At 10:30 PM, Li Cang returned to his home in Yunlan New District.
The large, luxurious villa was cold and empty, with not a soul in sight.
In this life, he was a rich second-generation and only child; his parents were extremely wealthy, and having entered middle age, they had begun to enjoy life, traveling and indulging themselves in other star systems year-round, not returning home even once for months.
For their academically poor son, the couple initially held high hopes, spending heavily to hire renowned teachers for guidance.
However, not a single renowned teacher could solve his fatal problem of "too slow Origin Qi absorption."
As time passed,
Li Cang remained an academically poor student with no improvement.
By the time he entered junior high, the couple had also come to terms with it, no longer pushing him, and their only remaining expectation for him was—
To be happy and simply live.
The next day,
Li Cang arrived at school early.
He planned to spend the entire day in the cultivation room, rapidly improving using the specially supplied Juyuan Liquid and nano detoxification neck guard.
He bought breakfast outside school and walked towards the Martial Dao area while eating.
In front of the administrative building, he stopped.
On the plaza, a large screen had been erected at some unknown time, displaying the academic performance rankings for the entire third year of high school.
Li Cang spotted himself at a glance—
He was easy to find; he was the last person in the last row.
In front of him, three boys from the neighboring class were pointing at his name, their voices full of mockery.
"Damn, is this Li Cang even human? He's ranked even lower than our class's big idiot."
"Hahaha, worse than an idiot, this guy is truly invincible."
"Maybe he's also a little Tang person, hehe."
"..."
The three of them laughed and pointed for a while, then prepared to leave. As soon as they turned around, they saw Li Cang standing behind them.
"Uh..."
The atmosphere instantly became awkward.
"Uh, Cang Ge, sorry, don't take it to heart, we were just joking around."
The three were not school bullies, so they quickly apologized to Li Cang, nodding and awkwardly smiling as they left.
Li Cang didn't care about it; after all, he hadn't earned the last place, so he didn't take their mockery to heart.
"However, gossiping behind someone's back will still get you struck by lightning."
Li Cang calmly bit into his pancake.
Not far away,
As the three passed a street lamp, they suddenly twitched simultaneously, letting out howls with demonic auto-tuned voices.
"Oh my god, why is this street lamp leaking electricity?!"
...
Cultivation Room 104.
Li Cang sat cross-legged, put on the nano detoxification neck guard, and set it to level five.
"Buzz buzz buzz—"
Seeing the nano detoxification neck guard swell up, Li Cang unscrewed the cap of the Juyuan Liquid bottle and looked expectantly at the blue liquid inside.
"Ye Family's internal special supply Juyuan Liquid, let me see your miraculous effect!"
Li Cang tilted his head back and took a small sip.
In an instant, a cool sensation, like a clear spring, flowed down his throat, making his entire body feel inexplicably comfortable.
When the Juyuan Liquid entered his abdomen, the cool sensation immediately transformed into a warm sun, making his limbs and bones tingle.
"It's working!"
Li Cang's heart filled with joy, and he immediately focused his mind, beginning to cultivate the Yuan Gang Breathing Technique.
In the Qi Tempering Realm, the Yuan Gang Breathing Technique had an additional operational step—
Refining the absorbed Origin Qi into Primordial Force.
Origin Qi is a mysterious energy state, though Formless and without substance, its existence is like a loose, light mist.
When Origin Qi condenses tightly within the body, the mist state becomes thick, slowly solidifying, and will transform into a dense, flowing state.
This flowing state of Origin Qi is "Primordial Force."
The process of Tempering Yuan Qi is not difficult; after all, it is a basic junior high cultivation course, easily mastered with a little practice.
The only difference is the speed of Tempering Yuan Qi.
Some people have high talent, so their Tempering speed will be faster, and their realm advancement speed will also increase proportionally.
The converse is also true.
However,
Very few people's Origin Qi Tempering speed was as exaggerated as Li Cang's at this moment.
"Rumble rumble—"
The Origin Qi array plate spun frantically, continuously supplying Origin Qi to balance the constantly decreasing Origin Qi concentration in Cultivation Room 104.
Even so,
The Origin Qi concentration in the cultivation room was still decreasing.
Li Cang was like a human-shaped underwater vortex, almost greedily sweeping and devouring Origin Qi into his body.
When ordinary people Temper Yuan Qi, they absorb it into their bodies, then condense and solidify it, gradually Tempering it out drop by drop.
But Li Cang at this moment was different.
Massive amounts of Origin Qi were absorbed into his body, and the quantitative change led to a qualitative change; he didn't even need to actively condense it, as the Origin Qi automatically condensed and solidified under forced conditions.
