Source Energy

After completing the check, Chu Kuang returned to his training area.

He had just arrived at his spot when he noticed Jiang Feng, who was built like a wild bull, walking over. "How is it? Are you ready to start practicing advanced techniques?"

"Wait a little longer. I feel like my Basic External Martial Arts are almost at perfection," Chu Kuang replied, shaking his head.

Jiang Feng frowned slightly and advised, "Your comprehension is better than mine. If you had started practicing advanced techniques earlier, your external martial arts would have reached great success by now."

"These basic techniques are only meant for building a foundation. Reaching great success is enough; many people in our class are still at the minor success stage with their basic techniques."

Chu Kuang nodded, but he didn't want to dwell on the topic.

Seeing this, Jiang Feng didn't say anything more and simply walked over to Lin Shuyao's side.

"How was it?" Seeing Jiang Feng return, Lin Shuyao asked.

Jiang Feng shook his head, then feigned a sigh. "It's a pity. His natural talent is decent, but he's wasting his time."

"If he were a top-tier genius, it wouldn't matter if he spent time perfecting his basic techniques, but without that kind of talent, obsessing over them means he's unlikely to achieve anything great in the future."

After hearing Jiang Feng's words, Lin Shuyao looked away, a hint of regret appearing on her face.

Back in middle school, thanks to his past-life wisdom and decent comprehension, Chu Kuang had been one of the first in his grade to bring his basic techniques to great success.

At that time, Lin Shuyao was just beginning to experience the stirrings of love, and since she and Chu Kuang were classmates, she had harbored a secret affection for the handsome youth; their relationship had been somewhat ambiguous during that period.

However, after Chu Kuang became obsessed with basic techniques and his grades dropped to the point where he couldn't even make the top twenty in class, Lin Shuyao's mindset gradually matured and became more rational, and their relationship slowly drifted apart.

Now, in Lin Shuyao's eyes, Chu Kuang had likely fallen completely behind and lacked the ability to secure a spot for training in the Dark Domain two months from now.

"One step behind, every step behind."

"From the moment he chose to obsess over basic techniques, he and I were no longer on the same level."

Lin Shuyao withdrew her gaze, completely extinguishing the feelings she once held as a young girl.

The person she wanted to marry was a true powerhouse, a human prodigy capable of leading her beyond the Tian Yuan Galaxy to witness the brilliant galaxy, not a mediocre person who couldn't even break through the second tier of the Transcendent Realm in his entire life.

"Shuyao." Seeing the change in Lin Shuyao's expression, Jiang Feng smiled. "Besides you and me, I'm afraid everyone else in this class has limited prospects."

"Why don't you agree to be my girlfriend? We can work hard together and get into Tian Yuan University."

"Oh?" Lin Shuyao smiled, a hint of indifference in her eyes. "Let's talk about that once you get into a top-tier martial arts university."

While the two were talking, Chu Kuang had already begun to focus his energy on continuing his practice of the basic techniques.

Time passed in the blink of an eye, and several hours slipped by before he knew it.

"Still missing a little something."

When school ended, Chu Kuang felt that his Basic External Martial Arts had reached the limit of great success. He was only a hair's breadth away from perfection, yet that one final opportunity remained elusive.

For Chu Kuang, however, this final gap was a significant bottleneck, because while basic techniques are easy to learn, they are hard to master, and breaking through to the perfection stage presents a considerable hurdle.

If one's talent is sufficient, they might break through in a few days; if not, it could drag on for over a decade.

"Is it because my bone structure is too poor?"

Chu Kuang whispered, his brow furrowing slightly. A fourth-grade medium bone structure was still too ordinary; the vast majority of his classmates also had bone structures around the third or fourth grade.

This type of bone structure doesn't make it impossible to bring basic techniques to perfection, but it requires a massive amount of time to polish, and there is a high probability it would take over ten years.

"Ten years—I can't afford to wait that long."

Thinking of this, he temporarily set aside his training, stood up, and headed home.

Chu Kuang's home was located in the civilian district of Tian Heng City, on the thirty-second floor of a high-rise. The apartment was over five hundred square meters, though; after all, the living space mastered by humanity in this era was far beyond what it had been in the Earth era.

As soon as he returned home, he saw an eleven or twelve-year-old youth practicing martial arts with great intensity, while a one-armed middle-aged man stood nearby, correcting his movements with a stern expression.

"Dad."

Chu Kuang looked at the middle-aged man and called out habitually.

The middle-aged man was named Chu Yang, his father in this life. He hadn't replaced the original owner of this body; rather, he had been reincarnated into this life and raised by Chu Yang since he was a child, so there was no awkwardness between them.

Chu Yang nodded and looked at the youth nearby. "Go help your brother with his things."

"Brother, you're back."

The youth immediately revealed an excited smile and hurried forward to take Chu Kuang's clothes and training gear.

Chu Kuang handed the items to him and patted his head. "Seeing your fist techniques looking so professional, it seems like it won't be long before you reach the entry level."

"It's all thanks to Father's teaching."

The youth was named Chu Yu, Chu Kuang's younger brother in this life, currently in the second semester of his sixth year of elementary school. He was familiarizing himself with basic techniques in advance to prepare for practicing basic martial arts after entering middle school in the second half of the year.

In this era, everyone practices martial arts, but children under twelve have bones that are too fragile, so the six years of elementary school are mainly used for literacy, accumulating martial arts common sense, and learning the body's acupuncture points and meridians.

By middle school, the bones are formed but not yet fully developed, so practicing too rashly can easily lead to disability; thus, they focus on practicing basic techniques to build a foundation.

