Subtle Movement Technique

At the same time, the magnitude of progress during this first cultivation session also serves as a gauge for an individual's aptitude.

An increase of 300 kilograms in punch force during the first cultivation session is considered quite common.

An increase of 600 kilograms is considered quite excellent.

An increase of over 1,000 kilograms is considered elite.

And an increase of over 2,000 kilograms! That is a genius!

Across the entire Jiangnan Base City, there are at most two such individuals in a year.

"Xiao Ning, I presume you know that for a genius like you, who can increase your punch force by over two thousand kilograms during your first Genetic Origin Energy cultivation, and whose speed and nerve reaction speed have also improved astonishingly, the martial hall will invite you to join in advance."

She patted Guan Ning on the shoulder and said with a smile, "Of course, these things are not the most important; what matters is the resources the martial hall provides you."

"For a genius like you, out of the two hundred million people in the entire Jiangnan Base City, I'm afraid only one or two appear each year. When the actual combat assessment comes, you would naturally be discovered by the Thunder Martial Hall, the Underground Alliance, the military, and other forces. By then, they would certainly offer you generous terms."

"Wouldn't it be better to join the martial hall now? Naturally, the terms the martial hall is offering you are not low either," Qian Yun said gently. "However, I must make it clear to you: a villa, 20 million in startup capital for purchasing weapons and equipment, and a set of secret manuals worth 50 million, including a Guiding Technique, sword technique manuals, and movement technique manuals. Furthermore, the villa can be exchanged for 10 million in cash."

"The 50 million quota is not the most important part; the most important thing is that you can purchase items at half price. When Limit Martial Hall martial artists purchase certain secret manuals within the Limit Martial Hall, they receive a discount. However, the higher the grade of the secret manual, the higher the requirement for martial hall contribution points! This free gift does not require any martial hall contribution points." Thinking of those generous rewards, Qian Yun could not help but feel envious.

"You also know the importance of martial hall contribution points, so I won't say any more. Decide for yourself."

Guan Ning's parents were members of the Limit Martial Hall, his friends were all in the Ginkgo Residential District, and there was even a villa that could be exchanged for 10 million. All these reasons clearly told Guan Ning: the Limit Martial Hall was the best choice.

"Aunt Qian, I agree," Guan Ning nodded and said.

"Good," Qian Yun smiled. "I will contact the headquarters now." As she spoke, she spoke softly to her wristwatch, saying 'Headquarters', and the call was immediately connected.

A moment later—

A figure appeared on the phone screen.

"Xiao Qian, is something the matter?" the white-haired old woman on the screen said with a faint smile.

"Aunt Fang," Qian Yun said with excitement, "I have discovered a genius-level martial artist here. During his first Genetic Origin Energy cultivation, his punch force increased by two thousand kilograms, his speed reached 55 meters per second, and his nerve reaction test even reached the excellent level for an intermediate warrior!"

"Oh?" The white-haired old woman was greatly astonished and asked immediately, "An increase of over two thousand kilograms in punch force during the first cultivation? How old is he?"

"17 years old!" Qian Yun replied quickly.

"What, only 17 years old?" The white-haired old woman stood up abruptly and shouted, "Bring him to the headquarters immediately! I will arrange for people right now to prepare for this kid's assessment."

"Understood, I will head to the headquarters immediately."

Qian Yun hung up the phone and turned to look at Guan Ning with a smile, "Guan Ning, come with me to the headquarters now."

"Alright, Aunt Qian." Guan Ning had just started to speak when Qian Yun grabbed him and rushed toward the stairwell.

Qian Yun exercised her privileges. In this era, granting powerful martial artists sufficient authority is the only true fairness, because only they can contend with the monsters raging outside the base city and protect it. Therefore, martial artists have privileges in many aspects, which is what they deserve.

The two did not buy tickets and boarded the train directly, heading to the main urban area of Jiangnan City.

The transportation between the main urban area and the eight satellite cities is the train.

Ordinary people must book tickets three days in advance to ride the train, and the ticket prices are very expensive. As for traveling from one base city to another... the ticket price is an astronomical figure that ordinary people simply cannot afford. Therefore, the two hundred million commoners of Jiangnan City rarely have the opportunity to leave the scope of the base city in their entire lives.

Jiangnan Base City, main urban area.

Guan Ning and Qian Yun walked side by side on the sidewalk.

"Xiao Ning, how does it feel?" Qian Yun smiled and pointed to the surroundings. Guan Ning looked around; the high-rise buildings were densely packed, indeed much more prosperous than Suzhou City.

"Aunt Qian, who was that grandmother just now?" Guan Ning asked with some curiosity.

Qian Yun sighed and said, "That is a senior. After suffering injuries, she served as an instructor at the martial hall. She even taught me once. Now that she is older, she is in a semi-retired state. Otherwise, if this matter weren't so important, I wouldn't have wanted to trouble her."

"The struggle between races has always been the most tragic!"

Guan Ning knew that there was no way for humans and monsters to coexist. This is a battle between the human race and the monster race; only when one side disappears can the dispute be resolved.

"That is why martial artists are the greatest people of this era; they are all people who risk their lives to protect human civilization!"

Qian Yun felt the same emotion. They cultivate one martial artist after another, isn't it just so that humans can have a bit more combat power when confronting monsters?

