Not to mention what happened to Li Long.
Meanwhile, after celebrating with his parents at a restaurant, Lin Yi hurried straight back to the Library Tower at Guangling Martial Academy to look for information about the Extreme Strength Realm.
At first, the Library Tower's keeper refused to tell Lin Yi anything and even told him not to be too curious. He would naturally find out when the time was right.
It was only after Lin Yi showed the keeper his Martial Scholar token that he stopped trying to hold him back. Instead, he told Lin Yi that all the information about the Extreme Strength Realm could be found in the books on the second row of the third bookcase on the third floor.
After that, Lin Yi went to the third floor and spent a full two hours reading the books. He stayed from afternoon until nightfall before finally gaining a much deeper understanding of the Extreme Strength Realm.
"Extreme Strength. So that's how it is."
In the Library Tower, Lin Yi gently closed an ancient book, a look of understanding on his face.
Extreme Strength, or Power Limit in full, was exactly as Li Long had described it. However, reaching it wasn't as difficult as Lin Yi had previously imagined.
That was because the Extreme Strength Realm was, by its very nature, a realm in which a martial artist gained absolute control over their body.
In fact, the process of practicing Martial Skills was one of continually improving one's control over one's own body. As one's Martial Skill mastery rose, so too did one's control over oneself.
Once a martial artist's control over their body reached a qualitative change, they would have attained the Extreme Strength Realm.
"According to the books, for a martial artist's control over their body to undergo a qualitative change, they need to raise their Martial Skill mastery to at least the level of a perfected Sixth-Rank Martial Art."
Lin Yi thought to himself:
"The higher their Martial Skill mastery after that, the greater their chances of breaking through to the Extreme Strength Realm."
"Generally speaking, if they can perfect a Fifth-Rank Martial Art or achieve Great Perfection in a Sixth-Rank Martial Art, breaking through to the Extreme Strength Realm is all but guaranteed."
"Also, to break through to the Extreme Strength Realm, a martial artist needs more than just the minimum level of Martial Skill mastery. They also need a specific Power Limit Method."
"Every Sixth-Rank Martial Art and above contains such methods. The complete Bright Moon Saber Art, for example, has a corresponding Power Limit Method, and a copy is kept on the third floor of the Library Tower."
"The academy used to worry that its students would get ahead of themselves, so when teaching us Martial Arts, it deliberately hid the Power Limit Methods. They were only made available when we were close to graduating or had passed the Martial Scholar examination."
"And now, I'm finally qualified to study these methods."
Lin Yi smiled and walked to another bookcase. He took down a thin booklet of barely a dozen pages. It was the Power Limit Method that went with the Sixth-Rank Martial Art, Bright Moon Saber Art.
Then Lin Yi stood by the bookcase and quickly flipped through the pages, memorizing the contents of the method.
Power Limit Methods were generally not complicated. After all, they were only meant to aid comprehension of the Extreme Strength Realm. Even an ordinary person could usually memorize one completely in half an hour.
As a genius, Lin Yi was naturally even faster. In only fifteen minutes, he had absorbed every detail on how practitioners of the Bright Moon Saber Art could break through to the Extreme Strength Realm.
"I've memorized the method. I'll head back and start practicing right away."
After returning the booklet to the shelf, Lin Yi's eyes shone brightly. He hurried downstairs, greeted the keeper, and left the Library Tower.
The days that followed were simple enough. Now that he had passed the Martial Scholar examination, and his Martial Skill mastery had long since reached the level of a perfected Sixth-Rank Martial Art, finding work was much easier for Lin Yi than before.
He casually found a larger martial arts school and took a job as an instructor. His base salary was one hundred taels of silver a month.
If he occasionally took the time to give extra lessons to wealthy students, his monthly income was guaranteed to reach at least one hundred and fifty taels—more than his father had earned in two or three months risking his life on escort jobs.
On top of that, the fifty taels of Martial Arts Subsidy Silver he received each month as a Martial Scholar brought Lin Yi's monthly income to over two hundred taels. Even in the Commandery City, that put him firmly among the high earners.
So once he got his hands on the money, Lin Yi ignored his parents' objections and bought the family a new house. It wasn't large, but it was in a good location, and they no longer had to endure the stench of the open drain.
His mother complained again and again that he was wasting money, but when she actually moved into the house, she couldn't suppress the smile tugging at her lips.
Seeing that, Lin Yi felt content.
