Cultivation: From Poor Peasant to Celestial Lord

Chapter 38: Chapter 37: Class A Rating

"A full sliver?!"

Zhao Wu’s cry of alarm, like a sudden clap of thunder, exploded over the Martial Arts Arena, echoing for a long time and making everyone’s ears ring.

Up on the high platform, Li Wenyuan, who had been sitting calmly and sipping his tea—a man known for his composure—could no longer remain seated. The teacup in his hand jolted, splashing tea onto his sleeve, but he didn’t seem to notice.

"Brother Zhao, what did you say? A full sliver?"

With a sharp SNAP, Li Wenyuan snapped his folding fan shut. The next moment, his figure blurred. He leaped gracefully from the thirty-foot-high platform, his robes fluttering, and landed steadily beside Zhao Wu.

"Let me see!"

Li Wenyuan almost snatched the Jade Ring from Zhao Wu’s hand and extended his Divine Sense into it.

Inside the tiny space within the Jade Ring, a visible sliver of Spiritual Qi was slowly circulating.

Although the Spiritual Qi was a patchwork of different attributes, making it slightly impure, its total volume was impressive. It was dense and substantial, truly meeting the standard of a full sliver, with even a little to spare.

"Full, but not overflowing. It’s a complete, solid sliver!"

Li Wenyuan took a deep breath to calm his turbulent emotions.

He looked up, his gaze sweeping across the entire arena before finally landing on Chu Bai’s face—exhausted, yet still calm.

"Candidate Chu Bai, Qi Absorption: one full sliver."

His voice, loud and carrying an unconcealable note of admiration and shock, boomed throughout the entire Examination Hall. "Rating—Class A, High!"

Class A!

A perfect score!

At his words, the entire arena fell into a deathly silence, which was immediately shattered by a deafening uproar.

The candidates who had been sprawled on the ground, too exhausted to even lift a finger, now sat up as if rising from the dead. They stared wide-eyed at the slender, green-robed youth standing in the center of the arena.

Their eyes were filled with disbelief, as if they were looking at a monster.

The difficulty of this trial was, after all, extremely high.

Not only did they have to handle the drastic changes in attributes caused by the Law Net, but they also had to overcome the corrosion of their meridians by the Exotic Spirit Energy.

They had just personally experienced the agony of their meridians being clogged by Exotic Spirit Energy—a feeling like thousands of ants crawling through their blood vessels.

Li Han, who had placed second, had many tricks up his sleeve. Even so, despite giving it his all and even resorting to a Secret Technique to stimulate his meridians, the Spiritual Qi in his Jade Ring had barely reached a little over eighty percent.

Wang Teng, ranked third, came from a family with a deep heritage. His foundation was solid, having tempered his body with Spiritual Medicine since childhood, yet he had only just passed the eighty percent mark.

Both had given their absolute all, only to receive a rating of "Class B, High."

Eighty percent versus one hundred percent—it might seem like a mere twenty percent difference.

But in such an extreme environment, every last bit of difference was a chasm. It wasn’t just a gap in the total amount of Spiritual Qi; it was a complete domination in terms of meridian Resilience, Divine Sense strength, Cultivation Technique affinity, and on-the-spot adaptability.

Chu Bai’s efficiency, nearly double that of an average candidate, represented a despair-inducing gap in strength.

"Class A, High... How is that possible?"

Li Han stared intently at Chu Bai, the horror in his eyes deepening.

He had originally thought he would be the champion of this selection, but he never expected such a dark horse to appear out of nowhere—and an opponent he couldn’t see through at all.

Wang Teng, however, just shook his head with a wry smile. Though the fighting spirit in his eyes hadn’t faded, a touch of admiration had been added. "I never thought Anping County had a person like this. This loss was not unjust."

"So this is Class A..."

Gu Qinghe watched Chu Bai, a wry smile on his lips, but it was overshadowed by a sense of shared honor and pride.

He had long known his fellow student was a monster, but he never thought he was monstrous to this degree.

’Brother Chu, you’ve really put us all to shame,’ he sighed inwardly.

Zhao Wu and Li Wenyuan exchanged a glance, both seeing the delight in the other’s eyes.

For examiners like them, the candidates’ results were a reflection of their own achievements.

