Chapter 35 The Fourth Simulation

[Please select the talents to carry (Current talent slots: 2/2):]

[Hardworking and Enduring (Green)]

[Blade Path Genius (Blue)]

Li Ang glanced at the randomly refreshed talent list for this time:

[Left-handed (White)]: Your left hand is more flexible than your right hand.

[Cat Slave (White)]: You have a mysterious attraction to felines, and they easily rub against your legs.

[Flat Ground Fall (Gray)]: You have a 5% chance of falling even when walking on flat ground.

[Absolute Pitch (Green)]: You can distinguish the pitch of any sound, even the buzz of a mosquito.

[Thalassophobia (Gray)]: You are afraid of deep water, even a bathtub.

[Chatterbox (White)]: You feel stifled if you don't speak for a day.

[Staying Up Late Champion (White)]: Your dark circles are heavier than others, but it doesn't affect your spirit.

[Directionally Challenged (Gray)]: Even with a map, you can't find north.

[Cilantro Insulator (Gray)]: Any food with cilantro added will make you vomit.

[Collector (White)]: You like to collect strange little things, like bottle caps.

"It's all weird stuff..."

Li Ang shook his head helplessly.

There wasn't even a single green talent that could slightly improve combat power.

Although [Absolute Pitch] was green, it was of no help to his current plan.

"It seems all my luck was used up on the previous S-rank evaluation."

He no longer hesitated and directly locked in the two talents he had already grown accustomed to.

[Talents loaded.]

[The fourth simulation, begin—]

...

[Sophomore Year (First Semester) Final Exam: Accumulating Steadily]

[This year, you are seventeen years old.]

[In just a short half-year.]

[During the day, you play the role of a diligent and hardworking "Fourth Stage of Qi and Blood" assistant instructor at school.]

[In the process of guiding your classmates' cultivation, your understanding of basic martial arts becomes increasingly profound.]

[You even helped several children from wealthy families who were stuck at a Bottleneck to achieve a Breakthrough in their Realm, accumulating extremely high prestige in the school.]

[The name "God Li" is no longer a sarcasm, but a sign of awe.]

[At night, you carry out bitter cultivation that ordinary people cannot imagine in the Teachers Apartment.]

[[Hardworking and Enduring] makes you tireless, and [Blade Path Genius] allows you to learn by analogy.]

[You are already a Genius with the Foundation of the "Profound Water Spirit Body".]

[With this body reshaped by a dimensional secret treasure, your cultivation speed is astonishingly fast.]

[The meridian barriers that were like natural chasms to ordinary people are now like flat ground under the nourishment and flushing of the Profound Water power.]

[On the eve of the final joint examination, the Qi and blood in your body finally reached a critical point.]

[You attend classes during the day, work as an assistant instructor in the evening, and Cultivate bitterly late at night. You only sleep four hours a day, yet you are still full of energy.]

[Coupled with the terrifying recovery power of the [Profound Water Spirit Body], you begin to frantically polish your Qi and blood Crimson Gauze.]

[Once, twice, a thousand times...]

[You use the soft force of your Water-elemental Ability to constantly flush and purify the Qi and blood in your body.]

[The originally slightly thin red gauze becomes heavier and more translucent under your polishing.]

[On the eve of the final joint examination.]

[Inside the training room, your whole body shakes.]

[Boom!]

[The Crimson Gauze on the surface of your body is no longer a thin veil, but has become more solid.]

[It transformed into a layer of "Crimson Scale Blood Armor" clinging to your skin, as if carved from red crystal!]

[Defense power tripled! Total Qi and blood volume increased again!]

[Ninth Stage of Qi and Blood — Perfection!]

["That's about enough."]

[You look at yourself in the mirror, feeling that power that seems capable of shaking mountains, and a smile tugs at the corner of your mouth.]

[You are not carried away by power; the school is still shrouded in the shadow of the "Heart-Eroding Cult".]

[You deeply understand the principle that the wind will destroy the tree that stands out from the forest, especially before you have enough ability to protect yourself.]

[You immediately activate the "Hiding the Edge" secret technique.]

[With a thought, that terrifying surge of Qi and blood begins to compress and restrain itself layer by layer.]

[The originally sharp aura rapidly weakens, finally settling steadily at the level of Seventh Stage of Qi and Blood Perfection.]

[Unless it is an Origin Opening Realm Expert proficient in investigation secret techniques, no one can see through your disguise.]

["Next, it's time to hand in my homework to Old Wu."]

...

[Final Joint Examination: Golden Advertising Slot]

[The final joint examination arrives as scheduled.]

[This time, the entire school's attention is focused on Class 3 of the sophomore year.]

[Everyone wants to see if that rumored "Assistant Instructor Li," who can turn decay into magic,]

[can actually lead this group of recognized academic failures to a counterattack.]

[The results did not disappoint them; it could even be said to be a shock.]

[In the practical combat assessment, the students of Class 3 seemed to have undergone a complete transformation.]

[They no longer blindly squander their Qi and blood; every movement is as standard as a textbook.]

[Zhang Li, Wang Qiang, and others performed even beyond their normal levels under your teaching.]

[They forcibly pulled the class's average score to first in the grade!]

