"Congratulations on winning the duel, Guardian Yuan. Your account has received 2,000 Blue Star Coins, which may be transferred..." Li Yuan had already received the notification from Starry Sky Fighting Net.
The stakes had been agreed upon before the match, and Lin Lanyue had transferred the funds in advance.
Thus, the moment he won, the money was transferred into Li Yuan's account.
"Fighting that was practically real combat, without having to worry about injuries—it really was more exhilarating than bitter training in reality." Li Yuan grinned. "What a pity it still wasn't 100% realistic. It wasn't thrilling enough."
Why did Martial Arts powerhouses emerge one after another in this era?
The Virtual Network played an irreplaceable role.
Take Starry Sky Fighting Net. Although it had many flaws, such as being unable to fully simulate real-life moves and causing some data to become distorted.
For example, it could not scan everyone's real physical data. The data of the consciousness body differed from the real body, making a one-hundred-percent match impossible.
But!
Through consciousness links, participants could still carry out countless battles and test moves that were difficult to repeatedly attempt in reality.
In real combat, a single mistake meant death or injury.
How many real battles could martial artists of the past experience in a lifetime? The vast majority trained alone; having even a few sparring partners was already good enough.
But in this era, before every martial artist fought Star Realm Creatures in real combat, they could undergo thousands upon thousands of virtual battles. Not only would their training efficiency increase tenfold or even a hundredfold.
It could also temper their mindset, courage, and skills.
In a fight like Li Yuan's and Lin Lanyue's, both had reached the age of sixteen, so blood, severed limbs, and the like were realistically simulated.
However, because they were minors, the pain sensation was only 10%.
For adult competitions, pain sensation started at 20% and could be adjusted as high as an astonishing 80%, infinitely close to a life-and-death battle.
"Starry Sky Fighting Net."
"In essence, it is a combat training camp for martial artists." Li Yuan sighed inwardly.
All of Human Civilization now revolved around "war."
Li Yuan and Lin Lanyue fought fiercely.
Less than a minute later, the battle ended.
After all, the force behind any casual spear thrust or sword strike of theirs was over a thousand kilograms. As long as one caught even the slightest flaw in the other, it would basically be a killing blow.
Before Li Yuan's spear suddenly erupted, aside from Teacher Xu Bo, who had spotted the signs in advance, many students still believed Lin Lanyue had the upper hand.
"Li Yuan has been retreating the whole time. A long defense is bound to fail! Can he really hold out like this?" one boy asked doubtfully.
"What the hell do you know?" Zhou Qi sneered. "Brother Yuan is the strongest."
Zhou Qi did not understand, but he knew Li Yuan had the highest Martial Arts Technique score.
"Lin Lanyue's attacks are incredibly fierce. If Brother Yuan makes even the slightest slip, he'll lose." Wan Xiao had sharper eyes. "But Brother Yuan's defense is flawless... I feel like his spear technique is even stronger than during the last test."
"Who should I be rooting for?" Li Tianyou stared at them, still deeply conflicted.
All of a sudden.
"Brother Yuan is awesome!" Zhou Qi, dressed in leather pants, leaped to his feet and wildly pumped his fists, overwhelmed with excitement. "He won!"
"What?"
"A single spear burst? Lanyue lost?" Li Tianyou's eyes widened as he stared at the scene in disbelief.
"Holy shit!"
"That was too vicious! How could he stab her in the chest?"
"My sister actually lost?" Gu Qianghan held his breath. "This Li Yuan really showed no mercy at all."
"So fast. Li Yuan is so brutal." Waves of shocked cries rose from the spectator stands. The students were all stunned.
They had thought that even if Li Yuan won through defensive counterattacks, they would have to exchange at least several dozen more moves.
Who could have expected that just as Lin Lanyue's offensive reached its peak, the situation would suddenly flipped.
A straight thrust burst forth.
Lin Lanyue's body was pierced through, her armor penetrated as well. It showed just how tyrannical that spear strike had been.
Brutal to the extreme.
"Li Yuan won!"
"So what if she's from the Elite Class? She still got knocked flat!"
"Brother Yuan, number one in technique." The students of Class 2, Grade 3 were all rather excited, sharing in his glory.
So what if she was from the Elite Class? So what if she had awakened Martial Arts Spirituality?
A reversal, stabbing the so-called heaven's favored child off her horse—this was the passion and tradition carved into the bones of Xia Country's people.
It was also the kind of story people loved most to see.
"This Li Yuan doesn't cherish women at all. That was Lin Lanyue!" A small number of boys were rather indignant.
"Are you kidding?"
"Are you an idiot?"
"Moron, in a life-and-death fight, you expect the other side to go easy on you? Haven't you been enough of a simp?"
"You're getting horny at a time like this?"
"If you have the guts, go fight Li Yuan yourself."
