In the game "High Martial Arts," players start with the blessing of the Martial God.

Chapter 101 Shaping the Celestial Veins, the Crimson Dragon Arrives

The Institute of Natural Sciences: "What did you say? You've already reached the pinnacle of perfection."

Ye Zhou's eyes widened, and he flashed in front of him. "Don't resist!"

Then, he grabbed Ji Ming's shoulder and sensed him for a moment, "I specifically—"

Just as he was about to swear, Ye Zhou quickly stopped himself, his face regaining its composure.

"Heh, not bad, you've entered the Moon Well again, haven't you? Last time you advanced four levels, this time you only advanced three, you even regressed!"

Ji Ming was exasperated. Had he really hurt his teacher too much? Why was he starting to talk nonsense?

He bowed and said, "Please help me apply for the Heavenly Vein Ointment, teacher!"

"Heavenly Vein Ointment?"

Ye Zhou murmured, his eyes filled with complex emotions. He truly hadn't expected Ji Ming to improve so quickly!

"I understand. I will report it immediately. The college will arrange for someone to review it. You just need to cooperate."

Ye Zhou didn't hesitate. The sooner he applied, the better. He operated the bracelet for a moment, then thought about it and sent a message to his senior brother.

"Wait a minute. The Tianmai Ointment is a matter of great importance, and some necessary reviews are unavoidable. However, you have a good family background, so you will definitely pass the review."

Ji Ming nodded and waited with Ye Zhou.

Shortly after, the research institute's AI issued a notification: "Elder Zhang Tu of the Martial Arts Department is visiting! Elder Zhang Tu of the Martial Arts Department is visiting!"

"Xiao Ran, let them through!" Ye Zhou shouted.

He then led Ji Ming to greet them, where a white-haired old man stood smiling at the door.

"Grand Secretary Zhang!" Ye Zhou bowed respectfully, like a well-behaved child.

Ji Ming hurriedly did as instructed. Even Teacher Ye Zhou didn't dare to be presumptuous. The old man in front of him was obviously no ordinary person. It seemed that he had underestimated the importance of the "Heavenly Vein Ointment".

"Indeed, he is a perfect jade, with pure source energy and a solid foundation. He is a promising talent!" The old man merely glanced at him before praising him.

Ji Ming was startled, completely disregarding the divine sense barrier set up by Elder Zhang. This was probably the strongest person he had ever encountered.

Immediately, his expression became even more respectful.

"Senior Zhang!"

Suddenly, a green light flashed, and their senior uncle, Su Qiao, appeared before them. "This time, we'll have to trouble you, Junior Nephew Ji Ming!"

"Ha ha!"

Zhang Tu shook his head and joked, "You came so fast, are you afraid I'll eat your school's little genius?"

"You've misunderstood!"

Su Qiao gestured, "Please come inside and let's talk!"

"No, no!"

Zhang Tu waved his hand, "As long as I see that the little guy's cultivation level is correct, that's fine. I will report the matter of the Heavenly Vein Ointment. It is usually distributed at the end of the month and will be delivered directly to your home. Remember to sign for it."

He looked at Su Qiao and the other person, "Just tell Ji Ming the rest of the matter truthfully."

"you----"

Ye Zhou asked in surprise, "That's all? What about the other procedures—"

"No need!" Zhang Tu laughed. "If Luo Zhao can accept him, then there won't be any problems. Those procedures are just unnecessary."

"I'm leaving now!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the old man vanished from the spot.

Su Qiao wasn't too shocked; those who haven't experienced it don't understand the significance of Luo Zhao's name.

Why is it said that Ji Ming has impeccable political background?

A large part of the reason is because he is Luo Zhao's student!

"Come on, let's go inside! There are some things I really need to tell you."

Su Qiao walked into the research institute as she spoke.

The three sat facing each other in the lounge.

Su Qiao smiled and said, "Very good. You've reached the Jade Unification stage so quickly. I can rest assured about your trip to the Crimson Dragon Origin Realm this time."

He didn't tell Ji Ming about the list of potential leaders, because he wasn't sure if telling him would affect his state of mind. He decided to let things take their course.

"Thank you for your trouble!" Ji Ming said sincerely.

Su Qiao shook his head. "There's one more thing I need to remind you about the Heavenly Vein Ointment and the second step to godhood."

Ji Ming sat up straight and pricked up his ears.

"At the end of the month, four portions of the Heavenly Vein Ointment will be distributed. This is a year's supply. If all goes well, it will be more than enough to create three Heavenly Veins. Specific instructions on how to use it will be provided later."

He looked at Ji Ming and said in a deep voice, "If we use up all four portions of Heavenly Vein Ointment and still can't even form the beginning of the eleventh Heavenly Vein, it means that this path is not suitable for us, and there will be no more Heavenly Vein Ointment to be supplied in the future."

