Chapter 44 - The Fifth Star Point

Fragmentary-Bone: Transform the bone marrow, enhance quality of bones, strengthen physical power.

Method of Practice: (Zhou Bai skipped over this)

Laziness (0/1,600)

As he injected 1,600 points of Laziness onto the fourth star point, Zhou Bai felt a stabbing pain in all the bones in his body. He nearly let out a scream.

If he practiced at a normal speed, practicing Fragmentary-Bone required completely transforming the bone structure, changing out the marrow, and altering the bones to make the body more durable and resilient.

For normal practitioners, changing the bone structure little by little could take anywhere from a few weeks to a few months.

Since bones included the skull, it must be practiced with caution.

But Zhou Bai injected 1,600 points of Laziness in an instant and needed to complete the transformation over a few minutes, so the process was accompanied by excruciating pain.

Watching Zhou Bai fall on the floor and convulse, his face pallid, Elsa ran around frantically, continuously barking.

At that moment, all the bones in Zhou Bai’s body felt like they were shattered inch by inch and then reconstructed. The pain was so unbearable he couldn’t even make a sound.

Just as he thought he was about to die, at the point of extreme pain, his brain chose to protect itself out of instinct. Zhou Bai passed out.

A long time later, with a wet sensation on his face and a tingling sensation all over his body, Zhou Bai slowly opened his eyes.

Holy cr*p…almost died from the pain.

Zhou Bai stood up and rubbed Elsa’s head. Then he moved his body. He felt like all the bones in his body were itching, wanting to vent.

Thump! Thump!

He made a few casual punches and kicks. Zhou Bai could feel his physical strength get intensify again. His punches and kicks felt heavier—no, his entire body felt heavier than before.

Were my bones transformed? he wondered.

Zhou Bai gave it some thought, then made a few more punches, feeling the change in his body.

My strength improved again, but because my bones got heavier, I couldn’t tell at first, he thought.

My bones strengthened, so they must be more resilient now.

Too bad I don’t have any equipment to test how much force I can exert.

Although he couldn’t test the specific force, after Zhou Bai became familiar with his body, he estimated that he had the strength to overturn a small car.

With his current bone strength, in addition to the enhancement of his skin, one punch could probably break through the wall, and the reaction force wouldn’t even hurt him.

“Hehe, after around a week, I finished practicing four of the nine stars on the outermost layer of the Taiyi Disc. Everyone else must be so far behind me.”

Suppressing his enthusiasm, Zhou Bai looked at the fifth star point on the disc.

Sumeru: Stand like iron, sit like steel, lie like a mountain. Adjusts the perception of Spark around the body depending on posture in order to form a defensive barrier.

Method of Practice: (Zhou Bai skipped over this)

Laziness (0/2,200)

This description…Zhou Bai went blank for a second, then came to a realization: This means that my defense gets stronger when I go from standing to sitting to lying down?

Is this a joke?

My defense is strongest when I lie down?

Does that mean I have to fight on my back in the future?

When Zhou Bai added star points before, he found it rather strange.

After all, his Divine Map wasn’t one of the nine basic Divine Maps. The star points to practice on there were also completely different from the nine Divine Maps.

His Divine Map was Deva Nine Disasters. Even his auxiliary practice system’s full name was Deva Nine Disasters Auxiliary Practice System.

And the first of the nine disasters was Sloth.

But after practicing four star points, he didn’t feel like they had anything to do with Deva Nine Disasters or Sloth.

He only felt himself getting buffer.

But now, he understood.

So it was waiting for me all this time, he thought.

Zhou Bai looked at the new star point, Sumeru. He didn’t know how to feel about it.

It’s stronger, but lying down during combat is a little too…

Wait, if I’m stronger lying down, then doesn’t that mean…

Ugh, I wonder if the later star points will be even more…

Zhou Bai frowned, suddenly having a bad feeling in his stomach.

But it was useless to think about it now. The fifth star point demanded 2,200 points of Laziness. Zhou Bai probably needed to work hard for an entire week to get that.

He made up his mind: Never mind, I’ll study.

Zhou Bai sat back at his desk, planning on studying while he waited for Li Xiuzhu to arrive.

But after a while, he felt like he couldn’t study anymore. Ideas popped into his mind.

I’ve been working hard for so many days, how about I take a break?

I’ve practiced up to the fourth star point on the zeroth level of the Divine Map. I probably surpassed the others by a lot; what’s wrong with taking a break?