"If you like someone, you should respect her." This drew even more rebuttals from the students. "When fighting Star Realm Creatures, if you encounter a pretty one, are you supposed to go easy on it too?"
Most of the boys who came here had been supporting Lin Lanyue.
But they basically did not think Li Yuan had been too ruthless. At most, they thought he was fierce and domineering.
When Li Yuan won, they cheered for him all the same.
In battle, one had to go all out. Carelessness and underestimating the enemy were irresponsibility toward oneself.
The purpose of battle was victory!
This was the first lesson every student received in martial arts class.
"The greatest respect you can show an enemy is to kill them with everything you have. Only those who win and survive are worthy of speaking of spirit and glory." This was a famous saying of the world's second-strongest powerhouse, Lante.
At this moment.
The system announcement echoed above the Duel Platform. "The moment of glory has arrived. Victory belongs to Guardian Yuan. His spear was like an insurmountable barrier, successfully defending his honor and becoming the final victor."
"The Duel Space will close shortly. 60, 59..." Text appeared on the screen above the arena.
Many people quickly began to leave.
Whoosh! Lin Lanyue, who had just been eliminated, reappeared on the arena, only without her battle armor.
She had returned to her original clothes.
Li Yuan's shoulder wound had also healed, while his weapon and armor had vanished.
Outside combat status and outside combat spaces, it was impossible to harm others.
"Lin Lanyue, thank you for letting me win." Li Yuan smiled.
Lin Lanyue frowned slightly. "Your spear technique truly is formidable. I am inferior to you."
In the dozen or so seconds after the battle ended.
Lin Lanyue had reviewed it immediately and understood that Li Yuan's technical level really was higher than hers.
Otherwise, after she had launched dozens of fierce sword attacks, it would have been impossible for him to block them all with such ease, before killing her with a single spear counterattack.
It could only mean there truly was a gap between them.
"But there is something I hope you will explain clearly to the other students." Lin Lanyue stared at Li Yuan.
"Explain?" Li Yuan froze, instantly recalling the hostility she had shown at the beginning.
"You mean those things the others said?" Li Yuan shook his head and was just about to explain. "It has nothing to do with me. They themselves..."
Bang!!
A figure rushed onto the arena.
"Brother Yuan, you won today. What should we do next?" Zhou Qi excitedly ran onto the arena.
Li Yuan froze. "..."
"It has nothing to do with you?" Lin Lanyue swept her gaze over Li Yuan, then Zhou Qi. She frowned slightly, but did not say anything else.
She directly left this virtual space.
"Huh? Why did Lin Lanyue leave?" Zhou Qi belatedly realized. "Brother Yuan, did I ruin the mood between you two? I was just too excited."
Li Yuan was silent for three seconds before slowly saying, "Old Zhou, I want you to do something for me."
"What is it? Just say the word, Brother Yuan." Zhou Qi declared with complete confidence.
"Be my sparring partner."
"Fight me ten times." Li Yuan wore a faint smile. "Otherwise, I won't feel good about it."
"Sparring partner?" Zhou Qi turned and tried to slip away.
"He's so handsome!"
"How did I never notice him at school before?"
"I kind of want Li Yuan to be my third boyfriend. I'll ask him tomorrow at school."
"Give him to me. I only have one." A few girls were still whispering among themselves, seemingly worried that others would hear them.
The sixty-second countdown ended, and the battle space closed.
After sparring with Zhou Qi and Wan Xiao three times each—slaughtering them, more like it—Li Yuan finally let them go.
He returned to his personal combat space.
Everything fell quiet.
"Next, it's time to grind points." With a thought from Li Yuan, a light screen appeared before him:
Ranked Match: Gold Rank. Points: 112 (1,000 points required to enter the Promotion Tournament) Ranked Match Win Rate: 52% Historical Overall Win Rate: 57%
"According to the rules, underage players who reach 500 points in Gold Rank receive a reward of 50,000 Blue Star Coins." Li Yuan thought to himself. "If I can reach Meteor Rank, the reward will be 500,000 Blue Star Coins."
"My birthday is in August. Reaching Meteor Rank within the next year will be too difficult."
"Still, I have two trump cards. I have hope of pushing for 500 points in Gold Rank." Li Yuan reached out and tapped.
Ranked match matchmaking.
"Win one match, gain 1 to 12 points. Lose one match, drop 1 to 12 points." Li Yuan silently recited. "If my opponent's rank is higher than mine, I gain more points for winning."
"If my opponent's rank points are lower than mine, then if I lose, my points will be heavily deducted as well."
"I hope I can make it all the way up in one go today." Li Yuan thought to himself.
Beep—match found.
"You are about to enter a ranked match. Your opponent is Gold Rank, with 322 points. Please prepare for battle." The system issued a reminder.
"You are about to enter the combat space. Countdown: 10, 9..."
(End of chapter)
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