“B-level contract?”
Song Yi sat on the sofa, murmuring to herself, “In a Level 5 branch, only the branch leader can sign a B-level contract, and there are only two spots each year.”
“To get more spots, you have to apply to the Jiang City branch or even the Jiangbei branch.”
Both the Starfire Martial Hall and the Starry Sky Martial Hall have branches that are roughly equal in rank.
The Guanshan District branch is a Level 5 branch, which is the most basic level.
The Jiang City branch is a Level 4 branch.
The Jiangbei Province branch is a Level 3 branch.
Above that, there’s the Xia Country headquarters, which is a Level 2 branch, and the Blue Star headquarters, which is a Level 1 branch.
“Wan Qinghe?”
“The rumors were true; he has a gambling nature.” Song Yi whispered to herself, “He’s already trying to show me who’s boss.”
“Let’s see how it goes.”
“A kid with decent spiritual power but hasn’t even awakened his Martial Spirit is only worth a C-level contract at best. Yet you give him a B-level contract? I’ll be waiting for your downfall.”
As a Source Martial Artist and the deputy branch leader, Song Yi didn’t actually care about losing a martial arts genius.
It was just that this situation made her feel embarrassed.
…
It was past ten at night in the Wanhua Platinum Residence, home of the Li family. Normally, at this time, Li Qianqian and Li Muhua would already be washed up and in bed.
But today, the living room lights were on, and the family was gathered together.
“Qianqian, Muhua.” Li Yuan sat on the sofa, his smart wristband’s screen lit up as he quickly filled out some information with his fingers.
Li Qianqian and Li Muhua stood excitedly beside him, staring at the screen.
Suddenly, a notification popped up on the screen, showing—family member card approved.
“Great!” Li Yuan smiled, “You two have your family cards now. Tomorrow, just do facial recognition, and you can enter the family area of the Starfire Martial Hall.”
“Wow! The Martial Hall!!”
“I only visited once during a school event, and the place was huge.”
“Practicing there must be way better than the community martial arts room.”
“Brother, is everything really free?” Li Qianqian and Li Muhua asked eagerly, full of excitement.
Chen Hui, sitting on a small stool, watched them with a smile.
“Not everything is free.”
“But things like fruits, drinks, basic therapy, the public martial arts room, and weekly public martial arts classes… those are all free. There are a few things you’ll need to pay for, like nutritional meals, but your family cards are linked to my account, so you can just swipe for small purchases,” Li Yuan explained. “From now on, you can have dinner at the Martial Hall every night and then practice in the public martial arts room.”
Middle school students don’t have evening classes.
“By nine o’clock, you should be at the Martial Hall entrance, waiting for me to take you home,” Li Yuan told his younger siblings.
As Level 3 members, the Martial Hall provides free ‘independent electric cars’ that can be summoned anywhere in Jiang City.
“Yay!”
“My classmate was bragging about having a W2 membership at the Martial Hall,” Li Muhua said with shining eyes. “Brother, I saw the introduction, and the family card has even higher privileges, equivalent to a W3 membership.”
“And therapy too,” Li Qianqian added excitedly. “I always feel so sore after practicing…”
The two siblings grew more and more excited as they talked.
Li Yuan looked at them and felt happy inside.
Starting from the second year of middle school, he had devoted himself to cultivation.
Wasn’t it all for moments like this, to improve their family’s situation?
Li Yuan always felt he was taking resources and care away from his younger siblings… being able to make it up to them was the happiest thing for him.
“Alright, the cards are done.” Chen Hui put away her smile and said seriously, “This is your brother’s hard work that got you signed up early.”
“I don’t expect you to be as outstanding as your brother, but you must work hard in the Martial Hall, understood?”
“Got it, Mom,” Li Qianqian replied with a smile.
“Mom, I’ll definitely learn from Brother and try to sign up early too,” Li Muhua said with determination. “Then I’ll buy you a big house.”
