The Fourth-Level Acupoint Opening Realm—brought to absolute Perfection!
In that moment, seventeen years of solitude and bitter cultivation coalesced into a brilliant radiance atop his perfect Dao Foundation.
In the Cultivation Room, the deathly silence was broken by a long, drawn-out breath.
Qin Feng slowly opened his eyes.
In that instant, it was as if two miniature golden suns ignited deep within his pupils. A brilliant divine light flashed and then vanished, leaving behind a profound darkness that seemed to contain the entire cosmos.
He quietly looked inward, inspecting his body. It was an unprecedented, wondrous feeling of perfect, flawless completion.
Within his perception, his physical body was no longer a mere collection of flesh and bone, but a vast Star Sea.
Three hundred and sixty Great Sun Acupoints shone like three hundred and sixty undying stars, arranged according to some profound and unfathomable pattern, forming a perfect, three-dimensional Great Sun Star Map.
This star map was the most perfect foundation for the Martial Dao, one he had spent a full forty years forging for himself through endless pain and solitude!
HUMMM—
Without him even needing to actively circulate his Cultivation Technique, the Spiritual Energy around him spontaneously formed a tide visible to the naked eye.
Pure Spiritual Energy was drawn into every pore on his skin, circulating through the three hundred and sixty Great Sun Acupoints to be refined and strengthened, before a portion of that energy, imprinted with his Life Brand, was slowly expelled.
Each breath, in and out, constituted a highly efficient cycle of cultivation.
All around his body, the points on his skin corresponding to the three hundred and sixty Great Sun Acupoints pulsed with a faint golden light, like three hundred and sixty miniature, unceasing stars, filled with sanctity and majesty.
Simply by sitting there, he was like a deity suppressing a Divine Kingdom.
"Hammer."
Qin Feng’s voice, tinged with the hoarseness of long disuse, rang out in the Cultivation Room that had been silent for seventeen years.
"I am here, Master."
Hammer responded immediately.
"How many years have passed since I entered seclusion?"
"Master, seventeen years and one month have passed since you initiated the highest-level seclusion protocol."
’Seventeen years...’
Even though Qin Feng’s mind was as solid as a rock, a ripple of emotion couldn’t help but stir within him upon hearing that number.
’It’s been forty years since I enrolled in the academy.’
’And I’m already fifty-seven years old.’
"Hammer, have there been any important recent events?" he asked.
"Events sorted by priority: the next Canaan Newcomer Cup officially begins in six months. The system has detected that your Cultivation Realm meets the eligibility requirements for the Fourth Level Division. Shall I register you?"
"The Canaan Newcomer Cup..."
A nostalgic glint flashed in Qin Feng’s eyes.
He remembered the Newcomer Cup he had participated in right after he enrolled.
He had been so weak back then, instantly defeated in a single move by an "old" newcomer named Zou Yun in the very first round.
In his second Newcomer Cup, he took the title of Crowned Newcomer King.
He didn’t participate in the third one, missed the fourth while in seclusion, and now this was the fifth.
"Register me," Qin Feng said indifferently.
"Command confirmed. Registration for the Fourth Level Division is successful. Your contestant ID is K-4-9527."
Qin Feng paid no mind to the ID number. His thoughts had already drifted elsewhere.
He did a quick mental calculation.
The entrance exam and initial adjustment period had taken nearly a year.
After his first crushing defeat, he went into seclusion for three years.
After the Newcomer Cup, he went into seclusion again for twelve years.
Then came two years of missions, plus the seventeen years this time...
Before he knew it, a full forty years had passed since he first set foot in this highest academy of the cosmos.
His life had passed from seventeen years of age to fifty-seven.
What an incredible span of time.
Qin Feng’s heart was filled with a thousand emotions.
He had spent almost all of these forty years in bitter cultivation, isolated from the rest of the world.
He had missed out on so much of the outside world, given up so many worldly pleasures. His entire existence had been compressed down to a single purpose: cultivate and grow stronger.
’Was it worth it?’
As he felt the perfect, flawless star map formed by the three hundred and sixty Great Sun Acupoints within his body, he found his answer.
’It was.’
’Base desires for pleasure are things a Martial Artist must cast aside.’
’Otherwise, one would sink into the embrace of Lust and Decadence.’
Qin Feng constantly reminded himself of this.
He would rather be lured by Terror and Torture than seduced by Lust and Decadence.
Battle and honor—that is the path of a Martial Artist.
’I had originally planned to open all three hundred and sixty Acupoints in thirty years, but in the end, I couldn’t do it,’ he mused to himself. ’Still, to finish this path in forty years is already beyond ordinary.’
After all, according to the official data released by the Imperial Martial Arts Academy, the average cultivation time for the acupoint-opening stage of a top-grade Acupoint Opening Technique like the *Great Sun Acupoint Opening Method* was one hundred years.
He had used less than half that time.
’So, as I am now...’
With a thought, Qin Feng called up his vitality index scan.
A pale blue screen of light materialized before him, displaying a clear line of numbers.
[Vitality Index: 3600.0]
Seeing this number, Qin Feng raised an eyebrow slightly.
’3,600? Not 3,630?’
Based on the standard conversion of 10 points of vitality index per Great Sun Acupoint, three hundred and sixty Great Sun Acupoints plus the base 30 points he gained when breaking through to the fourth level should have totaled 3,630.
But right now, the index was stuck firmly at the round number of 3,600.
’I see...’
Qin Feng quickly understood the crux of the matter.
He could clearly feel an invisible, incredibly sturdy shackle within his physical body. This shackle was locking his life level firmly at the critical point of 3,600.