Chapter 116: Chapter 93: Big Shot
This Cultivation Technique, which had once brought him extreme pain and helped him forge an iron will, no longer required him to expend his precious [Absolute Focus] for assistance after he had cultivated it to the point of perfection.
Now, to circulate it, he only needed to mobilize a trace of his Primordial Spirit’s power to peer inward, ensuring the circulation and absorption of qi and blood within his body were flawless.
His complete mastery made the cultivation process smooth and efficient, as natural as breathing.
As his physical body’s level continued to rise, the duration for which he could practice the Splitting Blade Golden Killing Skill also steadily increased.
Correspondingly, the Body Tempering effects of the Cultivation Technique and its ability to stimulate his body’s potential grew more significant.
Time slipped away quietly amidst his focused cultivation.
「An hour or so later.」
Li Wen slowly ceased his cultivation. A distinct feeling of emptiness emanated from deep within his body—a sign that his qi and blood had been consumed by the high-intensity tempering.
But compared to the excruciating, unbearable pain he had felt when he first started, the current depletion only brought a sense of fulfillment and slight fatigue, as if he had shed a redundant burden.
His mind was clear, and two new pieces of information materialized before his eyes as a matter of course:
[You have diligently practiced a basic technique for over an hour. Physical Body Level +0.1]
[Realm: Unranked (Level 8.3 → 8.4)]
Gazing at the simple yet weighty "+0.1" and the notification of his advancement to Level 8.4, Li Wen couldn’t help but let a gratified smile touch his lips.
This kind of visible, instantaneous feedback on his growth was one of the biggest motivations for his obsession with the Martial Dao and his willingness to endure lonely, tedious cultivation.
Every bit of progress was an affirmation of his past efforts and a solid foundation for the future.
After regulating his breathing on the spot for a moment to recover some strength, Li Wen finally rose and walked over to a nearby table.
He picked up a cool vial of a Level 2 Qi and Blood Potion, skillfully uncorked it, and tilted his head back, pouring in a dose slightly larger than a third.
As the familiar, surging warmth flooded his limbs and bones, his depleted qi and blood began to replenish rapidly, his muscles and sinews seeming to hum with satisfaction.
He could clearly feel that as his physical body’s level continued to march toward 8.5, the amount of potion his body could digest and absorb in one go was also quietly increasing.
Li Wen even had a gut feeling: ’Perhaps when my body reaches Level 9.0, I’ll be able to handle half a vial of a Level 2 Qi and Blood Potion at once. If I keep improving, downing an entire vial in one go won’t be a problem.’
Compared to the Level 3 Spirit Potion—a veritable money pit that cost 140,000 points a vial even after a discount—drinking the relatively cheap Level 2 Qi and Blood Potion now left Li Wen completely unfazed, without a hint of heartache.
He expertly sealed the remaining potion with a special stopper and carefully placed it in a low-temperature storage box for proper preservation.
Once he had finished, he stretched his limbs and walked over to the washroom in the corner of his private Martial Arts Room.
The sound of rushing water, SPLASH, washed away the dust and fatigue of his training, symbolizing that this tense yet fulfilling day had finally come to a close.
When he had freshened up and walked out of Hongyi Building, stepping into the cool night air, a black luxury car bearing the Fire Hall emblem was already waiting silently in front of the building, like a most loyal guard.
Li Wen pulled open the car door and settled into the spacious and comfortable massage seat in the back. As his body sank into the soft support, the car’s intelligent system activated silently, and a soothing frequency began to massage his tense muscles.
The vehicle started smoothly. Outside the window, the city lights receded rapidly as the car picked up speed, weaving into a mesmerizing ribbon of light.
Leaning back against the seat with his eyes slightly closed, Li Wen began to clearly review the gains from today’s cultivation in his mind...
...
「The next morning, April 6th, a Saturday.」
It happened to be the Qingming Festival.
Li Wen’s father and mother, who had long since quit their jobs to fully manage household logistics, were busy from the crack of dawn, meticulously preparing a full spread of offerings, incense, and paper money.
Ever since their son, Li Wen, seemed to have an epiphany overnight, transforming from an ordinary student into a Martial Dao genius who caught the eye of all of Qing-Shi City and even the entire Jiangnan province, and was subsequently signed to an A-rank contract by the Fire Hall, "the ancestors are watching over us" had become the couple’s most frequently uttered phrase.
For this year’s Qingming Festival, their reverence was unprecedented, their expressions as focused as the most devout believers performing a deeply sacred act.
Originally, his parents had planned to take Li Wen with them in the morning to meet up with the rest of the clan for preparations before the ancestor worship. However, Li Wen had informed them early on that the Soaring Star class had an important weekly cultural exam.
This was a crucial part of accumulating experience for his Scholar profession, and he had never missed a single weekly exam.
His parents were very understanding and decided to let Li Wen go to school for his test first, then rush over to join the rest of the clan for lunch.
As it was a major source of his weekly Scholar experience, Li Wen arrived at the Soaring Star class’s spacious and bright culture classroom as early as ever.
When he walked into the classroom looking refreshed and relaxed, he was greeted by a completely different scene.
