Courtyard House: Starting with handing over the keys, the state helps me abuse birds.

Three months later.

Xishan, a secret base.

The open space in the center of the base was already filled with people.

Three hundred cadets stood in neat square formations; they were the elite selected from the entire army.

But at this moment, they were all filled with curiosity.

Today is the most important day for the base—the day the large-scale spirit-gathering array is activated.

Three months ago, they came here and began their cultivation.

The twelve instructors started by teaching them the most basic breathing techniques, guiding them step by step to sense the flow of qi.

Currently, more than 200 out of 300 people have successfully guided Qi into their bodies and officially embarked on the path of cultivation.

They knew that all of this was inseparable from one person—the legendary head instructor.

For the past three months, they have never seen the head instructor.

The instructors never mentioned it, and the trainees dared not ask. All they knew was that whenever someone asked, the instructors' eyes would become complicated—with awe, gratitude, and a hint of inexplicable fear.

"Did you hear? The head instructor is coming today." Someone in the queue whispered.

"Really? I've been wanting to meet them for ages. What kind of person could train our instructors like that?"

"He must be a highly respected senior, maybe even with white hair."

"That's not necessarily true. Maybe he's a hidden master who looks young but has actually lived for over a hundred years."

Various speculations circulated in the queue.

Standing in the third row, Li Dayong listened to his comrades' discussion and curled his lips.

Li Dayong, 23 years old, elite soldier.

He was one of the first in this group of students to sense the Qi, and his cultivation progress has consistently ranked among the top ten.

But he has one flaw—arrogance.

In his original unit, he was the best of the best, and everyone who saw him would call him "Brother Li".

After arriving at the base, although he was tortured to the point of exhaustion by the instructors, he always harbored a strong determination—it's just cultivation, what's so great about it? I'll be able to cultivate like that sooner or later.

As for that legendary head instructor...

Li Dayong scoffed inwardly.

The twelve instructors were indeed formidable, but to say that they had someone behind them? Someone capable of training them? He found it hard to believe.

"They're here! The car's at the door!"

A commotion broke out in the queue.

Everyone looked up at the same time, towards the entrance of the base.

A military jeep slowly drove in and stopped at the edge of the open space.

The car door opened.

A person walked down.

young.

very young.

He looked to be in his early twenties, wearing a faded old military uniform, his face expressionless. His hair was a bit messy, as if he had just casually gathered it up with his hand. Standing there, he was no different from any other young person you could see on the street.

Li Dayong was stunned.

Is this the head instructor?

He couldn't help but turn to look at his comrade next to him, only to find that the other man also looked completely bewildered.

"This...this is too young, isn't it?" someone muttered quietly.

"Are you sure you're not mistaken? Maybe they're here to deliver some documents."

"Impossible, right? Someone who commands such respect from twelve instructors, is this all?"

Li Dayong's disdain deepened.

He recalled his former superiors in the military; weren't they all in their forties or fifties, battle-hardened veterans with powerful auras? This young man in front of him looked a few years younger than him—what made him the chief instructor?

"You got in through connections, didn't you?" he muttered.

His comrade next to him quickly nudged him: "Keep your voice down, don't talk nonsense!"

Li Dayong pursed his lips and didn't say anything more, but the contempt in his eyes was impossible to hide.

Xie Weihong got out of the car and stood there, her gaze sweeping over the dark mass of people.

Three hundred people stood ramrod straight. Some were curious, some were in awe, some had shifty eyes, and some... had obvious disdain in their eyes.

He saw the young man standing in the third row, with thick eyebrows and big eyes, standing the straightest, but the disdain at the corner of his mouth was impossible to hide.

Xie Weihong didn't pay attention and strode forward.

Twelve people stepped out of the queue and marched forward in unison.

Those were twelve instructors—Zhao Weize, Sun Guodong, Zhou Bin, Wu Zhen…

They walked up to Xie Weihong, stood at attention, and saluted.

Their movements were perfectly synchronized, as if measured with a ruler.

"Good morning, instructor!"

The voices of twelve people rang out simultaneously, echoing across the empty base.

Li Dayong's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets.

He saw Zhao Weize, who usually scolded them to death, standing like a primary school student, his back straight, his eyes fixed straight ahead, and the expression on his face was one he had never seen before—a deep-seated awe.

And then there's Sun Guodong, the old scout who could break a wooden stake with a single punch. He's keeping his head down, as if waiting for his superior to give him a lecture.

And then there's Zhou Bin, the instructor whose speed is like a ghost, who now stands in front of that young man, not daring to even breathe loudly.

Li Dayong's mind was a little fuzzy.

He instinctively looked at the young man.

The man simply nodded, said nothing, and walked forward.

Twelve instructors followed closely behind him, like bodyguards.

Li Dayong stared at that figure from behind, and a strange feeling welled up inside him.

It's not reverence, it's defiance.

On what grounds?

What gives him the right?

Just because he started cultivating a few years earlier than us? Just because he was lucky?

Li Dayong clenched his fist.

Xie Weihong walked onto the high platform.

On the high platform, Duan Chengyi was standing with several scientists, conducting a final inspection of a huge circular device.

That is a large-scale spirit-gathering array.

Thirty meters in diameter, it was pieced together from thousands of special materials. The array patterns were intricate, with intersecting lines that gleamed faintly in the morning light. Embedded at the array's core was a fist-sized cultivation crystal—provided by Xie Weihong, said to be a top-grade item he had redeemed from the system.

