“We need to implement special security measures. Our Academy has never been in a situation like this before. Our priority should be to protect our students.” said the older woman.

  Most of the academic staff gathered for a meeting to discuss the unprecedented situation they found themselves in. The situation was catastrophic, and to make matters worse, it all happened at the worst possible time.

  “Why does the director have to be absent right now? This is absurd! It's his responsibility to look after the academy, and now we have to deal with this crisis without him.”

  The school principal was the strongest cultivator in the entire academy. He was at the Peak Foundation Establishment stage. He was not only the strongest in the academy, but also in almost the entire Eastern Outer Court.

  “Is this really a coincidence? Why did this ‘epidemic’ start right now? It’s obvious that someone is behind it,” asked the young man.

  The most powerful cultivators from Eastern Court were summoned to defend the eastern border. This was due to the appearance of the Goblin King with an army of tens of thousands of goblins. The attack was probably caused by hunger due to the onset of winter.

  Eastern Court was closest to the border, so they had to react as quickly as possible. Unfortunately, this meant losing many powerful cultivators who could have defended the city. Therefore, a theory emerged among the professors that the disease causing the coma was an attack by some external force. That took advantage of the extraordinary situation of the absence of strong cultivators in the city.

  “So, what are you suggesting? Feng, you're just a grumpy curmudgeon because you couldn't identify the disease, and now you're trying to shift the blame!” replied the woman.

  “I am unable to identify this ‘illness’ because it may not be an illness!” The doctor tried to fight it. However, he was unable to come up with a diagnosis or cure anyone.

  “Calm down, both of you. And Feng may be right. It looks like an illness, but personally, I think it's a curse.”

  “A curse? What a joke. Curses aren't contagious, so we shouldn't have so many people affected, just one victim...” replied the same woman who had been arguing with the doctor. “Even if we're looking for conspiracy theories, poison is more likely. Someone must have poisoned them.”

  “Poison? And you think that's a better idea?” the doctor began to argue. “I took a blood sample and didn't detect any toxic substances.”

  “Because it's a powerful poison, and an idiot like you would never be able to detect something like that.”

  “You!” He stood up from the table and was ready to fight.

  “Enough! In the absence of the director, I am taking over his duties! Stop this immediately!” It was Mao Lang, the only person at the Foundation Establishment stage currently within the Academy. His word carried great weight. Immediately, everyone fell silent and waited for him to speak.

  "I have already sent a message to the Inner Court asking for help. They should send an expert here. Until he arrives, we must take some special precautions.“ He began to speak in a loud voice, and no one dared to speak. ”We must temporarily suspend classes and restrict the movement of students."

  This time, however, someone expressed dissatisfaction. The academy was known for its strictness.

  “Suspend? Isn't that a bit much? We've never—” However, before he could finish his sentence, Mao Lang interrupted him midway.

  “Enough. This is not a normal situation. We are responsible for these children, so we must protect them. I am announcing a temporary suspension of classes with immediate effect. This is not a suggestion, but an order.”

  No one dared to protest. After all, none of them had the power to do so, nor did anyone have a better idea.

  A few hours later, all students were informed about this. Some were happy to have free time, but even those were a little terrified by the situation. The academy, which didn't allow students to take time off even if they had the flu or diarrhea, or even to return home after the death of their mother, was suspending classes? It must have been something really bad.

  May also received information about the situation. She felt uncertain. She knew that there were some missing pieces to the whole story. Although classes had been temporarily suspended and students were advised to stay in their rooms for safety reasons, May understood that this was not the time to rest.

  Although they were advised to stay in their rooms, moving around the Academy was not completely prohibited. Mainly for logistical reasons. The bathrooms and cafeteria could not be relocated. And someone still had to cook. Therefore, specific hours were designated for different classes.

  That said, the Academy was too vast to keep an eye on everyone. Of course, most people would not break the guidelines. Most students were conditioned to strictly obey the rules of the Academy. Furthermore, no one in their right mind would risk getting infected with this mysterious disease.

