Parents' Worries, Sensing Qi and Blood in Less Than Half an Hour??

In the boundless expanse of the cosmos, steel platforms floated in the pitch-black void, radiating an intense aura of killing intent.

Starry Sky Frontline, No. 368 Battlefield Fortress.

With an ear-piercing grind, the enormous alloy gates slowly opened. Clad in standard-issue dark blue Federation armor, Chen Long and Luo Mengjie stepped inside the steel behemoth, which was filled with an aura of killing intent.

Everything here stood in stark contrast to the peaceful, comfortable East Sea City.

As soon as Luo Mengjie set down her luggage in their assigned quarters, she activated the Personal Computer on her wrist and checked the Blue Star time displayed on it, without even taking a moment to look around.

Her face was filled with worry she could not shake.

"Chen, today is Xiao Fan's first Martial Dao class," she said, her voice tight and trembling almost imperceptibly. "I'm afraid he'll... see how outstanding the other children are and get upset again."

Chen Long came over and took his wife's icy hand, a trace of warmth coming from his broad palm.

He looked out the porthole at the deep, deathly silent cosmos, his voice low and firm. "Mengjie, we've already made our choice. Letting him live as an ordinary person, far away from all this fighting and killing, and grow up safe and sound might not be such a bad thing."

Even so, a trace of pain was hidden deep in his eyes.

What martial artist parent wouldn't want their child to carry on their legacy and ride across the stars?

But the moment he thought of that diagnosis, all his hopes turned to bubbles.

Just then, the door to their quarters was pushed open from outside, and a burly man built like an iron tower strode in laughing, also clad in armor.

"Chen, Mengjie, you're finally here!"

"From now on, we'll be comrades in the same squad. I'm Zhang Meng. Welcome to the 368th Fortress Thunder Squad!"

The burly man acted as though they were old friends, enthusiastically patting Chen Long on the shoulder.

Chen Long forced a faint smile. "Brother Zhang, hello."

"No need to be polite. We'll be entrusting our lives to each other from now on!" Zhang Meng laughed, then abruptly changed the subject, his face lighting up with immense pride and satisfaction. "By the way, I just heard you talking about your kid. Ah, the hearts of parents everywhere! Even on the frontline, we still have to worry about our children!"

"But my kid's doing pretty well. He's in his first year of high school and has already become a Qi-Blood Realm martial artist. I hear he has a chance of joining his school's prodigy class!"

Zhang Meng chatted away as though they were old friends, without noticing the expressions on Chen Long and Luo Mengjie's faces.

"The prodigy class..."

Luo Mengjie's breath caught slightly.

The diagnosis from when she had taken Chen Fan to have his aptitude tested seemed to appear before her eyes again. It recorded the results of his examination at age three: mediocre aptitude, martial arts cultivation not recommended.

One was in heaven, the other on earth.

Oblivious to Luo Mengjie's pale face, Zhang Meng continued boasting without pause. "I'm planning to apply to bring him to the frontline base to broaden his horizons when he's on break! A man should follow the Martial Dao, go into battle and slay enemies, and make a name for himself..."

But as he spoke, Zhang Meng noticed that something seemed wrong with the atmosphere. He scratched his head, seemingly realizing what had happened, and gave the couple an awkward smile.

"Well, I'm really sorry. I spoke out of turn. You two get some rest, and our squad can get used to working together later..."

With that, Zhang Meng hurried out of their room.

"Chen..."

Luo Mengjie abruptly looked at Chen Fan, her face filled with bitterness.

Chen Long pulled Luo Mengjie into his arms and said softly, "It's all right. Even if Xiao Fan is an ordinary person, he'll be just fine with us protecting him."

"Perhaps..."

In his arms, Luo Mengjie let out a long sigh.

East Sea Martial Arts Elementary School, Martial Dao Training Hall.

Chen Fan finished his set of the Five Elements Stance, slowly brought his movements to a close, and stood still again, as though nothing had happened.

The entire training hall was deathly silent.

Everyone's eyes were wide. The little ones who had just fallen and knocked themselves silly stood with their mouths open, having forgotten to close them.

Was... was this the autistic kid?

But why could he remember every movement of the Five Elements Stance after seeing it once?

If Chen Fan was autistic, then what... were they??

The surprise in Lin Tao's eyes was impossible to conceal.

As the Martial Dao instructor, he naturally saw it most clearly.

Chen Fan's movements were not mere imitation; he had already grasped a trace of the Five Elements Stance's essence.

Every turn and every exertion of force hit the most precise point.

Such control and such memory were simply unheard of.

What an incredible ability to imitate. Does he have a photographic memory...?

The thought crossed Lin Tao's mind, followed by a surge of regret.

What a pity his aptitude is said to be poor. If it were even a little better, with that memory and even that comprehension... he could become a martial artist in junior high!

What a pity. What a terrible pity.

Lin Tao couldn't stop shaking his head and sighing.

The murmurs around them rose again, but this time they were no longer mocking. They were filled with amazement and envy.

"Wow, he's amazing! The instructor only showed us once, and he learned it all!"

"I couldn't even remember the first move..."

"Is he a monster or something?"

Listening to the chatter around him, the little fatty Wang Hao's face turned the color of pig liver.

