For the rest of the week, classes were focused on learning acupoint control. This was somewhat challenging for the other students to master, but with Instructor Sun’s guidance, they were able to get it down after only a few days. Once the impulses from their cultivation techniques were no longer a problem, by taking advantage of the Qi Gathering Formation, they were all able to swiftly advance.


    After Zhuge Yan finally ascended to Martial Disciple Peak, Instructor Sun gathered us together and gave us each a pill bottle and a new technique manual.


    “Go ahead and take that,” he said, gesturing to the pill bottle.


    I opened it up and examined what was inside. It was an Energy Expulsion Pill. Far more powerful than a Purifying Pill, this pill would remove all the energy from one’s body. Understanding his purpose, I quickly swallowed the pill.


    Energy exploded out of me in a quick burst and rapidly dissipated into the air.


    I had returned to being a Martial Disciple 1 with no cultivation.


    “Those,” he gestured to the manuals he had just handed out, “are Peak-Yellow cultivation techniques for your highest affinities. I expect all of you to be back to Disciple 2 before the next class.”


    <hr>


    We had a day off, and I had expected the instructor to insist we use it to go outside and ‘learn more about ourselves.’ Needing to use it to cultivate was a surprise, but to me, it wasn’t entirely unwelcome.


    However, just as I was planning a weekend alone in my apartment, Zhuge Yan came up to me to ensure I would meet with everyone for meals on our day off. I thought about refusing, but I knew how the instructor would react if I did.


    Since the meals would interrupt me during the day, I spent the entire night cultivating.


    With a peak six-star earth affinity, jumping up to Martial Disciple 2 in roughly a day and a half wasn’t much of a problem since Peak-Yellow techniques had significantly fewer requirements than my Earth-Rank technique had. Before I even met the class for lunch, I was already on the cusp of my breakthrough.


    When I arrived at the dining hall, I was surprised to see a downcast expression on all of my classmates’ faces.


    I looked at Zhuge Yan for an explanation. “What’s wrong?”


    “We aren’t going to make it,” he said, shaking his head. “We’re going to have to start sacrificing purity to reach the speed needed.”


    The shorter girl, Lin LiTing, gave a wry chuckle at that. “Pretty sure that was the intent. He wants us to build up some impurities so we’re still fighting in our technique.”


    I thought about the situation and knew that there were several ways I could help them. I had to decide if it was something I should do, and if I should, how should I? I could make the decision myself, but looking at the group I thought that maybe they would have better insight into how to proceed.


    I breathed out and planted my hands on the table. “Do you want me to help?”


    The other three all looked to Zhuge Yan.


    “That could interfere with the instructor’s plans… How could you help?”


    There were a few ways I could let them advance in a short amount of time, but I had to think about the facade I was presenting to others.


    “A Qi Gathering Formation,” I finally said. “Nothing as powerful as what they have in the classroom. Just one powerful enough to help you gather enough energy to advance tonight.”


    “That could work.” I saw the wheels turning in Zhuge Yan’s head as he thought through the implications. “We would still be cultivating ourselves, so I don’t see any reason the instructor could have for admonishing us. But if he wants us to pursue a path of wild cultivation to meet his deadline, it would wreck his plans.”


    “Let’s do it.” Shi YuLong had a wide grin on his face. “If ol’ Sun doesn’t like it. We can just blame Fang here.”


    I wanted to object, but Chai JiaQi quickly spoke up in support. “I agree. Let’s cheat and let Fang take the fall.”


    I felt annoyed at this response, but seeing that their expressions were playful instead of malicious, I just looked to Zhuge Yan. He shrugged his shoulders as if to say ‘this is your problem.’


    “Alright, where are we going to do this?”


    <hr>


    We met in Zhuge Yan’s room a little over an hour later. He had procured granite blocks from somewhere and had them waiting for me when we entered.


    A basic Qi Gathering Formation wasn’t too complicated. Every formation I had practiced had an inscription focused on drawing in qi. The only thing that made it special was that it created a small bubble to contain the qi it gathered.


    Qi was drawn into the formation plate. Some of it was used to form the containment bubble, and some was used to fuel the gathering inscription itself. The rest was dumped within the bubble for use when cultivating.


    You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.


    To ensure we had enough energy for all five of us, I set up a separate formation in each of the cardinal directions. It may have seemed better for everybody to have their own separate formation, but since most of us cultivated different energy types, sharing a single environment was best. What were impurities to me was the energy others needed.


    After a short test, we found that four formations were too many, and Zhuge Yan was having trouble purifying all the qi before it entered his body. I disabled two of them and the rest of us still had enough energy to cultivate without having to concentrate too much on drawing it in.


    Yan was the last one to advance. He had to stay up all night to do it, but with less than an hour before class, he managed it. We were all Martial Disciple 2, and everyone had a pristine foundation.


    <hr>


    When we walked into class, Instructor Sun examined us, and a look of annoyance appeared on his face. I saw his eyes dance between us trying to figure out who was to blame.


    “Looks like I’ll have to set extra rules next time.” He grunted but didn’t pursue the matter any further.


    My classmates smiled at this reaction.


    “You have all started with your upper right arms, which is most common, and it will help us with today’s lesson, but next time you should think more about your cultivation technique.”


