Over the next few days, John stuck to his routine: mining, meditating, then mining again.
He felt his power steadily increasing due to his level five breathing. To his surprise, meditation also helped significantly, calming his mind and slightly boosting his Qi collection efficiency, though not enough to break through in six months.
He kept an eye on Fatmaster's room, located near the mines. Fatmaster spent most of his time there, only emerging during mining work. John could see the cell from his mining spot.
After three days, while mining, John checked his panel:
[Name: John Coral
Age: 23
Cultivation: None (2/100)
Upgrade Slot: Meditation level 3 (179/400) (Upgrading at one point per 9 minutes)
Skills: Meditation (Level 3), Breathing (Level 5 - Max)]
He glanced at the girl. Lately, Fatmaster had stopped troubling her, instead harassing other girls. She hadn't spoken or looked at John since that day, but her expression was sharp and focused. It was clear she was waiting for the six-month deadline before taking action.
"I have to reach Fatmaster's room as soon as possible," he thought, slowly moving toward the mining area closest to Fatmaster's room. He spotted an iron door, closed and locked, and his eyes flashed.
Looking around, he saw Fatmaster in the distance, with large iron keys hanging from his waist.
"Shit! The door's locked. I'll have to get that key from him," John thought, gritting his teeth.
Thanks to his high-level breathing and meditation, he could collect five spirit stones in minutes, so he often idled, searching for ways to enter Fatmaster's room.
Today, he planned to sneak in when Fatmaster wasn't looking, as the cell was usually unlocked, but for some reason, it was locked today.
"Should I wait another day and see if he leaves it unlocked tomorrow?" John thought, nodding after a moment.
That was the safest course. Stealing Fatmaster's keys was too risky, and he didn't want to take that chance. It was better to wait for a day when Fatmaster left the door open to steal the cultivation technique.
Nodding, he resumed his work. Days passed, and seven days later, his meditation reached level six.
Sitting in his cell, he checked his panel with a satisfied smile:
[Name: John Coral
Age: 23
Cultivation: None (4/100)
Upgrade Slot: Empty
Skills: Meditation (Level 6 - Max), Breathing (Level 5 - Max), Spatial Awareness (Level 1)]
[Meditation has reached Level Six - Enhanced Spatial Awareness]
"Spatial Awareness?" John furrowed his brows at the new prompt.
Meditation had unexpectedly birthed a new skill. He hadn't anticipated that level six meditation would have such a profound effect, granting him another ability.
"What is Spatial Awareness?" he wondered, soon finding his answer. Focusing his mind, he sensed the entire cell, detecting even ants crawling in his blind spots.
"It's like a radar system from my previous world. I can hear things within my spatial radius, but it's only as large as this cell," he murmured.
"This is good."
"Place Spatial Awareness in the upgrade slot. Set the level cap to five."
As he spoke, the panel flashed:
[Name: John Coral
Age: 23
Cultivation: None (4/100)
Upgrade Slot: Spatial Awareness (Level 1) (1/100) (Upgrading at one point per 10 minutes)
Skills: Meditation (Level 6 - Max), Breathing (Level 5 - Max), Spatial Awareness (Level 1)]
John was satisfied. For some reason, Fatmaster hadn't left his room open lately.
"He used to leave it unlocked. What's changed? Not only is he avoiding new girls, but he's locking his room when he leaves. If this continues, I'll have to steal his keys," John murmured, a determined expression on his face.
If push came to shove, he'd steal Fatmaster's keys and proceed from there.
Swallowing hard, he took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and began meditating. He had discovered that meditation slightly increased his Qi gathering rate.
The next day, in the mining area, John started digging spirit stones. His eyes flashed when he saw Fatmaster emerge from his room.
For days, John had mined near Fatmaster's room to keep watch. He saw the fat man exit with a sadistic smile, baton in hand. What caught John's attention was that today, Fatmaster had left his room unlocked.
John sprang into action, mining diligently to avoid alerting Fatmaster.
Today's the day I act. No matter what, I have to get that cultivation technique. Who knows when I'll get another chance? he thought, determination hardening his expression.
Fatmaster walked past, ignoring him, and began bullying some girls.
