Taking advantage of his free time to rest, Lu Chong spent a full three hours observing his progress before gaining a new understanding of his current cultivation speed.
"At this stage, the Qi Absorbing Art automatically improves by 1% every two hours, and that's with high-grade Nutrition Bars."
"If I cultivate actively, the speed can double."
Lu Chong was fairly satisfied with this pace.
Cultivation built up day by day. You couldn't get fat in one bite, and even if he were given higher-grade nourishment now, the Qi Absorbing Art wouldn't be able to digest it.
"At this rate, I should be able to reach Martial Artist Third Stage before the College Entrance Exam. That'll be enough."
Next, he checked the four Martial Skills that hadn't yet reached perfection.
The automatic cultivation speed of the Tiger Roar Skill had increased significantly, from 5% per day to 1% per hour.
That was only its automatic cultivation speed. If he included Principal Fang's guidance every night, the rate would double again.
"So I'll definitely reach perfection before special training ends."
"As for the three newly evolved Earth-Grade Low-Tier Martial Skills..."
Lu Chong furrowed his brow slightly. In three hours, each had improved by only half a percentage point.
These three Earth-Rank Martial Skills were still only at Great Accomplishment. Once they reached Microscopic, their progress would slow even further.
"As expected, Earth-Rank Martial Skills are harder to cultivate. I won't perfect them until just before the College Entrance Exam."
Besides, Lu Chong couldn't find anyone to guide him and speed up his progress with these three evolved Earth-Rank Martial Skills.
If Principal Fang were here, he would probably have scoffed at Lu Chong's worries.
The difficulty he was talking about and the hardships Lu Chong had in mind were worlds apart.
For an ordinary Martial Artist, cultivating a single Earth-Rank Martial Skill took at least a year or two to reach Great Accomplishment.
As for reaching Microscopic or even perfection, that depended on compatibility and opportunity. Many Martial Artists spent their entire lives studying a single Earth-Rank Martial Skill.
Who else could be like Lu Chong, lounging at home for a little over a month while his Earth-Rank Martial Skills automatically reached perfection?
Of course, there were also geniuses with exceptional insight who cultivated Earth-Rank Martial Skills far faster than ordinary people, but none could match Lu Chong's speed or make it seem so effortless.
That wasn't even taking into account that Lu Chong's Earth-Rank Martial Skills had evolved from his existing Martial Skills, so they had started at Great Accomplishment.
If other Martial Artists learned about all this, they might be so furious they'd cough up blood and give up on the path of martial arts.
It was too demoralizing!
At eight that evening, Lu Chong saw Principal Fang again.
This time, Principal Fang didn't hurry to take him out into the Wilderness to practice the Tiger Roar Skill. Instead, he smiled and said, "Now that you've become an official Martial Artist, I'm guessing you still have a lot of questions. Go ahead and ask."
Lu Chong nodded, then immediately asked a question that nearly made Principal Fang spit out his food. "Teacher Fang, now that I've broken through to Martial Artist, could the school or the Department of Education reward me with an Earth-Rank Martial Skill?"
Principal Fang laughed and scolded him. "What are you thinking, kid? You think Earth-Rank Martial Skills grow on trees?"
"Let me put it this way: even the cheapest Earth-Grade Low-Tier Martial Skill costs over a million to inherit."
"More importantly, high schools and local Departments of Education aren't authorized to award students Earth-Rank Martial Skills."
"Besides, high school teachers generally aren't capable of teaching Earth-Rank Martial Skills."
"They're part of the university curriculum. Only lecturers and professors who specialize in Martial Skills have that ability," Principal Fang declared confidently.
"Worth over a million!" Lu Chong's eyes lit up. He'd latched onto the important part.
That meant the three Martial Skills he'd evolved automatically had earned him three million for free.
Not bad!
As for Principal Fang's warnings about how difficult Earth-Rank Martial Skills were and how only university professors could teach them, Lu Chong didn't take them to heart.
