Chapter 9 Breaking the Shackles of Genius

Chapter 9: Breaking the Shackles of Genius

“Wake up!”

Li Yi, who was immersed in his cultivation, suddenly heard a voice by his ear.

He was immediately startled awake, interrupting his cultivation.

Lin Yue looked at him with a half-smile and said, “You really aren’t polite at all. You went into cultivation for a full four hours, leaving me to act as your Guiding Staff the whole time.”

“It’s already four hours?” Li Yi was very surprised as he glanced out the window.

It was already dark outside, and a quick check of the time showed it was 7 PM.

He hadn’t expected so much time to pass during his cultivation.

“I just observed your talent. In these four hours, I guided a total of one hundred portions of Cosmic Energy into your body, and during that time, you absorbed forty-five portions. The rest all dissipated. So, it seems your efficiency in absorbing Cosmic Energy is forty-five percent,” Lin Yue said.

Li Yi thought to himself, ‘As expected.’

The Cosmic Energy that actively surged into his body was indeed intentionally guided by Lin Yue.

“Sister Lin, forty-five percent, is that a very low figure?” he then asked.

Lin Yue said, “Although the figure appears a bit low, it’s understandable given that this is your first time cultivating. My own first figure was only seventy percent. Overall, you have a bit of talent and can pursue this path of cultivation. With more effort, you can still achieve something.”

“I have talent, but not much, is that what you mean?” Li Yi gave a self-deprecating smile and said, “That’s really bad.”

“No, this is already a very good result. As your cultivation experience deepens, your energy conversion rate can still improve. I estimate reaching around sixty-five percent won’t be a problem,” Lin Yue said.

Li Yi said, “That’s just barely passing.”

Lin Yue rolled her eyes. “Passing is already very good. Did you see those students earlier today? After cultivating for a while, their figures are only around forty to fifty percent. You’re considered an excellent student in the training class.”

“What are the figures for those cultivation geniuses? One hundred percent?” Li Yi suddenly asked curiously.

“No, one hundred percent isn’t considered a genius. True geniuses are all two hundred percent or more,” Lin Yue said.

” Li Yi.

He thought the full score was one hundred, and getting sixty-five was decent, but he didn’t expect the total score to be uncapped.

“By the way, Sister Lin, when you were guiding Cosmic Energy into my body just now, did you sense a special energy field?” Li Yi suddenly asked.

Lin Yue frowned. “A special energy field? No, I didn’t. In my perception, there was only a grayish-white world, and no special energy field existed. Why? Did you sense one? If you did, you need to be especially careful. It could be a suddenly opened wormhole. You must not let your consciousness get pulled in, or it can be damaged. In severe cases, you could be in a coma for several months; in mild cases, you’ll have a headache for several days.”

“I understand.” Li Yi nodded solemnly.

Then he felt a bit puzzled. The energy field he sensed should have been emitted by the dao coin, so why didn’t Lin Yue sense it?

Could it be that the incomplete dao coin’s energy field was too small, limiting its range?

“Haha, don’t just focus on cultivating. Come, come, come! I just ordered some good dishes from the hotel next door. Let’s have a good meal today. Niece, there’s even your favorite braised prawns in oil here.” At this moment, Uncle Biao’s voice rang out. He was in a joyful mood, carrying a large stack of takeout boxes as he walked in.

“Uncle, you’re spending money again,” Lin Yue said.

“When you earn money, you should eat and drink well, otherwise life would be so boring.” Uncle Biao enthusiastically unpacked the takeout boxes. “Look, there’s even beer. Li Yi, let’s have a couple of drinks and not stop until we’re drunk.”

“Uh, I don’t drink,” Li Yi said.

Uncle Biao put an arm around his neck and laughed, “You’re a twenty-year-old lad, how can you not drink? I’ll teach you.”

It was until 10 PM.

Li Yi left Uncle Biao’s meditation room with a slight buzz.

As the cool night breeze of the city blew, he instantly sobered up with a jolt, and his slightly muddled head cleared again.

Without further delay, he rushed home as quickly as possible.

On the way, Li Yi pondered to himself, “Now I can confirm that the half-dao coin in my hand is a qi object. Although I don’t know what its strange abilities are yet, at least I can be sure that this thing can help me cultivate. And from what Lin Yue said, my cultivation talent isn’t bad; compared to most people, it’s above average.”

“But the matter I need to consider now is how to keep this incomplete qi object. After all, this thing is not secure in my hands right now. Once that group deals with the investigator Wang Jian, they will definitely come looking for me. At that point, I will only have two paths before me.”

