Rapid Progress

Once a person had no distractions, time flew by.

In the blink of an eye, Chen Jue's month-long injury leave was over, and he would be back at work tomorrow.

"I'm really envious of those classmates who got into martial universities. They only need to focus on cultivation; not only do they not have to work, but they also have a chance to enter the sacred academies and continue their studies full-time..."

Chen Jue sealed and packed the last batch of Spirit Sprout Pills, then checked the time. It was exactly midnight.

[Over the past day, you meditated for 10 hours, practiced the Six Directions Saber Art, Cross-Blocking Saber Art, and Wandering Dragon Body Technique 20 times, used Setting Sun Blood Reversal 5 times, consumed one spiritual meal, took three Spirit Sprout Pills, successfully refined one batch of Spirit Sprout Pills, and cast the Concealing Spirit Technique 60 times...]

[Today's evaluation: Forgetting food and sleep, diligent without cease. Diligence Index: 2 (3).]

[Reward settlement]

[Obtained double (meditation + Spirit Sprout Pill) true qi. True Qi Realm, fifth layer (19.37%→25.17%)]

[Obtained double spiritual-meal qi and blood. Qi and Blood Value (197%→199.99%)]

[Obtained double Six Directions Saber Art experience. Proficiency increased to (4898/10000)]

[Obtained double Cross-Blocking Saber Art experience. Proficiency increased to (10000/10000)]

[Obtained double Wandering Dragon Body Technique experience. Proficiency (5240/10000)]

[Obtained double Setting Sun Blood Reversal experience. Secret art completion increased to 100%.]

[Obtained double basic alchemy experience. Proficiency increased to (2184/10000)]

[Obtained double Concealing Spirit Technique experience. Proficiency (3240/10000)]

The golden book floated above his head, scattering a curtain of golden rain.

After four cycles of the River Chariot, Chen Jue's true qi accumulation efficiency had reached 3.8 times that of a single meridian cycle. On average, he could refine a strand of Five-Element true qi every fifty-five minutes.

At the same time, when the Five-Element true qi within Chen Jue's body had broken through to the fourth layer of the True Qi Realm, it had all condensed into bubbling spring water, flowing quietly through his meridians.

Now that his true qi had surpassed a thousand strands, the spring-like true qi gathered into streams and began spreading through his limbs and bones, gradually reaching every vital part of his body.

With this, Chen Jue met the requirements to cultivate the Five-Element Body-Tempering Concordance. He could use this concordance secret art to command his Five-Element true qi, temper his physique, and expand the limits of his meridians.

As for where this Concordance came from...

Don't ask. If you did, the answer was that pie had fallen from the sky, courtesy of a kindhearted person who wished to remain anonymous.

Turning his gaze to the qi-and-blood section, Chen Jue could not help but sigh.

"Still not working..."

During the eighteen days Chen Jue had cultivated in peace, Pei Qingying had delivered spiritual meals to him seven times in total.

Yet Chen Jue's qi-and-blood value had remained stuck at "199.99%," bouncing back and forth over that threshold.

At first, Chen Jue thought he had developed an extreme "drug resistance" to spiritual meals. After all, once his qi-and-blood value reached "199.99%," eating more spiritual meals no longer increased it.

But later, after he used Setting Sun Blood Reversal to shave off part of his qi-and-blood limit, then consumed a spiritual meal again, his qi-and-blood value would jump right back to "199.99%."

Clearly, this was not some extreme "drug resistance" on his part, but rather the activation of some mechanism governing qi-and-blood values.

It was as though an invisible, untouchable shackle was preventing him from advancing his "Lesser Pure Yang Physique" into a true "Pure Yang Body."

"Hopefully, after cultivating the Five-Element Body-Tempering Concordance, it'll help me break through this qi-and-blood bottleneck..."

As Chen Jue pondered this, a pale silver horizontal mark had quietly crept across his right arm.

After cultivating several basic saber arts to ten thousand points of proficiency, Chen Jue's "basic experiment" had yielded further conclusions.

