Martial Arts Entering the Ranks

Zeng Anmin couldn't care less about the poem's critique.

What occupied his mind now were the three Qi Guiding Diagrams he'd obtained from "Nan."

"Three diagrams in total."

"Each one can guide qi into the body."

After withdrawing from the Sea of Consciousness Space, a sharp gleam flickered in Zeng Anmin's eyes.

The three diagrams "Nan" had given him all depicted extremely contorted postures.

Fortunately, the dormitory the academy arranged was spacious enough, and Qi Dachun didn't dare share a room with Zeng Anmin.

So privacy was still guaranteed.

Frowning, he tried to assume the posture from the first diagram.

"Ache... pain..."

Though it didn't feel pleasant.

At least this body was only sixteen, with excellent flexibility.

Even if it was uncomfortable, he barely managed to hold the pose.

"Feel the free-floating spiritual energy between heaven and earth."

When "Nan" gave him the diagrams, she'd also provided the corresponding breathing technique.

Zeng Anmin closed his eyes and, in that awkward posture, began attempting to sense...

As his breathing grew steadier.

"Whoosh~"

Before long, he keenly noticed that with the Sea of Consciousness's aid, he could easily perceive the drifting energy in the air.

The Sea of Consciousness Space had granted him sharper senses.

Gradually, his state improved.

The moment he barely entered a meditative trance, he felt a warm current flow through his body.

"Whoosh~"

Zeng Anmin dared not slack off and continued circulating according to the breathing technique.

"Pop~"

As an indistinct sound echoed within him.

Zeng Anmin's eyes snapped open!

"This is..."

He abandoned the awkward posture, stood up, closed his eyes, and carefully sensed.

The Sea of Consciousness, opened with the help of the Dragon Survey Map, now revealed its function.

The waves of warmth drifting in the air were swiftly captured by him.

With just a slight mental nudge, those energies gathered into his body.

So easily... he'd entered a rank?!!

The next moment.

The Golden Finger panel before his eyes flashed into view:

Code
Congratulations on breaking through to a rank

Martial Arts Entry loading complete

Please choose one from the following three Martial Arts Entries.

(Rare) High-End Power: Your Martial Arts Combat Power is one level higher than your Martial Arts Realm.

(Rare) Martial Arts Advancement: Cannot independently raise your Martial Arts Realm, but for the first three years, provides one rank of Martial Arts Realm per year; thereafter, one rank per decade; thereafter, one rank per century.

(Rare) Featherweight Three: When cultivating Martial Arts Techniques, progress speed increases by four levels.

Note: Unchosen entries will disappear permanently. Countdown 30, 29, 28...

?

Holy shit?

Jackpot!!!

Zeng Anmin's eyes blurred as he scanned the three entries.

The first went without saying—a causality-level entry!!

Minimum effort for maximum gain!!

The second... in a mere three hundred and thirty-three years, he could rise from an ordinary mortal to the rare realm of a Martial Saint!!

Absolutely insane!

As for the third... with the first two shining like pearls and jade before it, the third seemed rather mediocre.

Zeng Anmin took a deep breath, his mind already made up.

First, eliminate Featherweight Three.

It just didn't look good—for one thing, even a talented Martial Arts cultivator was several times faster than an ordinary practitioner.

As for Martial Arts Advancement and High-End Power...

Zeng Anmin had to admit, this was truly a difficult choice.

But just as the selection time was about to end, he had already decided.

High-End Power!

Zeng Anmin's gaze was extremely resolute.

With a Causal Weapon, there was no need to consider anything else!

The moment he finished his selection, the panel vanished.

Immediately after, he felt an incredibly drastic change taking place in his body.

Muscles gradually emerged...

Lines also smoothed out bit by bit.

"Crackle, pop~"

Zeng Anmin's body underwent an unprecedented transformation.

He had just broken through to Ninth-rank Martial Artist.

But now, his combat power had already reached... Eighth-rank!!

Inside him, that warm current suddenly swelled, circulating through his body for a full cycle before slowly gathering in his abdomen, like a vortex ceaselessly absorbing the spiritual energy between heaven and earth, nourishing his body.

