Chapter 45: The Beginning of Turmoil
The next day, the weather was overcast. After getting up, Chen Chu stretched his body a bit, had breakfast, and then went out together with Chen Hu.
Observing Chen Chu's increasingly upright and robust figure walking ahead, emitting a faint but discernible aura of pressure, Chen Hu felt somewhat puzzled. "Bro, why can't middle school students cultivate?"
Just a little over a month ago, his brother was thin and frail. Now, he had become so handsome and sturdy that it was truly enviable.
Chen Chu explained, "It's because your bodies haven't fully developed yet. Trying to cultivate too early could lead to some abnormal changes."
"So we have to wait more?" Chen Hu expressed a hint of disappointment.
Chen Chu cast him a sidelong glance. "This is coming from years of official research. They know what they’re talking about. But once you reach high school, as long as you have the talent, you can cultivate. The school provides systematic training and rare resources, which is safer than exploring on your own.
"Also, don't believe those twisted theories on the internet, and don’t practice any martial arts you find online. They’re incomplete, and practicing them can get you into trouble, understand?"
"Got it, Bro."
Seeing that Chen Hu truly took his words to heart, Chen Chu nodded and didn't say anything more.
Recently, there had been a lot of turmoil on the internet, almost like the pressure that built up before a large storm. Claims about everyone being able to cultivate true martial arts had been making a lot of noise, and people were spreading various cultivation arts around.
This information would be swiftly blocked and deleted by the authorities, but some of it still managed to leak out in secret.
When Chen Chu looked at screenshots he had taken of some of these, he had discovered that they were all low-level arts with only two or three stages, and their content was incomplete. It would be difficult to cultivate them successfully without going through the foundational step. Even if someone with extraordinary talent managed to successfully cultivate with these incomplete arts, without the subsequent methods, they would be limited to the First or Second Heavenly Realm.
It was unclear what the person releasing these incomplete arts was thinking.
According to current federal laws, almost everyone had the opportunity to cultivate during high school in the three major allied nations; it was just a matter of whether one had the talent to do so.
However, due to agreements made during the Federation’s foundation, the smaller allied nations could keep local laws that contradicted federal ones, with the Federation unable to intervene too much.
Therefore, in certain smaller nations, true martial arts were controlled by the elite, and ordinary people had no opportunity to access them at all.
Could it be that people were sharing these incomplete martial arts online to create chaos in those smaller nations?
Deep in thought, Chen Chu arrived at the school, but he didn't go to the academic classrooms. Instead, he went directly to the cultivation area on the third floor of Building C. With the exams being finished last Friday, and his grades being good, he didn’t have to study anymore.
"Chen Chu is here."
"Hey, Brother Chu, you're here!"
"Chen Chu, you did a great job yesterday."
As soon as Chen Chu entered the third floor, some classmates actively greeted him. The atmosphere was much warmer than before, thanks to the influence brought by his forty-ninth rank.
It didn’t take long for information about the top fifty students to get dug up on the school website. Among the others, the worst was an ordinary genius who had built their foundation within a week, while An Fuqing, the first ranked, had some particularly despair-inducing stats.
Chen Chu, however, was an average student, who had built his foundation within half a month and was currently cultivating low-level arts. Someone of his level breaking into the top fifty was an impressive feat, and his name had gained some recognition among the freshmen as a result.
It wasn’t that much fame, however; the second-ranked Li Hao was the one truly shaking things up reputation-wise.
It was said that, when he had first entered the school, he could lift weights effortlessly, due to innate divine power. His baseline arm strength had been over 600 kilograms, and after breaking through to the First Heavenly Realm, it had skyrocketed to 900 kilograms.
In addition, his compatibility with high-level arts was perfect. Just the basic enhancement at the First Heavenly Realm had doubled his strength. With a full-power burst, he could exert force at a level of 3000 to 4000 kilograms.
With such terrifying strength, and using a 500-kilogram alloy steel pillar as a weapon, he could sweep through opponents of the same level almost effortlessly. There was no one who could match him in a head-on confrontation.
Some even said that An Fuqing wasn’t his match. His strength was just too astonishing.
