Awakening

At 7:20, a middle-aged man entered the Martial Arts Arena. It was Lin Hong, the stance training instructor for the advanced class, known for his strictness.

The students immediately took their positions when they saw him.

Every morning from 7:30 to 9:00 was the unshakable stance training class, though Lin Hong often started early.

From the podium, Lin Hong swept his gaze over the room. Seeing that all seventy students were in position, he called out, "Class begins. First form of the Root-Solidifying Stance!"

Then, cane in hand, he stepped down from the podium and began making his rounds.

The Root-Solidifying Stance and Foundation Building Fist were foundational martial arts techniques compiled and refined by countless martial predecessors of Hua Nation. They were highly versatile and exceptionally effective at tempering the body, and had been listed as mandatory examination subjects for the Martial Arts Department's College Entrance Exam.

The Root-Solidifying Stance consisted of eighteen forms, each progressively more difficult than the last. The students practiced along with Lin Hong's commands.

The first few forms weren't difficult for the advanced class students. More than half an hour passed, yet no one had received Lin Hong's "special attention."

Not until the tenth form did the cane in Lin Hong's hand finally get to work, snapping across a male student's knee bend with a smack.

"Your waist has sunk three inches, and your hips need to sit lower! You're already having problems with the tenth form—how did you practice your basics?"

The boy staggered, then immediately flushed red and corrected his stance. Lin Hong watched for a moment, offered two more pointers, and only then moved on.

After that, as each successive Root-Solidifying Stance form grew more difficult, the crisp cracks of the cane and Lin Hong's reprimands became increasingly frequent.

"Still not awake? You're standing there like a sack of loose bones!"

"The Root-Solidifying Stance is the foundation of martial arts! Standing like that, what martial arts are you even learning? You might as well transfer to the Liberal Arts Department!"

"You've practiced stance training for two years, and your lower body is still unstable?!"

By the twelfth form, nearly half the students had received "attention."

By the thirteenth form, fewer than twenty students remained who hadn't been reprimanded.

By the fourteenth form, only five students in the entire advanced class could still hold steady. Among them, Chen Mochuan's stance was the most standard, though the beads of sweat sliding down from his forehead showed that he wasn't having an easy time.

"If you can't hold on, return to the thirteenth form," Lin Hong said.

Most of the students felt as though they had been granted amnesty and hurriedly changed their stances. Only a scattered few continued to persist.

Chen Mochuan's arches curved slightly, his ankle bones locked tight, and his spine rose vertebra by vertebra. Sweat slid down the side of his neck, yet his body showed no sign of wavering.

After an unknown amount of time, he suddenly felt his body begin to heat up slightly. The pain that had built up earlier seemed to lessen along with it.

"Ring-ring-ring..."

Only when the dismissal bell rang did he come back to himself and realize that his clothes were completely soaked through with sweat.

At the same time, several messages appeared on the light-screen panel.

[Your Root-Solidifying Stance cultivation has improved. Your blood qi has been stimulated, and your physical condition has increased.]

[Root-Solidifying Stance: Mastery (96%) → Mastery (97%)]

[Blood-Qi Value: 2.92 → 2.93]

The Root-Solidifying Stance, which hadn't improved for three days, had finally made a small breakthrough. Chen Mochuan felt some of his exhaustion disperse as well.

He had barely withdrawn his stance when a voice sounded beside him.

"Not bad."

At some point, Lin Hong had come to stand beside him.

"Teacher, is there anything else I need to adjust in this stance?" Chen Mochuan seized the chance to ask.

Lin Hong smiled and shook his head. "Your stance is extremely standard, and it didn't deform even after you held it for nearly an hour. In as little as seven days, or at most ten, your Root-Solidifying Stance should break through to Great Completion. Once it does, you can focus on the fifteenth form."

On Blue Star, martial arts techniques were divided by mastery level into: Initiation, Proficiency, Mastery, Great Completion, and Perfection.

Among the third-year Martial Arts Department students, Chen Mochuan's Root-Solidifying Stance was currently the best. Lin Hong greatly appreciated this hardworking student.

"Whoosh—"

After turning off the shower, Chen Mochuan changed into a dry spare school uniform and walked out of the school's public shower room.

The break after stance training lasted a full half hour, giving the sweat-drenched students plenty of time to clean themselves up.

The moment he entered the classroom, Chen Mochuan was grabbed by his tall best friend, Li Biao, who pulled him away from the other students and into a corner of the room.

They had attended the same school and class since middle school, and their personalities clicked perfectly.

"What is it, Biao?"

"Brother Chuan, I really awakened a Spirit Talent!" Li Biao lowered his voice, but he still couldn't hide his excitement.

Chen Mochuan froze for a moment, then happily punched his shoulder. "You brat, I knew you could do it!"

