“Luo Feng, tomorrow is the Warrior Combat Assessment. Are you confident?”
“Haha, Teacher, of course I’m confident!”
“Hmm, with your strength, there’s no need to worry, but even a lion uses its full strength to hunt a rabbit. This is your first time facing monsters, even if they are just the weakest H-level monsters, you can’t underestimate them…”
Zhou Ze gave a few instructions, then smiled and hung up the phone.
“Time really flies…”
On the rooftop of his villa, Zhou Ze stood in an open area, gazing up at the endless starry sky. He touched his empty left arm with his right hand, feeling a mix of excitement and hope, which ultimately turned into a sigh.
Even after waiting for decades, waiting for Luo Feng to be born and now begin his rise, what then? This world, this starry sky, ultimately belongs to geniuses and evildoers. What if an ordinary person like him, even with the help of his convenient disciple Luo Feng, becomes an Undying in the future? He would still just be an ordinary person.
As someone who was a post-90s individual in both his previous and current lives, even without a golden finger cheat or system after transmigrating, he could still earn a large sum of money and achieve financial freedom by relying on his foresight, enjoying life.
But just as he was preparing to make a big splash, a piece of information about the R-type flu virus disrupted all his well-laid plans.
As an old bookworm who had read and watched "Swallowed Star" multiple times, he was all too familiar with the R-type virus; such a virus did not exist in his previous life.
Zhou Ze frantically searched online, and after several days of continuous confirmation, he knew that he had probably transmigrated into the novel's world.
He was first in a daze, then incredibly excited. He had initially thought he had transmigrated into an ordinary parallel world, but he never expected it to be such an extraordinary world, a fantasy sci-fi world where great power was concentrated within oneself. This was simply too wonderful!
However, misfortune soon arrived.
In the two years leading up to the arrival of the RR-type virus, he trained his body relentlessly while studying martial arts and even cultivating his state of mind. He successfully survived the RR-type virus and became a warrior!
He fantasized about becoming a master of Earth alongside Hong and Thunder God, establishing his own martial hall, and then venturing into the cosmic starry sky. However, the idea was good, but reality was cruel.
As a warrior, he was a genius in the eyes of ordinary people, an unattainable figure. Among warriors, he was also an extraordinary Warlord-level warrior. But upon reaching the intermediate Warlord level, he found that no matter how brutally he trained himself, he couldn't improve even a tiny bit, and might even regress.
Of course, he was unwilling to accept this. To that end, he wanted to accelerate his body's evolution through life-and-death tempering, as described in the novel!
Life and death, one is death, the other is life. After undergoing life-and-death tempering and nearing death, he lost an arm and seemed to have lost his spirit as well.
Rather than saying he lost his spirit, it was more accurate to say he recognized himself and accepted his fate. Since that was the case, he decided to cling to Luo Feng's leg. Since the path of a warrior was no longer viable, a different way of living wasn't bad either.
As a post-90s individual, he was no stranger to virtual online games. And in the future cosmic era, what kind of game couldn't be experienced in the Virtual Universe? Just thinking about it was quite beautiful.
After making his choice, Zhou Ze began to lay low. He arrived early at the Dojo of Limits in Yian District to serve as an ordinary martial hall teacher. Then, to be safe, he also concurrently served as a martial arts teacher at Yian District's Third High School, and successfully tricked Luo Feng into becoming his convenient disciple.
He had no talent in martial arts, but he seemed to have some talent in teaching. After years of his guidance, although Luo Feng's physical quality was no different from the original work, his basic blade techniques and movement techniques were far stronger than at this point in the original work. His blade techniques had already touched upon the artistic conception, and his movement techniques had reached the 'Subtlety' level through his own ability, rather than relying on Psycher power.
“Virtual Universe, just thinking about it is exciting. As long as I have money, I should be able to completely customize those Japanese anime, Chinese anime, and even web novels…”
“Tsunade, Lighters, Queen Medusa… they’re all mine, all mine…”
“And some indescribable hentai… *slurp*…”
The Virtual Universe hadn't even appeared on Earth yet, but Zhou Ze seemed to already be immersed in Virtual Universe games. As a post-90s individual, he completely understood Luo Feng's parents.
As for the path of a warrior, without a golden finger or cheat, he saw no hope whatsoever.
...
Jiangnan City North Military Region.
“Hoo, hoo.” Luo Feng took several deep breaths. The scene of the monster's neck being severed and blood gushing out still made him somewhat uncomfortable.
Killing a monster for the first time was truly shocking.
“No wonder Teacher said that many prospective warriors, upon seeing blood for the first time, can't even exert one-tenth of their strength. Thankfully, I was mentally prepared. What I need to do is overcome and adapt!”
Time passed bit by bit. After Luo Feng completely adapted to the blood and slaughter, he began to train his movement techniques.
“Teacher said that although my movement techniques have reached the ‘Subtlety’ level, they still lack something without true life-and-death combat. Daily practice is definitely different from actual combat…”
Luo Feng, who was using monsters to hone himself, had no idea that the blade techniques he initially displayed, imbued with a hint of artistic conception, had already attracted many people. Now, his demonstration of ‘Subtlety’-level movement techniques shocked those monitoring the screens!
