Breaking the Shackles of Genius

"Wake up!"

A voice suddenly rang in Li Yi's ear as he was immersed in cultivation.

He was jolted awake at once, his cultivation interrupted.

Lin Yue looked at him with a half-smile. "You really didn't stand on ceremony. The moment you entered cultivation, you stayed there for a full four hours, leaving me to serve as your guide the whole time."

"Four hours already?" Li Yi was startled and glanced out the window.

It was already dark outside. Checking the time, he saw that it was seven in the evening.

He had never expected so much time to pass in a single cultivation session.

"I checked your talent just now. Over these four hours, I guided a hundred portions of Cosmic Energy into your body. During that time, you absorbed forty-five portions in total, while all the rest dispersed. That puts your Cosmic Energy absorption efficiency at forty-five percent," Lin Yue said.

Just as I thought, Li Yi thought to himself.

The Cosmic Energy that had actively surged into his body had indeed been deliberately guided by Lin Yue.

"Sister Lin, is forty-five percent a very low number?" he asked afterward.

Lin Yue said, "The data is a little low, but considering that this was your first time cultivating, it's understandable. My own first result was only seventy percent. Overall, you have a little talent and can walk the path of cultivation. As long as you work hard, you can still achieve something."

"So I have talent, but not much of it. Is that what you mean?" Li Yi gave a self-mocking smile. "That really is awful."

"No, this is already a very good result. As your cultivation experience deepens, your energy conversion rate can still improve. I estimate reaching around sixty-five percent won't be a problem," Lin Yue said.

"That's only barely passing."

Lin Yue rolled her eyes. "Passing is already very good. Did you see those trainees during the day? Even after cultivating for a while, their numbers are only around forty or fifty percent. Put you in a training class, and you'd count as an outstanding student."

"What are the numbers for cultivation geniuses? One hundred percent?" Li Yi suddenly asked curiously.

"No. One hundred percent doesn't count as genius-level. True geniuses are all above two hundred percent," Lin Yue said.

"..." Li Yi was speechless.

He had thought the test was scored out of one hundred, and that getting sixty-five would be decent. He had not expected the maximum score to have no ceiling at all.

"Oh, right, Sister Lin. When you were guiding Cosmic Energy into my body just now, did you sense a special energy field?" Li Yi suddenly asked.

Lin Yue frowned. "A special energy field? No, I didn't. In my perception, there was only a grayish-white world. There wasn't any special energy field. Why? Did you sense one? If you did, you need to be especially careful. It could be a suddenly opened wormhole. Your consciousness must never get sucked in, or it could easily be damaged. In severe cases, you could fall unconscious for months; in mild cases, you could suffer headaches for days."

"I understand." Li Yi nodded solemnly.

He was puzzled. The energy field he had sensed should have been emitted by the Knife Coin, so why had Lin Yue failed to sense it?

Could it be that the energy field of the incomplete Knife Coin was too small, making its range limited?

"Haha, don't be busy cultivating anymore. Come, come, come. I ordered several good dishes from the hotel next door. Let's have a proper meal today. Niece, there are even your favorite braised prawns." At that moment, Uncle Biao's voice rang out. In high spirits, he walked in carrying a pile of takeaway containers.

"Uncle, you're spending money recklessly again," Lin Yue said.

"Once you've earned money, you should eat and drink well. Otherwise, what fun is there in life?" Uncle Biao eagerly opened the containers. "Look, there's beer too. Li Yi, let's have a few drinks. We won't go home until we're drunk."

"Uh, I don't know how to drink," Li Yi said.

Uncle Biao threw an arm around his neck and laughed. "You're already a twenty-year-old grown man. How can you not know how to drink? I'll teach you."

It was not until ten that night that Li Yi left Uncle Biao's meditation room, slightly tipsy.

The cool night wind blew over him, and he shuddered before immediately regaining his senses. His somewhat muddled head cleared again.

Without wasting any more time, he hurried home as fast as he could.

On the way, Li Yi quietly mulled things over. Now I can be certain that the half Knife Coin in my hand is a strange artifact. I still don't know what unusual abilities it has, but at the very least, it can help me cultivate. And from what Lin Yue said, my cultivation talent isn't bad. Compared with most people, I'm above average.

But what I need to consider now is how to keep this incomplete strange artifact. After all, I still can't hold onto it securely. Once that group finishes dealing with Investigator Wang Jian, they'll definitely come looking for me. At that point, only two paths will remain before me.

Either hand it over in exchange for enough benefits and the Investigation Bureau's protection, or take the risk of keeping it. As for Old Crow's side? Sorry, I don't know them well enough.