  For May, however, discovering the cause was more important than seeking her own safety. Especially since she suspected that it wasn't an illness at all. But she needed proof to convince the school board. She feared it had something to do with the mysterious person who had been sending threatening letters. On top of that, she was being spied on, so she could have been getting targeted.

  May wanted to sneak into Deng Zhifang's room to tell him about her thoughts, but just as she was about to leave, someone knocked on her door. It was Senlin. She was crying, her eyes were red from tears. She had a bag on her back.

  May invited her inside. She thought it might have something to do with the letters she had been receiving.

  “Senlin, what happened? Zhifang already told me everything, so you can trust me.”

  But she shook her head hysterically. She didn't even behave like this after the death of her childhood friend Liu, who died during the entrance exam.

  “It's Wang Wang... He... He's in a coma.” She said, then threw herself into her arms. May was in shock.

  Wang Wang was one of the people Senlin was with during the exam. Unfortunately, he was placed in class E, so May hadn't had much contact with him so far.

  Until now, this disease... No, this thing only attacked the more talented people, almost as a rule. Classes A and B... Hmm... Maybe it didn't matter after all?

  Senlin wasn't letting her go. It was understandable. First, her first friend had died during the exam, and now her second friend was in a coma. But after a while, it felt strange. She hugged her for a very long time. May thought that if it really was an illness, she would already be sick if Senlin was infected.

  Finally, May had to pull herself out of her embrace. Although she felt sorry for her, after three minutes anyone would have felt uncomfortable. However, she tried to do it discreetly.

  Her grief was understandable, but she felt uncomfortable about her behavior. She decided to listen to her, letting her vent.

  “Let's sit down and talk. I'll make some tea,” said May, trying to move away slowly.

  “Perfect!” she exclaimed.

  May glanced at her out of the corner of her eye. For a brief moment, Senlin seemed like a different person. However, not wanting to reveal her suspicions, May returned to preparing tea as if nothing had happened.

  Dōngtiān green tea was traditionally served here for longer conversations. It was especially popular in winter.

  May handed her a cup of tea. But she was acting strange again, making a weird face.

  “I brought something,” she said, pulling cookies out of her bag. May felt a slight sense of curiosity.

  Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author's consent. Report any sightings.

  In theory, such items were prohibited on school grounds. Sweets, non-cultivation books, games, and other items that distracted from cultivation. However, it was always possible to sneak something in. That's why it was still possible to find sweets on the academy grounds. Of course, if a teacher discovered it, the consequences would be severe.

  “That's very kind of you,” said May. “Where did you get that?”

  She giggled awkwardly, unlike herself.

  “I have my ways,” she said. “It's for you. Perfect for tea.”

  She held it in her hands. It looked quite appetizing, even decorated with fruit, despite the fact that it was winter, but something bothered her. She put it down on the table for a moment and poured herself some tea. Senlin kept looking at her. She tried to talk to her, let her vent, but she had the strange feeling that she had become a different person. As if Wang Wang no longer mattered to her, despite what had happened just a few moments ago.

  “Is there something wrong with this cookie?”

  That's strange. She took it and ate it in one bite.

  “No, there's nothing wrong with it. I just wanted to have some tea first.”

  Senlin smiled at the sight. May knew something was wrong.

  “I'm glad to hear it. Thank you for your kindness, but I must go back to my room and think things over.”

  She's leaving as soon as I finish eating?

  “Sure,” she said uncertainly. “You can always count on me.”

  Senlin got up and left without even saying goodbye.

  The cookie tasted pretty good, but May had a bad feeling. She began to irritate the back of her throat with her fingers to induce vomiting. Although she wasn't proud of it, she knew this trick for when she drank too much alcohol. Ironically, it was alcohol that caused her death on Earth. She threw up into a bowl. She didn't know what the cookie was, but she didn't want it in her body.

