Eternal Life: I Have the Favor System

This was the advantage of A-grade Talent.

Chu Lingguang, Jin Huang, and Sima Army sat side-by-side. Glancing around discreetly, Chu Lingguang noticed that this batch of students entering the Northern Territory Trial Ground numbered around one hundred.

Surprisingly, there were more than twenty students who had obtained A-grade Talent.

’The place is crawling with geniuses, no wonder the spots are so hard to get,’ he thought. ’It’s just a fluke that I get to sit beside them.’

Of the nearly one hundred students, women made up a small portion, about twenty or thirty in total. Compared to Qiling Academy, the sight of these female students was a refreshing change for Chu Lingguang.

Among the twenty-odd students with A-grade Talent, six or seven were women.

"Today, I will teach you all how to cultivate the Great River Operation Method."

After the students had settled, an old man with a goatee, flanked by several men in black, walked out onto a platform above the crowd. At that moment, the men in black lowered a huge white curtain that had been hanging high up in the Learning Palace.

Chu Lingguang and the others saw that the curtain was covered with a clear diagram of the human body’s meridians, the written essentials of the Great River Operation Method, and even notes on the secrets to combining the Operation Technique, Breathing Technique, and Pile Skill.

The curtain was immense.

Every line of text on it was a priceless treasure of cultivation.

Chu Lingguang and the other students stared with rapt attention, wishing they could burn every single word into their memory. These essential points were things one couldn’t find in the standard manual for the Operation Technique.

This was the culmination of the Trial Ground’s instructors’ best insights, painstakingly refined over many years; it was the most perfect way to cultivate the Great River Operation Method.

The goatee-ed elder was in no hurry. He let everyone read through the contents of the curtain once or twice.

When enough time had passed, he gave a dry cough, drawing everyone’s attention back to him.

He said, "All of you attended an academy before entering this Trial Ground. There, you learned the Day and Night Breathing Technique, the Circulation Operation Skill, and the Zhenyuan Pile Skill. Some of you come from powerful backgrounds and may have even seen or cultivated the Great River Operation Method before. But today... I don’t care what level you’ve reached with this Operation Technique. You are to forget everything you have learned and re-cultivate the Great River Operation Method according to the Trial Ground’s method. Your performance will be judged based on the changes in power you gain from this new cultivation method."

"Ah..."

A small commotion broke out in the Learning Palace.

Apparently, quite a few of them had already been cultivating the Great River Operation Method.

Chu Lingguang saw Sima Army and Jin Huang just smiling without a word. From their expressions, they had likely only learned about the Great River Operation Method without ever actually cultivating it. Or perhaps they already knew the introductory secrets; with just a little guidance from the Trial Ground’s instructor, they could quickly master the basics and get a head start on strengthening their Dragon Elephant, Qi Blood, and even their physical bodies.

They were so relaxed because they didn’t have to forget their previous cultivation methods.

Chu Lingguang secretly checked the value for his Great River Operation Method.

Great River Operation Method (4000/4000)

Since defeating Samba, he had been bogged down with trivial matters and hadn’t had the time to test this Operation Technique. He was either traveling or spending his time on the Flying Leaf Lotus Spear.

This was the perfect opportunity to try the Trial Ground’s optimal cultivation method.

Now, his thoughts were clear and sharp. For any problems he encountered in his cultivation, not only could he find the answers through his own contemplation, but he could even grasp the broader implications from a single piece of guidance.

With his Great River Operation Method value at Perfection, every time he read the Essence of Cultivation on the curtain, he gained a completely new understanding that was seared into his mind.

"I’m sure you’ve all heard that cultivation involves mutual integration and reliance. The optimal method for the Great River Operation Method will allow you to find the perfect point of synergy between this Operation Technique, the Breathing Technique, and the Pile Skill. It will help you strengthen your Dragon Elephant Qi Blood, awaken more strands of Dragon Elephant Power, and perhaps even help you unlock a six-layered Dharma Aspect."

The goatee-ed elder continued.

No one dared to question him, and they all listened with rapt attention.

"Before you can synergize the Operation Technique with the Breathing Technique and the Pile Skill, you must first activate the Great River Operation Method and merge it with your other Operation Techniques, such as the Circulation Operation Skill you learned at the academy."

"The more Skills you merge, the more pronounced the strengthening effect will be when you finally synergize the Operation Technique with the Breathing Technique and the Pile Skill."

"Now, look over the essential content on the curtain one more time. Then, follow my lead to activate the Great River Operation Method within your bodies and merge it with your other Skills. Accomplishing this is considered mastering the basics."

The goatee-ed elder said again.

"Huh?"

His words caused another stir among the crowd.

Just mastering the basics required them to not only activate the Operation Technique but also merge it with their other Operation Techniques. The difficulty was far beyond what any of them had imagined.

"You have ten days. Anyone who fails, regardless of their status or background—even if they are the Crown Prince of the Imperial City—will be expelled from the Trial Ground."

The goatee-ed elder added.

Everyone felt the pressure. Even Chu Lingguang, whose Great River Operation Method value was at Perfection, felt a little suffocated.

According to the essentials written on the curtain,

activation meant first getting the Great River Operation Method to produce a strengthening effect, and only then merging it with the Circulation Operation Skill.

Time was tight. Chu Lingguang didn’t dare to overthink it.

He and the others looked over the essential content one more time.

His senses were exceptionally sharp, allowing him to see the contents of the curtain with perfect clarity. Unfortunately, sharp eyes weren’t the same as a photographic memory. Chu Lingguang would have to read it many times to commit it all to memory.

Fortunately, he was sitting right below the curtain.

He could see everything just by looking up, so there was no need to rush to memorize it. He just had to follow the method described in the essentials to activate the Great River Operation Method first.