Early Sunday morning, still shaken by yesterday’s collapse—caused by overexerting her doppelganger in battle—Yan Qi lay awake, painfully aware of how fragile her true body was.
She had barely slept five hours.
By 4 AM, she was already sitting cross-legged on her bed, deep in cultivation.
At 7 o’clock, she went downstairs for breakfast with her parents, where she learned her father’s leave was ending—he’d have to report back to the bureau tomorrow.
After offering him a few words of encouragement alongside her mother, Yan Qi excused herself, claiming she still needed to recuperate, and retreated to her room to resume training.
But just as she settled back onto her bed, ready to meditate—
Her phone rang.
Frowning, she picked it up.
“Class President’s number? Why is she calling me all of a sudden?”
The name on the screen brought to mind Hu Mengqing—the studious, black-framed-glasses-wearing girl who led their class.
Pressing the green answer button, Yan Qi spoke:
“Hey, Class Prez, what’s up?”
“Xiao Qi, I’m calling to let you know—our graduation gathering’s been postponed.”
At the mention of the event, Yan Qi froze.
She’d completely forgotten about it.
If not for this delay, she would’ve stood up her entire class tonight.
But why was it postponed?
“Why’s that?” she asked.
“With all the recent chaos involving superhumans and Abyss monsters, public safety’s gotten worse. After discussing it, the class committee decided to push it back.”
“Oh… That makes sense. But why call me personally? Couldn’t you just mass-text everyone?”
“We did send a group message earlier,” Hu Mengqing explained. “But since you never acknowledged it, I wanted to make sure you got the notice.”
“Wait, you sent one already? When?”
“Last Wednesday.”
“Morning or afternoon?”
“Morning.”
“Morning—no wonder I missed it.”
That was the day Yan Qi had gotten her new phone. Buried under a flood of backlogged notifications, the class message had slipped past her.
“Got it. So, anything else, Class Prez?”
“No, that’s all I needed to say.”
“Are we still on for tutoring this Sunday?”
“I’d love to, but with everything going on outside, my parents won’t let me leave. Let’s wait until things calm down.”
“Alright. We’ll reschedule later, then.”
“Later it is. I’ll hang up now—bye!”
“Bye.”
As the call ended, Yan Qi tossed her phone aside, closed her eyes, and threw herself back into cultivation—determined to awaken her supernatural abilities as soon as possible.
…..
Time flew.
Before she knew it, the sun had dipped below the horizon, draping Windbreak City in darkness.
After dinner, Yan Qi returned to her room—this time, using “I need to write” as her excuse instead of resting.
Now seated on her bed, she focused intently on her training.
As she guided the spiritual vortex inside her, drawing ambient energy into her body to refine it, she suddenly hit a wall.
No more energy could be absorbed.
Not because her technique had failed—but because her body had reached its current limit.
“I can’t believe it… In just a few days, I’ve already completed the ‘Qi Introduction’ phase. The Spiritual Vortex Technique really is on another level compared to ordinary cultivation methods—no surprise, since I wrote it while transformed into the Daoist Empress Yan.”
Pleased with herself, she stopped circulating energy and pulled out the notes she’d compiled during that transformation.
Following the instructions, she began attempting to construct a new vortex in her dantian—one composed entirely of her own spiritual energy, under her absolute control.
Six failures later, on the seventh try—
Success.
The moment her personal vortex stabilized, Yan Qi felt a wave of heat surge through her body, as if impurities were being purged. An unprecedented clarity washed over her.
Immediately, she noticed the changes:
Her energy absorption rate had skyrocketed—tenfold, at least.
Her physical capabilities had also leaped forward.
But none of that compared to the true prize—
At the core of her newly formed vortex, a wisp of true spiritual power had coalesced.
“I’ve finally done it… I’m not just an ordinary human anymore! YES! “
Her heart swelled with triumph.