Chapter Sixty-Six: Advancement to Third-Rank Warrior
The next day, Yang Fan left the academy infirmary.
The restorative powers of light abilities were indeed remarkable.
In fact, Yang Fan still didn't fully understand the hierarchy of awakened ability users or the cultivation systems involved.
His own situation seemed to differ quite a bit from that of other ability users.
By now, he had begun to discern certain patterns in his own lightning powers.
The stronger his cultivation, the greater the force of his lightning.
But what about others? Was it the same for them?
Yang Fan was hesitant to ask. After all, his own abilities originated from the System, which set him apart from those who awakened through normal means.
Returning to his dormitory, Yang Fan began to wait.
His cultivation had now reached the peak of the Second Rank. To progress further, he would need to open his Qi Sea and gather spiritual energies.
Yang Fan sat in meditation in the training room, a book in hand.
On the cover were five bold characters: "Nine Heavens of the Berserker."
...
When a cultivator's vitality reaches its zenith and the bones and meridians throughout the body have been fully nourished, one then senses the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, drawing it in with one's own vital essence, gathering it in the dantian.
At the dantian, one breaks open a space—this is the opening of the Qi Sea.
The Qi Sea nurtures spiritual energy—this is the gathering of Qi.
With the Qi Sea opened in the dantian, the true path of cultivation begins.
Gathered within the Qi Sea, spiritual energy is refined, transforming the acquired into the innate.
...
Yang Fan gazed at the "Nine Heavens of the Berserker" in his hand.
The chapter on the Third Rank, Opening the Qi Sea:
A Second Rank warrior breaks through to the Third Rank by sensing the spiritual energies of heaven and earth. Once one can clearly feel these energies, the next step is to draw them into the body.
Heaven and earth energies flow from without to within, gathering in the dantian and breaking open the Qi Sea.
Once the Qi Sea space is formed, spiritual energies are refined there, condensing into Qi.
Yang Fan examined himself.
Every bone in his body had been perfectly nourished red by his blood, every meridian was broad.
...
"I feel like I've forgotten something!"
Suddenly, Yang Fan frowned, set down his book, and pressed his hand to his forehead, searching his memory.
It seemed he had forgotten something important.
After a moment, he smacked his forehead and leapt to his feet.
"The System—I damn near forgot about the System!"
With that, Yang Fan silently called upon it.
Instantly, it was as if countless crawling creatures converged before his eyes, merging into lines of text.
"Host: Yang Fan"
"Level: Second Rank"
"Title: Student of the Shanghai Cultivation Academy"
"Assets: 6,200,230"
"Qi Sea: 0.6"
"Spirit: 11.2"
"Available Points: 6,201"
"Points Can Be Added To: Qi Sea+, Spirit+"
"Store: Locked"
"Draw Chances: 0"
Yang Fan looked over the numbers, feeling a bit helpless.
His assets had only increased by four million or so. Three million of that came from his freshman tournament reward credits, six hundred thousand was a cash bonus from a military task that Zhou Yiyi had already deposited into his account yesterday, and the rest were scattered gains from other missions.
"The thirty-six-million blade doesn't count? Does the System only recognize cash?"
Yang Fan muttered to himself, but didn't dwell on it.
The System's data looked rather good already.
After barely four months in the world of cultivation, he’d managed to amass over six million in assets—something he’d never dared dream of before.
Yang Fan sighed in amazement.
He then shifted his attention to the "points available" field.
Previously, when he'd added a point to his Qi Sea, his actual Qi Sea value had increased by 0.5. Back then, both his academy mentor and Zhou Ting had told him that his Qi Sea was half-open, and warned him not to expand it before reaching the peak of the Second Rank.
As Yang Fan cultivated, he understood the proper order: Without a powerful body and wide meridians, trying to withstand the influx of heaven-and-earth energies was impossible. Without enough preparation, the body would be torn apart before the spiritual energy even reached the dantian.
Upon realizing this, Yang Fan had immediately dismissed the idea of using the System to forcibly raise his strength.
Over time, that notion faded, to the point where he’d almost completely forgotten about the System.
All along, the System had provided him little more than psychological comfort and a lottery function.
Since acquiring the System, Yang Fan had drawn three rewards.
The first time, he awakened his lightning power.
The second time, he received a silver page that boosted his spiritual power. To this day, he hadn’t felt much from the increase, other than being able to focus his attention at will.
The third time, his eyes mutated. Whenever his vital energy surged to his eye sockets, the world would slow around him, as if everything moved in slow motion. This gave him time to react, to dodge, to think.
As for other functions, Yang Fan had never used them. The store was always locked, and he didn’t know how to unlock it.
But now, Yang Fan felt that the System might finally become useful for more than just a lottery machine.
How to open the Qi Sea at the Third Rank?
By gathering the spiritual energy of heaven and earth.
And how to do that? With a powerful body and blood, sense the changes in spiritual energy, absorb it into the body, pass it through the meridians, circulate it throughout, gather it in the dantian, and then condense it.
Yang Fan already possessed the body of a peak Second Rank warrior. That much was certain.