  She vomited, luckily she hadn't eaten much before. Although she felt disgusted, she knew she had to check the cookie. Unfortunately, she didn't have gloves. She looked at it from all sides, but it didn't seem to be poisoned or have any other unusual features.

  She decided to use Qi Sensing. She noticed that at one point, a considerable amount of Qi had gathered in the cookies.

  Everything that is real has Qi energy, even a stone or a chair. However, living organisms have more of it.

  But I can't see anything there... My eyes aren't enough. I could use a microscope.

  Unfortunately, she still wasn't very powerful when it came to cultivation.

  However, come to think of it, couldn't I modify Qi Sensing to work as a microscope?

  She knew it would be difficult. However, as long as she understood the theory behind how a microscope worked, it shouldn't be impossible. After all, Qi Sensing itself is a visual ability.

  However, Qi Sensing is not about sight. I can see even with my eyes closed. So visible light is irrelevant here. It's hard to find a starting point here... I have to write all this down.

  She decided to organize her thoughts. She had never done anything like this before. Until now, she had only relied on things she had learned from others. She had never tried to create anything herself. Finally, the time had come. Suddenly, Minnie spoke up

  “I have many skills to offer you...”

  “I appreciate that, Minnie, but I want to try it myself first. If it doesn't work out, I'll come to you.”

  To tell the truth, she didn't need any special skills. She could have simply bought information directly from the system to find out if there was anything strange about the cookie. However, she had been feeling miserable lately. She felt that without the system, she was nothing special. Deep down, she was a scientist and wanted to finally find out if she was capable of accomplishing anything. She felt inspired and decided to go for it.

  Let's think about what I need to create a skill that would work as a microscope.

  First, she decided to write down the basic information about a microscope that she could remember; this was her starting point.

  The microscope works thanks to light passing through the sample, which is then magnified by a system of lenses. That's what I think. At least that should be the rule for the simplest microscopes. My knowledge is so limited.

  She was a biotechnologist, so she worked with microscopes a lot. However, working with something and understanding it are two different things. She didn't need to know exactly how it worked to be able to use it. Now she deeply regretted her lack of knowledge.

  However, overall I shouldn't be wrong. I'll write down what I know about light.

  Light is an electromagnetic wave, but it also has a particle-like nature: it is transmitted in the form of photons.

  She wrote down the spectrum of light visible to the human eye.

  380 to about 750 nanometers. The shorter the wave, the more energy it has. Then she written down approximate wavelength violet: 380–450 blue: 450–485 ...

  Refraction. Lenses bend light through a process called refraction. Refraction occurs when light passes from one medium to another and changes speed, causing it to change direction.

  She wrote down more and more information. She couldn't remember everything, so she crossed some things out and rewrote them. She didn't have the entire textbook in her head.

  Damn, I was never good at physics, I could have tried harder at university and school.

  This went on for quite some time.

  Okay, now I have to figure out how to turn this into a skill. I basically have two options.

  One involves her own eye. As a biotechnologist, she knows a lot about the human body and has always been interested in biology and the human body.

  However... It would require modifying my body or using Qi energy on it. That's risky. I could lose my sight if I make a mistake.

  The second option was to modify Qi Sensing, since it didn't involve using the eyes after all. However, she had no experience here.

  However, I definitely don't want to experiment on my own body. Let's think about it. With Qi control, maybe I could change its shape into a lens? But would that even work? Since it doesn't depended on light? And even if it had that shape, it still wouldn't have the right properties...

  The properties of Qi could be changed, but she still couldn't do it.

  Just as I thought, manipulating my eye would be easier... But no.

  However, when she used Qi Sensing, did she really not need light? She assumed so because she could do it even with her eyes closed and still see well. But if does not depend on visible light but rather something else, then it’s operating on a fundamentally different principle than optical microscopy.

