Devouring the Starry Sky: Cultivation Makes Me Stronger

"No need. Prepare breakfast for me—I'll come down to eat later."

Luo Shen merely smiled and waved off the girl's enthusiasm before stepping into the elevator and heading straight upstairs.

In the spacious training hall on the sixth floor.

Having taken the Prospective Martial Artist Assessment here just yesterday, Luo Shen was already familiar with the place. He first switched on the Punch Power Testing Machine, then the Speed Testing Instrument, and casually stepped onto the track.

"Let's first see how much my speed has improved."

Standing on the track, Luo Shen loosened up his joints to avoid injuring himself by moving too violently later.

After taking a deep breath and fixing his eyes ahead, he shot forward with a whoosh, like an arrow leaving the bowstring. In almost the blink of an eye, he had crossed the track and slowed to a stop.

He had not used any speed-exertion techniques, relying purely on his physical strength to run.

Walking over to the Speed Testing Instrument, he saw the number displayed on the screen—'58.6m/s'.

Luo Shen's eyes lit up at the sight of it. Once one's speed reached 60m/s, it counted as meeting the minimum threshold for the Advanced Warrior Level in physical fitness.

"Now let's test my punch power."

The Punch Power Testing Machine was already on, so Luo Shen walked straight over to the target.

He took a deep breath and threw a fierce punch!

Boom!

His fist struck the target like a cannonball. The target shuddered violently, and the screen displayed the number—'3737kg'.

"That much?" Luo Shen felt as though a pie had fallen from the sky.

Generally speaking, the minimum threshold for the Advanced Warrior Level was only 4000kg, while 8000kg was enough to reach the minimum threshold for the Beginner Warlord Level.

Yet after his very first cultivation session, his physical fitness had nearly reached the Advanced Warrior Level's minimum threshold. With his twofold body exertion, a single slash of his blade would almost possess the power of a Beginner Warlord!

"Once my movement technique reaches the Micro-level, won't I be able to fight a Beginner Beast General?"

Physical fitness was only one part of one's strength.

In real combat, physical fitness, body exertion, movement technique, and blade technique were all crucial factors that determined victory or defeat. Unless there was an absolute advantage in strength—overwhelming ten opponents with a single force and crushing the enemy through brute strength!

Otherwise, in an evenly matched battle, any single factor could change the outcome.

As for physical fitness, the instinctive absorption of the Five Hearts Vortex would continuously strengthen Luo Shen's body. As for body exertion, until he became an official martial artist and obtained more powerful combat manuals, Luo Shen likely would not see any major improvement.

Therefore, what he could improve was his movement technique and blade technique.

"The Neural Reaction Testing Instrument!"

Luo Shen's gaze fell on the entrance to the neural reaction testing room. The Neural Reaction Testing Instrument inside would be the best aid for improving his movement technique!

The 28th, 5:43 a.m.

Having just finished his blade training, Luo Shen entered the neural reaction testing room.

Luo Shen was already quite familiar with this small room of roughly a hundred square meters. Aside from the Neural Reaction Testing Instrument, there was no other large equipment in the room.

At the very front of the device were launch ports resembling those of a Gatling gun.

Only, there were far more of them—fifty or sixty in total.

The Neural Reaction Testing Instrument naturally had different intensity levels. The lowest level was meant for intermediate trainee assessments, while the highest was used for testing and training top-tier martial artists.

Luo Shen set the mode to 'Beginner Warlord Level'.

Although after more than half a month, Luo Shen's raw physical strength had only just surpassed 4000kg, under the explosive output of his twofold body exertion, his speed was no different from that of an ordinary Beginner Warlord.

That was why he had been using the Beginner Warlord Level mode to assist his movement technique training during this period.

After setting a delayed start, Luo Shen quickly entered the circle with a diameter of 3.6 meters. He was strict with himself during training—once he touched the Red Light or was hit by a certain number of bullets, he would immediately stop the session.

He stood still inside the circle for a moment.

"Beep~~ Beep~~" The barrels of the Neural Reaction Testing Instrument began rotating, accelerating continuously until they reached an astonishing speed. Then, from the dozens of muzzles in the enormous barrel, rubber bullets burst forth in succession, shooting rapidly into the red enclosure.

The bullets varied in speed, and even their trajectories were anything but parallel, completely chaotic.

"This speed is still as fast as ever!"

At the center of the red circle, Luo Shen rapidly shifted around within a small area.

His eyes remained fixed on the bullets' trajectories as his mind quickly calculated the optimal choices. His entire body moved like an elegant wildcat, constantly dodging left and right, evading one rubber bullet after another.

His steps were light, his dodges swift.

Puff! Puff! Even though he was struck by two bullets in succession due to mistakes, Luo Shen did not hesitate in the slightest, nor did his evasive movements change at all.

Because those bullets that hit him had also been accounted for in his calculations.

A minute passed quickly.

The barrel slowed down until it stopped spinning, and a long string of numbers appeared on the screen.

