17 Has a Brain

The "Method of Suffering and Grinding," as the name implies, aims to strengthen mental fortitude through pain and hardship.

It pushes trainees to experience, understand, and endure as much suffering as possible, without causing permanent physical harm.

This goes beyond mere physical pain, encompassing trials for the senses and the mind.

Each person's capacity to withstand physical and mental strain is different.

Therefore, anyone wishing to undergo training with the "Method of Suffering and Grinding" must submit an application beforehand. Upon approval, they will receive access to equipment, medical resources, a customized plan, and a mentor.

The side effects of the "Method of Suffering and Grinding" are...

It can lead to mental breakdown in trainees.

And the failure rate is very high.

Before his rebirth, although people applied to train with the "Method of Suffering and Grinding" every week, causing the failure rate to fluctuate, Ma Ran vaguely remembers a figure.

A 93.52% dropout rate!

This means that out of one hundred people who were fully mentally prepared to attempt the "Method of Suffering and Grinding," even with the most scientific and correct guidance, at least ninety-three would be unable to endure the pain, choose to quit, and give up halfway.

In addition to voluntary withdrawal, even when training strictly according to regulations, there is a one percent "collapse rate."

This refers to those who do not voluntarily withdraw but experience mental breakdown midway due to personal circumstances.

Senior Wan Haihao, who had been trying to get closer to Ma Ran, was one of the "collapsers" from the "Method of Suffering and Grinding."

The training is extremely difficult, but the rewards are naturally substantial.

Anyone who successfully completes the "Method of Suffering and Grinding" is an elite warrior, forged in steel, who never falters.

Ma Ran is one of them!

Having completed the training with the "Method of Suffering and Grinding" once, he won't need to do it again in this lifetime.

Ma Ran, who never gave up even when fighting to the last moment in his previous life, possesses an incredibly resilient spirit and will, ranking among the very best of humanity on Earth.

This is considered one of the benefits left over from before his rebirth.

"..."

Ma Ran didn't immediately reveal the specific details of the "Method of Suffering and Grinding" to Director Huang Weiguo.

Firstly, in everyone's eyes, he was just a novice transcendent who had recently started Inner Qi cultivation. Even with slightly faster progress, his knowledge was still limited.

Secondly, Ma Ran's currently widely recognized identity was merely that of a "super genius cultivating the Black Rock Stele Martial Way," and his influence was not significant enough.

Most importantly...

Ma Ran could use his [Acting] ability to create a mental strength tempering secret art that was more suitable for widespread adoption, consumed fewer resources, and was more effective.

In the current plan, to better cope with disasters, modifying and optimizing the Inner Qi system takes priority over creating mental secret arts.

And so, the members of Caolu Academy studied the Black Rock Inscription in the morning and attended Moral Studies class in the afternoon.

Their evenings were free to allocate as they wished.

Whether they wanted to work overtime to cultivate Inner Qi or just play games and watch shows.

Caolu Academy had no mandatory intervention measures.

The members who were previously university students or had already graduated remained relatively calm.

For many members who were previously middle school students, this place was practically heaven!

No more waking up at five in the morning for washing and morning drills, no more evening study sessions until eleven, and no endless stacks of practice tests...

All they had to do each day was deduce the positions of their acupoints, eat and drink heartily, and focus on cultivating Inner Qi.

It was incredibly exhilarating!

Studying and taking tests yielded minimal results for these young geniuses, offering almost no sense of accomplishment. It was purely to appease their parents' hopes and expectations and to get into a good university.

Now, staying at Caolu Academy in Gulunzhong, despite being tired every day, the sense of accomplishment was immense!

The Inner Qi cultivation system was clearly defined, unlike the vague power realms in fantasy stories. As long as a certain number of acupoints were filled with Inner Qi, one would automatically reach the next stage.

The feeling of progressing and getting stronger every day, and being able to quantify it, was a thousand times more satisfying than playing an online game!

No!

Ten thousand times more!

