Liu Zhenfeng was finding it increasingly difficult to suppress his laughter at this point.

He was well aware that Lv Zhenglong would much rather be on the battlefield slaying his enemies instead of wasting his time at the Academy.

Indeed, it was for this reason that Lv Zhenglong had assigned all Academy affairs to Liu Zhenfeng as soon as he took up his post, choosing to manage only matters related to the wilderness area.

It was clear that Lv Zhenglong couldn't stand being cooped up at the Academy any longer.

"What do you mean, 'dream on'? It is absurd for a Superior Grandmaster like me to be stuck in the Academy all day!" Lv Zhenglong retorted indignantly. "King of Thunder, is this how the Federation treats its heroes?"

The King of Thunder chuckled. "Are you seriously making this argument in front of me?"

Lv Zhenglong was rendered speechless.

"Hahaha! Sorry, I couldn't hold back," Liu Zhenfeng finally broke out laughing.

After receiving death stares from both Lv Zhenglong and the King of Thunder, Liu Zhenfeng quickly stifled his laughter.

With a sigh, the King of Thunder said, "The current war situation isn't too serious, and you are always so impulsive. They are protecting you, preserving valuable top-tier combatants like you for the human race, by keeping you off the battlefield."

"I don't accept that," Lv Zhenglong responded defiantly.

"Acceptance doesn't matter," the King of Thunder said frankly. "You have been penalized with the withdrawal of three years' worth of cultivation resources. If you still cause trouble within these three years, you will have to stay in the Military Academy for the rest of your life."

A Superior Grandmaster's three years of cultivation resources was a substantial amount, making this punishment severe.

Even so, for Lv Zhenglong, who had ample military merit that could allow him to live comfortably for a lifetime, this punishment was nothing more than an itch.

"All talk, no action," Liu Zhenfeng chuckled. "Old Lu must be really disappointed."

"Let's leave it at that; we're done with official matters. Now on to something else," the King of Thunder changed the topic.

"What else is there?" Liu Zhenfeng asked curiously.

"I met up with Little Xing a short while ago. He told me all about the prized genius in Chu State—an elite who could even take the top ranks in the four major Martial Arts Academies."

The 'Little Xing' the King of Thunder referred to was surely King Xing.

Only a powerful senior like the King of Thunder could address others of the same level in such an informal manner.

"Speaking of Wang Zhan, that kid is indeed exceptional... Wait! You are not trying to poach our students, are you?" Liu Zhenfeng's eyes flashed menacingly. "The four major Martial Arts Academies have bagged all the top talents in the Federation. Aren't you going to spare even this one who slipped through the net?"

"Look at how you're phrasing it. The resources of the four major Martial Arts Academies far exceed what Chu State can offer. This kind of talent deserves a better future." The King of Thunder stated candidly, "I fear you guys may let good seedlings go to waste. There's no denying it; the gap between the Military Academy and the four major Martial Arts Academies is glaringly obvious."

Lv Zhenglong had by now overcome his disappointment and retorted unhappily, "We had Wang Qi from our Academy who made it into the top ten in the Federal Martial Arts Tournament last year."

The King of Thunder paused, shaking his head. "I am aware of that Wang Qi girl. I was at the tournament last year! Considering her displayed potential, if she had been trained at any of the four major Martial Arts Academies, she could have easily taken first place."

Seeing Liu Zhenfeng and Lv Zhenglong eager to argue their case, the King of Thunder waved his hand and said, "Enough. Let me have a chat with Wang Zhan. We've been discussing this for so long, but in the end, it's his opinion that matters."

The King of Thunder stood and walked towards the exit.

Despite their objections, Liu Zhenfeng and Lv Zhenglong had no choice but to follow him out.

「In Training Ground No. 3.」

Wang Zhan was sitting cross-legged on the ground, his eyes tightly shut.

"Connect with the Spiritual Energy around you, envision yourself as part of the Spiritual Energy, forget your physical body," Duan Kun instructed in a soothing tone. "Perceive the existence of the Spiritual Energy, abandon your physical body and Dantian Meridians, and do not activate even the slightest bit of your Internal Breath of Essence."

As Duan Kun spoke, Wang Zhan's breath grew smoother and more even, making him look as though he had fallen asleep.

This kid didn't actually fall asleep, did he? Duan Kun furrowed his brows.

Everybody possesses mental energy; the difference lies only in the ability to perceive it.

After initial perception, it is considered a preliminary awakening, while controlling mental energy is the pathway to cultivating it.

It usually takes a person at least an hour or two to enter this state of mental concentration the first time. Yet it's only been a dozen or so minutes since we started, and he's already in this state?

Duan Kun was at a loss; the state of mental concentration closely resembled sleep.

They shared almost identical outward appearances, with the sole distinction being the state of one's consciousness—sleep plunged consciousness into oblivion, whereas during meditation, consciousness became highly active.

Duan Kun pondered for a moment but could not figure anything out and eventually decided to simply wait.

At that moment, three figures suddenly emerged beside him.

"The two Deans... and the King of Thunder?" Duan Kun gasped in surprise.

"You're Little Duan?" The King of Thunder nodded slightly at Duan Kun, his gaze sweeping over Duan Kun's severed arm, but he said nothing more on the matter.

The King of Thunder, as a War King, had come to the Chu State Military Academy largely because many here had once served under him.

