Chu Kuang

Ten thousand years of martial arts, in the Milky Way Galaxy, Sirius Domain, Tian Yuan C Star.

Tian Heng Third Middle School, Class 7, First Year.

This was a massive martial arts room, spanning thousands of square meters, constructed entirely from dark alloy. Various instruments were arranged around the perimeter, and a group of robots armed with medicinal agents stood by, ready for action.

On the surrounding walls hung numerous banners: "If you can't master martial arts, your life will be in vain. If you don't work hard today, your head will fall in the Dark Domain tomorrow. As long as you don't die, keep training to the death..."

Inside the martial arts room, over a hundred young men and women were undergoing their monthly tests in front of an instrument.

"Lin Su, Mad Ape Technique minor success, vitality level 4.7."

"Wang Xi, Tian Yuan Art minor success, vitality level 5.1."

"Zhang Ming, Bedrock Technique minor success, vitality level 4.5."

As the test results of each student were announced, many in the audience showed expressions of either worry or joy.

After finishing his test, Zhang Ming, with a distressed look, came to Chu Kuang's side and said, "It's over. My vitality level is only 4.5. My dad will probably beat me to death when I get home."

Chu Kuang shook his head. "I told you to practice martial arts properly, but you insisted on playing virtual games."

"Sigh, you know I don't have much talent for martial arts. I can only go down the path of Gene Evolution."

Zhang Ming shook his head and then said, "My dad said he'll get me a first-tier Gene Evolution potion after I graduate high school. Do you want one then?"

Chu Kuang was silent for a moment, then replied, "The path of Gene Evolution is too narrow. I still want to try the martial arts path again."

"Then why are you still wasting time practicing basic martial arts?" Zhang Ming said, sounding disappointed.

On the stage, as one student after another completed their tests, the homeroom teacher, Xu Yue, shook his head, a look of displeasure on his face. "You brats are the worst batch I've ever taught."

"Damn it, it's been eight months into the first year, and there are only a few who have exceeded level 5 vitality. You've really been practicing martial arts to the dogs."

Speaking of which, Xu Yue looked towards the crowd and said, "Jiang Feng, you come up."

"Yes, Teacher Xu."

From the crowd, a figure walked forward.

Jiang Feng was a full one meter ninety-five tall, as sturdy as a brute ox.

He stepped up to the instrument and allowed it to scan his physique. Soon, a line of data appeared.

"Jiang Feng, Brute Ox Technique major success, vitality level 5.9."

"Level 5.9!"

"Holy crap, level 5.9 already? Then he's definitely going to be in the top hundred of our third middle school!"

Murmurs spread through the crowd, and many showed envious expressions.

Since humanity ventured into space, a life force level system had been established. The gap between each life force level represented a leap in life energy.

A level one life force was standardized at one hundred kilograms of strength and corresponding physical fitness.

For every level above that, strength would double compared to the previous level, and overall fitness would also double on top of the original base.

Most people in the class had vitality levels between four and five, roughly equivalent to over a thousand kilograms of strength. Jiang Feng's life force level was as high as 5.9, implying he possessed three thousand kilograms of strength?

"Not bad. At this rate, your vitality will break through level six before the final exam of the first year."

Xu Yue nodded with satisfaction and said, "Try punching it."

"Okay."

Jiang Feng nodded, his pupils contracting instantly. He channeled his technique and threw a punch.

The punch was like a brute ox butting a mountain, its momentum like a collapsing peak. It slammed into the instrument, causing it to vibrate and emit a popping sound. Then, a line of data appeared: 4653KG.

"Brute Ox Fist minor success, fist power amplification 0.55 times."

"A 0.55 times amplification? His Brute Ox Fist is probably close to major success."

Exclamations of surprise came from the crowd. The limit for minor success in basic fist techniques was a sixty percent amplification of fist power. Jiang Feng's 0.55 times amplification indicated that the Brute Ox Fist was likely very close to major success.

Xu Yue nodded with satisfaction upon seeing this and looked at Jiang Feng. "Good. Starting next month, I'll add ten nutrient solutions to your monthly allowance."

"Thank you, Teacher."

Jiang Feng's face lit up with joy. After thanking him, he stepped down.

Seeing this, Xu Yue then looked at a girl in the crowd and said, "Lin Shuyao, you come up too."

"Lin Shuyao is starting her test too. She's a genius who cultivates internal arts. I wonder how she'll compare to Jiang Feng?"

"It'll definitely be Lin Shuyao. Internal arts are usually cultivated from the second year of high school onwards, and they're much more prestigious than external arts."

"That's not necessarily true. Internal arts progress slower in the early stages and consume far more resources."

"That's for others. Lin Shuyao's parents are both Transcendent Realm powerhouses. The cultivation resources she has access to are far beyond what we can compare to."

The students chattered, their faces full of curiosity.

Just then, Lin Shuyao stepped forward and allowed the instrument to scan her. Soon, a line of data appeared.

"Lin Shuyao, Spirit Stream Technique major success, vitality level 6.1."

"Vitality level 6.1, that's 3400 kilograms of strength. This life force level is probably not much worse than the elites ranked at the bottom of the key classes."

