Mastering a Technique! Seeing the World!

Over the following days, Lu Jue kept his eyes covered with black cloth, refusing to pull it off unless absolutely necessary.

He worked to immerse himself in a blind person's world, using his ears to catch every sound in existence.

The rustle of wind through leaves, the shouts of trainees practicing martial arts in the distance, even the faint hum of insects beating their wings—all became his means of sensing the world.

This deliberate "blindness" made every step difficult, and he often bumped into things, but his hunger for cultivation carried him through as he gradually adapted.

By noon on the third day, Lu Jue was still seated cross-legged in that secluded patch of woods behind the martial arts school, his body as steady as a boulder.

The noon sunlight filtered through gaps in the branches and leaves, casting mottled patches of light and shadow across the ground.

Cicadas droned all around him, birds chirped in the trees, yet his attention remained fixed on a dragonfly passing by.

"Two meters to my left rear?"

"No. More like two and a half meters."

Lu Jue judged silently, without removing the black cloth to confirm the dragonfly's position.

That kind of mistake would pull him straight out of "a blind person's world."

He cast aside the urge to verify it with his eyes and merely sat there quietly, immersing all his focus in the world of sound.

Second by second, time slipped away. His awareness seemed to become an invisible net, lightly enveloping his surroundings.

Gradually, the cicadas and other clamor by his ears faded away. Only the faint sound of that dragonfly's wings beating became clearer and clearer in his perception.

That sound was no longer a vague direction. It gradually condensed into a distinct point.

The frequency produced by its high-speed wingbeats, the rhythm of its wings cutting through the air, even the occasional sound of the dragonfly lightly touching a branch—all turned into streams of data flowing into his mind.

Then, at a certain moment, it was as though a veil of gauze had suddenly been swept aside!

The once-blurry location of the sound source instantly became clear, and a three-dimensional coordinate map naturally formed in his mind.

—The dragonfly was three meters behind him to the right, roughly 1.1 meters above the ground, hovering over a broad leaf!

He had gotten started!

Lu Jue let out a long breath and immediately dragged "Sound Location" into the Fast-Track Slot.

After deducting other losses and focusing on the optimal cultivation path, Sound Location would require another 83 days to reach perfection.

Based on the host's current physical strength, fast-tracking would require: 40 minutes!

Energy Requirement Difficulty: 1

Activate Fast-Track?

"Eighty-three days. As expected, Sound Location is currently the technique that requires the least energy to cultivate from scratch to perfection."

Lu Jue could not completely grasp the panel's exact method for judging the energy required.

Because every time he fast-tracked a technique, his physique improved significantly. With every improvement, the energy needed each day to sustain cultivation and his body also increased.

He could only estimate a rough range based on his current appetite.

"If I ate Spirit Pig Meat, I'd need at least two hundred jin. With the savings I have now, I can afford something of higher quality."

Lu Jue quickly packed up and prepared to head over to Instructor Wang to apply for permission to leave the school.

Although the martial arts school cafeteria also sold high-grade food, it was run by relatives of the school's management.

Not only were the raw ingredients ten percent more expensive than outside market prices, there was also an additional, hefty cooking fee. The value for money was simply too low.

Most commoner students who wanted to enjoy high-grade food either made it into jerky at home or bought canned food outright.

Some went even further, secretly cooking with small pots in their dormitory bathrooms.

Lu Jue planned to buy ingredients at the market, then bring them home and prepare them himself.

When he arrived at the office, Instructor Wang was nowhere to be seen.

Only after making a call did he learn that Instructor Wang had gone out to handle some business and would return in three hours.

The martial arts school did not restrict whether trainees practiced martial arts on campus, but in order to avoid certain liabilities, it strictly required trainees to obtain their chief instructor's signature before leaving school.

Verbal approval was not enough. The gate guard would only let them pass after seeing a signature.

"Then I'll wait." Lu Jue was in no hurry and decided to kill some time at the training ground first.

But just as he stepped out of the office, he received a call from Liu Ga.

"Brother Jue! The entertainment hall! Get over here! I'm taking you out to see the world!"

"What world? Spit it out if you've got something to say!"

"An exchange gathering! There are tons of girls!"

