Chapter 48

One hour later.

A knocking sound arose.

The robotic butler walked to the door, stared at the monitor, and said: “Place it on the doorstep crate.”

Movement came from outside the door.

A few seconds later, silence returned.

The robotic butler bent down and unlocked the mechanical latch beneath the entrance.

Click.

A cargo box slid in.

“Just fell asleep—should I wake him?”

The robotic butler hesitated, recalled Jiang Jian’s orders, and walked to the sofa.

“Fifteen portions of cultivation herbs have been delivered.”

Its voice rose slightly.

On the sofa.

Jiang Jian opened his eyes; the invisible aura around him dissipated.

From start to finish.

He had not slept at all.

Instead, he had practiced the Pure Spirit True Method without pause.

“Good.”

Jiang Jian rose, took the cultivation herbs from the crate, and packed them into his satchel.

The robotic butler, seeing him prepare to leave, warned: “Chronic sleep deprivation leads to physical decline and mental fog.”

Jiang Jian said nothing, merely waved his hand, opened the door, and walked toward the elevator lobby.

He had already tried it—his current state.

Replacing sleep with cultivation.

Completely feasible.

“Zhang Jian had said in cultivation class.”

“At least half a year of practice is needed before one can use subconscious cultivation during sleep.”

“But here.”

“I began cultivation.”

“And already achieved this.”

Jiang Jian stepped into the elevator, eyes thoughtful.

This afternoon, in the campus cultivation chamber, he had practiced for five full hours.

At that time, Jiang Jian had noticed.

He felt no fatigue whatsoever.

Instead, he felt light and his meridians perfectly clear.

For him,

Cultivation felt as natural as breathing.

Sleep was cultivation.

Cultivation was sleep.

“Perhaps my will is resolute.”

“In my subconscious.”

“All I think of is cultivation.”

Jiang Jian smiled to himself, opened his identity device, and summoned a sky-sled.

“It’s 8 p.m. now.”

“I can cultivate until 6 a.m. tomorrow.”

In the campus cultivation chamber.

Jiang Jian sat cross-legged on the floor.

Before him lay twenty portions of cultivation herbs.

The chamber’s array trembled and hummed.

Time dripped away.

The paper-wrapped herbs before Jiang Jian gradually diminished.

The aura swirling around him flowed endlessly, converging into the Shenque point.

Like streams feeding the sea, slowly yet steadily increasing.

In the corner of the room, a semi-transparent screen displayed the clock.

Two hours.

Five hours.

Ten hours.

Outside the cultivation tower.

Night’s tide receded; golden-red dawn emerged.

Jiang Jian opened his eyes.

Deep within his pitch-black pupils, the dark red flame still burned quietly.

The aura around him snapped back, silent and swift.

“My spiritual foundation has increased significantly.”

“More importantly,”

“My control over spiritual energy has become far more refined.”

Jiang Jian stood, closed his eyes, then opened them again.

The eerie flame in his gaze faded silently.

Ten hours of extreme cultivation.

Jiang Jian clearly sensed.

His cultivation spiritual reserve had increased again.

“Every practice session brings progress.”

“This feeling—every minute, every second—”

“That I am moving farther from death.”

“It’s utterly captivating.”

Jiang Jian took a deep breath and exhaled slowly.

He felt utterly light and refreshed.

For some reason,

A terrifying intuition lingered deep within Jiang Jian.

That strange illness—losing consciousness—was horrifying.

But,

Ever since the Divine Bestowal Ceremony,

That illness had not recurred.

Each time his spiritual energy limit increased,

Jiang Jian felt

That he was growing ever farther from the illness.

Beep!

A communication alert sounded.

Jiang Jian opened his identity device and checked his mailbox.

Dozens of advertisement emails—he skimmed them all and deleted them.

“Senior Jiang Jian, are you adjusting well to Linjiang Academy?”

In a video email, Nie Zheng wore a school skirt, smiling gently: “Next year, I’ll also apply to Linjiang Academy for the Divine Bestowal Exam.”