A gasp rippled through the crowd, and many faces showed surprise.

Xu Yue nodded with satisfaction and then said, "Let's see you throw a palm strike too."

"Okay."

Lin Shuyao nodded and struck out with her palm. A surge of potent internal energy emanated from her palm, causing the instrument to tremble. Then, data appeared before everyone's eyes.

--- 5356KG.

"Spirit Stream Palm, Minor Accomplishment. Palm force amplification: 0.58 times."

"Not bad. Your Spirit Stream Palm is close to Major Accomplishment. Put in more effort practicing recently."

Xu Yue nodded with satisfaction. As the homeroom teacher for Class 7 of the first year, his performance evaluations were closely tied to the martial arts cultivation of these young students. If a few promising talents emerged for the college entrance exam, the rewards might allow him to advance his own cultivation.

If he could nurture a top-tier genius, he might even get a chance to break through to a higher realm.

While the students in Class 7 of the first year weren't astonishing, they were still quite capable. At least Lin Shuyao and Jiang Feng were good prospects.

"Jiang Feng and Lin Shuyao both have good talent. It shouldn't be difficult for them to achieve the Martial Dao True Body before the college entrance exam. I just don't know if they can cultivate the Battle Body."

"As for Chu Kuang, if we keep delaying, it will be too late."

Xu Yue spoke, his gaze finally settling on Chu Kuang. After a moment's thought, he called out, "Chu Kuang, you try too."

Chu Kuang stood up and calmly walked to the instrument. He allowed the machine to scan his body, and soon, a line of data appeared.

"Chu Kuang. Basic External Martial Arts: Major Accomplishment. Basic Internal Martial Arts: Major Accomplishment. Vitality Level: 4.8."

"Only 4.8?"

A sound of regret came from the crowd, clearly expressing surprise.

Class 7 of the first year had over a hundred students. This result ranked him around thirtieth in the class. While it was still considered upper-tier, it seemed too low for Chu Kuang.

Chu Kuang was no ordinary person. Back in middle school, he had consistently been among the top three students in his class, and he had achieved Major Accomplishment in Basic External Martial Arts long ago.

Unfortunately, Chu Kuang had not cultivated advanced techniques later on. Instead, he had consistently focused on practicing basic techniques, causing his life level progression to be very slow.

Xu Yue's brow furrowed slightly. He sized up Chu Kuang and asked with a frown, "What about the matter I mentioned last time? Have you considered it?"

Chu Kuang calmly replied, "This student still wishes to refine the basic techniques to perfection first."

"Foolish."

Xu Yue's expression immediately changed. He spoke with frustration, as if disappointed by a son's lack of ambition, "Basic techniques are just a stepping stone. Achieving Major Accomplishment is enough. Even if you refine them to perfection, the effect will be far inferior to advanced techniques."

"Although your comprehension is good, you are not a peerless genius, and your bone structure is only average to below average. If you waste a lot of time on basic techniques, it might delay you when you try to cultivate advanced techniques for the college entrance exam."

Chu Kuang fell silent. By all logical reasoning, Xu Yue's suggestion was indeed the best choice.

However, Chu Kuang's situation was different. He was not from this world but was a reincarnation from Earth, who had lived 100,000 years ago. He carried a special opportunity with him.

Thinking of this, Chu Kuang quietly lowered his gaze, and a panel immediately appeared in his mind.

Name: Chu Kuang

Race: Human

Life Level: 4.8

Realm: Body Tempering - Major Accomplishment, Organ Refining - Major Accomplishment

Bone Structure: Average [Rank 4]

Comprehension: High [Rank 7]

Physique: Mortal Body

Cultivation Techniques: Basic External Martial Arts [Major Accomplishment 99%], Basic Internal Martial Arts [Major Accomplishment 93%], Iron Armor Technique [Initial Glimpse 53%].

Martial Skills: Basic Fist Technique [Major Accomplishment 97%], Basic Spear Technique [Major Accomplishment 98%], Basic Movement Technique [Major Accomplishment 95%], Mountain Suppressing Fist [Initial Glimpse 41%].

He opened the Basic External Martial Arts with a thought, and a detailed panel for this external technique immediately appeared.

Basic External Martial Arts: The general compendium of all external martial arts. Easy to learn, difficult to master. It is the most suitable technique for humans to lay a foundation. Includes the trait: Compendium of External Martial Arts [Purple].

Compendium of External Martial Arts [Purple]: All external martial arts are readily available. When the cultivation realm does not exceed the same type of technique as Basic External Martial Arts, the cultivation speed increases threefold, and the difficulty of breaking through bottlenecks is reduced threefold.

In addition to Basic External Martial Arts, Basic Internal Martial Arts, Fist Techniques, Spear Techniques, Movement Techniques, and other basic martial arts also carry similar traits.

Only the Iron Armor Technique and Mountain Suppressing Fist are different, carrying the traits: Iron Armor [White], Mountain Suppressor [White].

Iron Armor [White]: Provides armor protection, impervious to blades and spears. Defense of the Iron Armor Technique increases by 10%.

