9: Refining essence into qi
Before going upstairs, Old Liu also picked up a box of bagged glucose that could quickly replenish energy from the supply room. The box looked like the ones used in hospitals.
“Are you all ready?” Professor Liu asked.
“Ready!” The four replied in unison.
Zhang Sheng and the other three sat cross-legged on the futons, which were provided by the school. They began to open the Heavenly Circulation Method in their hands.
Cultivating this Cultivation Technique was very simple. One only needed to forcefully memorize the incantation within, and then silently recite it once in their heart.
“Heaven and Earth have creation, creation gives birth to all things, all things have essence, humans are the spirits of all things... Refining Essence into Qi, opening the Dantian Qi Sea, entering the Dao of Cultivation...”
These words seemed to possess a magical power. Even while silently reading them, Zhang Sheng could feel the magic of the words.
His whole body's Qi and blood surged faster, and heat rose. The temperature in the laboratory where they were located significantly increased, probably because all of them were emitting astonishing heat.
According to the records in common knowledge of cultivation, the first time a Mortal Cultivates the Heavenly Circulation Method takes about three hours. The healthier and younger the body, the less time it takes.
Professor Liu himself took a full four hours for his first Refining Essence into Qi yesterday.
Time passed minute by minute. During this process, Professor Liu drank tea while flipping through common knowledge of cultivation.
Suddenly, the temperature in the laboratory sharply increased, estimated to be over thirty degrees Celsius, which even the central air conditioning struggled to suppress. A foul, sour smell emanated from Zhang Sheng.
Professor Liu looked at Zhang Sheng in shock, “This kid! He completed his first Refining Essence into Qi in just two hours.”
“It seems letting him participate in this research was truly the right choice.”
“Gulp!” Zhang Sheng didn't bother to feel the changes in his body and quickly drank the glucose in front of him.
Professor Liu smiled, “The washroom is to your left. Go back after dinner downstairs. It's getting late today.”
The senior students were still sitting cross-legged on the futons, eyes closed, still in the process of their first Refining Essence into Qi.
Zhang Sheng nodded in acknowledgment and then left the laboratory.
After completing the first Refining Essence into Qi, a large amount of oily grime was secreted from his body surface. His clothes were already sticking to his skin, and the smell was sour and pungent.
After washing up, Zhang Sheng only felt refreshed.
“Haha!” Zhang Sheng looked at his talent panel and excitedly waved his fists.
“Cultivation Technique: Heavenly Circulation Method (Beginner: 1/10)”
“Wonderful!”
“Unspeakably wonderful!”
Although he had guessed it earlier, Zhang Sheng still couldn't hide his excitement when the talent panel showed that he could learn Cultivation Techniques.
With the Transcendent Running and Throwing skills before it, if the Heavenly Circulation Method was Cultivated to Perfected State, it would definitely possess incredible abilities.
However, it takes two hours to complete one Refining Essence into Qi. Who knows how long it would take to complete 101,110 times.
Zhang Sheng touched his lower abdomen. This was the Qi Sea Dantian. After completing one Refining Essence into Qi, Zhang Sheng clearly felt a mysterious space three fingers below his navel, with a trace of Spiritual Qi wandering within this space.
This was the Qi Sea Dantian and Spiritual Qi mentioned in common knowledge of cultivation.
After passing through security and a body search, Zhang Sheng left the comprehensive experimental building. The two Cultivation books were also not allowed to be taken out of the experimental building, and more importantly, neither were the spiritual objects brought out from the Secret Realm.
The moon was bright and the sky was clear, with a faint blue glow shimmering in the night sky.
He glanced at his watch; it was already night. Zhang Sheng took a deep breath and ran all the way back to his dormitory.
Back in his dorm, Zhang Sheng called his dad.
“Dad, don't sell our stored grain... just listen to me...”
“Do you think your dad is stupid? I definitely won't sell it. Who knows what this world will become? As the saying goes, with grain in hand, there's no panic in the heart...”
