Yang Wenqing returned to the dormitory at three in the afternoon.
He carefully placed the badge in the wardrobe, then went to the window and steadied his emotions. Dipping a finger in a little water, he slowly traced the spell seal from memory onto the glass.
Once, twice, three times. His emotions remained exceedingly stable. He kept practicing and growing familiar with it, and before he knew it, an hour had passed. He stopped only after he could fully trace the spell seal within ten seconds.
Afterward, he rested for fifteen minutes. After drinking a cup of water, his consciousness sank inward, gathering a Golden Core within his mind. His consciousness smoothly entered the Golden Core World.
Simulating the inscription of spell seals in the Golden Core World, twenty attempts there consumed only as much as two attempts in reality. His current Qi Sea could only support two real inscriptions before he needed to rest for an entire night.
Yang Wenqing's consciousness entered the Golden Core World. He first examined the Spirit Veins within his projection. Based on what had happened when the Security Academy and Liao Feng broke through to the Qi Refining Stage, he could confirm that advancing to the Qi Refinement Realm required a massive amount of spiritual energy, while the Spirit Veins also had to expand to a certain extent.
As for pills and a Spirit-Gathering Formation, Yang Wenqing could only obtain pills. He had exchanged eighty merit points for a Dragon Ginseng Pill, but that was clearly not enough. He needed to draw sufficient spiritual energy into his Qi Sea and refine it. The only way was to strengthen his Qi Sensing within his Spirit Veins.
"Get it done within two years!"
He softly stated a deadline. By then, he would only be twenty-one. Although he might be somewhat inferior to geniuses who advanced to the Qi Refinement Realm at eighteen, compared to most people, he could absolutely still be called a genius.
With his family circumstances in this life, achieving such a result would already be better than ten thousand things. He also had to thank the flourishing cultivation civilization of this world. The methods of basic cultivation had undergone countless transformations and had become something even ordinary people could practice.
Yang Wenqing let out a long breath. Having lived two lives had given him ample patience. He quickly gathered his thoughts and focused all his attention on inscribing the spell seal of the Golden Light Bodyguard Spell.
Within the Golden Core World, his projection raised both hands. As his ten fingers danced nimbly, the spell seal from his memories rapidly took shape before him...
For his first attempt, he sought precision, and his speed was inevitably slower. When the rune was nearly halfway complete, the spiritual energy at a tiny turn failed to connect in perfect harmony, causing the spell seal to collapse into specks of golden light.
Yang Wenqing's expression did not change. He swiftly replayed the process in his mind.
On the second attempt, he adjusted the rhythm of his spiritual energy output. The beginning went quite smoothly, but in the final strokes near completion, he underestimated the overall spiritual energy consumption, and it fell apart again just before taking form.
The third attempt...
On the eighth attempt, a complete yet extremely dim halo barely emerged, but it could not even last a single breath before shattering.
Yang Wenqing was not discouraged. He continued...
On the thirteenth attempt, he cast aside every stray thought. With the movement of his fingertips, golden rune lines swiftly intertwined.
With the experience accumulated from twelve previous failures, he precisely controlled the force behind every turn, skillfully balancing the distribution of spiritual energy throughout the spell seal's overall structure. The instant the final rune line came to a perfect close...
"Buzz!"
A faint tremor rang through the Golden Core World.
A dazzling pale-gold halo abruptly formed, hovering steadily before the projection. Flowing radiance shimmered across its surface, giving off a stable, reassuring aura. It persisted for a full three breaths before slowly fading away.
Success!
An irrepressible surge of joy had just begun to rise from the bottom of his heart when Yang Wenqing forcibly suppressed it. He knew full well that succeeding in the Golden Core World did not mean he could cast it successfully in reality on the first try.
What he needed now was calmness.
He did not greedily attempt more and immediately exited the Golden Core World.
