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March, Martial Calendar Year 225. Xia Kingdom, Jianghai Province, Linhai City.

Linhai No. 1 High School.

Inside the senior year academic building.

The classrooms were so quiet that only the rustling sound of pen nibs scratching against paper could be heard.

Students bent over their desks, writing fervently.

Sweat trickled from their temples, soaking a corner of their exam papers.

But looking closer, one would find that what they were writing so furiously was not math, physics, or chemistry.

Instead, it was various martial arts theories—

*Outline of Qi and Blood Enhancement*, *Chronicles of the Martial Era*, *The Three Passes of the College Entrance Examination*...

Everything was related to "martial arts."

Behind the academic building stood a silent gymnasium.

Covering an area of five thousand square meters, it had no bleachers or running tracks inside.

Only one wall was lined ominously with various cold weapons—sharp blades, cold spear points, and swords and halberds standing silently.

This was the training ground for martial arts students.

At this moment, nearly a hundred students were standing in the posture of the "Sky-Propping One Qi Stance."

Their arms were raised high, and their feet gripped the ground.

Sweat had long since soaked their training uniforms, but not a single person dared to slack off.

Everyone's gazes flickered toward the towering, mountain-like figure at the front of the hall.

"Legs! How many times have I told you?

Exert force through and sink it deep! Are you stepping on cotton?"

Instructor Gu Feng said with a stern face, pointing at a student's calf. "Circulate your Qi and Blood to the soles of your feet and root them down like tree roots! Redo it!"

"Your waist and abdomen are slack, the power hasn't penetrated the ground! Your roots are floating!"

"..."

He walked through the ranks, his gaze sharp as lightning.

Not a single subtle mistake made by the students could escape his eyes.

Until his vision locked onto a figure at the very back of the line.

It was a young man with a tall, straight posture, standing at one point eight meters tall.

His appearance could not be called handsome, but it was very well-proportioned and upright.

His movements were as standard as a textbook demonstration.

His arms were steady as a rock, his lower body heavy as a mountain, and even his breathing carried a unique rhythm.

On Gu Feng's serious face, an almost imperceptible trace of satisfaction appeared.

"As expected of Qin Yan. Looking at his stance for this Stance Training, he's probably reached the third layer Realm."

"Probably, otherwise Instructor Gu wouldn't show a smile."

"Still a pity though, Qin Yan started growing too late.

Compared to the Elite Class, his Qi and Blood and Martial Arts Techniques still have too big of a gap."

"And there are only three months left until the martial arts College Entrance Examination. Getting good results will be far too difficult."

Nowadays, in Xia Kingdom and across the entire Blue Star, there was one and only one way to select talents—the martial arts College Entrance Examination.

Every student, starting from their first year of high school,

had to cultivation the basic stance uniformly taught by the state—the Sky-Propping One Qi Stance. This stance was deduced by the top Experts of Xia Kingdom.

It had five layers of Realms in total. The higher the layer, the more terrifying the efficiency of tempering Qi and Blood, making it ideal for building a foundation.

Aside from Qin Yan, not a single student present had reached the third layer Realm.

"Alright! That's it for Stance Training cultivation today. Break!"

Gu Feng's voice echoed through the gym.

The students felt as though granted a grand pardon, showing expressions of relieved joy.

One after another, they relaxed, rubbing their sore arms and legs.

Gu Feng was the most senior instructor at Linhai No. 1 High School.

He not only taught their Senior Year General Class 1, but was also an instructor for the Elite Class.

On top of that, he was a true Martial Artist!

His teaching was strict, and not a single student present dared to be slack.

All the students present began to rest and relax.

Only Qin Yan remained motionless, still maintaining the textbook stance.

"Brother Yan, aren't you pushing yourself way too hard?"

A boy shuffled over, saying while panting, "Instructor Gu already called a break."

"Standing the stance for two hours daily is basic work."

Qin Yan smiled faintly, "Zhou Yuan, go rest first. I'll finish up after another ten minutes of standing stance."

Zhou Yuan had been in the same class with him for three years of junior high.

After starting high school, they spent another three years as deskmates, sharing a great relationship.

"Alright, Brother Yan, I'll wait for you in the skill area then."

Having said that, Zhou Yuan left.

"Nine minutes left."

Qin Yan maintained his upright stance, sweat trickling down his forehead.

Nine minutes later, Qin Yan slowly ended his posture, stretching his slightly sore muscles and bones.

"Two hours of spear practice in the morning, two hours of stance standing. The first four-hour cultivation block of the day is complete."

Then, Qin Yan focused his Mental Strength. Within his field of vision appeared a System Panel invisible to others, seen only by him.

【Sky-Propping One Qi Stance: Layer 3 (87%)

Qi and Blood: 66 Cal

Mental Strength: 41 Hz

Spear Technique: Tier 1 (66%)

Skill Points: 1 Point

【Remark: As long as you work hard, you will reap rewards】

This panel had suddenly awakened half a month ago when Qin Yan raised his Spear Technique to Tier 1.

At first, Qin Yan thought it was a "System" or "Golden Finger" like those mentioned in web novels of the old civilization.

Later, through repeated confirmation, he realized it barely counted as half a Golden Finger.

Because it had never once responded to Qin Yan's words.

It was through a stroke of luck that Qin Yan figured out the purpose of this status panel.

As long as he persevered in practicing Martial Arts Techniques for four hours every day,

whether it was Stance Training, Spear Technique, or fist techniques, he could gain one Skill Point.

Practicing for eight hours yielded two points.

Back then, Qin Yan did just as he had read in web novels,

trying to allocate points into Qi and Blood, but nothing happened at all.

The Mental Strength stat didn't budge either.

Not until Qin Yan added one Skill Point to his Stance Training

did his Sky-Propping One Qi Stance jump from Layer 2 (57%) to Layer 2 (67%).

He immediately understood the function of Skill Points.

After that, he cultivated four to eight hours every day, gaining one or two Skill Points daily.

It wasn't that he didn't want to cultivation even harder,

but practicing stance and skill drained the body and Mental Strength heavily; practicing for too long was unbearable for him.

Nevertheless, his gains over the past half-month had been immense.

His Stance Training reached the third layer, and his Spear Technique made progress as well.

Pulling back his focus, Qin Yan walked toward the skill training area on the other side of the gym.

...

"We're going to get tortured by Instructor Gu again. Brother Yan, my life is so miserable!"

Seeing Qin Yan walk over, Zhou Yuan handed him a bottle of water with a look of agony.

Qin Yan took it with a smile: "Teacher Gu Feng is doing it for our own good.

Without him, our Martial Arts Techniques wouldn't have improved so quickly."

"Besides, don't you still want to get admitted into Linhai Martial Arts University?

With Teacher Gu's guidance, your Martial Arts Techniques can at least clear the cutoff for Linhai Martial Arts University, right?"

Linhai Martial Arts University was the only martial arts university in Linhai City.

Although its national ranking was not high, it was still a genuine martial arts university.

One had to know that students able to get into a martial arts university were always rare as phoenix feathers and unicorn horns.

On Blue Star, over ten million candidates took the martial arts College Entrance Examination every year,

but fewer than two hundred thousand ultimately stepped through the gates of a martial arts university.

As the best high school in the city, Linhai No. 1 High School had over two thousand students,

yet only one-tenth managed to successfully gain admission to a martial arts university each year.

The path to a martial arts university had always been a narrow single-plank bridge.

"Brother Yan, I was just saying. Getting tortured by Instructor Gu is actually super satisfying!"

"Just thinking about it makes my spear thirsty for action!"

A bout of quiet laughter sounded in the training hall, easing the atmosphere slightly.

...