Walking over to the screen, Luo Shen lowered his head and glanced at it. "Hm? 60 seconds, hit 43 times, did not touch the Red Light. Good!"

Seeing that result, he could not help shaking his head.

Achieving this score in the 'Beginner Warlord Level' mode was already an unattainable peak for most Advanced Warriors, but for Luo Shen, it was still far from enough.

"I'm still a little short of reaching the Micro-level in movement technique."

Micro-level movement technique meant that in a life-or-death fight against monsters, one could use small body movements to let a monster's attack brush past them. Because the movements were so slight, more evasions could be performed within the same amount of time, making it extremely efficient!

But precisely because of that, it required even more accurate judgment!

Otherwise, once an error occurred, the monster's claws might not merely brush past him—they might slash straight across his body and rip open his stomach!

"I made seven mistakes during those evasions just now."

Luo Shen was still reviewing his movement technique training. Mistakes were not scary. What mattered was following the clues, finding the root of the problem, and solving it.

Fortunately, he had the help of the Neural Reaction Testing Instrument.

Over the past half month or so, Luo Shen's movement technique proficiency had been able to rise rapidly.

However, compared to his Basic Movement Technique, which was already close to completion, his blade technique proficiency was pitifully low. After training for more than half a month, he had not even filled half of it.

After all, movement technique training could still be aided by the Neural Reaction Testing Instrument, but blade technique did not have that luxury.

The martial arts academy did not teach Basic Blade Technique. If one wanted to practice it, they could only refer to some free instructional videos online and slowly figure things out for themselves.

Back when he was at the Limitless Martial Arts Academy, Jiang Nian had also taught him some blade techniques.

But at the time, Luo Shen had been anxious to improve his physical fitness. Moreover, blade technique training was not very efficient at improving one's physical fitness, whereas every breakthrough in Basic Fist Technique accelerated his physical growth.

So Luo Shen had temporarily set blade technique aside.

Like movement technique, blade technique was likewise divided into three levels: solid foundation, proficient, and effortless.

Above those was the Proficient Level.

Although Luo Shen had been cramming the basics of blade technique over the past half month, spending one-third of his usual training time on blade practice every day, he had only reached the "proficient" level.

Still, the monsters in the Martial Artist Practical Examination were all the lowest-grade H-class creatures.

With his strength, he could utterly crush these most ordinary monsters even using only his physical fitness. Blade technique at the proficient level was more than enough.

After finishing his training, Luo Shen went downstairs, drenched in sweat.

Several martial artists were chatting in the bar on the first floor. Wu Tong and Luo Feng were among them.

"A-Shen!" Luo Feng waved with a smile.

"Good kid!" Wu Tong also laughed. "You came over to train so early in the morning. Just as expected of a young man—full of drive. It really reminds me of my younger days. You know, back then..."

The moment Luo Shen heard Wu Tong about to reminisce again, he quickly interrupted, "Brother Feng, Uncle Wu, what are you two talking about?"

Luo Feng knew all too well how long-winded Wu Tong could be, so he picked up the conversation. "Aren't you taking the Martial Artist Practical Examination in a few days? Uncle Wu was asking whether you'd be willing to join our Fire Hammer Squad, so we could show you the ropes."

Luo Shen looked at Wu Tong.

Wu Tong nodded. "The Fire Hammer Squad isn't weak. If a newcomer like you joins us, you can learn quite a lot. It'll benefit your future path as a martial artist."

"What do you think, Brother Feng?" Luo Shen asked.

Wu Tong might not know this, but Luo Shen knew very well that aside from the retired Zhang Ke, Chen Gu and the Wei Family Brothers had all taken Gene Potions, raising their physical fitness to the Warlord Level.

Luo Feng smiled. "If it's you, then of course I'd be happy to have you."

The two lived close to each other and both came from Yi'an District. Moreover, because of Luo Shen, Luo Feng had realized that physical force generation could be applied to speed. As such, the two had gotten along quite well over the past half month.

Naturally, Luo Feng was well aware of Luo Shen's strength.

Though he had passed the Prospective Martial Artist Assessment less than a month ago, Luo Shen's physical fitness had already reached the Advanced Warrior Level. Combined with his physical force generation, he could be considered to possess Warlord Level combat power.

He merely lacked combat experience in the Wilderness Area.

"Since Brother Feng has put it that way, refusing would make me seem rather ungrateful." Luo Shen smiled.

Wu Tong nodded with a smile. "In that case, it's settled."

"Oh, right. The Martial Artist Practical Examination is only two or three days away."

As if suddenly recalling something, Wu Tong cautioned, "Quite a few newcomers can only display ten or twenty percent of their strength after seeing blood. When facing monsters, they become timid and hesitant. Don't be fooled just because the examination monsters are the lowest-level Beginner Beast Soldiers—their killing power is not weak in the slightest. Be extra careful, and don't stumble in the gutter."