Volume One: Another World Chapter Twenty-Three: Ascending to the Eighth Rank in a Single Day—A Life Unleashed

"What do you think?" Qing Heng finished reading for the second time; his question was not about the authenticity of the information.

A hoarse male voice emerged from the dark corner of the room. "Although Shi Village was a blank slate and no matter how we searched, we found nothing—as if he appeared out of thin air—I am confident he was not planted by another family. Recently, his presence within the clan has been perfectly normal, with no unusual signs."

No unusual signs meant that Li Yu had not been controlled by strange arts or drugs, nor was he concealing his abilities.

The conclusion from this man in the shadows was based on his own investigation and judgment. Before him, when Li Yu was brought to the square, many professionals among the crowd had already observed and assessed him, and in the days to come, many others would continue this task.

“In that case, send him a cultivation manual. Yes... send an eighth-grade one.” Qing Heng tapped his fingers lightly on the table. “Keep monitoring him. If anything unusual arises, do whatever it takes to ensure he remains within the clan.”

Qing Heng was deliberately restricting Li Yu’s cultivation.

Though divine cultivation relies on absorbing the ambient spiritual energy of heaven and earth, it requires a manual of corresponding grade as its foundation. An eighth-grade manual only allows a cultivator to reach the eighth grade. Among the Qing clan, those above eighth grade are everywhere; an eighth-grade practitioner can hardly make a splash.

“Yes,” the hoarse voice subsided.

“An Qi did well, bringing me such a treasure!” Qing Heng muttered to himself, then returned to his official duties.

...

“Xiao Cui, help me return this book, and get me another,” Li Yu closed Empire’s Golden Age, rubbing his legs that had gone numb from sitting cross-legged so long, then propped his feet on the windowsill.

Xiao Cui, who stood at the door, responded softly, but just as she was about to enter, a black-robed man suddenly appeared beside her. Startled, she instinctively reached for the dagger hidden in her sleeve, but her movement was easily suppressed.

“Step aside,” the black-robed man rasped, releasing his iron-like grip.

Recognizing the visitor, Xiao Cui bowed and retreated to the side.

“You’re the one who was with the lord that day?” Li Yu, having witnessed the scene outside the door, was surprised; this black-robed man had followed Qing Heng closely a few days ago.

“The lord sent me to deliver your cultivation manual!” The black-robed man acted swiftly, tossing a black booklet into Li Yu’s lap before vanishing. “If you have questions, ask the maids.”

“Another expert,” Li Yu scrambled to steady the booklet, now left with only two maids. This was actually a relief; he had been on edge, but as long as the black-robed man showed any murderous intent, Li Yu would have immediately returned to Blue Star without hesitation.

This was the first time someone had been sent to contact him after such a long period, indicating a preliminary judgment had been made. The Qing clan’s method of sending a cultivation manual through the black-robed man meant he had gained a measure of recognition—at least, they no longer considered him suspicious. Li Yu was satisfied with this outcome, but most importantly, he now possessed a manual he could cultivate!

Li Yu carefully examined the black, wordless booklet. It contained two parts: The Guiding Method and The Seven-Star Thunder Chronicle.

Indeed, the protagonist’s cultivation methods were different from ordinary people.

Li Yu quickly finished reading the contents, then compared them with the manuals and descriptions he had studied these past few days.

Divine cultivation is never absolute, but the grade of one’s bloodline ruthlessly determines a person’s lifetime achievements from the outset. The affinity of that bloodline decides a divine cultivator’s path.

Excluding mutated bloodlines, bloodline affinity is divided into five major categories—metal, wood, water, fire, earth.

Most people’s cultivation processes are: primarily enhancing affinity concentration and accumulating divine spiritual energy, then selectively studying secret techniques.

From the booklet delivered by the black-robed man, Li Yu’s situation was even more arduous; he had to learn The Seven-Star Thunder Chronicle and additionally open seven thunder points within his body.

“So this is what makes the Thunder bloodline different?” Li Yu quickly finished the booklet and was not surprised by its contents, limited to the eighth grade.