“Alright, I’ll wait for you to take care of me in the future. Now go wash up,” Chen Hui urged them to the bathroom.
A few minutes later, Chen Hui returned to the living room.
“Aunt, I just transferred one million Blue Star Coins to you. Did you get it?” Li Yuan said quietly.
“I told you, we still have money at home,” Chen Hui replied helplessly. “Once you become a martial artist, you’ll have a lot of expenses.”
“Aunt.”
“This money is for Qianqian and Muhua,” Li Yuan said seriously. “Muhua has awakened his Martial Spirit, and if he follows the right path, it won’t be hard to get into a martial arts university.”
“But Qianqian… she hasn’t awakened her Martial Spirit. She must not run out of basic vitality-enhancing elixirs; otherwise, her martial arts training will fall behind.”
“Qianqian’s martial arts talent…” Chen Hui hesitated. She hadn’t originally planned to let Li Qianqian delve deeply into martial arts.
“Aunt.”
Li Yuan interrupted her, “Qianqian’s martial arts talent isn’t high, but that’s why she needs to be trained diligently. In the college entrance exam, even if she takes cultural courses, martial arts still counts for 30%.”
“Qianqian does well in her cultural studies. As long as her martial arts score is decent, she has a chance to get into a C9 university,” Li Yuan said earnestly.
“As for me?”
“I have enough money left for now.”
“After the January exams, the school will also have scholarships,” Li Yuan smiled. “Getting into university comes with various rewards from the state.”
After a long discussion, Chen Hui reluctantly agreed to accept the money.
…
Late at night, back in his room.
“I gave Aunt one million Blue Star Coins.”
“My cash is down to 1.33 million.” Li Yuan glanced at his account balance.
The next cash deposit from the Martial Hall would be ‘1.2 million Blue Star Coins’ and would arrive in October next year.
In other words, Li Yuan’s current cash and Martial Hall points for buying various martial arts resources might not last until then.
But Li Yuan didn’t regret it.
“Money for martial arts training is never enough. If you want to find excuses not to spend, there will always be excuses,” Li Yuan thought sharply. “But for my younger siblings, these years are crucial.”
“Not enough resources?”
“I’ll find a way.” “There are three months until the January exams. I’ll give it my all to break into the top five.” Li Yuan hadn’t forgotten Teacher Xu Bo’s promise.
Breaking into the top ten would earn him 100,000 Blue Star Coins.
The top five would get him a special scholarship of 500,000 Blue Star Coins.
“First, I’ll learn the spear technique.” Li Yuan sat down in the virtual network pod and connected his consciousness.
He arrived in his personal training space.
It was empty, over 200 meters long and wide, and more than 50 meters high.
“Learning the ‘Starry Sky Spear Technique’,” Li Yuan announced loudly. “First time learning.”
Immediately, a large amount of light gathered, forming the figure of a sturdy man in a black battle suit. He held a long spear and had a fierce gaze.
He stared directly at Li Yuan.
The invisible aura he emitted made Li Yuan instinctively tense for a moment.
“Virtual teaching?” Li Yuan looked at the man in black.
“The ‘Starry Sky Spear Technique’ is a Level 2 spear technique, an upgrade from the Level 1 spear technique ‘Rock Spear Technique’.”
“The ‘Rock Spear Technique’ comes from the ‘Rock Foundation Cultivation Method’, meaning as steady as a rock and unmoving like a mountain.” The man in black said in a deep voice, “It emphasizes defense over offense and turning the enemy's strength into nothing…”
“Whoosh!”
As the man spoke, he began to demonstrate with the spear, whether withdrawing, stabbing, slashing, or blocking… each simple move looked so familiar to Li Yuan.
It was the ‘Rock Spear Technique’ he had practiced countless times, and from it, he could see the shadows of his own spear techniques.
Rock Pillar, Hidden Dragon in the Rock, Mountains in All Directions… one move after another.
They looked ordinary, but in the hands of the man in black, they had a magical quality.
