This entry is suspicious.

After a series of examinations, Zhou Ran was discharged from the hospital without incident.

Before being discharged from the hospital, he specifically asked the doctor to take an image of his new heart. It can be seen that there are no holes in the new heart, which means that the changes that have already occurred will not be transferred or inherited.

However, as long as he continues to use the [Exquisite Heart], this new heart will eventually mutate.

At that time, his cultivation level had probably reached the ninth level of the Qi Opening stage or even the Qi Refining stage. If he wanted to get a heart transplant then, the price would be much higher than four and a half million.

Zhou Ran currently has two solutions in mind.

One approach is to find ways to mask the allure of a charming heart.

Another method is to cultivate self-healing techniques. After the heart undergoes abnormal changes, one can remove one's own heart and then, relying on powerful regenerative abilities, regenerate entirely new organs.

This way, even a single, exquisite heart can be mass-produced.

If the flesh-and-blood material of the Exquisite Heart has the same effect as the authentic Exquisite Heart, it can even be sold for money. At the very least, it can be sold to the Bureau of Emergency Response or folk experts on the supernatural by virtue of its special ability to attract the supernatural.

However, neither of these methods can be achieved in a short period of time, so it's best to control the frequency of using [Linglongxin] until then.

"Let's take it one step at a time. Maybe the Book of Fate will give me an entry that increases self-healing abilities later." Zhou Ran didn't dwell on this issue too much.

Leave the medical facility.

Zhou Ran took a taxi to a magic item specialty store and rented a basic storage magic item for 500,000 yuan per month to store the mutated heart that had been replaced.

Storage magic items are spatial artifacts; their fundamental principle is to create an independent space within the artifact.

With the restriction lock activated, this space will be completely isolated from the real world. Even Foundation Establishment cultivators cannot deeply scan it with their divine sense, so the strange entity probably cannot sense the mutated heart stored within.

After doing all this, it was already past five in the morning.

Zhou Ran was in a deep sleep during the surgery, so she wasn't sleepy at all. She quickly ate breakfast at a roadside breakfast stall and went straight to school.

……

In the days that followed, due to a lack of money, Zhou Ran had to reduce the time he spent practicing the two expert-level techniques and instead give more tutoring to his classmates.

Time flies, and it's already mid-June. There are less than two weeks left until the end of the first year of high school final exams.

In the spacious practice room, the air conditioner hummed and blew out cool air. More than forty people were sweating profusely as they practiced the Thirty-Six Forms for Opening the Mind.

To prepare for the upcoming final exams, everyone is putting in their best effort and studying like crazy, just to improve their ranking by even one place.

Even though many of them were in the top 200 or even the top 100, they dared not be negligent in the slightest.

Sendoh High School has an elimination mechanism. When students move from their first to second year of high school, some of the students with the worst grades are eliminated. Although it sounds cruel, it is actually a good thing for these students.

If you lack talent, don't waste your time on the path of immortality, or you'll end up with nothing.

Zhou Ran walked around the training room, correcting the students' deviations in movement and patiently answering their questions about cultivation.

[Life Mark +1]

[Life Mark +1]

Because these people are less likely to accumulate serious problems in their spiritual practice after receiving guidance, the rate at which they acquire life lines has unsurprisingly slowed down, with only a few life lines appearing each day.

"Hahahahaha!"

Just then, a boy suddenly threw his head back and burst into laughter, extremely excited: "I did it! I did it!"

"I've reached the eighth level of enlightenment! I've succeeded!"

Everyone was startled upon hearing this and stopped what they were doing to look at him.

Currently, only five people in the grade have reached the eighth level of the Qi Opening stage. Could it be that a sixth person is about to appear?

"Holy crap, eighth level of enlightenment? Really?"

"Wow, Liu Yi, that's awesome."

"Are you cheating, kid?"

Several classmates who knew Liu Yi immediately surrounded him to congratulate him, expressing their envy.

"I feel incredibly strong right now. Who wants to fight me?" Liu Yi clenched his fist, his blood surging, and spoke with full confidence.

"Come on, let me weigh you." A student who had reached the seventh level of enlightenment immediately got into position.

The two immediately began exchanging blows. After Liu Yi's breakthrough, his strength and speed had clearly improved, and his punches were accompanied by whistling winds. The other student was forced to retreat repeatedly and barely managed to last for more than ten moves before being knocked back by a single punch.

"Damn it!" The student winced and rubbed his chest in pain.

"This is true power level domination! So satisfying!"

Liu Yi laughed heartily. He and this classmate were originally evenly matched, but after breaking through, he easily defeated him in just over ten moves. This shows that even if they are only separated by a small realm, the actual difference in their combat abilities is like heaven and earth.

