He Just Kept Cultivating and Reached the Entry Level

Jiangnan No. 1 High School, the principal's study.

The aura of returning to one's true self, which could make even a Grandmaster's heart tremble, had vanished without a trace.

In its place was a dead silence that seemed capable of freezing even space itself.

The white-haired principal did not roar. He merely set down his brush slowly, his cloudy eyes, which had witnessed countless changes in the world, calmly fixed on the deathly pale Wei Tianlong before him.

"If a prodigy of the highest caliber falls because of your negligence..."

His voice was soft, yet like an invisible hammer of ice, each word struck deep into Wei Tianlong's soul.

"You will be a sinner in the eyes of all Jiangnan No. 1 High School!"

A sinner!

Those words made Wei Tianlong shudder violently, as if he had plunged into an icy abyss.

He wanted to explain, to defend himself, but beneath that all-seeing gaze, any words seemed pale and powerless.

He was the one whose head had been turned by that earth-shattering talent, who had made a fatal mistake worthy of being nailed to the pillar of shame!

The white-haired principal swept his sleeve sharply.

Whoosh!

A jet-black token engraved with arcane patterns became a streak of light and shot precisely into Wei Tianlong's hand. Its icy touch jolted him.

"Take this token and activate the Black Crow. I want you in East Sea City within thirty minutes!"

"Remember, if anything happens to him..."

The white-haired principal paused, then uttered his final words.

"Don't come back either."

The Black Crow!

Jiangnan No. 1 High School's highest-grade single-person high-speed aircraft, not to be deployed unless absolutely necessary!

Wei Tianlong dared not delay for an instant. He gripped the token as if it were his last lifeline, turned, and rushed toward the hangar like a madman.

Regret and fear gnawed wildly at his heart like two venomous snakes.

His only thought now was to pray that the little monster named Chen Fan had been cautious enough, that he hadn't...

That he hadn't started cultivating so soon!

Boom!!!

With a terrifying sonic boom that tore across the sky, a streak of pure black light, like a spear of divine punishment, pierced straight through the clouds at a terrifying speed far beyond the civilian maximum and sped through the air toward East Sea City.

East Sea Martial Arts Elementary School, the principal's office.

Li Guangming was holding a few treasured leaves of Cloud Summit Spirit Bud and carefully placing them into a purple clay teapot. He could not hide the smile on his face; joy filled even the wrinkles at the corners of his eyes.

Yesterday had been the proudest moment of his life.

He was preparing to enjoy his first cup of tea after that victory and savor that supreme glory.

Suddenly!

Whoosh!!

Outside the window, a terrifying howl approached from the distance, instantly drowning out every sound on campus!

Immediately afterward, a massive black shadow blotted out the sunlight and slammed down in the middle of the field with almost brutal force!

Rumble!

A terrifying blast of air spread like a shock wave, shaking the entire teaching building violently. The purple clay teapot on Li Guangming's desk was knocked straight to the floor and shattered.

Before he could recover from his shock—

Bang!

The office's sturdy alloy door was blasted open from outside by a violent force!

Wei Tianlong's eyes were bloodshot, and an astonishing murderous aura poured off him. His clothes were even somewhat damaged from the ultrahigh-speed flight. Looking like a fiend that had crawled out of hell, he flashed forward and appeared before Li Guangming.

"Li Guangming!"

Wei Tianlong's voice was hoarse and trembling. He seized Li Guangming by the collar, veins bulging on both arms as he shook him wildly.

"The jade slip for the Star-Transferring Blood Art! Did you see the warning on it?! Where's Chen Fan? Where is he?!"

Li Guangming was utterly bewildered by this sudden turn of events.

He struggled free and looked at the seemingly crazed Wei Tianlong, his brows tightly furrowed. "Director Wei, what are you doing? What warning? That's a top-tier Qi and Blood Technique of the Federation!"

At that, a trace of pride involuntarily returned to his face.

"You know Little Fan. He's a cultivation fanatic through and through. As soon as he got the jade slip yesterday, he went straight into seclusion in the special-grade cultivation room. He wouldn't listen to anyone who tried to stop him."

"Going by the time, it's already been... a whole night!"

A night?

The instant those words reached Wei Tianlong's ears—

The last trace of color drained from his face.

The strength that had sustained him on his desperate dash from Jiangnan No. 1 High School seemed to be drained away in an instant.

He staggered back two steps, his heavy body striking the bookshelf behind him with a dull thud. Countless books and trophies tumbled to the floor, but he did not notice.

His gaze went completely vacant.

In a voice as faint as a mosquito's, audible only to himself, he murmured.

"It's over..."

"It's all over..."

Seeing Wei Tianlong so distraught, as if he had lost his own parents, Li Guangming finally felt his sense of foreboding reach its peak.

"Director Wei, what... what on earth happened?"

Wei Tianlong slowly raised his head. Endless despair and regret filled his bloodshot eyes.

In a heart-rending voice, almost a sob, he revealed the cruel truth that could cast a man into the deepest hell.

"That cultivation art draws Star Power into the body. It's overbearingly powerful, no different from scraping the bones and replacing the blood, cleansing the marrow and being reborn!"

