Star Realm

Chu Kuang had already prepared his answer: "I want to learn spear techniques."

There were countless weapon martial arts in the world, but the mainstream focused on saber, sword, spear, and staff. A minority trained in whip, mace, hammer, axe, or even various exotic weapons.

But no matter which martial art one studied, even if they had no talent for the spear, they would almost always dabble in it.

The reasoning was simple: the saber was the hegemon of weapons, and the world prided itself on breaking a spear with a saber, yet breaking a saber with a spear was merely the entry-level of spear technique.

Moreover, while spear techniques were easy to learn but hard to master, they were quick to achieve results in the early stages. The key was that these quick results were very practical—even someone who had trained in spear techniques for a few months could still stab to death someone who had practiced the saber for years.

Chu Kuang deeply understood that the greatest taboo in cultivation was being too scattered without specialization. So even with his golden finger, he only cultivated five basic martial arts: internal arts, external arts, movement techniques, fist techniques, and spear techniques. Among these, spear techniques were his future killing art.

"Spear training, not bad!"

Xu Yue nodded in satisfaction. Although spear techniques were easy to learn but hard to master, their advantage lay in their immense power—even a beginner could display decent combat strength.

So he asked, "There are thousands of volumes of common low-level spear techniques used by our human race. Have you decided which one to learn?"

"Gold-Splitting Spear."

Chu Kuang spoke, having already made up his mind.

For humanity to have developed to its current state, the techniques taught in schools were naturally not ordinary ones. They mostly had complete advancement paths.

For example, the low-level Body Forging technique Chu Kuang cultivated, Iron Armor Technique, had a mid-level follow-up in Bronze Armor Technique and a high-level one in Gold Armor Technique.

Similarly, his Mountain Suppressing Fist had a lineage of Mountain Quelling Fist, Hell Suppressing Fist, and even the legendary Human King World Suppressing Fist, which had beaten all alien races into submission.

Although the Gold-Splitting Spear was only a low-level technique, its advancement path was very complete, enough for Chu Kuang to cultivate to a very high realm.

"Gold-Splitting Spear... you want to try that path."

Xu Yue paused, then reminded him, "That one's inheritance gets harder the further you go. If you don't have enough talent, you might easily give up halfway."

"I want to give it a try." Chu Kuang said firmly.

Xu Yue didn't persuade him further. He simply manipulated his smart wristband and transmitted the Gold-Splitting Spear technique to Chu Kuang.

After handling this, Xu Yue was about to send him off, but saw that Chu Kuang still showed no sign of leaving.

"Is there something else you want to ask?"

Chu Kuang hesitated briefly, then rubbed his hands together and said, "I wanted to ask, is there any place where I can earn money?"

"Isn't ten thousand Federal Coins enough?" Xu Yue frowned slightly.

Chu Kuang naturally couldn't say he wanted to buy Source Energy Potions, so he simply said, "Martial arts is a money pit. I need to prepare more. What if my internal arts reach perfection soon?"

"Perfection in Basic Internal Martial Arts? That's not so easy to achieve."

Xu Yue shook his head, but still pondered and said, "You're still a student. Your top priority is to study martial arts well. If you really want to make money, there are only two paths."

Chu Kuang's face lit up. "Please tell me."

"The first path is to become a tutor."

Xu Yue mused, "Your basic techniques have reached perfection, so you're suitable to teach junior high students. I'll ask around later to see if any wealthy families need a tutor."

"Thank you very much."

Hearing this, Chu Kuang immediately understood this was a good way to make money.

Basic techniques were easy to learn but hard to master, and they didn't greatly improve combat power. Ordinary martial artists wouldn't train them to perfection. Those who could were either geniuses or veteran martial artists above the Mortal Transformation Realm.

Most of these people were pioneering the Dark Domain. Even if a few were willing to return, they would be specially hired as full-time teachers by various schools.

These teachers had limited time, managing dozens or even hundreds of students each. They couldn't give special attention to every student.

So families with means would hire tutors for one-on-one teaching, allowing their children to stand out from their peers.

"No need to thank me. I'm just asking around for you."

Xu Yue shook his head. "The income from tutoring isn't low, but it's a steady trickle, not a quick windfall."

"If you want a big sum of money, there is a way, but it depends on whether you have the ability."

Chu Kuang was momentarily stunned, then immediately asked, "Please go on."

"Go to the Tian Heng Star Realm and participate in the Tian Heng Ranking Battle!" Xu Yue said.

As Xu Yue explained, Chu Kuang quickly understood what the Tian Heng Ranking Battle was.

The so-called Star Realm was a virtual cosmic space created by combining virtual world technology with the Divine Power of human saints.

Humans could project their consciousness into it, with simulation fidelity reaching up to 99.9% of the real world.

Apprentice-level martial artists had too weak a mental strength to only log into the star realm intranet of Tian Heng City and Tian Yuan C Star.

