Top Martial Arts

"Hello, that'll be 253 yuan."

Liu Qingxia skillfully scanned and bagged the items, processing each customer's payment. Just as she finished with the last customer and was about to take a break, her phone buzzed with a message.

Glancing down, she saw it was an instruction to go to the warehouse and organize new arrivals.

Liu Qingxia left the counter and headed towards the warehouse, casually scanning the supermarket's shelves as she went, already planning what ingredients to buy for tomorrow.

Even though signing her son up for martial arts training was on hold, she couldn't skimp on food. Especially during the summer break, her son had found someone to teach him martial arts on his own, so she needed to be on top of the logistics.

Maybe I should buy some more expensive ingredients.

As she was thinking this, her phone rang again.

Liu Qingxia answered, "Xiao Ye, what's up?"

Then, she jolted, nearly dropping her phone, her voice trembling, "Really?"

"It really broke?!"

Meanwhile, in the maintenance office, Li Haihua excitedly stood up, drawing the attention of his nearby colleagues.

"Good! That's great! I knew you were destined for both scholarly and martial pursuits! Wonderful! Did you tell your mom? Okay! Okay!"

Li Haihua said "okay" several times before hanging up, a wide, irrepressible smile on his face.

A colleague teased, "Old Li, what's the big news?"

Li Haihua burst into laughter, "My son broke through the Dragon Gate!"

At this, his colleagues offered their congratulations.

These ordinary people didn't have many complicated power struggles. Even if someone disliked him, they would offer pleasantries on the surface; there were no deep-seated grudges.

Breaking through the Dragon Gate, in their understanding, meant securing a stable job early on, not something that would incite jealousy.

Besides, some of them had contributed to the money Old Li had borrowed a few days ago.

"You have to treat us to a meal, Old Li."

"Yeah, such great news, you should host a few tables."

Hearing his colleagues, Li Haihua waved his hand with a proud flourish, not in refusal, but because no further words were needed.

Li Ye took a taxi to the Pest Control Bureau, which had the Environmental Sanitation Bureau's sign hanging above it, and went up to the third floor.

After telling his parents, he also sent a message to Pan Zhengyang, who had told him to come over immediately.

He knocked on the door. A voice inside said, "Come in." Li Ye pushed the door open and saw Pan Zhengyang on the phone.

It wasn't a mobile phone, but a landline on his desk.

"I understand. I'll issue the order once the documents come through. We'll investigate thoroughly. Yes, yes, I understand."

After he hung up, he clicked his tongue, "All industries related to martial arts in Ningjiang City are going to be thoroughly investigated. If you have related businesses, you can give them a heads-up."

Li Ye chuckled, "Three generations of labor, no business genes."

"Perhaps your generation will be the one to benefit from your influence."

Pan Zhengyang teased before looking Li Ye up and down, "You said 3 PM, and you're here at exactly 3 PM? Activate your Blood Essence and let me see."

Li Ye nodded, tensed his body, and activated his Blood Essence. A faint, ethereal glow, like a halo or steam, manifested around him.

As the mist rose, it pulsed once with a steady rhythm.

The manifestation of the Dragon Gate Realm, the substance of Blood Essence – once activated, one could see how many times it pulsed.

Li Ye was a solid First Dragon Gate.

But when Pan Zhengyang first met him, he was certain Li Ye's Blood Essence was weak and unsolidified; he was just an ordinary martial arts practitioner.

"Damn it, he's this accurate? Someone with this kind of aptitude among the preparatory students?"

Pan Zhengyang muttered in confusion, but quickly shook his head, "There are all sorts of people in a big forest; it's not that unusual."

Aptitude, in itself, lacked a quantifiable standard, which was why there were remarkable individuals like Fu Yan, who started practicing martial arts at twenty-eight and broke through to the third realm.

Pan Zhengyang said, "Normally, there's no set time for breaking through to Blood Essence. Diligent practice can lead to a breakthrough, and relying purely on Guiding Methods can also work. The so-called estimated evaluations are just experienced judgments based on physical strength."

"Some break through in two months, while many others do it in two days. But to be this precise, your control over your body and your perception of Blood Essence must be incredibly strong. It's a rare talent."

He gestured for Li Ye to sit down, offered him a cigarette, and lit one for himself. "Let me ask first, what are your future plans?"

Future plans.

A long time ago, after understanding this world, Li Ye had ambitiously wanted to stand at the pinnacle of martial arts.

Then, reality struck, and he settled for just being able to make his Blood Essence pulse.

Later, he discovered he lacked talent and only wanted to live as a decent ordinary person.

But now that he had gained Authority, his goal should have returned to standing at the pinnacle of martial arts. Yet, he felt that people should still take things one step at a time.

So...

"I want to kill a god."

This surprised Pan Zhengyang. He stared at Li Ye for a long time, and after confirming Li Ye wasn't joking, he burst into laughter.

"Hahahaha! Demons named after gods aren't easy to kill!"