"Old Li," Zhao Wu said in a low, laughing voice, his coarse face alight with excitement, "it seems that while Anping County’s slots were cut this year, this seedling... he’s the best we’ve seen in nearly a decade. If he can pass the next two trials smoothly, even after entering the Daoist School, he’s sure to secure a place for himself among all those geniuses."

"He is indeed a pleasant surprise," Li Wenyuan nodded, his gaze profound. "The first trial tests foundation and aptitude. A Class A, High result is enough to prove this child is a one-in-ten-thousand seed for Cultivation. However, this is only the first trial. If he can perform just as brilliantly in the upcoming Magic Technique and Heart Inquiry trials, then we’ll have truly struck gold."

...

With a long, melodious chime of a bell, the first trial officially ended.

The sun was setting as he left the Examination Hall.

The moment the taut string of his focus snapped, a wave of extreme exhaustion washed over him, battering every one of Chu Bai’s nerves.

His legs felt weak, and every step required immense effort, as if his feet were filled with lead.

Although the examination didn’t require deep refinement of Spiritual Qi like his daily practice, the high-intensity control of his Divine Sense and the constant flushing of his meridians with Spiritual Power was more than ten times more mentally draining than normal cultivation.

Right now, though he appeared calm on the surface, his Sea of Consciousness was already parched and faintly aching.

’Getting a perfect score in this trial was a bit of a fluke.’

Walking back to the Zhang Mansion, Chu Bai avoided the crowds, silently reviewing the day’s gains and losses in his mind.

He was clear-headed, not getting carried away by the dazzling perfect score, and certainly not underestimating his opponents because of it.

The core reason for his astonishing result today was his Mastery-level Small Qi Gathering Technique.

In his daily cultivation, he could already gather a full sliver of Spiritual Qi in a single day.

But during the examination, he didn’t need to refine it, only channel it. By going all out, his speed was naturally faster, making it possible to gather a sliver in five double-hours.

’Of course, luck also played a part.’

Chu Bai recalled the final round.

If he hadn’t managed to snatch that Attributeless Spirit Nurturing Platform, and if his own Spiritual Power hadn’t been so effective at clearing the impurities from his meridians, allowing him to go full throttle at the very end, he probably wouldn’t have managed a perfect score. At best, he would have gotten a mid-Class A, or perhaps close to a high-Class A.

’But even with worse luck, I would have still been in the lead. I was still confident I could take first place in this trial.’

A glint of confidence flashed in Chu Bai’s eyes.

’The two Fate Charts I have, [Nourishing and Exquisite] and [Non-stop Rushing], really provide a significant boost. One improves conversion efficiency, the other ensures there are no bottlenecks in my cultivation. The two complement each other, creating today’s overwhelming advantage.’

When he returned to the Zhang Mansion, Daoist Zhang was not there; he was likely busy with matters at the school.

Chu Bai didn’t bother his senior brothers either, instead heading straight back to the quiet meditation room in the rear courtyard.

The meditation room was filled with dense Spiritual Qi and the calming scent of sandalwood incense.

Chu Bai took out the porcelain bottle of Qi Recovery Pills from his robes, tipped one out, and swallowed it.

As the pill’s medicinal power dissolved, his parched meridians were once again filled with warm Spiritual Power. The refreshing feeling, like sweet rain after a long drought, spread through his entire body, and his mental exhaustion gradually eased.

Chu Bai only opened his eyes slowly when the moon was high in the sky. The sharp glint in his eyes was now contained, and most of his fatigue had vanished.

’Tomorrow is the Magic Technique assessment.’

Chu Bai looked at his right hand. His index finger twitched slightly, and a wisp of faint blue water vapor swirled around its tip.

’This trial, however, will be a bit difficult for me.’

Although his Spirit Water Needle had reached the Skilled Realm, possessed considerable power, and had traits like instant casting and Concealment, making it a formidable assassination weapon, his opponents, like those Noble Family Descendants, came from deep-rooted traditions and surely had trump cards and Secret Techniques of their own. There might even be combat experts who had been trained in practical fighting since childhood, possessing a wide array of offensive and defensive skills.

In comparison, he had only been practicing Magic Techniques for a short time—just over a month, all told. His methods were also relatively simple; he was a one-trick pony.

’If I encounter a puppet with extremely high defense, or if the test requires a large area-of-effect Magic Technique, my single-target Spirit Water Needle might struggle.’

Chu Bai’s brow furrowed slightly, but then quickly smoothed out.

’However...’

’Even if it’s difficult, all I can do is give it my all.’