Li Yang's pupils contracted slightly, a look of utter disbelief in his eyes.
There wasn't a single wound on his right foot.
'How is this possible? I clearly stepped on something like a nail. How can there be no wound on my foot now?'
Not only was there no wound, but he also felt no pain.
'According to Li Xue, I was unconscious for over a day. Did the wound heal in just one day?'
A person's wounds couldn't possibly heal that fast.
'What in the world is going on?'
Li Yang's eyes were full of confusion. He had stepped on something yesterday, felt a sharp pain, and then passed out. But now, there was no wound at all. Was what he experienced yesterday just an illusion?
As he was thinking, something seemed to sense his thoughts. A faint ripple suddenly flashed through his mind, and Li Yang found he could clearly perceive the scene within his own head.
Right there, inside his brain—though Li Yang couldn't pinpoint the exact location—was what seemed to be a magical space. Within it was a nail-like object. The nail appeared to have materialized out of thin air, and it now pulsed faintly under his perception.
As it pulsed, it faintly emitted a colorful light.
'What is this?'
Seeing the nail, Li Yang's eyes widened in shock.
'There's actually something in my head?'
He thought about how he had stepped on something yesterday, yet his foot was uninjured. Now, this nail-like object had appeared in his mind instead...
Putting it all together, an incredible thought surfaced in Li Yang's mind.
'Could the nail in my head be the very same one I stepped on yesterday?'
The things that had happened to him in such a short time were just too bizarre.
'It's not a nail. It looks like a sword.'
Looking closer, Li Yang made out the "nail's" true form.
The entire blade seemed to be shrouded in a hazy substance, and the light it gave off made it resemble a nail.
'Hm? I think I can take it out?'
Suddenly, a strange thought occurred to Li Yang.
The small sword seemed to be under his control.
He opened his right hand and, with a thought, the small sword materialized directly in his palm.
BOOM!!!
The moment it appeared, Li Yang felt an immense pressure bear down on him, as if a great mountain had materialized in his palm, threatening to crush him.
The surrounding space seemed unable to bear the weight, and faint cracks began to appear as it threatened to shatter.
But in the next instant, the pressure vanished. The small sword in his hand disintegrated, reappearing in his mind.
"What... what in the world is this?"
In that brief moment, Li Yang found himself drenched in a cold sweat. He had felt as if he were facing the entire heavens.
A small sword, less than a centimeter long, weighed as much as a great mountain.
After mulling it over for a while, Li Yang finally came to accept this fantastical turn of events.
Then, he sighed.
He didn't understand the small sword, but he was certain of one thing: it had ruined his college entrance exam.
'Sigh. If only you'd shown up two days later,' Li Yang sighed to himself. 'I failed my exam. Mom and Dad must be so disappointed.'
BUZZ...
As if sensing his dejection, the small sword pulsed slightly. Then, a stream of information suddenly appeared in Li Yang's mind.
The information looked like ancient seal script, which Li Yang didn't recognize at all. Yet, as he looked at it, he could effortlessly understand the meaning of the characters.
'Body Refining Chapter? Physical tempering?'
Li Yang absorbed the information in shock. A legendary Cultivation Technique had just appeared directly in his mind!
Looking at this Cultivation Technique, Li Yang felt he could actually follow it to cultivate!
'The ancients lived for over a hundred years, yet their movements did not falter. The Qi refiners of the pre-Qin era... could a civilization of cultivation have truly existed?'
For someone as ordinary and unremarkable as Li Yang had always been, the events of this day had completely shattered his perception of reality.
A small sword and a Cultivation Technique materializing in his mind—this was the kind of thing that only happened in fantasy.
But then again, the world was full of unsolved mysteries.
Even in the modern day.
Like that incident decades ago in the Feixu Great Desert, when a massive mushroom cloud suddenly soared into the sky.
Everyone knew what caused a mushroom cloud, but this particular one became one of modern society's greatest unsolved mysteries. Countless people speculated about what really happened. Was it man-made, or was there some other cause?
No official media outlet in the world would speak of it, and the news that was released claimed it was just a pyrotechnic display.
Only a tiny fraction of people probably knew the real truth.
As these thoughts raced through his mind, Li Yang took a deep breath and exhaled slowly, calming his heart.
He carefully examined the Cultivation Technique in his mind.
Just as its name suggested, the Body Refining Chapter was a Cultivation Technique for absorbing energy to temper his physical body and make it stronger.
The tempering process was divided into four stages, each one a complete refinement from the outside in.
After understanding the entire Cultivation Technique, Li Yang decided to try cultivating.
He sat on the bed, perfectly still, without assuming any special posture. Yet, he slowly began to circulate the Cultivation Technique.
'According to the explanation of Body Refining, there's a special energy in this world. The process is to absorb this energy into the body.'
Li Yang focused his senses. In less than three seconds of circulating the Cultivation Technique, he felt the world around him seem to change. He could clearly feel a strange energy in the air.
'It's real!'
Li Yang was thrilled. Feeling the energy for himself made him even more excited.
As he drew the strange energy into his body, a pleasant sensation washed over him, like a massage, and his entire frame slowly relaxed.
After cultivating for a minute, Li Yang stopped.
The door opened and Li Xue walked in, followed by a doctor.
The doctor examined Li Yang, asked him how he was feeling, and finally said, "There's nothing seriously wrong. Just get some good rest for the next few days..."
It wasn't uncommon for students to show symptoms before the college entrance exam. Doctors saw plenty of cases where students fainted from the immense pressure.
Li Yang's previous checkup had revealed no physical problems, so the only explanation was excessive pressure, pre-exam anxiety, lack of sleep, and so on, which had led to his collapse.
"Thank you, Doctor." Hearing the doctor's words, Li Xue finally felt relieved and quickly expressed her thanks.
Watching the doctor leave, Li Yang said with a smile, "Sis, I'm fine. Let's go handle the discharge paperwork now."