Li Biao grinned from ear to ear. "Brother Chuan, you were right when you said eating Ferocious Beast meat might help! My dad got hold of some high-grade Ferocious Beast meat last night. Not long after I ate it, I awakened!"

The two had long been regular meal companions. Half a month ago, Chen Mochuan had noticed that Li Biao's appetite had suddenly surged, much like his own had back then, and guessed that Li Biao might also be awakening a Spirit Talent.

Over the past year or so, he had eaten Ferocious Beast meat twice. Both times, the awakening progress of his Spirit Talent had increased noticeably.

Ferocious Beast meat was expensive, but Li Biao's family was among Antu City's wealthy households. Getting some high-grade Ferocious Beast meat naturally wasn't a problem for them.

So, a few days ago, he had suggested that Li Biao eat more Ferocious Beast meat to trigger the awakening. He hadn't expected such immediate results.

Seeing his overjoyed friend, Chen Mochuan felt genuinely happy for him. "That's because you had the talent to begin with. Otherwise, no amount of Ferocious Beast meat would do anything."

"Hehe, let me tell you, my Spirit Talent is eating—"

Seeing Li Biao about to explain his Spirit Talent in detail, Chen Mochuan immediately cut him off. "It's enough for you to know the specific abilities of your Spirit Talent yourself. At most, tell your family. Don't tell outsiders."

"You're not an outsider..." Li Biao muttered unhappily, but he obediently stopped himself from saying more. "Fine, I'll listen to you. I'll also keep something up my sleeve like those two. When the time comes, I'll give them a little 'surprise.'"

Among the more than two thousand third-year students at Eighth High School, only four had previously awakened Spirit Talents.

Two were from the Liberal Arts Department: one had a photographic memory and consistently ranked first in the grade, making him a top contender for the provincial champion; the other possessed absolute pitch and had secured a guaranteed admission spot at Hua Nation's top music academy in their second year.

The two Spirit Talent holders in the Martial Arts Department had never revealed their abilities. Since enrollment, they had taken turns occupying the top spot in the grade. Now, Li Biao had also earned the right to compete with them.

"Oh, right, Brother Chuan—I almost forgot. I have something for you." Li Biao pulled a black card from his pocket and quickly stuffed it into Chen Mochuan's backpack.

"What is it?"

"A one-year Gold Membership Card for Mingxin Martial Arts Hall."

Mingxin was one of Antu City's best martial arts halls, but even an ordinary membership was already expensive for Chen Mochuan, let alone a Gold Member membership.

"This is too valuable. I can't accept it." He frowned and immediately reached for his backpack to take out the card and return it.

Li Biao grabbed his arm and hurriedly said, "Brother Chuan, my dad heard that I was only able to awaken because of your advice. He specifically had me bring this card to thank you..."

"If you don't accept it, I'll be in for hell when I get home. You wouldn't have the heart to watch your brother suffer, would you?" He put on an aggrieved expression.

With things having reached this point, Chen Mochuan couldn't refuse any longer. "Then thank your father for me."

A smile immediately bloomed across Li Biao's face. "Don't worry, I'll definitely pass it on! Now I'll finally have company whenever I go train at Mingxin."

As they spoke, the Mathematics teacher entered the classroom. The two couldn't continue chatting and returned to their seats.

At 9:30 that evening, Chen Mochuan returned from his evening training. The moment he entered his home, he summoned the light screen.

The words [Awakening—99%] on the screen hadn't changed for a full ten days.

Previously, even the slowest increase of 1% had taken only five days.

Combined with Li Biao's example of awakening through Ferocious Beast meat, it kept reminding him that for this final hurdle, he had to take the initiative and do something if he wanted to break through it as soon as possible.

His gaze fell on the unopened box of Blood Qi Supplements on the table.

With his current physical condition, he could only handle one Blood Qi Supplement a day. Taking too much could temporarily stimulate his blood qi, but it would place a heavy burden on his body and wasn't advisable in the long run.

But he couldn't worry about side effects now. Awakening his Spirit Talent was the most important thing at the moment.

After pondering for only a moment, he decisively took out a supplement and drank it in one gulp.

Very soon, the effects of overdosing on the supplement hit him: a clear burning, swelling sensation rose within his body, and his previously calm blood qi became chaotic.

He immediately steadied his mind and swiftly assumed the fourteenth form of the Root-Solidifying Stance.

At that moment, this stance training technique—used to temper muscles, bones, and flesh while guiding blood qi—became his support for controlling the raging tides within his body.

Time crawled by amid torment. He gritted his teeth, sweat pouring from him like slurry, and relied on his Root-Solidifying Stance, which was close to Great Completion, to forcibly guide the out-of-control blood qi.

Just as he was nearly reaching his limit, the light-screen message he had awaited for an entire year finally flickered and updated:

[You have awakened a Spirit Talent: Spirit Devourer]