Mountain Suppressor [White]: Fist suppresses mountains and rivers, power can shatter mountains. The power limit of the Mountain Suppressing Fist increases by 10%.

Chu Kuang had explored this for many years and had a general understanding of his golden finger's effects.

His golden finger allowed the techniques he cultivated to gain exclusive traits, and the effect of each technique's trait was different.

Basic techniques tended to focus on cultivation, while advanced techniques focused on increasing combat power.

Secondly, the quality of the traits was based on the cultivation realm of the technique, which were Initial Glimpse [White], Minor Accomplishment [Blue], and Major Accomplishment [Purple].

Taking the [Compendium of External Martial Arts] trait as an example, the trait bonuses were 30% for White, 1x for Blue, and 3x for Purple.

Chu Kuang had concentrated his efforts on diligently cultivating the basic techniques over the years, and now these basic techniques were not far from reaching perfection.

Based on the previous data, once these basic cultivation techniques are mastered, their effects will surely see a qualitative improvement after the entries are upgraded, most likely increasing cultivation speed tenfold.

He knew very well that with his bottom-tier fourth-grade root bone, he was unremarkable in this glorious era of humanity, as there were still third-grade, top-grade, earth-grade, and heaven-grade root bones above him.

Without a cheat, he would likely only reach the first tier of the Mortal Transformation Realm in this life. Even if he had a small chance of breaking through to the second tier, the Transcendent Realm, he would only be at the bottom of that realm.

In this situation, improving the cultivation speed of his basic technique entries was the key to his future achievements.

"Chu Kuang!"

Seeing Chu Kuang remain silent, Xu Yue said with disappointment, "In two months, it will be the end-of-year competition for the first-year students."

"Every year, the top one hundred students in our school's first-year grade get a spot to cultivate in the Dark Domain."

"If you miss this opportunity, you'll fall behind step by step and may never catch up to your classmates again."

Hearing this, Chu Kuang showed a flicker of interest for the first time.

The Dark Domain was the greatest opportunity for the rise of human civilization, as well as its greatest trouble and enemy.

The formation of the Dark Domain was related to dark matter and dark energy in the universe. As early as the Earth civilization era, a hundred thousand years ago, humans discovered the existence of hidden matter and energy in the universe.

They found that a certain energy was constantly expanding the universe, but human civilization could not find where this energy was hidden, so they named it dark energy and dark matter.

It wasn't until the year 2761, the first year of the Martial Dao era, when humanity initially grasped the threshold of space technology, that they discovered the existence of this dark matter and dark energy.

It turned out that dark matter was hidden in the space around every planet, and this dark matter and energy were of extremely high levels, forming dark domains around the planets.

The size of the Dark Domain was closely related to the real material world.

In the universe, ordinary matter accounted for about 4.7%, while dark matter and dark energy, also known as Source Energy Matter and Cosmic Source Energy, accounted for approximately 27% and 68.3% respectively.

In other words, the energy and matter in the Dark Domain near a planet combined were equivalent to more than twenty times the mass of the planet.

Strictly speaking, the energy in the Dark Domain was not dark energy, but was very similar to the spiritual energy in the spiritual realms and immortal realms in novels. People called it Cosmic Source Energy.

This Cosmic Source Energy had extraordinary and wondrous uses. Living beings could continuously strengthen themselves after absorbing and refining it, and could even become gods who held divine seats and immortal saints.

The Dark Domain was filled with countless opportunities, but also a large number of Source Beasts and native creatures, making it a place where opportunities and dangers coexisted.

Humans divided the Dark Domain into six levels: Level Zero Dark Domain, Level One Dwarf Planet Dark Domain, Level Two Planet Dark Domain, Level Three Star Dark Domain, Level Four Black Hole Dark Domain, and Level Five Galaxy Dark Domain.

The energy difference between each level of Dark Domain was exponential. Some terrifying creatures in the Level Two Dark Domain even possessed the fearsome power to destroy mountains and suppress peaks.

They were just high school students, so naturally, they would enter a Level Zero Dark Domain.

The so-called Level Zero Dark Domain was a dark domain at the asteroid level. According to the current definition of asteroid size, it refers to celestial bodies with a maximum diameter not exceeding one thousand kilometers. The corresponding danger level of such a dark domain was the lowest among all dark domains.

But even a Level Zero Dark Domain was filled with high-quality Cosmic Source Energy. Absorbing it for just one day was equivalent to a month of cultivation in the outside world.

Moreover, the Dark Domains they could enter had been cleared by humans many times, making them extremely safe, miniature Level Zero Dark Domains with almost no danger.

This was a very rare opportunity. Out of the more than five thousand first-year students at Tian Yuan Third Middle School, there were only one hundred spots.

And out of these hundred spots, the elite classes occupied fifty, leaving the remaining forty-odd classes with an average of only one or two spots each.

Thinking of this, Chu Kuang calmly said, "Don't worry, I will start cultivating and advancing my external martial arts within a month at the latest and do my best to secure a spot."

"Sigh."

Xu Yue sighed, knowing that his words had not registered with Chu Kuang, and could only wave him away.