"Hehehe! I didn't want to go, but this was Zeng Qian's invitation! Tell me, do you think she wants to use this chance to confess to me? I'm a little nervous. Come back me up, will you? I heard there's plenty of good food!"

"Fine."

Lu Jue hesitated for a moment before finally deciding to take a look. It was not because of the girls; he had simply eaten too much bland meat soup and Energy Powder lately, and his mouth was so tasteless he could practically taste birds.

Besides, he had voted for that Zeng Qian too. Once he got there, he could eat a little more. When he fast-tracked tonight, he would just happen to spend fewer resources.

When he met up with his two roommates, Lu Jue discovered that there was an extra person in their group. A rather attractive woman in a floral dress stood with them.

"This is Jin Nan! She's coming with us!"

Chen Hong looked rather pleased with himself. Though he and Jin Nan were still far from dating, at least he had the best chance out of everyone in their dorm.

"Hello, handsome. I'm Jin Nan!" Jin Nan shook Lu Jue's hand. As she let go, she even pretended it was unintentional and lightly curled her little finger against his palm.

"Lu Jue."

Lu Jue calmly withdrew his hand and silently glanced at Chen Hong without saying anything else.

On the way to the entertainment hall, Chen Hong was unusually lively. He deliberately put on a mature and composed air, even lowering his voice on purpose when he spoke in an attempt to draw Jin Nan's attention.

Yet Jin Nan's gaze kept drifting, seemingly by chance, toward the quiet and reserved Lu Jue beside them.

The four arrived at a private room in the entertainment hall, where more than twenty people were already seated.

The men and women sat in separate rows. The boys mostly wore fashionable clothes, while the girls had exquisite makeup and swaying skirts.

The air was thick with perfume and the scent of hormones.

At this point, Zeng Qian had yet to arrive. Only a rich kid named Zhang Yang was hosting the gathering, putting on all the airs of the host.

Lu Jue looked down at the ordinary Training Clothes on him, washed so many times they had faded white. He did not feel embarrassed in the slightest. He found himself a seat in a corner and began eating the delicate snacks laid out before him.

It had to be said that the snacks here were indeed exquisitely made. Some of the jerky was even made from Spirit Beef, perfectly to his liking.

Of course, he was not wolfing it down mindlessly. He simply ate at a slightly faster pace, while his movements still retained basic manners.

Seeing this, Chen Hong immediately leaned over and adopted the air of a seasoned veteran as he offered quiet advice:

"Brother Jue, it's not that I want to criticize you, but in a setting like this, you need to act a little more like a gentleman! At this rate, you'll never get a girlfriend!"

"Doesn't matter." Expressionless, Lu Jue picked up another piece of cake and took a bite.

Liu Ga beside him was clearly restless. He had no mind to enjoy the food and just kept straightening his clothes, muttering, "Why hasn't Qianqian come yet? Could she be planning to give me a surprise?"

The dozen or so girls seated opposite them were all dressed in alluring finery. They whispered among themselves, their gazes occasionally sweeping over the boys present.

A woman in a blue off-shoulder evening dress seemed quite interested in the distinctive Lu Jue, who only kept his head down and ate.

Not caring that his outfit clashed completely with the occasion, she raised her drink toward him from afar. Her voice carried a trace of coquettish charm.

"Handsome, what's your name? You look so unfamiliar. Don't tell me you're a junior? Hahaha!"

"My surname is Lu. Just call me Little Lu." Lu Jue merely raised his head and replied politely, then casually grabbed another piece of dried meat.

Seeing that Lu Jue was not interested in her, the woman in blue felt somewhat annoyed, as though her charm had been ignored. She curled her lips and set down her cup.

"Tch, what's he acting so smug for? He starts eating the moment he arrives, like he's never had a meal in his life."

The woman in the pink miniskirt immediately chimed in. Her voice was not loud, but it was enough for nearby people to hear. "Look at what he's wearing. Tsk, tsk, tsk. Training Clothes. Is he trying to pretend he's some expert so he can attract our attention?"

"He is pretty handsome, but he's not exactly bright."

Several girls let out a muffled burst of laughter.

They were commoners too, but at that moment, they seemed to find some illusory sense of superiority through Lu Jue, someone they viewed as "beneath" them. They believed they had already blended into that seemingly higher class.