The next step was to sense and draw in spiritual energy.
But now, Yang Fan realized he could skip this step—he could let the System handle it.
The more he thought about it, the more reasonable it seemed.
Last time, one point had half-opened his Qi Sea. Full opening should only require another point.
In hindsight, all that pleading to Zhou Yiyi and threatening Mu Qingshan for the Qi Sea fruit had been unnecessary.
He was a man with a cheat, after all—why bother with such things?
With that, Yang Fan focused his will on the "+" next to Qi Sea in the available points list.
After a moment’s hesitation, he made up his mind.
Confirm.
Instantly, a stabbing pain shot through his abdomen, followed by a surge of energy flooding his body, roiling and churning in his belly. The pain intensified until Yang Fan found himself rolling on the floor in agony.
The pain lasted for about a minute. At last, he lay sprawled out, drenched in sweat.
After a while, Yang Fan opened his eyes again, joy shining in their depths.
He’d succeeded.
Yang Fan could feel the change inside himself. Looking inward, he could sense the transformation of his dantian and even visualize it: at the center of darkness, a barely visible point of light, like churning waves upon waves.
Once more, a data panel appeared before his eyes.
"Host: Yang Fan"
"Level: Second Rank"
"Title: Student of the Shanghai Cultivation Academy"
"Assets: 6,200,230"
"Qi Sea: 1.1"
"Spirit: 11.2"
"Available Points: 6,200"
"Points Can Be Added To: Qi Sea+, Spirit+"
"Store: Locked"
"Draw Chances: 0"
...
"Still Second Rank? That can't be right—my Qi Sea is already at 1.1. According to what Zhou Ting and Zhou Haifeng said, 0.6 was half-open, so full opening should be 1.2, right? Besides, I can clearly feel the change in my dantian—the little point of light is definitely the Qi Sea!"
Yang Fan pondered for a moment, frowning and gritting his teeth, then focused his will and added another point.
Again, pain flared in his abdomen, but this time it faded as quickly as it came, replaced by another sensation—a warm current like a spring breeze caressed his entire body, every inch of skin and every pore trembling with indescribable pleasure.
Yang Fan was enraptured.
As the feeling began to fade, he added another point.
The sensation returned.
Thus, Yang Fan repeated this process of adding points and savoring the pleasure.
He didn’t know how many times he’d repeated it before he finally stopped, composed his expression, and looked at the data now before him.
"Host: Yang Fan"
"Level: Third Rank"
"Title: Student of the Shanghai Cultivation Academy"
"Assets: 6,200,230"
"Qi Sea: 6.6"
"Spirit: 11.2"
"Available Points: 6,189"
"Points Can Be Added To: Spirit+"
"Store: Locked"
"Draw Chances: 1"
He’d made it.
He’d reached the Third Rank. The System confirmed it—there could be no mistake.
Whatever pent-up dissatisfaction he’d felt about being interrupted earlier melted away. No physical pleasure could compare to the satisfaction of a power breakthrough.
Yang Fan also noticed the Qi Sea option had vanished from the add-points list, likely because his body could no longer handle further upgrades for now.
He didn’t mind. As long as he continued to progress, he’d eventually be able to use it again.
As for the new draw chance, Yang Fan wasn’t eager to use it just yet. Knowing the System’s perverse ways, every reward brought some new agony, and he’d only just endured a bout of abdominal torment. He wasn’t looking to inflict more pain on himself!
He moved his focus to the "+" next to Spirit.
"Should I try it?" Yang Fan hesitated.
He’d never really understood the Spirit stat before, and he still didn’t. But last time, after absorbing the silver page and his Spirit value soared, aside from a temporary headache, there had been no lasting side effects.
Besides, his Spirit had been rising slowly over time.
After some deliberation, Yang Fan clicked the "+".
"Hmm?"
"Spirit: 11.3"
It had only increased by 0.1—a fifth of what a point did for the Qi Sea.
It wasn’t a big deal. Although Yang Fan found it odd, he wasn’t concerned. The System had its own rules. His opinion didn’t matter; he just had to follow the process.
What really unsettled him was—
He didn’t feel anything.
This wasn’t like the System at all.
He clicked again.
"Spirit: 11.4"
The numbers increased, but he still felt nothing.
Yang Fan kept clicking as he wondered.
Click, click, click.
Since there was no sensation, he might as well keep going.
After dozens of times, his Spirit stat reached:
"Spirit: 15.1"
He had used up thirty-nine points.
On the fortieth try, Yang Fan finally felt it—a wave of coolness flooded his mind. At first, it was just cool, but as he kept adding points—forty-two times, a chill; forty-eight, icy cold; fifty-nine, a biting frost, as if tiny blades were slicing through his brain.
Yet, the "+" next to Spirit remained. Yang Fan didn’t want to stop.
Based on previous experience, he figured if he could still add points, his body must still be able to handle it.
He pressed on.
At seventy-two, a thunderclap seemed to explode in his mind, as if a shackle had been broken. The world went black, and Yang Fan collapsed to the ground.