Li Yuan turned down the kind offer from the left hall master. After chatting for a bit, he made his way to school alone.
However, to protect him, the left hall master ordered two spider battle robots to follow Li Yuan until he was almost at school, and then they left.
Inside the school? In big cities now, places like schools, research institutes, government buildings, and large shopping malls all have battle robots stationed there. There are also many battle robots patrolling the streets and neighborhoods.
Because of this, small-scale attacks by creatures from the star realm are quickly dealt with as soon as they are spotted. While there may be a few casualties, nothing major happens. This system has gradually formed over hundreds of years alongside the progress of human civilization and technology.
Li Yuan arrived at school just before seven. He headed straight to the cafeteria.
Outside, the wind howled, but that didn’t stop the cafeteria ladies from cooking on time.
“Brother Yuan, over here!” Zhou Qi waved to Li Yuan.
Li Yuan bought some soy milk and two bowls of hot dry noodles and sat down with his classmates.
“Li Yuan, I’ve noticed you’ve been coming in late lately,” Li Tianyou said, eating heartily.
“Aren’t there warnings for attacks by star realm creatures? I wait until the warnings are lifted before I come out,” Li Yuan replied with a smile. “Aren’t you all doing the same?”
“I’m waiting for the warnings to be lifted too.”
“My dad drove me to school because he was worried about danger.” The others chimed in, “I heard a lot of people died last night over by Binhuh Road.”
“Ugh!”
“Let’s hope none of them were from our school.”
Even though a star realm creature attack that caused dozens of casualties happened in Guanshan District, Li Yuan's classmates sighed but seemed somewhat used to it.
It was happening way too often.
“Li Yuan,” Li Tianyou said seriously, “It’s not just today. You’ve been coming in later than me for the past two months.”
“Are you getting a bit lazy?”
“I just can’t keep up,” Li Yuan joked. “You’re the real top student in our class.”
Since signing with the Starfire Martial Hall and learning two second-tier techniques, Li Yuan often practiced spear techniques and movement techniques late into the night in the virtual network.
So, he didn’t always get to school before five, and sometimes he even arrived after six.
“Tianyou, do you think everyone is like you? Up before the rooster and sleeping late like a donkey,” Zhou Qi teased. “Look at you, you’ve lost weight since school started. Take it easy.”
“Yeah, Tianyou, you’re pushing yourself too hard. Remember to eat more vitality-enhancing elixirs,” Yan Zhou added. “You can’t skimp on martial arts training.”
“Mm, I know,” Li Tianyou mumbled as he focused on his food.
Li Yuan casually glanced at Li Tianyou.
He could easily tell the level of Li Tianyou’s physical constitution… Li Tianyou was indeed training hard, but his physical condition wasn’t improving much.
It was clear he wasn’t getting enough nutrition.
Li Yuan would occasionally remind him, but Li Tianyou only remembered it in words… After a few times, Li Yuan chose to stay quiet.
Everyone has their own fate; one can only be responsible for oneself.
“Brother Yuan, the January test is coming up soon, and we’ll have the spiritual potential test again,” Zhou Qi put down his bowl. “What do you think?”
“Spiritual potential test?” Li Yuan was taken aback, then shook his head. “I don’t know.”
The other classmates started discussing it.
The spiritual potential test adds 10% to the total martial arts score, which could change a person’s fate, enough to help students who had no hope of entering a martial arts university to get a chance…
In this era, unless one’s academic scores can reach the C9 level, most students understand that martial arts have a brighter future than academics.
However, getting into a martial arts university is extremely difficult.
“You killed a ranked creature and received spiritual nourishment, your spiritual awakening level is now at 0.6%,” Li Yuan quickly finished his breakfast and was lost in thought, looking at a recent message that appeared on the Divine Palace Panel.
This message came from when he killed a creature from the fish spirit clan, and even the Divine Palace Panel had changed.
——
[Life Level: 7.8 (Not Ranked)]
Physical Constitution Index: 81 (This measures various aspects like explosive power, endurance, speed, physique, and spiritual power.)
Fist Power: 732 kg
Speed: 17.4 m/s
Spiritual Power: Level 14.2
Spiritual Awakening Level: 0.6% (Current limit 20%)
Body Cultivation Method: Rock Foundation Cultivation Method
Spiritual Cultivation Method: Great Sun Starry Sky Sutra
Technique Levels: Spear Technique (Stage 3, 88%), Movement Technique (Stage 3, 65%), Fist Technique (Stage 3, 99%)
[Note: At spiritual awakening levels of 25%, 50%, 75%, 100%, and 125%, spiritual guidance will gradually be obtained.]
