At this very moment, Lucian, completely immersed in his Cultivation, was unaware that all the Heaven and Earth Energy absorbed by his one hundred Shadow Soldiers was surging into his body.
The Energy was drawn into his Sea of Consciousness, where the Shadow Soldiers refined it before channeling it into Lucian’s body. With every passing second, it nourished his frail physique and gradually strengthened his body.
Feeling the Heaven and Earth Energy continuously flowing into him, Lucian was both delighted and bewildered.
He couldn’t help but look at the Shadow Soldiers within his Martial Soul Space with a puzzled expression.
It seemed that he didn’t need to deliberately Cultivate or even concentrate.
It was as if the Shadow Soldiers were helping him AFK Cultivate!
As long as he clearly visualized the Cultivation Technique and its cultivation process in his mind, the Shadow Soldiers would automatically carry it out.
With just a thought, they became like an automatic cultivation system, handling everything for him while he didn’t need to do anything himself.
Lucian was genuinely puzzled by this.
Are Martial Souls really this miraculous?
Does every Martial Artist only need their Martial Soul to Cultivate? Or is my Martial Soul simply more special?
Lucian thought about it for a moment before deciding not to dwell on it any further.
Whatever. As long as he could become stronger, that was all that mattered.
Besides, others only had a single Martial Soul, while he had a hundred Shadow Soldiers Cultivating for him. Even if every Martial Soul could automatically Cultivate, he would still be a hundred times faster than everyone else.
While the Shadow Soldiers continued Cultivating on their own, Lucian once again studied the Energy Circulation method of the Eternal Night Demon Codex.
The Energy Circulation method of the Eternal Night Demon Codex required the Heaven and Earth Energy absorbed by the Martial Soul to be drawn into the cultivator’s body, circulated through specific Meridians, and finally gathered within the Spirit Sea.
Fortunately, before the Awakening ceremony, the students had taken specialized courses on the locations of Meridians and acupoints throughout the human body.
Lucian was no stranger to them.
Following the Meridian circulation diagram in the Cultivation Technique, he immediately began circulating the Energy.
Starting from the Sea of Consciousness, the Heaven and Earth Energy flowed downward through various Meridians before finally converging in the Spirit Sea.
This Energy Circulation isn’t difficult at all. Is that it?
Lucian looked at his Cultivation in disbelief, feeling somewhat puzzled.
Is Cultivation really this easy?
The Shadow Soldiers were like an intelligent cultivation machine. After Lucian completed the Energy Circulation method once, the one hundred Shadow Soldiers gradually began following the same process and diligently circulated the Energy within his body.
According to the Cultivation Technique, the Energy Circulation method was divided into four stages:
General Circulation → Small Circulation → Large Circulation → Perfect Heavenly Cycle.
For General Circulation, a Martial Artist had to circulate Heaven and Earth Energy ten times to condense a Spirit Seed within the Soul Sea and officially become a Martial Artist.
Small Circulation required 36 cycles.
Large Circulation required 72 cycles.
And Complete Heavenly Cycle required 108 cycles.
The greater the number of Circulation cycles, the higher the quality of the Spirit Seed formed within the Soul Sea, and the stronger the Martial Artist would ultimately become.
From Sensing Energy to Absorbing Energy, and then to Energy Circulation, Lucian hadn’t encountered the slightest difficulty.
Naturally, he believed that more Circulation cycles were better.
Therefore, for the time being, Lucian had no intention of condensing his Spirit Seed. Instead, he allowed the Shadow Soldiers to continue performing more and more Circulation cycles.
However, after seeing the astonishing cultivation speed of the Shadow Soldiers, another thought suddenly occurred to him.
Since the Shadow Soldiers within his Martial Soul Space could Cultivate on his behalf, could all one hundred Shadow Soldiers Cultivate one hundred different Cultivation Techniques simultaneously?
Could he really try Cultivating multiple Cultivation Techniques at once?
The thought made Lucian’s heart race.
Unfortunately, he currently had neither Military Merit Points nor money, so he couldn’t exchange for any other Cultivation Techniques.
Where could he get the money?
Lucian thought for a moment.
Hmm... It seems I’ll have to seek help from my wealthy friend, Evelyn!
However, since everyone else was Cultivating, Lucian didn’t want to disturb them. Instead, he opened his Martial Artist Personal Terminal and checked the Martial Skills section.
He wanted to find two suitable Martial Skills to learn.
There were even more Martial Skills available than Cultivation Techniques.
There were skills for all kinds of weapons—sabers, spears, staves, clubs, and more—as well as unarmed techniques involving fists, kicks, palms, fingers, and various other forms of combat.
The sheer variety of Martial Skills, along with their different Ranks, left Lucian dazzled.
In the end, he chose one fist technique and one saber technique.
The fist technique was called True Martial Fist, while the saber technique was called Blood Battle Saber Technique.
Both were Martial Artist-Rank Martial Skills.
One was designed for close-quarters combat, while the other focused on weapon-based fighting.