Moreover, his physical strength hasn't improved yet. Once he's completely stabilized at the eighth level of the Awakening Realm, his strength will only increase.

"Not bad, you haven't wasted your time learning combat skills," Zhou Ran commented from the side.

"Zhou Ran, how about we have a spar?" Liu Yi's eyes lit up, eager to try. He had gotten a little cocky after his breakthrough and wanted to test his skills against Zhou Ran.

After all, Zhou Ran is currently at the seventh level of the Enlightenment Realm.

"OK."

Zhou Ran smiled slightly and readily agreed: "You attack."

Upon hearing this, the people around quickly made way for him, eagerly preparing to watch the show.

Liu Yi took a deep breath, urging his internal energy to surge like a tide. He stomped his feet on the ground and shot out like an arrow. His right fist, carrying all his strength, created a sharp gust of wind as it slammed towards Zhou Ran's chest.

Snapped.

Zhou Ran easily grasped the other person's fist.

Liu Yi felt as if his fist had struck a soft ball of cotton; the force that was enough to split rocks and shatter monuments vanished completely the moment they made contact, like a mud ox sinking into the sea.

He tried to pull his fist back, but found that Zhou Ran's five fingers were gripping him like iron hooks, and no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't budge it. If he tried to break free, his flesh would be torn to shreds.

What kind of monster is this? This was the only thought in Liu Yi's shocked mind.

His full-force attack couldn't even budge the slightest bit?

"Shall we continue?" Zhou Ran asked.

Liu Yi remained silent for a moment, then shook his head. As the saying goes, a master's skill is evident from their first move. After this punch, he clearly understood the gap in strength between himself and Zhou Ran. Even if he improved his physical strength, he would still be no match for Zhou Ran.

"Are you really at the seventh level of the Awakening Realm?" Liu Yi couldn't help but ask, suspecting that Zhou Ran had secretly broken through.

"Genuine or genuine."

"Awesome." Liu Yi was speechless. No wonder he was a tutor; he really had some skills.

"Alright, everyone, continue your cultivation."

Zhou Ran clapped his hands, signaling everyone to return to their places.

After this brief incident, the students clearly held him in even greater awe.

This is exactly the effect Zhou Ran wanted: to gradually build prestige. Otherwise, once these rich people's cultivation levels improved, they would probably become arrogant and stop taking him seriously.

Two hours later.

After the tutoring session ended, the students left one by one, leaving Zhou Ran alone in the practice room.

After warming up briefly, he silently began practicing the expert-level martial art, "Nine Refinements of True Form".

It's time to activate the eighth acupoint.

After this period of cultivation, the barrier of the Danqiao (elixir aperture) in the eighth acupoint is already on the verge of collapse. Although it is a few days later than the previously expected opening time, it doesn't matter.

As his cultivation deepened, Zhou Ran's internal energy and blood were violently stimulated, surging and boiling. Under his mental control, streams of scorching energy and blood rushed towards the central dantian in his chest, constantly impacting the barrier of the acupoint.

Each impact brought a feeling of tightness and pressure, a hot and swollen feeling in the chest, making it difficult to breathe, as if an invisible weight was pressing on the chest.

While enlightenment can be achieved, it also carries certain risks. If something goes wrong, it can lead to damage to the corresponding parts of the body. For example, damage to the eyes can cause decreased vision, blurred vision, or even complete loss of vision. Damage to the ears can cause tinnitus in mild cases or deafness in severe cases.

The Three Dan Apertures represent essence, qi, and spirit. Opening them is the most difficult, and damage to them has the most serious consequences. If something goes wrong, it may even prevent a cultivator from breaking through to the Qi Refining stage.

Therefore, every cultivator is extremely cautious when they open their minds. Most people choose to grind slowly, using their qi and blood to grind it little by little. They would rather be slower than risk being completely safe. Very few people dare to directly mobilize torrents of qi and blood to attack like Zhou Ran.

A few minutes later.

Boom! Accompanied by a deafening roar, the middle dantian was powerfully opened by qi and blood.

The eighth level of enlightenment!

Zhou Ran felt a tremor in his chest, as if a long-sealed door inside his body had suddenly opened. A warm feeling spread from his chest to his whole body, nourishing the surrounding meridians and internal organs, making him feel so comfortable that he almost wanted to hum a soft groan.

"Very good, you're one step closer to the Qi Refining stage."

Next is the ninth acupoint, the Lower Dan Acupoint.