“Either surrender it and exchange it for sufficient benefits and the Investigation Bureau’s protection, or risk keeping it. As for Crow’s side? Sorry, not very familiar.”

Li Yi’s heart actually leaned towards the latter.

Because Crow and his group didn’t know for sure that he had obtained a qi object; after all, that day, besides himself, Wang Hu and Wei Li also took something. Moreover, he was worried that once this thing was exposed, the other party might choose to silence him.

A cultivator could kill you in an instant; Li Yi didn’t dare to gamble that the other party would keep their promise.

With a mix of apprehension and unease, Li Yi returned home.

He first greeted his parents, then checked the medical pod to ensure it was running smoothly, and finally looked at the remaining amount of nutrient solution in the medical pod.

Nutrient solution: Less than ten percent.

The flashing alert made Li Yi worry again.

He looked at the balance on his phone: 1876.

This amount of money was only enough to buy one tube of nutrient solution, not even two.

“Didn’t I anticipate this day would come?” Li Yi sat alone in the living room, falling into silence.

Since his parents became Silent Ones, the family had been living beyond its means. As long as his parents didn’t awaken, eventually all the family’s money would be completely depleted. His efforts working alone merely postponed this day.

However, Li Yi himself hadn’t expected six years to pass in a flash.

Before, he naively thought his parents would wake up in two or three years, but now it seemed that even in another three years, this situation might not change.

“Perhaps surrendering the incomplete qi object is the correct path. Getting a sum of money would at least allow my family to live stably, and I might even have the chance to continue cultivating.”

Li Yi caressed the half-dao coin in his hand, looking at his parents lying in the medical pod in the room, and couldn’t help but think.

“But I finally, with great difficulty and risking my life, luckily picked up such a fate-changing item. If I give up today, I think I’ll regret it for a lifetime. Moreover, if you just give me a little time, my cultivation will quickly show results. Once I become a cultivator, earning money will be much easier. How could I then be stumped by a few tubes of nutrient solution?”

After a brief hesitation, Li Yi reaffirmed his inner resolve. He looked at his parents in the room once more, then said, “Dad, Mom, just let me take this one chance. If you wake up someday, I believe you will definitely understand my choice.”

Having said that, he held the incomplete dao coin, closed his eyes again, and began to clear his mind, entering a state of meditative cultivation.

Since he was going to fight for it, not a single minute or second could be wasted. The future was uncertain, but the present could be grasped. As long as the qi object remained in his hand, Li Yi would cultivate desperately. Only by becoming strong enough would he not have to fear the troubles that were about to come.

Soon.

He entered that state from earlier in the day again.

Within his perception, the incomplete dao coin emitted a small energy field. Under the influence of his will, pure energy was guided into Li Yi’s body.

Perhaps Li Yi’s cultivation value wasn’t high, and his energy conversion rate was only forty-five percent, but with this incomplete qi object, he didn’t need to spend time capturing energy overflowing from wormholes, nor did he worry about energy being wasted.

Talent, for him, had become less important.

Because even for a genius, most of their cultivation time at night was spent on capturing energy, and the scarce pure Cosmic Energy was the biggest shackles limiting a genius’s cultivation.

With the help of the qi object, Li Yi could break these shackles, and his cultivation results in one night could exceed those of a genius by several, or even dozens, of times.

At the same time.

Late at night, in the Old City.

Ning Wu, tall and with a long ponytail, along with her accomplice Crow, and a line of subordinates in black suits, walked out from the Investigation Bureau behind them.

“Ning Wu, although someone vouched for you, I advise you and your group to restrain yourselves. If you dare to cause trouble again, I guarantee you won’t leave a prison cell for ten years,” the warning voice of investigator Wang Jian came from behind.

“Hmph.”

Ning Wu snorted in dissatisfaction, walking away without looking back.

After leaving the Investigation Bureau’s vicinity, she stopped and immediately said, “Crow, you must contact Wang Hu, Wei Li, and Li Yi as quickly as possible, at all costs. Make them return the items, lest delays cause further complications.”

“Of course, I don’t want to see any more surprises either,” Crow nodded.

Ning Wu’s eyes gleamed, and she gritted her teeth in anger. “If Wang Jian hadn’t suddenly interfered, how would things have become so complicated? We had already obtained the items in the Waste District.”

“Ning Wu, don’t rush. They are all ordinary people, not hard to find. And even if they really have something good in their hands, they don’t recognize its value. At most, we’ll raise the price a bit. They’ll be greedy for money and will surely be willing to hand it over,” Crow said.

“It had better be that way. My patience is running out. This concerns a qi object, after all.”

Ning Wu took a few deep breaths to calm herself down.