Special Training

Chu Kuang looked at the ranking data, a hint of anticipation on his face.

[Chu Kuang]

[School: Tian Heng Third Middle School]

[Rank: 769]

After reviewing the panel, Chu Kuang decisively exited the Virtual Training Ground and immediately reopened the ranking match to continue queuing.

The martial artists within the top one thousand were basically elites from the key classes of various schools. Their Bone Structure was at least seventh grade and above, and most had mastered at least two martial arts to the Great Accomplishment stage.

In the Seventh Class of Third Middle School, no one except Lin Shuyao could contend with such strength.

Yet, at this moment, Chu Kuang still had more losses than wins against them. His rank steadily climbed forward, finally stopping at 583rd place.

He played a few more matches after that, but mostly lost more than he won, and his rank fell back to 621st place before stabilizing.

"I can't climb any higher."

Chu Kuang muttered, understanding that with his current strength, breaking into the top five hundred was still a stretch.

The martial artists in the top five hundred of the Tian Heng Ranking Tournament were basically true elites, not even the stragglers in the key classes.

These individuals had generally achieved Great Accomplishment in both advanced internal and external martial arts, and their movement techniques and combat martial arts had also reached the Great Accomplishment stage.

"At least mastering four martial arts to Great Accomplishment, and having gone very far in that realm."

"It's this difficult to get into the top five hundred?"

Chu Kuang murmured, his heart sinking.

The simplest way for him to break into the top five hundred was through two methods. The first was to refine the Iron Armor Technique to perfection. With the perfected Iron Armor Technique and the ultimate defensive power of the trait, he could easily break into the top five hundred.

The second method was to cultivate Blood Battle in All Directions and Thousand Jun Formation Breaker to Great Accomplishment, and then see if he could use Blood Battle in All Directions, a movement technique, to break into the top five hundred.

But this was actually very difficult, because it wasn't just a difference in Life Level, but rather that the opponents' martial arts had virtually no weaknesses.

"To achieve perfection in Iron Armor Technique, based on my current cultivation speed, it will take about another twenty days."

"But my Basic Internal Martial Arts have hit a bottleneck. If I don't get a Source Energy Potion, I'll be wasting twenty days cultivating Basic Internal Martial Arts for nothing."

Chu Kuang pondered, then decided to end his training for the day.

However, as soon as he exited the virtual pod, he found Mother Chu waiting in the living room.

"You're out. Have some medicinal soup first."

Mother Chu pushed a bowl of medicinal soup towards Chu Kuang, then opened her smart wristband and transferred a sum of money to Chu Kuang's account.

"Thirty thousand Federal Coins?"

Chu Kuang opened his wristband and glanced at it, looking somewhat surprised.

Mother Chu nodded, "Your dad successfully got the job. His income will be much higher from now on, so I applied for a loan from the Federation for you. Use it for now."

Chu Kuang fell silent. Father Chu had only been working for a few days, and yet he could apply for a thirty-thousand loan. This was almost impossible.

Moreover, with Father Chu's strength, he couldn't earn this much money through normal work. The only places where he could earn so much money so quickly would be the Dark Domain.

And it was likely not an ordinary Dark Domain, but one not fully controlled by humans, because treasures in these developing Dark Domains were ownerless.

In Dark Domains fully controlled by humans, the treasures produced belonged to someone, either the Federation or individuals. It was illegal for others to pick them without authorization.

Only in these developing Dark Domains not controlled by humans were the treasures within ownerless, but they also often came with greater danger.

Thinking of this, Chu Kuang couldn't help but ask, "Did Dad go to a developing Dark Domain?"

Mother Chu was silent for a moment, but then said, "Don't overthink it. Just focus on your martial arts training. Don't make him bleed and cry."

"Sigh."

Chu Kuang closed his eyes and took a slow, deep breath.

He didn't ask further, just calmly got up and returned to his bedroom.

"Dark Domains are extremely dangerous. With my current strength, I can't help Dad much."

"Only by improving my strength as quickly as possible and gaining more investment from the Federation can I prevent him from having to work so hard."

"..."

"Received?"

Deep in the vast expanse of space, on a small asteroid more than nine hundred miles in diameter, five martial artists clad in alloy battle armor gathered.

Father Chu, his crimson and gold battle armor covered in claw marks, sat in a metal hall, gasping for breath.

At this moment, he looked at the smart wristband in his hand with a smile. A burly man in battle armor beside him patted his shoulder and asked.

Father Chu nodded, a faint smile appearing on his face, "Thank you, Old Brother Li."

"Before you were injured, we were brothers fighting side by side. No need to be so polite."

Li Gang smiled, then continued, "We were lucky this time. We killed a heavily injured First Order Source Energy Fierce Beast. But we still need to be careful. We were just picking up scraps when we hunted it."

"Next time you encounter a Source Energy Fierce Beast, don't push yourself so hard."

"I know."

Father Chu smiled. He hadn't expected his luck to be so good. This was his first time entering the Gushen Star Dark Domain, and he'd already encountered a First Order Source Energy Fierce Beast that had been heavily injured by someone else.

Source Energy Fierce Beasts were incredibly valuable, but also extremely dangerous. Yet, he had taken the risk and charged to the very front, earning him thirty thousand Federal Coins.

Because he had put in a lot of effort, he had faced grave danger and almost lost his life in there.