"Eighth-rank Martial Arts!!"

Zeng Anmin sensed his own body thoughtfully.

No dantian had been opened in his abdomen.

That also meant he wasn't truly at the Eighth-rank realm.

But... Zeng Anmin slowly extended his hand.

A dense Martial Arts Aura swirled in a vortex around his palm.

Yet the technique was exactly the same as that of an Eighth-rank Breath Nurturing Realm martial artist!

"So, when I open my dantian... I'll be able to directly possess the means of the Seventh-rank Visualization Realm..."

Sure enough, whatever the system produced was bound to be top-notch!!

Zeng Anmin hadn't expected it to be this wonderful!

The first time the system appeared, those three entries were silver.

The second time, after his Confucian Path entered the Ninth-rank, they were also silver.

But the third time, the Martial Arts breakthrough was colored.

Two possibilities.

First, the entries appeared at random.

Second, the system might favor Martial Arts more, wanting to use this method to let him advance his Martial Arts progress first...

Thinking of this, Zeng Anmin felt a surge of frustration.

My father is a renowned Great Scholar of the Nine Prefectures Under Heaven!

Why must you insist on making me that crude Martial Artist?

Why not pour all the classics of my past life into my mind?

Help me become a Confucian Sage of One Side—wouldn't that be delightful?

The school.

The Teaching Master had not yet arrived.

Many students were already seated, waiting.

Zeng Anmin took this time to chat idly with Qi Dachun by the roadside.

"How has Young Master been getting on at school these days?"

Qi Dachun looked at Zeng Anmin with a simple grin, then stuffed a cake bigger than his face into his mouth in one go.

Zeng Anmin breathed in the fresh air, feeling extremely refreshed:

"I've learned many principles—they're all very useful."

"Mm?" Qi Dachun's eyes lit up, and he rubbed his hands together as he asked, "Tell me a bit too? So I can give my dad an answer when I get back."

Zeng Anmin's lips curled into a sly grin at these words.

"The principles I've learned—I could tell you, but you wouldn't get them. However, I can teach you something else."

Qi Dachun immediately straightened up, alert. "What is it?"

"Listen closely." Zeng Anmin put on a serious face and explained to Qi Dachun:

"'In the morning, hear the Way; in the evening, die content.' That line—don't you understand it?"

Qi Dachun nodded vigorously. "I really don't!"

Zeng Anmin chuckled. "It's actually simple. It means: in the morning, learn the way to your house; by evening, I'll beat you to death."

This was far too much to his taste.

Qi Dachun felt as if struck by lightning, a wave of pure exhilaration washing through him.

"Young Master's brilliance—I cannot match it!!"

Seeing the effect was good, Zeng Anmin continued: "'While your parents are alive, do not travel far; if you must travel, have a fixed destination!'"

Qi Dachun didn't even speak anymore; he simply cupped his hands in salute, putting on a full display of respect.

"Your parents are still alive, so you can't run off. And if you do run, there's always a way to catch you."

"Excellent, excellent!! Simple and clear! The Young Master is a genius! A reincarnated Confucian sage!"

Qi Dachun nearly clapped his hands in glee.

Zeng Anmin cranked up his efforts: "'Learning without thought is labor lost; thought without learning is perilous.'"

"If you learn my martial arts but not my way of thinking, you'll be lost. If you learn my way of thinking but not my martial arts, you'll get yourself killed!"

"Zeng Anmin!!"

The Teaching Master's voice rang out sharply from behind Zeng Anmin:

"How dare such disgraceful words come from your mouth!!"

His voice carried a note of disbelief.

It was like a teacher from a past life seeing his star pupil, the model student, one day hanging out with a bunch of delinquents, smoking and drinking...

Clearly, he never imagined that Zeng Anmin, on whom he had placed such high hopes, could be so flippant and irreverent...

Hearing this furious outburst, the sly grin on Zeng Anmin's face froze.

"Today, you will stand through the lesson as punishment. No meals allowed!"