"It's not that the academy or the nation is stingy or unwilling to spend resources; it's just that we haven't been able to break through the bottleneck of the eleventh Heavenly Vein in a year. Continuing on would only be a waste of time. Some things can't be forced!"

Su Qiao sighed, "Actually, if you have enough talent, you'll usually see results within six months. The extra six months is for certain..."

There is room for those who "achieve great things late in life".

He looked at Ji Ming with some worry. Ji Ming was making rapid progress, but the bottleneck in shaping the Heavenly Vein was extremely difficult and he would definitely be stuck for a while. He was afraid that Ji Ming would not be able to handle the sense of loss, and there were many such examples.

Even if Ye Zhou doesn't send him a message, he will talk to Ji Ming after he learns about it.

"Don't rush the creation of the Heavenly Vein. It's normal to be stuck for one or two months, or even two or three months. Like your teacher Ye Zhou, it took him 75 days to successfully create the beginning of the eleventh Heavenly Vein."

"This result is already very good; it ranks among the top among so many second-step Divine Realm warriors!"

Upon hearing this, Ye Zhou proudly raised his head. It was more than just good; in their year, he had the shortest time!

Ji Ming glanced at it and asked curiously, "Then who was the fastest to open the beginning of the eleventh Heavenly Vein?"

Su Qiao smiled. "The five steps to godhood were completed and pushed to their peak by the Qian Tian School. Your teacher, Luo Zhao, took the shortest time to unlock the second step of godhood, only five days!"

Ye Zhou's momentum waned; compared to Uncle Luo, he truly seemed like a useless piece of trash.

"Five days?" Ji Ming was dumbfounded. If 75 days was considered high, then what about 5 days?

Unprecedented and unparalleled?

Moreover, he only then learned that the Five Steps to Ascension to Godhood was originally created by the Qian Tian School, and had been incomplete before.

"Don't rush. With your talent, this is just a matter of time. You don't need to compare yourself to anyone. Whether you're early or late, it won't make much difference."

"Su Qiao instructed."

"I understand!" Ji Ming nodded honestly.

"Also, if there's any Heavenly Vein Ointment left over, it absolutely must not be shared or sold. It's best to hand it over to the authorities," Su Qiao reminded her as a final reminder.

"Alright, come find me at the plantation if you need anything." Su Qiao patted himself and walked out.

After seeing his senior uncle off, Ji Ming also returned home.

Continue practicing martial arts.

On June 30th, in the martial arts training room, Ji Mingzheng was engaged in a fierce battle with the combat puppet. The puppet's life strength had been set to level 25, comparable to a fifth-level Divine Transformation martial artist.

However, the puppet only possesses brute force and cannot activate source energy, making it unable to defeat even a third-level Divine Realm martial artist in terms of strength.

Ji Ming has broken through to the tenth level of Jade Purity and now has a life strength of level 23, which is comparable to a third-level Divine Transformation martial artist. Even if his source power has not undergone a qualitative change, he can still fight against a first-level Divine Transformation martial artist with a life strength of level 21, and his win rate is even very high.

But it doesn't work against geniuses on the Star Ranking. Those people are either fourth-level Divine Realm warriors or first-level Divine Realm warriors who have taken a step towards becoming gods. He would have a hard time matching them.

"We still need to complete the [Sun's Extreme] technique!"

Ji Ming stepped back, shook his numb arm, and muttered to himself.

However, I've made quite a few gains recently, and I should be able to break through inside the Tower of Babel.

He checked the progress of the martial arts training.

[Skill: Nine Luminaries Mystic Heaven Blade Iv.12 (86%)]

[Skill: Tai Xu Yi Dun Iv.13 (38%)]

[Skill: First Rank in Swordplay (10/10000)]

The training environment at Tianyi Star Palace is far superior to that in Baichuan City. Progress in both martial arts is quite good, but the swordsmanship remains stagnant.

However, he wasn't surprised. The way of the sword requires the mastery of sword techniques as fuel for improvement, and he couldn't squeeze out time for enlightenment to upgrade it right now. He could only wait until the Nine Luminaries Profound Heaven Sword broke through to see if he could speed up the process a bit.

Fortunately, probably due to the "God of War's Blessing," he did not feel any pressure in his swordsmanship training. According to the information given by Teacher Ye Zhou, early exposure to the sword path would affect the breakthrough of other swordsmanship skills, but this disadvantage did not seem to have any effect on him.

After finishing his martial arts training, Ji Ming went to the quiet room, took out a wooden box, and placed four jars of golden milky ointment inside.

Tianmai Ointment!

It was delivered this morning, but it didn't disrupt his training plan. He continued to practice his swordplay every morning without fail.

"Now we can give it a try."

