“`
“164th place? That’s six more than last week,” Li Yuan nodded slightly.
Li Yuan had to admit, his Martial Arts Skills had indeed improved quickly.
But when looking at the number of martial arts geniuses globally, there were still a lot of them.
“Xiao Yu, is there any extra reward for reaching the top 1,000 worldwide?” Li Yuan asked with a smile.
“Nope,” the girl answered. “However, according to Master’s age, as long as you reach the Fallen Star stage before turning 18, you can get a reward of 500,000 Blue Star Coins.”
Li Yuan nodded slightly, but his goal was not the 500,000 Blue Star Coins rewarded by the Starry Skies Fighting Network.
The most important thing was the A-level contract with the Martial Hall.
“To upgrade from a B-level contract to an A-level, one of the three criteria is to reach 300 points in the Fallen Star stage of the Starry Skies Fighting Network before the age of 18,” Li Yuan thought to himself, looking forward to it.
Once the contract was upgraded, the many resources granted by the Martial Hall would soar significantly.
The total value was at least tens of millions of Blue Star Coins.
Whew!
Li Yuan’s thoughts shifted, and he exited the virtual network.
…
It was a little past three in the morning.
Like in the past, Li Yuan arrived at school early.
In the Martial Arts Room 4011, the lights were fully turned on, and the recording and skills’ analysis functions were all activated as well.
“Huh!”
Li Yuan stood at the center of the Martial Arts Room, beginning to practice the Solid Rock Fist Technique.
He stood there like an immovable boulder, and as he moved dynamically, his fists and palms alternated.
“Boom~” Every now and then, the Martial Arts Room would resound with explosive sounds caused by the movement of air.
Solid Rock Foundation Initiation, Steady as a Pillar, Hidden Dragon in the Gorge, Millstone Push, Stone Bears All Life, Rock Anchors the Universe… These were moves of the Fist Technique that Li Yuan had practiced thousands of times before.
Performing them today, however, he felt a completely different sensation.
“Rustle~” Li Yuan’s heart was utterly tranquil.
In the midst of practicing the Fist Technique, he quietly felt the flow of blood in his body like a rushing river, sensed the powerful beating of his heart, and even more so the layered transfer of muscle strength and the connection of tendons and flesh.
All his vigor converged into the Great Dragon of his spine… With Li Yuan’s powerful spiritual power, he could deeply sense all of this.
Every bit of strength in his body was under his control.
With just a thought, he could perfectly maneuver his body’s power without wasting an iota.
Everything within his body was under his ‘perception’ as if he had an extra pair of eyes inside.
“Is this what the teacher referred to as ‘internal vision’?” Li Yuan marveled silently: “In ancient traditional martial arts, this is precisely the grandmaster realm that countless martial artists sought.”
The times were different.
In ancient times, without Cultivation Methods, without various cultivating instruments, and certainly without something as miraculous as the virtual network, reaching the grandmaster realm was extremely difficult for martial artists.
This was the pinnacle of ancient martial arts.
But in today’s Advanced Martial Era, the grandmaster realm? Though still a milestone in the Martial Arts Realm.
Among countless Martial Artists, this realm was hardly a secret.
“In the past.”
“With my powerful spiritual power, I could also vaguely sense the subtleties of my body’s muscles, bones, and tendons.”
Li Yuan carefully felt and familiarized himself with it: “However, it was not as clear as it is now.”
“Internal vision allows me to control every bit of strength in my body and to clearly perceive the state of every corner of my body.”
“This means that when I next practice the Basic Cultivation Method, the efficiency will be even higher,” Li Yuan thought with great joy.
Why does the Martial Arts Cultivation of the entire human civilization place such importance on Martial Arts Skills?
Because it is indeed important.
It’s fundamental.
For example, one of the three requirements to become a Second Rank Prime Warrior is for Martial Arts Skills to reach the Fourth Stage.
[Your Fist Technique Realm has improved from Fourth Stage 0% to Fourth Stage 1%]
[Your Fist Technique Realm has improved from Fourth Stage 1% to Fourth Stage 2%]
One prompt after another flashed on the Divine Palace panel.
After two more hours, Li Yuan repeatedly practiced the Fist Technique, taking breaks to stand in stakes intermittently.
He had pushed his Fist Technique Realm up to Fourth Stage 5% before coming to a stop.
“The force is now perfected.”
“Control is at a level of subtlety,” Li Yuan revealed a trace of a smile: “Having just made a breakthrough, I managed to significantly improve my Fist Technique Realm with a bit of consolidation.”
“Progressing beyond this will become increasingly difficult.”
Li Yuan wasn’t in a hurry to practice his Spear Technique, as the premise of Body-Mind-Weapon Integration is the unity of body and mind.
