Lost Track Steps Breakthrough, Reviewing Cultural Courses

The next day, early morning.

As usual, Lin Ye arrived at school early and headed straight to the Martial Arts Hall.

Unsurprisingly, the Martial Arts Hall was completely empty.

Considering that Lost Track Steps was only 15 proficiency points away from a breakthrough, Lin Ye decided to practice until he reached the Mastery level. He claimed a spacious area of floor mats for himself and began his training.

One step, one pause, one turn.

In the vast, empty Martial Arts Hall, only the sound of his own footsteps echoed.

[Lost Track Steps proficiency +1]

[Lost Track Steps proficiency +1]

[Lost Track Steps proficiency +1]

As the final notification for the proficiency increase appeared, Lin Ye felt as if a subtle string in his mind had been gently plucked, then suddenly resonated, and his understanding of Lost Track Steps immediately ascended to a new level.

It was a sudden, enlightened understanding of the two characters for "Lost Track."

If the Proficiency level of Lost Track Steps was about "evasion," then the Mastery level had evolved into a subtle form of "deception."

Visual deception.

For example, by varying the speed of his footwork—alternating between fast and slow, or using an irregular combination of pauses and bursts—he could disrupt an opponent's ability to predict his movement rhythm, making it difficult for them to grasp the optimal timing for interception or attack. Or, in the instant of high-speed movement or rapid direction changes, he could use subtle shifts in his footwork rhythm and body center of gravity to create a "visual residual afterimage" with a very short duration and blurred outline, leading the opponent to misjudge and disrupting their attack or defense direction.

More importantly, he felt that his perception of space had leveled up, which was the foundation for implementing such visual deception.

Savoring this change, Lin Ye wore a knowing smile in the Martial Arts Hall.

In the afternoon, at the Virtual Combat Room.

After swiping his card to enter, Lin Ye walked toward an empty virtual pod. He intended to test the effects of the "visual deception" of his Lost Track Steps in a virtual battle.

He logged into Martial Arts, and his ID appeared.

At this moment, his rank had reached Bronze V, with 74 victory points, leaving him 26 points away from the promotion series.

He clicked to start matchmaking, and a moment later, a match was found.

It was still the circular arena with a diameter of twenty meters.

In the first ranked match, his opponent was a young man in black who used a pair of short daggers, his attacks as swift as the wind.

As the battle began, the young man in black clung to Lin Ye like a maggot on a bone, his twin daggers carving out streaks of cold light, attempting to leverage the short, dangerous nature of the daggers to gain an advantage.

Lin Ye remained calm and unhurried. Seeing the opponent close in, he felt a surge of joy; it was the perfect opportunity to test Lost Track Steps. He used Mountain-Suppressing Fist: Mountain Tilt to steadily parry the attacks while deploying Lost Track Steps. His ghostly footwork allowed him to precisely dodge the sharp daggers time and time again, leaving the young man in black quite frustrated.

After several exchanges, once he had grown comfortable with the opponent's rhythm, Lin Ye began to employ the visual deception of Lost Track Steps. During a movement that appeared to be a dodge to the left but was actually a retreat, he took advantage of the opponent's vision being drawn to the afterimage. The young man in black, delighted, swiftly thrust his daggers toward the predicted landing spot on Lin Ye's left, but Lin Ye's figure had already arrived on the right.

Seeing that the opponent had misjudged, Lin Ye stopped holding back. He clenched his five fingers into a fist and struck toward the opponent's chest and abdomen with a Mountain-Collapsing Style. The young man in black was shocked, a look of confusion appearing on his blurred face. He had clearly seen Lin Ye landing on the left; how had he ended up on the right? Before he could figure it out, Lin Ye's iron fist struck. The young man in black let out a muffled groan and retreated violently, his rhythm completely shattered.

Taking advantage of the opponent's disarray, Lin Ye seized the opportunity to press his attack and quickly knocked him down.

In the second ranked match, Lin Ye encountered an opponent wielding a long staff, dancing it into an impenetrable defense, attempting to suppress the enemy with area-of-effect attacks.

Facing this kind of wide-range assault, Lin Ye combined the "rhythm deception" and "initial afterimage" of his Mastery-level Lost Track Steps. He skirted the edges of the attacks, his footwork flickering in and out, fast and slow. Then, exploiting the opponent's growing impatience, he moved at high speed and changed directions instantly, creating two blurred afterimages that appeared in two locations almost simultaneously. This caused the opponent to misjudge, leading to an unnatural hesitation in his staff momentum.

Lin Ye immediately seized the moment when the opponent's staff recovery was slightly slow, closed the distance, and used Mountain-Suppressing Fist to strike the staff body head-on. The massive force of the punch made the opponent's hand go numb, and the long staff nearly slipped from his grip. A follow-up combo of punches secured the victory.

For the third match, the opponent used a style that was fierce and rigid, with an extremely stable lower stance—similar to his own previous type, using the unchanging to meet all changes.

Lin Ye tested a few moves, and after getting a general sense of the situation, he changed his strategy, pushing "gaze induction" to the limit. He circled the opponent constantly, his footwork erratic, his shoulders swaying slightly left and right to create multiple deceptive feints. The opponent was able to respond steadily at first, but as Lin Ye's mix of real and fake steps and eye-deception continued to stack, the opponent's focus began to waver, and he started making premature movements or overreacting at times.

Finally, under the induction of Lin Ye staring sharply at his right shoulder while slightly dropping his left, the opponent subconsciously shifted his defensive center of gravity to the right. Lin Ye seized the opportunity, exploded with astonishing speed, and cut in from the left opening.

A long-charged Mountain-Suppressing Fist: Mountain Tilt slammed heavily into the opponent's hastily retracted left arm, causing his center of gravity to become unstable. Lin Ye followed up with a relentless assault, ultimately securing the win.

Three matches, three wins!

His rank points reached 98, just 2 points away from the promotion series, but at this moment, Lin Ye gave up on the idea of continuing to fight.

There was no other reason; he had only come to the virtual combat room to test the effects of his Mastery-level Lost Track Steps, not to hone his skills.

Now that he had a general understanding, his goal was achieved, and he felt no need to linger in virtual combat.

Exiting the virtual pod, Lin Ye left the Martial Arts Pavilion and walked toward his home.

There were only two days left until the college entrance exam, and all his martial arts skills had reached a "peak." Especially Lost Track Steps, which required a full 1000 proficiency points to reach the next stage of "Great Success," something that could definitely not be achieved in a short time.

Therefore, he planned to devote the next two days to reviewing his academic subjects.

No matter what, academic subjects accounted for one-seventh of a martial arts student's score, so some review was necessary. Although two days wouldn't allow for much, it was still better than not reviewing at all.

Returning home, Lin Ye entered his Study Pod and poured all his energy into reviewing key topics and organizing his knowledge system. First and foremost, he spread out his notes and error books for Star Alliance General History and Geography, Basic Physics and Energy Application, Mathematics Fundamentals, and Star Alliance Common Language for targeted review.

Time slipped away quietly amidst the sound of his virtual pen scratching against the pages.

Seven o'clock in the evening.

While reviewing in the Study Pod, Lin Ye heard an emergency notification alert. The message came from the class group, which was currently overflowing with activity.