The proof of Emperor Wu began with daily rewards for diligence.

The next morning, just as dawn was breaking.

Chen Jue tossed and turned all night, unable to sleep, so he got up early and made breakfast for his mother.

After washing up in the master bedroom, Ms. He Yin was just about to grab a piece of bread and a carton of milk from the kitchen before heading to work.

As a result, upon entering the living room, I saw a perfectly fried soft-boiled egg and a bowl of steaming scallion oil noodles on the table.

"Oh dear! Young master, what could be the reason that a boy who loves to sleep in would get up early to cook for his mother... Is it out of guilt, or out of love?"

Ms. He looked at her son, who had taken off his apron and was eating noodles with his head down, her eyes sparkling.

"Ms. He, please have your noodles and then go to work. Enough with the nonsense!"

Chen Jue peeled a clove of garlic and, under Ms. He's extremely disgusted expression, threw it into his mouth, letting the spicy flavor explode on his tongue.

"Young master, you should pay attention to your appearance. Remember to brush your teeth again before you go out."

Ms. He Yin tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear and ate with elegance, a stark contrast to Chen Jue's frantic gulping of a bowl of noodles in three mouthfuls.

"I'm going to the City Patrol Division later to collect the True Qi Realm cultivation technique. Is there anything you need me to bring back?"

Chen Jue put down the bowl and asked his mother.

Ms. He Yin was taken aback upon hearing this: "You've already reached the Foundation Establishment stage in martial arts so quickly?"

"That's fast?"

Chen Jue said angrily, "Many of the martial arts students who were in the same grade as me back then have already reached the Spirit Seed Realm after entering the Martial University."

"I'm falling behind from the start, and from there I'm falling further behind!"

Chen Jue cleared away the dishes and put them in the kitchen.

"Bring a box of peach shortbread from the Imperial Cake Shop, the low-sugar kind, we have guests coming this afternoon," Ms. He said casually.

"Oh." Chen Jue left without even asking who the guest was.

Watching her son rush out the door, Ms. He Yin felt a complex mix of emotions.

If she hadn't deliberately tried to ruin her son back then, Chen Jue might have soared to great heights and become an outstanding person.

However, she thought again that whether it was striving hard, being addicted to games, or getting hurt in online dating, it was all part of her son's rich life experience.

Life's encounters are mysterious; who can truly say what is right and wrong?

Ms. He inserted her chopsticks into the bowl, picked up a pinch of scallion noodles, and nibbled them into her mouth, a gentle and satisfied smile gradually spreading across her face.

……

The Inspection Division is located in the inner city's first ring road government district.

Here, government offices stand in rows, and officials are as numerous as clouds.

Nine departments, including those responsible for comprehensive administration, finance, people's livelihood, official management, and inspection, were all gathered here to jointly control all the major and minor government affairs of the provincial capital.

Chen Jue first went to the patrol and inspection department.

Someone registered him for access control and, upon learning that he had come to receive the True Qi Realm cultivation method after achieving "Martial Arts Foundation Establishment," had someone lead him to the library in the back garden.

Although it's called a library, it's actually a large library that covers a vast area.

At the entrance, several young librarians sat discussing the recently popular online novel, "Battle Through the Sky."

Chen Jue waited until their discussion came to an end before stepping forward to explain his purpose.

"Oh? A twenty-year-old who has reached the Foundation Establishment stage in martial arts? His innate talent must be quite good. Let me verify his identity card."

The administrator who received Chen Jue was a young man in his late twenties.

He wore an ancient-style gray-blue robe and had a long sword at his waist, giving him a somewhat otherworldly and ethereal appearance.

"The element of fire is strong, indicating above-average aptitude."

Several administrators who were eating sunflower seeds next to the young man were all taken aback when they heard this.

Are martial arts exams for the younger generation this difficult nowadays?

With above-average talent, how come he didn't get into Wuhan University?!

The young man took a card out of the drawer and handed it to Chen Jue.

"The inferior techniques on the first floor are not suitable for you. You can go up to the second floor with your card and choose an intermediate technique."

"By the way, since you have the aptitude for the Five Elements, if you don't lack cultivation resources, you can give priority to the 'Minor Five Elements Technique'."

Chen Jue took the card and asked, "Why prioritize 'The Lesser Five Elements Technique' when resources are plentiful?"