Chen Chu courteously responded to each of his classmates’ greetings before finding an unoccupied cultivation area to begin today's practice.
At noon, Xia Youhui sought out Chen Chu and approached him with a smiling face. "Ah Chu, have you figured out what cultivation resources you want to exchange for?"
"Not yet." Chen Chu shook his head.
The school's cultivation resources were quite expensive, and they could only be bought with contribution points. If it hadn’t been for entering the top fifty yesterday and receiving additional points, Chen Chu's 3 monthly contribution points would have only been enough to exchange for some marginal resources.
Xia Youhui suggested, "You have high compatibility with your Dragon Elephant Art, so you don't need to worry much about cultivating arts. I’d go with resources for physique enhancement. The sooner you hit the limit of the First Realm, the more quickly you’ll be able to break through to the Second. Level 1 Life Crystals, Dragon Blood Ointment, and Glacial Crystal Fluid are all good for that."
In Xia Youhui's opinion, Chen Chu’s high compatibility with his main art gave him a strong power burst and quick cultivation progress; what could be holding him back was instead the lack of sufficient physique.
What he didn't know, however, was that Chen Chu's physique had already surpassed the limit of the First Heavenly Realm. What was currently preventing him from breaking through to the Second Realm was actually the progress of cultivating his art.
Chen Chu didn't explain this misunderstanding. He just nodded and said, "Okay, I'll go to the logistics department later. By the way, Old Xia, how much longer do you think it'll take for you to break through?"
"About half a month, I think," Xia Youhui replied. “Even if luck wasn’t on my side this time, and I didn't get into the top fifty, I still get 4 contribution points every month."
"With the point I have left from last month, I can exchange for a Life Crystal to enhance my physique. With that, I think it will take about a week to reach the limit of the First Realm. Then, I'll spend another week refining my vitality, and I should be able to break through."
"You can cultivate true power in just one week?" Chen Chu was a little surprised.
After reaching the limit of the First Heavenly Realm, one needed to continuously use a special cultivation art to condense their vitality, compressing it to the utmost to transform it into true power. Some, like An Fuqing, could achieve this in as little as a week.
Those with slightly lower talent, on the other hand, would probably need half a month, a month, or even two months, which could be quite mentally challenging.
This wasn’t just for the Second Heavenly Realm. Each breakthrough to a higher realm was a significant hurdle. Many people would get stuck at the Third Heavenly Realm for their entire lives.
That was why the school used the students’ initial talent to determine the distribution of resources. As a result, those blessed with exceptional talents would experience a quicker cultivation pace, effortlessly traverse realms, maximize resource efficiency, and find it easier to engage in the complexities of advanced arts.
For those with ordinary talents, it was more challenging to cultivate advanced arts even if they were provided. The entry difficulty was higher, the required resources were more precious, and breaking through realms was more challenging.
Of course, nothing was absolute. After all, with such a large global population, there were always some anomalies who had quietly accumulated strength and eventually made remarkable breakthroughs.
In the face of Chen Chu's surprise, Xia Youhui proudly declared, "I am a genius. My initial cultivation speed might be a bit slower than others, but I’m better in many other aspects."
Chen Chu pondered for a moment and replied, "For example, a weaker realm barrier."
"Hehe... you could say that, just like how your physique has a high compatibility with strength-based arts." Xia Youhui didn’t deny it.
"I feel that in the next week, a lot of the people in the top fifty will break through to the Second Realm. I’m so jealous! 5 additional points every month, and a twenty percent discount on resource exchanges," Xia Youhui said with a look of admiration. As far as he was concerned, Chen Chu also belonged to the category of talented individuals.
Chen Chu nodded in agreement, sighing, "Yes, with this resource boost, many geniuses who would have taken another month to break through can do so quickly."
The disparity between having resources and lacking them was substantial. Xia Youhui, who would have otherwise taken nearly a month of regular cultivation to reach the limit of the First Heavenly Realm, would now be able to do it more than a week in advance by using a Life Crystal.
In such a situation, Chen Chu was feeling the pressure.
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