Lucian downloaded both Martial Skills and began studying them carefully.
Perhaps because of the support provided by his Divine-Rank Talent, Lucian’s comprehension speed was astonishing.
While the Shadow Soldiers continued their idle Cultivation, Lucian began practicing the True Martial Fist inside his Cultivation room.
It was a pity that he didn’t have a saber. Otherwise, he would have tried practicing the Blood Battle Saber Technique as well.
According to the cultivation levels of Martial Skills, they were divided into Entry, Proficient, Mastery, Minor Achievement, Major Achievement, and Perfection.
Judging by his current progress, Lucian should have already reached the Entry level.
Thinking of this, Lucian once again looked at the Shadow Soldiers within his Martial Soul Space.
A thought suddenly occurred to him.
Since these Shadow Soldiers can Cultivate Cultivation Techniques, can they also practice Martial Skills?
Sure enough, as soon as Lucian focused his thoughts, ten of the one hundred Shadow Soldiers began practicing the True Martial Fist, while another ten began practicing the Blood Battle Saber Technique.
To his surprise, they even manifested saber-shaped weapons within the Martial Soul Space.
My god... My Talent is way too powerful!
Lucian felt as though he were using a cheat.
Moreover, according to the Talent description, the number of Shadow Soldiers would gradually increase as his Rank increased. In the later stages, their numbers would become virtually limitless.
That meant Lucian’s cultivation speed and growth potential in the later stages were simply beyond reason.
Thinking about this, Lucian couldn’t help but grin foolishly.
"I’ve been in this world for eighteen years, and I’ve finally made it."
Another four hours passed.
Within Lucian’s Martial Soul cultivation, the number of Energy Circulation cycles had already reached 36, completing a Small Circulation.
However, Lucian still didn’t feel the slightest bottleneck.
With the support of the Shadow Soldiers, his Martial Skills had also progressed from Entry to Proficient.
Unfortunately, Lucian couldn’t continue Cultivating.
The allotted cultivation time had ended, and it was already past nine o’clock in the evening. Everyone had to return and rest.
"Cultivation time always passes so quickly. There’s no need for everyone to become overly obsessed with it. For the next month, this Cultivation Room belongs to all of you."
"Arrange your own rest and Cultivation schedules. The Cultivation Room is open from 6:00 AM to 10:00 PM every day because the Spirit Gathering Array requires Spirit Stones to operate."
The Dean of Students reminded everyone of this.
"One more thing. As newly Awakened individuals, each of you will receive a government subsidy.
"According to your Rank, those below B-Rank will receive a basic subsidy of 10,000 Federal Currency."
"Those above B-Rank will receive a basic subsidy of 100,000 Federal Currency.
"The school has already submitted the applications to the city. Within three days, the money will be deposited directly into your Martial Artist Personal Terminals."
As someone who had always been short on money, Lucian’s eyes immediately lit up when he heard this.
Evelyn had received one million Federal Currency from the Mayor because of her S-Rank Talent, which had made Lucian incredibly envious.
Now, he finally had a subsidy of his own.
The newly Awakened students had been immersed in Cultivation for several hours. After finally stopping, they all felt their stomachs protesting.
Those who had just Cultivated became hungry especially quickly because they had to concentrate fully on using their Martial Souls to absorb and circulate Energy.
One after another, they left the Cultivation Room and headed toward the cafeteria.
However, Lucian still needed to ask his wealthy friend Evelyn for sponsorship to obtain additional Cultivation Techniques.
With that in mind, he immediately walked toward her.
Just as Lucian was about to speak, Evelyn suddenly took out three items.
Lucian looked closely and immediately recognized them.
They were the very same S-Rank rewards that Principal Warren had given Evelyn earlier.
"Lucian, these three items are all for you. I don’t need them. My family has already given me better ones."
"You don’t need to worry about anything else. If you really want to repay me, then just work hard, Cultivate diligently, and become a powerful Martial Artist."
Evelyn handed the three treasures to Lucian, speaking with a firm and generous tone.
Lucian’s eyes widened as he stared at Evelyn.
A rich girl... She’s definitely a rich girl.
"Evie, I’m not that kind of person. If I accept these, people will think I’m living off a woman."
Lucian’s mouth strongly protested, but his hands were far more honest.
He immediately reached out and accepted the three treasures from Evelyn.
Perhaps it was because he had Awakened a Divine-Rank Talent that Lucian had become much more confident.
In the past, Evelyn had given him things several times, but he had always refused them.
Back then, it might have been because of his inferiority complex. Or perhaps Lucian simply felt that there was no hope between them, so he had never dared to harbor any unrealistic expectations.
But now, everything had changed.
After Awakened a Divine-Rank Talent, Lucian finally had confidence in himself.
He believed that with his Divine-Rank Talent, he would one day become powerful enough to repay everything Evelyn had done for him tenfold, or even a hundredfold.
Evelyn could clearly sense the change in Lucian as well. She didn’t mind his shamelessly accepting her gifts. Instead, she smiled happily.