Chapter 82: Chapter 77: Potential Unlocked, New Talent

A small, diamond-shaped emblem slowly took form. As if rust were being wiped away, it grew bright scarlet and exceptionally eye-catching.

[Talent: Adrenaline!]

[Quality: Basic — Violence Dimension!]

[Effect: When you choose to burn yourself, you can consume stamina to enhance the effects of adrenaline secretion and enter a Frenzy State!]

[Note 1: In this state, pain perception is halved. Physical strength, speed, nerve response... are all doubled! The duration of the Frenzy State is directly proportional to your physical constitution!]

[Note 2: After the Frenzy State ends, you will suffer from backlash and enter a weakened state. The duration of this weakness depends on the length of the frenzy, the amount of stamina consumed, your physical constitution, and your subsequent nutritional intake for recovery!]

As the notifications appeared one after another, Lu Chao’s pupils contracted in amazement.

’Violence Dimension... Adrenaline?’

The thought flashed through his mind, but before he could dwell on it...

BUZZ! 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝙚𝔀𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝒐𝒎

The giant phantom before him suddenly trembled. Three flames of different colors flashed brightly at the same time, as if they were about to merge.

But after a brief moment, everything subsided, quickly returning to its initial calm.

Lu Chao’s eyes filled with wonder. This was the first time he had seen anything like it; he almost suspected it was a hallucination.

However...

[Potential Foreshadowing: You have completed three-fourths of the Basic Stage of Talent Awakening!]

[Once the Basic Stages of all four dimensions are complete, you will unlock the Intermediate Potential Stage!]

"This is..."

The sudden notification left Lu Chao stunned.

But soon, his eyes lit up. A sudden flash of intuition made him understand its meaning.

It was similar to the guess he’d just had. The awakenings he had always thought were random did, in fact, follow a specific set of rules.

They weren’t chaotic and disordered. Instead, the pool of potential awakenings was gradually narrowed down within the same stage across the four dimensions.

In other words, the next talent he awakened was bound to be from the final, empty dimension: Spirit Transformation.

And after awakening one Basic Talent from each of the four directions, he would unlock the so-called Intermediate Potential Stage.

At that point, he would have the chance to obtain an Intermediate Talent.

"I see."

As his thoughts wandered, Lu Chao roughly understood.

But soon, a sudden, exceptionally sharp pain shot through him, violently yanking his consciousness back to reality.

’Shit! Again?’

...

「Ten-odd minutes later.」

A trembling Lu Chao sat at the desk in his bedroom, panting heavily.

The knuckles of his hands, pressed firmly against the desk, were pale, and the bulging blue veins were slowly receding.

His flushed face was covered in sweat, and his clothes had become mostly soaked at some point, feeling sticky and uncomfortable.

"HUFF—HUFF—HUFF!"

After a few more ragged breaths, Lu Chao barely managed to recover.

A wry smile appeared on his face as he pushed himself up from the desk and slowly stood.

’This talent awakening is just as painful as ever.’

He had thought that after breaking through to the Professional Level, his stronger physique would lessen the pain of this transformation.

He never expected it to be as unbearable as always.

"Hm?"

Soon, a thought struck him.

Lu Chao suddenly noticed that his strength seemed to have grown again. His Martial Arts Power had also increased by a fair amount.

With a thought, he looked at his status panel.

His Life Energy had jumped up again, leaping to forty-five points!

’It must be a side effect of [Adrenaline].’

’When my other two talents awakened, they had similar, if less obvious, effects... But this isn’t the talent’s main purpose.’

After a moment of thought, Lu Chao carefully examined his own body again.

The Violence Dimension—a completely new talent dimension.

Unlike the passive buffs from his other two talents, [Adrenaline], which was born from this dimension, was special. He had to concentrate and actively turn it on to use it.

It seemed ordinary, but its powerful frenzy effect was a pleasant surprise for Lu Chao.

Without hesitation, he quickly calmed his mind and decided to try it.

Soon, in a hazy state, Lu Chao felt like he had grasped something.