"Hello?"

At this moment, Qian Yun's wristwatch rang.

"Qian Yun, how much longer until you arrive?" The old woman's image appeared on the phone screen.

"Aunt Fang, we are almost there," Qian Yun said with a smile.

During their conversation, Guan Ning had already caught sight of an extremely vast area ahead. Beyond the silver-white courtyard walls that stretched out, there was a deep blue skyscraper standing tall. On the body of this skyscraper were four large characters that could be clearly seen from several miles away—Limit Martial Hall!

"This is the Limit General Hall! The headquarters of our Limit Martial Hall in Jiangnan City," Qian Yun said.

"There are so many strong people," Guan Ning felt the aura all around and gasped.

"These are the troops within our Limit Martial Hall; they all have at least the strength of high-level students," Qian Yun said with a smile. "Within our Limit Martial Hall, we also have the authority to establish security forces."

"Let them pass!" A one-armed man with a scar on his face at the main entrance waved his hand. Immediately, all the soldiers took a step back, and the uniform aura they exuded made Guan Ning hold his breath.

After passing through the gate, Qian Yun pointed to the skyscraper, "Look, that building is the headquarters for the martial artists of the Limit Martial Hall in Jiangnan City! Almost everyone going in and out of that building is a martial artist."

"The first floor is a leisure area; the second to ninth floors are where warrior-level martial artists often cultivate and stay; the tenth to nineteenth floors are where war-general-level martial artists stay; and the twentieth floor and above are where collective meetings are held."

Qian Yun spent the entire journey introducing the headquarters to Guan Ning, covering topics like the Inspectors, the President, and the Four Giants. Although Guan Ning already knew these things, he listened with extreme focus; after all, this was the real world, not a novel from his past life, so being overly cautious was never a bad thing.

The two soon arrived outside a three-story villa, where a white-haired old woman called out from the second-floor balcony, "Little Qian, come up quickly."

"Let's go, follow me up."

Qian Yun led Guan Ning inside the villa without delay.

"Aunt Fang." Upon entering the second floor and seeing the old woman, Qian Yun immediately greeted her respectfully.

"Hello, Granny Fang." Guan Ning also hurried to pay his respects; he held a great deal of admiration for a person of her stature.

"So you are Guan Ning?" Hearing his greeting, the old woman turned her gaze toward Guan Ning, her voice sounding soft and gentle.

Without waiting for Guan Ning to answer, the old woman commanded, "Prepare the testing equipment."

The staff behind the old woman immediately began to bustle about, and within moments, everything was ready.

"Hum."

The cameras and other devices in the spacious martial arts hall on the second floor all activated, clearly intending to record every detail of Guan Ning's test.

The staff also sprang into action, some holding handheld computers while others personally verified the precision of the various instruments, clearly operating with a level of professionalism far exceeding the Quasi-Warrior assessment.

"The equipment is functioning perfectly."

The old woman looked at Guan Ning and said, "Guan Ning, begin. We will start with the punch power test."

"Bang!"

Guan Ning took a deep breath, his body slightly arched like a fully drawn bowstring, before throwing a heavy punch that slammed fiercely into the target.

A number appeared on the display screen: '3002kg'.

The old woman remained as calm as ever, though her slight nod was enough to prove that she was very satisfied with Guan Ning.

Next was the speed test, and the results were produced quickly: 55.4m/s.

When the nerve reaction test began, the expressions in the eyes of the old woman and Qian Yun changed.

They saw that although Guan Ning was moving rapidly, he stayed within a range of a single step, moving forward, backward, left, and right. His movements were incredibly concise, and because his range of evasion was minimal, his efficiency was extremely high.

Furthermore, he was incredibly agile and swift. Even when faced with rubber bullets fired at tricky angles, Guan Ning's body could dodge them in unbelievable ways. Postures like the "Iron Bridge" were frequent, which clearly demonstrated just how flexible his body was.

Of course, the old woman and her companion were not focused on that; instead, they were closely observing the sway of Guan Ning's body, murmuring to themselves, "Micro-level..."

The 60 seconds passed quickly. When Guan Ning's results appeared, the old woman snapped back to reality and said with a hint of reproach, "Little Qian, why didn't you make it clear that Guan Ning's footwork had reached the 'Micro-level'?"

"Aunt Fang, I didn't notice..." Qian Yun was extremely surprised herself. At the time, she had been too overwhelmed with excitement to recognize that Guan Ning's footwork had reached the "Micro-level," and hearing the old woman's rebuke, she felt quite embarrassed.

"Forget it, let's look at the results first." The old woman spoke, and Qian Yun finally let out a sigh of relief.

Nerve Reaction Test—Primary Warrior level: Perfect score; Intermediate Warrior level: Excellent!

Seeing this data, the old woman's expression remained unchanged. With "Micro-level" footwork, reaching this standard was not surprising; if Guan Ning's physical fitness were even higher, the results would be even better.

"It seems I will have to trouble that brat Yu Sen after all!" the old woman said softly.

"Yu Sen?" Qian Yun was confused for a moment before her eyes widened. "Aunt Fang, are you talking about Supervisor Yu Sen?"

"That's right." The old woman nodded and said, "Before you arrived, I had already spoken with Yu Sen over the phone. If he weren't out in the wilderness right now, you would have been able to meet him here."