The result was—
Primordial Force was being frantically Tempered out like a torrential downpour!
Li Cang could clearly feel a vast surge of Primordial Force converging into a powerful torrent, continuously flushing his limbs, bones, and meridians.
After an unknown amount of time,
"Click!"
A crisp and sudden unusual sound.
Li Cang opened his eyes and found that the Origin Qi in the cultivation room had become extremely thin. He turned to look at the Origin Qi array plate in the corner.
The Origin Qi array plate was clicking and cracking, and a crack had appeared on its exterior; the overload operation had finally caused it to break down.
"It broke?"
Li Cang was slightly stunned, not paying too much attention. He turned off the nano detoxification neck guard and brought up the holographic screen to check his personal information.
【Cultivation Realm: Qi Tempering Realm Second Stage】
【Overall Quality: 22 (Constitution 8, Agility 5, Resilience 5, Spirit 4)】
【Exclusive Destiny: Path of Idealism (Hidden)】
【Cultivation Method: Yuan Gang Breathing Technique (First Stage 27%)】
【Martial Arts Skills: None】
【Spellcasting Abilities: None】
He had reached Qi Tempering Realm Second Stage!
Li Cang was overjoyed. He glanced at the time: 11:41 AM.
He had only used one morning to advance from Qi Tempering Realm First Stage to Qi Tempering Realm Second Stage, and his overall quality and Yuan Gang Breathing Technique had also improved.
"Hahahaha, this Juyuan Liquid is simply miraculous! As expected of the Ye Family's internal special supply! Three thousand yuan a bottle is totally worth it!"
Li Cang picked up the glass bottle and kissed it fiercely.
Recalling last night, he had initially suspected that old man was a fake drug dealer, which was truly inappropriate.
That person was a big shot with internal channels!
"Oh no, I forgot to get that old man's contact information. I don't know how to buy from him again once this bottle is finished... What a blunder!"
Li Cang shook his head and got up to leave Cultivation Room 104.
He reported the damage to the Origin Qi array plate to the cultivation room administrator, then went to the cafeteria to eat.
The administrator came to Cultivation Room 104 and looked at the damaged Origin Qi array plate with a puzzled expression.
"Strange, how did this get damaged? It was just updated not long ago; the quality shouldn't be this poor..."
...
The cafeteria was bustling with noise, lively and vibrant, with the aroma of food mixing with the clamor of young men and women filling the entire space.
As soon as Li Cang sat down in a corner, keen-eyed Su Xi came over with her tray and sat down in front of him.
"How's your cultivation going? Any progress?"
"Great progress!"
"Hmph, hmph, it's not like it matters who made the improvement plan."
Su Xi smugly raised the corners of her mouth, thinking that her Martial Dao improvement plan had helped Li Cang.
What does that have to do with you...?
Li Cang muttered silently, then suddenly looked up behind Su Xi.
Su Xi also saw Li Cang staring behind her. She turned around and saw that it was the school beauty, Xia Shishi, who had come to eat.
"Abstinence and a clear mind! Abstinence and a clear mind!"
Su Xi rolled her eyes and waved her hand impatiently in front of him.
Then, she pulled out a glass bottle from her pocket and placed it in front of Li Cang.
"Here, it's a primary Origin Qi gathering liquid. Drink a sip when you're absorbing Origin Qi; it can help you gather the surrounding Origin Qi."
"That's great? Thank you!"
Li Cang was a bit surprised, but he didn't stand on ceremony with her, putting it away into his pocket.
Su Xi snorted, "Hmph, you should really thank me. I pestered them to get this for you. You really need to work hard and not let my efforts go to waste."
As Li Cang was her one-on-one support project, if he didn't make progress, she would lose face.
"No problem."
Li Cang finished his meal quickly.
He curiously unscrewed the medicine bottle Su Xi gave him, sniffed it at his nose, then pursed his lips and shook his head.
"This liquid isn't very good; it's not as good as mine."
Saying this, he took out his special supply Juyuan Liquid to show Su Xi.
"What is this?"
"As a return favor, since you're so thoughtful, I'll share some with you too."
Li Cang found a clean plastic cup, poured a mouthful of Juyuan Liquid for Su Xi, and very generously handed it to her.
"You didn't add anything to it, did you?" Su Xi asked suspiciously.
"Am I that kind of person? Trust me, drink it when you're absorbing Origin Qi, and I guarantee you'll take off instantly."
Li Cang left with his tray, throwing out a confident and mysterious remark.
"Really?"
Su Xi looked at the blue liquid in the plastic cup, sniffed it suspiciously, then tentatively took a small sip.
A few minutes later,
She asked with a confused expression, "Isn't this just sugar water? Which scumbag sold him fake medicine?"