35: The parents called.

“Can I take the test now?”

Silence.

A deathly silence.

Zhang Qiqi’s calm voice, like a stone thrown into a deep pool, stirred up monstrous waves in the hearts of the two hundred new students.

The entire Main Teaching Hall was so quiet you could hear a pin drop.

Everyone looked at her with an expression usually reserved for lunatics.

“What the hell? What did she say?”

“Test now? What kind of joke is that?!”

“We can barely make our spiritual power circulate once in our bodies, and she wants to make the crystal shine like daylight? That’s too much, isn’t it?”

Han Li’s jaw almost dropped to the floor as he exchanged an incredulous look with Liu Lian next to him.

“Brother Lian, did this girl stay up too late last night?”

Liu Lian’s face twitched; he felt his self-esteem being trampled on and rubbed into the ground.

“Don’t ask me, I damn well want to know too! This isn’t a Genius anymore, this is a Heavenly Tribulation!”

In the corner, Xie Wangsheng pushed up his glasses. For the first time, his eyes behind the lenses showed fluctuations that data couldn't analyze.

Meanwhile, Fang Yuan stared intently at Zhang Qiqi’s back.

He had no mockery, no doubt, only a suffocating sensation of being crushed by a colossal mountain.

Is this… a Heavenly Spiritual Root?

On the podium, Li Heng looked at the young girl who had surprised even him, a curve forming at the corner of his mouth.

“You may.”

He was concise.

Having received permission, Zhang Qiqi slowly walked onto the podium amidst hundreds of complex gazes.

She showed no trace of nervousness or ostentation, as if she were merely completing a most ordinary assignment.

Her small hand gently pressed against the head-sized transparent crystal.

Then, she closed her eyes.

The entire process was eerily quiet.

One second.

Two seconds.

Just as some students began to think she was being deliberately mysterious...

“Buzz—!”

The crystal lit up.

Not a faint glow, not a glimmer, but a blinding white light!

The light burst forth instantly, domineeringly engulfing the entire classroom, as if a miniature sun was slowly rising within the hall!

All the students instinctively closed their eyes, their arms shielding their faces, stung by the intense light.

“Holy crap!”

“It lit up! It really did light up!”

“This brightness… forget daylight, this is a damn nuclear explosion!”

Han Li felt his eyes were almost blinded. He peered through his fingers at the dazzling light source, completely stunned.

How was he supposed to compete now?

The monster from the Novice Village (newbie village) just unleashed the ultimate BOSS skill for the final version?

The light lasted for a full ten seconds before slowly receding.

Zhang Qiqi released her hand, and the crystal returned to its original transparency. Her small face was slightly pale, and her breathing was a little hurried, but her eyes remained calm.

She bowed slightly to Li Heng, then stepped down from the podium and returned to her seat, as if nothing had happened.

The entire classroom fell into a deathly silence once more.

Li Heng scanned the room, taking in everyone’s expressions.

“Did you all see that?”

His voice broke the silence.

“That is the result of applying spiritual power after a Breakthrough to the first level of the Qi Condensation stage.”

“You think it’s very difficult? In fact, the principle is very simple.”

Li Heng extended a finger.

“The spiritual power in your bodies is raw material just drawn from heaven and earth—impure, unrefined, and difficult to control. But she, because of her Heavenly Spiritual Root, naturally absorbs spiritual power that is fifty times purer than yours. That’s why she can easily ‘activate,’ ‘circulate,’ and ‘excite’ it.”

“So what about you all?”

Li Heng looked at the crowd, his tone becoming stern.

“Practice!”

“Refine that chaotic current of Qi in your bodies again and again, compress it again and again, purify it again and again!”

“When you can wield a strand of spiritual power as easily as an arm, that’s when you’ve had a Breakthrough.”

“There is no shortcut in this process, only painstaking effort!”

Li Heng’s words struck everyone’s hearts like a heavy hammer.

So that’s how it is.

It wasn’t that they were useless, but that their method was wrong, and their effort was insufficient.

Just as everyone was still digesting these words, another figure stood up from their seat.

It was Lin Xiao.

On his stern face, there was no wavering, but rather a fierce Battle Intent burning.

“Dean, I want to try too.”

All eyes immediately focused on him again.

Another one?

Li Heng nodded.

Lin Xiao strode onto the podium. Instead of placing his palm on it like Zhang Qiqi, he brought his fingers together like a Sword, his index and middle fingers touching the surface of the crystal.

