Chapter 21: Greatness Needs No Words! Dual-Threaded Discipline.

Xu Ran had truly come up with a brilliant plan! Although he wasn't sure if it would ultimately work, it was worth a shot! Interestingly, this plan originated from Adam—the genius child from the Holy See Federation. Xu Ran remembered a news headline that once described him: "Super-efficient Food Conversion! The Invincible Divine Stomach!" The phrase "Divine Stomach" had suddenly broadened Xu Ran's perspective. A bold idea emerged in his mind: "Could I evolve my own stomach into a true Divine Stomach?" Once this thought took root, it became impossible to shake. If one could grind progress for healing minor wounds, why couldn't the stomach be trained? He felt about seventy percent confident! Go for it!

Xu Ran narrowed his eyes, determined to give it his all tomorrow. He was currently at a complete loss, and he couldn't just sit around and wait for time to slip away. If you have a plan, you have to test it! How would you know it wouldn't work if you never tried?

The next day, Xu Ran and his mother arrived at the cafeteria early. "Uncle Zhao, I'd like a piece of the fatty Snow Rhino beef!"

Uncle Zhao’s face was full of kindly smiles. "Ah, it's little Ran. Here, take this piece from the spine; it’s the most nutritious part of the rhino!" Uncle Zhao, the kindergarten cook, had remembered Xu Ran’s name from his second day there. Of course, he remembered the names of every child and parent clearly.

"Thank you, Uncle Zhao."

"Don't mention it, eat slowly."

Sitting at the table, Xu Ran looked solemn. Instead of devouring the food like before, he took a small bite, swallowed it, and then focused all his mental energy on visualizing his stomach churning, digesting, and absorbing with frantic intensity, just as he had done when unlocking [Minor Wound Healing]. Time ticked by, but he didn't hear the prompt...

Xu Ran’s expression began to falter. "It’s over. Can't it trigger a magical skill?" Then he corrected himself: "No, no! It must be able to trigger a magical skill; I can't fall into self-doubt. My method must be slightly off."

He quickly steadied his emotions and began to think at high speed. "When I triggered [Minor Wound Healing], I scratched my skin. To improve stomach digestion, should I use hard-to-digest bones?" A flash of light crossed his eyes: "I am truly too clever! I must use bones." He muttered to himself before quickly getting up and heading to the counter.

"Uncle Zhao, do you have any small bones? I want to feed some small animals."

Uncle Zhao was thoroughly confused. "Huh? Feeding bones to small animals?"

"Yes, please chop them into pieces the size of a fingernail."

Uncle Zhao shook his head kindly, refusing. "That won't do. I have to be responsible for you kids. If you end up swallowing them and choking, requiring a hospital visit, I couldn't bear the responsibility." He had seen similar cases before where mischievous children tried to swallow bones and ended up rolling on the floor with their eyes rolled back.

"Fine..." Xu Ran sighed, turning to his mother for help. "Mom, help me get some small bones. I want to feed some small animals."

Lin Qian, who had raised Xu Ran for two years and nine months, knew his character perfectly. Since the age of one, he had never once put anything strange in his mouth. In fact, he often stopped little Liuli when she tried to shove parts into her mouth. She trusted Xu Ran implicitly and immediately went to get a plate of prepared bones.

Uncle Zhao cautioned, "You must keep a close eye on the child!"

Lin Qian gave an OK gesture. "Rest assured, my little Ran is smart and calm. He's never eaten anything indiscriminately since he was small; he definitely won't put them in his mouth." She was full of confidence.

"Thank you, Mom, love you!" Xu Ran smiled happily and buried his face in his food, finishing the fatty Snow Rhino beef.

[You have consumed high-energy food, Blood Qi +0.5... Current Blood Qi: 1027.5...]

After breakfast, he dragged his mother to the Crystal Beast enclosure to feed the beasts.

[You fed the animals, Animal Husbandry progress +50, current progress: 100/10000...]

Finally, free feed for the animals! Advanced beast taming would be a piece of cake now. Xu Ran smiled happily, and at the same time, slipped 10 small bones into his pocket.

"Are you done feeding?"

Xu Ran nodded. "Done! Let's go for a walk to help digest."

"Alright." His mother, in high spirits, walked ahead. Taking advantage of her distraction, Xu Ran quickly swallowed a bone. Then, with all his mental focus, he started to imagine his stomach churning, digesting, and absorbing frantically...

To be honest... the feeling of a Tier 7 Crystal Beast bone in his stomach was not pleasant! It was hard and caused a grinding ache. Sweat beaded on Xu Ran's forehead, but he gritted his teeth and concentrated, enduring the discomfort and pain.

As it turned out, the world never disappoints those who strive! After half an hour of grinding, just as Xu Ran was nearing exhaustion, a long-awaited prompt finally rang in his mind!