With my current progress, even if I took a day or two off, I would probably still be way ahead of them.

No, I can’t slack off. I have to persevere!

Zhou Bai shook his head violently. He knew it was bad. His illness was acting up.

Intermittent exertion syndrome was an illness that usually acted up after one to five days of ardent study. Symptoms lasted anywhere from a day to a year. A terminal illness, once it acted up, the patient needed extremely strong willpower to fight against the illness for the rest of their life.

Sigh! After working so hard all this time, it should be fine to relax for a bit.

As he thought about this, Zhou Bai stood up from the desk and unknowingly reclined on the couch.

A few minutes later…

I’m so bored…

No phone! No laptop! No Internet!

I can’t do anything…

But I still don’t want to study.

Laziness +1

“Huh?” Zhou Bai thought he was hallucinating.

Laziness +1

Laziness +1

Laziness +1

Laziness +1

Laziness +1

Seeing Laziness rise endlessly, he knew that he wasn’t hallucinating. Laziness was increasing!

What is going on? Could it be…

A long time later, after Zhou Bai repeatedly experimented, he finally understood the mechanisms.

After studying for consecutive days with resolution, if he suddenly became lazy and didn’t study, his Laziness would increase.

Watching Laziness rise continuously, Zhou Bai couldn’t help shaking his head and exclaiming, “I just wanted to relax, but even now my level of practice is increasing. I’m really just a prodigy. Donghua Tao Academy, you’ve found yourself a treasure.”

On the side, Elsa looked at Zhou Bai with her head cocked. She didn’t understand what he was doing.

So Zhou Bai just lay on the couch righteously, watching his Laziness rise little by little. It gradually increased slower and slower.

He lay down until almost midnight. Laziness had stopped increasing half an hour ago. Zhou Bai gained nearly 200 points of Laziness.

Degree of Taoification: 0%

Primordial Spirit Value: 99

Divine Map: Deva Nine Disasters

Laziness: 250

Seeing it was about to turn midnight, yet Li Xiuzhu still didn’t appear, Zhou Bai furrowed his brows.

Why isn’t he here yet? he wondered. Did this guy stand me up?

Just as Zhou Bai thought this, the pounding sounds on the wall from next door came again.

Crack….

Fragmentary-Bone: Transform the bone marrow, enhance quality of bones, strengthen physical power.

Method of Practice: (Zhou Bai skipped over this)

Laziness (0/1600)

As he injected 1600 points of Laziness onto the fourth star point, Zhou Bai felt a stabbing pain in all the bones in his body. He nearly let out a screaming.

If he practiced at a normal speed, practicing Fragmentary-Bone requires completely transforming the bone structure, changing out marrow, and altering the bones to make the body more durable and resilient.

For normal practitioners, changing the bone structure little by little could take anywhere from a few weeks to a few months.

Since bones included the skull, it must be practiced with caution.

But Zhou Bai injected 1600 points of Laziness in an instant and needs to complete the transformation over the course of a few minutes, so the process was accompanied by excruciating pain.

Watching Zhou Bai fall on the floor and continuously convulse, his face pallid, Elsa ran around frantically, continuously barking.

At that moment, all the bones in Zhou Bai’s body felt like they were shattered inch by inch and then reconstructed. The pain was so unbearable he couldn’t even make a sound.

Just as he thought he was about to die, at the point of extreme pain, his brain chose to protect itself out of instinct. Zhou Bai passed out.

A long time later, with a wet sensation on his face and a tingling sensation all over his body, Zhou Bai slowly opened his eyes.

“Holy cr*p…almost died from the pain.”

Zhou Bai stood up and rubbed Elsa’s head. Then he moved his body, he felt like all the bones in his body were itching, wanting to vent.

Thump! Thump!

He made a few casual punches and kicks. Zhou Bai could feel his physical strength got stronger again. His punches and kicks felt heavier– no, his entire body felt heavier than before.

“Were my bones transformed?”

Zhou Bai gave it some thought, then made a few more punches, feeling the change in his body.

“My strength improved again, but because my bones got heavier, I couldn’t tell at first.”

My bones strengthened, so they must be more resilient now.”

“Too bad I don’t have any equipment to test how much force I can exert.”

Although he couldn’t test the specific force, after Zhou Bai became familiar with his body, he estimated that he had the strength to overthrow a small car.

With his current bone strength, in addition to the enhancement of his skin, one punch could probably break through the wall, and he wouldn’t even be hurt by the reaction force.