  However, this did not make sense, as Qi Sensing must also incorporate the detection of light.

  She decided to check something. She activated her Qi Sensing and used it to observe her entire room. She could see it perfectly, as well as the energy in every object. After a moment, however, she went to the window and threw a blanket over it, which she had picked up from the bed. Then she sat down again and reactivated her Qi sensing. She was still able to see, but the image was less clear and transparent. Although she could clearly see the Qi energy in the objects, she could not see their outlines as clearly.

  I can still see Qi in objects, but the outlines of objects in the dark have become less distinct. This means that when I use Qi Sensing, I can still see the light.

  If this were not the case, she would still see the same thing despite the difference in light in the room.

  So I'm on the right track.

  She sat down on the ground. She would succeed; she was fully focused.

  She thought about all the information she had. However, she felt that something was missing.

  She sat there thinking about everything for several minutes. Finally, she realized something.

  Did the cultivators who used water control techniques know its molecular structure? Did they even see that it consists of two hydrogen molecules and one oxygen molecule? Do they know that hydrogen atoms are attached to the oxygen atom at an angle of 104.45? Do they know its density? Some probably don't even know its boiling point! But they don't know that, and they don't need to!

  I was too focused on all that information. It's my advantage over others. But it's also a curse.

  She opened her eyes.

  She used Qi Sensing, but with her eyes open. It worked as it should. She needed something more.

  She activated her Qi Control ability. Qi was a form of energy, but it was capable of change. By combining Qi Control and Qi Sensing, she was able to manipulate it with precision. She understood more or less how lenses worked, but still more than anyone else in the world. She knew the basics. That should have been enough. However, practice is more important than theory.

  By increasing the concentration of Qi energy, even though it was difficult, she was able to focus the light and create a kind of magnifying glass effect. She only managed to do it after the tenth attempt. She had already wasted 70% of her Qi energy and was about to run out. It took some trial and error.

  However, she managed to create something simple. This new skill allowed her to enlarge the image threefold. However, this was not enough. She had to create additional spatial lenses that overlapped each other. This required absurd precision. However, in her previous life, she did much more difficult things. Her determination was stronger.

  This would not normally be possible. No one develops techniques and skills at the Qi Refinement stage. However, I am an exception. And as a result, I also learned Qi Manipulation.

  Qi Manipulation was a skill that allowed one to change the physical properties of Qi. For example, Qi could be turned into fire. Although there was no rule that said when one could learn this, it generally wasn't taught to such young people, as it would have been impossible for them due to the complexity of the skill.

  However, May had experience in logical thinking, and her knowledge was greater than that of the entire sect. Add to that her talent, which occurs once in ten thousand people, and she was able to achieve this despite her young age and only being at the fourth stage of Qi Refinement

  She decided to check the description of her new skill.

  It felt strange to read about herself. Even the system called the creation of this skill a miracle.

  However, she wondered why the skill didn't have a name.

  She decided to ask Minnie.

  “Because you didn't name it,” Minnie replied briefly.

  Oh, that makes sense. Let's think... Microscopic vision. No, I don't like that. Zoom eye? Ugh, awful. Eye... Microscope...? Focusing? Well, the first one wasn't that bad. Let's call it Microscopic vision.

  She almost forgot that she had started developing this skill just to check if there was anything suspicious with the cookie Senlin had brought her. Unlike the skills she had learned from the system, this skill was still new and required great precision every time.

  She had to create a pair of lenses and keep them at the right distance at all times. The activation alone took over a minute, and it took another minute to adjust all the parameters so that visibility was good. However, with time, she will get used to this skill as it becomes second nature to her.

  Finally, she focused all her attention on the spot where she had previously detected excess Qi. She looked with curiosity through her new ability.

  What she saw there terrified her. It was something like a worm, with a huge circular mouth and a long body with a writhing tail. The disgusting thing was in the cookie she ate...

  What's going on...?