This acupoint is of utmost importance because the lower dantian is the location of the so-called dantian. Only by opening this acupoint can the dantian be opened, the qi sea be condensed, and the circulation of spiritual energy be opened, thereby drawing in the spiritual energy of heaven and earth into the body.

After a short rest, Zhou Ran continued practicing the exercises, mobilizing his qi and blood to impact the ninth acupoint.

After some attempts, he discovered that opening the ninth acupoint was extremely difficult, far exceeding the upper and middle dantian acupoints. Even for him, under the most favorable circumstances, it would take nearly a month to open it.

However, after opening the ninth acupoint, the next thing to do is simple—cultivate the Qi-guiding technique to draw in the spiritual energy of heaven and earth into the body and condense the Qi Sea in the dantian.

Once you've condensed your Qi Sea, you've officially entered the Qi Refining stage.

This process is even simpler than opening the three dantians; students with average talent can complete it in about twenty days.

Zhou Ran felt that with his talent, he could do it in a few days or even a few hours.

"So, does that mean I'll be able to reach the Qi Refining stage next month?"

"Even if we look at the entire Sky Ring Federation, or even the Immortal Martial Empire, this speed is among the fastest, right?"

The Qi Refining stage is a completely different level. Combat is no longer a head-on clash of fists and feet. You can learn all kinds of spells and even briefly fly through the air.

Only when you reach this level can you be considered to have truly stepped into the threshold of cultivating immortality.

Thinking of this, Zhou Ran's heart beat faster, and he longed for the future even more. He continued to bury himself in his cultivation, striving to reach the Qi Refining stage as soon as possible.

……

In the blink of an eye, more than ten days have passed, and the final exams are finally here.

A somber atmosphere permeated all the high schools in Qinghe City.

Apart from the true academic superstars, everyone was on edge, putting themselves in peak condition and daring not to slack off in the slightest, because failing the exam really meant expulsion!

But for Zhou Ran, the final exam was a piece of cake.

After the morning's liberal arts exams, students rushed into the cafeteria like zombies unleashed, frantically eating as everyone tried to replenish their energy as quickly as possible to prepare for the afternoon's practical assessment.

The practical assessment for the final exam does not allow for designated challenges; all students must compete against the invigilator to ensure more accurate scoring.

In the afternoon, after the cultivation level test was completed, the practical training began.

The proctor Zhou Ran was assigned was none other than Zhao Tieshan, their class's martial arts teacher.

At this moment, as Zhou Ran stepped into the arena, Zhao Tieshan's gaze was quite complex.

Just a few months ago, Zhou Ran was only at the fourth level of the Awakening Realm and was the worst student in the class. Unexpectedly, a few months later, he transformed and reached the eighth level of the Awakening Realm.

These earth-shaking changes are truly astonishing.

In all his years of teaching, Zhao Tieshan had never seen a student turn things around so quickly.

"bring it on."

Zhao Tieshan snapped out of his thoughts and gestured to Zhou Ran that they could begin.

Zhou Ran nodded, his figure blurred, and he disappeared from the spot, throwing a punch at Zhao Tieshan.

Zhao Tieshan suppressed his strength to the ninth level of the Qi Opening Realm and met the punch head-on.

boom!

The two fists collided, producing a dull thud, and the resulting gust of wind made the hair of the surrounding students fly.

Zhao Tieshan's expression changed slightly, because the enormous force from the fist told him that the power of this punch had reached the ninth level of the Qi Opening stage!

However, Zhou Ran's cultivation level was clearly only at the eighth level of the Aperture Opening stage.

"Have you practiced body-refining techniques?"

Zhao Tieshan secretly made a guess.

As the battle progressed, he quickly confirmed his guess.

Zhou Ran's physical strength had already reached the level of the ninth level of the Qi Opening stage. In some bursts of power, his strength was even close to that of the Qi Refining stage. This was a typical characteristic of the body cultivation path.

What surprised Zhao Tieshan even more was that this kid's combat skills were also extremely diverse.

His punches were delivered at tricky angles, his evasive footwork was agile, and there were almost no flaws in his transitions between offense and defense. He even possessed profound internal strength, which was completely unlike what a first-year high school student should have. People would believe he was a battle-hardened soldier or a mercenary.

After several dozen rounds, Zhao Tieshan even had to admit that relying solely on his raw strength of being at the ninth level of the Qi Opening Realm was not enough to suppress Zhou Ran; he would have to use some combat techniques.

Two minutes later.

"Alright, the assessment is over. Next person."

Zhao Tieshan called a halt to the fight, gave Zhou Ran a deep look, and then called for the next student to take the stage.

……

The final exam results were released the following day.

Zhou Ran saw his class ranking but felt no emotion.

As expected, first in the grade!