The next day, right after breakfast, they got into the carriage and began their return to the academy. Although they were in the same carriage, May, Zhong, and Zhifang spent almost the entire journey in silence. No one was in the mood for conversation. May just looked out the window and admired the magnificent mountains.

  Finally, they made it back to the academy. Classes were still in full swing, so it was fairly quiet. Although she had just returned, she already had to attend a class in an hour.

  It was truly ruthless. Every student had to attend regardless of whether they were sick or injured. The academy had a strict zero-tolerance policy for skipping classes. Their ultimate goal was to send at least one person to the Inner Court. If no one from Eastern Outer Court got into Cloud Academy in the capital this year, it would be a great shame for them.

  May had heard rumors that this academy was the most cruel and ruthless of all the Outer Courts. They were truly desperate. May sighed and went to her room to prepare for her next lesson. She didn't even have time to unpack or wash up.

  To tell the truth, many people at this academy had unpleasant body odor. After a hard day's work, most students threw themselves straight into bed. May herself did so a few times, which would have been unimaginable for her on Earth. However, after a day at this school, you really don't feel like doing anything else; the fatigue and pain in all your muscles don't allow for even the slightest activity other than sleep.

  This applied to virtually all students. That's why, when she entered the classroom, many people started looking at her... She smelled really nice.

  All thanks to her new ring: the Fragrance Ring. Most people stank or didn't smell at all. May was a clear outlier.

  To understand this, you have to realize that only the most basic products are available in such schools. After all, students are supposed to focus solely on cultivation, which means that scented shampoos and other personal care items are not available.

  On the one hand, I'm glad that I smell nice... But... I don't want to attract so much attention, and certainly not in such a bizarre way.

  When the break came, she wondered if she should get rid of the ring. However, as soon as she took it off, she smelled her body after a few hours of training...

  After thinking about it, she tapped it a few times and changed the scent to Jerkon Meadow. The scent was a little less intense than the scent of flowers and oils. It still smelled pleasant, but you couldn't smell it from a distance and it was much more subtle.

  She spent the following weeks repeating the same routine every day. She woke up early, spent the whole day studying or training, and then went back to sleep. The academy was unforgiving, and this went on for months.

  The academy was completely isolated from the outside world, and nothing else happened. Her whole life became a routine.

  She even began to regret how things were now. Her progress was incredible, but she felt exhausted.

  Two months after her return, she sat cross-legged, today she was going to break through to stage 4. 85% of people who will take the Cloud Academy exam at Inner Court were at this stage.

  The fact that she has managed to get to this stage so early will confirm her extraordinary talent.

  At this rate, I will be able to reach stage 5 before my second year. And when the exam comes, I'll be at stage 6, or at least very close to it. Even without Lin Yun's help, I would have gotten into Cloud Academy at this stage.

  By comparison, her sister managed to reach stage 5 when she was fourteen. May was still only eight years old, so she achieved this stage six years earlier than her sister. It is worth mentioning that her sister was also considered quite talented. She didn't know her sister Lily's current stage of cultivation, but it was likely that she was still at stage 5, or at most stage 6, despite being over 8 years older than May.

  Sitting on the ground, May began to circulate and infuse her Qi energy throughout her entire body. The Qi Refinement stage was divided into nine small realms. This was followed by the Foundation Establishment realm. Each minor stage of Qi Refinement signified the quantity, but also the quality, of Qi energy in a person's body. However, that was not all.

  Originally, human bodies accumulate only small amounts of Qi. In order to increase it, one must purify their meridians and assimilate the right amount of Qi. However, one must be very careful in doing so.

  If someone assimilates too much Qi, they could damage their meridians and lose the possibility of cultivation permanently. However, that was not the only risk. If Qi was not distributed evenly, it could cause a number of side effects. This was the fate of many independent cultivators. Without a point of reference or a mentor, they made mistakes that left them forever stuck at a certain stage of cultivation. May, of course, had excellent teachers who were sent to the Eastern Outer Court from the Inner Court. And May, being known as a great talent, always had the attention of everyone who wished to help her.

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  She was already finishing her second assimilation cycle. She tried to distribute her energy as evenly as possible; quality was the most important thing for her.

  Of course, even if she made a mistake, the system would always be able to reverse it, while others did not have that possibility. However, even so, she always tried to be careful. There was no point in wasting money on such stupidity.