John sneered, disgusted by his actions. "Sooner or later, I'll be stronger than you," he murmured, taking a deep breath.
Thanks to his level five breathing and level six meditation, his mind calmed instantly. He scanned the area to ensure no one was watching.
In recent days, he'd learned that once Fatmaster left his room, he toured the entire area before returning to the collection table near his room, a process taking at least an hour, sometimes longer if he was beating prisoners.
"I can't take chances. I have to finish in one hour." Using his Spatial Awareness and level six meditation, John calmly entered the room when no one was looking.
He quickly closed the door and looked around, his brows rising.
The room was large, four times the size of a normal cell. Though the exterior was stone, the interior was wood—wooden walls, floor, and ceiling. Beast heads adorned the walls, and about ten batons hung alongside them.
"Does this guy have an obsession with batons?" John muttered, scanning further. A large bed sat in the center, a table to the side, and boxes in the left corner.
By his previous world's standards, it was a luxurious room. As he approached the table, he noticed an attached bathroom, toilet, and even a separate kitchen.
Envy flickered in his eyes, but he quickly focused. Without his newly acquired Spatial Awareness, finding the cultivation manual in such a large room would have taken over an hour. Though only level one, it covered a quarter of the room at a time.
"It'll take just a few minutes to find the manual—if it's even here," John murmured, his heart heavy.
If the manual wasn't in the room, he'd risked his life for nothing and would have to cultivate slowly, breaking his promise to the girl.
Activating his Spatial Awareness, he searched but found nothing after ten minutes—no manual or anything resembling one.
A disheartened expression crossed his face. "Seems my fear was correct. The manual isn't here, or I'd have found it by now," he said, sighing.
With a defeated expression, he walked toward the door, erasing traces of his presence.
Just as he neared the door, his Spatial Awareness detected something, and his brows furrowed.
"Wait, what's this?" He glanced at the left wall, frowning.
His Spatial Awareness revealed an empty space behind the wall, about twelve inches high and wide—a small secret compartment.
Focusing his awareness further, his heart skipped a beat. "This..." He sensed a scroll-like object inside.
A smile spread across his face. He approached the wall, pressed around, and quickly found the compartment's trigger, opening it.
His hand darted in like a snake, retrieving the scroll.
"I hope this is a martial scroll," he said, swallowing hard. Unrolling it, he confirmed it was a martial cultivation technique.
He read the title: Slow Toad Breathing Skill.
John nearly laughed. It was indeed a cultivation skill. He wanted it, and now he had it!
With fervor in his eyes, he scanned the text, realizing it was a unique breathing pattern to enhance cultivation speed, combined with specific leg movements to be practiced while breathing.
"This technique includes footwork that could increase my speed at higher levels," he noted.
Thanks to his level six meditation, his mental capacity had greatly improved, allowing him to memorize the manual in just half an hour.
After committing it to memory, he returned the scroll to the secret compartment, erasing all evidence of his intrusion.
After returning the Slow Toad Breathing Skill to its compartment, John slowly opened the door and peeked out. His heart skipped a beat.
"Shit!" He quickly closed the door.
"He's already at the collection table!" John was alarmed. Normally, it took Fatmaster at least an hour to return to his seat, but today, he was back in just forty minutes. His luck was truly bad today.
"What should I do now?" he wondered. If Fatmaster stayed at the table, there was no way to leave the room unnoticed.
Opening the door would draw Fatmaster's attention, and John would be caught instantly. After that, only death awaited him—possibly preceded by torture.
Swallowing hard, his mind raced, searching for a way out of this predicament.
As he thought, a voice boomed from outside the door.
"You fucker, what are you doing there?! You want to die?!" It was Fatmaster's voice.
John's heart sank, thinking he'd been caught. Sweat beaded on his forehead, but nothing happened even after a few minutes.
Fatmaster's voice grew distant.
John peeked out again and saw that Fatmaster was no longer at the table. His eyes widened. Quickly slipping out and closing the door behind him, he hurried to his mining spot.
Reaching it, he saw Fatmaster beating a prisoner who had fainted from overwork.
"Seems he hasn't noticed me," John thought, sighing in relief.