Achievement: Heaven Rewards Diligence!

[Congratulations to our young friend Host for your unremitting efforts, successfully completing a breakthrough!]

[Congratulations to our young friend Ji Ruo for triggering a phased special achievement: Heaven Rewards Diligence One!]

[Acquired innate talents: More Is Better! Bigger Is Stronger!]

[More Is Better: When the Host obtains or faces growth involving 'quantity', the phased growth ceiling will be raised to the theoretical limit of that phase! (Cannot be upgraded)]

[Bigger Is Stronger: When the Host obtains or faces growth involving 'volume', the phased growth ceiling will be raised to the theoretical limit of that phase! (Cannot be upgraded)]

[Note: Hardworking children deserve rewards!]

[Note: Your efforts will not be in vain!]

[Note: No pain, no gain! Keep it up, hardworking child, please grow up healthier and happier!]

The innate talents took effect instantly, and Ji Ruo, who had just broken through to the Qi Pulse Realm, immediately reaped the 'talent dividends'.

Originally, upon breaking through to the Qi Pulse Realm, there would be a single baptism of Heaven and Earth spiritual energy.

Limited by physical constitution, the magnitude of this spiritual energy baptism would fluctuate to a certain degree.

Endurance, luck, willpower—these were all factors that could influence the spiritual energy baptism.

A ninth-level Martial Apprentice was the theoretical physical limit an ordinary person could reach, and also the level that could withstand the spiritual energy baptism to the greatest extent.

During the baptism, the spiritual energy would refine the body to the maximum, causing an intensely sustained pain throughout the process.

How long one could endure depended entirely on personal will.

Moreover, the baptism was passive; under normal circumstances, it couldn't be controlled manually, so it also depended on personal luck.

But Ji Ruo was different.

The pain during the spiritual energy baptism came not only from refining the body but also largely because the newly opened qi pulse was too narrow to accommodate the influx of so much spiritual energy.

With the [Bigger Is Stronger] talent in effect, even though the qi pulse had just been opened, Ji Ruo's qi pulse was already several times thicker than an ordinary person's!

The vast spiritual energy entered from the Baihui Acupoint at the crown of his head, followed a special meridian that had just been opened and didn't exist before, straight into the Danzhong Acupoint in his chest, where it gathered, then flowed with his blood into his limbs and bones.

That qi pulse, only just opened, had already nearly reached the thickness of a qi pulse that an ordinary Qi Pulse Realm martial artist would have after nurturing it to completion.

The effect of the spiritual energy baptism it brought was terrifyingly extraordinary!

Visible fluctuations of spiritual energy converged above Ji Ruo's head into a vortex several meters in diameter. The refinement of his body brought him unimaginably intense pain.

But Ji Ruo gritted his teeth and held on.

Thus, the [More Is Better] talent also took effect.

The spiritual energy vortex expanded by several more rings, and it kept growing—under the aid of the two talents, it began to increase the quantity and volume of spiritual energy toward the theoretical limit of the phase.

Ji Ruo had broken through when he was an eighth-level Martial Apprentice, but in an instant of the spiritual energy baptism, the vast spiritual energy directly pushed his physical constitution past the ninth-level Martial Apprentice tier!

The speed of growth was unimaginably fast!

Liang Shixian stared dumbfounded at the scene—how had he suddenly opened a qi pulse? Was it that reckless?

How could he know that Ji Ruo had been living a hard life? The subsidies provided by the Great Xia government were barely enough for Ji Ruo to get by, with not a single bit to spare.

It wasn't that the Great Xia government was stingy, but that resources were truly limited.

The arable land within Great Xia's borders shrank every year, while the demonic beasts, backed by various secret realms, bred at an astonishing rate, with inexhaustible resources.

In comparison, for some humans living in border regions, even having enough to eat was no easy feat.

For such people, their only hope was to take the Martial Exam—either change their fate, become a martial artist and eat monster beasts, or die on Ten Thousand Beast Mountain and be eaten by demons.

