Enlightenment to Perfection

He put away the lunchbox from his meal and wiped the table clean.

There was only one table in Li Yuan's room, used for both meals and work.

Taking out his cultivation manuals, Li Yuan began studying them again.

Li Yuan currently practiced four main sets of cultivation techniques.

First was the foundational cultivation method, the Zhou Tian Dao Yin Technique.

The Zhou Tian Dao Yin Technique was divided into two parts: a breathing method and a body-tempering art.

Foundational cultivation methods could not directly grant a martial artist practical combat ability, but they were the foundation for improving one's strength.

Tempering the body and raising one's martial realm both depended on foundational cultivation methods.

After taking nutrient fluid, martial artists also needed cultivation methods to turn its nutrients into their own strength.

A foundational cultivation method was like a person's ability to digest food.

The Zhou Tian Dao Yin Technique was the most widely used foundational cultivation method in the Xia Kingdom.

It was simple and easy to learn. Not to mention middle school students—even elementary school students were familiar with it by fourth or fifth grade.

Yet today, Li Yuan intended to study even this most basic cultivation method all over again.

Half an hour passed.

Unfortunately, after gaining the [Mind Enlightenment] talent, rereading the Zhou Tian Dao Yin Technique did not yield much.

This foundational cultivation method, the Zhou Tian Dao Yin Technique, did little to improve comprehension or insight.

He had already understood everything he was supposed to understand.

Thinking of this, Li Yuan took out the analysis of the Cloud Extreme Fist.

This analysis book was difficult enough that reading it was always somewhat agonizing.

He read for three straight hours and had nearly finished the rather thick analysis.

Li Yuan ran through it in his mind. He could even try practicing the Cloud Extreme Fist now.

While eating something, drinking water, and taking a break, Li Yuan noticed three Light Points by his side that he could collect.

Without hesitation, he collected them!

[Experience +4]

[Experience +3]

[Experience +3]

He had picked up ten experience points at once. He could condense another Talent Point.

Closing his eyes, he entered his sea of consciousness. Beneath the Light Screen, his experience was recorded as [206/200].

With a thought, he activated it. "Talent Point successfully condensed."

Now he had to consider where to allocate the Talent Point.

Among the three branches—"Enlightenment," "Combat," and "Skill"—which should he invest in at this stage?

Li Yuan judged that the "Enlightenment" branch enhanced his ability to learn and study.

Meanwhile, "Combat" should help with practical applications in battle.

His match with Jin Fan would not be until the end of next month, so there was still time.

Adding points to "Combat" would certainly help him considerably.

But right now, improving his ability to learn and cultivate would bring greater benefits.

With that in mind, Li Yuan added the Talent Point to the second talent under "Enlightenment."

The characters in the box lit up: [Enlightenment to Perfection].

"Enlightenment to Perfection: No longer merely understand, but deeply examine the roots, principles, and essence of all that one observes."

Li Yuan had prepared himself in advance so that he would not get overly excited upon seeing the new talent.

Yet despite trying his utmost to suppress it, excitement still surged up within him.

After calming himself down, Li Yuan casually picked up the Zhou Tian Dao Yin Technique and flipped through it.

By his previous understanding, one breathed to gather qi, then used it to temper the body.

But as he reread the Zhou Tian Dao Yin Technique, Li Yuan realized that the key to this cultivation method lay in the words "Dao Yin."

Guide qi into the body and circulate it through the Zhou Tian cycle.

The Zhou Tian Dao Yin Technique did not complete a round of breathing-method cultivation with a single inhale and exhale.

Rather, one inhaled qi into the body, let it travel throughout the body, and used the Zhou Tian cycle to temper it.

Once proficient, each inhale could bring several rounds of Zhou Tian tempering!

Cultivating this way would be several times more efficient than before.

At that moment, Li Yuan clearly felt the aid provided by the [Enlightenment to Perfection] talent.

Without this talent, how could he have grasped such profound meaning?

After reading the Zhou Tian Dao Yin Technique from beginning to end, Li Yuan decided not to study any other cultivation methods that night.

He sat on the bed, turned off the lights, and began cultivating the Zhou Tian Dao Yin Technique with complete focus.

