Sixty years of training, and yet, less than half of his bones had been tempered. The pace was so slow, it could only be described as a snail's crawl.

Bruno took a deep breath, feeling the changes in his body. Though not quite as expected, his Warlock-Warrior level had successfully risen to stage 4.

Warlock-Warrior: Skin 3rd stage, Bone 3rd stage, Blood 3rd stage, Spirit 3rd stage, totaling 12 stages.

At 3rd stage, his skin became as tough as steel, adding 500 kg of strength per stage; his bones, as firm as jade, adding 1000 kg per stage; his blood, as pure as jade liquid, adding 5000 kg per stage; his spirit, solid and real, adding 10,000 kg per stage.

By the end of stage 12, he had gained a total of 54,000 kg in strength.

Under normal conditions, his strength should now be at 2500 kg. But due to the perfected Thunderclap Breathing Method, in full burst, he should be able to reach 3500 kg, even 4000 kg.

Bruno focused, carefully feeling his body. The human body had 206 bones, and he had tempered 83 of them so far.

His upper arms, forearms, the bones in his elbows, his leg bones, and the sternum that protected his internal organs—these were all fully tempered.

"This won't do. I need to find a way to improve my foundation," Bruno thought, chewing on Celestial Beast meat to speed up the cooldown of the Book of All Things. "Although Bone of the Dead helps with my training, the increase isn't significant."

By the time the cooldown of Book of All Things was done, Bruno checked how much Celestial Beast meat he had left. About 50 grams—roughly the same effect as the top-tier special food from the martial arts academy.

"So, I can still use Book of All Things twice in the short term. After that, I'll need to figure out how to find more Celestial Beast meat."

As for gold coins, Bruno had 1700 left, not counting the 1000 he had reserved for Fabian.

It was a harsh reality—when you're poor, money outweighs everything else.

Gold coins had become Bruno's primary trading currency.

Money flowed like water!

Bruno paused and then took out his communicator. He contacted Elise, arranging to meet at the hospital where her mother was staying.

At this moment, Bruno was eager to see how Book of All Things would change after obtaining the Fire of Prometheus from Elise.

At the hospital in District 3.

Elise looked at Bruno, her face full of anxiety. Taking a deep breath, she summoned the courage to ask, "Mr. Hornes, how long will it take for my mother's condition to improve?"

She didn't ask Bruno if he could cure her mother—Henry Borg was the best example of that.

Elise's mother lay in the hospital bed. Hearing Elise's question, a flicker of hope passed through her eyes, but it was quickly overtaken by a deeper sense of despair.

"Elise, the rot will not heal. Don't worry, I'm not in any pain." The woman, her body covered in decaying flesh, spoke slowly.

Healing takes money, maybe even a much higher price.

As a mother, she had to think about what was best for Elise.

Elise didn't answer her mother's words. Instead, she kept her gaze fixed on Bruno, watching him closely.

Bruno walked slowly to the bedside, trying his best to keep his expression serious. After all, his physical age was only sixteen, so it was understandable that people didn't always take him seriously.

"Don't worry," Bruno said, trying to sound reassuring, "The price I require is nothing that Elise can't handle. It's not some insurmountable burden."

"Let me try first, I should be able to relieve some of your pain soon." As Bruno spoke, he gently placed his hand on Elise's mother's arm.

He took a deep breath, mentally preparing himself, and then silently began the The Ten Thousand Hells meditation technique, pushing his spiritual power to a height he had never reached before.

He could "see" inside Elise's mother. A faint grayish aura was slowly decaying her body.

The Breath of Nidhogg!

He found it!

Bruno extended his spiritual power, weaving it into an intricate net, and began to carefully envelop the Breath of Nidhogg.

But just as Bruno was about to draw all of it into his own body to accelerate his Rot Chaos Form cultivation, he hesitated.

The Breath of Nidhogg inside Henry Borg had been taken through a trade with the Book of All Things.

From what Bruno had heard about the Western Church of the God-King, it seemed that only someone of Great Elder rank could completely remove the Breath of Nidhogg.

Besides, he still needed to ensure that Elise would become his loyal servant.

With this thought, Bruno used his Great Elder-level spiritual power to remove a small portion of the Breath of Nidhogg from Elise's mother's body.

