‘Is that really a turtle?!’ Internally screaming, Yongno immediately started swimming away.

Then, one side of the cliff collapsed entirely, creating a loud rumble in the water. Yongno could barely believe the turtle’s outstanding speed and strength. If Yongno couldn’t swim faster than a dolphin, he would have never avoided the attack.

Shortly after he caught his breath….

Pow!

The sea turtle plowed into Yongno. He bounced off the turtle’s shell, but thankfully, Yongno wasn’t hurt too much since the attack was less forceful, and he was performing Body Strengthening. Still, the turtle was surprisingly fast. It seemed to absorb water through its stomach and control it to launch a massive continuous attack.

‘What the heck? This isn’t an [Animal], is it?’

Yongno knew he was currently in a [World] for newbies where life-threatening monsters didn’t exist. However, there was something that Yongno, Mari, and even the developers didn’t realize.

Yongno was currently at Kaylow's Fault, which was at a depth of 1,000 meters. This land of death was underwater and had monsters with an average level of 11. Here, even prey animals had lethal combat abilities since they could survive and endure the immense water pressure.

Crack!

‘Oh my god!’

Instead of avoiding the attack, this time, Yongno retaliated by using the Great Strength Vajra Hand, but this was a serious misjudgment since his entire right arm was broken. Unfortunately, Yongno’s Hand Skill wasn’t forceful enough, so he should have avoided the head-on collision and struck the animal at its weak point instead.

‘Gosh, my left hand is broken, and now my right arm is as well!’

/You are seriously injured and unable to recover with rest! You can’t recover unless you use a healing skill or log out for over an hour!/

Yongno’s left wrist was already swollen from the turtle’s bite. Meanwhile, his right elbow and wrist had directly collided with the turtle and couldn’t move as if they were crushed. Considering that this Hand Skill was Yongno’s sole offensive skill, he had lost his ability to attack.

THUD!

At that moment, the sea turtle pounced on Yongno again, with the latter narrowly escaping as he kicked the water to propel himself away. Yet, the sea turtle swam so fiercely that it created powerful currents. As a result, Yongno ended up bumping into the cliff.

‘Ugh, that turtle is gonna kill me!’

He tried to escape the gigantic animal but soon came to a halt. No matter how fast Yongno swam, he couldn’t beat the sea turtle when it shot forward like a cannonball. Instead, he could only defend himself by observing the turtle’s movements and moving perpendicularly. If he had chosen to escape horizontally, which was moving backward, he would have been struck without any chance to resist.

‘What should I do? I will die if I keep wasting time like this.’

After Yongno reached a higher level in Swimming and 50 percent mastery of the Golden Pill Immortal Technique, his diving ability also improved to the point where he could stay underwater almost semi-permanently. Alas, he still couldn’t operate the ability if he wasn’t using internal martial arts during combat.

While in battle, the Golden Pill Immortal Technique should primarily be used for Body Strengthening or Hand Skills rather than internal martial arts recovery. When Yongno felt stressed, his Diving skill also consumed a significant amount of internal martial arts. Just as if he were running, his body required much more energy than usual.

‘My right arm doesn’t work. I can move my left hand, but it won’t last through such fierce combat. In the end, I have to knock the turtle down with internal martial arts….’

It was nonsense. Even when he wasn’t hurt, his Hand Skill couldn’t damage the sea turtle since the attack couldn’t surpass the animal’s defenses. However, Yongno stretched out his relatively uninjured left hand.

‘I must avoid any collisions. That bastard’s body is as tough as armor; even its head isn’t a weak point.’

Yongno started utilizing Aura Vision as he channeled internal force into his eyes and enhanced his eyesight. Everything around him came into view. There, a moderate distance away, the sea turtle was absorbing water into its stomach.

‘That’s it.’

Yongno spotted a glowing light orb inside the sea turtle’s shell. It was like Yongno’s Gold Core, a cultivation base that gathered spiritual energy. Although it only had about a decade’s worth of force, the sea turtle was already extraordinary, and the innate spiritual force made it unbelievably fast and powerful.

PFOOM!

The sea turtle fired himself at Yongno, and he slid horizontally to avoid the attack. This followed the pattern of their battle so far, but when the turtle passed him, Yongno neared its stomach.

‘It’s useless to strike the turtle’s stomach. While that part is softer than its shell, this bastard has already survived the explosion in its mouth, so it won’t work.’

The gigantic turtle before Yongno was called the waterdrop turtle because of its cute-looking shell, but it was actually one of the top predators in the ocean that even preyed on sharks. Besides, with spiritual force, its shell was as hard as a diamond. So, even if the turtle didn’t attack, Yongno could barely find any ways to hurt it.

However, Yongno placed his hand on its stomach before the turtle turned around and prepared to shoot itself at him.

‘Think simple. Penetration Power––I read about it many times in martial arts novels, didn’t I? I can do it. It’s simple.’

It wasn’t simple at all. Penetration Power was a martial arts skill that used the practitioner’s palm or fist strike to cause damage to an object. Only masters with a high understanding of martial arts could perform this technique. Yet, Yongno moved his internal force fearlessly.

