33: I won't go back

Kunlun Cultivation Academy, Dean's Office.

Li Heng leaned back in his chair, a blue light screen, visible only to him, floated before him.

On the screen was the final data summary of new students' major choices.

【Sword Cultivator Academy: 100 people】

【Spell Cultivator Academy: 45 people】

【Alchemy Academy: 13 people】

【Artifact Refining Academy: 10 people】

【Talisman Academy: 10 people】

【Formation Academy: 8 people】

【Body Refining Academy: 8 people】

【Special Student (All-rounder): 1 person】

“As expected, Sword Cultivator is a man's romance, it’s the same everywhere.”

Li Heng's finger glided across the light screen, looking at the number for Sword Cultivator that occupied half, he was not surprised.

Looking cool is a must-have.

He knew very well that these young people, who had just received their ticket to immortality, were all thinking about the dashing scenes of flying on a sword and taking an enemy's head from a thousand miles away.

But if the foundation is not solid, no matter how high the building is, it will be a castle in the air.

“For the first class, let's teach them how to guide Qi into their bodies.”

Li Heng turned off the light screen and made a decision... A week later.

Main Teaching Hall, Classroom 404.

Two hundred new students sat upright, yet the entire classroom couldn't suppress an excited buzz.

“Hey, what do you think the first class will teach? Will they directly hand out Flying Swords?”

“Dream on! I bet it's teaching basic Mind-Cultivation Techniques!”

“Who cares what he teaches, it's finally starting! I can't wait any longer!”

Han Li sat next to Fang Yuan, lowering his voice, excitedly rubbing his hands: “Yuanzi, do you think the Headmaster will perform a live hand-crafted nuclear bomb to open our eyes?”

Fang Yuan ignored him, just nervously clenching his fists, staring at the empty podium.

Just then, Li Heng's figure appeared behind the podium without warning.

The entire hall instantly fell silent.

Li Heng scanned the room, looking at the faces below, full of fantasies and expectations, and then he spoke.

“I know what you are thinking.”

“Flying Swords, Lightning Spells, Medicinal Pills, Divine Weapons.”

“But none of these should you think about now.”

With one sentence, he poured a bucket of cold water on everyone's enthusiasm.

“Cultivate is not a dinner party, nor is it an online game. This is an incredibly boring, incredibly difficult, and even life-threatening path for you.”

“Today, your first lesson, and the only lesson for a long time to come, is Qi Refining.”

Li Heng extended his finger.

“Qi Refining consists of four steps.”

“First, Mind Purification. Eliminate distracting thoughts, empty your mind completely, making it whiter than a blank sheet of paper.”

“Second, Qi Absorption. Use your emptied mind to perceive the Spiritual Qi that is everywhere between heaven and earth; it's like air, but not air.”

“Third, Condensation. Guide the Spiritual Qi you perceive, thread by thread, into your body, and use a Cultivation Technique to compress and purify it, making it your own.”

“Fourth, Return to Body. Sink the condensed Spiritual Qi into your Dantian, letting it become a part of your body.”

“Mind Purification, Qi Absorption, Condensation, Return to Body. Do you understand?”

“Understood!” the students replied in unison, their voices loud.

“Very good.” Li Heng nodded, “Now, begin.”

As his words fell, all the students immediately closed their eyes and began to try.

The classroom once again fell silent.

Han Li closed his eyes, muttering to himself.

“Mind Purification, Mind Purification... My heart is like water, my heart is like a mirror... Oh, I wonder if the live stream has been banned yet, those old friends must be missing me to death... No, no, Mind Purification! No live stream, no traffic... Right, that girl Lu Miaomiao chose Body Refining, her figure must be amazing... Damn it! My mind wandered again!”

The more he tried to empty his mind, the more thoughts flooded in, like a barrage of comments.

On the other side, Fang Yuan was trying desperately.

He kept giving himself psychological hints.

Forget the failure of the college entrance exam, forget the ridicule of classmates, forget the disappointment of his Family.

I have nothing.

I am just a blank slate.

Time passed by minute by minute.

Suddenly, a male student who chose Spell Cultivator abruptly opened his eyes and shouted excitedly.

