Sky-Supporting Qi Pillar, Perfected!

Qin Yan's room.

He didn't go straight to sleep. Instead, he walked to his desk and pulled open a drawer.

A small transparent glass vial lay quietly inside, filled with a crimson liquid like blood—a Blood Qi Potion worth 2,000 Huaxia Coins.

His gaze lingered on the potion for a moment before he gently closed the drawer.

"Wait a little longer... Once my Stance Training reaches the Fourth Layer, the absorption efficiency will be much higher."

His financial straits forced him to budget carefully and maximize the value of every resource.

Only after doing all that did Qin Yan climb into bed.

Sleep was the most effective way to recover strength and nourish the mind.

He'd heard that powerful Martial Artists could go days and nights without sleep, but he was still far from capable of that.

He needed at least six hours of sleep every day just to barely offset the exhaustion brought on by high-intensity training.

Lying in bed, Qin Yan quickly fell into a deep sleep, storing up strength for the next day's grueling training.

At four in the morning, the alarm rang on time.

Qin Yan's eyes snapped open. He got up, dressed quickly, and headed out. As he passed his parents' and sister's rooms, he stopped and looked deeply at them, silently repeating to himself, I'll definitely get into Martial University!

Then he quietly left the house, unwilling to disturb his family.

He jogged all the way and reached school in just ten minutes.

He opened the Gymnasium doors with practiced ease. As expected, it was empty inside. Only cold training equipment and weapon racks stood silently beneath the lights. Qin Yan had long since grown used to it.

Arriving at the weapon area, he picked up his personal spear, flicked his wrist, and began the day's training.

Two hours of spear practice every dawn, two hours of stance training in the morning, then either four more hours of spear practice or academic study in the evening depending on his physical condition—this was the limit-training schedule Qin Yan had set for himself.

Because his body could only take so much, he alternated between them: one day focused on eight hours of training, followed by a day of four hours of maintenance training with more rest and academic study.

This cycle ensured steady progress while preventing him from training himself into an injury.

By this calculation, every two days on average, he could earn three precious Skill Points through hard work.

"There's exactly one month until the Monthly Exam. I wonder how far my Martial Arts Skill can improve by then..."

Carrying that anticipation, Qin Yan swung his spear with increasing force, the sound of it cutting through the air especially clear in the empty gymnasium.

Day after day, Qin Yan's life became a battle planned down to the minute: spear practice at dawn, breakfast, stance training in the morning, lunch, then a one-hour nap to make up for sleep, giving him exactly six hours of rest each day.

In the afternoon, he attended academic classes. After dinner, he either continued practicing his spear or studied, depending on how exhausted his body felt.

Every day left him utterly drained, but every day was incomparably fulfilling.

Time flew by, and in the blink of an eye, a month had passed. The Monthly Exam was about to arrive.

Inside the Gymnasium, Qin Yan had just finished another frenzied round of practice. He wiped the sweat from his forehead and steadily returned his spear to the rack.

He took a deep breath, focused his mind, and opened the System Panel that only he could see once more:

[Sky-Supporting Qi Pillar: Third Layer (90%)

Blood Qi: 67 Cal

Spirit: 42

Spear Technique: First Stage (80%)

Skill Points: 45 points

[Note: As long as you work hard, there will be rewards.]

After a month of training, all his attributes had improved slightly.

His eyes burned as they fixed on the astonishing number after "Skill Points": 45 points!

A full 45 points!

This was hope forged from a month's worth of sweat and perseverance!

"Let's see just how much this month's desperate effort can bring me!"

Filled with anticipation, Qin Yan didn't hesitate in the slightest and immediately began pouring Skill Points into his Spear Technique!

As the Skill Points were consumed bit by bit, profound insights into spear techniques flowed endlessly into his mind like a trickling stream, as though he had undergone thousands upon thousands of temperings.

On the panel, his Spear Technique proficiency began soaring at an astonishing speed!

84%, 88%, 91%... In the blink of an eye, it reached the 100% threshold!

The progress bar paused slightly. Then, the words "First Stage" blurred and vanished, replaced by something new—"Second Stage (1%)"!

His Spear Technique had broken through!

Qin Yan immediately stopped adding points.

He took a look. The breakthrough had consumed eight Skill Points, leaving him with thirty-seven.

"Just eight points, and my Spear Technique has broken through to Second Stage Low Rank!"

The powerful effect of the System's Skill Points once again exceeded his expectations.

Second Stage Low Rank corresponded to a score of eighty in the Martial Arts Skill assessment!

This had already reached last year's admission standard for Jianghai Martial University!

"Maybe Jianghai Martial University isn't that hard after all?"

But Qin Yan immediately shook his head, warning himself not to get carried away.

His Blood Qi was still far below Jianghai Martial University's admission standard.

Qin Yan tried adding another point to his Spear Technique.

His Spear Technique progress became 3%.

One Skill Point for 2% proficiency.

After thinking it over, Qin Yan raised his Spear Technique progress to 21%, consuming another nine Skill Points.

"I can't add any more for now. Improving this much in a single month is already shocking. Even a late bloomer can't be this outrageous."

Qin Yan decided to stop adding points to his Martial Arts Skill for the time being.

Second Stage Mid Rank corresponded to a Martial Arts Skill score of ninety.

At 21% progress, he was only 9% away from Second Stage Mid Rank. His score should be above eighty-six.

"My total score has already surpassed the top fifty in the grade, but I'm still some distance from the top ten."

"I can't improve my Martial Arts Skill for now, so I'll improve my Stance Training first."

No sooner said than done. Qin Yan added all his remaining Skill Points to the Sky-Supporting Qi Pillar.

In an instant, the Stance Training proficiency began jumping wildly and rising at incredible speed!

The bottleneck at Third Layer (90%) was instantly shattered. It directly entered the Fourth Layer, and the rate of improvement didn't slow in the slightest as it continued charging toward an even higher level!

Only after reaching above 90% did the speed gradually slow, though it still climbed upward with unwavering momentum.

Under Qin Yan's tense gaze, the progress bar underwent another qualitative leap—Fifth Layer!

Finally, when all but the last Skill Point had been consumed, the Stance Training display became:

[Sky-Supporting Qi Pillar: Fifth layer (Perfection)]

"Fifth layer! Perfection!"

Qin Yan nearly shouted in excitement!

The reason was simple: once his Stance Training reached the perfect fifth layer, the speed and efficiency with which he refined Blood Qi Potions would reach a terrifying level!

The effect of absorbing one Blood Qi Potion would far surpass that of an ordinary person. It could even rival the effect of someone else absorbing four or five bottles!