[And you, appearing as the finale, are the focus of the entire field.]

[Your opponent is a top student at the Peak of the Sixth Stage of Qi and Blood from the neighboring class, a power-type contestant known as the "Iron-arm Ape".]

[The opponent exploded with all their strength right from the start, attempting to suppress you with a storm-like boxing technique.]

[But you just stand there, without drawing your blade.]

[Using simple footwork, you dodge all the opponent's attacks as if taking a stroll in a courtyard.]

[Later, at the moment when the opponent's old strength is exhausted and a flaw is revealed, you lightly strike out with a palm.]

[Without using the power of the Ninth Stage, only using the Qi and blood of the Seventh Stage plus the first layer of force from "Overlapping Waves".]

["Bang!"]

[The opponent flies directly out of the arena and doesn't get up for a long time.]

["Li Ang wins! Seventh Stage of Qi and Blood... Perfection!" the referee exclaims.]

[The whole place is in an uproar.]

[No one expected that you, who were only at the Fourth Stage of Qi and Blood half a year ago, would actually have practiced to Seventh Stage Perfection!]

[This rate of progress is simply unheard of!]

[Just as everyone is cheering for you, you make a Move that leaves all the school's teachers and students dumbfounded.]

[You do not step down from the stage; instead, in front of the principal and all the teachers, you rip off your school uniform jacket.]

[Underneath is a specially made tight-fitting quick-dry shirt.]

[And in the most conspicuous position on the chest of the shirt, a line of glittering gold characters is printed:]

["Want to become stronger? Want to counterattack? Wu's Golden Ratio Qi and Blood Potion, you deserve to have it!"]

[Even on the back, Wu Changhe's contact number and an order QR code are printed!]

[Silence.]

[The entire playground falls into an eerie dead silence.]

[The next second.]

["Pfft, hahahaha!"]

["Holy crap! This advertisement is too hardcore!"]

["Awesome! God Li is using his face to promote products! But this effect... I want to buy two bottles and try them too!"]

[Wu Changhe, sitting on the rostrum, is stunned at first, and then his old face turns bright red.]

[Although you had said in advance that you would market it like this, he thought it was a joke.]

[After all, although he asked you to advertise, he didn't ask you to be so... socially dead!]

[But looking at the fanatical eyes of the parents around him and his phone which has already started vibrating frantically, the corners of Wu Changhe's mouth can't help but rise wildly.]

["This kid... is really a damn Genius! I didn't dote on him for nothing!"]

[After this battle, you became completely famous in the school. Not just because of your strength, but because of this "slick Move".]

[Afterward, Wu Changhe couldn't stop smiling.]

[With a wave of his hand, he not only increased your allowance for this month to 100,000.]

[He also gave you an extra crystal card containing 200,000 federation coins as a bonus.]

["Take it! This is what you deserve!"]

["With this money, don't go to work part-time during the winter break!"]

["Cultivate well for me, and strive for the sprint of the College Entrance Examination!"]

...

[Winter Break, Blade Intent Initially Formed]

[Winter break begins.]

[With money and leisure, you do not choose to rest.]

[You pack your bags and leave Longnan City alone, entering the deep mountains and old forests for bitter cultivation.]

[Your goal is only one: to completely fuse "Hiding the Edge" and "Overlapping Waves", and try to touch the "Blade Intent" you envisioned.]

[In the deep mountains in winter, the mountains are blocked by heavy snow, and all is silent.]

[You practice your blade under a frozen waterfall and stand in a stance in the howling cold wind.]

[The talent of [Blade Path Genius] shows a terrifying dominance at this moment.]

[You are no longer restricted by Moves.]

[You begin to try to forget the "Basic Saber Technique", forget the "Nine Layers of Overlapping Waves", and even forget the blade in your hand.]

[You imagine yourself as flowing water, as a fully drawn bow.]

[Water benefits all things without competing.]

[Flowing water does not compete to be first; it competes for its endless flow.]

[You try to perfectly fuse the Water-elemental Ability in your body with your Blade Intent.]

[On the first day, you swing your blade to cut the water, and the water flow restores.]

[On the tenth day, you swing your blade to cut the water, and the water flow stagnates for a moment.]

[On the twentieth day.]

[Snow is falling heavily.]

[You stand in the snow, eyes closed, resting your spirit.]

[The Qi and blood in your body are compressed to the extreme by "Hiding the Edge", like a volcano about to erupt.]

[Suddenly, a snowflake lands on your eyelashes.]

["Qiang—"]

[You draw your blade.]

[This strike has no sound, no air wave, and doesn't even disturb the wind.]

[But the two-person-high boulder in front of you silently splits open a gap.]

[The cut is as smooth as a mirror.]

[Drawing the Blade: Instantaneous Nine Layers of Waves!]

["It's done."]

[Although you feel you haven't reached the limit and haven't completely undergone a qualitative change.]

[But in the Qi and Blood Realm, this self-realized secret technique is already enough.]

[It's just a pity that the Basic Saber Technique is still not at Perfection.]

[But you understand that for you, it's only a matter of time.]

[You sheathe your blade and look at the wind and snow filling the sky, a sharp light flashing in your eyes.]