“`
In this era, material science had advanced, so even a metallic hollow stick had great strength and toughness.
Most importantly, this member of the Fish Spirit Clan had a Physical Quality of only 10.2 levels, just at Entry Rank. Although their bones and muscles were tough, they weren’t yet immune to common weapons.
“Whoosh!”
“Bang~” “Bang~” Li Yuan swung down the first two strikes like lightning, both wielded one-handed with the flow.
With two consecutive, precise, heavy strikes, he caved in the skull of the Fish Spirit Clan member, blood spurting out.
They lay completely horizontal on the ground, their slender body still twitching.
Li Yuan didn’t stop; he knew well the importance of a finishing move.
The third strike was now a two-handed grip, the most suitable position for exerting force with a heavy stick.
There are many similarities in the force application between spear technique and stick technique.
“Whoosh!” Li Yuan’s vigor burst forth instantly, calmly unleashing the “Stable as Earth”, with the stick head chopping down like the head of a spear.
“Splat~Bang!!!”
Over a thousand kilograms of terrifying force erupted, striking precisely the same spot as before… and completely burst open like a watermelon.
Blood and fluids splashed widely, scales scattered about, some of the blood even splashing onto Li Yuan himself.
The body of the Fish Spirit Clan member was no longer moving.
“Whoosh!”
“Whoosh!” Li Yuan gripped the long stick tightly in his hand, still not daring to relax, watching the Fish Spirit Clan member before him: “This time, it should be over, right?”
This was Li Yuan’s first life-or-death battle.
But with thousands of life-or-death struggles in the virtual network, as well as numerous practical exercises with Fang Longhu.
Especially the daily trials of pain from the “Observing the Great Sun Starry Sky Scripture”.
Li Yuan’s heart had long become incredibly tough.
Spear technique, movement technique, combat instincts in the face of life and death had unknowingly become ingrained deep within Li Yuan’s bones.
“I, Li Yuan, can kill Star Realm Creatures one-on-one?” Li Yuan took a deep breath, hands gripping the metallic long stick even tighter.
In his heart, an inexplicable emotion arose.
It was as if he had gone through a major event in life, a purification of the soul.
Sometimes, certain transformations in life come unexpectedly, impossible for anyone to anticipate.
All one can do is prepare well in advance.
Clearly, through years of practicing the Martial Path, Li Yuan was internally and physically ready for a life-and-death struggle; he had indeed given a satisfactory answer to himself.
No cowardice! No fear!
Only courage, decisiveness, and caution.
He stepped back five paces.
Li Yuan still faced in the direction of the Fish Spirit Clan’s corpse, while his peripheral vision scanned all around, remaining alert for any sudden appearance of Star Realm Creatures.
“Young man, are you a Martial Artist?” The noodle shop owner, holding a kitchen knife, watched Li Yuan with utter shock.
He had never expected that the youth he often saw in the mornings could be so formidable.
In just two encounters.
The strong and fierce Star Realm Creature was brought down, seemingly lifeless now.
Instinctively, the noodle shop owner thought the youth must be a Martial Artist.
In his understanding, in close combat with cold weapons, only a Martial Artist could defeat Star Realm Creatures.
“Not a Martial Artist.” Li Yuan responded.
“Then you?” The noodle shop owner swallowed hard, about to say something.
Suddenly.
“Rustle~” From the alley from before, two small figures darted out abruptly; Li Yuan’s pupils slightly contracted, followed by a moment of relaxation.
They were two small combat robots, less than half a meter in height, shaped like large spiders, quite compact, equipped with gun barrels.
“Whoosh! Whoosh!”
The two combat robots scanned their surroundings and quickly gathered around the corpse of the Fish Spirit Clan, projecting red beams, seemingly scanning.
Li Yuan stepped further back and completely relaxed.
He could tell that the gunshot wounds on the leading Fish Spirit Clan member were most likely inflicted by the combat robots during pursuit.
In the whole of Jiang City, there were countless such combat robots, large and small.
Apart from a few extremely powerful Star Realm Creatures, most Star Realm Creatures could be annihilated by the combined forces of combat robots and unmanned fighting drones.
“Now, should I leave?” A thought just arose in Li Yuan’s mind.
The next moment.
“Boom!” “Boom!” There was a sudden roar of explosions in the sky; Li Yuan instantly looked up, and two flying vehicles shaped like assault boats appeared in his vision.
In today’s cities, the tallest buildings do not exceed 12 floors, so flying vehicles operating dozens of meters above the ground are quite safe.
“Single-person flyers?” Li Yuan held his breath.
Before the flyers landed.
“Whoosh! Whoosh!”
Two figures clad in black battle garments had already jumped down from the flying vehicles.
Like phantoms, their speed terrifyingly fast, yet when they touched the ground, they were incredibly agile and nimble, not causing any breakage on the surface.
Effortlessly.
They then came walking directly towards him.
“`
“At least thirty meters, jumped right down?” Li Yuan held his breath as he watched the two approaching figures.
With Li Yuan’s current strength, the most he could do was jump down from five meters, and even then he’d have to roll to unload the force to ensure he wouldn’t get injured.
The two martial artists only showed their eyes, with the rest of their bodies completely wrapped in black battle garments.
The invisible aura they emitted, however, caused Li Yuan’s heart to race, prompting him to instinctively activate the Divine Palace Inquiry.
[Target person, Life Level exceeds sensory limit (Current Life Level sensory limit is 17.8)]
Both individuals exceeded Li Yuan’s sensory limit, which further drained his spirit.