Martial artists above the Mortal Transformation Realm had strong mental strength and could even project their consciousness into the higher-level Tian Yuan Star Realm, enabling communication and exchange across stars and even galaxies.

Some top-tier experts could even enter the Small Magellanic Star Realm, or even connect with the Milky Way Star Realm located in the Milky Way galaxy itself.

"The Tian Heng Ranking Battle is held in the Tian Heng Star Realm, organized by the Tian Heng City government for all high school students in the city."

"As long as you make it into the top 1,000 of the first-year ranking competition, you'll receive a one-time subsidy of 10,000 Federal Coins from the city government. For every 100 places you advance, you get an additional 10,000 Federal Coins in support."

At this point, Xu Yue said, "The one-time subsidy of Federal Coins isn't the key. But if you can make it into the top 3,000, you can apply for an interest-free loan of 100,000 Federal Coins."

"This interest-free loan is specifically set up for poor high school students. Even a minor like you can apply, and repayment only begins after you graduate from university."

Chu Kuang was slightly stunned, then immediately asked, "If it's such a good deal, why didn't anyone tell me before?"

"You've spent the better part of this year cultivating basic techniques day and night, turning down all extracurricular activities." Xu Yue shook his head and said calmly, "Besides, there's no benefit to not making the top three thousand. In our class, only Lin Shuyao and Jiang Feng made it into the top three thousand, so I didn't specifically mention it to you."

Hearing this, Chu Kuang nodded. Tian Heng City had a total of twenty-five high schools, with over a hundred thousand students in the first year alone. Making it into the top three thousand required no small amount of talent.

Even Jiang Feng, who ranked second in the class and had the potential to enter a First-Tier Martial University, was only ranked around 1,500th. This showed just how difficult it was to enter the top three thousand of the Tian Heng Ranking Tournament.

"With your talent, you can give it a try once your vitality reaches 5.7. If you make the top three thousand and secure that Interest-Free Loan, it should cover a significant portion of your resource gap."

At this point, Xu Yue's gaze turned profound. "The Federation needs talent, especially those who are the strongest at their current realm. As long as you show enough potential, the Federation's support will never be lacking."

"The strongest at the current realm."

Chu Kuang fell into thought. He naturally understood the reason behind the Federation's actions.

The environment of the Dark Domain was unique. Not only did technological products fail to function there, but spatial forces also formed an invisible barrier, preventing high-level experts from freely entering and exiting.

In other words, a First-Order Dark Domain could only allow First-Order Mortal Transformation Realm experts to enter, a Second-Order Dark Domain could only permit Second-Order Transcendent Realm cultivators, and a Third-Order Dark Domain could only accommodate Third-Order Divine Treasury Realm experts at most.

Similarly, if someone broke through to the Second-Order Transcendent Realm while inside a First-Order Dark Domain, they would be trapped and unable to leave.

Of course, if a cultivator was too powerful—say, a Fourth-Order expert trying to force their way into a First-Order Dark Domain—the result would be the complete collapse of that domain.

These harsh conditions meant that when exploring a First-Order Dark Domain, a Third-Order Divine Treasury Realm expert was far less useful than a First-Order Mortal Transformation Realm martial artist who had cultivated a King Body.

Thus, those who pushed their cultivation to the limit at each realm—especially those who could claim kingship among their peers—often received the attention and support of humanity's upper echelons.

"Invincible among the same rank?"

"I understand."

Chu Kuang nodded and set the thought aside.

Seeing that he understood, Xu Yue stood up and said, "Class is about to start. Go back and cultivate. I'll ask around about the tutor in the next few days."

"I'll trouble you."

Leaving Teacher Xu Yue's office, Chu Kuang quickly returned to the classroom.

Back in the classroom, his first order of business was to place an order for a hundred bottles of Nutrient Solution. Then, he began attempting to cultivate the Gold-Splitting Spear.

The Gold-Splitting Spear was an extraordinary inheritance, but fortunately, it was easy to learn but difficult to master. Relying on the support of his Basic Spear Technique, which had reached the Mastery Stage, Chu Kuang quickly grasped the basics.

Gold-Splitting Spear [Nascent Stage 1%]: A basic spear technique, sharp and aggressive, splitting stone and metal with momentum like a heavenly weight. Attached trait: Gold-Splitting.

Gold-Splitting [White]: The edge of gold-splitting, rending stone and metal. Increases the upper limit of the Gold-Splitting Spear's power by ten percent.

"A fine spear technique."

After trying it out for half an hour, Chu Kuang temporarily set aside his practice of the Gold-Splitting Spear.

His Basic Spear Technique progress had already reached [Mastery Stage 98%]. He estimated that within a few days, it would reach the peak of Mastery. If he could obtain another Source Energy Potion, reaching Perfection would likely be within reach.

"A First-Order Source Energy Potion costs one hundred thousand Federal Coins. I'll have to make it into the top three thousand of the Tian Heng City Ranking Tournament to get that Interest-Free Loan."