Limit Martial Hall

Wang Ji returned home without telling his mother or older sister that he had lost his job. They couldn't do anything to help; it would only make them worry.

At most, he'd need a week to reach Quasi-Martial Artist status! He might as well take it easy for a few days. Maybe he should check out the Limit Martial Hall?

In the past, Wang Ji had rarely gone to a martial hall because he'd been busy working to earn money. In modern society, high school students got out of school early and had plenty of time to train. Many of those who weren't very strong worked out at their school's martial hall or sports field.

Those who were stronger usually trained at a martial hall. The Limit Martial Hall, the Thunderbolt Martial Hall, and the country's National Martial Hall all welcomed high school students. They were generally open to students aged sixteen and older for free. After all, young people were the future! Whether it was the Limit Martial Hall, the Thunderbolt Martial Hall, or the country, none spared any effort when it came to nurturing talent.

After starting high school, Wang Ji had signed up at the Limit Martial Hall and gotten a Beginner Warrior membership card, but he hadn't gone there in over a year.

After midnight, Wang Ji did as usual and grabbed the damaged helmet. "Enter!"

After a cautious, hard-fought battle,

"Argh!" A Brindle Mastiff tore open Wang Ji's throat, killing him instantly. He woke with a start in his bedroom.

That was the third time tonight.

Wang Ji had learned his lesson. Before entering the basement tonight, he'd dragged the young martial artist's corpse in with him.

Then, in a minute, he quickly stripped off the martial artist's protective suit and put it on. It was a little disrespectful to the dead, but in times like these, it was nothing unusual. This way, he could ambush the Shadow Cat and kill it without getting hurt every time.

After all, the Shadow Cat's claws were sharp, but they couldn't tear through a Type 1 combat suit. Shadow Cats were fast, but not very strong. After one or two swipes, Wang Ji hadn't even suffered internal injuries.

But once he left the basement and tried hunting monsters on his own, he was completely at a loss. Monsters were generally at least a third faster and stronger than Wang Ji. It was sheer slaughter! Any Brindle Mastiff could kill him, while he could manage no more than two cuts on one.

"Forget it! I'll spend some points!"

"Name: Wang Ji

Age: 17

Strength: 670 kg

Speed: 19.2 m/s

Neural response: Failed Beginner Warrior standard"

Wang Ji looked over his stats. Maybe I should practice footwork and saber techniques? After all, even as a Quasi-Martial Artist, he'd only have a punch strength of 900 kg and a speed of 25 m/s—still no advantage over a Primary Beast Soldier.

No wonder only two-thirds of candidates passed the Quasi-Martial Artist practical exam! And every time, there were plenty of deaths and injuries. Without a Type 1 protective suit and a Kro Alloy Combat Blade, a two-thirds pass rate would be out of the question. Two-thirds of the candidates getting killed or injured wouldn't be surprising!

"No rush! Once my punch strength gets above 800, I should be able to fight back! If I'm careful, I might be able to kill a monster in the wild!" Wang Ji thought. "The most important thing right now is to get an Essence Source and improve my physical abilities. I'll become a Quasi-Martial Artist first!"

Wang Ji strolled into the classroom that morning and, as usual, took out a classical book to read. This time, though, it was the Analects.

"Lao Wang, you've really become an immortal! You're reading this?" Fatty Yu exclaimed in surprise.

Wang Ji glanced at Fatty Yu and lectured him earnestly. "Fatty, this is way more substantial than your God of War in the City! Kids these days just don't know what's good!"

"Get lost!"

Wang Ji smiled and said no more. Fatty Yu's real name was Yu Donglai. His family owned a supermarket, and he was a minor rich kid. He had plenty of resources, but his martial artist rank was even lower than Wang Ji's had been. Still, he was a good guy and Wang Ji's only good friend in class.

"Forget it. What a fool! Once I become the strongest on Earth, I'll give you a hand," Wang Ji said with a shake of his head.

