Dongfang Ji, as the top human warrior and founder of the Starfire Martial Hall, spent most of his time on the distant planet Feixing.
However, he paid great attention to his homeland, ‘Xia Country.’
For example, the ‘Blue Star headquarters’ of the Starfire Martial Hall was located in Xia Country.
Similarly, Blue Star’s Starfire University was located in the northern part of Xia Country’s capital.
Starfire University was much smaller than Kunlun Martial University in terms of scale, because it recruited less than 400 students each year, and that was on a global scale.
The entire school had fewer than 2,000 students.
Each student would rank among the top echelon at any of the five renowned schools in Xia Country.
Even those who were slightly better would almost feel like they were crushing others from a different dimension.
Night, inside one of the student villas.
“Phew!”
Tian Dazhuang left the virtual network capsule and came out to the balcony, where he was greeted by the cold wind.
“So strong.”
“Li Yuan’s spear is terrifyingly fast; it’s simply not like someone who has just touched the cusp of Fourth Level High Rank.”
“The gap between him and me is huge,” Tian Dazhuang closed his eyes, recalling the battle they just had in the virtual network.
If he had lost to some expert who had practiced for decades, Tian Dazhuang wouldn’t care.
But he had lost to a peer whose skills used to be inferior to his own.
To say there wasn’t the slightest ripple in Tian Dazhuang’s heart?
That would be a lie.
“In our battle, he completely controlled the field and was too calm—that level of combat consciousness is simply unimaginable,” Tian Dazhuang shook his head.
He thought himself calm enough, but still felt small emotional fluctuations.
His exchange with Li Yuan, however, was absolutely rational, absolutely calm.
From beginning to end, Li Yuan didn’t make a single mistake.
Seeing his own breakthrough, Li Yuan would ease up, waiting for it to finish; and once Tian’s breakthrough ended, it was like a thunderstorm striking, sweeping him away directly.
“He, at least half a month or even a month ago, must have already stepped into the Fourth Level High Rank,” Tian Dazhuang sighed inwardly: “Such speed of cultivation is really exaggerated; I really wonder how he trains.”
“Even if it’s Dantai Feng, Gong Mi, or Salvatore, their speed of cultivation wouldn’t be this fast.”
In Jiangbei Province, Tian Dazhuang was a top genius, previously unparalleled in skill.
In the Jiangbei invitational event, the Li Yuan, Wang Yu, and even Wu Dongdong of that time had a clear gap with him.
At Starfire University, although his skills barely ranked among the top ten of his cohort, they were not the most elite.
Dantai Feng, Gong Mi, Salvatore—when these three had just enrolled, they already possessed Fourth Level High Rank skills and were among the top martial arts talents in the world.
And all of them possessed Entry Rank physical quality.
“Interesting.”
“Just in terms of skill, Li Yuan probably can’t make it into the top ten globally for freshmen,” Tian Dazhuang revealed an enigmatic smile: “But with his rate of improvement… at next year’s global university martial arts contest, he will likely give many a surprise.”
“Tsk tsk! Our Jiangbei really does produce talents.”
“Uh-huh.”
“I should also thank him; without his help, I wouldn’t have been able to step into the Fourth Level High Rank,” Tian Dazhuang didn’t envy Li Yuan.
On the contrary, he admired Li Yuan.
In his view, although Li Yuan’s family situation was slightly better than his own, they were not wealthy or powerful.
To rise step by step, he must have also suffered a lot.
“If Li Yuan is so formidable.”
“I can’t fall behind.”
“Continue to train in sword techniques, to stabilize my realm,” Tian Dazhuang adjusted his mindset.
He headed to the Martial Arts Room underground to continue his sword practice.
…
In the virtual network, in the Starry Skies Fighting Network.
“Won.”
Li Yuan returned to his personal space, feeling somewhat contemplative: “If I hadn’t made a breakthrough yesterday, it would have been very difficult for me to win.”
Eighteen Rock Desert Tribe warriors.
Each programmed with a Physical Quality no less than his own, and their skills were all at Fourth Level Initial Rank.
The difficulty was too high.
Any single one of them when facing Li Yuan alone would be killed by him in a few moves.
But when more than ten of them joined forces, their strength was magnified manifold, and they even coordinated rescues. Li Yuan had to rely on his movement techniques to fight a protracted battle before he found opportunities to defeat them one by one.
“Mirror.” A thought crossed Li Yuan’s mind.
Swish!
A mirror appeared in front of him, in which Li Yuan’s reflection was crowned with a flashing crescent moon.
It was dazzling!
The symbol of the Bright Moon Stage.
“In the virtual network, many well-known big streamers are about at my level,” Li Yuan muttered to himself: “If I started live streaming under the title ‘Underage Bright Moon Stage,’ it would probably be quite a draw too.”
It would likely be popular.
But Li Yuan was just musing; getting distracted by such things would greatly impact his Martial Path training.
Those Bright Moon Stage big streamers were mostly Prime Warriors whose strength had trouble advancing.
Of course, putting themselves out there, they also earned quite a bit of money.
“Congratulations, master, kudos, master,” the sprite girl circled around Li Yuan, quite excitedly saying, “for reaching the Bright Moon Stage.”