His consciousness returned to reality. The sky beyond the window was already nearing dusk. After taking a deep breath, he sensed the state of his Qi Sea. A little more than half of his spiritual energy remained, enough to support one attempt in reality.
He did not hesitate. Recalling the feeling from that moment of success, he raised his right hand, drove the spiritual energy within him, and rapidly yet steadily traced the spell seal lines of the Golden Light Bodyguard Spell.
Spiritual light bloomed from his fingertips once more, tracing complex paths through the air. His movements carried an unprecedented smoothness and confidence.
Several breaths later, as the final rune fell into place...
"Buzz!"
The same faint tremor sounded within the quiet dormitory.
Then, a solid and stable pale-gold barrier roughly half a meter in diameter appeared before Yang Wenqing. Golden light flowed across its surface. Though it was not as dazzling as it had been in the Golden Core World, it genuinely radiated the power of protection.
It worked!
The golden barrier lasted for about five or six seconds before dissipating when his spiritual energy could no longer sustain it.
Yang Wenqing let out a long breath, and a relieved, gratified smile finally appeared on his face. Feeling the spiritual energy in his body nearly exhausted, his heart brimmed with a sense of accomplishment.
He sat beside the bed and enjoyed this moment of joy alone. Then, watching the last streak of sunset on the horizon outside, his heart filled with anticipation and confidence for the future path of cultivation.
Since he had to stand watch for four hours the next day, over the weekend, guarding the passageway in the rear courtyard from four to eight in the morning, he rested for a while, made himself something to eat, then went out into the courtyard to finish three sets of punches before returning early to the dormitory to rest.
The weekend was somewhat quiet. After Yang Wenqing finished his shift, he returned to the dormitory and seized the time to meditate and cultivate. In the blink of an eye, Monday arrived again.
On Monday morning, after roll call.
The members of the Second Patrol Squad did not immediately set out on patrol. Instead, led by their captain Xiao Liang, they came to a training ground in the rear courtyard of the Public Security Office, paved with sand and gravel.
They needed to carry out their regular Monday activity here: practical combat drills.
"The usual rules. Teams of three. Draw lots to determine your opponents and teammates." Xiao Liang held a bamboo tube containing several bamboo slips engraved with names.
"Take this seriously. Don't even think about half-assing it!"
The drawing results came out quickly. Yang Wenqing, Li Ming, and Zhou Kun formed one group. Their opponents were Zhu Lin, Ye Yong, and Wang Yuanfeng.
"Wen Qing, stay close to me and watch the flank. Zhou Kun, you're responsible for support." Li Ming swiftly assigned their roles. Though he usually wore a cheerful smile, he was exceptionally steady once he entered a fighting state.
Across from them, Zhu Lin was also quietly arranging tactics. "Ye Yong, press forward with me from the front. Wang Yuanfeng, find an opportunity to disrupt them with your Binding Spell. Li Ming is the priority target!"
The two sides took their positions at opposite ends of the training ground. At Xiao Liang's command, the match began!
"Go!" Zhu Lin barked. Together with Ye Yong, one to the left and one to the right, they pounced on Li Ming's group like fierce tigers released from their cages. Zhu Lin wielded a police baton, and as it whirled through the air, it roared with force, carrying a sense of oppression. Ye Yong held a short sword, his figure nimble as he waited for an opening nearby.
As the core of the group, Li Ming fearlessly stepped forward. The standard wooden sword in his hand knocked aside Zhu Lin's baton, while Yang Wenqing took on Ye Yong himself and drove him back in just two exchanges...
The first match ended quickly. Naturally, Li Ming's group won.
The second match had the same result. Ye Yong was simply too terrible. In the end, even Captain Xiao Liang could not stand watching any longer and changed the group matches into one-on-one bouts.
Yang Wenqing kept a low profile. In the individual matches, he only defeated Ye Yong. When facing the others, after honing his combat techniques, he deliberately exposed flaws and lost.
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