21: A good teacher produces good students

"As for the Martial Skills in the academy, just mention my name and you can learn whatever you want. However, it's limited to Ice-type Martial Skills! Haha, don't even think about general Martial Skills. Even if I wanted to learn them, those old geezers would still charge me money."

He didn't mention giving out academic credits. What a joke, he was practically broke now. He'd poured countless resources into his research and didn't have time to kill enemies or complete missions in the Space Battlefield, so where would he get academic credits to give out?

What Chen Qing didn't know was that his Senior Brothers and Senior Sisters hadn't received academic credits for half a year either; they all had to earn them themselves.

Since his teacher didn't mention it, Chen Qing didn't bring it up again. After all, he had received the pendant, which was probably something very difficult to buy even with academic credits.

Yang Chen breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that Chen Qing no longer asked for resources. He smiled and said, "How has your Cultivation been recently? I heard your Great Master Senior Brother say that your vitality strength index hasn't reached 0.9 yet. How is it? Have you encountered any problems?"

Chen Qing was stunned. When did Great Master Senior Brother say that? Before he came to see me last time?

"Teacher, I have already exceeded 0.9."

"Hmm, not bad. 0.9 is a major hurdle. The fact that you could Breakthrough so quickly is much better than your Senior Brothers and Senior Sisters." Yang Chen praised him, thinking that he probably didn't need to worry too much about this disciple's Cultivation.

"How long do you plan to take to Breakthrough to a Martial Artist?" he asked again.

He didn't plan to hide anything from his teacher, so he immediately said, "Teacher, I have already Breakthrough and become a Martial Artist."

Hmm?

He Breakthrough already? Did he not try to push for the S-rank limit?

That shouldn't be right. Didn't that kid Tong Zhe go there already? Did he not tell this kid?

Yang Chen frowned, thinking this wasn't a good thing. He asked, "You didn't Cultivate to above 0.95 in the non-Martial Artist stage?"

"I did Cultivate to that level," Chen Qing replied.

That's good. An S-rank should at least Cultivate to 0.95 to be respectable.

Wait! Tong Zhe just told me last time that Chen Qing hadn't reached 0.9 before enrolling. How long has it been, and he's already at 0.95?

Could it be that that kid Tong Zhe checked the wrong information? Trying to fool his teacher?

He took a sip of tea and casually asked, "Before you enrolled, had you already exceeded 0.9?"

Chen Qing was bewildered. Didn't you just say that Great Master Senior Brother told you about my situation before I enrolled? Why are you still asking?

"No."

"Crack!"

Some imperceptible cracks appeared in the teacup in Yang Chen's hand.

How powerful was a 7th-stage Martial Artist's control over their strength? If it were Chen Qing, he could smash the teacup, but he was sure that he couldn't leave countless fine cracks on the teacup while still keeping the tea from leaking out.

A trace of ice-attribute Qi overflowed from Yang Chen's hand holding the teacup, quickly freezing it to prevent further damage.

He put down the teacup and chuckled, "Hehe, are you saying that you Cultivated from less than 0.9 vitality to 0.95 in about a week?"

Chen Qing nodded, then shook his head, "I didn't just Cultivate to 0.95."

Yang Chen slammed his palm onto the tea table, shattering it. The teacup that had just been placed on the tea table also suffered, turning into fragments along with the table.

0.97? He had already Cultivated to the S-rank limit?

How long did it take me to Cultivate to my own limit back then?

Three months? Or half a year?

Can't quite remember.

How long did this kid take?

Half a month? Or even shorter?

Has Cultivation become so easy now?

Yang Chen was also a Martial Dao prodigy back then, with excellent Martial Arts talent. It took him much less time than others to Cultivate to this stage, but he was more enthusiastic about research, so his progress now lagged behind that of his peers from back then.

Good boy, just like your teacher, you truly are a Martial Dao prodigy!

"Very good! As expected of a disciple taught by me, Yang Chen! I'll show those old geezers whether I, Yang Chen, can teach disciples or not!"