Immediately, the woman, lying in the bed, let out a soft groan as her body began to heal. The pain eased significantly, and the decaying flesh started to show signs of slow recovery.

"Mom, how do you feel?" Elise's eyes immediately welled up with tears as she rushed to ask.

"It's much better, Mr. Hornes, I really feel so much better. How did you do it?" Elise's mother looked at Bruno eagerly, her eyes full of gratitude.

Elise took a deep breath, trying hard not to let the tears in her eyes fall. She spoke, her voice shaky:

"How about it? Can she be completely cured?"

Bruno nodded, his expression serious as he replied, "It's possible, but it might be a bit complicated."

"Henry Borg's condition was much better than your mother's. My... friend spent quite a bit of time and effort to cure him completely."

"As for me, I can help stabilize your mother's condition, make her less painful. That's no problem."

Elise took another deep breath, her beautiful face filled with pleading and hope. She led Bruno to the bathroom in the hospital room.

"Mister Hornes, if you can cure my mother, I'm willing to pay any price."

"Anything. Everything I have is yours," Elise said, lifting her head without hesitation.

The determination in her eyes was clear, and with her red-rimmed eyes, she looked incredibly pitiful, making it hard not to feel sympathy for her.

But unfortunately, while Bruno had some kindness in him, it wasn't much.

He nodded and answered seriously, "Okay. I'll ask my friend to cure the rot in your mother's body, and in return, your body will belong to me."

Bruno didn't mean it in a cruel way. He couldn't just tell Elise, "I'll take the Fire of Prometheus from your body and trade it away," after all.

Until the actual trade moment came, Bruno would keep the existence of the Book of All Things a secret. He would also ensure that the memory of the trade was included in the transaction, to avoid exposing the book's existence.

"Okay, no problem. As long as my mother is cured, you can ask me to do anything," Elise nodded seriously.

She slowly moved closer to Bruno and wrapped her arms around him.

"Please, Mister Hornes. Please heal my mother as soon as you can."

Unintentionally, Elise brushed her chest gently against Bruno's as she held him.

Her figure was flawless, with curves in all the right places. The light in the bathroom made her body look like a perfect work of art, and it was hard not to let your eyes wander to her waist, hips, and the smooth line of her neck.

At this close distance, Bruno could faintly see the shape of Elise's hips through her thin clothing, the slight outline of her underwear barely visible.

Her long hair gave off a soft fragrance, incredibly pleasant.

Faced with such temptation, Bruno took a deep breath, trying hard to calm his racing heart.

He have to say, Elise was a very smart person. She knew her value and was able to show it at the right moment.

"I like smart people. After we go out, I'll contact someone and arrange the trade. It won't take long, and your mother's illness will be completely cured," Bruno said, his expression calm, though he was only pretending.

He had to stay calm, and only then would he have the upper hand.

"A trade? Right here?" Elise bit her red lips, a slight flush appearing on her face.

Bruno didn't notice anything odd. Of course, he planned to sign the Book of All Things with Elise first, and then use Alex's identity to cure her mother's illness completely.

Otherwise, if something went wrong and he couldn't get the Fire of Prometheus from Elise's heart, it would be a huge loss.

"We'll do it here? Or…" Elise's face was full of hesitation. She glanced back at the bathroom door, where her mother was still lying in bed.

What if something happened and her mother heard? What would she do then?

"Mister Hornes, why don't we go somewhere else?" Elise couldn't help but suggest.

Bruno's brow immediately furrowed. Due to the Celestial Beast's blood, the Book of All Things had undergone some unknown changes. He needed to make sure he got the Fire of Prometheus. Nothing could go wrong.

With his mind focused solely on the Fire of Prometheus, Bruno answered directly:

"No need. It won't take much time, it's simple. You'll just need to do as I say when the time comes."

Elise's eyes shifted slightly, and a hint of surprise appeared on her delicate face as she instinctively asked, "You... can do it that quickly?"

It was only at that moment that Bruno realized something was off—he and Elise were talking about two completely different things!

Quickly?

That was an insult to his dignity!

Smack!

Bruno slapped Elise's butt with force. The surprising bounce made his hand spring back fast.

Especially the softness, the elasticity, and the look of shock and embarrassment that suddenly appeared on Elise's face, making Bruno's heart race.

The atmosphere between them quickly became more charged.

But just then, Bruno narrowed his eyes and said, "Someone's coming."

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