Late December in Jiang City has descended into winter, with temperatures lingering around zero degrees.
Inside the Starfire Martial Hall branch in Guanshan, the temperature is kept at a constant 20 degrees Celsius, making it exceedingly comfortable.
Martial Arts Room 7024.
Two men clad in full protective gear, even with helmets fitting tightly, each brandishing a cold weapon, are engaged in fierce combat.
“Kill!” One of the figures, nearly one hundred and ninety centimeters tall in his shoes, wielding a silver long spear, moves in a motion reminiscent of a swimming dragon. The spear suddenly swings out, leaving a blur as it thrusts towards his opponent.
Fast! Accurate! Ruthless!
The other figure nearly two meters tall, extremely burly, wields a sword in one hand and a shield in the other.
Reacting even faster, acting later but striking first.
The large shield brutally smashes forward, like an indomitable copper wall and iron barrier, slamming hard against the incoming spear thrust.
“Boom~” Li Yuan, holding the long spear, feels as though he struck a steel plate. The terrifying force rebounds through the spear; a normal martial artist would probably find their arm numb from the impact.
“Stick!” Li Yuan’s long spear is incredibly flexible, as he retreats accordingly, even pulling back the shaft of the spear to shed as much of the force as possible.
Retreating does not mean falling behind.
Sometimes, only by shedding force can one minimize the damage sustained.
“Whoo!”
The long spear thrusts again, suddenly whooshing through the air. In an instant, it seems to create dozens of phantoms, covering the sky as it envelops the opponent.
The Solid Rock Spear Technique’s five major deadly moves include ‘Myriad Mountain Phantasms.’
Skilled in group attacks, skilled in confusion.
Swish! Swish! Swish! Bursts of blade light flare up, colliding with the spear shadows in an instant; the figure in black armor alternates between swinging his sword and using his shield to block.
Retreating eight steps consecutively, he barely withstands Li Yuan’s full set of deadly moves.
“Be careful now.”
Li Yuan roars suddenly like thunder.
Fortunately, it’s a soundproofed room; otherwise, there would certainly be complaints of disturbing the peace.
You should know, after firing more than twenty consecutive spear thrusts, Li Yuan’s aura reached its peak. Accompanying his roaring shout, his spear transformed into a great dragon, howling as it brought down a terrifying force.
Solid Rock Spear Technique’s five major deadly moves — Ground and Sky!
This move treats the spear like a heavy club or a battle halberd, as unstoppable as a rolling boulder, it’s the most ferocious burst of power.
Switching between the two deadly moves is extremely fast.
The black armored figure, in this moment of danger, seems to only be able to raise his shield instinctively, doing his best to block the falling spear.
“Bang~”
After the brutal impact, the figure in black armor looks somewhat disheveled, but his body easily withstands the impact before retreating.
“Stop!”
“Li Yuan, you’ve won.” The figure in black armor suddenly speaks, his voice tinged with resignation and a trace of emotion.
Li Yuan stops and stands still with his spear.
Click~
Click~ Both remove their helmets.
“Li Yuan, your spear technique has advanced frighteningly fast. That final continuous attack must have been two deadly moves, right?” The man holding the shield is a bearded brute in his forties with a scar on his face.
“Right.”
Li Yuan nods with a smile, “It’s the basic chapter deadly moves from the Second Rank Secret Manual ‘Stellar Spear Technique.’ I’ve just gained control over the integration of these two moves.”
Indeed, Li Yuan had only recently attained preliminary control over the last of the five deadly moves ‘Ground and Sky’ in the virtual network.
Today was the first time he practiced it in real combat.
“Impressive.”
“I’ve been sparring with you for two months, and your progress in spear technique is truly terrifying. I’ve never seen a spear technique prodigy like you before.
I was able to suppress you with my sword technique at the beginning, but now you’ve surpassed me in skill level,” the bearded brute reflects, “Just now, I used about a level 8.0 Physical Quality, clearly stronger than you in speed and power, but I still couldn’t dominate you.”
“That last spear thrust, I had to use almost a level 9 strength, or I definitely wouldn’t have withstood it.”
Li Yuan smiles.
To execute ‘Ground and Sky,’ if you directly engage, it’s easy for the opponent to evade.
The best way is to build momentum with Myriad Mountain Phantasms and then strike the final blow to crush the enemy.
“Your spear technique,” the bearded brute looks at Li Yuan, “has already surpassed my sword technique by a margin, and should be close to the Fourth Stage Realm.”
“Not quite,” Li Yuan shakes his head. “I haven’t fully mastered the basic chapter of the Second Rank Secret Manual yet. I still need Uncle Hu to spar with me more.”
“Haha, no problem,” the bearded brute laughs. “Next, shall we switch it up, and I attack while you defend?”
“Sure,” Li Yuan nods.
This bearded brute named ‘Fang Longhu’ is a regular instructor at Starfire Martial Hall, a Level 15 martial artist, and he was recommended to Li Yuan by Instructor Xing as a sparring partner.
Twice a week, for an hour each session, at a cost of 10,000 Blue Star Coins per session.
A sparring partner in actual combat must be far stronger than oneself.
A martial artist of at least Level 15 is necessary to better manage the fight when sparring with Li Yuan.
Half an hour later.