No matter how good an online game was, it couldn't make a player even one percent stronger. But Inner Qi cultivation could grant them greater strength, faster speed, and stronger endurance. It was even said that cultivating Inner Qi could eliminate many illnesses and prolong life.

How could they even compare?

There was no comparison!

However...

Not everyone's cultivation experience was this good.

It was rare for someone to possess top-tier intellect and a robust physique simultaneously.

Among the first batch of members at Caolu Academy, a total of thirty-one individuals had excessively weak physical conditions, requiring a significant amount of time for recuperation and to compensate for their bodily deficiencies.

Practicing inner energy when you're sickly will only make you weaker.

So they have to be patient and nurse their bodies back to health, bit by bit.

These unfortunate members, with insufficient stomach capacity and weak digestive absorption, had the high-nutrition food they consumed absorbed greedily by their body's cells before it could even be converted into inner energy.

Their speed in deducing acupoints wasn't slow; they had basically met Director Huang's expectations.

But...

For a full three days!

These thirty-one members hadn't cultivated even a wisp of inner energy, let alone filled two acupoints to officially reach Inner Qi Stage One.

On the morning of the fourth day.

Ma Ran pushed open his door and found the dormitory entrance crowded with members.

His gaze swept over them, exactly thirty-one people.

"Good morning, Ma Ran!"

"Morning, Ma Ran!"

The members eagerly greeted him, calling out his name.

The scene was eerily similar to the proselytizing and brainwashing tactics of some unconventional cults.

Wan Haihao's gaze locked onto Ma Ran's face, and he subconsciously thought of a peculiar term—cult leader.

Shaking his head and casting the chaotic thoughts aside, Wan Haihao sheepishly began, "We have quite a few questions regarding inner energy cultivation and wanted to ask for your guidance."

"We discussed it in our WeChat group. We originally planned to bother you after dinner tonight, but seeing the situation, everyone's been too restless to sleep properly without cultivating inner energy."

"As soon as it got light, everyone rushed over."

What he said was half-true and half-false.

The actual situation was...

This group of people had been discussing the problem of acupoint deduction in their newly created WeChat group, comparing the number of acupoints each of them had found.

It was a friendly competition among novices, and the atmosphere was harmonious.

Dong Huaiming, who had been silently lurking, suddenly popped up and disrupted everyone's peaceful state of mind with a single sentence: "If you can't cultivate inner energy, why not ask Brother Ran?"

That sentence struck them like a morning bell, awakening the dazed members.

Right...

Why not ask Ma Ran?

Was it because he had a cool and aloof demeanor, and they were too proud to ask, so they just pretended there was no one around to learn from or seek guidance from?

Wasn't that just deceiving themselves?

For several consecutive mornings, Ma Ran hadn't gone to the Black Rock Stele.

However, during their Moral Studies class in the afternoon, everyone could feel Ma Ran's aura becoming sharper and his presence more imposing!

There was only one truth—Ma Ran hadn't lied!

He had truly calculated 512 acupoints in just one hour!

These past few days, Ma Ran had been cultivating on his own in the dormitory, and the gap between him and everyone else was widening!

Aside from Ma Ran's unparalleled progress, the other members who had cultivated inner energy were progressing at roughly the same pace.

Someone tagged Su Qiangwei, who, like Ma Ran, wasn't very active and had clearly muted the group messages.

"@QiangQiangQiangQiang, you've also cultivated inner energy. Do you have any experience to share?"

The reply they received made everyone's veins bulge, wishing they could drag her out and beat her up.

"There are really people who can't cultivate inner energy?"

"Don't you just need a brain for this?"

Those two sentences kept the group awake all night.

Around four or five in the morning, before dawn, they put on their thick down jackets and one by one came to Ma Ran's door, standing silently in the cold wind like zombies.

hahhah, update complete! So happy!

Requesting some recommendation tickets! Recommendation tickets are quite important during the new book period!

Brothers and sisters!

See you tomorrow!