Entry-Level Martial Art, Lost Track Steps

Pushed back into his room by his mother, his wristwatch vibrated. Looking down, he saw an official message from the school's administrative system.

[Notification from Linjiang District Third High School: Student Lin Ye, congratulations on being officially selected for our school's "Key Cultivation Program." Relevant resource permissions have been activated. Please log in to the school platform to view specific policies and usage instructions. With the college entrance exam approaching, we hope you will continue to work hard and have a bright future.]

The text was concise and official. Lin Ye stared at the screen for several seconds before slowly letting out a breath. A heavy, solid sense of being officially recognized welled up in his heart—not just a verbal notification from a teacher, but a complete, verifiable, and enforceable institutional system.

Following the instructions in the message, he logged into the school's official website using his student account. Sure enough, a prominent gold-bordered entry had appeared on the page: [Key Cultivation Program · Exclusive Resources].

Clicking into it, the first thing that popped up was the Key Cultivation Program Student Commitment. It spanned over a dozen pages, but the core terms were simple: resources were for personal use only and could not be transferred or sold; students had to participate in regular assessments, and failure to meet standards would result in the cancellation of eligibility; after the college entrance exam, depending on the final admission results, if the student failed to get into a Martial Arts University, some resources would have to be returned or bought out at a pro-rated cost.

The terms seemed quite strict, but Lin Ye scanned them and realized the standards were actually quite low. For example, the second clause regarding blood-qi values required a monthly progress of over 15 points. He estimated that even if the school fed these resources to a pig, it would likely gain 15 points a month. The third clause was even less of a concern; including himself, there were only five people in the program, and Lin Ye felt the probability of them failing to get into a standard Martial Arts University was extremely low, given that the admission cutoff for a standard Martial Arts University last year was only around 420 (after conversion).

After confirming there were no omissions, Lin Ye signed his name on the electronic signature line at the end of the commitment.

Once the signature was submitted, the full list of resources finally unfolded.

The interface for the key resources was clearly designed, listing their benefits item by item.

Daily Resources: F-Grade Nutrient (can be collected at the school pharmacy).

Weekly Resources: Gravity Chamber training (twice, 4 hours each); Medicinal Bath Body Tempering (once).

Dietary Resources: Deluxe Nutrient Meal (can be collected for free at the paid cafeteria windows with a student ID).

Knowledge Resources: Borrowing privileges for D-Grade and below martial arts (limited to one, valid until the end of the semester).

After reading the resource list, Lin Ye found it was exactly as Teacher Zheng had described.

Scanning from top to bottom, Lin Ye's gaze finally settled on the last item: D-Grade martial arts borrowing privileges.

His breathing quickened slightly; he felt this permission had come at the perfect time.

In this world, martial arts copyright protection was extremely strict, or rather, the knowledge barrier was incredibly high.

Unranked basic martial arts could be found on the market through public tutorials and cheap materials, but once a technique was ranked, even if it was only the lowest D-Grade, the nature of it changed completely.

It was said that because ranked martial arts touched upon the "Principles," which were the true factors that widened the gap between martial artists, every ranked martial art was protected by the Martial Arts Intellectual Property Law. Unauthorized learning or dissemination was not just a moral issue, but a serious crime.

His homeroom teacher, Chen Guo'an, had once told them that over twenty years ago, a Mortal Shedding Realm martial artist had privately disseminated a martial art created by a grandmaster without authorization. The grandmaster who created the technique discovered this and hunted him down until he was dead. The aftermath of their battle affected more than half of the district, causing significant damage to surrounding residents and buildings. Ever since then, privately learning or spreading ranked martial arts had become a grave felony, and to this day, no one dared to cross that red line—or if they did, they dared not reveal it publicly.

Therefore, there were only three ways for ordinary people to learn.

First: Pay to purchase. Even for the most common D-Grade martial art, the authorization fee was usually over 100,000 Great Xia Currency.

Second: Join an organization that held the copyright (such as a school, martial arts gym, military, or company). As a member, one could obtain corresponding learning qualifications or receive a discounted authorization fee. Many students in the school took this route. A D-Grade martial art might cost 100,000 outside, but it only cost 10,000 for a student to purchase within the school, though they were limited to buying only two. Even so, the cost was still high for Lin Ye, but it was the best way for the vast majority of civilian martial artists to acquire ranked martial arts.

Third: Private instruction through a stroke of luck. This also required registration with the Martial Arts Association, and such opportunities were rare and unpredictable.

So, for the previous Lin Ye, who didn't have that kind of money, he could only see if Teacher Zheng had any leads. But now, the free borrowing privilege was sitting right there in the resource list.

Without a moment's hesitation, he clicked the link under [Knowledge Resources], and the system automatically redirected him to the school's massive [Martial Arts Database] sub-module.

This displayed a portion of the martial arts that Linjiang No. 3 High School had accumulated, purchased, or obtained authorization for over the decades. However, the vast majority were D-Grade, and the borrowing conditions for the few C-Grade martial arts were despairingly strict. At the top of the page was a filter bar: divided into Fist Techniques, Leg Techniques, Footwork, Weaponry, Hard Qigong, Breathing Techniques, etc.

Lin Ye's gaze fell directly on the [Footwork] category.

He still clearly remembered the battle analysis from the last Martial Arts Ranking Tournament. Footwork was currently his biggest weakness. Since he could only borrow one, prioritizing a footwork technique was the optimal solution.

"I need a footwork technique."

Inside the virtual pod, he whispered to himself, his finger sliding across the screen.

Willow Catkin Wind-Following Steps (D-Grade): Focuses on long-distance pursuit and evasion. Requires delicate control of blood-qi to practice.

Eight-Step Cicada Chaser (D-Grade): An explosive, linear forward-advancing footwork. Extremely high instantaneous speed, but weak in turning and changing direction. Consumes a large amount of blood-qi. Note: Prerequisites: Late-stage Body Tempering, prominent leg strength.

Swallow Skimming Water (D-Grade): Focuses on lightness. Suitable for crossing obstacles, dodging attacks, and nimble maneuvering. Requires high balance and core strength.

Lost Track Steps (D-Grade): Focuses on rapid direction changes over short distances. Confuses opponents with erratic footwork. Requires excellent spatial awareness and rhythm.

After reviewing the descriptions for a moment, Lin Ye's gaze hovered between Swallow Skimming Water and Lost Track Steps, eventually settling on Lost Track Steps.

Undoubtedly, the words "short-distance maneuvering," "confusing opponents," and "erratic footwork" struck a chord with him. He didn't need long-distance pursuit, and he felt the momentum of his Rolling Stone Fist could compensate for linear bursts. What he lacked most was the ability to rapidly adjust his position in close quarters to create opportunities or break free from being locked down.

In his previous virtual combat, if he had possessed such a footwork technique, he might have ended the second round of combat faster, and he likely could have lasted a few more moves in the third round.