"Be cautious; this isn't fun and games. If you mess up with control, even if it's the beginner stage, you can end up crippled!" A lady stood in the hall as a teacher warned the crowd of students sitting on the ground in the wide hall.
"Yes, teacher!"
"We are prepared! Prepared! Please start!"
"I wonder what kind of cultivation technique I will receive!"
"Hahaha! I will show you my talents!!!"
The little children all seem to be burning with excitement while awaiting their once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
The teacher just sighed seeing their reactions and started to execute commands over the device wrapped around her right arm, showing a holographic panel in front of her eyes.
Clearly it wasn't an ordinary class; even the hall they were sitting in was wrapped with several thick layers of 1,000-year-old cold iron, capable of withstanding any natural calamity for at least a year.
Outside the hall stood two mighty guarding the entrance to ensure safety from any alien distortion.
All that safety and caution were not just for show; after all, today was the day when children had their first opportunity to be able to cultivate by getting to choose a cultivation technique which suits them.
"Okay kids, close your eyes and do as I have taught you all this year," the teacher instructed, and with that, the lights inside the hall were shut off. The only object which was still glowing was the little light from the circular blue device attached over the children's heads.
'I hope there is no accident in my class this year,' the teacher sighed as pupils slowly lit up observing the children in the room. 'I have connected their consciousness to the Mirror of Dao' through the help of devices. Technology sure has advanced. During my time we still had to visit the 10,000 Dao Library to get cultivation techniques suitable for us, but by connecting children's consciousness with the Mirror of Dao, they can have access to all sorts of countless cultivation techniques and choose the techniques suitable for them.'
She nodded, admiring the influence of growth, but the calm, composed face slipped a greedy look as she remarked, 'It will be great if some kids can get Earth Grade Techniques!! Hehehe, a 50,000 Yuan bonus'~
The lady was all excited, but she was awaiting a surprise today. There were few children in her class who wouldn't just grant her a bonus but shake the heavens themselves.
Especially the one boy with silver-green hair and molten amber-like pupils, which can be sensed glowing even with closed eyelids; he was the first to have his consciousness tap inside the Mirror of Dao.
"So this is the place..." Jun Soryu mumbled in amusement as his eyes opened up in this new realm of consciousness. He found himself surrounded by white clouds as far as the eyes could see and a clear, beautiful blue sky above, and in between that were countless mirrors reflecting his appearance from countless directions.
"What a strange place," Jun Soryu chuckled. 'Teacher explained to us that in this place, by letting our consciousness mix with the essence of the realm, it will trigger the phenomenon which will bring all the cultivation techniques suitable for practitioners in front of us, and we can choose whatever we want from among them...'
Jun Soryu observed his reflections in the mirrors all around him, having some light fun before releasing a chuckle and stretching his arms towards the direction of the mirror right in front of him while remarking, "Well, don't mind if I do."
As the child stretched out his arms to mix his consciousness with the realm, a sudden crack suddenly emerged over the centre of the mirror in front of him, which seemed to be growing more and more as the child's hands moved closer to it.
A disaster awaited, but just then, a voice ringing directly inside the Jun Soryu's head caught his attention.
[Heaven Monarch System Initialising…]
[…Scanning Soul Parameters…]
[…Warning: Host Potential exceeds the current framework…]
[Adapting Parameters.]
[Binding host: Jun Soryu.]
"Huh?" Jun Soryu remarked in silence, and in his head it felt like a pair of heavenly eyes had just opened their pupils, staring directly in his direction, the next instant, a floating transparent panel suddenly popped up over his eyes.
[Heavenly Monarch System has been designed to grant omnipotence to its user!]
[Do you wish to redeem your first reward through the system?]
'System?' Jun Soryu stared at the panel in a state of confusion. 'And a reward?'
An amused smile emerged over Jun Soryu's face as he commanded, "Redeem."
[Congratulations on obtaining the 'Divine Grade' cultivation technique 'Heavenly Meridian Flow Art (天脈流功)'!]
"Divine Grade?" Jun Soryu remarked, stunned, as he was reminded of what his teacher told them before, 'There have been only 3 people to obtain the Divine Grade Cultivation Technique before, and all three hold peerless legacies; to gain the Divine Grade Cultivation Technique is like gaining access to godhood...'