“This!”
“This! This!” Li Yuan’s eyes widened. “I’ve been practicing spear techniques for years, first mastering the basic spear forms, then training in the ‘Rock Spear Technique’, and finally breaking through to the third stage, developing a few signature moves.”
“But how could my moves be so fluid? Perfectly flawless.” Li Yuan held his breath.
So powerful!
The same moves, but in different hands, the power was worlds apart; the man in black was much stronger than Li Yuan.
“Fourth stage.”
“The man in black is definitely demonstrating the fourth stage of spear techniques, truly integrating all his strength into one; he is the spear, and the spear is him.” Li Yuan realized, “This is the realm of a spear master.”
“The ‘Rock Fist Technique’ has eighteen moves.”
“The ‘Rock Spear Technique’ also has eighteen routines.” The man in black continued to demonstrate faster and faster, his voice booming: “But as you practice, you should try to gradually simplify the eighteen routines.”
“Ultimately forming five major killing moves.”
“Rock Pillar, Hidden Dragon in the Rock, Mountains in All Directions, Rock Clouds, and Rock Stabilizing Heaven and Earth.” The man in black listed them one after another.
The first three killing moves he mentioned were the same as the three signature moves Li Yuan had independently realized.
“What I’ve realized matches the basics in the ‘Starry Sky Spear Technique’?” Li Yuan felt quite excited.
This was enough to show that his spear training had been on the right track all along.
Of course, Li Yuan knew that these signature moves weren’t entirely his own insight; in a sense, it was thanks to Teacher Xu Bo’s guidance that he hadn’t deviated.
“Once you master the five major killing moves, your spear techniques should be close to the completion of the third stage, which means you’ve finished the basic training of the ‘Starry Sky Spear Technique’,” the man in black said. “At that point, you can try to cultivate the ‘Five Styles of the Stars’.”
“As long as you learn any one of them, it means your spear technique has entered the fourth stage.”
“In the future, if you fully understand all five styles and even grasp the essence of the stars… that will be the fifth stage of spear techniques.”
“The level of skill will be nearly divine, making you a master among all of humanity.” The man in black said, “Next, let’s practice the five major killing moves of the ‘Rock Spear Technique’ together.”
Then, the man in black continued to demonstrate, and Li Yuan also summoned a long spear.
He followed along in practice.
The man in black would break down and explain each move of the ‘Rock Spear Technique’.
By observing Li Yuan’s spear skills, he guided Li Yuan in his training, helping him understand the flow of power in the spear techniques.
This man in black was clearly an intelligent teacher.
As the training deepened, Li Yuan could feel the power of this Level 2 secret technique.
It was several times more efficient than figuring it out on his own.
“100,000 training points are worth it!” Li Yuan felt incredibly excited.
What he bought was not just a set of techniques.
There was also the guidance of an intelligent teacher throughout.
“However, practicing in the virtual world is just for mental learning. To truly teach the body in reality, a lot of training must be done in the real world,” Li Yuan knew this well.
Only when the mind and body are in sync can one truly learn.
…
After an hour of learning the ‘Starry Sky Spear Technique’, Li Yuan began to learn the ‘Dragon Movement Technique’ in the virtual space.
This was also a very exquisite movement technique.
…
It was past one in the morning when Li Yuan finally exited the virtual network and went to the window, where everything was silent.
“Virtual training is just a supplement.”
“The real important thing is reality. First, I’ll practice the ‘Great Sun Starry Sky Sutra’ for two hours, then go to school for training,” Li Yuan thought, sitting cross-legged and entering the Spiritual Palace in his mind.
It was around four in the morning when Li Yuan left home and ran toward the school.
He hadn’t gone to school this late in a long time.
…
The senior year was very dull, but Li Yuan enjoyed it, going back and forth between school, home, and the Martial Hall.
He felt his strength improving day by day.
Day after day.
In the blink of an eye, over two months had passed.
(End of Chapter)