Yang Wenqing returned to his dorm at three in the afternoon.

First, he carefully placed the badge in his wardrobe. Then, he went to the window to compose himself. Dipping his finger in some water, he began to slowly trace the Dharma Seal he had memorized onto the glass pane.

Once, twice, three times... His composure remained steady as he practiced relentlessly, growing more proficient with each attempt. An hour flew by without him realizing, and he only stopped when he could trace the entire Dharma Seal in under ten seconds.

After resting for fifteen minutes and drinking a glass of water, he let his consciousness sink. He focused on the Golden Core in his mind’s eye, and his awareness smoothly entered the Golden Core World.

The energy consumed by twenty practice attempts in the Golden Core World was equivalent to just one attempt in reality. As it stood, the Spiritual Qi in his Qi Sea was only enough for two real-world attempts before he’d need a full night’s rest to recover.

Once his consciousness entered the Golden Core World, Yang Wenqing first observed the Spiritual Veins within his projection. From what he knew about the Police Academy and Liao Feng’s breakthrough to the Qi Cultivation Stage, he was certain that advancing to the Qi Refining Realm required a vast amount of supplementary Spiritual Qi, as well as Spiritual Veins expanded to a certain threshold.

Between pills and a Spirit Gathering Array, Yang Wenqing only had access to pills—specifically, a Dragon Ginseng Pill he’d exchanged for eighty merit points. This clearly wasn’t enough. He would have to draw in and refine sufficient Spiritual Qi in his Qi Sea, and the only way to do that was to strengthen his Spiritual Veins’ Qi Sensing.

"I will get this done within two years!"

He murmured the timeframe to himself. He wasn’t even nineteen yet; in two years, he’d still be under twenty-one. While he might pale in comparison to a prodigy who reached the Qi Refining Realm at eighteen, he would absolutely be considered a genius compared to most.

Given his family’s circumstances in this life, achieving such results was already a blessing. He also had the advanced cultivation civilization of this world to thank; after countless evolutions, its fundamental cultivation methods had become accessible enough for even ordinary people to practice.

Yang Wenqing let out a long breath. His experience of living two lives had granted him immense patience. He quickly reined in his thoughts, focusing his full attention on imprinting the Dharma Seal for the Golden Light Body Protection Spell.

Within the Golden Core World, his projection raised its hands. As its ten fingers moved with fluid grace, the remembered Dharma Seal rapidly began to form in front of it...

On his first attempt, he strove for precision, which inevitably slowed him down. He was nearly halfway through sketching the runes when the flow of Spiritual Qi failed to connect smoothly at a minute turn, causing the Dharma Seal to collapse into motes of golden light.

Yang Wenqing’s expression remained unchanged as he mentally replayed the process.

On his second try, he adjusted the rhythm of his Spiritual Qi output. The initial phase went smoothly, but during the final few strokes, he underestimated the total Spiritual Qi consumption, and the seal disintegrated just a moment before completion.

The third time...

On the eighth attempt, a complete but exceedingly dim wheel of light managed to materialize. However, it shattered before it could hold for even a single breath.

Yang Wenqing wasn’t discouraged. He continued...

On his thirteenth try, he cast aside all distracting thoughts. As his fingertips danced, golden runic lines swiftly began to interweave.

Drawing upon the experience from the previous twelve failures, he now precisely controlled the pressure at every turn, skillfully balancing the Spiritual Qi distribution across the Dharma Seal’s entire structure. The moment the final runic line was perfectly drawn...

HUMMM!

A low hum reverberated within the Golden Core World.

A brilliant, pale golden wheel of light abruptly took shape, hovering steadily before the projection. Its surface shimmered with an iridescent glow, radiating a stable and reassuring aura. It lasted for a full three breaths before slowly dissipating.

Success!

A wave of irrepressible joy began to well up from deep within him, but Yang Wenqing forced it down. He knew that success in the Golden Core World didn’t guarantee he could cast the spell on his first try in the real world. He needed to remain calm.