“Sir, here are the required divine resources.” Xiao Cui knocked on the door, and when leaving, thoughtfully closed it, as tranquility is valued in divine cultivation.

What was brought in were three blocks of pitch-black wood, strangely flickering with green light, as though thunder was contained within.

“Thunderstruck wood?” Li Yu was unsure, but his excitement was undiminished. This was his first encounter with a manual he could actually cultivate.

“System, use five units of basic proficiency,” Li Yu silently commanded. The proficiency stored in the system transformed into streams of light, infusing The Guiding Method; the cultivation process that had been somewhat unclear instantly became crystal clear.

“System, activate double experience,” striking while the iron was hot. Now that he understood, it was time to practice.

[Activation successful, timer running.]

The electronic voice rang in his mind.

Li Yu closed his eyes and sensed nothing like ‘clarity of mind,’ but seeing the system’s timer counting upward, he did not hesitate further.

He picked up a block of thunderstruck wood, closed his eyes, and began practicing The Guiding Method he had just studied: “Step one, sense the spiritual energy.”

The Guiding Method had two uses. The first was to attract spiritual energy from the void into the body, though this method was inefficient and loses some energy during attribute conversion. The second method was to absorb spiritual energy stored within divine items.

Li Yu was now attempting the second method, which absorbed quickly and with minimal loss.

Though his eyes were closed, during the process he ‘saw’ not darkness but points of white light glowing near and far around him, some large, some small.

Was this the spiritual energy in the void?

Li Yu was amazed but quickly refocused; this time his goal was to absorb the thunder energy from the thunderstruck wood. Soon, Li Yu ‘saw’ a fist-sized mass of blue-green energy in his palm.

At a glance, this blue-green energy was not static; on its uneven surface, tiny sparks flickered visibly.

Li Yu calmed his mind and, following the method in The Guiding Method, where his hands touched the energy mass, it felt as though whirlpools formed, drawing in the tiny sparks on the surface.

This was actually part of the energy mass, but being on the surface, it was much easier to absorb.

“Success!” Li Yu was delighted, surprised to feel this energy directly absorbed into his body, flowing along his meridians, and finally surging into his heart point.

“Wait, surging into the heart point?”

Li Yu opened his eyes and stared at the thunderstruck wood in his hand.

According to The Guiding Method, sensing spiritual power is a threshold, as the body accumulates its own impurities, and sensing spiritual energy is like feeling beans through a blanket. This is only the first threshold; after sensing, guiding the spiritual energy to open the heart point requires using the energy to unblock the meridians between the heart and hands.

It was very much a ‘build the road before getting rich’ kind of process; only by opening the heart point could one’s vital energy convert into spiritual energy, marking entry into the ninth grade, the Mortal Leap realm.

It had all happened so smoothly. Li Yu was unsure if there was something he didn’t understand.

“System, why don’t I need to open my meridians?” Li Yu asked quietly.

If the issue was with himself, then asking the system that granted his Thunder bloodline seemed wise. Li Yu mentally patted himself on the back for his cleverness.

The electronic voice responded: [Five-star reward Thunder bloodline is perfected, flawless and pure, able to command innate thunder.]

Flawless and pure, able to command thunder—in other words, aside from insufficient spiritual accumulation, Li Yu could consider himself a master of the first grade?

To Li Yu, the system’s reply sounded like: Your cheat is now activated.

One must know that ninth and eighth grade are more about laying foundations. Compared to the surge in combat power with cultivation advancement, these low grades are mostly about opening meridians and key acupoints.

Yet his Thunder bloodline was fully activated from the start, sparing him the hardship of opening meridians.

“In that case, can I not directly establish my genius persona?”

“For example... reach eighth grade in a single day?”

The black booklet’s manual listed up to eighth grade, marked by the heart point connecting to the dantian. Once achieved, blood and energy can absorb spiritual energy and store it in the dantian.

Li Yu closed his eyes and sensed—the connection between heart point and dantian was unobstructed! Sitting on his bed, he was conflicted:

“Is this cheat just a bit too powerful?”