The library reserved for Martial Arts Students stood right beside the training grounds, a two-story building with only an old man guarding the entrance.
When Li Ye walked over, the old man did not even glance at him, merely scrolling through his phone.
Seeing that, Li Ye paused. "Sir, I'm going in."
The old man did not even lift his eyelids. He waved a hand, signaling for Li Ye to enter, with no intention of stopping him at all.
That left Li Ye rather bewildered.
"Sir, I said I'm going in." Li Ye repeated himself.
The old man looked up and said impatiently, "It's not some dragon's pool or tiger's den. Do you need to report to me before going in? I'm not blind. If you weren't on the main team, why would you come here with your head held so high and such confidence?"
Li Ye laughed. "What if someone who isn't on the main team comes?"
"Why learn so many martial arts? Bite off more than you can chew. They all circulate Qi anyway; one or two makes no difference. You'll only drag down your own progress for nothing."
The old man waved him off indifferently. "Don't worry, you can't take them out of the school. Even if you could, martial arts gyms wouldn't think much of them. If they wanted them, they'd have taken them long ago. If you take a liking to one, come register it."
"Alright then, you rest up."
Li Ye chuckled and walked inside.
Then he understood why the old man had been so fearless.
In his impression, martial arts were either passed down through word of mouth and personal instruction, or compiled into manuals. But the martial arts in this library were not like that. Damn it, they were videos with introductions.
Rows upon rows of tablets sat on the shelves, each displaying a name and a brief description.
Golden Goose Skill: glide like a goose, arms spread like wings.
Li Ye opened the video and tugged at the corner of his mouth again.
The figure in the video was not even a real person, but a crude 3D dummy with only the simplest torso and limbs. The dummy used the surrounding environment to kick off in two or three steps, rising into a leap. Once in the air, it spread its arms in a soaring posture, hung there for quite a while, then dove down. Its feet kicked off a stone below, smashing it to pieces.
This was a martial art focused on Lightness Skill, with some leg techniques mixed in.
Ascending Ladder: rise and leap lightly, climb with both arms.
Li Ye opened another video. The dummy inside made a leap, its feet paddling through the air as it stepped across a row of hedges at high speed. Then it reached a wall, using both hands and feet as its legs kicked rapidly upward. Its hands dug into the wall as it climbed, instantly gouging several holes into it.
This was a Lightness Skill that also incorporated claw techniques.
Li Ye went through them one by one. There was the Sixteen Styles of Tablet Breaking Loose Hands, specialized in fist techniques, every move capable of splitting steles and shattering rocks.
There was the Whirlwind Skill, with fierce leg techniques. The dummy in the video truly looked like the Street Fighter game Li Ye had played in his previous life. One leg stretched out and swept low through the air, turning into a whirlwind as the whole body spun, kicking an opposing dummy flying with a single blow.
There were also body-tempering arts like the Iron Shirt Armor Refining Skill and Essence Blood Condensation Skill, all powerful physical martial arts meant to withstand blows.
There were weapon martial arts as well: sabers, spears, swords, halberds, axes, battle-axes, hooks, forks, tridents, sickles, lances, staffs, whips, rods, hammers, and claws. Each was stranger than the last. Common weapons like sabers, spears, and swords were actually fewer in number; the stranger the weapon, the more there were.
After looking through several rows of martial arts, Li Ye confirmed one thing: everything those martial arts videos could accomplish was already encompassed by his own martial art. He could do all of it.
Split steles and crack rocks? He could knead iron like mud.
Block blades and swords head-on? With his hardness, that would be effortless.
Those that trained Qi and stamina could not compare to his Dragon Gate. Those that trained strength and attack could not compare to his Tiger Gate. Those that trained defense could not compare to his Golden Palaces.
Even in terms of Lightness Skill, his Dragon Gate was stronger than the martial arts here.
Top-tier martial arts encompassed everything. There truly seemed to be no need to learn anything else.
But Li Ye still wanted to test it.
He chose a tablet labeled Green Lotus Dust Breaking Skill, a saber technique, and brought it to the old man at the entrance.
The old man took a glance, sat before the computer, and clicked a few times. "Add a contact on your phone. I'll send you the materials."
Li Ye: "..."
He had lived in a modern world for so many years, yet when martial arts suddenly became modernized, he still felt a little awkward.
After obtaining the martial art, Li Ye returned to the training grounds and began circulating his Qi according to the materials.
