College Entrance Exam, Begins!

"Qi—what exactly is it?"

Inside the Study Space, Jiang Yan sat cross-legged in meditation, raising a question about this abstract concept that had plagued countless martial artists.

"You are sensing the existence of qi. Your sensitivity to qi has slightly increased."

Well, there was no need for Jiang Yan to worry; 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."

In the dead of night, Jiang Yan opened his eyes, pleasantly surprised. In his field of vision, an endless expanse of qi filled heaven and earth, drifting through the void.

Red, vermilion, orange, yellow, green, cyan, blue, purple, white... qi of every color imaginable was present.

Some people were naturally sensitive to elemental spiritual energy, so they would see more colored qi.

Others lacked that talent and could only see white qi.

But Jiang Yan was different—he could see qi of all colors, with none taking precedence.

Generally speaking, qi was an extremely abstract concept. Some people spent their entire lives unable to observe it, while gifted martial artists might sense it in half a year.

Sensing qi was purely a matter of personal insight, but someone like Jiang Yan, who succeeded in a single day, was absolutely unprecedented.

Jiang Yan had assumed he wouldn't sense qi until at least after the College Entrance Exam. To have completed that part of his plan in one day was a truly unexpected delight.

What he didn't know was that qi was not as distant from martial artists as the world believed. Often, the gap between them was merely an opportunity, separated by only a single door.

Some people couldn't see that door, so they paced frantically outside the room, unable to sense qi for ages.

And Heaven Rewards Diligence's nature kept pushing Jiang Yan step by step toward that door. Though slow, his direction was correct, so he found it easily.

Across the entire Blue Star, few high school students found that door before the College Entrance Exam—unless they had an eighth- or ninth-rank martial artist father guiding them. Those cheaters didn't count.

Jiang Yan had found the door, meaning he had discovered "qi." Now the problem was how to push it open and successfully draw qi into his body.

The first wisp of qi was especially crucial for a martial artist, as it determined their future cultivation path.

Jiang Yan wasn't the type to train blindly, so he had done plenty of homework beforehand.

For example: if the first wisp of qi you absorbed was fire-element, then your future cultivation would likely be tied to fire.

The first wisp was also called the mother qi, stored within the martial artist's body. If later absorbed qi conflicted with the mother qi, the body would likely undergo a strange chemical reaction.

Boom—death by explosion.

Thus, the first wisp of qi was extremely important, setting the tone for all subsequent cultivation.

Some geniuses often lingered at the second-rank Blood Condensation Perfection, sensing qi but delaying absorption to break through.

Why?

Because they were planning for their future, hoping to find the most suitable, most powerful qi as their mother qi.

Jiang Yan now faced two problems:

One: what kind of qi to seek?

Two: how to absorb it?

Time was running out. Finding the right qi in the few remaining hours was pure fantasy.

Jiang Yan simply exited his meditation state, lay down on the bed, and fell into a deep sleep.

Recharge his energy—he hadn't rested properly in days. These few hours were a reward to himself.

The next day, Jiang Yan turned off his alarm and began packing his gear.

Old Wang couldn't help but give Jiang Yan a few parting words, then watched his retreating back with a complex gaze.

The anchor point established by the Space Martial Saint was near the city government, usually heavily guarded and inaccessible to ordinary people.

Now, the usually quiet city lord's mansion was packed with a sea of people.

Linjiang City had three high schools, with a total of one thousand examinees. Most were ordinary martial artists who hadn't even opened their apertures.

Though they hadn't opened apertures and cultivated slowly, life only offered one College Entrance Exam. If they didn't experience it, wouldn't their schooling have been for nothing?

Jiang Yan looked at the crowded throng from afar, occasionally hearing his own name pop up in others' conversations.

"Quick, where's that big shot named Jiang Yan?"

"An SS-rank talent, huh. I really want to see what he looks like."

"Haha, not gonna lie, I'm from Linjiang First High School too. I even went foot bathing with Jiang Yan once—we're practically brothers who've been through life and death."

"Wow, you actually know Jiang Yan? What kind of person is he?"

"Uh... well... he's a character."

Jiang Yan's forehead lined with black streaks, because he had no idea who that guy was.

Luckily, he had worn a baseball cap in advance. He pressed the brim down and stood at the edge of the crowd.

"Silence!"

Soon after, a burly man in military uniform stepped forward, his booming voice drowning out all the examinees.

"Now, proceed in an orderly fashion into the scanning device for inspection. No metal implements may be carried."

"After inspection, select a standard-issue weapon from the armory on your own. Do not use your personal weapons."

"Do not consume any drugs that temporarily enhance your abilities."

"Do not..."

The burly man recited a long list of rules. Jiang Yan listened carefully—the content was no different from previous years.

"Alright, you may now proceed to inspection."

The burly man shifted aside, revealing a scanning device.

The machine could accurately detect whether you were carrying any prohibited items; cheating was utterly impossible.

Jiang Yan queued at the back of the line, and for the moment, no one actually recognized him.

After passing through the scan, Jiang Yan followed the crowd to the weapon selection area.

All these weapons were of a standard make, with no distinction between high and low quality.

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 a facial recognition interface quickly appeared on the screen.

After facial recognition came fingerprint verification—in short, it was quite tedious, but it also eliminated any possibility of cheating.

Once ten in the morning passed, the dimensional rift opened on schedule.

"Now, enter the dimensional rift in an orderly fashion. No cutting in line, no whispering!"

Jiang Yan followed the long line into the dimensional rift.

Meanwhile, city screens across the country displayed scenes from within the dimensional rift.

As long as you entered the examinee's serial number, you could watch a live feed exclusive to that individual's perspective.

The official broadcast, however, showcased the most exciting highlights.

Jiang Yan's serial number was 9527.

What he didn't know was that Linjiang City's television station had canceled all commercial programming to broadcast Jiang Yan's dedicated perspective in full.

Jiang Yan was the hope of Linjiang City—the only SS-rank talent in history. People held him in the highest esteem, and nearly everyone wanted to witness this legend's performance in the College Entrance Exam.