  Although distributing energy might seem easy, it was only the foundation. The real art was in increasing the flow and compression of Qi to accommodate more energy. Too much compression could cause blockage and damage the meridians. Too little could mean you have to start over.

  It also took time, as it was physically and mentally demanding. That is why it was done in phases called cycles.

  You can think of it as a never-ending plank that must be held for many minutes while reading and interpreting archaic poems. Depending on talent, some people were unable to do many cycles. Also, each cycle could have produced different results for different people. A talented person could achieve the same results with one cycle as someone who did ten cycles, depending on their talent.

  However, each cycle was extremely exhausting, even for May with her current talent.

  It's a good thing I decided to improve my talent... I can feel the difference.

  She had been cultivating for almost an hour. She currently had some free time. Most people who had not chosen any activities were cultivating at this time. However, most people cultivated strictly during the Basics of Cultivation class. For May, however, this was not enough, and she continued to cultivate even in her free time. Finally, she felt relief. She felt the energy in her entire body unfolding, a specific sensation that meant she had successfully advanced to the next stage! She was officially at the fourth stage of Qi Refinement!

  She immediately went to check her profile and see how much progress she had made over the last few months!

  She was extremely pleased with her progress, especially with the amount of her Qi energy. In fact, that amount would be more than enough for an average person at stage 6 or even 7. However, as mentioned earlier, quantity is not everything. She also made progress in her abilities. Especially in alchemy, which advanced from F- to E-! It was one of her favorite subjects, but unfortunately she still had trouble learning Formations. Her ability to control Qi has also increased.

  In truth, her only problem was martial arts. Water Knight Art was hopeless. Although she had initially trusted her instructor, she now truly felt cheated. She felt that the problem wasn't with her, but with the martial art itself. She even wanted to switch to a different one, but her instructor refused. She was really devastated. She had barely made any progress. This martial art was still completely useless.

  She was actually abnormal in almost every way. Literally. Apart from her energy level, which was similar to that of people one or two realms above her, her skills were the best example of this.

  Even someone at the peak of the 9th stage of Qi Refinement would not have a single D-class skill. Even in the late stages of Foundation Establishment, most people still relied on E-class skills, of which they would have an average of 5-6. She had 6 at level E or higher. She was really lucky that day with that lottery, because D-class skills are uncommon even at the Foundation Establishment stage.

  Incidentally, the average skill level of class F would cost 1,000 mu from the system. E-rank ability would cost over 10,000, and D-rank over 100,000. Most people in her class only had skills at level F. She was a real anomaly, though...

  Something seemed wrong to her. Of course, she had a system and a rare talent that comes once in 10,000 people, but she still didn't rely on the system to improve her skills. Logically, her progress with her skills shouldn't be that fast.

  That is why she developed a theory. Her progress stemmed from her knowledge. She based this theory on her skill of alchemy. In her previous life, she had a lot to do with chemistry and spent most of her previous life in laboratories. Alchemy was obviously very different from chemistry, but there were many similarities. In comparison, her progress with formations was not as rapid.

  She noticed that when commonalities emerged in chemistry and alchemy, her understanding grew exponentially. She understood things that others didn't know. About atomic theory, isotopes, and even stoichiometry. Similarly, in her abilities to manipulate Qi, or Qi Sensing, she tried things, tested and verified. She had the ability to notice things that no one else could see. It was the perspective of an adult, but also the perspective of someone from a much more technologically advanced world. This allowed her to develop her skills at an astonishingly fast pace.

  However, she felt that she was still only at the beginning of her journey. She knew that her progress would increase exponentially in the future. Then she will become an unstoppable force! Another small realm breakthrough in cultivation was a small step for her, but a big one for her future!

  My potential lies elsewhere. For now, my movements are still limited... However, I can't wait to finally be able to conduct some experiments.

  She had many questions in her head about cultivation that she didn't understand. If talent was hereditary, did that have something to do with genes? If so, could genetic material be changed and talent improved? Then even a peasant would be able to become immortal!

  What form of energy was Qi, or mana? Was it a form of energy at all, or something else? A new fundamental force, a new elementary particle? What was it? Is there any way to investigate this?

  She had many questions in her head, but also many ideas. She knew that if she succeeded, the world would undergo a scientific revolution and change beyond recognition.