Two Hall Masters

In this day and age, materials science had advanced. Even hollow metal staffs possessed considerable strength and resilience.

More importantly, this Fish Spirit Race member's physical constitution was only level 10.2, having just entered the ranks. Though its bones and muscles were tough, they had not yet reached the point of ignoring ordinary weapons.

Whoosh!

Bang! Bang! Li Yuan's first two strikes came crashing down like lightning, both delivered one-handed with the momentum of the swing.

Two consecutive heavy blows landed with flawless precision, smashing the Fish Spirit Race member's skull inward and sending blood spraying.

It sprawled completely on the ground, though its long body still twitched.

Li Yuan did not stop. He understood the importance of finishing an enemy off.

For the third strike, he gripped the staff with both hands, the most suitable posture for exerting force with a heavy staff.

There was much in common between the way spears and staffs generated force.

Whoosh! The strength throughout Li Yuan's body erupted in an instant. Calm and unhurried, he directly unleashed Rock Settles the Universe. The tip of the staff was like a spearhead as it cleaved down in fury.

Splat—Bang!!!

A terrifying force of over a thousand kilograms exploded forth, striking the exact spot where he had hit before... and bursting it apart completely like a watermelon.

A great deal of blood splashed everywhere, scales scattering across the ground. Quite a bit of blood even splattered onto Li Yuan.

The Fish Spirit Race member's body no longer moved at all.

Whoosh!

Whoosh! Li Yuan gripped the long staff tightly, still not daring to relax. He stared at the Fish Spirit Race member before him. "This time, it should be dead, right?"

This was Li Yuan's first battle of life and death.

Yet he had experienced thousands of life-and-death struggles in the Virtual Network, along with many practical combat exercises with Fang Longhu.

Especially after enduring the agonizing tempering of the Great Sun Starry Sky Sutra day after day.

Li Yuan's heart had long since become incomparably steadfast.

His spear techniques, footwork, and combat instincts when facing life and death had unknowingly seeped into his very bones.

"So I, Li Yuan, can kill a Star Realm Creature one-on-one too?" Li Yuan took a deep breath, unconsciously tightening his grip on the metal staff.

A strange emotion stirred faintly in his heart.

It was as though he had gone through some great event in life, and his soul had received a cleansing.

Sometimes, certain transformations in life came suddenly, without anyone being able to foresee them.

All one could do was prepare early.

And clearly, through years of martial arts training, Li Yuan had in fact long been prepared, in both mind and body, for a life-and-death battle. He had also handed in an answer sheet that satisfied even himself.

No cowardice! No fear!

Only courage, decisiveness, and caution.

He retreated five steps.

Li Yuan still faced the Fish Spirit Race member's corpse head-on, while his peripheral vision swept the surroundings, wary that another Star Realm Creature might suddenly emerge.

"Young man, are you a martial artist?" The noodle shop owner stood in the distance, kitchen knife in hand, staring at Li Yuan in utter shock.

He had never imagined that the youth he often encountered in the mornings would be so formidable.

In just two exchanges.

The powerful, swift Star Realm Creature had been knocked down by him, and from the looks of it, had completely stopped breathing.

Instinctively, the noodle shop owner assumed the youth was a martial artist.

In his understanding, when cold weapons clashed, only martial artists could defeat Star Realm Creatures.

"No." Li Yuan replied.

"Then you..." The noodle shop owner swallowed, just about to say something.

Suddenly.

Rustle— Two small figures suddenly sprang out from the alleyway from before. Li Yuan's pupils first contracted, then he gradually relaxed.

They were two small combat robots, less than half a meter tall. They resembled large spiders and were quite compact, with gun barrels mounted on them.

Whoosh! Whoosh!

The two combat robots scanned the surroundings, then lowered their gun barrels and gathered beside the Fish Spirit Race member's corpse. At the same time, they emitted streaks of red light, seemingly conducting a scan.

Li Yuan retreated farther back and finally relaxed completely.

He could tell that the gunshot wounds on the Fish Spirit Race member's body had most likely been left behind when the combat robots pursued it.

Throughout Jiang City, there were tens of thousands of combat robots like these, large and small.

Other than some exceptionally powerful Star Realm Creatures, most could be eliminated through the cooperation of combat robots and combat drones.

"Should I leave now?" A thought had just arisen in Li Yuan's mind.

The next moment, Boom! Boom! A series of explosive roars suddenly came from high above. Li Yuan instantly raised his head and saw two aircraft shaped like assault boats.

In modern cities, the tallest buildings did not exceed twelve stories, so it was extremely safe for aircraft to fly several dozen meters above the ground.

"Single-person aircraft?" Li Yuan held his breath.

Before the aircraft could land.

Whoosh! Whoosh!

Two figures dressed in black combat suits had already leaped directly down from the aircraft.

Like two phantoms, they were terrifyingly fast, yet when they landed, they were unbelievably nimble, not even cracking the ground.

It was effortless.

Then they walked straight over.

"At least thirty meters, and they jumped straight down?" Li Yuan held his breath as he watched the two approach.

With Li Yuan's current strength, he could at most jump down from five meters, and even then, he would need to roll and dissipate the force to ensure he was not injured.

The two martial artists revealed only their eyes, with every other part of their bodies completely wrapped in black combat suits.

Yet the intangible auras they gave off made Li Yuan's heart palpitate. Instinctively, he activated Divine Palace Investigation.

