July 31, 2056, 11:38 p.m.
Although the outside world was already blanketed with stars, the Dimensional Space remained shrouded in a silent, eerie gray-white haze.
Luo Zhe sat cross-legged in the very center of the Dimensional Space. With every breath, a cool sensation brimming with cosmic energy entered his body through his five points of contact. His cells quickly refined it into Genetic Origin Energy, which flowed through his limbs and bones, filling him with warmth.
His body had been utterly exhausted, but now it felt as if he were soaking in a hot spring. He was so comfortable that he could barely keep himself upright.
The Five Hearts Towards Heaven Genetic Energy Cultivation Method was the most basic cultivation technique, one even the world's strongest martial artists had to refer to. It truly had extraordinary effects.
Throughout July, while one month passed in the outside world, a full ten months passed in the Dimensional Space.
Worried that spending too long in the Dimensional Space might cause subtle damage to his body, and having discovered that his first two hours there each day were the most effective for cultivating Genetic Origin Energy, Luo Zhe had decided to limit his sessions.
So, unless necessary, he only entered the Dimensional Space late each night, after completing his saber and movement training, to cultivate Genetic Origin Energy for two hours.
However, Luo Zhe absorbed far more cosmic energy per unit of time in the Dimensional Space than he did outside. On top of that, his body was already under considerable strain after long hours of saber training.
As a result, his daily cultivation throughout July was more effective than it had been in June.
Two days ago, Luo Zhe's punching force had already surpassed 8,000 kilograms, and his nervous system reaction test had earned him an excellent rating at the Junior War General Level.
In other words, judging purely by strength, Luo Zhe was already a bona fide War General Level martial artist.
However, in martial artist circles, a person's true strength wasn't judged solely by their individual ability. Their battle record mattered, too.
Take Luo Feng, for example. Based on the strength he had shown so far, he should be considered an Intermediate Warrior. But even after he passed the Martial Artist Combat Assessment tomorrow, his official martial artist profile would still list him as a Beginner Warrior. He would only qualify as an Intermediate Warrior after killing enough monsters—and powerful enough ones—to meet the requirements.
After all, some people had better physical conditioning, some had better saber or movement skills, and others knew all kinds of tricks. Judging someone's strength purely by their physical fitness was bound to be unfair. Besides... even if there was a huge gap in physical fitness, someone weaker could still kill someone stronger!
"However skilled you are, you can still be beaten by a kitchen knife! However strong you are, one brick can knock you flat!" That wasn't just a saying!
The clearest example was the special kind of martial artist known as a Spirit Reader!
Spirit Readers were all born with exceptionally powerful Spiritual Force. However, when they were young, their bodies couldn't withstand such strong Spiritual Force, so it remained hidden in their minds. As their bodies grew stronger and reached a certain threshold, their Spiritual Force would emerge!
The stronger the body, the more Spiritual Force it could withstand!
Martial artists were divided into Warrior Level—Beginner, Intermediate, and Advanced; War General Level—Beginner, Intermediate, and Advanced; and War God Level—Beginner, Intermediate, and Advanced. There were nine levels in total!
A Spirit Reader's physical fitness was generally two levels below their Spiritual Force. In other words, if their body was at Beginner Warrior Level, their Spiritual Force would usually be at Advanced Warrior Level. If their body was at Intermediate Warrior Level, their Spiritual Force would be at Beginner War General Level!
So, if a Spirit Reader was at Beginner War General Level, even if the other person's physical fitness was only at Beginner War General Level, would you dare swear that their strength was only at Beginner War General Level?
Obviously not!
That was why the sole standard for judging strength, as recognized worldwide, was a person's battle record!
Of course, nothing in the world was ever simply black and white.
Suppose a rich heir had only Advanced Warrior Level strength, but hired several Advanced General Level martial artists to kill two high-level Beast General monsters, then used those kills as his own battle record.
Naturally, he could end up with the title of an Advanced General Level martial artist despite having only Advanced Warrior Level strength.
When Luo Zhe first began cultivating, the cells throughout his body had felt ravenous, devouring the newly refined Genetic Origin Energy as soon as it appeared.
But as time passed, Luo Zhe's breathing grew longer and slower, with more time between each breath. Clearly, the cells throughout his body were gradually reaching saturation, like people who had eaten their fill and couldn't take another bite.
"Whoo... Haa!"
He slowly breathed out a mouthful of stale air and opened his eyes again. His body had already returned to the second-floor Martial Arts Training Hall, and he could feel that much of his strength had recovered.
He glanced up at the clock on the wall. Its hands pointed to twelve. It was midnight.
"The Martial Artist Combat Assessment is tomorrow. I'd better get a good night's rest." He stood, opened the glass door, and went into the bedroom to sleep.
Early on August 1, Luo Zhe and Luo Feng headed out. Under the guidance of Qiu Yi, a martial artist from the Limit Dojo, they joined more than thirty Quasi-Martial Artists, including Yang Wu, and made their way to the train station.
"Ka-chunk—ka-chunk—"
The sound of the train speeding along the tracks was faint, but the carriage was full of chatter. The carriages were completely enclosed, with no windows or other way to see outside. A person appeared on the large screen in each carriage.
Inside, countless Quasi-Martial Artists sat attentively, looking up at the screen like students watching the blackboard in class.
"Quasi-Martial Artists, future martial artists, I'm here on behalf of the HR Alliance." A middle-aged man was speaking live on the screen. "I'm sure you've all heard of the HR Alliance—the world's strongest organization, the wealthiest organization, and the organization with the most martial artists! You must also know us by another name: the Underground Alliance!"
The Quasi-Martial Artists in the carriage gradually quieted down.
Luo Feng and Yang Wu sat side by side, while Luo Zhe sat across from them. They were all looking up at the screen.
"Luo Zhe, Madman, you know about the Underground Alliance, right?" Yang Wu chuckled. "They're loaded! The richest organization in the world, even wealthier than a national government."
Across from him, Luo Zhe waved a hand without replying, his eyes still fixed on the middle-aged man on the screen. The man's face looked oddly familiar. Right, he looked exactly like his instructor, Tong Yang—as if they'd been printed from the same mold.
"I know."
Luo Feng smiled. Unlike Luo Zhe, who was a total shut-in, he had spent nearly a month living in Bright Moon Residential Area and had already learned plenty of basic information from the martial artists who lived there.
Before the Great Nirvana Period, powerful families had controlled various political parties behind the scenes in countries like the United States and those in Europe. Families such as the Morgans, the Rockefellers, and the Onassis family... had once controlled almost half of the world's immense wealth!
But when the Great Nirvana Period arrived, monster attacks wiped out many small countries, and the major powers were left struggling to look after themselves. Governments with armies gained unprecedented control. At the time, some of the world's most ancient and powerful families feared that government forces would suppress them. So they joined forces and formed the HR Alliance—in other words, the Human Rights Alliance.
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