13 "I Think I Suddenly Went Deaf Just Now"

The other members of the group weren't doing any better.

The Academy members, who had originally been spirited and brimming with confidence, were now all frowning with solemn expressions, looking as though they carried the weight of the world on their shoulders.

After concentrating, the patterns on the Black Rock Inscription gradually began appearing in their minds.

No matter how they looked at them, the patterns made their heads ache. They were completely impossible to understand.

The lines were even more chaotic than the scrawls of ghosts and gods, making their eyes ache just from looking at them.

Yet after staring at them for a long time, they inexplicably began to understand the meanings contained within.

The members' spirits grew unusually excited.

What was a supernatural phenomenon?

This was it!

It didn't necessarily have to involve holding thunder and fire in one's hands, stepping on azure clouds, or riding the wind through the void.

Anything that current technology was temporarily unable to explain could be called a supernatural phenomenon!

The first batch of members gradually realized that every pattern imprinted into their minds from the Black Rock Stele contained a considerable amount of information!

A tiny pattern contained thousands of bytes of information.

Time passed second by second.

The first batch of members participating in deciphering the inscription struggled on, finally holding out for an hour.

"Phew... This is way too difficult, isn't it?"

"It's even more mentally exhausting than doing twenty exam papers in a row without any breaks."

"Compared to rushing my graduation thesis, this is practically child's play!"

"Hahaha! I'm almost done calculating the location of the first acupoint! Give me another half hour, and I'll be able to refine essence into qi and officially set foot on the martial path!"

"Awesome! I'll probably need another two hours before I can calculate my first acupoint..."

"This stele really does have something special... When I'm beside it, I feel like I've taken stimulants. The moment I leave, I wilt immediately, as if I've stayed up for three days and three nights. I just want to lie down on the floor."

"Are you showing off how good your stamina is? If you still have the energy to talk, you're not tired enough!"

The members with genuinely weak constitutions didn't have the energy to blabber away here.

Every last one of them was drenched in sweat, slumped against their chairs like dead dogs and panting heavily.

Judging by their appearances, people would believe them if they said they had just run five kilometers.

Perhaps because he had traveled around the world for years, Dong Huaiming had pretty good stamina. Or perhaps because his brain had been operating beyond its limits, his face was flushed dark red and white steam rose from the top of his head, yet his spirits were even higher than before.

"Come on, Brother Ran!"

Although he had only known Ma Ran for two days, Little Ming had already come to regard him as a friend. Seeing Ma Ran go to decipher the inscription, he was even more excited than when he had gone up himself. "You're definitely the kind of genius who can calculate one acupoint in an hour!"

"I believe in you!"

Hearing this, Su Qiangwei curled her lips. She wanted to say something, but ultimately kept quiet.

She suppressed her urge to make a sarcastic remark.

It was better not to jinx herself.

What if she turned out to be a good-for-nothing who needed three to five days to calculate one acupoint? If someone brought up what she had said now and mocked her with it later, wouldn't she be humiliated beyond belief?

They weren't given much time to chat.

Under the guidance of the soldiers in uniform, the twenty-four members of the second group took their seats in an orderly manner and formed a circle around the Black Rock Stele.

Sitting before the Black Rock Stele, Ma Ran leaned back comfortably in his chair, his expression calm.

This had little to do with confidence.

He had a cheat.

As a Reborn One, Ma Ran had firmly memorized the locations of every acupoint in his body. It was impossible for him to forget them.

Even taking the worst-case scenario into account—if an accident occurred, all the acupoints he had previously calculated became invalid, and he had to start over—the proliferative ability of the Academic Demon wasn't there merely as decoration.

One glance.

With just one glance, Ma Ran immediately grasped all the information on the inscription.

There was no difference from before his rebirth.

In his eyes, the Black Rock Inscription was simply a strangely shaped supercomputer with a single function. Its hard drive stored some important information, and it could also be used to calculate the locations of acupoints.