Ji Ming murmured to himself, opened a bottle, and poured a little into a special instrument that had been delivered with it. The instrument would then precisely measure the dosage for each use.

He took off his shirt and stood on the instrument. Tianmai Ointment cannot be swallowed; it can only be applied externally.

A metal rod extends from the instrument, scans the area, and then a little golden paste seeps out, which is then evenly applied to his spine.

"hiss!"

Ji Ming took a light breath, and a faint stinging sensation came over him. Fortunately, his willpower was strong enough that he could not bear it.

Ten seconds after applying the ointment, Ji Ming stepped off the device. A warm and strange energy flowed from his spine straight to his brain, and vital energy rushed into his body.

He realized this and quickly sat down cross-legged, the contents of the Jade Purity Ascension Technique flowing through his mind.

The requirements for cultivating celestial veins are not high; the core accommodation area can meet them. The main problem is that the bottleneck is difficult to break through, and most people can only end up disappointed after a year and honestly break through to the Divine Realm.

"The Heavenly Origin Transforms into a Vein, luminous and divine, connecting the divine realm above and the mortal world below—"

Ji Ming formed several hand seals, controlling the energy within the Heavenly Vein Ointment to gather and condense within his spine, and a faint, dim light gradually emerged—

An hour later, feeling the energy recede, Ji Ming opened his eyes and revealed a look of joy. He knew the result without even looking at the panel!

[Cultivation Method: Yin Yang Meridian Opening Technique, Level 11 (7%)]

It worked!

As long as there is a cultivation method, there are no bottlenecks in shaping one's celestial veins!

Even the unprecedented and unparalleled Master Luo took five days to unlock the second step of the Ascension to Godhood, while he successfully broke through this bottleneck on his first cultivation attempt. How astonishing!

He activated his Heavenly Meridians with all his might, and the ten Heavenly Meridians that were naturally present in his body were connected to the invisible ground like pillars of heaven. However, a point of light appeared next to them. Although it was only the beginning, one could already imagine what it would look like when it was fully grown.

The subsequent training will be a matter of patience and perseverance.

Of course, he has not yet broken through to the eleventh level of the Jade Purity Realm. The Heavenly Meridian must be fully formed before it can be used. Therefore, the eleventh level of the Yin-Yang Meridian Opening Technique must reach 100% before he can be considered to have truly taken the second step to godhood.

At that time, your life strength will also increase by one level!

As far as he knew, martial artists at the second step of the Divine Ascension Realm were extremely rare. Sometimes, the martial arts department of Tianyi Star Palace wouldn't produce even one in a single year; for example, the previous year had none.

"We can improve our progress by 7% every day, and we'll break through in less than fifteen days."

Ji Ming did the calculations and then smiled with delight.

The instructions clearly state that Tianmai Ointment can only be used once a day at most. The consequences of using it multiple times a day are not mentioned, but Ji Ming certainly doesn't want to experience that.

"Even with three Heavenly Veins, it will only take a little over forty days to reach the Divine Realm."

Most importantly, after reaching the second step of godhood, he will be able to condense the [Void Merchant]. Not to mention the Treasure Basin, the characteristics of the Child of the Void will definitely make it much easier for him to cultivate the [Great Void Escape].

After all, the ultimate goal of this martial art is nothing more than to comprehend a trace of the laws of the void.

As time continued to move forward and the joint examination of the four schools in the Crimson Dragon Realm approached, the Star Palace became much more restless. This encouragement was effective, and the students cultivated even more diligently than before.

On July 9th, Ji Ming sat cross-legged in front of a sword-shaped mark in the Tower of Babel, and quickly grasped the true meaning of swordsmanship.

"That's about it."

After a while, he checked the number of times he had an epiphany.

[Number of moments of sudden enlightenment: 13 (48/100)]

Let's begin!

He muttered to himself, and his number of moments of enlightenment instantly dropped to zero, turning into a 130-second enlightenment period. His understanding of the Nine Luminaries Profound Heaven Blade was rapidly increasing, changing almost every second.

Finally, [Skill: Nine Luminaries Mystic Heaven Blade Iv.22 (30%)]

The Great Perfection Nine Luminaries Profound Heaven Blade breaks through!

In Ji Ming's eyes, it was as if a dazzling sun appeared, shining brightly. The sun contained not heat, but a cluster of sword light!

The sun is shining!

This is a powerful area-of-effect attack; the blade's energy bursting forth from the sun will destroy everything, causing widespread damage!

After the breakthrough, the time was up. Ji Ming was teleported out of the Tower of Babel. He looked back and his eyes showed a look of covetousness. Then he sighed and thought, "I should think about something more practical!"

For example, getting into the Star Ranking as soon as possible is the easiest way to get a chance to enter.

He was confident that that day was not far off!

