Chapter 7 Jane Aiken

In the evening, during dinner, Doris Clark expressed her concern about Jack Clark's cultivation progress for the day.

Even her brother Glenn Clark was somewhat curious.

However, it was only the first day of learning, and they had only learned a standard Foundation Cultivation Method, so Jack Clark simply made a couple of brief remarks before bringing the topic to a close.

After dinner, Jack Clark took a bath and returned to his room, where he sat cross-legged on his bed to meditate.

As he closed his eyes and concentrated, a phantom lotus slowly emerged in the pitch-black sea of his mind.

According to what the forum post had said, when visualizing the lotus flower using the First-grade Lotus Platform Meditation Method, it is a process of constantly purifying and condensing Spirit Power.

It turns the diffuse and intangible Spirit Power of ordinary people into a 'real' existence capable of weakly interfering with material objects, which is the key to guiding Qi into the body for foundation building.

As for what guiding Qi into the body entails, it wasn't elaborated on. It merely mentioned that once at this step, the school teacher would naturally tell them.

The lotus had twelve petals; during that afternoon's meditation class, Jack Clark spent half an hour and managed to condense almost half a petal.

Now, as he cultivated, that petal continued to become whole at a slow pace.

Whew!

Over half an hour later, Jack Clark slowly opened his eyes, looking somewhat fatigued, yet there was a look of satisfaction in his eyes—he had completely visualized one petal.

But this time, his proficiency only increased by 4 points, which was 1 point less than in the afternoon. He wondered if it was because he had the help of a meditation diagram during the first attempt at cultivation.

However, at this rate, even if it's just 4 points each time, and he practices twice a day, he expects to achieve a breakthrough in just over ten days.

Moreover, after this round of cultivation, his Spiritual Attribute had risen by 0.1 again.

Next, Jack Clark practiced the Body Casting Skill in his room.

Although he didn't have the Radiance from the Essence Blood Stone to assist him, with the attribute page, Jack Clark could still keenly feel the faint Qi Blood within his body as he cultivated the Body Casting Skill.

While his body was being cultivated, his Spirit Power controlled the track of the Qi Blood, invisibly strengthening his physique wherever it passed. The first cycle took thirty-five minutes.

After that, he practiced another cycle, which took thirty minutes, with proficiency increasing by +2.

This time, however, his physique attribute only increased by 0.1, half the effect of the first time he had transported the Qi Blood at the Seventh Stage in the afternoon.

After practicing two cycles in a row, Jack Clark couldn't go on any longer. He felt completely drained, both physically and mentally, from the enormous expenditure.

His physique is still too poor, just transporting Qi Blood for two cycles is already too much for him.

Sighing, Jack Clark drank some hot water before lying down on the bed and falling into a deep sleep.

He was highly motivated when it came to these Cultivation Methods that could grant extraordinary strength.

Even if his progress was slow due to his poor physique, it didn't matter. He had the attribute page to lock in his proficiency, ensuring that effort would always yield rewards.

If it weren't for the fact that cultivation was so taxing on his body and spirit, requiring long periods of rest for recovery, he would have wished to cultivate twenty-four hours a day.

The next day, as soon as Jack Clark walked into the classroom, he saw everyone discussing their cultivation experiences.

Some people were asking each other how many lotus petals they had meditated on, while others were concerned about how to cultivate the Body Casting Skill more quickly and with greater endurance, complaining about the difficulty of cultivation.

A few girls, judging from their complaints, seemed to have already decided to give up on cultivating.

They felt sore all over their bodies after each cultivation session, exhausted, and after meditating, they saw stars and felt nauseous to the point of vomiting—clearly, they had no talent for cultivation.

Jack Clark took his seat, and Justin Welan in the front row leaned in and asked, "Jack, how's your progress with the Meditation Method and the Body Casting Skill?"

"It's alright," Jack Clark answered casually.

Unsatisfied, Justin Welan pressed on, "Alright as in how much?"

"You guess."

"Come on, we're good brothers, and you're making me guess? It's just the progress of the Foundation Cultivation Method," Justin Welan said with a look of mock heartbreak.

"You haven't said anything either, why don't you start by telling me how far you've gotten in your cultivation?" Jack Clark was unmoved.

"What's there not to share?"

