Qi-Blood: 3.1 Calories!

Lin Tao accepted the order, turned around, and rushed out of the office in a whirlwind.

Only Li Guangming and Chen Fan remained in the principal's office.

"Ahem..."

Li Guangming composed his roiling emotions and once again assumed the bearing of a refined principal.

He walked up to Chen Fan and, in a rare gesture, bent down until his eyes were level with the boy's.

"Chen Fan, don't tell anyone about what happened today for the time being, including your grandfather. Can you do that?"

Li Guangming's voice was gentle, but his eyes held an unmistakable gravity.

In a city the size of East Sea City, an A-grade talent might not appear even once in several years.

Before Chen Fan had grown strong, any premature exposure could bring unnecessary trouble, or even attempts by other cities to poach him.

To Li Guangming, his students' talent, potential, and strength were his own political achievements.

Naturally, he didn't want to see a promising seedling like Chen Fan poached by another school, or even a school from another city.

Seeing the gravity in the old man's eyes, Chen Fan nodded calmly.

"Okay!"

He had been an adult in his previous life, after all, and knew that a tree that stood above the forest would be battered by the wind.

Keeping a low profile... might not be such a bad thing!

"Very good."

"Go home and rest for now. Tomorrow morning, report directly to Grade Four Class One."

Li Guangming patted him approvingly on the shoulder, growing more and more pleased with Chen Fan.

What the hell did they mean, autism? This was clearly composure.

How was that the temperament of an eight-year-old?

He was clearly an uncut jade that had already been polished through countless trials!

When Chen Fan returned to the old house early, his grandfather, Chen Ping, was wearing reading glasses and trimming the leaves and branches of a potted orchid in the courtyard.

At the sight of Chen Fan returning so early, the old man's trimming hand paused. A plainly visible look of worry and heartache instantly filled his cloudy eyes.

"Xiao Fan, why... are you back so early?"

Chen Ping put down his shears and hurried over, carefully examining his grandson, afraid he would find some injury on him.

"Did something... upset you at school? Did someone bully you?"

As he saw it, coming home early on the first day of school most likely meant he'd been scolded by a teacher, or even sent home.

And since Chen Fan also had "autism," he was naturally worried.

"No." Chen Fan shook his head and put down his schoolbag. "The teacher told me to change classes tomorrow."

He didn't explain further.

A-grade talent, mastering the basics of the Five Elements Stance in five minutes...

These things were too far-fetched. Explaining them would only leave Grandpa more confused and worried.

But to Chen Ping, those vague words took on an entirely different meaning.

Change classes?

A child diagnosed with "autism," told to change classes on the first day of school...

Chen Ping's heart sank.

He could almost imagine it: the school thought his grandson was beyond help and was preparing to transfer him to the worst class, giving up on him entirely.

The old man opened his mouth, wanting to offer some words of comfort, but in the end, all that came out was a long, almost inaudible sigh.

He asked no more and simply turned away in silence, his hunched back looking somewhat forlorn.

"Grandpa will make your favorite sweet-and-sour pork tenderloin."

Watching his grandfather's retreating back, Chen Fan's gaze shifted slightly.

Grandpa misunderstood...

Chen Fan sighed inwardly, but didn't say anything. After all, he was still just a child in their eyes, and explaining too much would be troublesome.

Only strength could dispel all doubts and worries.

He returned to his room and closed the door.

Without a moment's hesitation, Chen Fan immediately lowered his body and bent his knees slightly, assuming a standard opening posture for the Five Elements Stance.

Having learned the basics in the training hall that afternoon, he found the feeling entirely different this time.

If his cultivation that afternoon had been like relying on the instincts of his A-grade talent to kindle a tiny flame while groping in the dark,

then the meridians and acupoints in his body were now like a newly carved riverbed.

He could clearly sense that as he practiced the stance, the nascent qi and blood in his body were no longer a trickling stream, but beginning to surge and flow.

With every breath, he seemed to draw in some kind of free-floating energy from the air. It poured endlessly into his body through his skin, mouth, and nose, strengthening his qi-blood power.

His muscles made faint sounds of tearing and rebuilding as they stretched, while the density of his bones seemed to quietly increase with each exertion of force.

Time passed without him noticing.

Chen Fan was completely absorbed in the exhilaration of his rapidly increasing strength, tireless.

At last, night closed in outside the window, and stars dotted the sky.

"Whew!!"

Chen Fan slowly ended his practice and exhaled a long breath of turbid air.

After an entire afternoon of cultivation, he felt no fatigue whatsoever. Instead, his whole body was brimming with explosive power, and his spirit was more vigorous than ever.

He could keenly sense that the qi and blood in his body had grown many times stronger than they had been that afternoon!

How much stronger?

The moment the thought arose, Chen Fan's gaze involuntarily turned toward the room next door.

It was the master bedroom where his parents had lived before they left.

Chen Fan pushed the door open soundlessly, and a familiar scent, mingled with a trace of dust and his parents' lingering presence, greeted him.

Everything in the room remained as it had been when they left, as though time had stood still here.

He walked to the corner with practiced ease and lifted a white dust cover.

A professional-grade martial arts device of intricate design lay quietly beneath it, gleaming with a metallic sheen.

It was a home qi-blood detector, made by Federation Military Industries. Its precision was exceptionally high, far beyond anything the school's instrument for introducing large batches of students to cultivation could match.

His father had only managed to get this treasure through his connections back then.

Chen Fan wiped the thin layer of dust from the device and switched it on with practiced ease.

A dark blue screen lit up, displaying the initial interface.

Chen Fan took a deep breath and pressed his little index finger against the cold testing port.

He circulated his qi and blood and channeled them into the port, anticipation gradually rising in his heart.

I wonder how many calories my qi and blood can reach now!

Chen Fan thought to himself.

"Beep!"

The numbers on the screen began to jump wildly!

0.1

0.5

1.0

The numbers showed no sign of slowing as they soared, charging madly upward like a ferocious beast that had broken free of its shackles!

1.5

2.0

2.5

Finally, under Chen Fan's suddenly constricted gaze, the wildly jumping numbers came to an abrupt halt and settled clearly into place.

3.1 calories!

Chen Fan's eyes suddenly lit up.

According to martial arts theory, once you master the basics of the Five Elements Stance and sense qi and blood, you count as a quasi-martial artist. But to become a martial artist—that is, to reach the Qi-Blood Realm—you need to bring your qi and blood up to 100 calories!

Ordinary people need at least several years to become martial artists, and some don't manage it until high school.

I never expected my qi and blood to reach 3 calories in just one afternoon!