Wan Haihao's words brought knowing smiles to everyone present.
Although progress was slow and they seemed to have hit a bottleneck, everyone was confident that one day, they would truly reach the Nine Stages of Inner Qi.
"What will happen if we completely exhaust all our inner qi one day?"
"Will we fall back to Inner Qi Stage Zero and start accumulating from scratch?"
By this point, everyone present already had an answer in mind.
That kind of situation was, of course, impossible.
If exhausting all the inner qi caused the acupoints to wither and the stage to fall, requiring massive amounts of time and effort to fill them again, then it would be far too useless.
"Could it still be a matter of splitting the mind into five hundred and twelve parts, controlling multiple lines at once, and extracting biological energy from the cells to cultivate?"
That guess was impossible as well.
This was no longer the Middle Ages, when the people were ignorant and unenlightened.
The members present were all young people with exceptional intelligence, educated under the modern system.
They could never be satisfied with merely "knowing what happens without knowing why."
As they deduced the workings of the acupoints, everyone would subconsciously ponder the principles behind them.
While cultivating inner qi, they would delve into its mysteries.
The questions Wan Haihao had raised were actually things the members had considered to some extent in private.
Inner qi followed the law of conservation of matter and energy.
Those who cultivated Black Rock Stele martial arts could not act like misers who only put in and never took out.
Using inner qi inevitably caused losses.
The claim that "cultivating inner qi is equivalent to expanding one's maximum MP; using up some inner qi does not reduce the maximum, so it can slowly recover automatically" did seem plausible.
At first listen, it sounded somewhat reasonable.
But with even a little deeper examination, one would discover that it simply did not hold up!
"If my guess is correct..."
"The way to solve this problem..."
"Should be to let the acupoints develop into fully formed miniature organs, right?"
Wan Haihao's voice grew softer and softer. The confident air he had possessed when he first arrived at Caolu Academy was nowhere to be seen. "As long as the process of the acupoints absorbing biological energy and refining it into inner qi is made semi-automatic, or even fully automatic, this problem can be solved."
"Accumulating inner qi is a process in which quantitative change produces qualitative change."
"Once the acupoints truly become fully developed miniature organs and form an inner qi circulation system, after the inner qi is consumed, as long as the body has sufficient nutrients, the acupoints that were once filled will naturally generate inner qi continuously."
Wan Haihao scratched his head, feeling his old face grow hot. "I don't specialize in bioengineering, so I'm something of an outsider in this area. Please correct me if I've said anything wrong."
When he had first heard Ma Ran speak, he had felt his thoughts becoming exceptionally clear and had come up with quite a few ideas. Now, however, he could no longer express them clearly and accurately.
With Ma Ran staring at him, Wan Haihao felt his palms grow slick with sweat, and his mind went completely blank. Some words reached the tip of his tongue, only to be forgotten again.
There were only two words.
Nervous!
Even during the college entrance examination, Wan Haihao had never felt this miserable.
Ma Ran had not said a single word, but his gaze alone made Wan Haihao's heart pound wildly, while sweat poured down his back.
With his mouth dry and tongue parched, Wan Haihao suddenly felt as if he were being watched by some high-ranking superior.
Ma Ran thought Wan Haihao's explanation was a complete mess and had gone miles off topic.
On the surface, however, Ma Ran still led everyone in applauding and gave him the highest recognition. "Senior Wan's idea is excellent!"
"Accumulation alone is useless."
"In cultivating inner qi, we must prioritize the process of 'organ formation.'"
"The question everyone wants to ask me should be related to refining the first wisp of inner qi, right?"
As soon as he finished speaking, the members who had been somewhat drowsy instantly woke up. They all widened their eyes, focused their attention, and listened intently.
The process of refining inner qi...
Was easy for those who understood it, but impossible for those who did not.
As Su Qiangwei would put it—wasn't this something anyone with a brain could do?
But the thirty-one members present, including Wan Haihao, genuinely could not do it!
Even if they ate high-energy nutritional supplements until they were stuffed, the biological energy their acupoints could obtain amounted to only the tiniest thread. Before it could be converted into inner qi, it would immediately be voraciously absorbed by the other cells.
They had no way to make the acupoints' energy-supply channels seize control of the digestive system and compete with their own cells for biological energy.
The body's instincts...
Were not so easy to overcome!
"I noticed the problems everyone was encountering two days ago."
Ma Ran's tone was calm. "From that moment on, I planned to use the process of organ formation in the acupoints to create a guidance technique that would help newcomers cultivating the Black Rock Martial Way smoothly refine their first wisp of inner qi."
"As long as you refine your first wisp of inner qi through this method, your body will automatically remember the 'Life Sublimation' process that surpasses instinct."
"Learning it once means you will never need to worry about it again."
"One proof is eternal proof!"
"I will temporarily name this technique..."
"'Black Rock Guidance Technique.'"
Ma Ran had not actually created this ability. In fact, he had no clue how to do so.
He had spent most of the past few days holed up studying the You Script. How could he have had time to waste on this?
The "Black Rock Guidance Technique" did not exist.
Originally, Ma Ran had planned to add, "It won't take long for me to truly perfect it and promote it throughout the various academies," but just as the words reached his lips, before he could say them, a wealth of profound knowledge surfaced in his mind.
Knowledge known as the "Black Rock Guidance Technique"!
Obviously...
Everyone present—the soldiers in uniform, both men and women, and even the cafeteria uncles and aunties—was willing to believe in Ma Ran!
Because this performance had not created something from nothing out of thin air, it did not need to gain the recognition of too many people.
The little technique known as the "Black Rock Guidance Technique" naturally emerged, and Ma Ran truly mastered it!
Unfortunately...
There was no Proliferation Medal.
His performance ability seemed to look down on this "insignificant" little skill, which did not provide much help to Ma Ran's overall personal strength.
"About the 'Black Rock Guidance Technique'..."
Ma Ran raised his brows, his gaze focusing on Wan Haihao. "Would anyone like to come over and cooperate?"
Wan Haihao's mouth was dry, and his expression was somewhat dazed.
When he came back to himself, he realized that he had somehow raised his hand.
"I... I'll do it!"
Of the four people who had come to Caolu Academy in the same vehicle, Ma Ran was not worth comparing himself with. That would be overestimating himself and courting humiliation.
But Su Qiangwei and Dong Huaiming had both successfully refined inner qi!
Yet he, their much more experienced senior, had made no progress at all!
He could not keep sinking like this!
When an opportunity appeared, he had to seize it immediately!
With Wan Haihao's active cooperation, Ma Ran quickly locked onto the location of the acupoint waiting to be developed in his body—1.5 millimeters to the left of the Tanzhong point, three centimeters beneath the dermis.
He extended his left hand, his index finger hovering over Wan Haihao's sternum, then turned it slightly to adjust its direction.
As the inner qi circulated, a warm current pierced through the thick clothing and flowed into Wan Haihao's acupoint.
Hahah, a day overflowing with positive energy had begun!
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