His reminder seemed a bit redundant, as his family was a major grain producer. Their family's grain wasn't all sold immediately after harvesting and drying; it was sold in batches. Every year, before the new rice was harvested, prices would see a slight increase.
The family would keep a portion to sell in June or July.
So, Zhang Sheng's parents still had tens of thousands of catties of rice piled in their warehouse.
It is foreseeable that large-scale Cultivation of golden spirit rice will take a long time. Once the Heavenly Circulation Method spreads widely, it will inevitably lead to food shortages.
Calling to remind his parents was Zhang Sheng's private intention, and it didn't violate any confidentiality agreements or anything... Oh!
Opening WeChat, Zhang Sheng saw his counselor's WeChat bombardment.
It seemed Zhang Sheng was the only one in the entire class who hadn't registered his Talent information.
What to do?
Registering that he hadn't undergone Talent Awakening wasn't appropriate. Once his proficiency increased, many things would inevitably be gradually exposed.
If he registered himself as having an SSS-level Talent, it would definitely cause big trouble, without a doubt.
What to do? What to do?
Zhang Sheng helplessly opened Douyin on his phone and happened to see someone on the internet specifically compiling a directory of Talent Awakenings.
The directory contained thousands of Talent Awakenings, and the types were constantly increasing.
“Partial Gigantification”
“Vajra Finger”
“Stamina Enhancement”
“Third Eye”
“Three Heads Six Arms”... The types of abilities were diverse, mostly E-Rank abilities, followed by D-Rank, C-Rank... up to SSS-level.
The number of abilities presented a pyramid structure. Among those who had Awakened SSS-level Talent, none were Chinese. One was American, and the other two were from India.
Currently, the highest known Talent Awakening in China online is only S-Rank, without even an SS-Rank.
This is too strange, isn't it?
How can China and India both have 1.4 billion people, yet China has no publicly known SSS-level Talent?
Perhaps they are hiding something, Zhang Sheng smiled. He himself was a living example.
It now seems that the actual number and Rank of Awakened Talents may far exceed what is recorded online.
Carefully reviewing the Talent directory, Zhang Sheng wanted to find a Talent somewhat similar to his own ability.
But after searching for a while, he couldn't find a similar Talent.
After much deliberation, Zhang Sheng decided to choose “Body Strengthening” as his Talent.
This Talent, at least in the short term, was more compatible with Zhang Sheng's current situation.
As for the future, he could only consider it later.
The Body Strengthening Talent was not low in Rank; it belonged to B-Rank Talent.
So, Zhang Sheng logged into the “Extraordinary Administration Bureau APP” with his real name and registered his information.
At this moment, the noise in the hallway caught Zhang Sheng's attention. It was his roommates Sun Jie and Li Bin.
“Damn it! Zhang Sheng, where did you go during the day? I thought you were taken away by the Extraordinary Administration Bureau like Xingyang!”
“What? Wu Xingyang was taken away by the Extraordinary Administration Bureau?” Zhang Sheng exclaimed in surprise.
“But it's not a bad thing. It's because of his Talent — Wind of Healing. It seems the higher-ups want to specially Cultivate a group of people.” Sun Jie sat on a chair, legs crossed, a thin cigarette in his mouth.
“Our student council president was also taken away. He also Awakened a very powerful Talent, I think it's called — Eye of True Penetration.”
Sun Jie seemed to remember something and slapped his thigh, “You little rascal, that's too much! He only told me when he left today that his Awakened Talent wasn't C-Rank at all, but S-Rank!”
“Sigh, and I was so good to him!”
Zhang Sheng knew the student council president, An Shenhu. He was originally a strong competitor for Zhang Sheng's postgraduate recommendation spot. He never expected him to Awaken the “Eye of True Penetration” Talent.
Even just knowing the name, Zhang Sheng's intuition told him that this Talent was by no means simple.