“In the Blue Star’s list of outstanding young talents, master, you are now ranked 17th, in Xia Country you are 5th,” the sprite girl said.
“Global 17th, 5th in Xia Country?” Li Yuan revealed a slightly enigmatic smile.
The motherland indeed was the world’s leading power, with an outpouring of martial arts prodigies indeed being extremely numerous.
“One step at a time.”
“Last September, when I first entered the Blue Star Youth Rankings, I was ranked over four thousand. In less than a year, I’ve surged to 17th in the world.”
Li Yuan was very satisfied with this achievement in his heart.
“I guess the top 16 must be in the top three global prestigious schools,” Li Yuan thought to himself.
Among his peers, there were still 16 worthy of being surpassed by him.
“Master, the 20 million Blue Star Coin reward from the Starry Skies Fighting Network will be credited to your account tomorrow,” the elf girl said with a smile.
“Good.”
…
Having achieved the Bright Moon Stage, Li Yuan didn’t continue to battle on the Starry Skies Fighting Network, but instead, he withdrew from the virtual network.
He ate something.
Time had already passed 12 o’clock.
“After 12 o’clock, it’s time to practice the Visualization Method,” Li Yuan glanced at the time. “A new day of training begins.”
Normal Martial Arts University students begin their training at 6 or 7 in the morning and finish before 10 at night, generally not going past 11 o’clock.
But Li Yuan’s training schedule was different.
It started at midnight and ended at 12 o’clock the next night.
The core principle was ‘perseverance’.
…
Deep into the night, at the Jiang City Starfire Martial Hall.
Inside a villa.
Deep in sleep, Fei Qian was startled awake by the ring of his smart wristband.
An important message had come through.
As a 29th-Level Prime Warrior, his spirit was exceedingly robust, and he was merely sleeping lightly.
“Hmm?” Fei Qian instantly woke up, sitting straight up in bed.
Taking the smart wristband that was placed beside him, he clicked on the screen, and a holographic projection appeared, displaying a file. The content was not very long, but the message it contained was shocking.
“Li Yuan.”
“Fourth Level High Rank? Bright Moon Stage?” Fei Qian was utterly astonished.
Any last traces of sleepiness were gone.
“This!”
Fei Qian couldn’t quite describe his own feelings at the moment. He had always paid close attention to Li Yuan and valued him greatly.
But he never expected that just a month after entering Kunlun Martial University, Li Yuan would have made such great progress.
“Wasn’t it in April that he reached 300 points in the Fallen Star category?” Fei Qian had a very good memory.
“A monster indeed.”
“Right, he’s not even 18 years old yet?”
“In the entire Xia Country, is he the first case this year?” Fei Qian, looking at the file’s content, grasped the key point.
“It’s been decades since Jiang City produced a martial arts prodigy like this,” he mused.
Thinking this over,
Fei Qian’s gaze landed on the final line of the file: “This information is for the knowledge of only those of Hall Master level or above within the city’s jurisdiction, not to be disclosed.”
The Human Alliance tends to protect peerless geniuses, keeping secrets under wraps as much as possible.
After a brief contemplation,
“Beep!”
Fei Qian quickly dialed Wan Qinghe’s V-chat, and he answered promptly.
“Fei, what’s the matter at this late hour?” Wan Qinghe said somberly.
“Nothing major.”
“Just a small matter,” Fei Qian’s voice was calm: “Prepare to transfer Li Yuan’s brother and sister into the Martial Hall’s affiliated middle school, especially his brother. Focus on his cultivation.”
“Additionally,”
“Raise the safety level of his family by another notch, and ensure their absolute security,” Fei Qian said bluntly.
Wan Qinghe, jolted awake from his sleep, was still somewhat groggy.
“Did you understand?” Fei Qian’s voice carried a hint of discontent.
“Understood.” Wan Qinghe snapped alert and immediately responded, “Don’t worry, Fei, I assure you the task will be completed.”
…
Kunlun Martial University, inside the Heilong Building, ablaze with light.
The ninth floor.
“Hmm?” Li Yang, who had a gloomy expression, was checking a list when he suddenly felt his smart wristband vibrate. He glanced at it on impulse.
Upon seeing it, a look of astonishment crossed Li Yang’s face: “How is this possible?”
“What’s wrong?” Dean Xu, sitting not far away, turned to look at Li Yang: “Did something happen at another observation point in the Kunlun Star Realm?”
“No.”
Li Yang shook his head: “I just received a dispatch from an observer in the Xia Country on the Starry Skies Combat Network.”
“Li Yuan has just achieved the Bright Moon Stage,” Li Yang said gravely to Dean Xu.
“Bright Moon Stage? Li Yuan?”
Dean Xu was initially puzzled, but then she realized, showing a trace of amazement: “Fourth Level High Rank? Is it the freshman Li Yuan?”
“Yes.” Li Yang nodded emphatically: “And he’s not even 18 years old yet.”
“He’s the first case in our Xia Country this year.”
Dean Xu was even more astounded.
She hadn’t specifically focused on Li Yuan’s age before.
Suddenly, Dean Xu showed a rare smile: “Lately, it’s been all bad news. Now, at last, there’s some good news. I believe Dean Hai will be very pleased when he hears about it.”
“Yes, Dean Hai should be returning tomorrow and will likely meet with Li Yuan.”