Li Cang wondered why the Path of Idealism's experience value had increased, but at the same time, he realized another more serious matter for him—
If he became aware that he was using the Path of Idealism, he might experience a wavering of confidence, which would then affect the Path of Idealism's effectiveness.
"You wish to disturb my Dao Heart!"
Li Cang studied it for a bit and found that he could hide the Path of Idealism's experience value, so he decisively hid it.
"Exclusive Destiny: Path of Idealism (Hidden)"
This way, when checking his personal information, he wouldn't see the experience value, but he could unhide it when he wanted to see it.
It was very user-friendly.
Afterward, he tried the idea that had popped into his head earlier, to see if he could "automatically circulate Origin Qi through daily breathing."
A moment later.
Li Cang gave up helplessly.
He tried various methods, but all attempts failed.
"The root cause is that 'I cannot firmly believe in this matter,' so I cannot trigger the Path of Idealism."
"Of course, it could also be because my Path of Idealism is only at the first stage."
"After it advances, perhaps even if I 'cannot firmly believe,' I will still be able to trigger the Path of Idealism."
"Ha—so sleepy..."
Li Cang yawned, lay down on the ground, intending to take a nap, but drowsiness surged like a tide, and he unconsciously fell asleep.
Ten o'clock.
Su Xi finished evening self-study and arrived at Cultivation Room 137.
Seeing the green light on the door, she breathed a slight sigh of relief; a green light meant someone was cultivating inside.
"He's quite motivated, isn't he?"
She had just been worried that Li Cang might have been lazy and gone home early, but she didn't expect him to cultivate until now.
However.
When she gently pushed the door open and poked half her head inside, the first thing she saw was Li Cang lying on the ground, sound asleep.
"Sigh..."
Su Xi felt a bit disheartened.
She suddenly recalled the quiet words her homeroom teacher had said to her when calling her out alone after announcing the assistance list—
"Xi Xi, don't take this assistance matter too seriously. Li Cang is a lost cause; just pretend to go through the motions. Don't let it affect your grades."
"Maybe I should just give up..."
Su Xi wavered a little.
But then she thought, perhaps Li Cang was so tired from circulating Origin Qi that he fell asleep, and she hadn't seen his earlier cultivation process.
"If it were the old him, he would have probably packed up and gone home long ago. This shows that he still wants to improve properly..."
Su Xi nodded slightly and tucked a "Martial Arts Improvement Plan" into the door crack.
This was a personalized martial arts improvement plan she had devised for Li Cang during her evening self-study, after consulting many resources, with very clear goals—
First, to strive to advance a few ranks before the first mock exam seven days later.
Second, to strive to enter the Qi Tempering Realm before the college entrance examination.
Not long after Su Xi left.
A cultivation room administrator on patrol passed by, saw that Cultivation Room 137 was still lit, pushed the door open, and woke Li Cang.
"Hey, student, don't sleep, don't sleep. School's out, go home."
"Is this yours? Take it."
Li Cang woke up groggily, took the papers the administrator handed him, and left the cultivation room, yawning.
The papers were stapled together, with the title—
"The Super-Duper Ultra-Mega Martial Arts Improvement Plan to Never Be at the Bottom!!!"
Next to it was a drawing of a small figure with a red headband, clenching a fist, clearly the work of the severely chuunibyou Su Xi.
Li Cang didn't look closely at the content and casually folded it into his pocket.
"I have now found the correct cultivation path for my special sacred body; these ordinary cultivation methods are no longer suitable for me."
He pulled out his phone and searched for the cultivation system and realm divisions of this world as he left the school.
These should have been common knowledge, but unfortunately, the academic slacker Li Cang hadn't studied anything, so all his knowledge was hazy.
Since he had embarked on the path of cultivation, he definitely needed to clarify these things.
Aside from certain technological forces, the mainstream cultivation systems in the Nine Great Star Domains were the Ten Martial Arts Schools and the Ten Spell Systems.
The first stage of cultivation realms was the Initial Realm Entry, which included—
Primordial Sensing Realm, Form Condensation Realm, Qi Tempering Realm, Returning Yuan Realm.
Among them, the simplest was the "Primordial Sensing Realm"; one only needed to sense Origin Qi, which almost anyone could do.
Even the academic slacker Li Cang had reached Primordial Sensing Ninth Stage in elementary school.
The "Form Condensation Realm" required circulating Origin Qi within the body, which was the realm most students reached when transitioning from elementary to middle school.
The "Qi Tempering Realm" was refining Origin Qi into Primordial Power, which was basic cultivation knowledge in middle school.