——
“Spiritual awakening level, what is that?” Li Yuan wondered. “Is it related to the compatibility with advanced cultivation methods?”
The Divine Palace Panel didn’t provide an explanation for this. Or rather, since he started sensing the Divine Palace, Li Yuan hadn’t received much explanation.
Most of it was based on his own understanding.
“According to the last line on the Divine Palace Panel, if my spiritual awakening level reaches 25%, I can get spiritual guidance?” Li Yuan frowned. “But the highest I can reach now is only 20%.”
What is spiritual guidance? Li Yuan wasn’t sure.
But he had a guess in his heart. The high-level spirit shown on the Divine Palace Panel and the martial spirit valued by human civilization seemed to be different concepts.
“If I want to raise my spiritual awakening level,” Li Yuan thought, “I must kill ranked star realm creatures to obtain spiritual nourishment?”
“Is the nourishment meant to nurture my own spirit?”
For now, he only had one example, so Li Yuan couldn’t verify his guess.
However, with a spiritual awakening level of 0.6%, Li Yuan felt like he hadn’t changed much.
“Most likely, I need to raise the awakening level to 25% to see a significant change. Maybe I’ll get something as beneficial as the Great Sun Starry Sky Sutra,” Li Yuan felt a bit hopeful. “But how do I raise the limit from 20% to 25%?”
“Is it through physical constitution? Or spiritual power?”
“Or maybe a breakthrough in martial arts techniques?”
Li Yuan had no idea.
……
After pondering over the changes in the Divine Palace Panel and coming up empty, Li Yuan decided to ignore it.
So far, the Divine Palace Panel only recorded his martial arts progress and had never directly improved his strength… His power still relied on Li Yuan’s step-by-step training.
“No matter what spiritual awakening is,”
“For now, I’ll just keep practicing steadily. When I’m stronger, maybe I’ll understand,” Li Yuan thought.
Killing star realm creatures for experiments? Li Yuan quickly dismissed that idea.
This time, when he killed the fish spirit clan, it was partly because he was strong enough, and partly due to luck, as the opponent was injured.
If he encountered an uninjured ranked star realm creature, even if it was only level 11 or 12, with their absolute physical advantage, Li Yuan would almost certainly lose.
Besides, even if Li Yuan wanted to kill, where would he go to do it?
“No rush. I’ll think of a way when the limit rises to 25%,” Li Yuan remained calm.
……
“I have some bad news to share.”
“Last night, in the star realm creature attack, one student from Class 16 and one from Class 8 were confirmed dead,” the cultural class teacher, Teacher Chen, announced heavily from the podium.
Silence fell over the room.
Even the few students who were chatting stopped.
This wasn’t the first time, and the deceased weren’t from their class… But they were from the same school, which was enough to move all the students.
“Star realm creatures.” Li Yuan’s expression tightened, and he instinctively clenched his fists.
Almost everyone has lost friends or classmates throughout their lives.
“The school will start a donation campaign, and the supervisory account has been published on the campus website,” Teacher Chen continued. “We won’t count the amount or disclose the names of the donors. After the deadline, the funds will be directly handed to the families of the two students.”
“Everyone can donate according to their own situation; it’s not mandatory.”
“Alright, let’s continue the lesson.”
“Everyone, look at the second-to-last question. This question is a popular type for this year’s exam, and it will definitely be on the college entrance exam. I’ve gone over it many times, but many students still get it wrong. I’ll explain it one last time. It’s worth fifteen points, so listen carefully…”
……
“In this star realm creature attack,”
“Two students lost their lives.” In the martial arts classroom, Teacher Xu Bo stood like a tower, his voice booming: “I want you to understand.”
“This world has never known peace.”
“I don’t expect all of you to get into martial arts universities, nor do I require you to join the military and go to the front lines, but I hope you don’t slack off in martial arts.”
“Be a bit stronger.”
“In the future, if you face similar dangers, your chances of survival will be higher.”
……
In the end, the star realm creature attack in Jiang City resulted in a total of eighty-six deaths.
However, it didn’t cause much of a stir, not even making it to the trending list on the virtual network in Xia Country for a full day.
Because,
The Lobu Sea erupted once again in an unprecedented large-scale battle, with star realm creatures attacking like a tide. In just one day, the military reported over three thousand deaths…
……
On January 3, 2043, in Jiang City, the January test for the third-year students was held as scheduled.
(End of Chapter)