"Get lost! You'd be better off coming to work as a manager at my family's supermarket when you can't afford food!" Fatty Yu retorted.

"Hahaha..."

They joked around and discussed the classics of old. Before they knew it, school was over for the day. Wang Ji headed toward the Limit Martial Hall.

The Limit Martial Hall's main entrance was magnificent, wide enough for ten cars to pass through side by side. Beyond the spacious lawn stood three enormous, silvery-white buildings that looked like spaceships.

"What a sight!" Wang Ji exclaimed.

He took out his Beginner Warrior membership card, which he hadn't used in ages. "Beep! Beginner Warrior membership card!"

It only let him enter the Beginner Warrior building, one of the three. Wang Ji didn't mind. He casually found a testing machine and threw a punch. "670 kg." His speed was 19.2 m/s!

At the self-service robot, Wang Ji smoothly traded his Beginner Warrior membership card for an Intermediate Warrior membership card.

"Let's go! To the Intermediate Warrior building!" Wang Ji said, full of confidence.

The Intermediate Warrior building was less crowded than the Beginner Warrior building, with fewer people around.

Wang Ji trained at all kinds of facilities. It was five in the afternoon, the perfect time to work out, and instructors were on hand at each area to give guidance—for strength training, speed training, agility training, and more.

Wang Ji stood in front of a huge punching bag and hit it again and again.

"Thump!" The one-ton punching bag swung violently.

"Wrong!" a voice said behind him.

Wang Ji turned around, curious. "Instructor?"

The middle-aged man in an instructor's uniform said, "That's wrong! Your form is wrong! Watch..."

He walked up to the punching bag and hit it with a punch. It swung up by half a meter! His body drew back like a bow, and his fist flew forward like an arrow. His punch was brimming with explosive power.

"I didn't use much more strength than you did. Did you see that?" the instructor asked.

Wang Ji understood what he'd done, but couldn't imitate it at all.

The instructor said, "Go to the multi-purpose hall and study Stance Training and Cannon Fist! Stance Training will help you coordinate your strength, and Cannon Fist will help you understand how to generate power. Your technique is still far from good!"

Wang Ji thanked him sincerely. "Thank you, Instructor!"

"I'm Head Instructor Jiang Nian. I'll come check your technique again another day," the middle-aged man said.

"Instructor Jiang Nian!" Wang Ji exclaimed. Wasn't he City Lord Luo's first instructor?

Jiang Nian nodded, then went to inspect the other areas.

Wang Ji didn't hang around. He followed the signs to the multi-purpose hall. A huge LCD screen gave the place a high-end feel—and it was free! Wang Ji turned one on, pulled up some instructional videos, and watched them intently.

Learning martial arts wasn't as simple as putting points into stats. This was a real world, not a game.

Before he knew it, it was past ten at night. Wang Ji went home as usual. Two days passed in the blink of an eye.

"Thump!" The punching bag swung up nearly half a meter.

"Huh! You've gotten so much stronger?" a middle-aged man behind him said in surprise.

"Ah? Instructor Jiang Nian!" Wang Ji greeted him respectfully.

"Come on, let's test your punch strength!" Jiang Nian said, leading Wang Ji to the punch-strength machine.

Wang Ji braced himself and threw a hard punch. "Thump! 790 kg!"

"Huh? That's strange! Your technique hasn't improved much, so why has your punch strength increased so much? What was it last time?" Jiang Nian asked.

"Uh, 720 kg last time," Wang Ji said. It had actually been 690 kg, but he added 30 kg. Otherwise, Jiang Nian would probably be even more surprised.

"Your technique doesn't seem to have improved much, yet your punch strength has gone up by 70 kg? Could it be... could it be that your technique was so terrible before that you've improved by this much?" Jiang Nian murmured to himself.

Wang Ji hoped he'd keep coming up with his own explanations.

Jiang Nian suddenly seemed to realize something. He grew excited. "If you improve your technique a little more, could you surpass the Quasi-Martial Artist standard outright?"