Jiang Jian paused, then replied formally: “Good luck.”

He swiped the message away.

Nie Zheng was beautiful.

One could even say, exquisitely beautiful.

Aside from Jiang Zhao, Nie Zheng was the most aesthetically striking female Jiang Jian had ever seen.

She rivaled Zhao Jianxue.

Stepping out of the cultivation tower.

Golden sunlight, blindingly bright, poured down.

Jiang Jian squinted.

Suddenly, he remembered.

That one moment long ago.

So similar to this very moment.

It was in Guangling City.

I stood in the shadows, looking up at the floating mega-city bathed in sunlight.

But now.

What I look up at now.

Is no longer the Shenzhao District of Guangling City.

But the Five-River City of Linjiangzhou.

And even more so, the towering Heaven-Pillar Mountain.

“Could it be…”

“That one must look up at something…”

“To see how small one truly is?”

Jiang Jian lowered his gaze and stepped onto the unmanned aerial pod.

Light and shadow streamed through the window, flickering in alternating patterns.

Illuminating the boy’s pale face.

In this moment,

his gaze was cold as a deep abyss.

6:30 a.m.

The aerial pod halted beneath the grand lecture hall.

Staircases spiraled upward, their wooden handrails carved with river patterns.

No students were here yet.

Jiang Jian sat inside the pod, activating the Pure Spirit True Method, practicing alone.

Though outside, his cultivation speed was extremely slow.

Compared to the campus cultivation chamber.

This pace was almost like a turtle crawling.

Yet Jiang Jian refused to waste any moment he could use for cultivation.

One hour.

Two hours.

Until 8:30 a.m.

Below the stairs, students began arriving one by one.

“Have you all played the virtual pods in the dorms yet?”

“They’re incredibly realistic!”

“This level of immersion, this pain feedback—it’s amazing!”

“I played virtual games all night—it was thrilling!”

A few playful students chattered excitedly about the dormitory virtual pods.

Most students remained silent, standing in small groups, waiting for class.

The First Academy had only fifty students.

After all, it was the top-performing department of Linjiang Academy’s first-year cohort.

Most here had a talent rating of Level 3 and trained diligently.

Even if their diligence couldn’t match Jiang Jian’s.

It still far surpassed the other departments in the first-year cohort.

“Jiang Jian, you’re here early.”

Shi Xuan stepped down from the aerial pod and walked over, tapping on Jiang Jian’s glass window.

Jiang Jian glanced at the time.

8:50 a.m.

Stepping out of the pod, Jiang Jian stood beside Shi Xuan and said, “I trained in the campus chamber last night, didn’t return to the dormitory, and came straight here this morning.”

Shi Xuan, carrying his Moon-Seeking Blade, glanced at the classmates nearby and lowered his voice: “I went at 3 a.m. and stayed in the chamber for five hours.”

He turned to face Jiang Jian. “The campus chamber is truly useful—just that the academy credits get used up too fast.”

Jiang Jian murmured, “This weekend, I’m going to take on a learning task to earn credits.”

Shi Xuan replied naturally, “I’ll join you.”

Jiang Jian nodded.

Shi Xuan’s Moon-Seeking Blade was a Level 3 Divine-Gifted weapon.

Just that blade alone was worth several million Alliance Coins.

During the entrance departmental assessment, Jiang Jian had already known.

Shi Xuan’s combat power was reliable.

Moreover,

learning tasks came in many varieties.

But tasks offering large credit rewards could never be completed by one person alone.

Shi Xuan thought for a moment and said, “Let’s find three more classmates to form a five-person team—it’d be better.”

Jiang Jian turned his head and nodded toward someone: “Isn’t one already here?”

Shi Xuan turned to look.

In the distance,

Liu Tiezhu strode over: “Jiang Jian, Shi Xuan, good morning.”

His smile was simple, but his eyes gleamed with cunning.

(End of Chapter)