The "Returning Yuan Realm" was integrating the refined Primordial Power, which was advanced cultivation knowledge in middle school.
"In other words, I'm currently at Qi Tempering First Stage, which is like just starting middle school. To catch up with those high school seniors, I must work doubly hard..."
Li Cang muttered as he left the school.
The night was tranquil, with insects chirping in the roadside grass, and occasionally, car headlights flashed in the distance, like fireflies streaking across the night sky.
Passing a corner, an old figure suddenly stumbled out, unexpectedly colliding with him head-on.
Li Cang immediately raised his hands, his face full of vigilance:
"Grandpa, you ran into me yourself. I didn't touch you at all."
"It's alright, young man, I was walking too fast."
The old man, wearing a drab gray coat, leaned against the wall and got up himself, smiling kindly as he sized up Li Cang.
"Oh, a student, eh?"
The old man looked around, then lifted his coat, mysteriously pulling out a glass bottle containing blue liquid.
"Do you want some internally supplied high-grade perfect Juyuan Liquid?"
"What is it?"
"Perfect Juyuan Liquid. It can greatly enhance the body's ability to gather Origin Qi, dozens of times more effective than the garbage on the market..."
A fake medicine peddler.
Li Cang turned and walked away.
"Hey, hey, hey, student, don't leave! Do you know who I am?" The old man quickly shuffled a couple of steps to catch up.
"Who are you?"
"Do you know the Ye family, the number one martial arts family in Western Plains?"
"You're from the Ye family?"
Li Cang stopped at his words.
Even the academic slacker Li Cang, who spent his days playing games and sleeping, had heard of the influential Ye family in Xiyuan City.
The Ye family's heritage spanned over five hundred years, renowned for their martial arts that combined physique and star soul cultivation. Their unique cultivation technique, "Greedy Wolf Azure Edge Art," ranked third among the Eight Wonders of Western Plains.
"Yes, I am from the Ye family..."
The old man smiled and took a deep breath, saying, "...a gardener."
"..."
Li Cang rolled his eyes and continued walking.
"Hey, student, just listen to me first."
"The Ye family has a medicinal garden that cultivates many extremely rare spirit herbs, which are core resources for the Ye family disciples' cultivation."
"These spirit herbs, refined through unique secret methods, produce medicinal liquids and pills exclusively for the Ye family disciples, rarely seen by outsiders."
"Some low-grade medicinal liquids pile up like mountains in the Ye family's warehouse. Many even expire before they can finish drinking them. It's truly a waste."
"Just like this bottle of Juyuan Liquid!"
"If you don't believe me, smell it..."
The old man spoke confidently, as if afraid Li Cang wouldn't believe him, and even unscrewed the glass bottle cap to let him smell it.
"Eh?"
Li Cang took a shallow sniff.
The medicinal liquid had a peculiar, refreshing fragrance. With just one sniff, the Origin Qi around him truly gathered somewhat towards him.
This Juyuan Liquid was actually effective!
Li Cang's heart was immediately stirred.
With his current Origin Qi circulation and cultivation speed, coupled with this bottle of Juyuan Liquid, wouldn't his cultivation speed improve even further?
Seeing Li Cang pondering, a faint red light flickered in the old man's eyes, almost imperceptible.
The next moment, he slightly lowered his hoarse voice, speaking with an irresistible, seductive tone:
"Student, you truly need this bottle of Juyuan Liquid. This is my last bottle. I'll give it to you for half price, three thousand yuan. Buy it."
"Three thousand yuan? Okay, I'll take one bottle..."
Li Cang's consciousness paused slightly. Looking at the Juyuan Liquid in the old man's hand, an inexplicably intense craving rose in his heart.
The next moment.
He didn't even haggle, and as if possessed, he pulled out his phone and paid three thousand yuan.
Seeing Li Cang leave with the medicinal liquid, the old man secretly rejoiced.
"Hehe, students are so easy to trick; they can't even tell fake medicine apart."
"Sigh, it's a pity my skills are lacking. With such meager abilities, I can only come out and fool students."
...
Li Cang took the Juyuan Liquid and hailed an autonomous taxi. Looking at the glass bottle, which held about 200 milliliters, he muttered:
"Strange, why didn't I haggle? Although my current parents are wealthy, it's clearly not my style..."
"But then again, this medicinal liquid truly lives up to its reputation as an internal supply from the Ye family. Just smelling it has such obvious effects; wouldn't drinking a sip send me soaring?"
"Expensive is expensive, but at least it's not fake medicine."
Path of Idealism value +1