"That won't do!"
Han Yuan shook his head. "Pick something else."
He Qiang chimed in too. "Brother, you'd better choose something else."
Chen Qing looked at the two of them.
"Look at this 'Danger Level.'" Han Yuan's expression was grave. "As long as those two words are there, even a single star means it's extremely dangerous!"
"Generally, items rated at two stars wouldn't even show up here. Those are all managed by a very mysterious body at headquarters—the Tianji Pavilion."
"Anything marked with a 'Danger Level,' whether relic or method, is extremely dangerous."
"The reason it's still here is that there hasn't been time to hand it in yet."
He Qiang argued too:
"Brother, look at the notes. It means once you seal a ghost into this black prison, there are only three outcomes: you die, it dies, or the pact succeeds."
"The success rate of pacting a ghost is very low—maybe under 10 percent. This is all but forcing yourself to the brink of death. As long as you don't die, you can always pact the next one. Why bother?"
Chen Qing knew all this, of course.
Which was precisely why he'd chosen this method.
"This one it is."
Han Yuan looked at Chen Qing, brow deeply furrowed, then gritted his teeth. "Swap it—pick an SSS-grade one, on me!"
But Chen Qing was resolute. "Thank you, Captain, but as you said yourself, anyone who reaches Grade A has their own fortune and fate—and my fortune happens to require this."
Han Yuan sighed.
Then he opened the box with a very odd-looking key.
A thin old book.
It was covered with acupoint markers, annotated alongside with how to guide spiritual qi through the points.
Having chosen this, he also selected a "ghost energy-level detector"—a thing like a wristwatch, with a clock function too, integrating common features like a compass, and most importantly: it could detect a ghost's energy level.
Wandering Soul, Malevolent Ghost, Evil Spirit.
For instance, a first-tier Wandering Soul, a ninth-tier Wandering Soul, a third-tier Malevolent Ghost, and so on.
There was still one slot left, but Chen Qing couldn't think what to take.
"If nothing catches your eye, you can choose next time."
"Sure!"
Next he collected the standard-issue Kunwu Saber—shaped like a Tang blade, blood-colored patterns on its surface, heavy and substantial in the hand.
Then the squad uniform, credentials, and the rest.
"The room assigned to you is number 5-27. No key—facial recognition."
"Both the Ghost-Slaying Squad and the Ghost-Control Army do concentrated special training; you're no exception. But as long as you complete the day's training quota, you're free to go home."
"Report in tomorrow; formal training starts the day after. You've come two days early, so you can head back for now."
"Boss, is there a teacher for cultivation? I want to start learning right now."
"We've brought in an expert from the Martial School to be your theory instructor. Should be arriving in the next day or two."
"He got here this morning," He Qiang put in.
"Oh, then go find him yourself."
Chen Qing quickly located the teacher's dormitory.
The teacher's surname was Wu—Wu Kong.
He'd apparently just finished settling in and was writing a slideshow on a laptop, titled "The Root of Soul-Stir Is Mind-Motion and Spirit-Motion."
Chen Qing stated his purpose, and Wu Kong was a little surprised.
Still, he nodded approvingly. "I do love an eager learner! What's your talent grade?"
"Grade A."
"Whoa! Rare!"
Wu Kong was all the more surprised. His dorm was cramped, but he welcomed Chen Qing in.
He set a cup of water on a stool and cupped his hands around it, an inch or so away on either side.
"Just imagine there's a current running between your two palms, and try to drive it, like this."
As he spoke, the water in the cup trembled faintly—without any contact at all.
"This is the Soul-Stir realm. Put plainly, Soul-Stir is mind-motion, spirit-motion, will-motion."
"It's like how some people are born able to flare their nostrils or wiggle their ears, while others can never manage it no matter what."
"The Soul-Stir realm is just like that—you can or you can't. It's the simplest, most basic realm, but without talent, a hundred years of effort is wasted."
"Generally, it takes about a d—"
Wu Kong's eyes suddenly went wide.
Because the water in the cup between Chen Qing's two hands—it moved!
"...a day to a month."
"Is your talent really only A?"
"Yeah! The captain confirmed it himself."
Wu Kong was puzzled, but he nodded. "Congratulations. You've reached the Soul-Stir realm."
"Really?"
Chen Qing was pleased.
Still, Wu Kong had said it was the simplest, most basic realm, so reaching it wasn't too surprising.
Wu Kong took out a large card—a folded rigid card that, opened, formed a full acupoint chart the size of a broadsheet.
"Here, take off your shirt."
Chen Qing did so at once.
Wu Kong produced a thing like a pistol, a thumb-sized jade at the muzzle, a ghost bead set into the grip.
"Grade-A talent means you already have a fair amount of spiritual qi in your body."
Wu Kong pressed the muzzle just below Chen Qing's throat. "This is the Tiantu acupoint. I'll mark it for you with the guidance gun; you try to steer your spiritual power here."
As he spoke, the muzzle gave off a thread of coolness, with a slightly numbing tingle.
Chen Qing had never had a feel for "spiritual qi in the body," but with this guidance, he really did sense that "spiritual qi" existed throughout him.
He tried hard, and sure enough he could control it.
Only, it was very difficult.
A bit like the strain of using a mouse for the first time—it moves, but steering it takes tremendous effort.
After a while, Chen Qing slowly found the knack, and with great effort drove the spiritual qi toward the spot the guidance gun marked.
The ghost bead in the gun's grip gradually lit up.
Wu Kong's mouth fell open, and he froze.
Success on the first try?
What kind of freak of nature is this?!
"Teacher, is this right?"
Chen Qing wanted to steer more spiritual qi over, but wave pushed wave, and only a trickle could ever settle at the Tiantu point.
"It's fine."
Wu Kong said dazedly.
He pointed to a red line on the acupoint chart. "This ring of acupoints is what's called the 'circulation cycle.' Steer your spiritual qi once around it, and that's 'one cycle.'"
"When you've nothing to do, remember to run your spiritual qi through the cycle often. It forms something like a force field that draws more spiritual power into your body."
"You can head back now. Take this."
Chen Qing took a very large, very thin book.
"There are no shortcuts to cultivation. You must practice hard."
"Understood. Thank you, Teacher!"
Chen Qing left, and Wu Kong was still in a daze.
After a moment's thought, he called Han Yuan.
"Captain Han, there may have been a slip in Chen Qing's talent test. There's no way it's only A."
Han Yuan was silent, then bit the bullet. "That's right. I tested him myself."
Then asked, "What's wrong?"
"He's Soul-Stirred! And he's already learned to slowly steer his spiritual qi!"
"Pfft—"
From the other end came the sound of water being spat out.