Chen Fan strolled toward his dorm. Just as he rounded the tree-lined path, the panel's notifications suddenly began chiming and clanging in his mind.
[Ding! Detected that Master has achieved both "Full-Dimensional Foundation Establishment in the Qi Refining Realm" and "Receiving priority cultivation from a top institution." Qi Refinement main quest progress: 100%!] [Ding! Achievement rewards issued: advanced draws ×5, exclusive concept-level trait ×1] [Ding! Would Master like to draw immediately?]
Chen Fan stopped in his tracks, his eyes lighting up.
An unexpected bonus?
A concept-level trait? That sounded way more advanced than ordinary traits!
He glanced around, ducked into a small grove beside the path, and leaned against a tree trunk, pretending to admire the scenery. Silently, he said, Five draws first.
[Ding! Drawing traits...] [Ding! Congratulations, Master, on obtaining the traits: Photographic Memory, Grain Avoidance Mastery, Spiritual Power Affinity, Divine-Speed Calculation, Immunity to All Poisons]
All five traits were practical: Photographic Memory for memorizing specialized theory, Divine-Speed Calculation for theoretical deductions, Immunity to All Poisons to keep him alive, and Grain Avoidance Mastery to save on food.
Chen Fan was very pleased and casually equipped them all.
With the Child of Destiny trait, he had unlimited trait slots anyway. He could equip as many as he got.
"What about the concept-level trait?" Chen Fan prompted.
[Ding! Issuing concept-level trait...] [Ding! Congratulations, Master, on obtaining the concept-level trait: One Attainment, Eternal]
The trait description instantly popped up. Chen Fan glanced at it and froze.
[One Attainment, Eternal (concept-level): All cultivation, traits, talents, Spirit Veins, and fortune you possess are eternal imprints, never to be stripped away, never to lose effect, never to regress. Even if your Spirit Root is destroyed, your Dao heart shattered, or eras change, what belongs to you will forever be yours.]
Chen Fan sucked in a sharp breath.
Holy shit?
A permanent lock?!
A line of text popped up on the panel: Trait automatically equipped. Permanently active. Cannot be unequipped.
Chen Fan rubbed his chin, utterly delighted.
Not being able to unequip it was great. I loved this feeling of having cheats forced on me. No more worrying about crashing and burning. I could just go wild.
Brimming with happiness, he walked out of the grove. Just as he reached the foot of the dorm building, he ran into his senior Qing Song, who was carrying a large Storage Bag.
Qing Song was a fourth-year sword theory student preparing for graduate studies. The moment he saw Chen Fan, he greeted him enthusiastically. "Junior Brother Chen Fan! I finally found you! The second and third batches of cultivation potions you asked me to prepare are here. I'll get the remaining resources together within a week."
He pushed the Storage Bag into Chen Fan's hands, a hint of envy in his voice. "Junior brother, you're incredible! Foundation Establishment in all seventeen categories-the whole college's gone wild over it. This is an Omnidimensional Foundation Establishment Refinement Guide. Dean Lü specifically asked me to bring it to you."
"Thanks, senior brother." Chen Fan took the Storage Bag. It felt heavy in his hand.
This really was priority cultivation. The resources here amounted to over ten times all the resource subsidies he had received upon enrolling.
They exchanged a few pleasantries. Qing Song had other matters to attend to, so he left first.
Chen Fan carried everything upstairs. Before he could push open his dorm door, Fatty Wang came rolling over like a ball of flesh.
"Brother Fan! You're finally back! Well? Well? What did the president say? Did you get guaranteed admission straight into a doctoral program?"
"It's settled." Chen Fan set the Storage Bag on the table and took out the jade bottle of emperor's flowing serum. "They gave me a little reward, too."
"Holy shit! Emperor's flowing serum?!" Fatty Wang's eyes went wide. He leaned over and sniffed hard. "It really is emperor's flowing serum? The president's that generous? I heard a single drop costs over a million Spirit Stones!"
