The young woman half-opened her still-drowsy eyes, her voice lazy like a Persian cat that hadn’t fully woken up, and said, “I can’t do it anymore, I need to sleep a bit longer. I’ll probably have to skip work this morning. You, last night you were like a calf on steroids, tossing me around for half the night. Now my whole body feels soft, I have no strength at all, it’s like I died once. You’re bad, and your thing is even worse!” By the end, her tone was as if she were playfully whining to her lover, sweet and seductive to the extreme.

Seeror was beautiful, though not quite stunning. But with her natural charm, her voluptuous, curvy figure, and the aura of an elite white-collar worker, plus her endless allure in bed, she was enough to be any man’s dream woman, the perfect lover. What’s more, her lingering springtime allure paired with that sweet, coquettish voice could stir up the beastly desires and sense of conquest in any normal man.

As a self-proclaimed real man, James Bolton was no exception. Hearing Seeror say this, he grinned lecherously and slipped his hand under the covers again, saying, “Really soft? Let me check!”

In the end, although James Bolton was aroused again, Seeror was truly exhausted, limp as a puddle of water, so James Bolton could only finish with a half-hearted grope, then, amid Seeror’s repeated pleas for mercy, got out of bed and got dressed.

……

After breakfast, back at home, James Bolton climbed onto his big bed. Ever since he woke up in the hospital yesterday and realized he had “gamed,” then came home only to be interrupted by the little witch and his own impatience, he still hadn’t properly planned how to use this “Martial Arts Master Growth System.”

Although he’d had the “system” for less than a day, James Bolton had already tasted its benefits. Even without fully exploring all its advantages, just a glimpse was enough to show its power.

Master-level cooking skills lived up to their name. The home-cooked dishes he made last night were perfect in color, aroma, and taste. Even Megan York, the picky little foodie, was completely satisfied, exclaiming, “This is the most delicious food I’ve ever had!”—she looked like she wanted to eat the plates too.

According to Mr. Jin’s “The Smiling, Proud Wanderer,” practicing the “Sunflower Manual” requires self-castration because once you start cultivating, the desire burns so fiercely that you can’t calm your mind, risking going astray. But James Bolton learned the “Sunflower Manual” through the “newbie gift box”—a bug that wasn’t a bug—so he avoided the danger of self-castration, but the side effect of intense desire hadn’t completely disappeared, turning into something like a male enhancement effect. Otherwise, with his previous abilities and an injury, there’s no way he could have lasted for hours last night with that so-called “Seeror” without the help of a little blue pill, and still been so vigorous, finally turning that experienced beauty into a puddle of spring water, while he himself remained energetic, only a bit sore from overexertion. If the “Sunflower Manual” had this kind of “manly” power before even being fully mastered, its yang-boosting effects were already clear.

Thinking of last night’s ecstasy, a smile that could only be described as “lecherous” crept onto James Bolton’s face. His heroic performance seemed to replay before his eyes, Seeror’s soft pleas for mercy still echoed in his ears. “‘I’m here, I conquer’—truly a real man!” James Bolton ended his pleasant reminiscence with this self-praise.

After indulging in his own satisfaction, James Bolton lay comfortably on his bed and finally opened the attribute panel in his mind. Basic attributes, inner attributes—just the same as yesterday.

What had changed was the experience points: from -1587/500 to -1579/500. James Bolton wasn’t surprised by the increase. The original setting of “Martial Arts Three Kingdoms” was that side professions could also earn experience. But after making five dishes and diagnosing himself once yesterday, he’d only earned eight experience points—really not much. At this rate, if he relied solely on cooking to gain experience, it would take 790 dishes to fill the huge gap of 1579 points and officially reach level zero.

After figuring out how much experience each dish brought and what he needed to level up, James Bolton felt a headache coming on. 790 dishes! Three meals a day, three or four dishes per meal, that’s only about ten dishes a day. 790 dishes would take eighty days, and that’s just to reach level zero. The experience needed for later levels would be astronomical. Just thinking about it, James Bolton was nearly overwhelmed by the thought of countless dishes flying through his mind. After all, while James Bolton had some assets, he wasn’t rich enough to cook a hundred dishes a day for experience, eat a few, and throw away dozens. And as for opening a restaurant, with James Bolton’s temperament, he really wasn’t suited for serving people.

“I need to think of another way to earn experience. Otherwise, I’ll be old and dead before I level up a few times. I’m not planning to spend my life around the stove—I’m on a hero training plan, not a chef training plan.” Shaking off all those dishes in his head, James Bolton muttered to himself.