In this world, high schools were rarely private. The national Ministry of Education had standard support policies for every school’s martial arts program, especially for critical milestones in cultivation, such as the muscle refinement completion stage.

This had been mentioned in martial arts class. The student years were the best time to enjoy the nation’s support and take full advantage of its welfare policies.

After graduation, once you entered society, the nation wouldn’t concern itself with you anymore. You’d have to cover all related expenses yourself.

Yu Fei didn’t stand on ceremony. He was so hungry he was seeing stars and felt like he could chew on tree bark.

He downed the energy liquid in a few gulps, and the gnawing hunger subsided significantly.

Before long, they arrived at Nanguan Second Middle School.

This was his first time visiting the school infirmary.

Because Nanguan Second Middle School wasn’t very large, its infirmary was just a small, four-story building. Judging by its appearance, it had weathered at least twenty years of wind and rain. The mottled exterior walls even showed signs of renovation.

The first and second floors of the infirmary handled all the students’ common ailments, such as colds and fevers.

The third floor and above were almost entirely dedicated to martial arts-related matters.

It was also very easy for things to go wrong during daily martial arts practice—issues like Qi Blood flowing in reverse, medication overdoses, and so on.

Some conditions required immediate treatment, making the school infirmary’s importance self-evident.

Yu Fei and the others were heading to the fourth floor, but first, he had to go through identity verification and sign some forms.

This series of tasks followed a standard procedure. Led by the nurse, Yu Fei quickly completed the facial recognition, fingerprint verification, and other steps.

The infirmary had also notified his homeroom teacher, Zhang Kun, to act as an accompanying party to confirm his identity and co-sign.

The process was tedious, but it was a necessary procedure that had been summarized and simplified by the Yu Kingdom’s Ministry of Education over the years.

In the grand scheme of things, the Yu Kingdom’s oversight of education was extremely strict. To this day, countless Grandmasters and Martial Saints had taken these very same steps in their youth.

A strong youth makes a strong nation!

This was a fundamental national policy, not to be shaken!

In the Yu Kingdom, the annual education budget was considered just as important as military spending.

"Yu Fei! Excellent, truly excellent! Our sophomore Class Six has produced a dragon this year!"

Zhang Kun exclaimed joyfully,

"I checked the records. The last time someone from Nanguan Second Middle School completed their muscle refinement this early was six years ago. That student ended up getting accepted into Shenhan University—one of the Seven Greats!"

To Zhang Kun, Yu Fei was like a gold nugget that had fallen from the sky.

He had been an upper-mid-tier student who suddenly seemed to have activated a cheat, progressing by leaps and bounds in all aspects. He had bulldozed his way into the ranks of Nanguan Second Middle School’s top sophomores and then left everyone else far behind in the dust.

At least in the field of martial arts, Yu Fei was the undisputed number one.

Zhang Kun would be happy to have as many students like this as possible.

"Mr. Zhang, thank you for your trouble."

Mr. Zhang’s educational philosophy was a bit biased. High-achieving students received more leniency and preferential treatment from him, and he could even be unfair at times. However, he never gave up on the underperforming students, constantly encouraging and teaching them.

Overall, he was still a good, responsible teacher. For so many years, he had never missed a morning or evening self-study session, persisting even when he was sick.

"Ah, this kind of trouble is a pleasure for a teacher like me. I even enjoy it!

"If every student in our sophomore Class Six were like you, making me come over to sign and confirm things every day, I’d gladly give up ten years of my life!"

Tonight, the smile never left Zhang Kun’s lips.

"Alright, the verification process is complete. Yu Fei, come with me to the Evolution Chamber. You two teachers can head back for now. We have staff on duty here twenty-four hours a day, so there won’t be any problems."

The nurse collected the documents, uploaded the confirmation on her terminal, and concluded the preliminary procedures.

"Goodbye, Mr. Yan, Mr. Zhang!" Yu Fei waved to the two teachers.

"Mm," Yan Sea responded, his expression placid. To him, this was just a trivial matter.

"Goodbye, and good luck! Haha~"

Mr. Zhang made a fist in an encouraging gesture and laughed heartily.

...

The Evolution Chamber was in the corner of the fourth floor’s east wing. The nurse led him through a two-layer security door before they could enter.

Inside the so-called Evolution Chamber were only four massive, transparent pods. Within each pod was a helmet-like device and various probes of different lengths and unknown functions.

"What is...this?"

Yu Fei was a little bewildered. ’Why does this scene look like Frankenstein’s laboratory?’

’No matter how he looked at it, he felt like a guinea pig.’

Yu Fei felt a little intimidated.

He looked at the nurse. His [Insight] ability allowed him to perceive faint wisps of warmth, like the gentle rays of the sun at ten in the morning on a spring day.

’This was a faint trace of goodwill, which was extremely rare to receive from a stranger he had just met.’

"Pick one! This is where you’ll be spending the next thirty-six hours."

The nurse pointed at the four large pods in front of them, gesturing for Yu Fei to choose one.

"Uh... I’ll take the second one from the left, then."

’It looks a bit newer.’

The nurse then took out a jar of ointment and handed it to Yu Fei. It had a capacity of one liter. The words [Active Extraction Reagent] were written on it. On a label in the bottom-left corner of the jar, a line of small text read: ’For use during the muscle-refinement transformation period of the Body Tempering Realm.’ This was followed by the production date, precautions, and other information.

"There’s a changing room and a waiting room to the side. Go to the changing room, take off all your clothes, and then go to the waiting room and apply the reagent evenly all over your body.

"And I mean your entire body. Private areas, the top of your head, the soles of your feet—every inch of your skin must be covered. You need to use up the whole jar.

"There’s a special passageway in the waiting room that leads directly to the entry platform above the reaction tank. I’ll be waiting for you here.

"Oh, and these big pods in front of you? We usually call them reaction tanks."

"Completely naked?" Yu Fei asked, surprised.

"That’s right. Relax, kiddo. I’m a medical professional; there’s nothing I haven’t seen! Now, hurry up!"

"Oh..."

"Right, there are a few more things I need to explain. Don’t go just yet..."

The reagent was a transparent, gel-like substance that had an oily quality.

As soon as it touched his skin, its outer layer began to semi-solidify. After he finished applying it, it was as if he were wearing a transparent leather suit.

After Yu Fei entered the reaction tank, the nurse set the parameters on the control console. A special blue liquid gushed out from the pipes below, and the water level inside the tank slowly began to rise.

At the same time, the helmet-like device slowly descended toward his head. After detecting the correct position, it enveloped Yu Fei’s head with a CLICK.

He didn’t panic or resist; the nurse had just explained the entire process to him.

Inside the reaction tank, he would be injected with special drugs and enter a deep state of slumber.

The various processes of the first realm of martial arts had been thoroughly researched. The Yu Kingdom had very mature protocols for how to achieve the most advantageous state at each stage.