Chapter 36: Nail of Favor

Chapter 36: The Nail of Favor

The smoke of the monthly exam left few traces on the campus of Qiming First Martial Arts High School.

For these geniuses who had dedicated their lives to martial arts, the end of an exam merely signified the start of a new round of training.

That evening, the martial arts room of Class Three, Grade One, was brightly lit.

Most students, after the day's fierce battle, chose to return to their dormitories to rest, digest, and summarize.

But in one corner of the arena, three familiar figures were still sweating profusely.

Qin Feng, Shi Potian, Qian Duoduo.

They were like tireless training machines, throwing themselves back into the monotonous yet fiery practice less than two hours after the exam ended.

For them, today was no different from any other day in the past month.

"Whew... whew..."

Qian Duoduo finished a set of extreme-weight squats. He dropped the multi-ton barbell with a clang onto the ground, collapsing like a puddle of mud, his chest heaving violently.

He grabbed his water bottle, took a few gulps, then looked at Qin Feng, who was meticulously practicing the basic moves of the *Thousand Army Spear*.

"I say, Qin Feng."

Qian Duoduo's voice was a bit slurred from panting. "Results come out tomorrow. Aren't you nervous? Don't you wonder how many credits you'll get?"

Qin Feng stopped his spear, steadied his breathing, and walked over to sit beside him.

"Thinking about it won't help. Better to practice a bit more."

"Hey, you've got a great mindset."

Qian Duoduo chuckled. He pulled up his data panel and swiped through it. "But I can't help wanting to calculate. I've heard that the monthly exam credit rewards at our school are quite complicated."

Shi Potian, who had just finished his sword practice, also walked over, clearly interested in the topic.

"The monthly exam credits are mainly divided into three parts."

Qian Duoduo raised three chubby fingers, like a little teacher, and began to explain. "First, there's the 'Ranking Reward.' This is the most straightforward. It depends on your total score's ranking among the entire first-year grade. As long as you're in the top hundred, you get credits. The higher the rank, the richer the reward. I've heard that if you make it into the top ten, the credit reward is no less than having an outstanding performance in combat class."

"Second, there's the 'Progress Reward.' This is for students with weak foundations but enough hard work. The school calculates a 'progress margin' based on your entrance exam ranking and this monthly exam ranking. The greater the progress, the more credits you get. This reward is mainly to encourage us lower-ranked students."

"Third, there's the 'Regression Penalty.'"

Qian Duoduo's expression turned a bit more serious. "If your ranking this time drops too much compared to your entrance ranking, you won't just get no reward—you'll have credits deducted. Our school doesn't keep slackers."

He paused, then continued: "Besides the total score ranking, there are also individual subject rankings. Liberal arts don't count single-subject top ten, only failures. But 'Martial Arts Comprehensive' and 'Combat Simulation' are calculated separately. As long as you rank in the top hundred of the grade in either of these, you also get credits."

"That means, in one monthly exam, we can get up to four credit rewards: total score ranking reward, martial arts single-subject reward, combat single-subject reward, and progress reward."

After speaking, Qian Duoduo looked at Shi Potian with envy.

"For someone like Brother Shi, with high vitality index and solid foundation, the total score ranking and martial arts single-subject rewards are a sure thing. But the combat reward is hard to say, since killing techniques don't depend on physical fitness."

He turned to Qin Feng, his expression shifting to one of encouragement.

"And for you, Qin Feng, it's the opposite. Your total score ranking might not be very high due to your low vitality index. But your combat score is absolutely the undisputed first in the grade! Professor Gu Yue personally gave you an hour of special tutoring—who dares to question that? Just the credit reward from this one item alone will be enough to fill you up!"

"Yeah. Qin Feng's credits this time shouldn't be bad either."

Shi Potian took over the conversation, his voice deep. "The monthly exam credits, plus the combat class credits, should still not be enough. In fact, they might fall far short."

"Yes, not enough."

Qian Duoduo smiled. "But I've found out that if you can reach the first rank in the Imperial Arena, you get a reward of 50 credits. Adding that, it's definitely enough for 100 credits, and you can upgrade to a C-level contract."

"Yeah, the placement matches are ten, right?"

"The Imperial Arena's placement matches focus on overall skill, not win-loss records. So if you're placed as 'unranked,' it means your killing technique hasn't reached the first-rank level. No shortcuts."

"Tough. Our killing techniques are all too weak. Only Qin Feng can get it."

At this, the two looked at Qin Feng.

Indeed, only Qin Feng had hope of being placed in the first rank.

That meant... Qin Feng might even be the first among this batch of new students to be promoted to a C-level contract.

"Ah, that's what a genius is."

Shi Potian patted Qin Feng on the shoulder and smiled. "Someone like me just consumed too many resources. I only have a high vitality index, and vitality index requires a lot of resources. So, Qin Feng, you need to get to a C-level contract quickly. That way, your weakness will soon be filled."

"Right! C-level contract!"

Mentioning this, Qian Duoduo immediately perked up again. "Upgrading to C-level gives you more resources, and your vitality index will improve faster."