[Target's life level exceeds the sensing limit. (Current life level sensing limit: level 17.8)]

Both of them exceeded Li Yuan's sensing limit, making his mind grow increasingly exhausted.

"We were pursuing that Second Order leader and let this little fellow slip through. It actually died?" The combat suit around one figure's head retracted, revealing a large bald head.

He was a bald, burly man, his features chiseled as though carved by knives and axes.

The other, relatively slender figure's combat suit retracted as well, revealing a woman with curly brown hair. She looked around thirty, full of exotic charm.

"A foreign martial artist?" Li Yuan muttered inwardly.

"Kid, I'm a genuine Xia Country citizen." The curly-haired woman spoke fluent Mandarin and smiled. "My family became naturalized back in my great-grandfather's generation."

Li Yuan was speechless. High-level martial artists truly had excellent hearing.

"Kid, the combat robots told me that you killed this Star Realm Creature? Are you a Martial Arts University student?" The bald man approached Li Yuan, speaking as he activated his Smart Ring Watch. "Let me pull up the nearby surveillance footage."

"I killed it." Li Yuan said directly. "I'm a third-year student at Guanshan No. 1 High School."

The bald man did not respond. He looked toward the projected light screen and began reviewing the footage.

The curly-haired woman looked over as well.

Less than ten seconds later, "Hm?"

"What? This staff technique? No, it looks like spear technique!"

"It is spear technique." Both powerful martial artists revealed looks of surprise and could not help looking at Li Yuan.

They had initially assumed that the Fish Spirit Race member had been severely injured and on the verge of death, allowing Li Yuan to pick up an easy kill.

Only after watching the footage did they discover... the Fish Spirit Race member had indeed been injured, but it had still retained most of its strength.

And Li Yuan had, in a single exchange, used a metal pipe to stab out the Fish Spirit Race member's eyes.

Then he had savagely smashed its head apart.

That strength was fierce.

It left both the bald man and the curly-haired woman astonished.

A third-year high school student? Since when had high school students become this formidable?

"What's your name?" The bald man looked at Li Yuan.

"Li Yuan," Li Yuan said.

"Li Yuan? Are you willing to sign with my Starry Sky Martial Hall?" The bald man showed what he believed was a friendly smile. "I'm Lu Huai, Hall Master of the Starry Sky Martial Hall's Guanshan Branch Hall."

Li Yuan froze.

This bald man was a hall master. Could he be on the same level as Hall Master Wan?

He should be a Source Martialist.

"Hello, Hall Master Lu." Li Yuan shook his head. "I've already signed in advance with the Starfire Martial Hall."

After thinking for a moment, Li Yuan added, "A B-level Contract."

"Starfire Martial Hall? A B-level signing?" The bald man froze. "Why haven't I heard about this?"

"A B-level Contract? Li Yuan, from No. 1 High School?" The curly-haired woman's eyes lit up. She winked at the bald man and smiled. "Old Lu, I remember now."

"Last month, Xing Zixuan mentioned it to me. He said Hall Master Wan had signed a B-level Contract with a high school student."

"I heard he was snatched away from your Starry Sky Martial Hall. It should be him."

"I had originally wanted to ask Hall Master Wan at the year-end meeting." The curly-haired woman smiled at Li Yuan, her gaze rather fond. "But there's no need to ask now. With the courage to actively save someone and remain unflustered in danger, along with spear technique nearly at the Fourth Stage, a B-level Contract is more than justified."

Li Yuan grew even more confused.

But he vaguely understood that the curly-haired woman before him seemed to be quite familiar with Hall Master Wan.

"Snatched away from my Starry Sky Martial Hall? Why don't I know about that?" The bald man, Lu Huai, frowned slightly.

He instinctively looked toward Li Yuan.

"Don't look at Li Yuan. Don't scare our Martial Hall's little one." The curly-haired woman glared at the bald man. "If you want to know, go ask your own Martial Hall people."

"Fine, I won't ask him." The bald man shook his head helplessly.

"Li Yuan."

"Come, take a photo and sign here." The curly-haired woman smiled at Li Yuan while activating her Smart Ring Watch. "Don't worry. I'll report your killing of a Star Realm Creature very soon, then notify your school. I'll try to get you an honorary title and a reward as well."

"Thank you for the trouble, senior." Li Yuan was still somewhat dazed and allowed her to direct him.

He quickly took a photo with the Star Realm Creature's corpse.

Then he signed on the light screen projected by the curly-haired woman's watch.

"Don't call me senior. My surname is Zuo." The curly-haired woman looked at Li Yuan. "I'm the deputy hall master of the Starfire Martial Hall's Guanshan Branch Hall, responsible for combat preparedness patrols and pursuing Star Realm Creatures."

"Hall Master Zuo?" Li Yuan was slightly startled.

He had heard other martial artists from the Starfire Martial Hall mention her before, but he had not paid much attention to it and had never looked into her information.

"You know me?" Hall Master Zuo smiled at Li Yuan. "This should be your first time killing a Star Realm Creature, right? Would you like to go home and rest for a day?"

For many people, their first time killing a Star Realm Creature—especially a humanoid race—could make them extremely nervous and even cause psychological obstacles.

"No need to take leave."

"Hall Master Zuo, I should still go to school." Li Yuan said seriously. "I still have classes today."

"School?" Hall Master Zuo froze, then smiled. "I'll take you there."