The mastery of martial arts techniques is something that students ranked lower on the Star Ranking can hardly achieve. Even if his life strength and realm are somewhat different from theirs, the outcome will only be known after the fight.

Of course, not now.

They are about to set off for the Crimson Dragon Realm!

Upon receiving the message, Ji Ming rushed to the entrance of the Institute of Natural Sciences.

Su Qiao and Ye Zhou waited, the former saying nothing, but handing over a silver iron piece.

"This is—" He took it and looked at it, somewhat puzzled.

"Let's try dripping some blood on it!" Su Qiao laughed.

Ji Ming's heart stirred, and he forced a drop of blood from his fingertip onto the iron plate. Immediately, he sensed that it contained a small space, about one cubic meter in size.

"Storage equipment?" Ji Ming blurted out, his expression shocked.

It wasn't because of the equipment that they were shocked. After all, after years of research by high-level scholars, the spatial technology of the Xuanhuang Realm was quite mature, and storage equipment was not considered too rare.

But he remembered that martial artists seemed to need to break through to the Divine Realm to use storage equipment, right?

"Don't be too surprised. You can think of it as something like the Blood Refined Divine Weapon, which can be used by martial artists below the Divine Transformation level," Su Qiao explained with a smile.

Ji Ming pursed his lips. He knew without asking that this thing was definitely more valuable than an ordinary blood-refined divine weapon.

"There's also a three-patterned blood-refined divine weapon longsword inside, so you won't be at too much of a disadvantage when facing a Transcendent Realm warrior."

Suqiao added.

"Don't refuse. Your safety is the most important thing. These two items are only useful to you now. You can return them after you break through to the Divine Realm!"

Ji Ming nodded. Those at the Divine Realm can nurture their own natal divine weapon, which is much more useful than a blood-refined divine weapon. And general-purpose storage equipment is not expensive either.

"Thank you, Senior Uncle!" Ji Ming bowed respectfully.

That being said, my master must have gone to great lengths to obtain these two items.

"Okay, go ahead!"

Su Qiao smiled, patted him on the shoulder, and waved.

Watching Ji Ming turn and leave, he sighed. How can one become successful without experiencing hardships?

Ye Zhou suddenly spoke up, "Senior brother, why don't you let Ji Ming become your disciple?"

"What nonsense are you talking about!" Su Qiao scolded.

"I'm serious!"

Ye Zhou said seriously, "I've thought about it, and I really don't know how to teach students, nor am I as meticulous as you, senior brother. Letting Ji Ming follow you might be a better choice."

"You brat!" Su Qiao shook his head. "No need for that. Our school only has a few people, why make such a big deal out of it? Aren't your students my students too?"

Ye Zhou's eyes lit up upon hearing this. "Senior brother is right! I'll have Ji Ming consult you more often from now on! Haha!"

Upon hearing this, he felt much more at ease. It wasn't that he found Ji Ming troublesome, but rather that he had always wanted to do something about taking on this student, yet he didn't know what to do.

Of course, it's also because Ji Ming is such a worry-free kid that he doesn't feel any sense of accomplishment at all.

Originally, I wanted to support him, but the Yuanyuan School has backed down, and Ji Ming has dealt with his other rivals on his own.

To be honest, being a teacher is pretty dull and unfulfilling.

Now that his senior is there, he can devote himself wholeheartedly to his research.

"By the way, senior brother, be careful of Zhao You. That guy might snatch Ji Ming away one day!" Ye Zhou reminded him.

He has been on high alert lately. People from the Qian Tian School are straightforward and honest; if they're going to steal someone, they really mean it.

"Won't!"

Su Qiao shook his head. "If we were going to rob it, we would have done it already. There's been no movement since then, so we're unlikely to change our minds again."

Why?

Ye Zhou frowned. This was also what puzzled him. How could Ji Ming, with his talent, not be recognized?

Su Qiao didn't answer, but looked into the distance, thinking to herself: It seems that Luo Zhao doesn't want to involve Ji Ming. I wonder what he's thinking.

However, this is a good thing. Ji Ming will be safer. The real target of the Qian Tian School is not the Yuan Yuan School!

"You don't need to worry about this, and you certainly don't need to mention it in front of Ji Ming," Su Qiao said, turning her head to warn him.

Ye Zhou nodded, not quite understanding. He didn't care; it was up to his senior brother to decide.

"Heh, with Ji Ming's current performance, your promotion to a permanent position at the end of the year is practically a done deal. Aren't you happy?" Su Qiao laughed.

Ye Zhou also showed a look of delight. He didn't particularly care about the title of "Junior Instructor," after all, he had also obtained an identity from the Spirit Realm and, after several upgrades, it was stronger than most positions in the Star Palace.

What he cares about is a characteristic that junior mentors possess, which might be useful for research.