"Alright."

Qin Feng nodded slightly.

He had now learned the *Thousand Army Breaker*, and the *Thousand Army Spear* had reached minor mastery. It was time to go for the placement matches.

The good news was that the match he had after obtaining the subspace network pass was just a casual match, so it wouldn't affect his placement results.

The three chatted for a while longer, then stopped dwelling on tomorrow's results.

For them, the future was already clearly planned. All that remained was to walk this path unwaveringly.

They stood up again and threw themselves into a new round of arduous training.

...

That evening, at nine o'clock.

In Room 402, inside Qin Feng's quarters. He sat cross-legged on his bed, turned off all the lights, and the entire room sank into deep darkness and silence.

He cleared his mind of all thoughts about the monthly exam and credits, slowly closed his eyes, and began his unshakable nightly routine—the *Emperor Meditation Method*.

Skillfully emptying his mind, in that boundless spiritual darkness, he began to visualize the majestic figure of the Emperor, clad in golden armor.

This time, it was different from any previous attempt.

When that familiar, universe-dominating supreme majesty descended, Qin Feng no longer resisted it with his frail will as he usually did.

Perhaps because he had experienced a real bloody battle, his state of mind had undergone a subtle transformation.

He no longer regarded that pressure as an enemy to be resisted.

Instead, he tried to understand it, to accept it, to feel the vast will behind that majesty—the will to protect humanity for ten thousand generations.

At this moment, his spirit seemed to resonate faintly, almost imperceptibly, with the visualized figure of the Emperor.

In that instant.

The spiritual world deep in his consciousness, which had been stagnant for an entire month, seemed to have an invisible barrier shattered with a bang.

A cool, pure energy was born from the void, slowly nourishing his already exhausted spirit.

The panel silently refreshed.

[Visualization achieved enlightenment, will sublimated. *Emperor Meditation Method* proficiency +1]

[*Emperor Meditation Method* proficiency reached 10. Realm upgraded to 'Beginner'!]

[Refining Method: Emperor Meditation Method (Beginner)]

[Proficiency: 0/100]

[Effect:]

[Nail of Favor x1: Your speed in cultivating the meditation method receives a slight boost.]

It worked!

A surge of indescribable joy welled up in Qin Feng’s heart.

Just then, he suddenly felt a faint, mosquito-bite-like sting above his left brow bone.

He instinctively reached up to touch it, but the sensation vanished in an instant, as if it had never been.

What he did not know was that in that very moment, an object—visible only to him, dark gold in color, like a miniature rivet—emerged from the void, silently pierced deep into his brow bone, leaving behind only a faint, circular nail-head mark that almost merged with his skin.

This “Nail of Favor,” the moment it appeared, concealed its form once more and disappeared.

Qin Feng only felt that, after breaking through to the entry level of the Emperor’s Meditation Method, his mind seemed clearer and more focused than before.

But the sensation was subtle, like a long-time nearsighted person suddenly putting on a new pair of glasses—the world became a bit sharper, yet he could not say exactly how much.

The cultivation of mental power is inherently a gradual process, impossible to achieve overnight.

His current mental strength was likely too weak for even the school’s lowest-grade detection instruments to register any valid reading.

Without probing further, Qin Feng ended his meditation.

A wave of dual exhaustion—physical and mental—washed over him. He lay down on the bed, and the moment his head touched the pillow, he fell into a deep, heavy sleep.

...

The next morning, at 4:59.

Qin Feng’s eyes opened precisely on time.

Unlike any previous awakening, today he felt not a trace of fatigue or drowsiness.

On the contrary, his mind was unprecedentedly clear, his thoughts as transparent and lucid as polished crystal.

His limbs and bones were filled with an explosive, inexhaustible strength.

His entire being seemed reborn.

He recalled some records from the Comprehensive History of the Empire.

In the distant, dark ancient times, when humanity still lived on its home planet, plagued by industrial pollution and the information explosion, most people’s bodies were in a state of “sub-health.”

In that state, even after sleeping a full eight hours, people would wake up the next day still feeling exhausted, listless, as if they could never sleep enough.

Later, with the establishment of the Empire, the popularization of gene-optimization technology, and the spread of psychic cultivation, this “sub-health” state disappeared among most Imperial citizens.

But even in the current Imperial era, those living on harsh mining planets or in the sunless depths of hive cities still suffer from similar sub-health symptoms due to chronic malnutrition and mental oppression.

Qin Feng himself, before his root ailment was cured, had deeply experienced that feeling.

Every day he felt drained, powerless, like a severely ill, aging patient.

Now, after entering the Emperor’s Meditation Method, he experienced for the first time what true “refreshed and clear” meant.

The vigor of the body and the fullness of the spirit achieved a perfect harmony and unity.

“This must be the benefit of the meditation method,”

Qin Feng murmured to himself, a smile involuntarily curling at the corners of his mouth.

“After a month of persistence, I’ve finally seen results.”

(End of chapter)