Otherwise, the mere issue of the Federation penalty was hardly reason enough for a War King to personally make the trip.

"Is Wang Zhan starting to cultivate his mental energy now? Isn't it too early?" Liu Zhenfeng suddenly said.

All high-level Martial Artists have gone through this phase, so they naturally understood what Wang Zhan was doing at the moment.

"He's different. He broke through from Martial Student to a Level 6 Martial Artist in just three months, and his physical strength is no less than that of a typical Level 9 Martial Artist," Duan Kun said. "Vice President Liu, this boy cannot be judged by ordinary standards."

Upon hearing this, Liu Zhenfeng nodded slightly.

Lv Zhenglong then said, "Indeed. Other Martial Artists might stagnate during the Martial Artist Stage from becoming aware of mental energy, but not Wang Zhan. He shouldn't have such a bottleneck."

Mental energy is a force that shatters a Martial Artist's conventional understanding. It exists within the human body, but it remains undiscovered before awakening. Even if one subconsciously uses mental energy, the Martial Artist themself rarely realizes it.

Therefore, after starting to cultivate mental energy, many Martial Artists would confuse mental energy with their own Dantian Meridians system.

These two are complementary, but if something goes wrong, then there's probably no chance of a breakthrough in this life.

That's why the Academy only starts to teach this subject after students reach Level 7 Martial Artist and are bound to encounter mental energy. When any student awakens their mental energy, a mentor is arranged to stand guard beside them.

This is to prevent students from making mistakes in their cultivation that could ruin their future.

As they were speaking, Wang Zhan on the other side suddenly showed movement.

At first, it was just a slight rumble inside his body, but even the weakest among them, Duan Kun, was a Martial General, so everyone's attention was immediately drawn to Wang Zhan.

"He's starting to block his own Dantian Meridians," Liu Zhenfeng looked at Duan Kun and asked, "How many times has he entered meditation? How long has he been in it?"

"First time. It's been just fifteen minutes," Duan Kun replied, still somewhat disbelieving.

"His first time entering meditation, and after only fifteen minutes, he was able to abandon the Dantian Meridians he has cultivated for many years?" Lv Zhenglong exclaimed in shock. "Does this boy have such strong talent for mental energy as well?"

Lv Zhenglong looked at Liu Zhenfeng. "Old Liu, how long did it take you to awaken your mental energy back then?"

"Embarrassingly, it took me nine meditation sessions to barely awaken it," Liu Zhenfeng sighed.

Lv Zhenglong nodded. "I took seven times, not much better than you."

Everyone's gaze turned to the King of Thunder.

At this time, the King of Thunder's eyes were shining. His gaze upon Wang Zhan was like that of someone looking at a unique treasure.

"It took me three times, and that's already top-tier talent. Even among the four major Martial Arts Academies, over these many years, only one person awakened their mental energy in their second meditation. As for achieving it in just fifteen minutes... it's unheard of, unseen even," said the King of Thunder.

Meanwhile, the surroundings began to change.

This change was invisible to the naked eye, but they keenly sensed slight fluctuations in the Spiritual Energy around them.

"His mental energy has awakened." Liu Zhenfeng smiled. "It's unbelievable that such a good seedling could fall into our Military Academy."

The King of Thunder glanced sideways at Liu Zhenfeng; he knew exactly who those words were directed at.

"He's about to wake up, right? Duan Kun, what cultivation method is this kid preparing to practice?" the King of Thunder asked casually. "If he doesn't have a good one, I can make the decision to exchange a top-notch Mental Energy Cultivation Method for him!"

"King of Thunder, you're being unreasonable!"

"Anyone could guess the condition is for Wang Zhan to join the Yanjing Martial Arts Academy."

Liu Zhenfeng and Lv Zhenglong immediately protested.

The King of Thunder nodded with a smile. "Of course. The student intake at the Yanjing Martial Arts Academy this year is very ordinary, and the Royal Martial Arts Academy has a strong kid. We can't be outdone."

"Don't even think about targeting Wang Zhan," Liu Zhenfeng said discontentedly.

"Who knows? What if Wang Zhan is willing? A top-notch Mental Energy Cultivation Method... even for me to exchange for it would be a hefty price. That kind of benefit should be enough..."

"Uh, King of Thunder, Wang Zhan already has a cultivation method," Duan Kun interjected. "It's the Five Thunder Deity Refinement Method."

Duan Kun quickly narrated the situation, and everyone then understood why Wang Zhan had suddenly started cultivating his mental energy.

The King of Thunder was also somewhat surprised. "The ancient texts of the Five Thunder Deity Refinement Method? The Chu Family only has one copy of this. Quite interesting."

Ancient texts and handwritten copies do differ.

Although theoretically, they contain the same content, ancient texts possess an aura that handwritten copies do not, and some even have insights from past masters recorded within them.

These are things a handwritten copy cannot compare with.

A few more minutes passed, and the Spiritual Energy around them finally returned to normal.

Wang Zhan opened his eyes but didn't pay any attention to the four people nearby. Instead, he carefully savored the unprecedented new sensation that mental energy brought him.

It seems as if I can 'see' everything around me, even with my eyes shut, and the Spiritual Energy... actually has harmonious fluctuations?

Just then, the King of Thunder, who was nearby, suddenly spoke.

"Don't rush to get up. Continue to meditate!"

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