"Alright, we've expended a lot this time. We'll set out again in three days."

"Next time, we'll go to Fallen Phoenix Valley. That place is rich in Source Energy, so it must have nurtured quite a few treasures."

Li Gang patted Father Chu's shoulder, then stood up and led the group away.

As they departed, several figures clad in green battle armor emerged from a Domain Gate not far away.

At this moment, all five were injured. The leader's armor was tattered, and a claw mark that exposed bone ran across his shoulder.

"Damn it! We worked hard to heavily injure that Blazing Mane, and now some scumbag swoops in to steal our kill."

"Just let me find out who it was, and I swear I won't let them get away with it."

A tall, thin man among the group spoke, his face filled with resentment.

The man in the lead didn't speak. He just looked grimly at the man beside him and said, "A Lie, go and investigate."

"The Blazing Mane was huge. Someone must have seen them carrying it out."

The man named A Lie nodded and said with icy eyes, "Don't worry, Brother Snake. If their strength isn't up to par, I'll make them understand that our Azure Fang Squad's spoils aren't easily taken."

"Remember, don't alert them. Wait until our injuries have healed."

Brother Snake spoke, wincing as he looked at the wound on his shoulder.

The next morning, Chu Kuang went to school as usual. However, as soon as he entered the classroom, he heard a buzz of discussion.

Jiang Feng was surrounded by several students, basking in their admiration. Only when Chu Kuang arrived did he retract his smile, a cold glint flashing in his eyes.

"Jiang Feng's Brute Ox Fist has reached Great Accomplishment! I heard he broke into the top thousand of the Tian Heng Ranking Tournament yesterday?"

Zhang Ming walked over and spoke at the opportune moment.

Chu Kuang nodded and calmly asked, "His Brute Ox Fist is still some distance from Perfection. He broke through so quickly?"

"I heard he used a Source Energy Potion," Zhang Ming replied.

Chu Kuang's lips curled. Using a Source Energy Potion to break through to Great Accomplishment in a Beginner External Martial Art was truly a waste of resources.

After all, with Jiang Feng's talent, he would have reached Great Accomplishment in Brute Ox Fist in just another month.

"Be careful. I heard he took out another loan to buy a Source Energy Potion, planning to also reach Great Accomplishment in the internal martial arts part of the Brute Ox Technique."

Seeing Chu Kuang's nonchalance, Zhang Ming reminded him with a serious expression.

Chu Kuang nodded, taking Zhang Ming's words to heart, and then returned to his seat to continue practicing.

A significant advantage of practicing martial arts at school was the presence of medical robots arranged by the Federation, ensuring immediate rescue even if something went wrong.

Not long after Chu Kuang started practicing, he saw Xu Yue arrive.

"Bang, bang—"

Xu Yue entered the classroom and immediately picked up a wooden stick to knock on the desk.

Once everyone looked his way, he smiled and said, "Our class has been doing very well recently, with three elites breaking into the top thousand of the Tian Heng Ranking Tournament consecutively."

"Among them, student Chu Kuang, you've even surged to over six hundredth place. You all need to learn from him."

The classmates in the room looked over, clearly surprised by how quickly Chu Kuang's ranking had improved.

Chu Kuang paid no attention to their gazes, only looking at Xu Yue with a hint of inquiry.

He had a feeling that Xu Yue had called them together today for a reason.

As expected, Xu Yue tapped the table again, silencing the students' chatter. "In another month and a half, it will be the final assessment."

"The rewards for this assessment will be a watershed moment, determining whether you can step into the Dark Domain."

"Furthermore, starting from the second year of high school, you will gradually begin to come into contact with the Dark Domain. Our Third Middle School is preparing to hold a three-day Special Training for you in advance."

"Special Training?"

The students exchanged glances upon hearing this.

Xu Yue nodded and then said, "This Special Training will be held in an abandoned Dark Domain, allowing you to adapt to the environment."

"This can also be considered a small opportunity, which will greatly benefit your cultivation."

Hearing this, Chu Kuang immediately understood the purpose of this Special Training.

An abandoned Dark Domain refers to a Dark Domain where the Source Energy has been completely absorbed. These domains are usually very small, with star bodies in the main universe possibly only tens of kilometers in diameter.

Such Dark Domains pose little danger and are generally used by the Federation to cultivate 'Gene Warriors' or by high schools to train second and third-year students.

However, due to the small size of the star bodies, the Source Energy within is also very limited, so it is usually depleted within a few decades, eventually becoming an abandoned Dark Domain devoid of Source Energy.

Of course, even though it's called abandoned, the Source Energy isn't completely gone. There will be some Source Energy Spring Eyes formed by the concentration of Source Energy.

These Source Energy Spring Eyes are extremely sparse and of little use to martial artists who have reached Great Accomplishment in External Martial Arts. However, for high school students like them, they are still decent small opportunities that can significantly increase their cultivation progress.

"In addition to the special classes, all 48 of our regular classes, over five thousand students, will be participating in this Special Training," Xu Yue explained. He then added, "Those Source Energy Spring Eyes are quite an opportunity for you all."

"As long as you can secure even one, your chances of breaking through to Great Accomplishment in External Martial Arts will greatly increase, and it can even reduce the time it takes to reach Perfection in External Martial Arts."