Chen Qing was speechless. What did you teach me? This should be our first meeting today, right? I didn't remember wrong, did I?

Or have I been cultivating so much lately that I'm confused, and we're actually old friends?

Yang Chen didn't care what he thought. He stroked his stubble, his face quite satisfied.

"Did your Great Master Senior Brother help you Breakthrough to a Martial Artist?"

Chen Qing didn't know what he meant and asked, "No, I Breakthrough by myself."

"Hmm? Do you know how to Breakthrough?"

There's a method for this?

Chen Qing was puzzled. Doesn't Breakthrough to a Martial Artist just happen naturally once you reach the limit? What specific method is needed?

Seeing his clueless expression, Yang Chen felt like smashing the sofa he was sitting on, but he restrained himself this time.

He found that his new disciple loved to give people surprises, very frightening surprises.

However, after experiencing that terrifying Cultivation speed just now, he felt that self-Breakthrough was just a minor matter.

He smiled and explained, "Breakthrough from a non-Martial Artist to a Martial Artist requires impacting all the Qi and Meridians in the body. The specific procedure isn't complicated, but for ordinary people, it's quite difficult and carries a certain degree of danger. So, people usually find someone to help as a Protector to prevent accidents."

"However, some people might accidentally impact their own Meridians during Cultivation and thus naturally Breakthrough to a Martial Artist. But this process is relatively painful, and the fact that you endured it shows that your willpower is quite good."

Yang Chen looked at his student with relief. Strong talent, simple character, diligent, and good willpower. The more he looked, the more satisfied he became.

Chen Qing nodded subtly and smiled awkwardly.

His Breakthrough truly didn't involve any pain. If there was pain, it was the torment of death brought by being constantly killed by the Snow Wolf King.

Rather than calling it a Breakthrough, he felt more like he hadn't Breakthrough at all, but rather naturally transitioned from a non-Martial Artist to a Martial Artist, as if water had found its course.

But he wouldn't mention this. There was no need to tell his teacher everything.

Besides, this teacher seemed to have unstable emotions, happy one moment and smashing tables the next.

He was afraid that if he said anything more, he would become the next target for the teacher's violent outburst.

------

After leaving Yang Chen's residence, Chen Qing returned to his dorm.

However, he currently had no Cultivation resources left. The 5 million reward was already depleted.

1 million was transferred to Li Tianyang, and 4 million was used to commission Fu Mingyu to buy Medicinal Pills for Cultivation, which had also been used up.

His time in the Ice God Space for today was also used up. It seemed he had nothing good to do for now.

After thinking for a moment, he knocked on the door of room 405 next door.

"Lao Fu, going to eat?"

Fu Mingyu opened the door, dressed in a training suit, looking at this rare visitor.

"Alright! Wait for me a moment, I'll go change."

------

Dining area.

Chen Qing took several large plates of beef and a pile of various other foods, placing them in front of Fu Mingyu.

"Eat whatever you want, this meal is on me. You've run errands for me a few times, so it's only right that I treat you."

Fu Mingyu waved his hand, "Damn it, these are all cheap goods that ordinary people eat. If you want to treat me, don't just get these! See that window over there with few people queuing? They sell all kinds of Yao Beast meat, even Dragon meat! Eating it helps our Cultivation a lot! Get those! What's with these street stall goods? Do you think I can't afford them!"

Chen Qing shoved a large piece of beef into his mouth and mumbled, "Don't eat if you don't want to! Damn it, do you think I don't want to eat those? Didn't you see that those require academic credits to buy? Where do we get academic credits?"

He had just seen it: a plate of Spineback Dragon meat, probably at most one catty, selling for 10 academic credits!

1 academic credit was equivalent to 10,000 federal currency, so that one plate was 100,000 federal currency!

And academic credits were much harder to earn than federal currency. Academic credits could be exchanged for federal currency, but federal currency couldn't be converted into academic credits.

Fu Mingyu also understood this, so he immediately turned his indignation into appetite and started eating heartily.