    He pointed to Chai Jiaqi. “You’re cultivating the Flowing River Mantra. Water cultivators tend to be best at smooth, fluid movements. It might have been better if you started with your left leg instead. These are just small optimizations, and they won’t have much impact on what we need to do next, but they are things you should consider when cultivating.”


    He made sure we all acknowledged this point. Then, instead of beginning the lesson directly, he started walking toward the room’s exit.


    “Follow me.”


    The instructor led us outside to a large open dirt courtyard with several thick stone pillars nearly two meters tall and half a meter across set up near its center.


    “Su Fang.” He looked at me with a slightly malicious grin. I got the feeling that he knew who had ruined his previous plans. “Step forward and hit one of these pillars for me. If you can break it, I’ll give you another token to the library.”


    Both of us knew that I wasn’t going to be able to punch through a granite pillar, but we also both knew that I didn’t have any choice other than to try my best.


    I stepped forward and set myself before the stone.


    If I threw a punch with all my might, I was certain I would end up breaking my hand. My upper right arm had been fortified, meaning my punches carried significantly more power, but my actual fist was merely mortal.


    With the instructor watching me, I had to hit it with all my strength, but he only said ‘hit.’ He didn’t say I had to punch it.


    I shifted my stance and drove my shoulder into the pillar with all my strength.


    I bounced away, having done no damage to the stone.


    Instructor Sun smiled, pleased with the effect of his lesson.


    “You couldn’t break it. Why?”


    I wanted to make a quip about how it was obvious I wouldn’t be able to break it, but I saw a look of concentration on Shi YuLong’s and Chai JiaQi’s faces.


    The large man was the first to speak. “His attack didn’t have enough power, but even if it did, it still would’ve failed. His skin and muscles compressed when he hit the pillar and absorbed most of the strength of his strike. Only the bone had any real force behind it, and it would’ve broken before the stone did.”


    The instructor gave a slight nod and smiled. “Yes. With the way Su Fang attacked, he would have broken himself long before he made the slightest dent in the pillar.”


    Instructor Sun walked up to the pillar I attacked and mimicked my movements. When he hit the pillar, it shattered.


    “Well?” he asked.


    This time, it was Chai JiaQi who responded. “That wasn’t the strength of a Martial Disciple 2.”


    “No? Then what was it?”


    She looked at him and a calculating expression crossed her face. “You would need to be at least Martial Disciple 7.”


    “Only 5,” corrected the instructor, “but you were close. 7 would certainly make it easier, but it is doable at 5.”


    I felt a bit aggrieved that he had asked me to do the impossible, but I knew it was simply my punishment for setting up the formations last night.


    “Chai JiaQi. Lin LiTing. Step forward and face each other.”


    They did so. Lin LiTing looked a bit worried, but Chai JiaQi seemed confident. Her blessing would help her in her martial pursuits.


    “Lin LiTing, punch her shoulder. Not too hard, no need to try and hurt her, just enough so she feels it.”


    The girl stepped forward and threw out a simple jab. Chai JiaQi had planted herself to absorb the hit, but she still winced when it landed.


    “Try to examine your energy body. Your qi is floating in its muscles. Push it outward and let it saturate the skin.”


    I watched in qi vision as Instructor Sun demonstrated. Qi flowed to surround his arm like a sheath. This helped me understand what he wanted us to do, but I doubted any of the others could see it. They wouldn’t have developed their ability to see qi much yet.


    Chai JiaQi tried to do as instructed, but it was obvious she either didn’t have sufficient qi control or didn’t understand what was needed.


    I reached into my energy body and began manipulating my own energy, feeling how it was supposed to work. It wasn’t very difficult, just a matter of flexing my qi, but even flexing a muscle is difficult if you can’t feel it and barely know it exists.


    “Continue trading blows back and forth. Use the pain to guide you. Send your qi where you feel the pain.” He looked at the other two boys. “You two, join them. Practice until you have it under control.”


    They gave the instructor a short bow and began attacking each other.


    Instructor Sun waved me over to the side of the practice yard.


    “You’re a quick learner.” He eyed me up and down, reappraising me. “I’m assuming that if you already knew how to do this, you wouldn’t have been so careless with the pillar earlier. It will take them some time to learn what they need to do, so let’s begin the next lesson with just the two of us.”


    He took a fighting stance opposite me.


    “Don’t block, let me hit your shoulder. Use your qi to protect yourself.”


    I did as commanded and shifted my qi to form a shell around my upper arm.


    The instructor threw out a punch, and it bounced off my skin.


    “Normal human strength can’t get through.”


    He threw out another punch.


    My qi barrier shattered, and pain lanced through my arm.


    “Instead of hitting with normal strength, I shifted my qi to certain muscles to amplify their power. However, you have to be careful when doing this. I also had to put qi into every bone in my arm and fortify the flesh of my fist. Otherwise, with such strength, attacking a qi barrier would have crippled my hand.”


    He waved me to the side where padded targets had been brought out.


    “Your qi can enhance your flesh, fortify your bones, increase the strength of your attack, or improve your speed. There are other potential benefits as well, but these four will be our focus. While the others learn the basics, your job is to learn to move your qi to do what you need it to do as quickly as possible. If you leave it spread out, it will do everything at once, but it is much better to focus it. Think about what you need it to do and move it to where it needs to be.”


    With this, he threw out another punch, blasting one of the padded targets apart.