In the Star Combat Network, personal space.
Li Yuan's consciousness just returned. Suddenly, countless lights and shadows gathered, forming the figure of a girl dressed in ancient blue clothing.
"Guardian Yuan, congratulations on making it to the Blue Star Youth Ranking. Your status in the Star Combat Network has been elevated." The girl smiled slightly, "From today on, I will be your exclusive smart assistant in the Star Combat Network, serving you throughout your journey. You can give me a name."
"Exclusive smart assistant?" Li Yuan was a bit surprised.
AI technology in this era was already quite advanced. As far as Li Yuan knew, usually, only those who spent a significant amount of money in the Star Combat Network could get an exclusive smart assistant. He didn't expect that simply being on this so-called Blue Star Youth Ranking would grant him one.
"Xiao Yu." Li Yuan said directly, as he had named his smart wristband Xiao Yu as well.
"Xiao Yu is very happy to serve you." The girl bowed slightly, looking very pure.
"I want to check the Blue Star Youth Ranking and the order of the list," Li Yuan stated.
"Yes." Xiao Yu waved her youthful hand, and a projection appeared in front of Li Yuan.
There were lots of text descriptions along with various images and videos. Li Yuan quickly understood.
"The Blue Star Youth Ranking is compiled by the Star Combat Network. Anyone who reaches 500 points in the Gold Rank is eligible to enter," Li Yuan thought to himself. "It's rumored that behind the Star Combat Network are the Seven Star Alliance, the Three Major Martial Halls, and various countries... It serves both as a high-intensity training ground for martial artists and a way to select martial arts geniuses."
Looking at it now, the rumors were true.
"The Blue Star Youth Ranking purely evaluates martial arts skills." Li Yuan nodded slightly, "That makes sense. The Star Combat Network's selection doesn't consume extra resources, making it quite easy."
"If it also evaluates physical constitution and talent... then it would be like the college entrance exam." Li Yuan couldn't help but smile.
Whether for human civilization as a whole or for a specific country, there would always be efforts to select talented individuals in science and martial arts... the college entrance exam is the largest and most comprehensive evaluation method.
The Star Combat Network, however, is a specialized selection for martial arts skills.
"The Blue Star Youth Ranking covers the entire Blue Star, and the list resets every September 1st..." Li Yuan continued to read.
"Any youth under 18 years old by September 1st of each year is eligible to enter the next year's Blue Star Youth Ranking."
Li Yuan suddenly realized that this so-called Blue Star Youth Ranking did not consist solely of minors. The oldest person on the list might be close to 19 years old, for example, someone born on September 2nd.
However, if someone is truly a martial arts genius and reaches 500 points in the Gold Rank at just 14 or 15 years old, they could potentially be on the Blue Star Youth Ranking for four or five consecutive years.
"Wow, this current Blue Star Youth Ranking has been updated for less than a month?" Li Yuan thought. "In less than a month, 4,684 people made it onto the list?"
And that was just within the Blue Star.
Looking at the seven major planets of human civilization, how many people must be on the list?
By next year, in August, how many more would there be?
This was just the martial arts geniuses that emerged within a year on the Blue Star.
"Anyone who can reach 500 points in the Gold Rank must have martial arts skills that are at least as good as mine." Li Yuan shook his head slightly. "In Guanshan District's top high school, I stand out."
"But on a global scale? That doesn't mean much." Li Yuan calmed down.
He realized how insignificant he felt.
The world was indeed vast.
"However, the journey is taken step by step. At least I've made it onto the list." Li Yuan smiled again, "In Jiangbei Province, there are only 47 people, and I suspect most of them are second or third-year students."
In Jiangbei Province, there are over a million third-year students.
At least in terms of martial arts skills, Li Yuan had already reached the forefront among those million students.
A year ago, Li Yuan wouldn't have dared to imagine achieving such results.
After reading all the content, he noticed something.
"Rank rewards?" Li Yuan's gaze fell on the last page, his eyes lighting up.
--- Rank Rewards (Before 18 years old):
1. Reach 500 points in the Gold Rank, reward of 50,000 Blue Star Coins.
2. Reach the Meteor Rank, reward of 500,000 Blue Star Coins.
3. Reach the Moonlight Rank, reward of 20 million Blue Star Coins.
--- Rank Rewards (18 to 30 years old):
1. Reach the Meteor Rank, reward of 10,000 Blue Star Coins.
2. Reach the Moonlight Rank, reward of 200,000 Blue Star Coins.
3. Reach the Solar Eclipse Rank: reward of 5 million Blue Star Coins.
"That's outrageous," Li Yuan thought to himself. "A reward of 20 million Blue Star Coins?"
Twenty million!
An ordinary person would need to work for a hundred years to hope to earn that much.
But Li Yuan had to admit, the difficulty was indeed high, requiring one to reach the Moonlight Rank before turning 18.
If someone is over 18, even if they reach the Moonlight Rank, the reward drops to just 200,000 Blue Star Coins.
"Not to mention the Moonlight Rank, it might even be hard to reach the Meteor Rank before turning 18," Li Yuan shook his head and casually asked, "Xiao Yu, how many people on the Blue Star Youth Ranking have reached the Meteor Rank?"