He had just fallen flat on his face and humiliated himself, yet the fellow he looked down on most had stolen all the limelight.

Why should he?

The flames of jealousy burned in his heart.

He spat on the ground in resentment and muttered again, in what he thought was a very quiet voice, "Putting on an act! What good is a good memory? A piece of trash with poor aptitude won't be able to sense qi and blood in his whole life, and he'll never become a real martial artist!"

His voice was quiet, but what level of cultivation did Lin Tao possess?

Every word reached his ears clearly.

Lin Tao's expression darkened instantly, and killing intent gathered once more on his resolute face.

He had already given one warning, yet this brat named Wang Hao dared to test his bottom line again and again!

"Wang Hao!"

He whipped his head around, his icy gaze stabbing into the little fatty like a knife, ready to speak and mete out thunderous punishment.

But just before he spoke—

His words stuck fast in his throat.

Lin Tao's gaze sharpened abruptly, as though he had seen something unbelievable. His eyes passed over the terrified Wang Hao and locked onto the figure standing calmly in the middle of the hall.

In that instant just now, his keen martial artist's senses had caught a faint disturbance.

An extremely faint yet unmistakable fluctuation... escaping from Chen Fan's body!

That was...

Qi and blood!

Lin Tao's head buzzed, as though an invisible sledgehammer had struck him, leaving his mind instantly blank.

The core of cultivating the Five Elements Stance was to use specific movements and breathing techniques to temper the body while stirring the power of qi and blood deep within it.

After that, one applied qi and blood to strengthen the body, until one reached the threshold of a martial artist!

Sensing qi and blood was the first threshold of the Five Elements Stance, and the true starting point of the Martial Dao!

For this step, a talented student needed to practice painstakingly without interruption for a week before they could barely get a feel for it.

Ordinary people needed a month or two, or even longer.

But Chen Fan...

From the moment he watched the demonstration to the moment he finished performing it himself, had even five minutes passed?

Impossible! Absolutely impossible!

Towering waves surged in Lin Tao's heart. He even began to wonder whether his senses had deceived him.

After all, in all his time as a Martial Dao instructor, he had never encountered such a heaven's chosen before.

And this was an autistic boy, according to everyone else!

To verify what he had sensed, Lin Tao forced down his shock and stepped forward without betraying his feelings, slowly walking toward Chen Fan.

He came to Chen Fan's side and, pretending to correct his posture, placed his right hand seemingly at random against the center of Chen Fan's back.

"Stand straight. Keep your back upright."

As he spoke those words of instruction, his finger moved slightly, and a nearly imperceptible thread of force slipped silently into Chen Fan's body like the finest of probes.

The next second, Lin Tao's body froze.

The information the force sent back was perfectly clear.

Inside Chen Fan's body, a newly formed wisp of qi and blood, though as faint as a candle flickering in the wind, was incomparably pure. It was stubbornly circulating along the Five Elements Stance's pathway.

This was unmistakably... a sign that he had entered the Five Elements Stance!

He actually... sensed qi and blood!

Lin Tao sucked in a cold breath, his scalp tingling.

He pulled his hand back sharply, his fingertips trembling uncontrollably beneath the cover of his sleeve.

When he looked at Chen Fan again, his gaze had completely changed.

This was what the hell they called poor aptitude?

What child with poor aptitude could reproduce the entire Five Elements Stance in five minutes, and even reach the entry level straight away?

Countless thoughts flashed through Lin Tao's mind like lightning.

Who on earth had issued that diagnosis at East Sea City First People's Hospital?

A quack! An absolute quack!

Meanwhile, a doctor at East Sea City First People's Hospital was looking over some documents when his nose suddenly felt itchy.

He let out a sneeze.

"Is someone cursing me?"

The doctor shook his head in puzzlement, then bent over again to look at the documents on the desk.

Meanwhile, in the Martial Dao Training Hall.

"Instructor?"

Not far away, Wang Hao saw that Lin Tao had been standing beside Chen Fan without speaking for a while, his expression changing unpredictably. Thinking Chen Fan had made a mistake with the Five Elements Stance, he immediately said mockingly, "Instructor, did he mess around and strain himself? I knew it. How could this guy possibly..."

"Shut up!"

Lin Tao wheeled around, his roar like thunder exploding from a clear sky.

A violent burst of killing intent instantly knocked Wang Hao over. The little fatty landed on his backside in fright, his face deathly pale, and scrambled backward on hands and knees, tears welling in his eyes.

The entire hall fell deathly silent.

All the children fell as silent as cicadas in winter, not daring to take a deep breath.

Lin Tao took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing the emotions churning like rivers and seas in his heart.

He did not reveal on the spot that Chen Fan had sensed qi and blood. A tree that towered above the forest would be battered by the wind.

He swept his gaze over everyone, his voice low but carrying unquestionable authority.

"That's all for today's lesson! Everyone, dismissed immediately!"

Under the children's astonished and awed gazes, Lin Tao strode back to the lectern. His eyes passed over the dispersing crowd and settled precisely on Chen Fan, who was about to turn and leave.

"Chen Fan."

Lin Tao spoke, the earlier severity gone from his voice, replaced by a trace of gentleness.

"Stay behind for a moment."