As long as his Fist Technique Realm is high enough, his Movement Technique will naturally enter the Fourth Stage, and with a bit of practice, his Spear Technique can break through as well.
“`
“`
Like many martial arts grandmasters, they never really practiced with weapons much in their lifetimes, but any weapon that came into their hands would have an effect that would transform the decayed into the miraculous.
Why?
Because their unity of body and mind had reached an extremely high level, that is, the perfection of the Fourth Stage.
Thus, any weapon they picked up, after a brief familiarization, could quickly unleash the standard of Fourth Stage martial arts skills.
…
Li Yuan did not know that when he surged into Blue Star’s youth rankings, into the global top 1000.
The system of the Starry Skies Fighting Network had already automatically sent the relevant documents to Xia Country’s Martial Arts Hall, Starry Sky Martial Hall, and Starfire Martial Hall.
The top 1000 were in fact those under key observation, especially those with vast improvements like Li Yuan.
…
At eleven o’clock in the morning, at the Starry Sky Martial Hall, Guan Mountain branch.
“Bang~”
“Lu Huai! You absolute jerk!!” Dressed in rather dazzling attire, Song Yi slammed the teacup in her hand onto the ground, where tea and shards flew in all directions.
The scene she had just been called into by Lu Huai lingered in her mind.
He handed over the documents about Li Yuan.
Then, he said in a casual tone, “Hall Master Song, regarding the matter of Li Yuan signing a contract ahead of time, I personally feel you were somewhat inconsiderate. If the higher-ups pursue accountability in the future, you should brace yourself mentally.”
It seemed as if there was no scolding.
But such words were already a severe accusation of her ‘negligence’.
“It’s just the global top 1000, what’s so great about that?” Song Yi gritted her teeth. “It’s not as if his Spear Technique has broken through to the Fourth Stage, deserving such a big fuss. And he specifically had to call me over?”
But in reality.
Song Yi was feeling some regret in her heart.
Although she could not see each specific battle scene of Li Yuan, the documents sent to the Martial Hall had already detailed Li Yuan’s recent combat record and win rate.
An 88% win rate at the Gold Stage!
A winning streak of over fifty matches at the highest.
How exaggerated was that? It was enough to prove that Li Yuan’s martial arts skills had reached the perfection of the Third Stage, only a hair’s breadth from stepping into the Fourth Stage Realm.
If it were just a seventeen-year-old’s perfection of Third Stage skills, that wouldn’t be too extraordinary.
The key point is, a year ago, Li Yuan was still at the Silver Stage with Second Stage skills on the Starry Skies Fighting Network.
This rate of progress was terrifying.
Over so many years, Song Yi had not seen such a formidable martial arts prodigy in Guan Mountain District.
“Hmph.”
“Perfection of the Third Stage? How many martial artists are stuck at this step? And it’s uncertain whether they can break through before the age of eighteen,” Song Yi thought to herself. “Besides, even if he breaks through, so what? Without awakening the Martial Spirit to become a Prime Warrior, who knows how many years that would take.”
Her irritation stemmed from feeling embarrassed.
And because of that, she was annoyed with Li Yuan.
However, Song Yi never considered harming Li Yuan. While competition existed between different Martial Halls, they were more cooperative than competitive overall, all sharing the same goal—to fight for human civilization.
…
At the Starfire Martial Hall, Guan Mountain branch.
On the twelfth floor.
“Li Yuan, in the global top 1000 of the Blue Star youth rankings?” Dressed in traditional Chinese attire, Hall Master Wan looked at the document in his hands, slightly surprised. “So soon?”
After a brief moment of thought.
Wan Qinghe communicated with Xu Bo to inquire in detail about Li Yuan’s various cultivation aspects.
He then called coach Xing to inquire about Li Yuan’s recent status at the Martial Hall.
Having completed all this.
“This Li Yuan is truly an uncut gem,” Wan Qinghe, looking at the compiled information in his hands, was somewhat surprised. “With so little resources, his physical quality has also improved so quickly?”
“Could it be that he is actually the kind of individual with top-tier physical talent, who just lacked the appropriate high-rank Cultivation Methods?” Wan Qinghe speculated in his heart.
But he was not certain.
After pondering for a while.
Wan Qinghe activated his smart wristband and selected a prominently marked contact from his list.
He dialed.
Beep—beep—call connected.
Hum~ a holographic screen formed, showing a burly man holding a combat saber, his presence formidable.
“Brother Wan, what’s the rush to find me? What’s the matter?” the burly man asked jocularly.
“Ninth Senior Brother.”
“Isn’t Kunlun Martial Arts University about to conduct a special training invitation inspection in Jiangbei Province?” Hall Master Wan spoke with great respect. “I’d like to recommend someone to you in advance.”
“`