Although meditation appeared on the panel, John couldn't upgrade it yet, as his breathing needed to reach level five to free up the upgrade slot. Until then, he couldn't upgrade meditation, so he set it aside for now.
He also didn't want to upgrade meditation, as breathing already provided the mental clarity he needed. At a high enough level, breathing would offer even more clarity, so upgrading two skills with similar benefits seemed redundant.
It was better to focus on breathing or offensive skills for now, as his main goals were escaping this place and killing Fatmaster. For that, he didn't need mental peace but power. While meditation might offer power at higher levels, he was certain it would take too long, and he didn't have enough time.
His breathing would take over a day and a half to reach level four, so he stood up and headed to the mines. For now, he could only wait for his strength to grow.
The time would come when his power was enough to escape this place.
Though he lacked sufficient power now, he was confident that with patience, his panel would help him defeat Fatmaster. When that day arrived, he would fulfill his promise to the girl and escape.
Reaching the mining area, he picked up his pickaxe and basket and started mining.
He saw the girl from before, but she was silent and didn't look at him. She mined slowly with her new pickaxe.
After finishing their work and submitting their stones, John returned to his cell. Today, Fatmaster didn't trouble the girl but targeted someone else instead.
"This guy deserves to die!" John thought, angry but powerless. He opened his panel to check his info:
[Name: John Coral
Age: 23
Cultivation: None
Upgrade Slot: Breathing level 3 (128/400) (upgrading at one point per 8 minutes)
Skills: Meditation (Level 1), Breathing (Level 3)]
Seventeen hours had passed since his breathing reached level three. At this rate, he'd need thirty-seven more hours to reach level four.
"This should be done around tomorrow midnight," he murmured, nodding. Dismissing the panel, he lay on his straw mat, staring at the ceiling, daydreaming.
Time passed, and the next day arrived. Returning from the mining session, he washed his face and opened his panel again:
[Name: John Coral
Age: 23
Cultivation: None
Upgrade Slot: Breathing level 3 (330/400) (upgrading at one point per 8 minutes)
Skills: Meditation (Level 1), Breathing (Level 3)]
"Just nine more hours, and it'll be finished," he said, excited about the prospects of level four breathing. He already considered level three breathing overpowered.
In the past two mining sessions, he hadn't felt tired or even broken a sweat. Mining spirit stones was as easy as picking fruit.
He felt he could outlast anyone from his previous world in endurance. Thanks to breathing's impurity expulsion effects, the slight pains and headaches he'd felt when he first arrived had vanished.
He felt like a completely different person.
Nine hours later, John woke from sleep to a ding in his head. Instead of annoyance, a huge smile spread across his face.
"Finally."
He opened his panel, and a prompt flashed before him:
[Breathing has reached level 4 - Slight Qi Buildup, Expert Endurance]
A giant smile formed on his face. "Hahaha... It's finally here! Qi Buildup! I was right—most cultivation techniques are a form of breathing," he thought, thrilled at being correct.
Though it was only slight Qi buildup, he could see the path forward. If he increased his breathing level, his Qi buildup would eventually reach excellent levels, allowing him to cultivate easily.
Once he reached the initial stages of cultivation, he could consider defeating Fatmaster and escaping.
Putting these thoughts aside, John focused on his breathing, and a shocked expression appeared. "This..." He was amazed by its effect. Previously, breathing provided endurance and mental clarity, but he still needed food to replenish muscle and body fat.
Now, it was different. He felt as if he were consuming pure energy from his surroundings, flowing through his entire body.
It was hard to describe the sensation.
"Hmmm... Although I can now feel and ingest surrounding Qi, it's still an extremely small quantity, not enough to form a Qi strand in my body.
With this puny amount of Qi, I'll never be able to face Fatmaster in this lifetime. I have to upgrade my breathing even more!"
A determined expression crossed his face. Despite the significant changes from level four breathing, it wasn't enough for his goals.
Fatmaster was at the Skin Refining realm, and at John's current Qi enhancement speed, it would take at least three years to reach that level. He didn't have that much time.