The usually lively classroom was filled with a rather somber atmosphere.
Huang Hao, sporting a faint pair of dark circles under his eyes, was clutching a thick copy of *Introduction to Historical Source Energy* and flipping through the pages at high speed, muttering key points to himself with his eyebrows knitted together.
Next to him, a boy who usually prided himself on his good grades in cultural subjects was now anxiously pulling at his hair, his face a mask of agony as he stared at a dense historical timeline.
Even more students looked as though they were facing a great enemy, clutching various review materials, either reciting in low voices or frantically highlighting key points. The air was thick with the anxious atmosphere of last-minute cramming.
Clearly, for the majority of the Soaring Star students who had yet to achieve a thorough mastery of their cultural subjects, the weekly exam was still a form of torture.
Li Wen’s calm and composed demeanor, as if he were on vacation, stood out conspicuously among his anxious classmates.
Soon, the inevitable sour whispers began to spread:
"Tsk, the big shot has arrived... Look how calm and unbothered he is. Tsk, there’s just no comparison." A girl pouted, glancing at Li Wen’s empty hands.
"Sigh, I’m so jealous I could cry. We just don’t understand the world of a study god. I feel like he probably gains culture points even in his sleep," Huang Hao lamented. "Brother Wen, share some of your luck, will you?"
Another classmate who was on fairly good terms with Li Wen teased him directly:
"Brother Wen, how are us mere mortals supposed to feel when you’re so composed? That title of yours, ’God-Tier Scholar,’ is truly well-deserved!" His tone was full of envy, but held no ill will.
Listening to these familiar complaints and sighs, and seeing Huang Hao and the others scratching their heads in frustration, Li Wen couldn’t help but break into a smile.
This sense of ease truly stemmed from the solid foundation he had built through his daily, arduous studies as a Scholar.
As the class bell rang, the exam papers were distributed on time.
For Li Wen, the test was no challenge at all.
After a period of systematic study and knowledge accumulation, spending at least six hours in a state of high efficiency and focus every day, he had already achieved a true, thorough mastery of these cultural subjects.
Almost the instant he got the paper and his eyes swept over the questions, the answers appeared clearly in his mind.
Li Wen’s pen began to fly across the page, driven as if by precise code. The sound of the pen tip scratching against paper was smooth and confident, almost brazen in the quiet examination hall.
Multiple-choice, fill-in-the-blanks, long-answer questions... he proceeded smoothly, without the slightest hesitation.
In stark contrast to his effortless pace, the students around him were still struggling with the multiple-choice section or frowning at the complex long-answer questions, the intermittent sound of their writing punctuated by occasional sighs.
When only half the allotted time had passed, Li Wen had already finished the entire exam.
He habitually gave it a quick check, and after confirming there were no mistakes, he stood up briskly under the astonished, helpless, or long-accustomed gazes of his classmates and handed his test paper and answer sheet to the proctoring teacher.
His figure was straight and poised as he walked out of the classroom. The panache of turning in his exam early left behind not just his retreating back, but also a wave of silent awe and unconcealed envy.
"Damn... he turned it in again!"
"Comparisons are odious. I feel like I’m not even halfway done..."
"Is this the world of a study god? He’s on a completely different dimension."
Of course, Li Wen didn’t leave early just for a moment of showing off.
Exams were only a means to test his mastery of knowledge and gain experience points, not an end in themselves.
After a few quick, decisive turns, he was already back in his exclusive private Martial Arts Room on the top floor of Hongyi Building.
Without any relaxation, he walked purposefully to his desk, sat down, and casually picked up a book he hadn’t finished, *Introduction to Planetary-Level Life Energy*, once again immersing himself in his studies.
The huge amount of Scholar experience he had gained from ranking in the top ten in the provincial mock exam was still fresh in his memory. That deluge of experience points had nearly caused him to level up twice in an instant.
But his deeper realization was this: all seemingly sudden, massive gains were built upon a foundation of small, daily accumulations, never once slacking off.
Cultural literacy was the indispensable knowledge base for his ascent to the peak of the Martial Dao, and it was the core resource that supported the continuous evolution of his Scholar profession, which in turn nourished his martial cultivation.
Even without major events like the provincial or mock exams to provide a burst of progress, he would not allow himself the slightest bit of complacency.
Gathering sand to build a tower, dripping water to pierce stone—this was the eternal truth for reaching greater heights.
Otherwise, even with the greatest talent for the Martial Dao, if his cultural foundation was not solid, he was destined to fail in flying to greater distances during the truly fateful, major assessments.
The pages of the book in his hands were turned gently, his gaze, fixed on the pursuit of knowledge, firm and bright.
The morning slipped away quietly amidst his focused study of cultural knowledge.
When Li Wen put down *Introduction to Planetary-Level Life Energy* and looked at the precise clock on his tactical tablet, the hour hand was silently pointing to a quarter to twelve.
"Time to go," Li Wen murmured to himself, tidying up his desk briskly.
Although his mind was set on improving his Martial Dao and Scholar levels, his parents’ solemn attitude toward this year’s ancestor worship had moved him.