“Hehe, after around a week, I finished practicing four of the nine stars on the outermost layer of the Taiyi Disc. Everyone else must be so far behind me.”

Suppressing his enthusiasm, Zhou Bai looked at the fifth star point on the disc.

Sumeru: Stand like iron, sit like steel, lie like a mountain. Adjusts the perception of Spark around the body depending on posture in order to form a defensive barrier.

Method of Practice: (Zhou Bai skipped over this)

Laziness (0/2200)

“This description….” Zhou Bai went blank for a second, then came to realization, “This means that my defense gets stronger when I go from standing to sitting to lying down?”

“Is this a joke???”

“My defense is strongest when I lie down?”

“Does that mean I have to fight on my back in the future??”

When Zhou Bai added star points before, he found it rather strange.

After all, his Divine Map wasn’t one of the nine basic Divine Maps. The star points to practice on there were also completely different from the nine Divine Maps.

His Divine Map was Deva Nine Disasters. Even his auxiliary practice system’s full name was Deva Nine Disasters Auxiliary Practice System.

And the first of the nine disasters was Sloth.

But after practicing four star points, he didn’t feel like they had anything to do with Deva Nine Disasters or Sloth.

He only felt himself getting buffer.

But now, he understood.

“So it was waiting for me all this time.”

Zhou Bai looked at the new star point, Sumeru. He didn’t know how to feel about it.

“It’s stronger, but lying down during combat is a little too…”

“Wait, if I’m stronger lying down, then doesn’t that mean…”

“Ugh, I wonder if the later star points will be even more…”

Zhou Bai frowned, suddenly having a bad feeling in his stomach.

But it was useless to think about it now. The fifth star point demanded 2200 points of Laziness. Zhou Bai probably needs to work hard for an entire week to get that.

“Nevermind, I’ll study.”

Zhou Bai sat back at his desk, planning on studying while he waited for Li Xiuzhu to arrive.

But after a while, he felt like he couldn’t study anymore. Ideas popped into his mind.

“I’ve been working hard for so many days, how about I take a break?”

“I’ve practiced up to the fourth star point on the zeroth level of the Divine Map, I probably surpassed the others by a lot, what’s wrong with taking a break?”

“With my current progress, even if I took a day or two off, I would probably still be way ahead of them.”

“No, I can’t slack off, I have to persevere!!”

Zhou Bai shook his head violently. He knew it was bad, his illness was acting up.

Intermittent inexertion syndrome, an illness that usually acts up after one to five days of ardent studying. Symptoms last anywhere from a day to a year. A terminal illness, once it acts up, the patient needs extremely strong willpower to fight against the illness for the rest of their lives.

“Sigh, after working so hard all this time, it should be fine to relax for a bit.”

As he thought about this, Zhou Bai already stood up from the desk and unknowingly reclined on the couch.

A few minutes later…

“I’m so bored….”

“No phone! No laptop! No internet!”

“I can’t do anything…”

“But I still don’t want to study.”

Laziness +1

“Huh?” Zhou Bai thought he was hallucinating.

Laziness +1

Laziness +1

Laziness +1

Laziness +1

Laziness +1

Seeing Laziness rise endlessly, he knew that he wasn’t hallucinating. Laziness was increasing!!

“What is going on? Could it be…”

A long time later, after Zhou Bai repeatedly experimented, he finally understood the mechanisms.

After studying for consecutive days with resolution, if he suddenly becomes lazy and doesn’t study, his Laziness will increase.

Watching Laziness rise continuously, Zhou Bai couldn’t help shaking his head and exclaiming, “I just wanted to relax, but even now my level of practice is increasing. I’m really just a prodigy. Donghua Tao Academy, you’ve found yourself a treasure.”

On the side, Elsa looked at Zhou Bai with her head cocked. She didn’t understand what he was doing.

So Zhou Bai just lay on the couch righteously, watching his Laziness rise little by little. It gradually increased slower and slower.

He lay down until almost midnight, Laziness stopped increasing half an hour ago. Zhou Bai gained nearly 200 points of Laziness.

Degree of Taoification: 0%

Primordial Spirit Value: 99

Divine Map: Deva Nine Disasters

Laziness: 250

Seeing it was about to turn 12, yet Li Xiuzhu still didn’t appear, Zhou Bai furrowed his brows.

“Why isn’t he here yet? Did this guy stand me up?”

Just as Zhou Bai thought this, the pounding sounds on the wall from next door came again.

Crack….