Chapter 81: A Fleeting Moment

“Finally reinforced.”

At the core of the array, the engineer sighed, raised his arm, and wiped sweat from his forehead with his sleeve.

“A first-year student actually managed to push the cultivation room to this level.”

The engineer muttered, stepped out of the room, and handed a key to the staff member.

“I’ve raised the upper limit of Qi output.”

“If this happens again, don’t come to me—just turn it to maximum!”

Saying this, the engineer walked to the floor-to-ceiling window, leapt onto the back of a flying spirit beast, and flew straight out of the cultivation building.

In the central monitoring room, the staff member took the key and watched his retreating figure with visible resentment.

“Look at the way he carries himself.”

“What’s he so proud of?”

Another staff member made a shushing gesture and whispered, “Watch your tongue—he’s the Array Master from the Academic Affairs Office. We can’t afford to anger him.”

The two exchanged glances and fell silent together.

Cultivation room.

“The Qi supply seems much more stable.”

Jiang Jian’s eyelashes fluttered slightly; he sensed the room’s Qi shift but kept his eyes closed.

Time passed.

Inside his Shenque point, the demonic energy water cluster visibly shrank by a full circle.

Meanwhile,

Jiang Jian’s Qi reserve upper limit was also increasing at a terrifying pace, bit by bit!

Even the accumulated snow in the corner was stirring its origin, greedily absorbing the room’s Qi, unwilling to pause for a single moment.

After the engineer’s adjustments,

the cultivation room’s Qi supply had reached the level of a second-year student.

Five hours.

Ten hours.

Thirty hours.

Day and night passed in the blink of an eye.

During this time, the snow had paused many times.

It was already parched and starving.

Though as a spirit beast, once its cultivation reached a high level, it could survive without food or water, feeding on morning mist and Qi.

But the snow was still in its juvenile stage, with a low Qi reserve level.

Far from reaching the point where it could completely abstain from eating.

“I…”

The snow raised its head, gazing at Jiang Jian, who sat in silent cultivation, and opened its mouth—then closed it again.

At that moment,

the room’s Qi suddenly halted.

“Your cultivation room time has expired.”

The notification sounded.

A few seconds later,

Jiang Jian opened his eyes; the faint glow along the embroidery on his uniform sleeve gradually dimmed.

The snow exhaled in relief, wagging its fluffy tail proudly: “I was afraid of disturbing your cultivation—I was starving, but I didn’t dare call you.”

“Mm.”

Jiang Jian nodded, stood up.

Invisible waves of energy rippled around him, his Qi nearly overflowing.

“This cultivation session increased my Qi reserve by at least five percent of the Divine Gift realm.”

Jiang Jian lowered his gaze and extended his palm.

Between his pale fingers, delicate petals of light swirled, appearing and vanishing intermittently.

The next instant,

Jiang Jian flicked his palm.

A magnificent stream of light surged forth, directly sweeping toward the snow!

CRACK!

A shield of spiritual energy materialized before the gray fox—but vanished instantly under the flow of petals, shattering into fragments!

The light stream scattered like fine rain.

The snow stood on all fours, staring at Jiang Jian, bewildered.

“Come.”

Jiang Jian flipped his palm and retrieved Hanguang.

The snow’s gaze sharpened.

The next moment, its aura changed abruptly!

A gray light tore through the air, lunging straight for Jiang Jian!

In the flash of an eye,

Jiang Jian stepped half a pace back, barely evading the gray claw, and slashed with a sweep of his sleeve!

CLANG!

The clash of metal rang out, sparks flying!

The snow’s claw struck the blade of Hanguang!

The blade rang and rebounded.

But the blazing light flame carried by the sword broke free from the blade and roared toward the snow!

The snow’s pupils shrank sharply; its body transformed into a swift streak of gray light.

Like willow leaves dancing in the wind, it appeared and vanished in impossible ways, dodging the engulfing flame with astonishing agility.

The room’s Qi fluctuations gradually subsided.

The snow walked forward on all fours, eyes filled with admiration: “Your Qi reserves already exceed those of some second-year students.”

It had grown up in the Academic Affairs Office and had many channels for gathering information.

It could roughly estimate the cultivation level of ordinary students.

“Still not enough.”

Jiang Jian shook his head slightly. “Go eat something.”

The snow’s eyes brightened: “Alright.”

On the aerial shuttle.

The snow carried a pile of cultivation herbs, its claws moving as it stared at the holographic screen, helping Jiang Jian sort his messages.

Suddenly,

the snow’s claws stopped. It looked at Jiang Jian, who was still cultivating by the window, and said: “Your sister’s message.”

By the window, Jiang Jian didn’t pause his cultivation: “Go on.”

The snow’s expression turned odd as it read: “Jiang Jian, I’ve followed your advice and stopped cultivating these past few days.”

“But I keep getting sudden headaches.”

“The pain is excruciating.”

“I’ve never experienced this before.”

“I went to the school clinic, took medicine—it did nothing.”

Here, the snow extended its claw, holding up its identity device before Jiang Jian’s face.

Below the message was a photo Jiang Jian had sent.

On the wooden cabinet beside the bed, the girl sat with lowered eyelids, hair falling, her face as pale as paper.

Jiang Jian stared at the message for several seconds.

He silently calculated the date and murmured: “Reply to my sister—tell her not to worry. In a few days, I’ll go to Anhezhou.”

“Alright.”

The snow replied, tapping the holographic screen, its eyes gleaming: “Can I come with you?”

Jiang Jian nodded: “Yes.”

The snow’s tail swished happily: “My cultivation isn’t bad—even if I’m not as strong as guard beasts, I’m more than enough to protect you.”

As a rare pet, it was born with innate spirit beast power, far surpassing humans.

Although the snow’s pet classification was “everyday beast,”

“everyday” here only meant relative to guard beasts.

Even in its juvenile stage, the gray fox’s true strength reached roughly thirty percent of the Divine Gift realm.

The aerial shuttle halted.

They returned to the dormitory building.

Jiang Jian pushed open the door, and an automated butler immediately stepped forward.

"Welcome home."

The previous robotic butler was dragged away by staff and sent back to Director Li.

The current robotic butler has been replaced with a brand-new one.

Though equally intelligent, it lacked the former’s spark of autonomy.

"Organize these spirit herb crates."

Jixue flicked its tail, and several large crates landed neatly on the floor.

"Very well," the robotic butler smiled, "would you like something to eat?"

Its spirit essence model rapidly analyzed and concluded that Jixue’s fur was dry, its pupils dull—long overdue for water and food.

Jixue raised a paw as if to speak, then swallowed the words.

It moved on all fours to the sofa, looked at Jiang Jian, and asked, "What would you like to eat?"

Jiang Jian lifted his water cup, took a sip, and checked the Sky Ladder rankings.

Hearing Jixue’s question, he said, "A bowl of pork bone noodle soup."

Jixue nodded, turned to the robotic butler, and said, "Braised meat over noodles, spicy stewed pork trotters with rice, braised lamb ribs, and a bowl of tofu pudding soup."

The robotic butler’s eyelid twitched, said nothing more, and turned to walk into the mechanical room.

As a machine from the Mechanical Management Office, this new robot’s spirit essence model was highly advanced.

Yet compared to the previous robotic butler, the difference was unmistakable.

Its autonomous permission level had been drastically reduced.

Though its spirit essence model continuously analyzed and held its own opinions, its actions were strictly obedient—never questioning orders.

(End of Chapter)