"Yes."
[Merging Abilities…]
[Merged Ability: Enhanced Human Condition]
[Enhanced Human Condition: You possess an extraordinary array of enhanced physical, mental, and spiritual capabilities that far exceed normal human potential, yet still fall short of true superhuman levels.
You exhibit remarkably heightened attributes, including incredible
Strength,
Speed,
Endurance,
Agility,
Durability,
Stamina,
Reflexes,
Senses,
Intelligence,
Willpower,
All dramatically augmented beyond even the most exceptional human specimens. You demonstrate incredibly robust physical conditions, effortlessly performing feats unattainable by elite weightlifters, such as easily hoisting massive weights and exerting tremendous force.
You can move with astonishing velocity, rivaling automobiles and potentially achieving subsonic speeds. You possess heightened intuition, profound spiritual awareness, and superior cognitive functions, including exceptional judgment, boundless creativity, and vivid imagination.
Crucially, these enhanced traits require no rigorous maintenance, as such abilities transcend what natural human training could ever achieve. In essence, you stand as all-around superior beings, surpassing virtually all members of your species, which is Homo sapiens.
I stayed still for a long moment, just breathing.
Not because I was overwhelmed. Because I was adjusting to the new changes to my body.
The computer in my brain ran internal diagnostics, confirming what I already felt: everything inside me worked in harmony now and way beyond what was my limit just moments before.
It didn't feel like the invincibility those novels talked about that the MC felt after each power-up. But there was undeniably the sense of power and strength.
My heartbeat was slower now, but stronger. I could feel microtensions in the floor beneath my feet. The chemical content of the air. The distant hum of power lines across the street.
It felt like I switched bodies, but it wasn't a new body. It was mine—but the only difference was that now I had far surpassed my limits and reached new levels.
What I could not achieve with even Chi Augmentation I now had that level of strength in what could be called my Base Form. Which means I could still use Chi Augmentation and increase my power.
But now I would need even more Chi to empower myself further. My current amount of Chi would not be able to increase my strength by much.
Finally all my hard work paid off. Going to such lengths to find the SSS formula and copying so many different things to finally be able to cross one barrier.
'Thank you, system.' With you I finally crossed the final barrier of human potential and stepped into a new league.
Now I can finally say that I at least stand somewhere in the power standing of this Marvel Universe.
Even though I have powerful telepathic powers. But they are one of those powers that most of the people in power always take precautions against first.
---
Later That Night
Brooklyn, New York
The rain had returned, soft and persistent. I watched it through the cracked window of a narrow tenement apartment I'd rented under another name.
I looked out toward the skyline, toward the invisible paths layered beneath the city. Old stories about warriors who used Chi to stop bullets, heal wounds, and walk between life and death.
The Hand knew some of those stories. The Iron Fist, somewhere out there, had lived them.
And soon, so would I.
First, I needed more Chi. A larger reservoir—something that could actually amplify the power of my now-perfected body. Because right now? What I had was a spark.
What I needed… was a storm.
Midnight
Same Apartment, Brooklyn
I cleared the space—moved the furniture aside until the floor was bare. The window stayed open, letting the rain-soaked air slip in, carrying the low hum of the city like a distant drumbeat.
Then I sat.
Cross-legged. Eyes open at first. Breathing steady. Palms facing upward, spine straight, body completely still.
[Meditation – Lv. 10]
The room faded into nothingness—not literally, but perceptually. My attention dropped away from the flickering lamp, from the creaks in the hallway above me, from the cold draft brushing against my arms.
Instead, I focused inward.
Beneath skin, beneath muscle, beneath all the systems now optimized and merged. I searched for the pulse—the glow.
Chi.
It wasn't a dramatic force. It wasn't some blinding river of golden energy.
It was quiet. Rooted in breath. Tied to intention. A current, slow and steady, weaving through every part of me.
The strength of it didn't come from how much I had. It came from how well I could direct it.
And now, with the max level Meditation, I began drawing it out. Gently. Consistently. Expanding what was once shallow into something deeper.
I followed the ancient breathing rhythms passed down from warrior monks and reclusive yogis. Inhale, hold. Focus on the dan tian—the lower center of gravity. Exhale, release tension.
Again.
And again.
The energy flowed faster. More confidently. I wasn't forcing it. I was making space for it.
I shifted my focus to the internal map—the one I'd studied from ancient Eastern anatomy charts I'd memorized and merged with modern biological knowledge. Twelve primary meridians. Eight extraordinary vessels. Nerve bundles and muscle clusters acting as conductors.
One by one, I opened them.
Every inhale widened the stream. Every exhale carved the path.
[New Skill Gained: Chi Channeling – Lv. 6]
The art of consciously directing internal life energy through refined physical and energetic pathways to enhance strength, awareness, and self-repair. At higher levels, you can project energy externally or manipulate Chi-based techniques.
My skin tingled. Not from outside cold—but from within.
The flow wasn't chaotic. It was like a river learning its route again after a long drought.
I sat in that stillness for hours, unmoving. Letting my internal computer monitor the process while I maintained total control of the inner current.
Eventually, the flow plateaued—stable, efficient, and deeper than it had ever been.
[Skill Level Up: Chi Channeling → Lv. 7]
I opened my eyes.
The city hadn't changed.
But I had changed.
I wasn't just enhanced anymore.
Chi wasn't my primary weapon yet. Not until I learned what The Hand, Order of Crane Mother, Kun Lun, and Ta Lo could teach me. Not until I could copy it all—and then make it better.
****************************************
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