"As of today, there are 44," Xiao Yu replied. "But I can't disclose the specific names."
Li Yuan nodded.
He had just tried to check and found that he could only see general statistics about the list.
But specific names? Who made it onto the Blue Star Youth Ranking?
That was not available.
"Perhaps this is a form of protection," Li Yuan thought. "In a sense, those who make the list are future martial arts powerhouses, but they haven't fully developed yet."
Though there are ways to gather information through various countries' school exam results and college entrance exam scores, the difficulty of collecting information in both cases is clearly not on the same level.
"Rewards." Li Yuan looked at the three rank rewards on the page, pondering.
"The Moonlight Rank? That's too far-fetched, a bit unrealistic."
"But the Meteor Rank?"
"My birthday is on August 29th, so I have about eleven months to hone my martial arts skills."
"Even if I don't reach it before the college entrance exam, that's okay. I can continue to work hard after the exam."
"As long as I reach the Meteor Rank, I'll get a reward of 500,000 Blue Star Coins." Li Yuan set his goal in his heart.
He was filled with anticipation and motivation.
Because this was a truly achievable goal.
As long as he reaches 1,000 points in the Gold Rank and then goes through the promotion match, he can become a Meteor Rank martial artist.
"I'll try matching a few more times." Li Yuan couldn't help but click on 'Rank Matching.'
Six minutes later.
"Lost!"
"Lost!"
"Three consecutive matches, all against opponents with over 600 points, and I lost them all." Li Yuan returned to his personal space, feeling quite helpless.
Not only did he not gain points, but he also fell back to 491 points.
Li Yuan calmed down.
"Looks like 500 points is indeed a threshold. With my strength, I can win over 80% of the time against opponents below 500 points." Li Yuan reflected on today's battles. "Against opponents with 500 points, especially those above 600 points, my win rate is less than 30%."
"This shows that my martial arts skills are still far from being able to dominate at the Gold Rank."
If he couldn't be nearly undefeated at the Gold Rank, how could he hope to reach the Meteor Rank?
That's basically a pipe dream.
Every rank level in the Star Combat Network has a huge gap, making it almost impossible to cross.
"Xiao Yu, if my points drop below 500, will it affect my rewards?" Li Yuan asked.
"It won't affect it."
"The Blue Star Coin rewards are based on your highest historical score," Xiao Yu smiled. "The reward of 50,000 Blue Star Coins will be directly deposited into your bank account after the unified review on Monday."
"Okay." Li Yuan nodded.
The Star Combat Network, as the top game in the virtual network, is officially endorsed... it's trustworthy.
"Exit." Li Yuan thought and left the virtual network.
...
After leaving his room.
"Brother, come eat an apple. I’ve cut it for you." His sister, Li Qianqian, called from the sofa.
"Okay." Li Yuan smiled, "What are you watching? What show is this?"
"Brother, it's not a drama; it's a documentary, 'Exploration of the Lobu Sea Star Realm.' It's about our country's first explorer entering the Lobu Sea for the first time..." His younger brother, Li Muhua, explained enthusiastically.
"Oh?" Li Yuan nodded, sitting down and eating the apple while watching the documentary with his brother and sister.
The Star Realm is very special; many technological devices become ineffective there.
Plus, with numerous Star Realm creatures roaming around, it's dangerous... Over the decades, human civilization has been in constant battle, but there isn't much footage or information about the depths of the Star Realm.
"These explorers are all martial artists. They can easily leap up cliffs dozens of meters high," Li Muhua exclaimed.
"Without martial arts skills, who would dare to venture into the Star Realm?" Li Yuan laughed. "Besides, they aren't just ordinary martial artists."
At the very least, their physical constitution must exceed level 20!
...
After watching the documentary for half an hour, their aunt came out of the master bedroom and urged everyone to go to bed.
After washing up, Li Yuan returned to his room.
He didn't rush to tell his aunt about his achievement of reaching 500 points in the Gold Rank.
"I'll wait until both sums of money are actually deposited." Li Yuan stood barefoot in his room.
"I spent the whole day in the virtual network."
"I can't slack off on the Basic Cultivation Method."
"I'll practice the Rock Foundation Cultivation Method for two hours, then practice the Great Sun Starry Sky Sutra." Li Yuan quickly made his decision.
For Li Yuan, being able to eat something with his brother and sister and watch a show was a rare chance to relax.
Martial arts cultivation has no shortcuts.
It's all about day-to-day accumulation.
...
In the deep of night.
When Li Yuan woke up around three in the morning, quietly left home, and headed to school.
In Jiangbei Province, the Martial Arts Hall.
The intelligent system and duty personnel had received a seemingly inconspicuous document for review.
"Blue Star Youth Ranking 2042-2043, the 4684th ranked person, name 'Li Yuan,' registered residence 'Guanshan District, Jiang City, Jiangbei Province'... Please conduct a comprehensive assessment of this individual within 10 days to confirm whether they qualify for special recruitment as a martial artist."
(End of Chapter)