The Great Zhou Dynasty.
Li Xia County, Chang Le Academy.
——
“Ding!”
“You have diligently practiced and completed the ‘Mountain-Shattering Fist’, triggering a critical hit and receiving ten times the reward!”
A notification echoed in his mind.
A look of joy spread across Luo Mu’s face.
It was real!
Not an illusion!
Just now, the system he had waited for fifteen years finally went online.
It was called ‘Heaven Rewards Diligence’.
For every effort, there would be a reward.
And at least ten times or more.
For example, the tenfold critical hit he just triggered was equivalent to practicing ten times!
His thoughts settled.
A massive amount of understanding flooded his mind.
Within the myriad of images.
It was as if he truly had practiced ten times.
Luo Mu clenched his fists, the many resentments bottled up in his chest gradually dissipated at that moment.
Fifteen years had passed since he transmigrated into this world.
After learning of the existence of martial arts, he was incredibly excited.
He practiced day and night, regardless of heat or cold.
However, martial arts training required aptitude, and in this aspect, he was unremarkable.
He started practicing martial arts at eight years old, and now, after seven years.
He was still stuck at the sixth level of the Body Tempering Realm.
His progress was slow.
It wasn’t that he wasn’t trying hard enough, but that his aptitude limited him, and no matter how hard he tried, it was useless.
“If I get ten times the reward or more every time, I could be considered a genius too.”
Luo Mu thought to himself.
The biggest difference between geniuses and ordinary people was their rate of gain.
The amount they gained from training for one day would take ordinary people ten, even dozens of days to match.
“Let’s try cultivating again.”
Luo Mu sat down in the courtyard, crossing his legs.
He took out a pill and swallowed it.
He silently recited the cultivation technique’s formula and circulated his energy within his body.
An hour later.
“Ding!”
“You have diligently cultivated and successfully completed one cycle of circulation, triggering a critical hit and receiving a hundred times the reward!”
In his mind, the notification sounded again.
“What? A hundred times!”
Luo Mu was shocked.
He had thought that getting ten or even a few dozen times the reward would be quite good.
But to his surprise, it was a hundred times!
Boom!
His body trembled!
His blood surged!
He reached the seventh level!
“This is…”
Luo Mu looked at his hands, unable to believe it.
Even though he had already approached the peak of the sixth level, he still had a little way to go before reaching the seventh level.
According to his own estimation, even with a full day of training for six hours and enough pills, it would take him over ten days to reach it.
But now, he had done it in just one hour!
“Most importantly!”
Luo Mu discovered another amazing aspect of the system.
He had only taken one pill.
But with a hundred times the reward, it was equivalent to using a hundred pills!
It had saved him ninety-nine pills!
“In a way, I’m truly no different from those geniuses in the Inner Palace, maybe even more monstrous.”
A smile curled up at the corner of Luo Mu’s mouth.
So-called geniuses.
Were those who used the least amount of time and resources to achieve the greatest progress.
“Continue cultivating!”
Luo Mu gathered his thoughts, refusing to get lost in his joy.
Now that he finally had a cheat code.
He couldn’t slack off.
——
The next day.
The sun shone brightly.
Luo Mu pushed open his door and walked out.
Over the night, for six hours, he had cultivated six cycles of circulation.
He didn’t trigger another hundred times critical hit.
But the least he got was ten times, adding up to almost a hundred times overall.
A bountiful harvest.
“At this rate, I’ll be able to break through in another half a month!”
A look of satisfaction appeared on Luo Mu’s face.
This was something he wouldn’t have dared to dream of before.
If he got a few more hundred times or even higher critical hits along the way, the time needed would be greatly reduced!
“Let’s go to the Martial Arts Library!”
Students in the academy, once they reached the seventh level of the Body Tempering Realm, could visit the Martial Arts Library and choose a human-grade technique or martial art to train in for free.
It was a benefit of the academy.
It was also one of the reasons why everyone went to great lengths to be admitted into the academy.
Techniques and martial arts were classified as Entry-Level, Human-Grade, Profound-Grade, Earth-Grade, and Heaven-Grade.
There seemed to be something above Heaven-Grade, but for the general public, Human-Grade was already the pinnacle of techniques!
If a Human-Grade technique were to appear outside, it would definitely attract a lot of martial artists to fight over it.
But here in the academy, you could learn it easily.
And if you break through to the True Qi Realm.
You’d even have the chance to learn a Profound-Grade technique!
“Two months from now is the academy’s grand ceremony.”
“I wonder how many students from the Outer Palace will make it onto the ranking list this time.”
“I doubt it, the Inner Palace has received several geniuses from the royal families this year, we’d be lucky if the Outer Palace can maintain last year’s numbers.”
When Luo Mu arrived at the Martial Arts Library, he overheard several people discussing it.
“The academy’s grand ceremony, huh.”
Luo Mu raised an eyebrow.
The academy’s grand ceremony was held every three years, and anyone who made it into the top one hundred would receive remarkable rewards.
And they would have the chance to join the military in the future.
From there, they could embark on the path of becoming a marquis or king.
So, many people viewed the academy’s grand ceremony as a turning point to change their fate!
The academy was divided into the Inner Palace and the Outer Palace.
The Inner Palace was where true geniuses could enter, most of them were the children of marquis and generals.
As for the Outer Palace.
It was basically filled with commoner children.
Like him.
So, every time the academy’s grand ceremony was held.
The top one hundred were mostly dominated by the Inner Palace.
The Outer Palace, at its worst, had only single-digit numbers.
Before, Luo Mu wouldn’t have dared to dream of entering the top one hundred of the grand ceremony.
But now, with the system as his little helper.
It wasn’t impossible to try.
The academy’s rewards were quite generous.
They had precious pills, high-level techniques, etc.
Any of them far surpassed the support his family gave him.
All these years.
It was time for him to be self-reliant.
Collecting his thoughts, Luo Mu walked into the Martial Arts Library.
The Martial Arts Library had three floors.
On the first floor, they kept Entry-Level techniques.
While on the second floor, it was Human-Grade!
The third floor was Profound-Grade.
It was said that the third floor had formations set up, and only by passing them could one obtain the Profound-Grade techniques within.
So, not all students who entered the True Qi Realm could obtain a Profound-Grade technique.
As mentioned before, it was just a chance.