Li Yi was actually inclined toward the latter.

After all, Old Crow's group did not know for certain that he had obtained the strange artifact. Besides himself, Wang Hu and Wei Li had each taken something that day as well. Moreover, he was worried that if he exposed the item, they might choose to silence him forever.

A cultivator could kill him in a single exchange. Li Yi did not dare gamble that they would keep their promise.

With a measure of apprehension and unease, Li Yi returned home.

He first greeted his parents, then checked the Medical Pod. Once he confirmed that it was functioning properly, he looked at the remaining amount of Nutrient Solution inside it.

Nutrient Solution: Less than 10%.

The flashing warning forced Li Yi to worry again.

He checked the balance on his phone: 1876.

That amount was only enough to buy one dose of Nutrient Solution. He could not even afford two.

"Wasn't the arrival of this day something I had long expected?" Li Yi sat alone in the living room and sank into silence.

Ever since his parents became Silent Ones, the family's expenses had exceeded its income. Unless his parents woke up, the household money would sooner or later be drained dry. All his hard work at various jobs did was delay that day's arrival.

It was just that Li Yi himself had never expected six years to pass in the blink of an eye.

Before, he had naively believed that his parents would wake up after two or three years. But now, even another three years might not change anything.

"Perhaps handing over the incomplete strange artifact is the right choice. With a sum of money, at least my family can live steadily and safely, and I may even have a chance to continue cultivating."

As Li Yi rubbed the half Knife Coin in his hand and looked at his parents lying in the Medical Pods in the room, the thought surfaced in his heart.

"But I risked my life and only luckily picked up something capable of changing my fate. If I give it up today, I'll probably regret it for the rest of my life. And as long as I'm given a little time, my cultivation will soon bear fruit. Once I become a cultivator, earning money will become much easier. How could a few doses of Nutrient Solution possibly stump me then?"

After a brief hesitation, Li Yi reaffirmed his decision. He looked once more at his parents in the room and said, "Dad, Mom, let me gamble on this once. If you wake up someday, I believe you'll understand my choice."

With that, he gripped the incomplete Knife Coin, closed his eyes again, and sat down, beginning to clear away distracting thoughts and enter a meditative cultivation state.

Since he was going to gamble, he could not waste a single second. The future was impossible to grasp, but the present was within his grasp. As long as the strange artifact remained in his hands, Li Yi would cultivate desperately. Only by becoming strong enough would he no longer need to fear the trouble that was about to come.

Very soon.

He entered the same state he had experienced during the day.

Within his perception, the incomplete Knife Coin emitted a small energy field. Under the influence of his thoughts, pure energy was guided into Li Yi's body.

Perhaps Li Yi's cultivation numbers were not high, and his energy conversion rate was only forty-five percent, but with this incomplete strange artifact, he did not need to spend time capturing energy leaking from wormholes, nor did he need to worry about energy being wasted.

Talent was no longer quite so important to him.

Even geniuses spent most of a night's cultivation capturing energy, while scarce pure Cosmic Energy was the greatest shackle limiting a genius's cultivation.

With the strange artifact's help, Li Yi could break those shackles. The results of one night's cultivation could surpass a genius's by several times, or even dozens of times.

At the same time.

Late at night, in the Old Town District.

Ning Wu, tall and slender with a long single ponytail, emerged from the Investigation Bureau behind her alongside her accomplice Old Crow and a group of subordinates dressed in black suits.

"Ning Wu, although someone stepped forward to bail you out, I advise your group to restrain yourselves. If you dare cause trouble again, I guarantee you won't see the outside of a prison cell for ten years," Investigator Wang Jian warned from behind them.

"Hmph."

Ning Wu snorted in dissatisfaction and walked away without looking back.

Once they had left the Investigation Bureau's area, she immediately stopped and said, "Old Crow, you must contact Wang Hu, Wei Li, and Li Yi in the shortest possible time, regardless of the cost. Make them return the items, so that a long night does not breed dreams."

"Of course. I don't want to see any more accidents either," Old Crow nodded.

Light flickered in Ning Wu's eyes, and she gritted her teeth in fury. "If Wang Jian hadn't suddenly stuck his oar in, how could things have become so complicated? We would have gotten the item back in the Ruined City."

"Ning Wu, don't rush. They're all ordinary people, so they won't be hard to find. Besides, even if they really got something valuable, they won't recognize its worth. At worst, we raise the price a little. Their eyes will light up at the sight of money, and I'm sure they'll be willing to hand it over," Old Crow said.

"It had better be that way. My patience is nearly exhausted. This concerns a strange artifact."

Ning Wu took several deep breaths to calm herself down.