The setting sun slanted across the campus, bathing it in golden afterglow.
Students poured out after class in groups, dressed in matching school uniforms and martial arts uniforms. They thronged toward the cafeteria amid a constant stream of laughter and chatter.
Li Yuan and Wan Xiao left the senior year teaching building, went around a large flower bed, and entered the Office Building.
At the end of the left-hand corridor on the first floor was Xu Bo's office.
Though it was called an office, it was actually an astonishingly spacious Martial Arts Room.
"Report."
"Report." The two arrived at the door. With a sweep of his eyes, Li Yuan estimated that the Martial Arts Room covered more than five hundred square meters.
This was his second time here.
Numerous instruments were set up inside, including a Life Blood Detection Instrument and a Fist Strength Testing Ground, and they were clearly of a higher grade.
Cold weapons such as spears, staffs, and axes were displayed along one wall, most of them unsharpened.
But there were sharpened cold weapons as well.
Li Yuan even caught sight of an independent restroom and Physiotherapy Room at the far end of the office.
"Li Yuan, this is a true martialist's training room. Even Entry-Level Martialists can train here without worry." Wan Xiao muttered softly beside him, a trace of envy in his eyes. "My family's training room isn't even a hundred square meters. It's not even one-fifth the size of Teacher Xu's place, and we don't even have a dedicated Physiotherapy Room."
"Whenever I need physical therapy, my dad has to drive me to the Martial Hall. It's a real hassle."
Li Yuan said nothing.
A Physiotherapy Room? His home did not even have a separate training room.
As for going to the Martial Hall? He could not afford it.
As far as Li Yuan knew, a martialist training room like this one, spanning several hundred square meters, would cost tens of millions of Blue Star Coins just to decorate.
In Jiang City, even unfinished homes in slightly better locations could cost more than twenty thousand Blue Star Coins per square meter.
By Li Yuan's estimate, this Martial Arts Room was worth at least twenty million Blue Star Coins in total.
What was Jiang City's average monthly salary? Li Yuan remembered seeing it in the news not long ago. It should have been 11,342 Blue Star Coins.
The median income was even lower.
"You two, come in." Teacher Xu Bo stood in the middle of the Martial Arts Room. He looked like an iron tower, especially with that metallic right arm of his, which radiated intimidation.
Xu Bo's aura was more restrained than it had been in the classroom.
Yet somehow, he felt even more dangerous.
"Teacher." Li Yuan and Wan Xiao behaved obediently.
"Wan Xiao, I have already submitted your transfer application. It should be approved before six tonight. Once it goes through, report directly to the Elite Class tomorrow." Xu Bo looked at Wan Xiao.
Wan Xiao's nickname was Bear, and he had a burly build, yet he seemed somewhat small in front of Xu Bo.
"So soon?" Wan Xiao was caught completely off guard.
"Don't worry. I'm not driving you away." Xu Bo's voice was cold, but he was patient. "Once your spirituality awakens, you can cultivate an Advanced Cultivation Method. Its cultivation efficiency far surpasses that of the Basic Cultivation Method."
"The National College Entrance Examination is getting closer and closer. Your Martial Arts Spirituality awakened rather late. If you enter the Elite Class sooner, you might gain even one more point on the exam."
Xu Bo continued, "Once the application is approved, the introductory sections you tested just now and found compatible with you will be sent to your school account. I remember that your family has a training room, so don't attend evening self-study tonight. Go home and try cultivating them one by one."
"After you report tomorrow, the Elite Class teachers will teach you one-on-one until you have fully mastered them," Xu Bo said.
"Thank you, Teacher." Wan Xiao said gratefully.
He understood now that Xu Bo was not trying to chase him away. On the contrary, he was genuinely considering what was best for him.
"Go." Xu Bo waved a hand.
Wan Xiao saluted, turned, and left.
"Li Yuan." Xu Bo looked at Li Yuan again, curiosity in his eyes. "Your spear technique and movement technique should both have reached the Third Stage."
Third Stage? Li Yuan froze.
In regular high school instruction, there were no such terms as First Stage, Second Stage, or Third Stage.
There were only Arts Scores.
"Oh, I forgot." Seeing Li Yuan's expression, Xu Bo realized it and said, "That's how Entry-Level Martialists classify them. Let me ask another way: has your rank on Starry Sky Fighting Net reached Gold Rank?"
"I reached it half a month ago," Li Yuan said.
