Rewards for Meteor Rank

Rewards for Meteor Rank

"Congratulations on winning the duel, Guardian Yuan. Your account has received 2,000 Blue Star Coins, which can 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.

"Fights close to real combat, where I don't have to worry about injuries, really are more exhilarating than grueling training in reality." Li Yuan grinned. "It's just a pity that the realism still isn't 100%. It's not thrilling enough."

Why had Martial Arts powerhouses emerged one after another in this era?

The Virtual Network played an irreplaceable role.

Take Starry Sky Fighting Net. Though it had many flaws, such as being unable to fully simulate real-world moves, with some data suffering distortion.

For example, it could not scan everyone's real physical data. The data of the consciousness body differed from that of the real body, making perfect compatibility impossible.

But!

Through consciousness links, participants could still conduct a great many battles and experiment with moves that were difficult to carry out continuously in reality.

In real combat, one mistake meant death or injury.

How many real fights could martial artists of the past experience in their entire lives? Most practiced alone. Having even a few sparring partners was already quite good.

But in this era, before every martial artist fought Star Realm Creatures in real combat, they could go through thousands upon thousands of virtual battles. Their training efficiency could improve tenfold, even a hundredfold.

More importantly, it tempered their mindset, courage, and skill.

Like Li Yuan's battle with Lin Lanyue, both had reached the age of sixteen, so blood, severed limbs, and the like were realistically simulated in combat.

It was only because they were minors that the pain level was limited to 10%.

For adult competitions, the pain level was at least 20%, and could be adjusted as high as a staggering 80%, infinitely close to a fight for life and death.

"Starry Sky Fighting Net."

"At its core, it is a martial artist's real-combat training camp." Li Yuan secretly marveled.

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, every casual thrust of their spears and every slash of their swords carried impacts of over a thousand kilograms. As long as either caught the slightest opening, it would basically be a one-hit kill.

Before Li Yuan's spear suddenly erupted, aside from Teacher Xu Bo, who had spotted the signs in advance, many students still felt that Lin Lanyue held the upper hand.

"Li Yuan has been retreating the whole time. Long defense must eventually fail! Can he really keep defending 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 fierce. If Brother Yuan slips up even slightly, 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 hope wins?" Li Tianyou stared on, still deeply conflicted.

All of a sudden—

"Brother Yuan is awesome!" Zhou Qi, dressed in leather pants, sprang to his feet and wildly pumped his fists, utterly exhilarated. "He won!"

"What?"

"One burst of his spear? Lanyue lost?" Li Tianyou's eyes widened as he stared at the scene in disbelief.

"Holy shit!"

"That was brutal. 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 vicious." Waves of startled cries rang out from the spectator stands, and the students were all amazed.

They had assumed that even if Li Yuan won through defense and counterattack, they would have to exchange at least dozens more moves.

Who could have imagined that, just as Lin Lanyue's offensive reached its peak, everything would suddenly reverse.

A direct thrust burst forth.

Lin Lanyue's body was pierced through, even her armor punctured. It was clear just how domineering that spear strike had been.

Cruel to the extreme.

"Li Yuan won!"

"So what if she's from the Elite Class? She still got beaten flat!"

"Brother Yuan, number one in technique." The students of Class 2, Grade 3 were all quite excited, sharing in his glory.

So what if she was from the Elite Class? So what if she had awakened Martial Arts Spirituality?

A comeback, driving the so-called chosen prodigy from the saddle with one thrust—this was the hot blood and tradition carved into the bones of Xia Country's people.

It was also the kind of story people most loved to see.

"This Li Yuan has no tenderness for women at all. That was Lin Lanyue!" A small number of boys were rather indignant.

"Are you kidding?"

"Idiot!"

"Moron, in a life-and-death clash, you expect the other side to go easy on you? Haven't you been a simp enough?"

"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." Even more students refuted them. "When fighting Star Realm Creatures, if you encounter a pretty one, are you supposed to go easy too?"

Most of the boys had come here to support Lin Lanyue.

But they basically did not think Li Yuan's attack had been ruthless. At most, they thought he was fierce and overbearing.

When Li Yuan won, they cheered for him as well.

In battle, one should give it everything. 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 for an enemy is to kill them with everything you have. Only those who win and survive are qualified to speak of spirit and glory." This was a famous saying by the world's second-strongest fighter, 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 soon. 60, 59..." Words appeared on the screen above the arena.

Many people quickly began leaving.

Whoosh! Lin Lanyue, who had just been eliminated, reappeared on the arena, though she was no longer wearing combat armor.

She had returned to her original outfit.

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, you let me win." Li Yuan smiled.

Lin Lanyue frowned slightly. "Your spear technique truly is formidable. I'm not your match."

More than ten seconds after the battle ended.

Lin Lanyue had reviewed it immediately and understood that Li Yuan's skill level really was higher than hers.

Otherwise, after she had fiercely attacked with dozens of sword strikes, there was no way he could have blocked them all with such ease, then killed her with a single spear counterattack.

It could only mean that there truly was a gap between them.

"But there's something I hope you'll 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 eagerly ran up onto the arena.

Li Yuan froze. "..."

"It has nothing to do with you?" Lin Lanyue's gaze swept over Li Yuan, then Zhou Qi. She frowned slightly, but said nothing more.

She directly left this virtual space.

"Huh? Why did Lin Lanyue leave?" Only then did Zhou Qi realize it. "Brother Yuan, did I ruin the mood between you two? I was just too excited, wasn't I?"

Li Yuan fell silent for three seconds before slowly saying, "Old Zhou, I want you to do something."

"What is it? Just say the word, Brother Yuan." Zhou Qi vowed solemnly.

"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.

"So handsome!"

"Why didn't I 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 discussing it quietly, seemingly worried 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—more accurately, massacring them—Li Yuan finally let them go.

He returned to his personal battle space.

Everything became quiet.

"Next, it's time to climb the rankings." With a thought from Li Yuan, a screen of light appeared before him:

Ranked Match: Gold Rank

Points: 112 (1,000 points required to enter the Promotion Tournament)

Ranked Match Win Rate: 52%

Overall Historical 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 reaching 500 points in Gold Rank." Li Yuan reached out and tapped the screen.

Ranked match matchmaking.

"Win one match and gain 1 to 12 points. Lose one match and 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 climb up in one go today." Li Yuan thought to himself.

Beep—match found.

"About to enter a ranked match. Your opponent is Gold Rank, 322 points. Please prepare for battle." The system issued a notification.

"About to enter the battle space. Countdown: 10, 9..."

(End of chapter)