To be cautious, Ma Ran still entered the answers he already knew and verified them once.

After completing the verification and ensuring there wasn't the slightest error, Ma Ran took out his phone and checked the time.

Only fifty-six minutes had passed.

Looking outside the schoolhouse, he saw Director Huang on the phone.

"What's going on, Comrade?"

"The data I received here is incomplete!"

"A young man named Ma Ran asked me a question earlier. It caught me off guard, and I didn't know how to answer."

"Whether I was embarrassed or not doesn't matter. What's at stake is the reputation of our Caolu Academy."

"I'm warning you..."

Blah blah blah.

The researchers who had been berated until they were thoroughly humiliated felt wronged.

Ma Ran could completely understand their grievance.

After all, the grade of Inner Qi was directly proportional to one's combat power, but that didn't mean that a higher grade necessarily made one stronger.

Combat power and attribute data were closely related to weight, age, gender, basic physical constitution, genes, and many other factors.

Could a seventy-pound, four-foot-nine weakling at Inner Qi Stage Two beat a six-foot-two, 180-pound muscular man at Inner Qi Stage One?

The answer was obviously no!

So data like strength and speed were also difficult to measure according to a unified standard.

There was no such thing as "Inner Qi Stage One gives you one hundred pounds of strength, Stage Two gives you one hundred and fifty pounds, and so on."

Reality wasn't a computer game. Inner Qi's effects on the human body were neither fixed values nor percentage increases. They were affected by many factors.

"Hahahaha!"

"Fifty-eight minutes! I've calculated the location of my first acupoint!"

Su Qiangwei sprang up from her little stool, provoking angry glares from many members of the second group.

"Sorry! Sorry!"

"Brothers and sisters, I didn't mean to!"

Su Qiangwei pressed her palms together, stuck out her tongue, and apologized cutely. "I didn't expect to be the first one to calculate it. I'm sorry... Hehe..."

The members felt as if someone had stuffed a lump of feces into their mouths. They were sickened.

How could a perfectly good sentence sound so irritating coming from her mouth?

After Director Huang received the report outside the schoolhouse, he immediately hung up and hurried inside.

His emotions were agitated, and his face was flushed. "What?"

"Fifty-eight minutes?"

"The fastest record in the country belongs to Zhu Hanyi of the Green Lotus Academic Society, who calculated an acupoint in sixty minutes!"

Some people existed solely to raise the upper limit of the average.

Calculating an acupoint in under an hour could be called...

No!

Su Qiangwei was currently the fastest person on the domestic record!

After Director Huang entered the schoolhouse, the members of the second group also completed their first calculation.

They still needed another round before they could successfully determine the location of the first acupoint in their bodies.

Only then could they use the Black Rock Stele to refine their first wisp of Inner Qi.

Wan Haihao, like Dong Huaiming, was just a little short. He would probably need another hour or so to calculate his first acupoint.

"This is a genius!"

A smile blossomed across Old Huang's face. The more he looked at Su Qiangwei, the more he felt that the young girl was delightful.

He had originally favored Ma Ran more.

After all, Ma Ran was the only high school student to score full marks on the impromptu test.

But now, it seemed that Su Qiangwei had taken the lead. Her talent in martial arts was probably even greater!

"I'll chat with you later. I'm going to say a few words to my friend first."

Su Qiangwei brushed Old Huang off, then walked over to Ma Ran with light, quick steps.

Her gaze burned brightly, and her beautiful eyes shimmered with triumph. "How did it go?"

"If there's anything you don't understand, you can come ask me!"

The sky had cleared.

The rain had stopped.

Qiangwei felt like she was on top of the world again.

Hearing this, Ma Ran raised his brows slightly. After thinking for a moment, he said solemnly, "I've finished calculating all five hundred and twelve acupoints."

???

Su Qiangwei's face was blank with confusion.

She spread her hands and rubbed her ears. "I think I suddenly went deaf just now. Say that again."

Hehehe...

The update was complete!

See you tomorrow, everyone!