An hour passed. It was still bright outside the window, and Li Yuan felt qi traveling through his body.

Two hours passed. Many residents in the Residential Complex had turned off their lights to rest, while Li Yuan had already mastered the trick to guiding qi into his body.

Four hours passed. Most residents had turned off their lights, and the Residential Complex had fallen completely silent.

As for Li Yuan, he had already become proficient in the technique of guiding qi through the Zhou Tian cycle.

The basic contents of the Zhou Tian Dao Yin Technique were easy to grasp.

But once one tried to make the qi within the body circulate and temper through the Zhou Tian cycle, the difficulty soared sharply.

Li Yuan felt that even if many people thought of this, they would still fail to comprehend the key to mastering it.

The profound aspects of the Zhou Tian Dao Yin Technique had not been passed down widely, and this difficulty was part of the reason.

That night, Li Yuan planned to cultivate through the night.

The next two days were the weekend, so he would have time to rest if he got tired.

Once he had fully mastered the foundational method, he would make time to review the martial arts techniques and Movement Art he practiced.

Through that night's cultivation, Li Yuan felt the deeper power of the Zhou Tian Dao Yin Technique even more keenly.

At five in the morning, Li Yuan stopped practicing the foundational method.

Even while resting, the qi within his body continued to circulate and temper him.

As it flowed through every part of his body, every inch received tempering.

After just one night, Li Yuan could clearly feel his physique growing stronger.

By continuing to use the Zhou Tian Dao Yin Technique, Li Yuan believed his physique could reach the utmost limit attainable in the Fourth Grade Realm!

The benefits brought by [Enlightenment to Perfection] were truly extraordinary.

He went out to buy breakfast and also bought two bottles of nutrient fluid.

Short on money, Li Yuan could only afford D-grade Nutrient Fluid.

Cultivation consumed resources, and not a small amount at that. He needed nutrient fluid to replenish himself.

During the day, Li Yuan planned to reread his martial arts manuals and Movement Art.

After handling various miscellaneous matters, he had just sat down at the table when a knock sounded at the door.

When he opened it, Li Yuan had not expected the visitor to be Director Ma, Ma Tingde.

He held a pack of beer in one hand and some snacks to go with the drinks in the other.

Li Yuan was quite surprised and could not understand what Director Ma was up to.

He invited Director Ma into his small room.

After clearing the cultivation manuals off the table, the two sat down and drank together.

After only two sips, Li Yuan quickly understood Director Ma's purpose.

He had come once again to persuade him to give up the Youth Martial Tournament.

"After cooling down for a night, I believe you've already regretted it." Director Ma's tone was actually quite sincere.

Li Yuan was the kind of subordinate leaders liked, and Director Ma did not want him to leave.

At that moment, he believed he had guessed Li Yuan's thoughts correctly.

But in truth, Director Ma's guess was vastly different from what Li Yuan really thought.

"These days, the Fierce Beasts at the border are growing more and more brutal, and the injury rate among the soldiers stationed there is rising higher and higher.

It isn't easy to find a stable job in the city."

As Director Ma spoke, his eyes constantly observed Li Yuan's expression.

"Write a letter of self-criticism and apologize to the principal on Monday.

Once the principal forgives you, go apologize to Jin Fan as well.

What you said yesterday caused Teacher Jin Fan quite a lot of trouble..."

Li Yuan could no longer listen by that point.

"Director Ma, my attitude is still the same as yesterday. The qualification for the Youth Martial Tournament should have been mine to begin with.

I truly don't know what I did wrong."

Director Ma frowned even more deeply. "Li Yuan, when did your outlook become so shortsighted? Can't you think further ahead?"

It was that same talk about thinking further ahead again. Li Yuan was sick of hearing it. "At the martial artist training event on Zhouyang Mountain three years ago, you told me to think further ahead, and I gave it up.

A year ago, at the Lingshan Education Competition and the Youth Ranking Competition, you told me to think further ahead again and gave the qualifications to someone else."

Li Yuan stared at Director Ma seriously.

He laid out, bit by bit, everything he had gone through.

"Let's not even mention the earlier matters, Director Ma. How much further am I supposed to look ahead?

Until after I die?"