Without pushing his luck, he immediately exited the Golden Core World.

His consciousness returned to his body. Outside the window, the sky was approaching dusk. After taking a deep breath, he assessed his Qi Sea. A little over half of his Spiritual Qi remained—enough to support one real-world attempt.

He didn’t hesitate. Recalling the feeling of his recent success, he raised his right hand and drove the Spiritual Qi from his body, quickly and steadily tracing the lines of the Golden Light Body Protection Spell’s Dharma Seal.

Spiritual Light once again bloomed from his fingertips, tracing a complex trajectory in the air. His movements possessed a newfound fluidity and confidence.

A few breaths later, as the final rune was drawn...

HUMMM!

The same low hum echoed through the quiet dorm room.

Then, a solid and stable, pale-golden barrier about half a meter in diameter appeared before Yang Wenqing. Golden light flowed across the barrier’s surface. While not as brilliant as the one in the Golden Core World, it radiated a tangible, protective force.

It worked!

The golden barrier lasted for about five or six seconds before dissipating due to a lack of sustaining Spiritual Qi.

Yang Wenqing let out a long sigh, a smile of relief and gratification finally spreading across his face. As he felt the nearly depleted Spiritual Qi within him, his heart swelled with a sense of accomplishment.

He sat on the edge of his bed, savoring the moment of joy. Gazing at the last vestiges of sunset outside the window, his heart filled with anticipation and confidence for the cultivation path that lay ahead.

He had a four-hour shift the next day, a weekend, standing guard at the rear passage from four to eight in the morning. So, after resting for a bit, he made himself something to eat. Once he finished his meal and completed three sets of his fist forms in the courtyard, he returned to his dorm to get some early rest.

The weekend was rather quiet. After his shift, Yang Wenqing returned to his dorm and wasted no time meditating and cultivating. In the blink of an eye, Monday arrived.

Monday morning, after the roll call.

Instead of immediately setting out on patrol, the members of the Second Patrol Squad followed their captain, Xiao Liang, to a sand-and-gravel training ground in the station’s backyard.

Here, they were to conduct their weekly Monday routine: combat sparring.

"Same as always. Teams of three. We’ll draw lots for teammates and opponents." Xiao Liang held a bamboo tube containing several bamboo slips, each carved with a name.

"And take this seriously! No slacking off!"

The results of the draw were quickly determined. Yang Wenqing was teamed up with Li Ming and Zhou Kun. Their opponents were Zhu Lin, Ye Yong, and Wang Yuanfeng.

"Wenqing, stick close to me and cover our flank. Zhou Kun, you’re on support," Li Ming quickly assigned roles. Though normally all smiles, he became exceptionally composed in combat.

On the opposing side, Zhu Lin was also quietly laying out their strategy. "Ye Yong, you and I will press them head-on. Wang Yuanfeng, find a chance to disrupt them with your ’Binding Spell.’ Prioritize Li Ming!"

The two teams took their positions at opposite ends of the training ground. With a command from Xiao Liang, the match began!

"Go!" Zhu Lin shouted. He and Ye Yong charged straight at Li Ming’s team like tigers unleashed, one from the left and one from the right. Zhu Lin wielded a police-issue long staff, his powerful swings generating a palpable pressure. Ye Yong, armed with a short sword, remained agile, waiting for an opening.

As the core of his team, Li Ming fearlessly met the charge, his standard-issue wooden sword batting away Zhu Lin’s long staff. Meanwhile, Yang Wenqing proactively engaged Ye Yong, forcing him back in just two moves...

The first match ended quickly. Naturally, Li Ming’s team was victorious.

The second match ended with the same result, largely because Ye Yong was just that bad. In the end, even Captain Xiao Liang couldn’t bear to watch anymore and changed the format from team spars to one-on-one matches.

Yang Wenqing kept a low profile. In the one-on-one matches, he only secured a win against Ye Yong. In his other fights, after honing his combat skills for a while, he would deliberately expose a weakness and concede defeat.