Chu Yu was four years younger than Chu Kuang and had always viewed Chu Kuang as his idol, so the brothers had a very good relationship.

"Go practice on your own first. I have something to discuss with your brother."

Chu Yang sent Chu Yu away and brought Chu Kuang into the study.

Inside the study, the father and son fell into a brief silence. Chu Kuang looked at his father's single arm, and a wave of memories couldn't help but stir in his heart.

In this current era, because of the constant wars against alien races and the Dark Domain, the human population has always been in short supply.

To ensure a sufficient number of martial artists and soldiers, and to guarantee the defense of the Tian Yuan Galaxy, the Federation has always encouraged childbirth. Generally, as long as a child is born, the Alliance provides a reward of 30,000 Federal Coins.

Therefore, most low-ranking martial artist families have seven or eight, or even over a dozen children. Most of Chu Kuang's classmates have at least seven or eight siblings, yet Father Chu has only two sons.

This is because Father Chu once had aspirations for the martial path, but unfortunately, in the year Chu Kuang turned three, a Dark Tide suddenly erupted on Tian Yuan C Star.

Fierce beasts and indigenous creatures from the Dark Domain invaded Tian Heng City through spatial rifts, causing massive destruction to the city.

Father Chu desperately protected the young Chu Kuang, fighting his way out from the jaws of the beasts, but he paid the price of an arm for it.

It was precisely because of this that Father Chu lost his chance to break through to the Mortal Transformation Realm.

"Father."

Chu Kuang withdrew his thoughts and was just about to ask why his father had called him aside, but Father Chu stopped him with a wave of his hand.

Father Chu looked at Chu Kuang, his gaze calm as he said, "Your teacher, Xu Yue, called me today. He said your innate talent is insufficient and advised me to have you give up practicing Basic External Martial Arts."

Chu Kuang was slightly stunned. He wanted to say something, but Chu Yang raised his hand to stop him.

"I know your temper; you're just like me, stubborn and prone to getting stuck in a rut."

Chu Yang shook his head, then stood up and walked over to the safe.

He carefully opened the safe, took out a pale blue potion filled with fluorescence, and placed it into Chu Kuang's hands.

"First-Order Source Energy Potion."

Looking at the pale blue potion before him, a flash of shock appeared in Chu Kuang's eyes.

Source Energy Potions are produced in the Dark Domain and are concocted from First-Order spiritual herbs containing source energy. They are quite precious even to experts who have reached the First-Order Mortal Transformation Realm.

Such a rare treasure is naturally of extremely high value; even a First-Order Source Energy Potion costs a full 100,000 Federal Coins to purchase.

The purchasing power of Federal Coins is very high. In this day and age, if one does not pursue the martial path, an ordinary person can live comfortably for a year on just 100 Federal Coins.

Father Chu and Mother Chu both work at a federal farm, and their combined annual income is only 20,000 Federal Coins. To buy such a Source Energy Potion, they would need to save for five years without eating or drinking.

"This is too expensive."

Chu Kuang took a deep breath, wanting to push the nutrient solution back.

Father Chu shook his head calmly and spoke in a steady voice, "Without the Source Energy Potion, are you confident you can train your Basic External Martial Arts to perfection?"

"I will not let you down."

Chu Kuang fell silent, then resolutely took the Source Energy Potion.

Father Chu did not continue the topic, simply standing up and saying, "Whenever you feel you have reached a bottleneck, take it to break through. Your mother has finished cooking, let's go eat."

"Okay."

Chu Kuang nodded and followed his father into the dining room.

At this moment, Mother Chu had just finished cooking and brought the dishes out from the kitchen. Seeing the father and son come out, she immediately laughed, "You two are both pulling long faces; anyone who didn't know better would think someone owed you money."

"Come eat, let's finish dinner first."

This meal was exceptionally stifling. Chu Kuang felt an invisible pressure in his heart, and Father Chu also seemed to have something weighing heavily on his mind.

Chu Yu tried to interject several times, but seeing the expressions of her father and brother, she didn't dare to say much.

After the meal was finished, Chu Kuang went into the martial arts room and carefully took out the Source Energy Potion.

"The quality of a First-Order Source Energy Potion is too high; it is best to dilute it before consumption."

Looking at the Source Energy Potion before him, Chu Kuang wore a solemn expression.

In this current era of high martial arts, the cultivation realms are: Zero-Order Apprentice Realm, First-Order Mortal Transformation Realm, Second-Order Transcendent Realm, Third-Order Divine Treasury Realm...

Among these, the Apprentice Level is further divided into two stages: Body Forging and Organ Refining.

Chu Kuang, having reached the peak of Body Forging, belongs to the low-to-mid level of the Apprentice Level, while Father Chu is at the perfection stage of the Apprentice Level, which is already considered upper-middle tier among adults on Tian Yuan C Star.

In fact, ninety percent of the people on Tian Yuan C Star will remain at the Apprentice Level for their entire lives, unable to break through to the Mortal Transformation Realm, or they can only rely on Gene Potions to follow the path of Gene Evolution, becoming the weakest type of Mortal Transformation Realm martial artist.

Chu Kuang knew clearly that the Source Energy Potion was extremely precious and was actually best used when attempting to break through to the Mortal Transformation Realm.

However, he understood that his innate talent was average, and using the Source Energy Potion to reach perfection in his basic cultivation technique was currently the optimal choice.

Thinking of this, Chu Kuang proceeded to dilute the Source Energy Potion and drank it in batches.

"Boom--"

As the Source Energy Potion entered his stomach, Chu Kuang immediately felt a surge of incredibly vigorous energy flooding into his body.