It was as if his consciousness had flipped a switch in his body, one that required stamina as fuel to operate.

BUZZ!

The instant he made the choice to burn his stamina...

THUMP! THUMP! THUMP!

His body jolted. Lu Chao felt his heart suddenly begin to pound violently, like the beating of a war drum.

The blood in his veins surged, and his skin grew scorching hot, as if some kind of power was burning within him.

His mind suddenly cleared, becoming exceptionally sharp.

"This is..."

Looking around, Lu Chao felt that everything in the bedroom had become more distinct and clear.

Everything was exactly as it had been, yet somehow, it was different.

’My reaction speed has increased.’

Blinking, Lu Chao understood.

Stimulated by the adrenaline, his brain was calmer than usual, and it processed information faster, causing the subtle change in his vision.

Furthermore.

WHOOSH!

He suddenly flashed from the corner by the wall to the head of his bed three meters away.

A gust of wind swept past, causing a poster on the wall to rustle.

’My speed really has doubled.’

Lu Chao’s eyes widened in amazement. He quickly tried punching the air with his right fist.

BOOM!!

The air cracked, and a ring of white vapor exploded from his fist.

RATTLE! RATTLE!

The curtains billowed, and the window a meter away trembled, rattling loudly as if it were about to shatter.

Lu Chao’s eyes widened, and he subconsciously swallowed.

’This punch... It must be close to a ton, right?’

An Elite Level expert with over 70 points of Life Energy could punch with a ton of force without using any Martial Skills or Secret Techniques.

In other words, after activating [Adrenaline]...

...had he already reached the threshold of an Elite Level expert?

For a moment, Lu Chao’s eyes shone, and he felt a powerful sense of confidence welling up inside him.

But very soon, as he carefully observed his condition, he realized something was wrong.

His stamina consumption was incredibly rapid.

Like a raging flood bursting through a dam, it drained away uncontrollably. In just half a minute, a quarter of his stamina was already gone.

’Holy crap.’

Realizing the critical issue, Lu Chao quickly focused his mind and tried to shut off this bottomless drain.

BUZZ!

It felt as if some checkpoint in his body had been triggered, or like the heavy floodgates of a dam crashing down. His stamina consumption finally stopped.

But in exchange...

’This feels awful.’

Lu Chao swayed and subconsciously put a hand on the desk to steady himself before he could fall.

The frenzied enhancements from activating [Adrenaline] now receded like a tide, plunging him from the clouds to the bottom of a valley.

It was as if one second he was a supremely confident millionaire, and the next he was a penniless beggar.

The stark contrast was so jarring it hit him to the core, almost overwhelming his will.

On top of that...

’A weakened state?’

Lu Chao could faintly feel his strength and speed dropping in all aspects, even becoming slightly weaker than he was initially.

It was as if the preceding Frenzy State had placed some kind of burden on him, remarkably similar to the aftereffects of using the Stacked Force Fist.

’So, this is a temporary weakness.’

’I’ll need to rest for a sufficient amount of time, recover my stamina, and take in enough nutrients to repair the physical trauma and gradually eliminate the burden’s effects.’

Lost in thought, Lu Chao sat down and carefully considered the situation.

He had only tried the Frenzy State for half a minute. If he went all out and burned through all his stamina, he could probably last for about two minutes.

’But the price for that would be a much more severe weakened state afterward.’

’Even so, this talent is powerful enough to be my trump card.’

Lu Chao nodded to himself, a glint in his eyes.

Although a two-minute frenzy was short, it provided combat power approaching the Elite Level, enough to turn the tide at a critical moment.

Not to mention, it could be stacked with his Martial Skills and Secret Techniques.

Beyond that...

’The duration of the frenzy is directly proportional to your physical constitution...’

Recalling this key piece of information about the talent, Lu Chao’s gaze grew bright with anticipation.

He was currently only at the Professional Level; he could become much stronger in the future.

By then, the duration of his Frenzy State could naturally be extended.

And at that time...

...with all his abilities doubled, just how powerful would he be?