Blue Star, and even the Seven Great Planets, each possessed virtual networks spanning their respective planets. Their simulated realism exceeded seventy percent, and the most popular game within those virtual networks was Starry Sky Fighting Net.
"Starry Sky Fighting Net is special. It isn't merely a game." Xu Bo looked at Li Yuan. "It mainly tests a person's Martial Arts Technique, and it also trains people well."
Li Yuan could not help nodding.
The reason Starry Sky Fighting Net had become so widespread, and why the Seven Star Alliance heavily promoted it across every planet, was inseparable from the immense benefits it brought to reality.
"Being able to hold your ground at Gold Rank means your spear technique and movement technique have probably both reached the Third Stage." Xu Bo said, "At your age, reaching this level in Martial Arts Technique is very impressive."
Li Yuan smiled. "That's because the teacher taught me well."
A rare smile squeezed onto Xu Bo's stern face.
"Your physical fitness has improved very quickly as well." Curiosity showed in Xu Bo's eyes. "Can you tell your teacher why?"
He truly was curious.
"I just cultivate normally." Li Yuan shook his head. "Teacher should know my family's circumstances. I can't afford those special medicines."
"Don't worry. Your teacher isn't suspecting you of using banned drugs that stimulate life potential," Xu Bo said.
In this era, certain special treasures could rapidly improve one's physical fitness, but most of them overdrew one's life potential, like pulling up seedlings to help them grow.
Using them would produce severe aftereffects. At best, one's strength would be unable to improve further; at worst, one's life would be cut short.
Decades ago, when the Martial Arts College Entrance Exam had first begun, many students secretly used them in hopes of getting into a good university.
Later, as the Martial Arts College Entrance Exam rules were refined, such drugs and medicinal solutions were classified as banned substances and could not be freely produced or used.
Before the exam, students would undergo comprehensive testing with various instruments.
"Such improvement through normal cultivation alone? Very good!" Xu Bo rarely showed a smile. "I have high hopes for you becoming a martialist."
"You have high hopes for me?" Li Yuan was stunned.
After the other man had taken over as homeroom teacher, Li Yuan had indeed received considerable attention.
But it had only been the attention a teacher gave a good student.
High hopes for him becoming a martialist? This was the first time Teacher Xu had said such a thing.
Becoming a martialist was far too difficult!
"Teacher, my Martial Arts Spirituality hasn't awakened yet." Li Yuan could not help saying.
"Is spiritual awakening that important?" Xu Bo asked in return.
Li Yuan was confused. Was it not important?
"It is very important." Xu Bo continued as if talking to himself. "But in a certain sense, it is not important either."
Li Yuan became even more confused.
"What is Martial Arts Spirituality? In essence, it is compatibility with the Seven Great Advanced Cultivation Methods," Xu Bo said.
"Only when compatibility exceeds ninety percent can one cultivate an Advanced Cultivation Method ahead of time, greatly increasing the efficiency of physical fitness improvement," Xu Bo said. "Then, the hope of becoming a powerful martialist rises dramatically."
"This is why the Seven Star Alliance places such importance on Martial Arts Spirituality."
"This is also why the nation's five great prestigious schools favor students whose Martial Arts Spirituality has awakened."
"After all, cultivating an Advanced Cultivation Method earlier gives one a higher chance of becoming an Entry-Level Martialist. And the younger one becomes a martialist, the greater one's hope of achieving great accomplishments."
Li Yuan could not help nodding.
When one was young, one's blood and vitality were abundant, making breakthroughs in martial arts cultivation easier.
"Martial arts cultivation is the wondrous evolution of life." There was a glimmer in Xu Bo's eyes. "In truth, we humans still know very little about life cultivation. Whether it is the seven Basic Cultivation Methods or the Seven Great Advanced Cultivation Methods... they were all gradually summarized over centuries by the Seven Star Alliance's many high-level martialists."
"More than eighty years ago, during the first Martial Arts College Entrance Exam, the Seven Star Alliance had only announced three Advanced Cultivation Methods."
Li Yuan's eyes brightened slightly.
Much of the information Teacher Xu had revealed was something he had not understood clearly before.
"The purpose of every cultivation method is to drive the evolution of life and continuously improve our physical fitness." Xu Bo looked at Li Yuan. "Yet you cultivate only the Basic Cultivation Method and possess no precious resources, but your physical fitness has improved faster than that of most Elite Class students."
"What does that indicate?"
"Your true talent may be very high." Xu Bo sighed softly. "You simply aren't compatible with any of the Seven Great Advanced Cultivation Methods."
(End of Chapter)
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