[You have attempted to digest Crystal Beast bones for the first time. Under your mental control, you have achieved results. Triggering new skill—Ordinary Digestion. Diligent training will increase progress. (Evolution Sequence: Ordinary Digestion—Nutrient Extraction—Divine Breath Eater—Source Devouring...)]

"Hiss... it works!" Xu Ran was ecstatic. He quickly checked the details of the new skill.

[Ordinary Digestion]: Your digestive ability grows steadily, surpassing that of an ordinary human.
[Nutrient Extraction]: For any food you consume, you can extract several times the nutritional value.
[Divine Breath Eater]: Your state is like that of a divine being; you do not need to eat grains, as a single breath of heaven and earth's spiritual energy can restore your state.
[Source Devouring]: You can devour all things and convert them into the most fundamental energy.

"Good, good, good! Striking for 10,000 points of Blood Qi before age five is no longer a distant fantasy!" Xu Ran let out a sigh of relief; he saw hope.

[Your stomach is working hard to digest the Crystal Beast bone, Ordinary Digestion progress +1, current progress: 2/10000...]

Progress +1... Progress +1... As long as the bone wasn't fully digested, his stomach kept working. A great stomach needs no further explanation!

"I have to make you suffer a bit, old stomach!" Xu Ran wiped the sweat from his forehead. Although he was exhausted, he smiled with satisfaction.

Back at the villa, in the living room, Xu Ran endured the discomfort in his stomach and began self-disciplining his other skills. A master of self-discipline never wastes a single moment! Little Xu Flying Daggers! Paper Talisman Spirit Connection! He grinded through one skill after another...

[Little Xu Flying Daggers (Great Success) progress: 605/50000...]

Yes. After reaching Great Success, the progress requirement jumped from 10,000 to 50,000. With a daily cap of 100, it would take about 500 days. Xu Ran didn't mind the extra time, because the lethality of the Great Success-level Little Xu Flying Daggers was terrifying. Infused with Blood Qi, throwing one was already equivalent to an enhanced rifle. He didn't dare to imagine the damage at the Perfection level. As for the third sequence, [Divine Weapon Throw]... just hearing the name commanded respect; wasn't it natural to spend more time grinding for it?

Thus, Xu Ran became a dual-threaded self-discipline maniac. His great stomach was always self-disciplining, while the "other parts" of his body were also hard at work. By the end of the day, Xu Ran had figured out the pattern—digesting four Crystal Beast bones would fill 100 points of progress. This meant he wouldn't need to sneakily hoard ten bones in the future; just four small bone fragments would bring home 100 points of progress. How delightful!

[Your stomach has spent the day digesting, "Ordinary Digestion" progress: 100/10000...]

At this rate, in 100 days, he would usher in another harvest! The days of self-discipline passed in a blink of an eye!

...

1113 days into his infancy. When he woke up in the morning, a series of crisp, pleasant prompts greeted Xu Ran.

[Your stomach has diligently digested Crystal Beast bones for 100 days, Ordinary Digestion progress: 10000/10000... Maximum reached, automatically advancing to the second sequence—Nutrient Extraction (Entry)...]
[Nutrient Extraction (Entry) progress: 0/10000...]
[You have fed animals for 100 days, Animal Husbandry progress: 10000/10000... Maximum reached, automatically advancing to the second sequence—Advanced Beast Taming (Entry)...]
[Advanced Beast Taming (Entry): 0/10000...]

"Significant improvement!" Xu Ran chuckled inwardly, scanning his other magical skills.

[Beast Language Mastery (Entry) progress: 10000/10000... Maximum reached, automatically advancing to the second sequence—Beast Language Mastery (Minor Success).]
[Beast Language Mastery (Minor Success): 0/10000...]
[Water-Evasion Technique (Minor Success): 0/10000...]
[Piercing Flaw (Minor Success): 0/10000...]
[Cloud-Ladder Leap (Minor Success): 0/10000...]
[Gecko Wall-Climbing Technique (Minor Success): 2000/10000...]
[Rapid Recovery (Entry): 8000/10000...]
[Tracing Steps (Great Success): 10500/50000...]
[Lightness Skill: Grass-Skipping (Great Success): 11000/50000...]
[Little Xu Flying Daggers (Great Success): 10600/50000...]
[Paper Folding Spirit Connection (Great Success): 10200/50000...]
[Infant Intimidation: 8600/10000...]
[Reading Ten Thousand Books: 1000/10000...]

"I have four Great Success skills! Movement + Lightness + two damage skills—simply perfect!" However, even with such fruitful results, the one thing Xu Ran couldn't stop thinking about, the one that rankled him the most... was still Nutrient Extraction!

He jumped out of bed, brushed his teeth, washed up, and dragged his mother toward the cafeteria. "My requirements aren't high. Entry-level Nutrient Extraction—a tenfold increase in absorption and conversion efficiency shouldn't be too much to ask, right?"

Looking at the plate of Tier 7 fatty Snow Rhino beef in front of him, Xu Ran took a deep breath.