Old Chen squatted at the edge of the array pattern. His hair was whiter than it had been three months ago, but his eyes were still bright and piercing.

Engineer Zhou was adjusting the equipment, fine beads of sweat forming on his forehead. Lin, meanwhile, stared at the data terminal, his fingers flying across the keyboard.

They spent three whole months working on this spirit-gathering array.

From its initial small formation to its current colossal size, it has gone through countless failures.

Today, the moment of acceptance has finally arrived.

"Mr. Chen, the data has all been calibrated." Lin looked up, his voice a little strained.

Old Chen stood up, stretched his stiff back, and was about to speak when he suddenly saw Xie Weihong walking up.

He quickly went to greet him: "Advisor Xie, you've arrived."

Xie Weihong nodded, walked to the edge of the spirit-gathering array, and looked down at the intricate array patterns.

Old Chen followed behind him, his palms sweating with nervousness.

Over the past three months, he had imagined this moment countless times. What if there was a problem with the formation? What if the energy was unstable? What if… He dared not think any further.

Xie Weihong squatted down and reached out to touch the array patterns.

The movement was very gentle, like caressing a precious work of art.

Old Chen held his breath.

After a while, Xie Weihong stood up and looked at him.

"good."

Just two words.

Old Chen stood there, stunned, feeling a warmth in his eyes.

Three months of tireless work, day and night, turned his hair white and made his eyes bloodshot. His wife even called to yell at him, "Are you out of your mind?"... But those two words were all he got in return. It was all worth it.

"Thank you for your hard work, Mr. Chen," Xie Weihong said again.

Old Chen quickly waved his hand: "It's not hard work, it's all for the country."

Xie Weihong nodded and turned to Duan Chengyi: "We can begin."

Duan Chengyi took a deep breath, walked to the front of the stage, and announced to the audience: "The activation ceremony of the large-scale spirit-gathering array now begins!"

The three hundred people in the audience stood at attention in unison.

Old Chen walked to the center of the array, held the cultivation crystal in both hands, and carefully placed it into the groove.

The moment the crystal was embedded, the Spirit Gathering Array emitted a low hum.

The sound wasn't loud, but it seemed to come from deep underground, making one's heart tremble.

The array patterns began to glow.

First came a faint, ethereal glow, then it grew brighter and brighter. The intricate lines seemed to come alive, the light flowing along the lines, converging in circles from the outside in.

Finally, all the light concentrated at the center of the array, and the crystal suddenly burst forth with a blinding white light.

hum-

An invisible wave spread out from the center of the spirit-gathering array.

Everyone felt it at that moment.

The air has changed.

No, it wasn't air; it was something indescribable. It felt like warm spring water was pouring down from above, seeping through my skin and into my entire body. Every pore was opening up, every nerve was rejoicing.

The trainees stared wide-eyed in disbelief.

"I can feel it! It feels so good!" someone exclaimed.

"The energy in my body started circulating on its own!" another person exclaimed, their voice trembling with excitement.

"This is the Spirit Gathering Array? This is cultivation?"

Li Dayong stood there, feeling the warm energy flowing into his body, completely stunned.

The energy within his body, which had initially been just a faint, almost imperceptible warm current, now seemed to have been ignited, circulating on its own and accelerating. That power flowed along his meridians, bringing indescribable comfort wherever it passed.

Is this the effect of the Spirit Gathering Array?

He subconsciously looked at the young man on the platform.

The man stood there, his back to them, staring at the glowing array, motionless.

Li Dayong's initial resentment suddenly wavered.

Old Chen stared at the data on the instrument, his hands trembling.

"Energy concentration increased by one time... 1.2 times... 1.5 times... twice!"

He turned around, looked at Xie Weihong, and said in a trembling voice, "It's a success! The Spirit Gathering Array is a success!"

Cheers erupted from the audience.

Three hundred trainees, twelve instructors, and scientists—everyone was so excited they were speechless.

Duan Chengyi walked to Xie Weihong's side, his eyes also a little red.

"Wei Hong, thank you."

Xie Weihong shook her head: "It's their own achievement."

Duan Chengyi smiled wryly: "Can't you be a little more humble?"

Xie Weihong glanced at him but didn't say anything.

The cheers lasted for a long time.

As things gradually calmed down, Xie Weihong took a step forward.

The audience fell silent instantly.

Everyone was looking at him, waiting for him to speak.

Xie Weihong's gaze swept over the three hundred young faces.

When he scanned the third row, his gaze lingered on Li Dayong's face for a moment.

Then move it away.

"Some of you think I'm too young and not qualified to be the head instructor."

He spoke, his voice not loud, but clearly reaching everyone's ears.

Many people in the audience changed their expressions.

Li Dayong's heart skipped a beat.

"Some people think that training more than 200 people in three months is already quite an achievement."

Xie Weihong continued.

"Some people are dissatisfied, feeling that it's me standing here and not someone else."

He paused.

"Anyone who disagrees, step forward."

The audience was silent.

Nobody moved.

Li Dayong stood there, his heart pounding. He felt as if the young man's gaze had swept over him again, as if he could see right through him.

"Afraid to step forward?" Xie Weihong asked.

Still no one moved.

Xie Weihong nodded, then suddenly pointed to a person in the queue.

"You, come out."