Chapter 33: Golden Core Seed

Jiang Ding looked at the heroic woman stepping onto the stage to collect her exam paper with admiration.

Though a single shift in spiritual sense only increased by nearly a hundred points—far less than his two hundred—it was a hundred-point gain from 1200 to 1300!

The later you go, the closer you get to the 1400-point maximum, the harder it becomes.

Even a single point could lead to vastly different outcomes.

Wu Tianli, ranked second, changed expression as he watched the girl walk past him; for a moment, he saw a divine maiden vanishing into billowing golden light, leaving the mortal world behind.

Though Hua Bing had repeatedly rejected his advances, he still held firm confidence, for he was the most outstanding man in this group, convinced that one day he would win her heart and live happily ever after like a prince and princess in a fairy tale.

At this moment, his heart was filled with confusion.

“Alright, alright.”

Five or six minutes later, Li Junhao arrived late and quickly joined the silent line.

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Many showed expressions of surprise.

“Yes.”

Starting from the first row, students lined up to collect their replacement camouflage combat uniforms and panoramic helmets, dark as glass spheres.

BOOM! A deafening crash—his shoulder felt as if struck by a sledgehammer, forcing him back several meters, pain like a broken bone curling him into a ball.

“Everyone has improved this time. It’s clear you haven’t slacked off over these two months, especially Hua Bing of Qi Refining, Jiang Ding of Inner Qi, and Li Junhao.”

Jiang Ding confirmed: “With true qi as a tangible energy, your understanding and mastery of cultivation techniques, talismans, and arrays will greatly improve—I believe your breakthrough to Inner Qi will follow the same pattern.”

“This thing costs much more.”

His words were tactful—he knew young people had strong pride and vanity, so he waited until after Jiang Ding’s setback to offer advice.

Three squads met outside the classroom, forming a neat square, jogging in fixed rhythm toward the training ground dozens of kilometers away, occasionally passing others.

Li Junhao stepped closer, his voice low after long silence: “Jiang Ding, does breaking into Inner Qi really boost your academic scores significantly?”

“Yes, Instructor!”

Guo Kui explained in detail—the meaning behind the questions, what the Immortal Sect sought in answers, and more importantly, subtly guiding students toward the values and worldview the sect expected.

The Gaokao’s moral and ideological section takes place in the Grand Illusion—Education Network Zone—Heart-Testing Platform; faced with the exam paper, each candidate unconsciously gives their most truthful inner response—memorizing answers beforehand is useless.

Practice shooting on the move, prone shooting, and other maneuvers.

“Yes, Squad Leader!”

“The last two periods this morning are Instructor Zhang Ding’s cultivation class. Everyone, change into combat gear.”

After five or six minutes of chaos, Guo Kui finally smiled and restored class order.

!.

As for the bullet, no one knew where it had gone off.

Three minutes later, Jiang Ding’s inner qi was exhausted, yet no signal came that his inner qi was sufficient.

“It functions normally—at least up to Inner Qi Great Completion. This is still Eagle Chick Inner Qi; other internal arts with impure qi would require full perfection.”

“Second squad… Third squad…”

Li Junhao’s learning ability was exceptional—he could sketch the Metal Sharpness Array, Earth Thickening Array, Water Condensation Array, and other Five Elements arrays without any inner qi, spiritual power, or spiritual sense, merely through calculation, and once inner qi or spiritual power was input, they activated.

Ding ling ding ling!

At the training ground, Zhang Ding held a pocket watch, standing like a nail; before him, Hua Bing’s Qi Refining squad had already arrived, neatly lined up.

“This is the reconnaissance infantry.”

“Now, grip the stock, input inner qi—remember, frequency and intensity must be as consistent as possible. Sun Xiao, First Squad, move out.”

After waiting a long time, the Inner Qi squad finally joined the line. Zhang Ding stood motionless, eyes fixed on his pocket watch, face hard as stone.

He had just been proud of his own progress, when Jiang Ding suddenly broke into the top ten, securing a firm spot in the Daoist Department of Qianling University.

This is not abstract or ethereal.

“The core principle is the same—just master the Golden Seal. You’ve done well enough on that.”

“Free time!”

Zhang Ding muttered, placed the rifle in Jiang Ding’s hands, had him perform the standard shooting stance, then corrected him one by one, explaining the differences between the heavy machine gun and the anti-materiel sniper rifle.

This is not consolation.

“Next, open your exam papers. Question One…”

Jiang Ding followed as instructed.

Classmates scattered in small groups, but Zhang Ding called Jiang Ding over, leading him to the weapon rack, where among the grim, heavy heavy machine guns he found the relatively slender Type 03 anti-materiel sniper rifle, its barrel etched with clear talismanic patterns.

Other subjects—Chinese, geography, biology—were the same; they were top-tier scholars whose academic scores far surpassed those of ordinary top-two majors.

Two hours later, the bell rang. Guo Kui left. Hua Bing stepped up and casually swiped a card against the cabinet behind her.

He signaled Hua Bing to lead the Qi Refining squad to their tank training ground, then turned to the remaining eighteen students.

Twenty-seven to twenty-eight minutes later.

Sun Xiao and the others were drawn by the noise, instantly understanding, their faces filled with malicious delight.

He waved his hand and went to correct other students’ mistakes with the heavy machine gun, paying special attention to explaining the cultivation of the Golden Seal martial skill.

“Inner Qi realm…”

Zhang Ding said nothing: “Generally, you need at least completed Small Heavenly Cycle to charge a bullet within ten minutes. You should manage it within thirty.”

“First period: continue heavy machine gun training. Second period: combined tank operations.”

This was Li Junhao’s first time arriving on time for training—even though Class One was already ten minutes late compared to other classes.

“Take a break.”

Li Junhao sighed.

Zhang Ding appeared behind him without notice, speaking calmly: “A battlefield phantom—deadly, but with many restrictions: long charging time, high Golden Seal requirements, demands on Minor Concealment Technique and inner qi realm. Otherwise, that boom on the battlefield is a death sentence.”

You’re both fellow sufferers—how did you fly ahead on your own? It left him completely shut down.

Jiang Ding, pale-faced, stared at the rifle barrel flickering with barely visible light points, exhaled deeply, laid down, raised the bipod, aimed at the fixed target five kilometers away, and silently recited the Golden Seal incantation.

Sun Xiao saluted the temporary commander designated by Zhang Ding, then led his five-man squad into a sprint.

“But as I said before, this is only an internal midterm exam—how different it is from the real Gaokao remains unknown. Don’t grow complacent.”

“Yes!”

Inner qi flowed slowly into it, like a bottomless abyss, slowly swallowed.

“Teacher, I understand.”

Jiang Ding waited until the pain subsided, stood up, brushed the dust off his clothes, cradled the sniper rifle as if nothing had happened, and said: “Teacher, I don’t understand Minor Concealment Technique—first, … second, …”

“Oh, that’s how it is…”

Zhang Ding no longer tried to persuade him, and carefully explained the difficult points to him.

(End of Chapter)