He had given the girl a six-month timeline to defeat Fatmaster and intended to keep his word. He'd promised her to prevent her from taking her own life, and if he failed, she might attempt something reckless, like trying to kill Fatmaster, which would be suicidal.
Dismissing his panel, he lay down again. "Sooner or later, I'll get out of this place," he thought.
Time passed.
Four days later, another ding resounded in John's ears. By now, he needed even less sleep, spending most of his time meditating. He only slept near morning.
It was midnight, and he was meditating when he opened his eyes to a prompt flashing before him:
[Breathing has reached max level - Noticeable Qi Buildup, Superhuman Endurance, Expert Mental Clarity]
John looked at the prompt, but instead of a smile, a frown appeared.
"Breathing has reached max level? Does that mean I can't upgrade it anymore?" His heart skipped a beat as he opened his status panel:
[Name: John Coral
Age: 23
Cultivation: None (1/100)
Upgrade Slot: Empty
Skills: Meditation (Level 1), Breathing (Level 5 - Max)]
He saw the empty upgrade slot and confirmed that his breathing had reached level five, marked as "Max."
Taking a deep breath, he found that although his Qi absorption had improved, it wasn't enough to reach Skin Refining in six months.
"It would take more than a year to reach Skin Refining."
His heart raced; he didn't have a year. Swallowing hard, he tried placing breathing back in the upgrade slot, setting it to level seven, but his fears were confirmed:
[Breathing has reached Max level and cannot be upgraded further. Host, please select a different method.]
John read the message, a bit panicked, but soon regained composure with a deep breath. "I have to stay calm and think this through. Panicking won't help," he murmured, closing the upgrade panel and reflecting on his options.
"My panel can upgrade any action or object automatically, but it can't directly increase my cultivation, as cultivation isn't an action or object."
"If I had a cultivation technique, it could upgrade it to the next level."
He tried anyway and failed, as expected. He could only place cultivation techniques in the slot, not cultivation itself.
Sighing, he closed his panel and thought harder. "Should I try boxing and place it in the panel?" he wondered. If he raised boxing to a high level, he might defeat Fatmaster.
"No! Fatmaster is a cultivator. It would be impossible to defeat him with just boxing." He dismissed the idea, needing something concrete like a cultivation technique.
After a moment, his eyes snapped open, a serious expression on his face. "Fatmaster is a cultivator, so he must have a cultivation technique in his room. If I can get there..." He swallowed hard at the thought. Though dangerous, it was worth it. With a cultivation technique and his upgrade panel, he was sure he could defeat Fatmaster in six months.
Only with a cultivation technique would he gain the confidence to defeat Fatmaster and escape.
Fatmaster wasn't the only cultivator guarding the place. Outside the main prison door were two more cultivators, as powerful as Fatmaster, if not stronger.
He couldn't risk fighting Fatmaster with inadequate strength.
Closing his eyes, he pondered how to get Fatmaster's cultivation technique.
"I can't steal it, as it would trigger a prison-wide search. If the technique wasn't found, everyone might be tortured or killed."
"I'd have to memorize it and return it to its place."
Thinking about all this, John nodded and opened his Upgrade Panel.
"Place meditation in the upgrade slot and set the max level to ten," he said.
To his surprise, a prompt appeared before him:
[Max Level is out of reach... Error in placing Meditation in Empty slot.]
John looked at the prompt and sighed. It seemed there was no way to upgrade a skill beyond its max level.
He tried setting the level cap to nine, then eight, then seven, but only when he set it to six did the panel register meditation in the empty slot:
[Name: John Coral
Age: 23
Cultivation: None (1/100)
Upgrade Slot: Meditation level 1 (1/100) (Upgrading at one point per 10 minutes)
Skills: Meditation (Level 1), Breathing (Level 5 - Max)]
John looked at his panel and nodded. "Looks like meditation can reach level six, better than breathing. Who knows, maybe meditation will increase my cultivation speed at level six?"