“Hiss!”

A more condensed, sharper light burst forth from his fingertips, directly pouring into the crystal!

If Zhang Qiqi’s light was the sun, a planar explosion.

Then Lin Xiao’s light was a laser, a pinpoint penetration!

The crystal lit up again. Although the light was not as vast in scope as Zhang Qiqi’s, its central point was even more dazzling, filled with an indomitable sharpness of Sword Qi!

“Hiss—”

A collective gasp echoed through the Main Hall.

“Another monster!”

“A Sword Cultivator… Is this what a Sword Cultivator is like? Even his spiritual power carries a hint of Sword Qi!”

Liu Lian watched, his fists clenched. He had thought he chose the coolest profession, but now it seemed that in front of true Geniuses, he wasn't even fit to carry their shoes.

Lin Xiao withdrew his fingers, and the light extinguished immediately.

He cupped his fist at Li Heng, then turned and stepped down, his gaze involuntarily flicking towards Zhang Qiqi.

Within it was an appreciation for a worthy opponent, and an undisguised challenge.

The impromptu “skill display” by two super Geniuses completely ignited the fighting spirit of all the students.

“Dean! I’ll go too!”

“And me! I want to test too!”

“Damn it, isn’t it just practice? Who’s afraid of whom?!”

The stimulated students, one by one, rushed towards the podium as if they had been injected with stimulants.

“Next!”

Li Heng announced expressionlessly.

A tall boy stepped forward, took a deep breath, and pressed his hand on the crystal with all his might.

Three seconds later.

The crystal… emitted a faint glow, like a dying glow stick.

“Pfft—”

Someone in the crowd couldn't help but laugh first.

The boy’s face instantly flushed crimson, wishing he could find a hole to crawl into.

“Next!”

“My turn!”

This time it was Liu Lian; he walked up with an arrogant look.

“Buzz.”

The crystal lit up for a moment, much stronger than the previous boy, but it only “lit up for a moment” before quickly dimming.

“Tsk.”

A sound of disdain came from the crowd.

Liu Lian’s face instantly turned a liver-like purple, and he scurried down in embarrassment.

Next, students went up one after another to test.

The results were unbearable to watch.

Most people could only make the crystal glow like a firefly.

A few with good Aptitude could make the crystal reach the brightness of a “light bulb.”

And Han Li, under everyone’s gaze, walked up, his face turning purple from holding his breath, and the crystal barely flickered twice, like a light bulb with a bad connection.

“Hahahahaha!”

The entire classroom was filled with cheerful air.

The test lasted for nearly an hour.

Li Heng watched as almost everyone finished their tests before slowly speaking.

“The test is over.”

“You know your own scores. The standard for the official assessment in one week remains unchanged.”

“Fail to complete it, and you lose academic credits. Zero academic credits, you’re out.”

The cold words instantly silenced the classroom, which had just been filled with laughter.

“Class dismissed.”

Li Heng’s figure disappeared into thin air.

The students looked at each other, their playful smiles long gone, replaced by an unprecedented solemnity and fighting spirit.

“Let’s go! Back to the dorms! Practice!”

“Don’t you dare sleep! Everyone get up and cultivate Immortality!”

“One week! First level of Qi Condensation! Even if I die on my meditation cushion today, I have to Break through!”

All the students, as if mad, spontaneously surged out of the Main Teaching Hall, rushing towards the dormitories and the library.

A storm named “Internal Competition” completely swept through the entire Kunlun Cultivation Academy.

Night deepened.

In a courtyard in the female dormitory area.

A girl with a delicate appearance and gentle demeanor sat cross-legged.

Her name was Li Wanxi.

In the daytime test, her score was only average, not particularly outstanding.

At this moment, her eyes were tightly closed, and all her focus was immersed in refining the spiritual power within her body.

Again and again.

Tedious, boring.

But she showed no slackness.

She didn't know how much time had passed.

“Pop.”

A very faint sound came from within her body, like a bubble being popped.

The next moment, the originally impure current of Qi in her Dantian suddenly flowed freely, instantly becoming solid and pure!

A sense of power far greater than before spread throughout her limbs and bones.

First level of Qi Condensation!

It was done!

Li Wanxi slowly opened her eyes, a hint of joy on her face.

Just then, her phone, which was placed beside her, suddenly lit up, displaying a video call request.

The caller ID showed — Mom.

Li Wanxi answered the video call.