“A B-level contract?”
Song Yi sat on the sofa, murmuring to herself, “In a fifth-rank branch of the hall, only the hall master is qualified to sign a B-level contract, and there are at most two quotas per year.”
“To obtain more quotas, one must apply to the Jiang City branch or even the Jiangbei Provincial branch.”
Whether it’s Starfire Martial Hall or Starry Sky Martial Hall, the rank of each branch is basically equivalent.
The Guan Mountain District branch is a fifth-rank branch, also the most basic level branch.
The Jiang City branch is a fourth-rank branch.
The Jiangbei Provincial branch is a third-rank branch.
Further up, there is the Xia Country headquarters as a second-rank branch, and the Blue Star headquarters as a first-rank branch.
“Wan Qinghe?”
“The rumors are indeed true, he has a gambling nature.” Song Yi whispered to herself, “Just arrived, and he is already showing me his power.”
“Just you wait.”
“A little guy with decent spiritual power whose Martial Spirit hasn’t even awakened, at best is worth a C-level contract, and you actually give a B-level contract—I’m going to watch your joke.”
Being a Prime Warrior herself and the Vice Hall Master, Song Yi didn’t truly care about missing out on signing a martial arts prodigy.
It was just that this matter made her feel embarrassed.
…
It was past ten o’clock at night, at the Wanhua Platinum Mansion, the Li household, where usually at this time, Li Qianqian and Li Muhua would have already washed up and gone to bed.
Today.
The living room lights were on, and the whole family was present.
“Qianqian, Muhua.” Li Yuan sat on the sofa, the holographic screen of his smart ring opened, his fingertips moving across the screen, swiftly filling in the information.
Li Qianqian and Li Muhua were both excitedly standing next to Li Yuan, staring at the screen.
Suddenly.
A pop-up window on the screen jolted, displaying — Dependent’s Card review passed.
“Great.” Li Yuan showed a smile, “Your two dependent cards are set up now, tomorrow you can just use facial recognition to enter the family area of Starfire Martial Hall.”
“Wow! The Martial Hall!!”
“I only visited during a school activity last time, the venue is so huge.”
“Practicing there must be way better than in the residential area’s Martial Arts Room.”
“Brother, is everything really free?” Li Qianqian and Li Muhua asked with great excitement and enthusiasm, pestering Li Yuan.
Sitting on a small stool, Chen Hui watched this scene with a smile.
“Not everything is free.”
“But things like fruits, drinks, basic physiotherapy, the public martial arts room, and the weekly public martial arts classes… these are all free. There are a few things that cost money, such as nutritional meals, but your dependent cards are linked to my account already.
If you want to buy something small, just swipe the card.” Li Yuan said, “From now on, have dinner every night directly at the Martial Hall, then practice in the public Martial Arts Room.”
Middle schoolers don’t have evening self-study sessions.
“At nine o’clock in the evening, come to the entrance of the Martial Hall building and wait for me; we’ll ride home together.” Li Yuan looked at his younger siblings.
L3 members, the Martial Hall will provide a ‘private electric car’ free of charge, with right of use, and available on call within Jiang City.
“Yay.”
“Last time, my classmate even bragged to me that he got a W2 level membership card of the Martial Hall.” Li Muhua’s eyes lit up with excitement: “Brother, from what I read, the permissions for a family card are even higher, comparable to the W3 level membership card.”
“And there’s physiotherapy.” Li Qianqian also said excitedly, “After I practice each time, my whole body aches to death…”
The siblings discussed more and more animatedly.
Li Yuan looked at the excitement of his brother and sister, feeling joy in his heart.
He had been wholly devoted to cultivation since the second year of junior high.
All to improve the family conditions like today, wasn’t it?
Li Yuan always felt that he occupied the resources and affection meant for his younger siblings, and being able to compensate them was the happiest thing for him.
“Okay, the cards are taken care of.” Chen Hui reined in her smile and said seriously, “This is because your brother worked hard and risked his life to get an early contract.”
“I don’t expect you to be as outstanding as your brother, but you must work hard to cultivate while in the Martial Hall, understand?”
“We know, Mom.” Li Qianqian said with a smile.
“Mom, I’m definitely going to learn from brother and strive to sign a contract with the Martial Hall in advance too.” Li Muhua said with a determined expression, “Then I’ll get you a big house.”
