**Chapter 1: At the Gate of the Novice Village, Big Shots Everywhere**

Noren Academy.

This colossal structure wasn’t built on the ground but floated amidst the clouds, like a toy block casually tossed there by some unreasonable giant.

The ancient stone walls visibly shimmered with an obscure yet powerful energy fluctuation.

Jie Ming blended into the thousands of young men and women crowded before the academy’s massive bronze gates, doing his best to mimic their expressions—looking around curiously, eyes filled with just the right mix of nervousness and anticipation.

But honestly, the source of his tension was on a completely different wavelength from everyone else’s.

“…One hundred eighty, one hundred eighty-one… Damn, just the academy staff greeting us at the gate number over one hundred eighty Golden Core—no, wait, in this world’s terms, second-rank official wizards.”

Jie Ming struggled to maintain the standard “country kid in the big city” expression, but his eyes couldn’t help twitching.

Thankfully, the other young people here for the test all wore faces screaming, “Who am I? Where am I?” so he didn’t stand out too much.

Feeling the faint strand of Qi Refinement Stage One true essence he’d painstakingly cultivated within his body, Jie Ming almost laughed in frustration.

“What kind of interstellar joke is this? How does a ‘spiritless world’ with not a shred of spiritual qi manage to produce so many Golden Core—no, second-rank official wizard-level powerhouses? Could the knowledge from my golden finger be some pirated copy? If something goes wrong here, do I even have a chance to escape?!”

He stole a glance at the group of imposing second-rank official wizards ahead, each radiating the aura of a miniature humanoid nuke launcher, and the countless first-rank official wizards surrounding them—too many to bother counting.

The slightest hint of pressure they released could immobilize a Qi Refinement Stage cultivator like him.

Recalling the decade-plus of grinding, laboriously using the “Refining Essence into Qi” method—an ancient technique practically museum-bound in the cultivation world—just to barely reach Qi Refinement Stage One, Jie Ming wanted to slap himself to check if he was dreaming.

He’d been in this world for a long time—long enough to nearly forget his previous life filled with neon lights and high-speed internet.

He’d become the son of an ordinary merchant in a remote territory, with a comfortable family background and a predictable life trajectory.

Except… for the “library administrator” privilege hidden deep within his consciousness.

Taking a deep breath to calm his rollercoaster-like emotions, Jie Ming diverted a portion of his consciousness, skillfully locating the majestic white jade palace in the depths of his soul.

[Great Dao Book Pavilion].

The name alone exuded an aura of grandeur, as if it embodied the ultimate truths of the cosmos.

Its origins were unknown, shrouded in mystery, but the knowledge within was vast as the sea—from the most basic techniques of drawing qi into the body to supreme methods for defying fate, encompassing alchemy, artifact crafting, formations, talismans, and everything under the heavens.

“If I were in a qi-rich cultivation world with this thing, I’d at least be at Golden Core by now, right? Maybe even Nascent Soul or Spirit Transformation!” Gazing at the serene white jade palace in his consciousness, Jie Ming couldn’t help but smirk self-deprecatingly.

This golden finger was incredible, no doubt.

But he’d realized it was more like a top-tier online library and research database than a cheat code that directly infused him with power.

The knowledge inside required him to comprehend, practice, and gather “raw materials” himself.

Unfortunately, this world… had no spiritual qi.

Without spiritual qi, the awesome techniques in the Great Dao Book Pavilion that required drawing in the qi of heaven and earth, or the alchemy, artifact crafting, and formations needing spirit herbs, spirit stones, and spirit veins, were all utterly useless!

A skilled chef can’t cook without ingredients, and no matter how amazing the Great Dao Book Pavilion was, it couldn’t conjure spiritual qi out of thin air.

He had to rely on the pavilion’s nearly obsolete “Refine Essence into Qi” methods, literally “eating” his way to cultivation.

Every day’s effort consumed immense energy and time, plus vast amounts of food to replenish his reserves.

In the cultivation world, the “Qi Refinement Stage One” was insignificant, yet here, it was the result of over a decade of munching dry rations and exhausting countless efforts to barely climb that first step.

Just when he thought he’d live out his days slightly stronger than an ordinary person with his meager true essence, this world slapped him with a harsh reality—this was a high-magic world, home to wizards who controlled elements, studied souls, and pursued immortality!

Worse, these wizards were a bunch of research maniacs with an almost pathological thirst for unknown knowledge.

And as someone cultivating an entirely different power system, he… was a rare, living research specimen!

Jie Ming knew full well that if he were discovered as an “outsider,” his fate would be to be studied, dissected, and displayed as a specimen after being drained of all value.

Human rights? Morality? Expecting wizards who casually waged wars on other planes and experimented with souls to care about such things?

So when his local lord informed him it was time to join the other kids for the academy’s aptitude test, Jie Ming wanted to refuse.

But faced with the lord’s second-rank wizard aura, heavy as a mountain, not a single word of refusal dared escape his lips.

Fortunately, Jie Ming hadn’t given up to the point of awaiting his doom.

While most of the Great Dao Book Pavilion’s knowledge couldn’t be directly used, its vast array of techniques, including some unconventional, obscure methods, far exceeded his expectations.

With a thought, a stream of light flew out from the white jade palace, forming the illusion of a book before his consciousness.

He deftly flipped through its contents, simultaneously sensing the flow of true essence in his body, making precise adjustments to ensure everything was flawless.

[Internal Circulation Fundamentals]

Internal Circulation was a rather unorthodox method in the cultivation knowledge he’d studied, typically practiced only by body-refining cultivators aiming to turn their bodies into cave-heaven treasures.

Unlike mainstream cultivation that sought to absorb the qi of heaven and earth, it focused inward, using one’s own essence, qi, and spirit as fuel to form a miniature energy cycle within the body.

Its greatest advantage: once Internal Circulation reached its peak, it severed the body’s connection to external energy, placing it in an extremely sealed state.

As long as he didn’t actively reveal himself, even a divine sense scan would struggle to detect the strand of true essence completely isolated from external energy!

“Stay calm… I already passed a basic aptitude test at the lord’s manor. I roughly understand that wizard aptitude tests focus on mental strength and soul. If I hide my true essence fluctuations with Internal Circulation and slightly suppress my mental strength, I should be able to pass unnoticed… right?”

It had to work—this was the most effective method he could use under these limited conditions!

Jie Ming sighed, letting his consciousness return to reality.

He looked up again toward the bronze gates.

To outsiders, he’d only briefly zoned out from nerves at the entrance.

The queue ahead steadily shortened, and as he drew closer to the bronze gates, his heart, paradoxically, grew calmer.

The aptitude tests were remarkably quick. Groups of anxious and hopeful youths stepped through the gates and emerged, their faces painted with a spectrum of emotions.

Soon, it was Jie Ming’s turn.

He straightened his back, took a deep breath, and cast aside his final reservations.

Here we go! The life-or-death gamble!