By now, tens of thousands of candidates were sparsely seated across the plaza.
Most of them sat cross-legged on the cushions on the ground, eyes closed in Meditation, taking every available moment to adjust their condition.
A volunteer Martial Artist, hovering in mid-air, spoke to the newly arrived students:
"We don’t have enough candidates for this assessment batch yet. For now, find a spot on the plaza and await further instructions."
Without a second thought, Qin Feng and Xiong Yanfu found two adjacent cushions and sat down cross-legged.
He closed his eyes, cleared his mind of distractions, and quickly entered a transcendent state of Meditation, forgetting both himself and the world around him.
His consciousness sank into his body. He began tracing the pathways of the "Great Sun Acupoint Opening Method" and the "Great Sun Visualization Method" over and over, familiarizing himself with the sensation of using Mental Power to find and construct acupoints.
-----------------
On the vast plaza, time seemed to lose all meaning.
Qin Feng sat cross-legged on his cushion, his mind completely immersed in the exploration of his own Martial Dao.
His Mental Power, like fine yet tenacious threads of silk, roamed and explored ceaselessly throughout his body—through his limbs, bones, meridians, and flesh.
This was an unprecedented level of microscopic control over his own body.
He could "see" his blood roaring through his vessels like a rushing river. He could "hear" his heart, a booming war drum whose every beat pulsed with immense power. He could "feel" every one of his cells breathing, all of them craving even greater energy.
Practicing the Great Sun Acupoint Opening Method wasn’t just about opening acupoints; it was a process for a Martial Artist to rediscover and gain complete Control over their own body.
[Ding! Great Sun Acupoint Opening Method proficiency +1]
[Ding! Great Sun Visualization Method proficiency +1]
The system prompts chimed in his mind with the regularity of a precise metronome.
Though his progress seemed slow, each point of proficiency he gained represented a deeper level of Control over his own mind and body.
And so it went, day after day.
The number of people on the plaza grew.
Every day, new prodigies gathered from all corners, joining the silent vigil.
No one made a ruckus; no one spoke.
Everyone, just like Qin Feng, cherished this final tranquility before the storm, seizing every second to build up their strength.
An invisible aura, coalesced from the soaring Battle Intent of tens, even hundreds of thousands of prodigies, slowly began to rise over the plaza.
「In the blink of an eye, a full month had passed.」
Qin Feng’s gains over the past month had been enormous.
He had completely mastered the art of Seeking Acupoints.
The three hundred and sixty Acupoint Singularities hidden deep within his body held no more secrets from his Mental Power, which scoured him like a high-precision radar.
He had even successfully pinpointed the precise location of his first Great Sun Acupoint.
It was located just beneath his left shoulder blade, at an extremely hidden intersection of meridians.
However, he wasn’t in a hurry to construct the Acupoint Shell.
The first attempt was crucial.
He needed to adjust his condition to its absolute peak and ensure all his preparations were perfect.
Fortunately, Qin Feng hadn’t attempted to construct his first Acupoint Shell Prototype, because the assessment was about to begin.
A vast and majestic voice, as if descending from the heavens, thundered across the entire plaza, reaching every person’s ears with perfect clarity.
"The number of candidates for this assessment has reached one million."
"The assessment will begin shortly. All candidates, please prepare yourselves and await the arrival of the supervising tutors."
BOOM!
The voice was like a clap of thunder, instantly rousing all the prodigies from their deep Meditation.
Qin Feng’s eyes snapped open, a sharp glint of light flashing deep within them.
’Is it starting?’
He rose to his feet and, like the other million candidates, turned his gaze toward the towering, cloud-piercing black stone platform at the front of the plaza.
Upon the stone platform, clouds and mist roiled and churned.
Immediately after, dozens of auras—so powerful they were suffocating, so terrifying they were overwhelming—descended without warning!
Each of those auras was like a great, blazing star in the heavens! Scorching, majestic, and brimming with endless vitality and energy!
Under the pressure of these dozens of auras, the very air in the plaza seemed to freeze solid.
At that moment, the million prodigies all felt as insignificant as specks of dust.
Stellar-level tutors!
Without a doubt, these were the tutors of Cannan Star Martial Arts University, and they had appeared in person!
Just as everyone’s minds were reeling, the volunteer Martial Artist who had been guiding them flew back into the air.
His voice, amplified by some device, rang out clearly across the plaza.
"The tutors supervising this assessment are: Wei Wei, Lv Lan, Li Xi, Mu Lin, Yu Han..."
He read out dozens of names in succession.
"After passing the assessment, you will be eligible to be accepted by a tutor as a regular disciple."
"Tutors may freely choose disciples they find promising, and disciples may also freely choose a tutor they wish to study under. A formal master-disciple relationship will be established upon mutual agreement."
"If, during the selection phase, you are not chosen by any tutor and also fail to successfully choose a tutor, the system will randomly assign one to you. This assignment is final, and neither the tutor nor the student has the right to refuse."