“Okay, okay, I’ll wait for when you can take care of me later, now go wash up.” Chen Hui hurried 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, you received it, right?” Li Yuan spoke softly.
“I’ve told you, we still have money at home.” Chen Hui said helplessly, “Once you become a martial artist, you’ll have no end of places to spend money.”
“Aunt.”
“This money is for Qianqian and Muhua’s preparation.” Li Yuan spoke earnestly, “Muhua has awakened his Martial Spirit; following the standard procedure, it won’t be difficult to get into Martial Arts University.”
“But for Qianqian… she hasn’t awakened her Martial Spirit, and she must not be cut off from basic Qi-blood potions, otherwise, she won’t be able to keep up with martial arts cultivation.”
“Qianqian’s martial arts talent…” Chen Hui hesitated, as she hadn’t planned to let Li Qianqian pursue deep martial arts training.
“Aunt,”
Li Yuan interrupted Chen Hui’s thoughts, “Qianqian’s talent for the Martial Path may indeed be low, but that’s exactly why we must strive to cultivate her all the more. For the college entrance exam, even if she takes the academic route, the martial arts score still accounts for 30%.”
“Qianqian has good academic grades. As long as her martial arts grades are slightly better, she has a chance of getting admitted to a C9 university.” Li Yuan stressed.
“As for me?”
“The money I have left is enough for now.”
“After the January mock exam, the school will have scholarships.” Li Yuan said with a smile, “If I get into university, there are various state awards.”
After a lot of persuasion, Chen Hui finally agreed to accept the money reluctantly.
…
Late at night, upon returning to his own room.
“I gave Aunt one million Blue Star Coins.”
“I have 1.33 million left in cash.” Li Yuan glanced over his account balance.
The next cash deposit from the Martial Hall, ‘1.2 million Blue Star Coins’, wouldn’t arrive until next October.
One could say.
Li Yuan’s current cash and Martial Hall points, used for purchasing various martial arts resources, may not last until then.
But Li Yuan had no regrets.
“In martial arts cultivation, money is never enough. If you want to make excuses not to give, there’s always an excuse.” Li Yuan’s eyes shone fiercely, “But for my brother and sister, these years are also the most critical.”
“Resources not enough?”
“Find another way.”
“There are still three months until the January assessment test, give it your all, and break into the top five.” Li Yuan had not forgotten Teacher Xu Bo’s promise.
Breaking into the top ten of the grade, one hundred thousand Blue Star Coins.
The top five, a Special Scholarship of five hundred thousand Blue Star Coins.
“Let’s start with learning Spear Technique.” Li Yuan sat inside the virtual network pod, connecting his consciousness to it.
He arrived at his personal cultivation space.
It was empty, with both length and width exceeding 200 meters, and the height was also over 50 meters.
“Learn the ‘Stellar Spear Technique’.” Li Yuan said loudly, “First time learning.”
Immediately.
“Boom~” A large amount of light converged, eventually forming the figure of a burly man in a black battle garment, wielding a long spear with a sharp gaze.
He looked straight at Li Yuan.
The intangible aura he emitted caused Li Yuan to instinctively tense up, but it was only momentary.
“Virtual teaching, huh?” Li Yuan looked at the man in black.
“The ‘Stellar Spear Technique’ is a Second Level Spear Technique, an advanced evolution of the First Rank ‘Solid Rock Spear Technique’.”
“The ‘Solid Rock Spear Technique’ originated from the ‘Solid Rock Cultivation Technique’, embodying the steadiness of a boulder, immovable as a mountain.” The man in black spoke deeply, “It emphasizes defense over offense, turning the enemy’s momentum into nothingness…”
“Whoosh!”
As he spoke, the man in black swung his long spear, performing various moves—retracting, thrusting straight, slamming down in fury, whipping, and parrying with the spear… The seemingly simple techniques appeared so familiar to Li Yuan.
Indeed, it was the ‘Solid Rock Spear Technique’ that he had practiced countless times, and within it, he also saw shadows of the unique spear moves he had derived.
Solid Rock Pillar, Cavern-Hiding Dragon, Myriad Mountain Vistas… one technique flowed into the next.
They all looked quite ordinary, but in the hands of the man in black, there was a transformative magic to them.
“This!”
