49. Advancement Mode

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Quan Yi, now firmly back on the ground, couldn't contain the joy and excitement surging within him.

He raised his hands, carefully examining his Sun Gauntlets. Despite the intense heat of the flames, they remained completely unscathed—not even the slightest residual warmth lingered on their surface.

That thin layer of black-red metal gave him an unparalleled sense of security.

After a quick glance around to confirm he was still alone, Quan Yi suddenly stretched out his right hand, palm facing outward, his expression solemn.

With unwavering conviction, he shouted:

"I am Iron Man!"

He held the pose for a moment before lowering his arm, an amused grin spreading across his face.

"Haha, that was fun."

It was an homage to his past life, a fleeting moment of nostalgia.

The inspiration for his experiment had come from his memories of Iron Man, a famous figure from his previous world.

By compressing flames and reducing their spray range, he had successfully created a high-temperature, high-pressure thrust system.

What started as a theory—a mere attempt at enhancing his mobility—had led to an unexpected breakthrough.

The sheer force generated by extreme compression had exceeded his expectations, lifting him off the ground.

Even though he had only hovered a few centimeters, this was still a groundbreaking achievement.

It signified something greater—

Quan Yi had officially taken his first step into the sky.

If he could further refine this technique, learning to compress flames more effectively and control propulsion with precision, his mobility would increase dramatically.

However, there were still major obstacles to overcome.

His current control wasn't refined enough to further compress the flames. The thrust required meticulous adjustments—any miscalculation could cause instability.

Moreover, in actual combat, this technique had severe limitations:

Long Activation Time – It took too long to prepare.

High Energy Consumption – The drain on soul power was immense.

Visibility – The bright flames made it easy to detect.

To make this technique practical for battle, he needed to train extensively—

Focusing on speed, stability, and most importantly, the ability to instantly activate it from a standstill.

'Only when I can go from zero to full-speed propulsion in an instant will this technique be truly useful.'

But Quan Yi wasn't there yet.

For now, he pushed the thought aside, simply enjoying the moment.

This was the first time in both his lives that he had experienced the sensation of flying.

In his past life, he had never even boarded an airplane. He had often dreamed of soaring through the sky—

Yet now, in this life, he had made that dream a reality through his own strength.

After a while, the excitement in his heart gradually settled.

Quan Yi walked barefoot to the side of the playground, sitting cross-legged in deep thought.

This experiment had been a great success, but from a practical standpoint, it was still far from being battle-ready.

And tomorrow…

Tomorrow, he would be facing Teacher Bai Yan in combat training.

The mobility issue he had hoped to solve remained unresolved.

But Quan Yi was not discouraged.

After a moment of reflection, he quickly came up with another method.

Instead of focusing on hovering, he could try angling his hands backward, using flame propulsion to enhance his running speed.

This wouldn't grant him true flight, but it would significantly increase his movement speed on the ground.

The only question was—

Would it be fast enough to keep up with Teacher Bai Yan?

After careful thought, Quan Yi quickly rejected the plan.

The reason was simple—his current abilities weren't mature enough to achieve instantaneous acceleration. If he couldn't activate it instantly, then Teacher Bai Yan would easily notice it before he could even use it effectively.

More importantly, this extreme acceleration mode consumed a staggering amount of soul power.

In his earlier experiment, he had lasted less than ten seconds before exhausting more than half of his remaining soul power.

Too risky.

"Is there another way to apply this?"

Quan Yi continued searching his mind, looking for a more suitable approach.

"Propelling force… propelling force…"

He kept repeating the words in his heart.

As he thought, his eyes gradually brightened, as if he had discovered something.

"Of course!"

Smack!

Quan Yi slapped his thigh in excitement.

"I've been thinking about this the wrong way!"

Propulsion was a force.

And force could be applied in multiple ways—not just for movement.

His Sun Gauntlets covered his palms and forearms, meaning he could control the direction of the flames freely.

'What if I apply propulsion to my attacks instead?'

If he adjusted the position of the fire jets, he could enhance the speed and power of his punches using controlled bursts of flame.

With this realization, Quan Yi understood—

Even if he wasn't ready to use propulsion for mobility just yet, he could still apply it in a different way through clever adaptations.

A new plan formed in his mind.

Instead of outputting large bursts of soul power, he would reduce the energy input, decreasing the burden on his control and minimizing consumption.

Through micro-propulsion, he could generate smaller, controlled bursts that wouldn't drain his energy as quickly.

By adjusting the position of the flame jets, he could manipulate his entire arm, allowing for movements and attacks that would otherwise be impossible.

Even with a small burst, he could dramatically increase the speed and impact of his strikes.

This was just the simplest and most direct application he could think of.

But now that the idea had taken root, countless possibilities flooded his mind.

The potential of this power was limitless.

Determined, Quan Yi shifted his focus—

His afternoon training would now revolve around perfecting the propulsion technique.

He had to explore every possibility this ability had to offer.

More importantly, he needed to train his body to get used to this new, unfamiliar force.

If he can't control it properly, his movements will become erratic…

An unstable technique would reveal his weaknesses to opponents rather than making him stronger.

That would put him at a severe disadvantage in battle.

With this in mind, Quan Yi didn't hesitate—

He immediately sat down cross-legged and entered meditation, focusing on recovering his soul power.

Once he was fully recharged, he resumed nonstop testing.

As he experimented, he discovered a major challenge—

This technique demanded an extreme level of mental focus.

Controlling the propulsion required delicate precision in an instant. Even though Quan Yi was skilled at multitasking, he quickly felt his mind struggling to keep up.

Simply increasing the speed and power of his punches proved to be far more difficult than expected.

By reducing the input of soul power and firepower, he could indeed compress flames faster.

But—

To maintain stability while punching, he had to coordinate multiple flame jets at once.

Using only one fire jet wouldn't enhance his punch effectively—

Instead, it would push his arm off balance, distorting his attack trajectory.

To fix this, Quan Yi had to manipulate multiple jets simultaneously, ensuring a perfect balance of force so that his fist remained on course.

At that moment, he recalled an old saying from his past life—

"Theory alone is shallow; true understanding comes only through practice."

Now that he was actually attempting the technique, he realized just how difficult it truly was.

He still had a long way to go before he could fully master this technique.

But rather than feeling frustrated, he felt thrilled.

To him, this breakthrough was proof of endless possibilities.

The process of developing this ability was itself a test of his willpower and skill.

And Quan Yi firmly believed—

As long as he can persist, he will definitely master this technique.