Perhaps noticing Lu Chong's lack of concern, Principal Fang continued earnestly, "Don't get cocky just because you've done well so far."
"Lu Chong, the difficulty of cultivating Earth-Rank Martial Skills is beyond what you can understand right now."
"Let me put it this way. I know your Head Teacher, Wang Tong, fairly well. He's been cultivating the Earth-Rank Wind Splitting Axe for ten years, and he's still stuck at Great Accomplishment with no sign of progress."
Lu Chong paused, thinking to himself, Are Earth-Rank Martial Skills really that difficult?
Still, he didn't reveal his own situation.
First, he was afraid he'd scare Principal Fang. Second, it would be hard to explain.
A newly promoted Martial Artist who'd already mastered three Earth-Rank Martial Skills at Great Accomplishment would probably be dragged off to a lab and dissected.
He'd better wait another ten days or half a month before saying anything.
An idea struck Lu Chong, and he asked, "Teacher Fang, is it possible to derive an Earth-Rank Martial Skill from a Human-Rank Martial Skill?"
Principal Fang glanced at Lu Chong strangely, as if he didn't understand why he'd ask such a thing.
Still, after giving it some careful thought, he answered seriously, "In theory, yes."
"In fact, some senior professors at martial arts universities have done research along those lines."
"After all, if they could derive Earth-Rank Martial Skills from the vast number of Human-Rank Martial Skills, that would help solve the shortage of Earth-Rank Martial Skills."
"And Martial Artists could use the corresponding Human-Rank Martial Skills as a foundation, making it easier to master Earth-Rank Martial Skills."
Lu Chong nodded repeatedly. That made sense. "Have they succeeded?"
Principal Fang gave a slight nod. "There have been a few successful cases, but very few. It takes too much time and effort."
Lu Chong's eyes lit up. Exactly. That meant he could explain his evolved Martial Skills when he revealed them in the future.
Principal Fang continued, "Most people think it's better to do the opposite rather than waste time and effort that way."
"They can break down and simplify existing Earth-Rank Martial Skills, turning them into Human-Rank Martial Skills."
"Although that doesn't increase the number of Earth-Rank Martial Skills, it allows people to make gradual progress and lowers the difficulty of cultivating them."
"Take the Wind Splitting Leg you're cultivating, for example. It was simplified from the Wind Splitting Axe that Wang Tong cultivates."
"If you ever get the chance to cultivate the Wind Splitting Axe, it'll be much easier," Principal Fang said, offering a real-life example.
Lu Chong understood. Seizing the opportunity, he asked, "Then is the Gale Step I learned from the instructor the same kind of thing?"
Principal Fang thought it over before nodding. "That's right. I remember the Military Department has an Earth-Rank Martial Skill called the Wind Controlling Step. It's the source of the Gale Step."
Only then did Lu Chong understand. "So that's really how it works."
"What about the Golden Cicada Robe and the Tiger Roar Skill?" Lu Chong pressed.
"The Golden Cicada Robe is the same. Old Wei derived it from an Earth-Grade Mid-Tier body-tempering Martial Skill. You could just about call it his own creation."
"But my Tiger Roar Skill is different. I created it entirely myself. I just haven't managed to create a corresponding Earth-Rank Martial Skill yet." Principal Fang sounded rather proud as he said this.
Hearing that, Lu Chong felt a little disappointed.
That meant the Tiger Roar Skill probably didn't have the potential to evolve for now.
For now, it seemed that the Human-Rank Martial Skills he'd successfully evolved hadn't appeared out of thin air. They had the potential because they'd originally been derived from Earth-Rank Martial Skills.
However, their evolutionary paths seemed to differ somewhat from those of the original Earth-Rank Martial Skills.
"Then is there any way to help the Martial Skills that failed to evolve find another path to evolve?" Lu Chong was still reluctant to give up.
Before you continue