Ji Ruo's parents had died repelling a beast tide. The Great Xia government could only provide Ji Ruo with enough subsidies each month to keep him fed—that was truly their limit.

After all, the entire Great Xia didn't have only Ji Ruo as an orphan.

Of course, due to regional differences, the closer one got to the center of Great Xia, the relatively more prosperous the people's lives were.

Someone like Liang Shixian, who had both parents and a decent family situation, could even afford to eat blood rice occasionally.

But Ji Ruo had never eaten it before.

And under these circumstances, Ji Ruo still practiced martial arts and managed to reach the sixth-level Martial Apprentice tier—this in itself indirectly proved how hard the original body had worked.

His training volume was several times, even ten times, that of an ordinary person!

Diligence compensates for lack of talent!

And because of this, Ji Ruo actually suffered from some 'malnutrition'.

His body desperately craved 'nourishment', and this Martial Exam made up for that missing nutrition.

So, hitting rock bottom, driven by that pure intent, Ji Ruo naturally broke through.

The Wind God Falcon watched Ji Ruo break through to the Qi Pulse Realm and receive the spiritual energy baptism, a hint of surprise in its eyes.

It could sense that Ji Ruo was rapidly growing stronger—though still very weak compared to itself.

But compared to the Ji Ruo from before, it was practically a doubling!

"Chirp~ (Human martial dao really is amazing!)"

Liang Shixian's astonishment didn't last long before he began practicing martial arts again, even more earnestly than before. As he swung his fists and kicked, his movements were heavy and forceful, as if he wanted to exhaust every ounce of his strength!

Ji Ruo's breakthrough didn't stir any jealousy in him—he knew it was what Ji Ruo deserved.

He could only feel happy for Ji Ruo, and then, train even harder!

He was the class monitor, after all! How could the class monitor be weaker than the classmates? If the monitor wasn't strong, how could he protect them?

And so, with this resolve backing him, moments later, as Ji Ruo's taught 'Total Concentration Breathing' gradually took root, Liang Shixian naturally stepped into the rank of ninth-grade Martial Apprentice.

Meanwhile, Ji Ruo was still enduring the spiritual energy infusion, his face twisted in extreme agony, yet he uttered not a single sound.

Veins bulged on his forehead and neck, as if about to burst.

Blood seeped through his skin, slowly staining his body red.

His heartbeat thundered like a drum, his blood surged like a river!

"Inhale—exhale—"

Half an hour later, Ji Ruo's spiritual energy infusion ended.

The meridians, bones, and flesh across his body still ached faintly, but the seemingly endless surge of power welling up from within his flesh filled Ji Ruo with genuine joy.

"Breaking through feels amazing!"

Covered in blood, Ji Ruo raised his palm and swung it—true qi surged through his qi channels, merging with the rushing blood to grant him unmatched strength.

His palm turned red tinged with black, blazing with roaring flames!

The searing heat flushed Liang Shixian's cheeks red, flickering wildly in the high-altitude gale—Qi Pulse Realm Effect Martial Art!

The Iron Sand Palm, nearing the level of Pure Mastery, finally displayed its true might under the support of qi pulse true qi!

Ji Ruo held the flame in his hand, drenched in blood yet beaming with a smile: "Monitor, hurry, hurry, take a photo for me! Record this!"

Liang Shixian dumbly took the wristband and snapped a picture of Ji Ruo.

In the background, it captured Wind God Falcon Aunt, the two young wind god falcons startled awake by Ji Ruo's breakthrough, and Little Rosie, seen only from behind, still buried in her fruit-munching.

[Check-in! Check-in!] Talent boost increased to 2.5%

Dabao and Erbao, the two young wind god falcons, weren't angry at being abruptly woken up. Instead, they circled Ji Ruo, chirping with unusual excitement.

"Chirp~ chirp~ (Fire! Fire!)"

"Chirp~ (So amazing! Doesn't your hand burn?)"

Little Rosie kept her head down, eating away.