"What exactly is qi?"
Within the Study Space, Jiang Yan sat cross-legged in meditation, raising a question about this abstract concept that had troubled countless martial artists.
"You are sensing the existence of qi. Your sensitivity to qi has slightly increased."
Well, Jiang Yan did not need to worry at all. Heaven Rewards Diligence would provide the answer.
"You are sensing the existence of qi. Your sensitivity to qi has slightly increased." "You are sensing the existence of qi. Your sensitivity to qi has slightly increased."
At midnight, Jiang Yan opened his eyes, pleasantly surprised. Within his field of vision, boundless qi filled heaven and earth, roaming through the void.
Red, scarlet, orange, yellow, green, cyan, blue, purple, white... qi of every color imaginable was present.
Some people were naturally sensitive to elemental spiritual qi, so they saw more colorful qi.
Others lacked that talent and could only see white qi.
But Jiang Yan was different. He could see qi of every color, with no distinction between primary and secondary.
Generally speaking, qi was an extremely abstract thing. Some people exhausted their entire lives without ever being able to observe it, while some extraordinarily gifted martial artists could sense it after just half a year or so.
Comprehending qi depended solely on one's personal insight, but someone like Jiang Yan, who successfully sensed qi in a single day, was absolutely unprecedented.
Jiang Yan had thought that he would only comprehend the existence of qi after entering university. He had not expected to complete what he had planned for later in just one day. It truly was an unexpected delight.
What he did not know was that qi was not actually as distant from martial artists as the world imagined. More often than not, all that separated them was an opportunity—a single door.
Some people could not see that door, so they ran around outside the room in a state of panic, unable to comprehend the existence of qi for a long time.
And Heaven Rewards Diligence's trait allowed Jiang Yan to approach that door step by step. Though it was slow, the direction was right, so he found that door with ease.
Across the whole of Blue Star, very few high school students found that door before the College Entrance Exam—unless they had an eighth- or ninth-rank martial artist father beside them to guide them. Those cheaters did not count.
Jiang Yan had found the door—that was, he had discovered "qi." The problem he now faced was how to push open that door and successfully draw qi into his body.
The first strand of qi was especially important to a martial artist, because it determined their future cultivation path.
Jiang Yan was not the type to bury his head in bitter cultivation, so he had done plenty of research beforehand.
For example, if the first strand of qi you absorbed was a fire element, then your future cultivation would likely be tied to the fire element.
The first strand of qi was also called the mother qi. It was stored within a martial artist's body, and if the qi absorbed afterward conflicted with the mother qi, there was a high chance the body would undergo a marvelous chemical reaction.
Bang! The body exploded, and death followed.
Therefore, the first strand of qi was extremely important. It determined the tone of your cultivation from then on.
Some geniuses often remained at second-stage Blood Condensation Perfection. Though they had comprehended qi, they delayed absorbing it and breaking through.
Why?
Because they were considering their futures. They all hoped to find the most suitable, most powerful qi to serve as their mother qi.
Jiang Yan was now facing two problems:
First: what kind of qi should he seek?
Second: how should he absorb qi?
There was no time left. Finding suitable qi within the few remaining hours was nothing more than a fool's dream.
Jiang Yan simply withdrew from meditation, lay down on the bed, and fell into a deep sleep.
He needed to restore his energy. He had not rested properly these past days, so he treated these few hours as a reward for himself.
The next day, Jiang Yan turned off his alarm and began organizing his gear.
Old Wang still could not resist giving Jiang Yan a few reminders, then watched his departing figure with a complicated look in his eyes.
The anchor point established by the Space Martial Saint was near the city government. It was normally guarded by heavily armed troops, and ordinary people could not enter.
At this moment, the usually desolate City Lord's Manor was a sea of people.
Linjiang City had three high schools, with a total of one thousand candidates taking the exam. Most of them were ordinary martial artists who had not even opened their apertures.
Though they had not opened their apertures and cultivated slowly, everyone only had one chance to take the College Entrance Exam in their life. If they could not experience it, would their years of schooling not have been for nothing?
From afar, Jiang Yan watched the packed crowd and occasionally heard his own name arise in other people's conversations.
"Quick, where's that big shot named Jiang Yan?"
"An SS-rank talent! I really want to see what he actually looks like."
"Hahaha, to tell you the truth, I'm from Linjiang First High School too. I even went to a foot bath with Jiang Yan once. You could say we have a bond stronger than life itself."
"Wow, you actually know Jiang Yan? What kind of person is he?"
"Uh... well... he's quite the figure."
Jiang Yan's face darkened, because he did not know that guy at all.
Fortunately, Jiang Yan had put on a baseball cap beforehand. He lowered the brim and stood at the edge of the crowd.
"Quiet!"
Before long, a burly man in military uniform stepped forward, his thunderous voice instantly drowning out all the candidates.
"Now, enter the scanning device in an orderly manner for inspection. You may not carry any metal equipment."
"After the inspection, select a standard-issue weapon from the armory. You may not use your own weapon without authorization."
"You may not take drugs that temporarily increase your strength."
"You may not..."
The uniformed man recited a long list of rules. Jiang Yan listened carefully; the content was no different from previous years.
"Alright, you may now undergo inspection."
The uniformed man stepped aside, revealing a scanning device.
The device could accurately detect whether you carried any prohibited items. Cheating was completely impossible.
Jiang Yan stood near the back of the line, and for a while, no one noticed his identity.
After passing the scan, Jiang Yan followed the crowd to select a weapon.
These weapons were all standard-issue, with no difference in quality between them.
Jiang Yan casually picked up an Alloy Long Blade and left the armory.
Next came identity verification.
He inserted his ID card into a machine, and facial recognition soon appeared on the screen.
After the facial recognition came fingerprint verification. In short, it was quite cumbersome, but it also eliminated any possibility of cheating.
As soon as ten in the morning passed, the Alternate Space opened on schedule.
"Now, enter the Alternate Space in an orderly manner. No cutting in line, no whispering among yourselves!"
Jiang Yan followed the long line into the Alternate Space.
At the same time, giant screens in cities everywhere displayed scenes from within the Alternate Space.
As long as you entered a candidate's serial number, you could watch that candidate's exclusive livestream perspective.
The official livestream, meanwhile, selected and displayed the most exciting scenes.
Jiang Yan's serial number was 9527.
What he did not know was that Linjiang City TV had turned down all commercial events to livestream Jiang Yan's exclusive perspective for the entire duration.
Jiang Yan was Linjiang City's hope, the only SS-rank talent in history. People held him in the highest regard, and almost everyone wanted to witness this legend's performance in the College Entrance Exam.
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