Which of the contestants who made it into the top one hundred didn’t have an ace up their sleeve?
Qin Feng watched the familiar, dejected figure on the platform, his face full of anguish, but said nothing.
He knew this was a hurdle that Shi Dang had to face and overcome on his own.
At Canaan Starry Sky Martial Arts University, no one could live on past glories forever.
This place was filled with prodigies, all caught in a relentless race against one another.
Once the finals of the Fifth Level Division concluded and a champion was crowned, Qin Feng immediately stood up.
As for the upcoming sixth-level matches...
He only raised his head to glance at them from a distance.
On the battle platform for Sixth-level Martial Artists, it was no longer a simple clash of physical bodies and techniques.
Mental Power, like invisible tentacles, was interfering with reality!
That combat style, that method of wielding power, was on another level entirely for the current Qin Feng.
Qin Feng couldn’t understand it at all.
He was very self-aware. After confirming he couldn’t glean any useful information from the sixth-level matches, Qin Feng chose to leave without hesitation.
...
Outside the arena, the group was about to part ways.
"Old Qin, are you going back into seclusion again?"
Xiong Yanfu asked curiously.
"Just a short retreat. Half a year at the earliest, a year or two at the latest. I’m going to try uniting my acupoints, that’s all."
Qin Feng smiled and answered honestly.
"All right, then. Good luck. When you get out, we’ll go have a proper drink!"
Lei Meng stepped forward and clapped Qin Feng firmly on the shoulder.
Tiemu, concise as ever, just gave Qin Feng a firm nod. "We’ll be waiting."
Shi Potian stood to the side, looked at Qin Feng, and smiled. "I’ll catch up to you."
"I’ll be waiting."
Smiling, Qin Feng bid farewell to his close friends, one by one.
...
He returned to his familiar single-person dorm, which he hadn’t seen for a long time.
Inside, the room was just as he had left it—tidy and sparse.
Without taking any unnecessary rest, Qin Feng sat cross-legged in the center of the Cultivation Room, focused his mind, and opened the Imperial Trading House interface.
His goal was perfectly clear.
In the search bar, he typed the name he had long been anticipating.
[Great Sun Qi Meridian Method]
The search results appeared instantly.
An ancient jade scroll, dark gold in color and looking as if it were forged from True Sun Fire, floated silently on a virtual display stand.
And below it, an astonishing price was listed.
[Price: 7,000 Contribution Points]
There wasn’t the slightest hint of hesitation in Qin Feng’s eyes.
He reached out his finger and pressed down firmly on the bright red "Purchase" button.
[Confirm payment of 7,000 Contribution Points for Great Sun Qi Meridian Method?]
"Confirm."
The next second, the balance in his personal account plummeted.
The dark-gold jade scroll, in turn, transformed into a streak of light and vanished into his Subspace Network panel, becoming a massive trove of information that slowly unfolded into a holographic video tutorial.
After purchasing the core cultivation technique, Qin Feng didn’t stop.
He opened the trading house again and, with practiced ease, navigated to the Potions section.
This time, he didn’t buy any of the middle- or high-level Spiritual Energy Potions.
Instead, he set his sights directly on a higher grade of cultivation resource, one specially prepared for Fifth-level Martial Artists.
[Premium Spiritual Energy Potion]
[Effect: Contains high-purity, high-density Spiritual Particles. Can rapidly replenish the energy required for a Fifth-level Martial Artist’s Meridian Union cultivation.]
[Price: 10 Contribution Points/vial]
’I’ll buy ten vials first and see how they work.’
Qin Feng decided, placing the order.
Another 100 Contribution Points were deducted.
Only after doing all this did he glance at his now greatly diminished account balance.
[Contribution Points Balance: 4,109]
’Still over four thousand points left. That should be enough for now.’
Qin Feng closed the trading house interface and turned all his attention inward.
He didn’t immediately begin the process of uniting his acupoints. Instead, he first took the Great Sun Qi Meridian Method he had just purchased and studied it meticulously from beginning to end, dozens of times, until every single word and every last detail was branded deep within his soul.
Then, he closed his eyes and began a new round of tedious and lengthy... bitter cultivation.
This time, his goal was to achieve initial mastery of the Great Sun Qi Meridian Method.
However, the difficulty of the cultivation far exceeded his expectations.
This cultivation technique’s demand on one’s Mental Power was far higher than any he had ever practiced before!
He had to maintain a state of intense mental focus at all times, using his own faint Mental Power to perceive the complex, profound connections between the three hundred and sixty Great Sun Acupoints in his body—connections as intricate as stellar orbits. Then, he had to slowly activate them. It was an incredibly difficult process.
The process was tedious, dull, and utterly draining.
During this period of seclusion, time itself seemed to lose all meaning.
One day.
Ten days.
One month.
Three months.
Six whole months flowed by, passing in an instant.
For half a year, Qin Feng went almost without sleep, pouring every ounce of his energy into comprehending the Great Sun Qi Meridian Method.
Finally, just as his Mental Power was about to be completely depleted, the proficiency value on his "Celestial Dao Rewards Diligence" panel finally, painstakingly, ticked over from "9" to "10."
[Great Sun Qi Meridian Method (Initial Mastery)]
[Proficiency: 10/1000]
It had taken him a full six months just to achieve initial mastery!
Qin Feng let out a long, foul breath. There wasn’t a trace of joy on his face—only a profound solemnity.