For saber arts of the same type, once he understood their principles, their proficiency would instantly fill to the maximum.

But during this process, saber arts whose proficiency had maxed out would not feed back any useful saber-art experience to him, much less grant him another pale silver spirit-pattern mark.

For instance, after Chen Jue had ground away at the Wind-Splitting Saber Art, he went on to grind through a Mighty Tailwind Chop. After practicing the saber ten times, its proficiency shot up to ten thousand points.

Then there was no then.

Aside from learning another basic saber art, he gained nothing in the end.

At first, Chen Jue also found it utterly baffling. It was only after he cultivated two more basic saber arts centered on the "upward slash" and "thrust" forms that he discovered the mystery within.

Though the proficiency of these two saber arts with differing routines still soared wildly, they each gave him an insight into saber-art perfection, as well as two spirit patterns that respectively enhanced "upward slash" and "thrust."

Only then did Chen Jue finally come to understand.

The spirit patterns on his arm came from the traits of basic saber arts, and those traits were unique.

He already had four basic spirit patterns—"chop, upward slash, thrust, and cleave"—upon him. If he cultivated similar saber arts to the peak again, it was naturally impossible for identical spirit patterns to emerge.

After a good night's sleep, Chen Jue slept straight through until dawn.

After breakfast that morning, he made his way, familiar with the route, to the office of Tang Shuo, director of the general office.

"Something the matter?"

Tang Shuo had arrived early as usual. Seeing Chen Jue already seated on the sofa outside the door, he was slightly surprised.

"I'm here to get a refund..." Chen Jue said honestly.

"What refund?" Tang Shuo did not understand for a moment.

"Director, you should know that during my last mission, I accidentally injured my foundation..."

"I'm no longer suited to cultivate the Little Five-Element Art."

Chen Jue's voice was low. Though he appeared to be keeping his spirits up, the disappointment in his words could not be concealed.

Tang Shuo was somewhat moved.

Chen Jue could not be called a genius, but his above-average bones and aptitude were genuine. That was why he had even made it onto the Zong family's preliminary screening list. Perhaps in the future, he could marry into the Zong family and lean against a great tree, soaring to great heights.

What a pity.

Everything had been abruptly brought to an end by that Rat Gang ambush.

It carried something of the air of a fallen genius.

"You want to switch to another internal art?" Tang Shuo asked.

"That's right. I plan to switch to the Burning Wood Technique. It has dual wood-and-fire attributes, and if conditions allow in the future, I can also become an alchemist."

Chen Jue smiled as he painted a picture of the future, though the smile was somewhat forced.

"That truly is a pity."

Becoming an alchemist admired by all was hardly so easy.

Seeing Chen Jue still forcing a smile, Tang Shuo did not expose him. Instead, he said, "This concerns the Zong family, so the process must be sufficiently rigorous."

"Hold out your hand. Let me examine you."

Just as expected. Fortunately, Pei Qingying had prepared the Spirit-Hiding Technique for him in advance. It could not only conceal true qi, but also hide one's bones and aptitude.

However, it had a restriction: the examiner's cultivation could not exceed the caster's by more than two major realms.

And Tang Shuo could not possibly be a Transcendence Realm expert.

"Gold and earth deficient, meridians rotted away..."

Tang Shuo withdrew his hand, patted Chen Jue on the shoulder, and advised, "The road of martial arts has been cut off for you. From now on, you should just be an ordinary person in peace."

Without waiting for Chen Jue's response, he turned back and pulled up Chen Jue's electronic file, altering his bones and aptitude and changing his cultivation technique.

Thus, Kaiyang Guard Station no longer had that sharp, ambitious Chen Jue, determined to make something of the Little Five-Element Art.

Instead, it gained an inconsequential little inspector destined to drift through life in mediocrity.

"Thank you, Director Tang."

Chen Jue gathered himself for several breaths, but in the end, he only managed a resigned "thank you."

It was not that he did not want to say something like, "Man proposes, and the future is unknown to all."

But that would have been too pretentious.

If he got too deeply into character, it would only make it easier for others to spot the cracks.