"These words were passed down from 'above,' and I am not entirely clear on the details. There is a brief introduction to the technique on the computer on the second floor; you can look it up yourself."

Chen Jue, filled with suspicion, took the card and went upstairs to the second floor.

The second floor is lined with bookshelves, each covered by a transparent LCD screen. Only by swiping a card can you open the glass and take the secrets inside.

There were quite a few people here, all of whom were unfamiliar faces that Chen Jue had never seen before.

Chen Jue found an empty computer and opened a simple program on the desktop called "Internal Skill Directory".

A dense array of text appeared, all of them names of cultivation techniques, each followed by a description of its characteristics.

As the young administrator just said, "The Little Five Elements Technique" is ranked first.

But Chen Jue didn't rush to look at it. Instead, he slowly looked down and carefully examined each of the top fifty intermediate-level internal skills.

……

"Azure Wave Shooting Sun Skill": A dual-attribute internal skill of water and fire. Water is the ruler and fire is the minister. Water and fire complement each other, resulting in a powerful burst of true qi. It is 100% compatible with steam-powered projectile-type martial arts.

"Taishan Dual Earth Skill" is an internal skill with dual earth attributes. The ruler is earth and the minister is earth. The "Gui" attribute true qi is not restrained by the single wood attribute true qi and is 100% compatible with strength or defensive martial arts.

The "Eternal Youth Skill" is a dual-wood attribute internal skill, with earth as the ruler and wood as the minister. The "Forest" attribute true qi is not subject to the restraint of a single metal attribute and is 100% compatible with poison attribute or recovery-type martial arts.

"Sword Cultivation Technique": A three-metal attribute internal skill, with the ruler being metal, the minister being metal, and the assistant being metal. Once mastered, it is not subject to the restraint of true qi other than the fire attribute, and is suitable for advanced martial arts techniques such as flying swords.

……

Chen Jue silently memorized these characteristics of internal skills so that he wouldn't be at a loss if he encountered them in the future.

Finally, he turned his gaze back to the book listed at the top of the catalog, "The Lesser Five Elements Technique".

This technique is composed of five single-attribute internal skills.

These are respectively "The Initial Yang Refining Fire Technique", "The Geng Metal Breaking Spear Method", "The Green Wood Gathering Life Technique", "The Thick Earth Nourishing Yuan Skill", and "The Flowing Water Gathering Essence Method".

After carefully reading the introduction to this technique, Chen Jue fell silent.

Ordinary people find it difficult to cultivate even one type of true qi to perfection, but the "Minor Five Elements Technique" requires the simultaneous cultivation of all five types of qi.

With such a hellish level of difficulty, it's no wonder that the administrator specifically set the condition of "not lacking resources" when making recommendations.

However, in this era where "nested foundations" are rampant, ancient internal cultivation methods like "The Five Elements Technique" which "integrates the five elements simultaneously" are rare.

To rank first, one must possess exceptional qualities.

After carefully analyzing the characteristics of the technique, Chen Jue finally came to only one conclusion—great strength that could send bricks flying.

That's right. Compared to the double true qi of dual-attribute techniques and the triple true qi of tri-attribute techniques, the five times true qi of "Little Five Elements Technique" focuses on the unity of the five elements—great power.

But that's too difficult.

The so-called simultaneous cultivation of the five internal energies means that the five internal energy cultivation methods should be developed in parallel, rather than cultivating one type of true energy to its peak and then using it to drive the other four types.

Chen Jue's constitution is dominated by the element of fire, so the best choice would actually be a dual-attribute internal skill called "Fire as the Sovereign and Wood as the Minister".

In this way, not only will the attribute strength be sufficient, but the cultivation speed will also increase rapidly due to the reward of diligence and talent.

Cultivating the "Minor Five Elements Technique" means that he has to put in 2.5 times the resources and effort required to cultivate dual-attribute internal skills.

This almost completely offsets the cultivation boost brought about by his talent for rewarding diligence, which is quite perplexing.

After hesitating for a long time, Chen Jue finally couldn't suppress the ambition churning in his heart and took the empty title of number one in "The Little Five Elements Master".

As the saying goes, "How can a young man be content to follow the mundane path? He aspires to shake the heavens with the Five Elements."