Ma Ran raised his eyes and said in an even tone, "All 512 acupoints have been calculated."
Su Qiangwei heard him clearly this time.
The other club members heard him clearly as well.
Everyone stared in stunned disbelief, their eyes vacant.
The classroom fell deathly silent. Even a pin dropping could be heard.
"Fifty-eight minutes to calculate the position of the first acupoint."
A pleased smile appeared on Ma Ran's face. He gave the girl a solemn thumbs-up. "You've surpassed your limits again..."
"Very impressive."
He truly meant it.
In his eyes, Su Qiangwei was a typical iron-willed competitor.
In the encrypted files he had read in his previous life, Su Qiangwei had spent a full hour calculating the position of her first acupoint when she first used the Black Rock Stele.
This time, perhaps because of the invisible pressure he had brought and Su Qiangwei's intense desire to win, she had handed in an even more outstanding answer sheet.
"..."
Su Qiangwei pursed her red lips slightly, her eyes dim.
She had gradually grown accustomed to Ma Ran's way of speaking and developed a much stronger mental tolerance. She would no longer be angered into shutting herself away so easily!
However...
She still didn't believe what Ma Ran had said.
Damn it!
He had calculated the positions of 512 acupoints in one hour?
Su Qiangwei felt as if her intelligence had been insulted. "Is that for real? You didn't calculate it wrong, did you?"
Ma Ran glanced at her indifferently. "I verified it. There won't be any mistakes."
"Unless something special comes up with the Black Rock Stele, I probably won't be coming here again."
Verified?
Was that something a human being would say?
Su Qiangwei's expression gradually collapsed.
Ma Ran suddenly extended a finger and held it suspended before the girl's brow.
"This is the Inner Qi I just cultivated."
"You should be able to feel it, right?"
Su Qiangwei was completely dazed. A warm breeze streamed across her forehead, blowing her hair aside and easing her muddled state considerably.
People often said that girls who dared to expose their foreheads were generally confident in their looks.
Looking at Su Qiangwei's new hairstyle, Ma Ran had to admit that the saying did have some basis.
Pretty cute.
Much more pleasing to the eye than before.
If only she could keep her mouth shut, it would be even more perfect.
"Releasing Inner Qi!"
Not far away, Director Huang's pupils contracted. He blurted out, "That's the sign of the Second Stage of Inner Qi!"
Everyone over the age of thirty was cut off from the martial inheritance represented by the Black Rock Stele and had no way to cultivate Inner Qi.
But...
Even if you had never seen a pig run, hadn't you at least eaten pork?
Old Huang had committed all the detailed information on the Black Rock Martial Way, from the first stage to the sixth, to memory.
He knew every stage's characteristics like the back of his hand.
Calculating and filling two acupoints meant reaching the First Stage of Inner Qi.
At this stage, a Black Rock Martial Way cultivator's temples would become fuller, and their eyes would shine more brightly.
Calculating and filling four acupoints meant reaching the Second Stage of Inner Qi!
Its defining characteristic was the external release of Inner Qi!
Although it had no offensive power and was roughly equivalent to a first-speed electric fan, it could relieve fatigue and regulate hidden injuries. It had excellent health-preserving effects.
The strongest Black Rock Martial Way cultivator in China had only just reached this level!
The number of acupoints someone had calculated was highly private. No one could know whether Ma Ran was simply boasting.
But the Second Stage of Inner Qi couldn't be faked!
To be honest...
Huang Weiguo was completely unable to understand Ma Ran's cultivation speed in the Black Rock Martial Way.
Calculation and accumulation.
Inner Qi cultivation could not do without these two major components.
Even if you had an intellect so incredible that you could be called the strongest in history, with everyone else seeming like un evolved monkeys to you, and you could skip the calculation stage entirely, how could you skip the accumulation of Inner Qi?
That stage required vast amounts of time, energy, and nutrients!
Someone who was a small step ahead, like Su Qiangwei, could be called a martial genius.
But how should one evaluate Ma Ran, who was ten kilometers ahead?
Director Huang was at a loss for words.
Just as he began to doubt his life, Dong Huaiming, who had remained silent all this time, sprang forward and shouted at the top of his lungs, "Brother Ran is awesome!"
The words were somewhat vulgar and not particularly elegant, but they expressed his feelings directly and best matched his current state of mind.
Little Ming felt somewhat ashamed.
When Ma Ran had first said the number 512, he had actually instinctively felt a little skeptical!
What did that mean?
It meant he had let down Ma Ran's trust!
True friendship and bonds between Transcendents meant that no matter how illogical or contrary to common sense a friend's words were, you had to trust them without reservation!
Wan Haihao, sitting nearby, was silently watching Ma Ran.
He ran his fingers through his hair and sighed with a complicated expression.
His previous judgment had indeed been correct.
This junior fellow student was like an awl in a bag wherever he went. Sooner or later, he would reveal himself.
He just hadn't expected that day to come so soon.
He wanted to say something as well, just like Dong Huaiming.
But Wan Haihao was ultimately older and more mature. He couldn't express himself as freely and recklessly as a middle school student.
As he found himself caught between advancing and retreating, Director Huang had already recovered.
"I understand now."
Old Huang stared intently at Ma Ran, his face glowing red. "You must possess the special constitution mentioned in the Black Rock database, the kind particularly suited for accumulating Inner Qi!"
Calculating 512 acupoints in one hour...
Everyone had taken those words as Ma Ran joking around and hadn't paid them any attention.
Who among the people sitting here wasn't a genius?
After experiencing it personally, the club members present understood the difficulty of calculating acupoints better than anyone.
As for Huang Weiguo, who had handled the Black Rock Martial Way files of many non-volunteer cultivators, he understood even more.
The astonishing amount of calculation during the calculation stage would have taken at least three times longer if the Black Rock Stele did not possess its special ability to increase a cultivator's mental activity!
Even so, the terrifying strain on the brain during calculation still made people wish they could pass out on the spot.
So...
One hour, 512 acupoints, and all that...
It absolutely couldn't be true!
Even so...
Ma Ran had at least accurately calculated the positions of four acupoints!
And!
He had filled all four acupoints in an extremely short time!
Old Huang knew very well that progress in Inner Qi cultivation was also closely related to one's constitution.
Some people had loved exercising since childhood. With adequate nutrition, they possessed vigorous blood and abundant stamina.
For such people, running a marathon was as easy as playing around. When cultivating the Black Rock Martial Way, they could quickly fill their acupoints with Inner Qi.
Others might calculate acupoints quickly, but their constitutions were inadequate, causing Inner Qi to develop extremely slowly.
But Ma Ran...
Huang Weiguo no longer knew how to describe his talent.
This youth had no shortcomings whatsoever in cultivating the Black Rock Martial Way!
"..."
Su Qiangwei, who had been beaten to the verge of shutting herself away, finally came to her senses.
She stared fixedly at Ma Ran. The look in her eyes was as if she had seen an indescribable monster.
"You..."
What kind of demon or monster are you?!
A genius?
To hell with geniuses!
A true genius was someone like her, Su Qiangwei!
Spending three hours a day to calculate three acupoints in total.
Then, with the Black Rock Stele's help, refining Inner Qi.
She was expected to spend a week filling two acupoints and reach the First Stage of Inner Qi!
Someone like Ma Ran...
Su Qiangwei generally used four words to describe them.
"Terrifying beyond words!"
Before you continue