“I saw it! I saw it!”

“White! Lots of white Qi threads! They're floating around me!”

His shout broke the silence.

Immediately after, several other people excitedly cried out one after another.

“I saw it too! It's like cotton candy!”

“Oh my god, is this Spiritual Qi? It feels so familiar!”

The students who successfully sensed Spiritual Qi were overjoyed, while those who hadn't felt increasingly anxious.

In the corner, Zhang Qiqi frowned and whispered to Lin Xiao next to her: “Lin Xiao, I... I can't see anything.”

“Can't see anything?” Lin Xiao opened his eyes, faint air currents were already swirling around him, “Try again, concentrate.”

“I tried, but it's just pitch black in front of my eyes.” Zhang Qiqi was a bit frustrated.

Lin Xiao pondered for a moment; he had already guided Qi into his body and his understanding of spiritual power far surpassed others.

“Don't look with your eyes, feel with your heart.”

“Then, try to release a little bit of that 'Qi' inside your body from your fingertips.”

“Oh...”

Zhang Qiqi nodded vaguely, extending a fair finger towards the air in front of her.

She closed her eyes, trying to mobilize something within her body.

The next second.

A very strange, silent distortion appeared in the space in front of her fingertip.

It was as if that patch of air had turned into a piece of glass scorched by high temperatures.

Lin Xiao's pupils suddenly constricted.

“This is...”

The anomaly here quickly attracted the attention of others.

“What's wrong? What's wrong with Zhang Qiqi?”

“What did she do? Why didn't I see anything?”

Xie Wangsheng, who had been silent, suddenly pushed up his glasses and spoke.

His voice was not loud, but it clearly echoed throughout the classroom.

“The white Qi threads you see are impure, unrefined, free-floating Spiritual Qi. Because their purity is too low, they can be easily observed with the naked eye.”

He paused, then looked at Zhang Qiqi.

“As for her, she has already skipped the Elementary stages of 'Qi Absorption' and 'Condensation'.”

“The spiritual power within her body is so pure that it is almost formless and qualityless, which is why you can't see anything.”

“If you can condense one unit of spiritual power with one breath,”

Xie Wangsheng calmly delivered a terrifying conclusion.

“Then she can condense at least fifty units with one breath.”

“She didn't fail to see Spiritual Qi; she has already reached the 'Mastery Realm' in controlling Spiritual Qi.”

The entire classroom was deathly silent.

Everyone looked at the still bewildered girl with expressions as if they were seeing a monster.

Fifty times?

What kind of concept is that?

We are still in the novice village watching tutorials, and you've already completed the version?

Han Li's mouth hung open for a long time.

“Is this... is this the legendary... Pay-to-Win player?”

...Inside the library.

Lin Xiao sat cross-legged, slowly exhaling a turbid breath.

He could clearly feel the spiritual power in his Dantian, a hundred times purer than his Family's Internal Energy, circulating endlessly with his breathing.

After only a week of Cultivating the most basic “Elementary Qi Refining”, the power he had gained already surpassed the sum of his arduous Cultivation over the past decade or so.

The Headmaster's path was correct.

This was the true Grand Dao.

Just then, his phone vibrated in his pocket.

Lin Xiao frowned, took out his phone, and saw the name 'Father' flashing on the screen.

He answered the call.

“Have you played enough?”

From the other end of the phone came a stern and cold middle-aged man's voice.

“Now, immediately, get back here!”

“I can pretend nothing happened. Go home and kneel in the ancestral hall for three days, be confined for half a year, and you are still the heir of my Lin Family.”

“This is your last chance.”

The voice on the phone was full of irresistible command.

Lin Xiao listened, his expression unchanged.

He simply spoke calmly.

“I won't be going back.”

There was a moment of silence on the other end of the phone, followed by a question suppressed with anger: “What did you say? Say it again!”

“I said,” Lin Xiao's tone remained flat, but carried an unprecedented determination, “I have found the true Dao.”

“You scoundrel! What kind of damn Dao have you found! Have you been tricked! I order you...”

Lin Xiao didn't listen any further.

He hung up the phone directly.