“Subtlety-level movement techniques! Definitely Subtlety-level movement techniques!” The burly man in front of the monitor gasped, “He’s only 18 years old. It’s one thing for his blade techniques to cross the threshold of artistic conception, but he actually comprehended ‘Subtlety’-level movement techniques, and without any combat experience yet. This is too exaggerated!”
“How do you know he’s 18?” The military officer beside the burly man was startled, “You know him?”
“His name is Luo Feng. Damn it, he was recruited by the Dojo of Limits ahead of time.” The burly man said bitterly, “The Dojo of Limits got lucky. This Luo Feng is only 18 years old, and not only is his physical quality good, his comprehension is also so high!”
“Before becoming a warrior, he already comprehended artistic conception-level blade techniques and ‘Subtlety’-level movement techniques without experiencing life-and-death combat. He will definitely be able to join the Elite Training Camp in the future!”
“No!”
The burly man slammed the table, “Such a genius cannot be snatched by the Dojo of Limits! Luckily, I was fortunate enough to come with you for a drink and saw this.”
...
“Teacher, I passed the combat assessment.” Luo Feng smiled, then whispered a complaint, “Teacher, why didn’t you tell me that artistic conception-level blade techniques and ‘Subtlety’-level movement techniques are so rare? I was almost scared to death by that supervisor from Thunder Martial Hall…”
“If I told you, your tail would be wagging up to the sky.” Zhou Ze laughed.
“Haha, this actually isn’t much, right, Teacher? You know I’m a Psycher Master. My strength is actually stronger than a typical elementary Warlord. It won’t be long before I’m stronger than you, Teacher…”
Luo Feng paused, not finishing his sentence.
Zhou Ze, who had long planned to cling to Luo Feng, laughed indifferently, “The student surpasses the master. A disciple doesn't have to be inferior to his teacher, haha. If you’re stronger than your teacher, your teacher will only be happy. What’s there to be embarrassed about?”
“It seems you’ve forgotten the classics I told you to read. Go back and review them more. You must know that reviewing the old helps you learn the new!”
Luo Feng said with a slight embarrassment, “Teacher, today is a happy day, can you let me relax a bit? Oh, by the way, do you have time tonight? I’d like to treat you to a meal to thank you for your guidance all these days.”
“Alright, it’s a rare happy day…”
Zhou Ze smiled and hung up the phone. Luo Feng passing was inevitable. Even without him, Luo Feng would have easily passed. However, Luo Feng, who now possessed both artistic conception-level blade techniques and ‘Subtlety’-level movement techniques, clearly made the supervisor of Thunder Martial Hall lose his composure, very likely causing him to lose face, almost directly attempting to snatch him.
After having dinner with Luo Feng's family that evening, and receiving numerous thanks from them, Luo Feng called again the next day, before noon.
“Teacher, this Nine Heavy Thunder Blade… you used to tell me to practice ‘speed’ just for cultivating the Nine Heavy Thunder Blade now?” Luo Feng showed a hint of surprise.
Zhou Ze smiled and nodded, “That’s right. The fundamental essence of the Nine Heavy Thunder Blade is speed. Do you remember when I told you to clear your mind of everything while practicing, imagining the instant a lightning bolt flashes?”
Luo Feng said excitedly, “Yes, you reminded me countless times. I used to think you were a bit long-winded, but I never imagined it was all to prepare for cultivating the Nine Heavy Thunder Blade in the future.”
Zhou Ze rolled his eyes. This Luo Feng had been completely led astray by him, a bit too unrestrained. He didn’t know if it was good or bad. He was clearly his convenient master, but their interactions were like friends with an age gap.
This wasn't his fault; he could only blame himself for not maintaining a teacher's dignity in his usual demeanor.
“You’re asking for a beating! Don’t be so cheeky…” Zhou Ze put on a teacher’s authoritative tone, “You should pick up the Nine Heavy Thunder Blade very quickly, but to master it, you need to understand its profound meaning. This is a technique created by Thunder God. To learn his blade techniques, you need to understand the creator’s background…”
As he spoke, Zhou Ze suddenly paused, remaining silent for a long time. This made Luo Feng a bit surprised, thinking Zhou Ze had hung up or that the signal was bad.
“Hello, hello, Teacher, can you hear me?” Luo Feng asked a few times, and soon received Zhou Ze’s reply:
“I can hear you.” On the other end, Zhou Ze’s expression was a bit bewildered. Hearing Luo Feng’s voice, he immediately began explaining again:
“…The hidden force of the Nine Heavy Thunder Blade can not only be used in your blade techniques, but also in your speed…”
“…The combination of blade techniques, movement techniques, and Guiding Technique is the true Nine Heavy Thunder Blade…”
Zhou Ze mentioned many precautions. Luo Feng listened attentively. As he listened, Luo Feng felt a little surprised. These detailed aspects were not in the secret manual. This was known as the most difficult ultimate blade technique in the world to cultivate, with numerous warriors failing to even get started on the first level. Yet, his teacher could explain it so thoroughly. It seemed his teacher was extraordinary in the past.
Moreover, he had a strange feeling, that his teacher was like a roundworms in his stomach. Wherever he didn't understand, wherever he had a problem, Zhou Ze could directly state it.
“Alright, that’s enough for now. Talking more is not as good as practicing it yourself. You practice it, and if you don’t understand anything, you can call me or come to my house.” Zhou Ze finished speaking and hung up the phone.