Justin Welan said modestly, "My talent is very ordinary. I've only managed to meditate up to the third petal, and I can barely carry Qi Blood for two cycles in half an hour."

"I only cultivated six times last night before I felt too tired and went to bed."

...Jack Clark suddenly didn't want to talk to this guy anymore.

Half an hour for the Body Casting Skill, two stages of carrying; it equals one cultivation every fifteen minutes and up to six times in one go. The Meditation Method was also twice as fast for him.

Curious, Justin Welan asked, "Jack, what about you?"

"Much worse than you. For the Meditation Method, I'm on the first petal, and for Qi Blood carrying, one stage takes thirty minutes." From the progress Justin had made, it was clear his progress was quite average, so Jack didn't hide anything.

But after Jack finished speaking, Justin was slightly stunned, "No, that's not right. I remember yesterday, Jack, it took you almost an hour to barely manage one cycle, right?"

"It must be because I was unfamiliar with the cultivation for the first time. The second time I practiced last night, I got a lot more proficient," Jack replied casually.

"...Is that so," Justin nodded thoughtfully.

The cultural class in the morning flew by.

At noon, Jack Clark, holding his meal from the cafeteria, found a corner in the cafeteria to sit down. Before he started eating, Justin Welan excitedly caught up to him.

Justin said excitedly, "Jack, the freshman ranking of the entire grade is out. Guess what rank class leader Sherry Lesser is?"

"There's a ranking for this too?" Jack was a bit confused.

He had heard of university beauty rankings but never expected that even in high school, and just after these people had started practicing cultivation, there would already be a freshmen ranking.

"Jack, you shouldn't underestimate this ranking."

Shaking his head, Justin said, "Our Martial Arts School has over 1,800 new students this year, and everyone has been practicing the Foundation Cultivation Method. Those who stand out are all geniuses."

"Moreover, the ranking only records the top hundred names. Anyone who makes it onto the list is extraordinary."

"For example, Jane Aiken from Class 1 has already visualized eleven petals and can carry seven turns within half an hour for the Body Casting Skill, securing the first place."

"I feel that in a couple of days, she'll be the first one to have successful foundation building."

"...Okay, I'm a loser," Jack said, at a loss for words upon hearing this exaggerated progress.

It took him half an hour just to barely complete one stage, while someone else could do seven stages in the same time. Their Lotus Platform Meditation Skill had even visualized up to eleven petals.

This gap was already so wide that Jack couldn't even feel jealous.

Seeing that Jack was silent, Justin, thinking he had taken a hit, quickly comforted him, "Jack, don't be discouraged. It's just foundation building, after all."

"Being fast in the Foundation Cultivation Method doesn't mean they have high compatibility with the True Martial Arts."

"Even if we are ten days, or half a month slower than them in foundation building, as long as the True Martial Arts we practice are highly compatible, we can quickly catch up with them."

"There's a compatibility aspect to True Martial Arts? What is that?" Jack asked, somewhat surprised.

"Cough... I don't really understand it well myself. My brother just mentioned it in passing," Justin coughed.

Justin asked eagerly, "Well, guess what place class leader Sherry Lesser is in?"

"Hahaha, you'll never guess," without waiting for Jack to guess, Justin laughed out loud, impatiently saying.

"Sherry Lesser is only 67th, 67th place, I'm dying of laughter."

"She was so proud yesterday; I thought her talent was off the charts. I never imagined she'd only be 67th."

"Hahahaha... Jack, did you know, I laughed for a long time when I saw the ranking."

Ahem!

Jack glanced at the girl who had originally walked past but suddenly stopped behind him. Especially noticing her increasingly cold demeanor, he subtly changed the subject.

"Justin, how did you come to know this? People should only know about their own cultivation progress, right? And who is ranking them?"

"You don't know?" Justin was taken aback.

"The freshman ranking is posted on the school official website. Anyone who pays attention to the website knows it."

"As for the progress in cultivation, they spoke about it themselves when others asked them in the morning, and somebody specifically compiled a list."

"Although the ranking isn't very accurate and changes every day, it somewhat reflects their talent and potential, and many teachers are paying attention to it."

After speaking, Justin shrank his neck, feeling strangely cold, and said, "Weird... why do I feel a bit chilly..."