Translator: CinderTL
Time flowed relentlessly.
The cosmic tempering had now lasted twenty-four hours.
Cao Feng suddenly stood up and announced in a deep voice, "All students from Ancheng Third High School who have completed their tempering, return to school for classes!"
Immediately afterward, Cang Haisong and the teachers from Ancheng No. 2 High School rose to their feet, instructing their students to return to school as well.
As their voices faded, the students who had been sitting cross-legged around the Purification Pool, cultivating, opened their eyes in unison.
Zeng Xueqing stood up and glanced at Jiang Ye, who was still immersed in the Purification Pool.
"This person is terrifying," she murmured, sighing helplessly.
By now, she had completely abandoned any competitive spirit.
If Jiang Ye had only lasted ten hours, she would have felt envy and jealousy.
But twenty-four hours? That changed everything.
Meanwhile, the E-Rank Girl, Zhao Qingli, watched Jiang Ye with curiosity.
"What makes him endure so stubbornly?" Zhao Qingli couldn't believe Jiang Ye wasn't feeling the pain.
The agony of cosmic tempering penetrated to the very marrow of one's bones.
It was a mysterious energy from beyond the stars, capable of transforming mortals into transcendent beings. What could be more miraculous?
Even with current technological advancements, no pain medication could alleviate that kind of suffering.
Zhao Qingli herself could only endure it for a dozen hours at most.
"Could he really last another day? That's astonishing," Zhao Qingli mused, then suddenly smiled. "Why am I even thinking about this? It has nothing to do with me."
She dismissed the thought.
No matter how exceptional Jiang Ye's performance, what did it matter? He was just a poor kid.
The cosmic tempering wasn't an evaluation trial with rankings. Jiang Ye's prolonged stay only indicated his remarkable endurance.
But he was still just a poor kid.
For the poor, enduring hardship only meant endless hardship.
Zhao Qingli had always looked down on people like Jiang Ye and avoided interacting with them.
As for herself, her sights remained firmly set on Lin Yushu of Ancheng No. 1 High School.
Regaining her cold, aloof demeanor, the long-legged girl strode away.
Elsewhere, Lin Yushu also glanced at Jiang Ye.
"Interesting. Ancheng Third High School has produced another intriguing character."
"Too bad he has a Primitive innate talent."
Lin Yushu shook his head. Over the past few hours, he had learned Jiang Ye's identity from Lin Xuan.
With his current grades, Jiang Ye wouldn't even qualify for the twenty-five school alliance, let alone compete with Lin Yushu, a seed student from one of the ten great schools.
Lin Yushu had initially considered getting to know him, but after learning this, he immediately abandoned the idea.
Soon, all the students had left the scene.
Zhang Jianwu, Cang Haisong, and the others remained.
"This kid... he's not really planning to stay here for two or three days, is he?"
They exchanged uneasy glances.
Such a thing, while not unprecedented, was exceedingly rare.
Zhang Jianwu glanced at the Silver-Black Armored Man standing nearby.
The stellar energy for this cosmic tempering had all come from him.
The armored man said calmly, "It's of no consequence. I care little for this amount of stellar energy. Even if he stays for ten days or half a month, it won't matter."
"Ten days or half a month?" Zhang Jianwu and the others wore strange expressions. That was impossible.
If someone could truly remain that long, it would be utterly astonishing, shaking all the schools to their core.
Within the Purification Pool, Jiang Ye sat cross-legged.
Completely immersed in refining the stellar energy, he had lost all sense of time.
He only knew that his body was undergoing a constant transformation under the refinement of stellar energy.
Within his Guanyuan Acupoint, strands of faint silver stellar radiance floated.
These were all refined stellar energy, now completely his own.
By now, he had over a hundred strands.
If Zhang Jianwu and the others knew of this, they would be utterly astonished.
Refining was vastly different from mere absorption and required a tremendous amount of time.
Based on the refining efficiency of his Primitive innate talent, even ten or fifteen days might not be enough to refine a hundred strands.
Yet Jiang Ye had accomplished this in just a few hours.
However, all of this was happening within Jiang Ye's body.
Without the divine vision of the Fiery Eyes of Truth, Zhang Jianwu and the others had no way of knowing.
Time flew by swiftly.
Two days.
Three days.
In the blink of an eye, seven days had passed since the cosmic tempering began.
Only Zhang Jianwu and the Silver-Black Armored Man remained at the site.
Cao Feng and Cang Haisong, being teachers, had to return to their classes the following day.
Whoosh!
On this very day, Jiang Ye, still seated in the Purification Pool, suddenly opened his eyes.
A faint, almost imperceptible silver light flashed in his pupils.
"Finally..." Jiang Ye clenched his fist. "Refining is complete!"
Within his Guanyuan Acupoint, nearly ten thousand strands of faint silver stellar radiance floated, completely filling the space.
Every strand had been fully refined.
As long as he didn't actively release them, this stellar energy would remain permanently within his body, never dissipating.
Jiang Ye felt an overwhelming sense of fullness, as if he had been thoroughly stuffed.
"This cosmic tempering has concluded perfectly," he thought to himself. "My body can no longer absorb or contain any more stellar energy."
"Unless I break through the Advancement Method to further expand the space within my Guanyuan Acupoint, I won't need to undergo cosmic tempering again for quite some time."
His gains this time were truly astonishing, likely double or even triple those of others.
Why?
Even with Nascent Aptitude, refining stellar energy inevitably involves losses as it continuously dissipates. Typically, less than half of the stellar energy refined within the Guanyuan Acupoint is successfully retained.
But Jiang Ye?
Because he remained immersed in the Purification Pool throughout the process, even the dissipated energy was replenished, resulting in zero net loss!
Nearly ten thousand strands of stellar energy had been completely refined.
A 100% refinement efficiency!
Who could possibly match that?
"Time to head back," Jiang Ye said, standing up and glancing around the empty surroundings with a hint of confusion.
Judging by the looks of things, a day or two must have passed. He had been so absorbed in refining the energy that he hadn't noticed the passage of time.
"Jiang Ye," Zhang Jianwu called out, landing nearby and approaching him.
"Director, you're still here!" Jiang Ye's eyes lit up as he quickly exited the Purification Pool.
Zhang Jianwu looked at him, sighing in admiration. "You really squeezed every last drop out of this cosmic tempering, kid! You've been here for a full seven days!"
"What? Seven days?" Jiang Ye stared in disbelief. He hadn't realized so much time had passed.
The stellar energy tempering had provided a continuous energy supply, so he hadn't felt any hunger.
"Director Zhang, I didn't expect you to wait here so long," Jiang Ye said, snapping out of his daze and feeling embarrassed.
Zhang Jianwu shook his head. "You should thank Star Envoy Liu. He made an exception and extended your time considerably."
"Normally, while cosmic tempering has no time limit, it rarely lasts more than three days."
Hearing this, Jiang Ye turned to the Silver-Black Armored Man standing nearby.
He cupped his hands in a traditional gesture of respect. "Thank you, Star Envoy Liu."
The armored man smiled. "My name is Liu Beimu. You've exceeded all my expectations by enduring for so long."
"Star Envoy Liu, you flatter me. It was just luck," Jiang Ye replied.
"This isn't luck," Liu Beimu countered, shaking his head. "I've seen countless geniuses, but none possess your unwavering willpower."
He chuckled. "Having spent seven days in the Purification Pool, you must have refined nearly a hundred strands of stellar energy, wouldn't you say?"
(End of the Chapter)