23 Preparations 1

[3:44 pm. You entered the mall and made a beeline for a small-scale electronics store, where you purchased a new smartphone for yourself. You also bought a simple used laptop as well as a strong power bank.]

[3:47 pm. Taking your purchases, you then went to the office for your telecommunications network inside the same mall and restored your sim card.]

[3:50 pm. You took an Uber out of the mall and headed to the local gun shop near your area. Once within, you made an inquiry to purchase a small pistol to protect yourself and were made to fill out a lot of forms. You have to leave your ID, fingerprint details and made other things before you were allowed to purchase the weapon and a small amount of ammunition.]

[4:03 pm. You left with your new purchase feeling mentally exasperated after all of that nonsense. You quickly jogged back to your apartment and put everything down as you checked your account to see how much money you had left.]

[4:04 pm. Upon seeing the reminder, your heart clenched, and you knew that this month's rent was now up in the air. As such, you brainstormed ways to make money quickly, especially ways that could accommodate your current circumstance.]

[4:05 pm. Seeing your still open commission on your PC display, you had the idea to rapidly finish all your commissions one by one and receive the payments for them in order to make up for the deficit. Moved by your brilliant idea, you start to work.]

[4:10 pm. You finished one commission in record time and were left speechless.]

[4:20 pm. You finished 3 of your backlog commissions and posted on your various pages that you had opened up quick commissions for a cheaper price.]

[4:30 pm. You cleared your entire backlog that was originally calculated to span a month and found yourself idle, so you began to try out your main idea that had been brewing in your mind since you read about the xueqi pill.]

[4:34 pm. You took a large cup of protein shake and began practicing martial arts, trying to see if it could replace or mimic the effect of the xueqi pill.]

[An hour has passed, the simulation comes to an end.]

Dalvin was so engrossed in the simulation, especially seeing the part about his commission speed increasing as well as his first attempt to verify his idea, so when it suddenly cut off, he was extremely disgruntled.

However, he realized he was being silly; this was just a future prediction of events he would undertake anyway, so if he wanted to see the end result, all he had to do was…undertake the events.

With that in mind, Dalvin gussied up and left the apartment. This time, he didn't take an Uber but rather jogged at a brisk pace, almost sprinting. Since his income dropped low because of his various purchases, he had to penny-pinch where he could.

Besides, his current physique as an early stage Skin Tempering Martial Artist already put his fitness on par with the best sportsmen, so he was easily able to maintain his pace for a few kilometers.

When he arrived at the entrance of the mall, he only had a light sheen of sweat on his forehead, and his breathing was still mostly even. He relaxed his body and walked in while ignoring the glances he was getting from the various people coming and going who were wondering why he ran all the way here like this.

Soon, he arrived at the electronics store and saw the wide array of brand-new and used goods. Following through with his notion to save money, he bought a used Google Pixel 4 smartphone for $120 and a used Dell laptop with low-end specs for $57, mostly because it was renewed.

However, when it was time to buy the power pack, he hesitated greatly. His actions had saved a significant amount of money, and he could try to upgrade. In the end, Dalvin gritted his teeth and bought a mini-generator that was meant for camping, which had 300 Watt-hours for $250.

He took his load with weeping eyes as he didn't even dare to check the alert from the bank after he swiped his card to pay. He easily and casually lugged the goods to the telecommunications shop and only needed about 5 minutes to get his sim replaced.

Checking his new phone and logging into his various social media, he saw some texts from friends and some memes his dad sent to the family group chat that were mildly funny.

Smiling, Dalvin put his phone away and jogged out of the mall with his load, this time definitely causing people to look at him twice in surprise, wondering how he could literally carry these boxes without falling over and even jog on top.

Dalvin had to wonder himself as he realized his arrogance. He was quickly bushed after crossing about 3 kilometers with the items, forced to slow down to a brisk walk while he panted to regain his stamina.

He entered a pharmacy that was on the way to the gun store which had a young man and woman behind the counter. Dante made the purchases he wanted, buying a large bottle of protein shake for $70 and inquired about the price of steroids.

However, Dalvin was quickly scared off when he heard that the cheapest bottle of steroids cost above $200. He decided to try the simpler protein shake first before accumulating money and then buying the 'harder stuff' later.

After that, it was straight to the gun store where he was sized up by the men there with appreciation. They slapped his back and praised his build, calling him brother and even offering to take him on gun competitions.

Dalvin was amused as he went through the processes rather patiently this time because his thoughts lay on what exactly he was using this for. Obviously, the anomalies probably did not care about a mere pistol, and those cultivators in the dining area retained their cultivation as not many were crazy enough to cripple it despite the torture.

Not to mention the jailer would probably perform a Matrix-like move if he shot a bullet and stop them in mid-air before making them fall to the ground uselessly. No, this weapon was not for anything supernatural, but rather for a deeper purpose…

Dalvin took his Colt 1911 which cost $500 as well as five small boxes of .45mm ammunition for the weapon. He knew his clock was cleaned out at this moment and quickly retreated back to his place after shaking off the still-enthusiastic guys.

After entering his apartment, Dalvin dumped everything on his bed and then slumped onto one side of it to rest for a few minutes. He wasn't truly fatigued per se, but it was the usual coming-home fatigue that suddenly appeared whenever one entered their room and lay on their bed.

However, after lazing about and sighing for a minute or two, he sprung up from the bed easily and walked to his computer to begin testing whether he really had the skill to finish commissions that previously took him hours of concentrated work in minutes.