"Accept"
Jun Soryu commanded as a manual popped up directly in his hands, and as he started to flip through those pages, a scholarly golden cocoon surrounded Jun Soryu along with countless ink characters floating around him.
"Amazing ..." he said, impressed. But those wide eyes slowly started to squint as his comprehension of technique started to grow more, and suddenly the initially bright face turned to a frown.
"But why is it so inefficient?" he said while taking out a pen from mid-space while scribbling through the manual, making the changes at his own accord.
"If you want to suppress others, why ask heavenly dao for assistance? It's not necessary for Qi to always be present in the air; why not add natural regeneration into the technique?" He mumbled while making changes; if anyone saw him, it would be the scene of a master painting his art over the colourful canvas of some other masterpiece.
"There!" Jun Soryu exclaimed as he finished, and with a grin, he declared, "From now on, I will call it 'One Thought Scripture (一念經)'!"
[Assessing the changes...]
[$#@ges are deemed to $π&$@@# system data!]
[Reassessing!]
[Checking alignment!]
[0%]
[Reassessing!]
[Error. Circulatory structure unrecognised. Comparing to conceptual data…]
[Warning: The alteration surpasses established divine-grade models.]
[New grade has been discovered!]
['One Thought Scripture (一念經)' has been registered as 'Originless Grade'!]
"Oh? A new grade?" Jun Soryu chuckled seeing his self-recreated technique glowing in the system panel with pitch-black letters and remarked, "Is this how you will make me omnipotent? By stealing my techniques? Xianyu?"
[Please address me as 'Heaven Monarch System' instead of 'Xianyu.']
Jun Soryu said nothing, just giggling as in the next instant all mirror surroundings simply vanished, sensing that he had chosen a technique, and Jun Soryu closed his eyes.
With that, the device connected around his head also detached itself from the back of his head and fell flat beside him. Jun Soryu sucked in a deep breath.
'Qi is the basic fundamental building block of all things in the universe; it's a 7th-dimensional energy which exists everywhere around us, and we need to attract it with our subconsciousness and absorb it through meditative breathing...' Jun Soryu revised the process, and as he had wanted, it was as if thousands of arms had emerged through his subconsciousness, picking up all the shards of Qi in the surroundings and collecting them inside his body.
"That kid..." The teacher immediately caught this unusual phenomenon. 'What an absurd absorption rate...' she remarked with shivers and cold sweat dripping down her forehead as her pupils remained fixated on Jun Soryu.
'Now the next stage, purification and assimilation' Jun Soryu's eyes seem to flinch for a second before the glow in his pupils grew even more, and with the next breath, collecting even more energy from his surroundings, he started to refine the Qi in the area around his chest.
The raw energy absorbed from nature danced around his chest with monstrous force, pushing all other impurities outside his body. The heat around him was so strong that the impurities coming out in the form of sweat simply vaporised the moment they reached outside, and the pure Qi mixed and gathered into his Dantian, which was the region behind his bellybutton.
'What a monster...' The teacher's eyes shivered, fixated over Jun Soryu as he monstrously devoured the energy from his surroundings.
"At this rate, the current resources won't be enough..." she mumbled and instantly pressed the command on her device; instantly the space in the walls cracked open, and dozens of bluish stones radiating with energy flooded the hall, filling it with rich Qi.
This amount was enough for any beginner to cultivate for a month, but even that amount was just barely enough to let Jun Soryu absorb the Qi for an hour more at best.
And just about then a cocoon of energy surrounded Jun Soryu, followed by a loud burst of vitality which burst right through the cocoon of energy.
[You have reached the 1st Stage of the Qi Condensation Realm!]
"What a beast!"
The teacher standing there couldn't help but make that remark, her eyes twitching continuously as she observed Jun Soryu, impressed.
'His rate of absorption is growing in real time...' she observed, 'I can't believe it. What kind of talent does he have? The way he takes each breath with perfect durations, it's like I'm watching a mechanical puppet... Is it really his first time?'
She couldn't help but suck in a deep breath. 'Not just that; his body is adapting to newly arrived internal energy as if it's second nature of his physique... Jun Soryu.'
"Since when did we have such a formidable bloodline hidden in our class..."