"Every moment a cultivator practices it is like dancing on the edge of a blade. A powerful expert must stay by their side without leaving for a moment, using their own qi to guide the Star Power and suppress a fatal Qi and Blood rampage that could happen at any time!"

"Otherwise..."

Wei Tianlong's voice began to tremble uncontrollably.

"In the best case, their meridians will be severed inch by inch, their Qi and Blood depleted, and they'll be reduced to a cripple!"

"In the worst case..."

"Their body will explode, leaving no corpse or bones behind!"

No corpse or bones left behind!

Those words struck like lightning, instantly shattering all the pride, joy, and fantasies in Li Guangming's mind.

The radiant smile on his face froze in an instant.

As if struck by lightning, he stood rooted to the spot.

The world came crashing down around his ears.

One second, he had been a man of merit who had discovered a priceless treasure for the Federation.

The next, he had become the sinner who had pushed that treasure into the abyss with his own hands!

"Ah!"

A wail so shrill it hardly sounded human burst from deep in Li Guangming's throat!

He spun around, his wrinkled old face twisted with utter terror, and exchanged a glance with the equally despairing Wei Tianlong. Like two crazed beasts, they charged toward the special-grade cultivation room, scrambling and stumbling without regard for anything else!

In the corridor, all that remained were the disheveled figures of the two men as they stumbled and fell, only to scramble up again in an instant.

Hope!

Even if there was only one chance in ten thousand!

Maybe the boy was smart enough to stop when he noticed something was wrong!

Maybe...

The two figures became blurry afterimages in the corridor, the fierce wind they kicked up making even the doors and windows of the offices along the way groan under the strain.

"Faster! Faster!"

Wei Tianlong's eyes were stretched wide, his abundant Qi and Blood erupting without restraint. He was so fast that he left charred skid marks across the smooth floor.

The elderly principal Li Guangming also unleashed astonishing potential that belied his age. His wrinkled old face was flushed red from lack of oxygen, and his throat rasped as he followed hard on Wei Tianlong's heels.

Like two crazed beasts, they charged heedlessly toward the Alloy Gate that represented their final judgment.

For them, every second stretched as long as a century.

Regret and fear gripped their hearts like two invisible hands, leaving them almost unable to breathe.

At last, the cold Alloy Gate, as if leading to hell, appeared at the end of their vision.

Closer!

Even closer!

Wei Tianlong's palm trembled violently with utter terror. He raised it sharply, Qi and Blood surging through it, ready to invoke the highest level of authorization and force the doors open in the crudest manner possible.

But just as his palm was about to touch the access control system—

Hum!!

An extremely faint sound of machinery came from behind the doors.

The lock disengaged automatically.

Under the two men's frozen, bloodshot gazes, the heavy Alloy Gate that carried all their fear and despair slid slowly, silently to one side.

From the darkness beyond the doors, a small, slender figure calmly walked out against the light.

Chen Fan's face was a little pale, and several undried beads of sweat clung to his temples. He had clearly undergone tremendous exertion.

But his eyes were deeper and brighter than ever before, as if the entire vast starry sky had been woven into them. A single glance seemed capable of drawing in a person's soul.

Li Guangming and Wei Tianlong froze completely at that moment.

They stared at Chen Fan, alive and unharmed, his aura even more concentrated than before. Their minds went blank, as though the world-shaking sight had forcibly pulled their souls from their bodies.

The world lost all sound.

Time seemed to have been paused at that moment.

Wei Tianlong, a top-tier expert, was the first to recover a shred of his senses from the shock, enough to make his heart stop.

His powerful martial-artist senses locked onto Chen Fan almost instinctively.

The next second, the blankness on his face turned to utter horror!

To his senses, the abundant Qi and Blood within Chen Fan was like a deep night sky.

And within that night sky, a wisp of aura was flowing slowly. Though faint, it was incomparably pure, ancient, and cold, as if it had come from the farthest reaches of the universe!

That aura was overbearing and aloof, as though it stood above all things.

That was... Star Power!

It was the sole sign that one had reached the entry level of the Star-Transferring Blood Art, drawn Star Power into the body, and successfully tempered one's Qi and Blood!

"You... your Qi and Blood... Star Power..."

Wei Tianlong staggered a step forward, his voice as hoarse as two pieces of coarse sandpaper rubbing together. He stared fixedly at Chen Fan, all the despair and fear gone from his bloodshot eyes, leaving only shock and bewilderment.

As if talking in his sleep, he asked the question he could scarcely believe.

"How... how did you do it?!"

One night!

Just one night!

Without anyone to guard him, he had cultivated this overbearing art alone, an art that even some Prodigies feared to attempt. Not only had he survived, he had even... successfully reached the entry level?!

This was beyond monstrous!

Chen Fan looked at the seemingly crazed Wei Tianlong before him, then at Li Guangming beside him, who had turned completely to stone, his mouth hanging open wide enough to fit an egg. At last, a faint trace of confusion appeared on Chen Fan's calm face.

Why do these two look like they've seen a ghost?

He merely told the truth, stating a fact that could not have been simpler.

"I just cultivated according to the art."

"I kept cultivating, and I reached the entry level."

A simple sentence, without a hint of bragging or the slightest ripple of emotion.

But those lightly spoken words were even more shocking to Wei Tianlong and Li Guangming!

He just... reached the entry level?