of power. At his current stage, that would be on par with a superhero level of strength, something not to be underestimated.

Looking at the information, he saw that his level had increased to First-tier Level 2, and his soul energy had dropped to 10 points. Di Ping sighed, realizing that the path to further upgrades would be long and challenging.

Then, he noticed that his body was covered in a sticky, black substance that reeked of a strong, foul odor. He rushed to the bathroom and washed off, using two bars of soap before finally feeling clean. After finishing his shower, he felt light and refreshed, his body feeling much lighter than before.

Exhausted from the intense experience, Di Ping casually changed the bed sheets and collapsed onto the bed, immediately falling into a deep sleep.