“This! This!” Li Yuan’s eyes widened, “I’ve been practicing spearwork for several years, first mastering the basic techniques, then cultivating the ‘Solid Rock Spear Technique,’ eventually breaking through to the Third Stage, and deriving a few unique moves.”
“But my techniques, how could they be as coherent? Perfectly impregnable.” Li Yuan held his breath.
So formidable!
It was the same technique, but the power varied greatly depending on the practitioner. The man in black was far stronger than Li Yuan.
“Fourth Stage.”
“The Spear Technique demonstrated by this man in black is definitely of the Fourth Stage Realm, truly unifying all of his body’s vigor as one. He is the spear, and the spear is him.” Li Yuan realized, “This is the realm of a Spear Technique Master.”
“The ‘Solid Rock Fist Technique’ has eighteen forms.”
“The ‘Solid Rock Spear Technique’ also has eighteen routines.” The man in black’s practice grew faster, but his energy was powerful, his voice resonant as a large bell, “But as you continue practicing, you must try to gradually simplify the eighteen routines.”
“Ultimately forming five major killing moves.”
“Solid Rock Pillar, Cavern-Hiding Dragon, Myriad Mountain Vistas, Cloud Layered Peaks, Rock-Stabilizing Heaven and Earth.” The man in black listed consecutively.
The first three killing moves he mentioned were also exactly the ones Li Yuan had independently realized.
“What I’ve realized is the same as the foundational part of the ‘Stellar Spear Technique’?” Li Yuan felt greatly excited in his heart.
This was enough to show.
His Spear Technique cultivation had been on the most correct path all along.
Of course, Li Yuan was aware that those few killing moves were not entirely realized by himself. In some sense, it was Teacher Xu Bo’s repeated guidance that had kept him from straying.
“Once you master the five major killing moves, your Spear Technique should approach Third Stage Perfection, which also means completing the foundational cultivation of the ‘Stellar Spear Technique’.” The man in black said, “At that point, you can try to cultivate the ‘Stellar Five Moves’.”
“As long as you learn any one of those moves, it represents that your Spear Technique has stepped into the Fourth Stage Realm.”
“If in the future,”
“you manage to fully comprehend the ‘Stellar Five Moves,’ even reaching the Stellar Realm… that will be the Fifth Stage Spear Technique Realm.”
“The skill level will be nearly divine, ranking as a master among all of human civilization.” The man in black continued, “Now, follow me and practice the ‘Solid Rock Spear Technique’s five major killing moves.”
Subsequently, the man in black persisted in his demonstration, and Li Yuan too materialized a long spear.
And began to practice along with him.
The man in black would break down every move of the ‘Solid Rock Spear Technique’, practicing them part by part.
Through observing Li Yuan’s standard of Spear Technique, he would lead him in his cultivation, assisting Li Yuan in comprehending the nuances of force transition between the changes in spear moves.
This man in black was clearly an intelligent teacher.
And as his practice deepened, Li Yuan could feel the power of this Second Rank Secret Manual.
It was several times more efficient than his solitary contemplation.
“One million Cultivation Points, worth it!” Li Yuan was extremely excited in his heart.
What he purchased was not merely a manual.
But also the full guidance of an intelligent teacher.
“However, practicing in virtual reality is just mental learning. To truly learn with the physical body, there needs to be extensive training in reality.” Li Yuan was very clear about this.
Mind and body must learn together; only then is something truly learned.
…
After studying the ‘Stellar Spear Technique’ for an hour, Li Yuan began to learn the ‘Dragon Movement Technique’ in the virtual space.
This was also a very exquisite movement technique.
…
In the early morning after 1 AM, Li Yuan exited the virtual network and came to the window, the world silent.
“Virtual cultivation is an aid.”
“The key is still reality, first cultivate the ‘Observing the Great Sun and Stars Scripture’ for two hours, then head to the school for practice.” Li Yuan thought to himself as he sat cross-legged, his mind’s consciousness already entering the Mind Spirit Divine Palace.
At past 4 AM, Li Yuan finally left home and ran towards the school.
It had been a long time since he went to school that late.
…
Senior year learning was tedious, yet Li Yuan found joy in it, constantly moving between school, home, and the Martial Hall.
Feeling his own strength increase day by day.
Day after day.
In the blink of an eye, over two months had passed.