With the silver to support him, Lin Yi's Martial Cultivation also began to climb by leaps and bounds. In only a month, he broke through again and reached the Seventh-Rank Martial Dao.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Inside a Martial Arts Training Room at Guangling Martial Academy, two figures repeatedly clashed.
One wielded a saber, the other a greatsword. Their tremendous impacts sent bursts of explosive sound through the air.
Finally, after more than four hundred exchanges, the figure with the saber struck. The greatsword wielder couldn't raise his weapon in time to block, and the saber came to rest against his neck.
"Lin Yi, just how do you train?"
Feeling the icy edge of the white saber against his neck, Wang Kai gave a bitter smile.
"In this one short month, your Martial Skill mastery has practically improved every single day."
"At first, I could still last a thousand exchanges before you beat me."
"Ten days later, I could only last eight hundred. After twenty days, I could barely manage six hundred."
"And now it's even more ridiculous. I've already lost to you in fewer than five hundred exchanges."
"If you keep improving at this rate, in at most another six months your Bright Moon Saber Art will reach Great Perfection. Then breaking through to the Extreme Strength Realm will be a breeze!"
"Six months?"
Hearing Wang Kai's words, Lin Yi smiled calmly.
He had to admit, Wang Kai was a disciple from one of the top lineages in Guangling Prefecture City, and he had a sharp eye. He had easily figured out Lin Yi's current level in the Bright Moon Saber Art.
After a month of hard training, Lin Yi had indeed advanced his Bright Moon Saber Art from (Perfection, 14%) to (Perfection, 31%).
At this rate, even accounting for the time needed to break through his bottleneck, it would take at most six months to reach Great Perfection and then comprehend Extreme Strength with ease.
But while comprehending Extreme Strength in six months was a frightening pace for an ordinary genius—or even for a "Yellow-grade Genius" like Wang Kai—it was still too slow for Lin Yi.
After all, Lin Yi's goal was to measure himself against the Profound-grade Geniuses and even Earth-grade Geniuses of the Purple Thistle Chamber of Commerce.
If he only comprehended Extreme Strength six months from now, it would already be next year. And according to the way this world calculated age, even if Lin Yi hadn't actually turned fifteen, he would still count as fifteen.
Comprehending Extreme Strength at fifteen wouldn't meet the standard for a Profound-grade Genius. He would only count as an exceptionally powerful Yellow-grade Genius.
"No! If I want to progress faster, I'll have to get stronger as soon as possible, then use that strength to gather four thousand taels of silver and manifest my Second Talent."
"As long as my Second Talent can help me comprehend Extreme Strength, whether it's Bright Yellow Grade or Crimson Grade, it should greatly shorten the time I need to break through to the Extreme Strength Realm."
"If I can break through before the end of this year, then I'll have comprehended the Extreme Strength Realm at fourteen. That would put me in a completely different league from someone who comprehended it at fifteen."
With that in mind, Lin Yi turned to Wang Kai and said:
"Wang Kai, let's call it a day. I've got something to take care of. I'll see you tomorrow."
"Something to do?"
Wang Kai was taken aback and asked in confusion:
"Lin Yi, doesn't your job as an instructor at the martial arts school start at 5:45 in the Shen hour—that's four in the afternoon? It's only 2:45 now. Why are you going so early?"
"I'm going to look for another job and see if I can earn some more silver."
Lin Yi explained:
"To be honest, I've been spending a lot lately to improve my cultivation. My salary from one martial arts school isn't enough to cover it, so I have to find another source of income."
"So I'm afraid I'll only be able to spar with you during the hours I'm at the academy from now on. I hope you understand, Brother Wang."
"Short on money?"
Wang Kai furrowed his brows, then said:
"Lin Yi, if you're short on money, I won't waste your time earning it. But speaking of making money, I do have some good news for you."
"Oh? What good news?"
Lin Yi was taken aback.
"It's simple!"
Wang Kai smiled as he answered:
"From what I've heard, the academy is going to hold its Entrance Examination this month, as it does every year."
"The academy is taking this Entrance Examination very seriously. Even the Dean, who rarely shows himself, will attend. And the rewards will be greatly increased compared to previous years."
"So, Lin Yi, if you're really short on money, I think this examination could be a great opportunity for you."
"A great opportunity? The rewards are going up a lot? Wang Kai, just how much are we talking?"
A glimmer of anticipation flashed in Lin Yi's eyes, and he hurriedly asked.
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