This martial art focused on saber techniques, but it was not only saber techniques. A complete martial art necessarily contained a complete chain. It also included fist and foot techniques such as chopping palms, a dedicated movement technique, and a bit of body tempering.
The Qi circulation route ran mostly through the arms, with some involvement of the legs and feet.
When it came to circulating Qi, Li Ye had the authority's blessing. He was a genius among geniuses, the sort who learned something after seeing it once.
Following the materials, Li Ye circulated his Qi, condensed his blood and Qi, and ran it through the route once. Then he raised his palm and chopped downward as if bringing down a saber, producing a booming gust of wind.
The power looked decent, but that was due to his own strength. It had little to do with the move itself.
What mattered was the issue with blood and Qi.
After circulating it, he discovered that this martial art's increase in blood and Qi was pitifully small, even smaller than the Foundation Building Technique's.
Learning martial arts posed no difficulty for Li Ye, but increasing blood and Qi was a matter of aptitude.
It was like being handed a set of problems written in heavenly script. Blood and Qi sensing meant being able to easily understand what was written on the page, while aptitude determined how one solved it.
The better one's aptitude, the simpler the problems became.
For Li Ye to learn martial arts with his ordinary aptitude was like using high school knowledge to tackle doctoral-level questions—and damn it, they were math problems. If he could not do them, then he could not do them. He could train himself to death and still not figure them out!
No wonder so many people remained at the First Dragon Gate their entire lives.
Sure enough, only what suits me is best. Although the Twelve Golden Palaces Dragon Tiger Gate lowers blood and Qi before raising it again, it is actually more suitable for me now. Li Ye thought.
He had chosen a martial art only to see how much other martial arts increased blood and Qi.
These clearly basic martial arts produced only a tiny increase even for someone with ordinary aptitude like him. Martial Arts Students like them who had come up from preparatory classes truly had little aptitude to speak of.
Li Ye quickly gave up on this martial art. There was no need to keep blindly pondering things in the future. Focusing wholeheartedly on improving himself was the proper path.
"What are you practicing?"
Yao Leden walked over at that moment and asked curiously, "Is that your breakthrough martial art?"
"No. I went to the library just now and learned a saber technique."
Li Ye answered truthfully, "I'd never learned anything else before, so I wanted to give it a try."
Yao Leden's eyes widened. "You learned it after one look? Were you building a foundation in preparatory class before? What kind of divine martial art needs a foundation built in preparatory class?"
Li Ye smiled. "More or less."
Before obtaining the authority, he really had been laying a foundation. Studying General Knowledge also counted as laying a foundation; otherwise, how would he have had the means to kill demons?
"What is there to practice in martial arts like that? What you're practicing is breakthrough martial arts. If all you want is to increase blood and Qi, the Foundation Building Technique is enough. When it comes to increasing blood and Qi, the Foundation Building Technique is the strongest."
"Huh?"
Jia Dong had finished circulating his Qi and approached at that moment. Hearing this, he asked, "What do you mean? Did I learn martial arts at the gym for nothing? Teacher Gu just told me to learn a body-tempering art, saying my physical fitness was not that good. Going by what you said, I just need to increase my blood and Qi?"
Yao Leden said, "Of course there's a difference. If you don't learn martial arts, you won't get into a good university. Even ordinary Martial Arts Universities are divided into tiers."
"The First through Third Dragon Gates are all for entering ordinary Martial Arts Universities. But if you only practice the Foundation Building Technique, it will basically be difficult for you to get into a good school. Places like Police Officer University require a martial arts foundation. With only the Foundation Building Technique, you won't even pass the assessment."
"Even if you want to graduate and enter a better company, many companies have assessments too, and they test martial arts strength. So you still have to practice what you should practice. You can't escape it."
Jia Dong clicked his tongue. "Being a Martial Arts Student isn't easy either."
Yao Leden rolled her eyes. "Who told you it was easy? When you return to school, you practice martial arts. When you leave school, you undergo practical training. You practice the Foundation Building Technique, martial arts that increase your strength, and martial arts that make up for your weaknesses. Once you learn them and become stronger, you go out for practical training again, obtain more resources, then continue practicing. You'll be so busy you won't even have time to sleep."
"The school term has only just begun. You still have a week to rest and adapt, so cherish it. Next week, you'll start running nonstop."
Before you continue