Li Yuan finishes today’s combat session and sees off Fang Longhu.
“Whew!”
“Real combat is indeed more exhilarating than virtual fighting,” Li Yuan mutters to himself, quite excited.
Virtual fighting can comprehensively train various techniques, but it ultimately lacks a sense of reality.
Actual combat is the ultimate goal.
“Every time I engage in real combat, I feel that my Spear Technique and movement technique improve much faster.” Li Yuan reflected, “It’s just a pity that actual combat opportunities are extremely rare.”
First, getting injured is easy in actual combat; once injured, just healing takes a long time and seriously delays cultivation.
Second, good sparring partners are hard to find and expensive; ordinary people simply can’t afford them.
“Professional sparring partners like Fang Longhu, aside from their day job at the Martial Hall, can earn several hundred thousand Blue Star Coins each month just from sparring.” Li Yuan thought to himself.
You should know that Fang Longhu has basically given up on becoming a Prime Warrior, spending very little on the Martial Path and just maintaining his physical quality.
Therefore, it’s quite easy for him to earn a few million a year.
“Martial Arts Cultivation is a gold-consuming pit, but if you achieve a little success, you can also earn a lot, and without taking risks.” Li Yuan thought, “If a 15th-level Martial Artist earns like this, what about a Prime Warrior? No wonder Hall Master Wan gave me 1 million Blue Star Coins without a second thought.”
“My Spear Technique.”
“It improved by 1% tonight, and recently, progress has been getting slower.” With a thought from Li Yuan, the Divine Palace panel appeared in his view.
——
[Life Level: 7.7 (Entry Rank)]
Physical Quality Index: 80 (A comprehensive assessment of various aspects including Explosive Power, Endurance, Speed, Physique, Spiritual Power, etc.)
Fist Strength: 724 kg
Speed: 17.3 meters per second
Spiritual Power: 14.2
Physical Body Cultivation Method: Solid Rock Cultivation Method
Mental Cultivation Method: Observing the Great Sun Starry Sky Scripture
Skill Realm: Spear Technique (Third Stage 88%), Movement Technique (Third Stage 65%), Fist Technique (Third Stage 99%)
[Note: There is some kind of high-level Spiritual Nature latent within the body that has not been awakened.]
——
“Judging by the rate of progress over the past half a month, it will take at least one more month to increase the Spear Technique to Third Stage 99%,” Li Yuan thought to himself, “And transitioning from Third Stage to Fourth Stage will be a major bottleneck.”
“This step has stumped countless formidable Martial Artists.”
Over the past few months at Starfire Martial Hall, Li Yuan had met many Martial Artists.
And with his own cultivation, he gradually came to understand the significance of Fourth Level Martial Arts Skills.
“At the Martial Hall, I know more than a dozen Martial Artists above level 16.”
“Apart from Instructor Xing, none have managed to cultivate their skills to the Fourth Level and above,” Li Yuan shook his head slightly.
First Rank Martial Artists mostly have Third Stage standard Martial Arts Skills.
Most people’s skills don’t even match Li Yuan’s current level.
“Xu Bo’s Stick Technique easily crushes mine,” Li Yuan couldn’t help recalling the past two months.
Receiving guidance from Xu Bo once a week.
“With such high-level skills, why didn’t he become a Prime Warrior? Was it because of an injury?” Li Yuan had many speculations in his heart.
Feeling fully rested, Li Yuan suppressed the various thoughts.
“Never mind.”
“Continue with the Spear Technique practice.”
“I’ve just mastered the five major killing moves of the Solid Rock Spear Technique, and if I can connect them perfectly, I estimate it’ll reach Third Stage 99%.” Li Yuan was extremely excited, “I will strive to bring my Spear Technique close to 99% before the January Evaluation.”
Only ten days left until the January Evaluation.
“Hoo!”
“Hoo!” Li Yuan continued to practice his Spear Technique, and another hour passed in a blink of an eye, bringing the time to past eight in the evening.
He put away the Long Spear into the weapon cabinet.
Drenched in sweat, Li Yuan first took a satisfying hot shower in the rest room.
Then, he retrieved a delicately packaged medicine bottle from the treatment room.
“Origin Power Essence Pill.”
“It’s been 20 days since the last time I took one, it’s about time to take another,” Li Yuan took out an Essence Pill from the bottle.
He was very careful.
After all, this single pill was worth 100,000 Blue Star Coins.
The Origin Power Essence Pill, covered in thin wisps of purple glow, thumbnail-sized with waves of fragrance wafting out as if to entice one’s cravings.
He swallowed it directly.
Li Yuan returned to the center of the Martial Arts Room and stood in a posture as immovable as a boulder, focusing his spirit.
Soon.
Wisps of rather fiery and overbearing energy gradually spread from Li Yuan’s chest to his limbs and throughout his body, causing him to shiver involuntarily.
This was Origin Power.
“Ah~ So comfortable!” Li Yuan enjoyed the sensation immensely.
“Hiss~”
“Hiss~” The muscles, tendons, and bones within Li Yuan’s body hungrily devoured every bit of Origin Power roaming through him, becoming stronger and tougher.
[Your Life Level has increased from 7.7 to 7.8.]
[Your Fist Strength has increased from…]
[Your Burst Speed has increased…]