High-Rank Ordinary Warrior

Amid He Qingqing and the other three little brats' chattering explanations, the warriors who had gathered around more or less understood what had happened. Then they looked at Su Hao with strange expressions. They could not believe it and still doubted whether it was true.

Su Hao cast a pleading look at his father, Wu Yuntian. Wu Yuntian merely frowned, seemingly lost in thought.

He could only explain awkwardly, "Don't listen to Qing Qing and the others' nonsense. I only managed to kill it because I got lucky. When that coyote pounced at me, it seemed to have stumbled over something. At the critical moment, I don't know where I found the courage, but I slashed wildly with my knife. I never expected to kill the coyote by sheer chance."

For a four- or five-year-old child to defeat a strong coyote alone was far too shocking for everyone. It was somewhat hard to swallow. But once luck was added to the equation, it was different. If killing the coyote had been entirely due to luck, everyone could accept that.

All the warriors seemed to agree with Su Hao's explanation.

"You're lying!" He Qingqing shouted loudly the moment Su Hao finished speaking.

He Jianyong immediately stepped forward and pulled He Qingqing away. "Qing Qing, don't talk. There's still danger. Lu Gao, take these children back first!"

After saying that, he led the warriors to search the village for any coyotes that might have been missed.

The matter soon passed, but Su Hao's deed of single-handedly killing a Green-Eyed Coyote spread throughout the village. They all believed that luck had played a part in Su Hao's killing of the Green-Eyed Coyote, but even with luck, not just anyone could kill a coyote.

One had to know that the average strength of every adult coyote was at the level of a High-Rank Ordinary Warrior. Su Hao's ability to kill one was enough to show that he possessed some real strength himself. His name as a Genius Martial Artist also began to spread through Tea Mountain Outpost.

"Father, everyone in Tea Mountain Outpost knows that I've started practicing martial arts now. That won't be a problem, right?"

Afterward, Su Hao remained on tenterhooks for some time. He was no stranger to the saying, "The tree that rises above the forest will be the first to be broken by the wind." He knew this world differed from his previous life. There were no robust laws or enforcement systems here. The more gifted someone was, the more easily they drew jealousy, and the greater the danger they faced.

Still, to be honest, having safely weathered the crisis made Su Hao breathe a sigh of relief. He knew he now possessed some ability to protect himself. From here on, the accidents that could cut his life short would only grow fewer and fewer.

Wu Yuntian shot Su Hao a baffled glance and shook his head. "This is Tea Mountain Outpost. There isn't so much rotten nonsense here. Don't worry."

Then he turned and looked seriously at Su Hao. "Xiangwu, tell me honestly. What level are you at now?"

Su Hao was not sure what his current state was either, so he voiced his guess. "My Blood Qi should have already reached the limit my body can bear. I feel that if I keep increasing my Blood Qi, it'll harm my body."

"Is that so? Logically speaking, your Blood Qi shouldn't have grown so quickly. Could it be because of the Blood Qi Strengthening Wave?"

Su Hao nodded. "Probably. I can also feel the bottleneck in Blood Qi concentration that you mentioned, Father, but I only needed to make a slight adjustment to the frequency of the Blood Qi Strengthening Wave, and the bottleneck naturally broke through."

Wu Yuntian's heart gave a violent twitch, leaving him speechless. The Blood Qi bottleneck that gave everyone such splitting headaches had been broken through with ridiculous ease by the Blood Qi Strengthening Wave his own son had come up with.

He had been stuck at the level of High-Rank Elite Warrior for five years. The amount of his Blood Qi could no longer break through. Under normal circumstances, only intense battle could offer a chance to break through in the midst of combat.

A year ago, when his son had brought up the Blood Qi Strengthening Wave, his long-silent heart had stirred to life. He had tried his hardest to seek out this so-called Blood Qi Strengthening Wave, but no matter how hard he tried, he made no progress whatsoever. It left him feeling dejected. Sure enough, ordinary people could not understand the world of geniuses.

By now, he only gave it an occasional try and held little hope that he could truly find the Blood Qi Strengthening Wave.

Su Hao could only say he was powerless to help. The special substance known as the Blood Qi Strengthening Wave did indeed exist, but ordinary people simply had no way of detecting it.

It was like how everyone knew that when humans encountered danger, adrenaline was secreted. Yet aside from knowing that adrenaline was secreted by the adrenal glands, the conscious mind could not detect that hormone's existence at all, much less how much had been secreted.

Su Hao had only managed to lock on to his own Blood Qi Strengthening Wave through Little Light's powerful data analysis capabilities. As for other people's Blood Qi Strengthening Waves, there was nothing he could do. He could only say that he was the most special case. Using high-tech methods to analyze primitive principles was a dimensionality-reduction strike against Wu Yuntian—something he could not understand.

Only when Su Hao's understanding of Blood Qi and the special substance known as the Blood Qi Strengthening Wave deepened continuously, allowing him to summarize a simple method for controlling the Blood Qi Strengthening Wave, would it be possible to teach it to the people of this world.

"Xiangwu, come to the courtyard with me." Wu Yuntian stood and walked outside.

Su Hao nodded and followed.

Wu Yuntian held out his palm toward Su Hao. "Use all your strength and punch my palm."

"Alright." After replying, Su Hao walked in front of Wu Yuntian and planted his feet firmly. He focused his mind and gathered his Qi. The Blood Qi throughout his body instantly boiled, and great surges of energy transformed within him. He stepped forward and threw a punch straight into Wu Yuntian's palm.

Slap~

Fist and palm collided with a crisp crack. Wu Yuntian did not budge an inch and withdrew his hand, while Su Hao was pushed back several steps by the rebounding force.

"Father, you're amazing!" Su Hao loved praising people, whether to their faces or behind their backs. Little brats were the exception.

Wu Yuntian shook his head with a bitter smile. Su Hao did not see the hand he had drawn behind his back trembling slightly. Su Hao's punch had numbed his palm.

Wu Yuntian said lightly, "Your strength has already reached the level of a High-Rank Ordinary Warrior."

Su Hao asked in confusion, "A High-Rank Ordinary Warrior?"

Wu Yuntian explained, "That's right. Martial Artists are divided into five ranks. The lowest is Ordinary Martial Artist, followed by Elite Warrior, Grandmaster Warrior, Great Master Warrior, and the highest, Ancestor Warrior. Every rank is divided into three stages: Initial Stage, Middle Stage, and High Stage. Your current strength has reached the High Stage standard of an Ordinary Martial Artist. As for me, I am currently a High-Rank Elite Warrior."

Su Hao nodded. "I see. Then how long does it usually take an ordinary person to become a High-Rank Ordinary Warrior?"

Wu Yuntian said helplessly, "Ordinary people cannot comprehend the existence of Blood Qi, so they cannot become Martial Artists at all. If you're asking about the average among Martial Artists, then reaching High-Rank Ordinary Warrior generally happens at sixteen. Before sixteen is considered relatively gifted; after sixteen is considered late."

Su Hao froze and pointed at himself. "Then what does that make me?"

Wu Yuntian stared at Su Hao for a long while, unable to say a single word.

After a moment, Wu Yuntian changed the subject. "Xiangwu, since you've already reached this level, there's nothing more for me to worry about. I trust you know what you're doing. Now I'll tell you about the path of a Martial Artist and how you should proceed from now on."

After a brief silence, he added, "There isn't much I can teach you. How far you go in the future will depend entirely on yourself."

"Mm!" Su Hao nodded vigorously.