Li Ye also laughed, "Maybe it'll be easy with me."

"Good! Ambitious!"

Pan Zhengyang chuckled, "If you want to kill gods, you need good martial arts. Your talent is perfect for a particular martial art."

Once you reach the Dragon Gate Realm, you learn martial arts.

The martial arts school Li Ye used to attend taught the [Seventy-two Thunder Legs] in the Dragon Gate Realm. In other words, his 'Springing Leg' was the foundation for the Seventy-two Thunder Legs.

Only martial arts could allow people in the Dragon Gate Realm to continue condensing Blood Essence and achieve Qi Circulation.

High schools taught the [Foundation Building Technique] in their martial arts track, which was universally used and balanced.

Martial arts schools offered more powerful and effective techniques, but their tuition was expensive.

Li Ye had planned to choose the Foundation Building Technique in the martial arts track. With his Authority, Qi Circulation was no longer a problem for him, so there was no need to spend money at a martial arts school. He could decide on a new martial art after entering university.

After all, the main purpose of the Dragon Gate Realm was to condense Blood Essence.

But now, judging by Pan Zhengyang's words, he seemed to think Li Ye's current 'talent' was suitable for a certain martial art.

"Are you going to teach me a martial art?" Li Ye asked.

"Me? I don't teach people. I can chop people, though."

Pan Zhengyang looked at Li Ye, "But there's someone who can teach you a top-tier martial art. It's up to you whether you learn it."

Li Ye's eyes widened slightly. "Something this good is available to me?"

He knew that martial arts had different levels of strength.

Even if two people broke through Blood Essence, the value would be different. It was like comparing a regular university graduate to someone from Tsinghua or Peking University in his previous life.

"You'll definitely benefit if you master it," Pan Zhengyang said. "I won't hide it from you. The main reason is that this martial art is special. Normally, someone like you, who has attended preparatory school, wouldn't even qualify to learn it."

Li Ye twitched his lips but said nothing.

"Its progress is slow. Even someone with exceptional talent who broke through the Dragon Gate in elementary school would only progress like an ordinary person practicing martial arts if they learned this technique."

"Then who would want to do it?"

"Exactly, that's the point," Pan Zhengyang spread his hands. "Talented people don't want to learn it because there are easier top-tier techniques. Untalented people can't learn it because they truly lack the aptitude. Plus, there's a requirement: you must be able to sense changes in Blood Essence."

"You seem pretty good at sensing changes in Blood Essence. You can give it a try."

"Also, learning this martial art is incredibly arduous, much more so than the training methods at martial arts schools. But I guarantee that if you master it, you'll be invincible at the same level. Let me put it this way: if I had encountered this back then, I would have been completely dominated."

Pan Zhengyang added, "I graduated from a Top Martial Arts University."

Only those who reached the Seven Dragon Gates were eligible to apply to top martial arts universities.

Was it that powerful?

Li Ye thought about it and realized he was indeed suitable, even perfectly suited.

In terms of talent, his was poor. But with his own hard work and effort, he could ignore talent. He didn't care at all about the slow progress.

The exquisite sensing of Blood Essence from the 'Qi Devourer' also met the condition he mentioned.

Arduous?

Strength was the most important thing.

Blood Essence was one thing, strength was another. What was the use of just having Blood Essence? To continue dealing with 'gods' and gain more Authority, he needed to be strong.

"I'll learn it!" Li Ye agreed readily.

"Someone will call you later," Pan Zhengyang said with a smile, seeing Li Ye's agreement. "They won't charge you money. To be honest, this martial art is almost lost. If you can truly master it, they'll sell everything they own to support you. It's okay if you can't master it; it's difficult to begin with. I'm just fulfilling a request to find a disciple."

"But mastering it will benefit your future."

Pan Zhengyang bit his cigarette, exhaled a puff of smoke, and then thought of something else. "Let's talk about something else. You said before you wanted to join the Pest Control Bureau. You can now. The First Dragon Gate has no pollution based on the records. Are you interested in a part-time job?"

Li Ye was stunned. "You don't need a diploma?"

Pan Zhengyang rolled his eyes. "Of course, you need one! There's an exam, you know that, right? But in our system, martial arts attainment is your diploma. If you're interested, this is settled. For a part-time position, we won't make you take the exam."

"And I'll get paid five times?" Li Ye asked.

"For a data clerk, it's one salary. Since you're part-time, we won't pay your five insurances and one fund. We'll increase your salary a bit. You don't have to come every day; we'll call you when needed. It'll also count as a reward for any successful reports you make."

As he spoke, he opened a drawer, took out a large pack of square paper boxes, and a few new magazines, and placed them on the table.

"These are the bullets for the gun I gave you last time. I won't keep you any longer. Go down and fill out a form, and you're officially hired."

Li Ye thanked him, took the bullets, put them in his backpack, and left.

After Li Ye left, Pan Zhengyang picked up his phone and made a call.

"Old Xu, do you want a disciple or not? If you do, give me a word, and then get over here yourself."