Emily Baker looked up at me and smiled gently, saying, "I'm fine, almost recovered. Why are you here? Is something wrong?"

Before I could answer, my stomach growled.

Emily Baker couldn't help but chuckle. "I heard about your increased appetite. Actually, you don't need to worry—this is just a result of your physical strength dropping rapidly after your spiritual veins were depleted. Maybe it will get better in a year or so."

"I'm not really worried, it's just that I'm so hungry I can't stand it. And you haven't given me a single cent."

"Oh..." Emily Baker laughed. "I actually forgot about that. Come on, let me take you out for a late-night snack off campus, how about it?"

"Mm, sounds good!"

I was delighted. Then Emily Baker tidied her dress, took a trench coat from the rack, put it on, and led me out the door. The two guards saluted respectfully, their eyes on me, looking rather envious. That gaze was honestly a bit hard to handle.

……

"Vice Dean, heading out so late?" There were still guards at the school gate, eight of them on duty.

"Yes, just going out for a bit."

Emily Baker's voice was soft, but carried an undeniable authority. Perhaps in the hearts of these guards, she was like a goddess.

"Xiao Xuan, you look like you have something on your mind, don't you?" She walked beside me, smiling as she asked.

"Yeah."

I said bluntly, "It seems someone is helping me look for a way to restore my strength, and I've learned that besides innate spiritual veins, there's also something called the Tianchong Vein. Maybe that's my hope."

"Tianchong Vein?"

Emily Baker furrowed her elegant brows and said, "The Tianchong Vein isn't as strong as the main vein. Even if you manage to break through, you can only recover less than twenty percent of your strength, and it's extremely dangerous. With your current body, completely devoid of spiritual power, trying to reopen the Tianchong Vein is even harder. Are you sure?"

"It's a method, at least. Desperate times call for desperate measures—I have no other choice."

"Mm."

Emily Baker nodded lightly and said, "You have no spiritual power, so there's only one way to break through the blocked Tianchong Vein: use your own blood and energy to force it open. But that means your body will be put under tremendous strain. Also, to succeed, you'll have to use the Bu family's ancestral Battle Tactic. How's your Demon Hunter Canon training going? I haven't asked you about it these years."

The Demon Hunter Canon is the Bu family's ancestral martial art, said to have existed for thousands of years, divided into several ultimate techniques. The Battle Tactic is its foundation; to practice the Demon Hunter Canon, you must first master the Battle Tactic. The Battle Tactic can greatly enhance strength, but it also causes significant harm to the body—it's a martial art that hurts the enemy a thousand but injures oneself eight hundred. Still, in pursuit of power, the Bu ancestors passed it down through the generations.

The Battle Tactic is extremely domineering, and only men can practice it. When Emily Baker was young, she didn't learn the Battle Tactic from her father, but after reading it, she created her own set of techniques, the "Heart Tactic," tailored for herself. This is one of the reasons she's recognized as a genius.

Facing my cousin's question, I coughed and said, "I've memorized the Demon Hunter Canon by heart, and as for the martial arts within, I've pretty much mastered them."

Emily Baker nodded and smiled. "I knew you wouldn't let me down. You're much more motivated than William!"

William Baker is my cousin's younger brother, but he was spoiled by his father, Benjamin Baker, and has been a troublemaker since childhood. So even after her biological father returned, Emily Baker didn't get close to them, instead continuing to call herself the daughter of Brian Baker. Years ago, she left to train and disappeared without a trace. Even after becoming the Valkyrie, she only quietly returned home once. So the world knows of the Valkyrie Emily Baker, but not that she has a younger brother like me.

"Emily sis, so you're supporting me in forcefully breaking through the Tianchong Vein?"

"Of course I support you. When are you planning to do it?"

"After I finish work tomorrow afternoon."

"Alright, I'll have Lucy Hughes prepare in advance."

"Prepare what?"

"You'll find out then." Emily Baker pointed to a mutton restaurant on the street outside the campus and smiled. "Come on, big sis will treat you to mutton—eat as much as you want."

"Then I want to eat a whole sheep."

"You brat, are you a pig?"

"I feel like even pigs can't eat as much as I do..."

"……"

……

The cultivation system of the Longling Continent is unique. After awakening their spiritual veins, everyone can begin to train and improve. Beginners are divided into five realms: Spirit Movement, Body Tempering, Illusory Light, Tianchong, and Spirit Soul. These five are considered entry to intermediate levels, called the Minor Five Realms. After that come the Human Dominion, Earth Dominion, Heaven Dominion, and Star Dominion—the Four Dominion Realms. Above those are the legendary Four Spirit Realms, but those are just legends. Currently, the strongest on the continent are only at the Star Dominion level.

By the way, the person sitting across from me watching me eat mutton, Emily Baker, is one of the few Star Dominion experts in the Federation.

Chapter 7: Re-entering the Spirit Movement Realm