’So, by that calculation, for a Martial Artist cultivating the Top-grade Acupoint Opening Technique to open all 360 Acupoints to Perfection... adding up all the miscellaneous resources, the total investment would be around fourteen thousand Contribution Points.’
Qin Feng muttered to himself, gaining a much clearer understanding of how difficult this path of cultivation was.
’Earning all those Contribution Points, on top of the long periods of secluded cultivation... a typical genius would indeed need nearly a hundred years to complete this path.’
’And that’s assuming everything goes smoothly.’
Qin Feng’s gaze grew profound.
’If you’re a bit unlucky—say, due to a lack of strength or some other reason—and miss out on the first few Canaan Newcomer Cups, which are chances to get a large amount of starting capital all at once, then the early accumulation phase will become incredibly difficult. Progress will be slowed down indefinitely.’
’In fact, your journey might end right there.’
He suddenly thought of his final opponents from the Newcomer Cup—those two "century-old monsters" with life force indexes over three thousand.
They had probably languished in the Acupoint Opening Realm for nearly a hundred years.
’But... progress along this path isn’t made at a constant speed.’
Qin Feng soon considered another aspect.
’The first few Acupoints are actually the slowest to open. At that stage, you’re at your weakest, and your efficiency at acquiring resources is at its lowest. But once your strength increases, the later Acupoints will open faster and faster.’
He mapped out the likely paths of other Cultivators.
A typical genius might spend fifty years just to painstakingly open over fifty Great Sun Acupoints.
The process was incredibly tedious and grueling.
However, once fifty Acupoints were opened, their life force index would reliably surpass five hundred.
This level of strength reached a certain threshold, one high enough to independently take on missions that awarded over a thousand Contribution Points.
At that point, the entire pace of their cultivation would change completely.
They would continuously undertake difficult missions, exchange them for massive amounts of Contribution Points, and then purchase top-tier resources to enter deep seclusion.
And so the cycle would repeat.
Perhaps in the next fifty years, they could open the remaining three hundred-plus Acupoints all in one go.
Of course, this was still just the best-case scenario.
Qin Feng knew very well that theory was, in the end, just theory.
Not everyone was like him, possessing a "Celestial Dao Rewards the Diligent" panel, able to endure the kind of cultivation in seclusion that was so utterly tedious and painful it felt like living the same day for decades.
A genius might be able to endure a few years of solitude.
But they couldn’t necessarily withstand centuries of desolation.
If their resolve faltered even slightly and they were tempted by the splendors of the outside world, their cultivation progress would slow dramatically.
Thus, many Martial Artists cultivating the Top-grade Acupoint Opening Technique might ultimately need one hundred and fifty, two hundred, or even more years to see the path to its end.
"A century of time, just to open Acupoints..."
Qin Feng let out a soft sigh, then immediately cast these thoughts aside.
Their paths were their own.
He had his own pace.
After ending his long seclusion, the first thing Qin Feng did was immerse his consciousness in the Subspace Network.
It was a good habit he had developed long ago.
After a period of isolation, the Subspace Network was undoubtedly the most efficient and convenient way to quickly catch up on what had happened in the outside world.
He skillfully opened the internal forum for Canaan Starry Sky Martial Arts University.
Over the past twelve years, the forum’s interface had been updated countless times, becoming more ornate and complex.
But the boisterous, lively atmosphere was the same as ever.
Qin Feng didn’t bother with the gossip and idle chatter. He went straight to the search function and typed in a few keywords.
Soon, a flood of posts related to the last Canaan Newcomer Cup—the one from ten years ago—were filtered out.
He casually clicked on a few of the most popular posts.
[An Immortal Legend! Newcomer King Shi Dang Reigns Supreme!]
[Deep Dive: The King’s Road for a Stone Man Hybrid! Shi Dang’s Physical Potential, Tested by an Authoritative Body, is Comparable to a Gold Standard Human III! The Future is Bright!]
[It’s Him Again! That Old Monster Zhou Run Clinches First Place in the Fourth Level Division Newcomer Cup for the Third Time in a Row! He’s Farming These Wins Shamelessly, It’s Infuriating!]
[Top 10 Dark Horses of This Year’s Newcomer Cup.]
...
A look of surprise appeared on Qin Feng’s face as he read the sensational headlines.
’Oh? Shi Dang... actually became the Newcomer King.’
An image surfaced in his mind from twelve years ago: the figure who had been so fragile before him, unable to withstand a single blow, yet had ultimately been so resolute.
It seemed that battle, far from crushing him, had truly allowed him to sever his Heart Demon and rise from the ashes.
Qin Feng felt a faint sense of gratification for his "fellow" from back home.
His gaze then fell upon another message.
’Zhou Run... that monster with a life force index over three thousand is still competing in the Fourth Level Division’s Newcomer Cup?’
Qin Feng didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.
The guy was truly persistent, all for that first-place prize money.
Even after being flamed on the forums, he was still relentlessly farming those rewards.
He continued scrolling through the posts and soon saw some familiar names on the top 100 list.
Shi Potian was ranked 17th.
Qin Lan was ranked 29th.