"Not bad, I guess." Feigning composure, Chen Fan put the jade bottle away. "It's the school's reward for the top freshman. Oh, right. I'm speaking as the freshman representative at tomorrow's opening ceremony."
Fatty Wang clutched his chest, feeling psychologically wounded.
"Get out! Get out! We're not the closest of brothers anymore!!!"
Compare people and you'd die of shame; compare goods and you'd throw yours away. He was still worrying about whether he could reach Foundation Establishment in three categories by the end of the semester, while someone else was already getting emperor's flowing serum as a reward and serving as freshman representative.
"Brother Fan, tell me honestly. Are you one of those legendary monsters?" Fatty Wang looked completely serious. "Otherwise, there's no explaining how you pushed every stat to Foundation Establishment with a false Spirit Root in just two months."
"What are you thinking?" Chen Fan gave him a slap. "Ever heard of diligence can make up for lack of aptitude? Ever heard of heavenly Dao rewards diligence?"
Fatty Wang said, "Diligence, my ass! I go to class and cultivate with you every day! Why am I still a noob?!"
Chen Fan ignored his wailing and turned to enter his room.
Now he had the potions, the emperor's flowing serum, and the school's resources, along with a whole pile of trait buffs. It was the perfect time to strike while the iron was hot and open a few more Spirit Veins.
"I'm going to cultivate for a while. Don't disturb me."
"Okay, okay, okay. Go cultivate." Fatty Wang hurriedly shut his mouth and left Chen Fan's dorm, terrified of disturbing him. This was the powerful thigh he would be clinging to in the future! He had to take good care of him!
Chen Fan sat cross-legged, drew a deep breath, and swallowed a drop of emperor's flowing serum first.
The warm, mild liquid melted the moment it entered his mouth, turning into a vast surge of stellar power that rushed along his meridians toward his Dantian.
Immediately afterward, he drank a vial of Spirit Vein nourishing potion. Its medicinal power dispersed, nourishing the inner walls of his meridians.
Eighteen Spirit Veins circulated simultaneously. Eight Bushels of Wealth, Exceptional Talent, Diligence Can Make Up for Lack of Aptitude, Heavenly Dao Rewards Diligence-a whole pile of traits activated together, stacking his cultivation efficiency to an absurd height.
Within his Dantian, spiritual power churned like boiling water, constantly scouring the blocked nodes along the walls of his meridians.
The nineteenth... the twentieth...
He opened Spirit Veins at an astonishing speed. The stellar power of the emperor's flowing serum continually tempered their foundations, while the nourishing potion repaired the minute injuries caused by the process. With the terrifying bonuses from his traits added in, opening Spirit Veins, once immensely difficult, was now as easy as poking through window paper.
Fatty Wang sensed the changes in the surrounding spiritual power fluctuations. As he watched the spiritual power fluctuations coming from Chen Fan inside the room grow stronger and stronger, his presence increasingly condensed, he was utterly dumbfounded.
"Wait... Brother Fan... broke through again? Didn't he just reach Qi Refining Perfection?"
He sensed it carefully, but those ever-strengthening spiritual power fluctuations could not be faked.
After an unknown amount of time, the light around Chen Fan abruptly receded, and he slowly opened his eyes.
[Ding! Spirit Vein opening complete! Current Spirit Vein count: 33!] [Ready to break through to Foundation Establishment at any time!]
Chen Fan clenched his fists, feeling strength fill his entire body.
Thirty-three Spirit Veins-almost twice as many as before. If he tested his strength again now, he might reach somewhere around mid- to late-stage Foundation Establishment.
After adjusting to his soaring strength, Chen Fan walked to the table and looked through the outline of tomorrow's speech.
There really was not much to prepare. A few polite remarks would do.
He was more looking forward to tomorrow's opening ceremony now-he had heard quite a few professors would attend, including a specially appointed professor who had just transferred from Jingfu.