“We were hunting down that Second Rank leader, and missed this little guy, who is actually dead?” The battle garment on one figure’s head contracted, revealing a large bald head.
It was a bald man, his features as if chiseled with a knife and ax.
The other, comparatively frail figure, also saw his battle garment contract to reveal a face, and it turned out to be a brown curly-haired woman, looking to be about thirty years old, with an exotic charm.
“Foreign martial artists?” Li Yuan muttered to himself.
“Young man, I am a bona fide citizen of Xia Country,” the brown curly-haired woman spoke fluently in Mandarin and laughed, “My family has been naturalized since my great-grandfather’s generation.”
Li Yuan fell silent, realizing that high rank martial artists do indeed have excellent hearing.
“Kid, the combat robot told me you killed this Star Realm creature? Are you a student from Martial Arts University?” The bald man approached Li Yuan, inquiring as he opened his smart ring: “Let me check the nearby surveillance.”
“I killed it,” Li Yuan said directly. “Senior year, from the first high school in Guanshan.”
The bald man didn’t respond, turning to look at the holographic projection and began to check the surveillance.
The brown curly-haired woman also looked on.
Less than ten seconds passed.
“Hmm?”
“What? This stick technique? No, it looks like spear technique!”
“It’s spear technique.” Both powerful martial artists showed surprise and couldn’t help but look at Li Yuan.
They had initially thought that the Fish Spirit Clan member had been gravely injured nearly to death and thus fell to Li Yuan as an easy target.
Only after viewing the surveillance did they discover… the Fish Spirit Clan member had indeed been injured but still retained most of its strength.
And Li Yuan, in a single encounter, punctured the creature’s eyes with a metal pipe.
He then proceeded to smash its head with ferocity.
This strength, this ferocity.
Both the bald man and the brown curly-haired woman were taken aback.
A high school senior? Since when had high school students become so formidable?
“What’s your name?” the bald man looked at Li Yuan.
“Li Yuan.” Li Yuan replied.
“Li Yuan? Would you be interested in signing a contract with my Starry Sky Martial Hall?” The bald man revealed a smile which he assumed was kind, “I’m ‘Lu Huai’, the Hall Master of the Guanshan branch of the Starry Sky Martial Hall.”
Li Yuan was startled.
This bald man was a Hall Master, his position possibly comparable to that of Lord Wan?
He must be a Prime Warrior.
“Good to meet you, Hall Master Lu,” Li Yuan shook his head. “I’ve already signed a pre-contract with the Starfire Martial Hall.”
After thinking, Li Yuan added, “A B-level contract.”
“Starfire Martial Hall? A B-level contract?” The bald man was taken aback, “I haven’t heard of this, have I?”
“A B-level contract? Li Yuan, from the first high school?” The brown curly-haired woman’s eyes lit up as she teased the bald man with a wink, “Oh Lu, I remember now.”
“Last month, Xing Zixuan mentioned to me once that Lord Wan signed a B-level contract with a high school student.”
“Supposedly, it was poached from your Starry Sky Martial Hall, must be him.”
“I was intending to ask Lord Wan at the end-of-year meeting.” The brown curly-haired woman smiled indulgently at Li Yuan, “No need to ask now, your courage for taking initiative, facing danger fearlessly, and your spear technique that’s close to the Fourth Level is enough to justify a B-level contract.”
Li Yuan grew increasingly confused as he listened.
But he vaguely sensed that the brown curly-haired woman seemed quite familiar with Lord Wan.
“Poached by my Starry Sky Martial Hall? I wasn’t aware,” Lu Huai, the bald man, frowned slightly.
He looked at Li Yuan unconsciously.
“Don’t stare at Li Yuan. Don’t scare our little guy from the Martial Hall,” the brown curly-haired woman glared at the bald man, “If you want to know, go ask your people at the Martial Hall.”
“Fine, I won’t ask him anymore,” the bald man shook his head in resignation.
“Li Yuan.”
“Come, let’s take a photo, sign your name,” the brown curly-haired woman smiled at Li Yuan while opening her smart ring: “Don’t worry, I’ll report your deed of killing the Star Realm creature soon, and then notify your school. I’ll strive to get you an honorary title and a reward.”
“I appreciate it, senior,” Li Yuan was still somewhat dazed, but let her lead.
He quickly took a photo with the corpse of the Star Realm creature.
And signed his name on the light screen of the woman’s ring.
“Don’t call me a senior, my last name is Zuo.” The brown curly-haired woman looked at Li Yuan: “I’m the Vice Hall Master of the Guanshan branch of the Starfire Martial Hall, in charge of battle readiness patrols and retrieving Star Realm creatures.”
“Vice Hall Master Zuo?” Li Yuan was slightly startled.
He had heard other martial artists from the Starfire Martial Hall speak of her before, but he hadn’t paid much attention and didn’t look up her information previously.
“You know me?” Vice Hall Master Zuo smiled at Li Yuan, “Killing a Star Realm creature must be a first for you, right? Do you want to take a day off and rest at home?”
Killing a Star Realm creature for the first time, especially one of a humanoid species, could make many people nervous or even lead to psychological barriers.
“No need to take leave.”
“Vice Hall Master Zuo, I should go to school,” Li Yuan said seriously. “I still have classes today.”
“School?” Vice Hall Master Zuo was surprised, then she smiled, “I’ll give you a ride.”