‘Delivering power… delivering power….’

His four years’ worth of internal martial arts began to move; it doubled in the first planet, Mercury, and collided with the waterdrop turtle’s stomach.

Tsuuuuunng.

There were no loud crashing sounds since the strike didn’t take place on the outside. Instead, the lethal blow was sucked into the waterdrop turtle’s stomach smoothly and seamlessly.

/You have reached Rank 3 in Hand Skill!/

/You have gained the title of Break Spirit Hand!/

/You have gained a special ability - Penetration!/

‘I already know about Penetration Power, though.’

Yongno had no idea that users acquired a special ability when they actually knew ‘how to use it,’ not when they were merely aware of it. For instance, he’d gained his Water-Friendly skill since he had already been using a tiny aspect of it.

There was another thing Yongno didn’t realize. His Hand Skill’s level of mastery was close to Rank 2, so he could reach Rank 3 from Rank 4 by only using a Hand Skill once. Besides, since his level of mastery was one rank higher than his Hand Skill, he could progress to Rank 2 if he used the same Hand Skill ten times.

Wooong.

The waterdrop turtle’s body scattered into clouds of dust; a shielded turtle shell and a blue marble appeared.

[ITEM

[Waterdrop Turtle Shell] 5th Tier, Common

A strong shell. This shell may be used as material for a defensive or magic item.]

[ITEM

[Blue Qi Core] 9th Tier, Common

The Waterdrop Turtle's qi core. It possesses ten years of inner energy. If consumed, it may increase one's inner energy and pure spiritual power. A skilled fifth-rank alchemist or magic store employee can convert this qi core into a magic stone or core.

This item is of the water attribute.]

‘Nice rewards, huh? Plus, they gave me 100 Spirits.’

Nevertheless, Yongno had been significantly injured as well. He couldn’t use his right hand, and his left wrist was broken. He also consumed approximately 73 percent of his 15 years’ worth of internal martial arts by performing continuous Hand Skills and Body Strengthening. He still had ten years’ worth of internal martial arts left in Mercury, but it couldn’t be used.

No Living Worlds like Mercury had an advanced mechanism that was closer to magic than a martial power: amplifying the power of internal force. Thus, it couldn’t be used alone. If Yongno extinguished Mercury and reverted it to internal martial arts, he had methods to use the power. However, he wouldn’t do something so crazy, no matter how ignorant he was of martial arts common sense.

VRRRR.

‘Eh?’

After putting the turtle shell and blue marble in his inventory, Yongno felt the water around him suddenly vibrate. Then, he found dozens of fish surrounding him.

‘What the heck? Why are the creatures here so hostile?’

This world was created for users to clear basic missions; therefore, all the animal-type NPCs here were non-aggressive monsters. As long as the users didn’t attack them first, they wouldn’t bother the players. However, if the users provoked the animals, it was possible for more aggressive species to attack.

And in that sense, Yongno was unlucky. In fact, the first giant fish he carelessly caught was the waterdrop turtle’s game. Yongno’s thoughtless behavior irritated the turtle, and it bit his hand as a result. To make matters worse, Yongno attacked the turtle, so the animal became completely hostile to him and started fighting.

‘Eh… why are they forming a larger group?!’

Unfortunately, the waterdrop turtle he’d barely been able to defeat was the game of the blade fish, the school surrounding him.

Splash.

The group of fish moving rapidly around the water looked quite bizarre. These fifty-centimeter-long fish had a lengthy blade-like nose and a body that seemed like steel. They didn’t even look like living creatures. In addition, the part in the middle of their tail absorbed water. It reminded him….

‘Eh? Eh? Eh?!’

Yongno was too disconcerted to react. Before he could defend himself, the school of blade fish shot toward him like arrows.

Sphhhlt!

Yongno frowned at the stabbing sensation. Thanks to DIO’s pain control system, he didn’t feel any pain but having blades penetrate his body was still unpleasant. He raised his right arm to protect himself against the attack. Since his arm was still numb from the turtle’s assault, he could use it as a shield and buy time to counterattack.

‘It’s indeed solid.’

Yongno grabbed one of the blade fish. Unexpectedly, it felt like he was holding an iron bar. The creature was definitely unnatural. The blade-like nose was sharper than spears and swords, and it seemed like the fish’s body could tolerate a hammer strike. This fish even had its own propulsion system and could swim as fast as an arrow. If users met it underwater, it was a disaster for them.

Splat!

When the blade fish pushed its nose into Yongno’s right arm and wriggled, his wound opened, and clouds of gold smoke spread everywhere. Yongno’s status was still ‘serious injury,’ and nothing turned worse, but his right arm looked like it was almost destroyed.

Using his left hand, Yongno channeled Penetration Power into the blade fish embedded in his arm.

Boom.

Once again, there was only silence; it was just a feeling, but the wriggling blade fish disappeared with clouds of gold dust. The only thing left behind was the drop [Blade Fish’s Nose]. It was a unique item, but unfortunately, Yongno had no time to read any text.