Teacher Wang's Suggestion

"My advice is that, at this stage, you use all of it to exchange for Blood Energy Potions."

Wang Wenhai looked at Xu Wuyi, his tone firm. "Your Basic Body Tempering Method has already reached minor mastery. The solidity of your foundation ranks in the top three among all the students I've taught."

"That's an enormous advantage. It means the upper limit of your blood energy conversion efficiency is far beyond ordinary people's. What's holding back your progress now is the total amount of blood energy itself."

"You have to take advantage of this golden period and push your life energy level to Level 11 as quickly as possible. Once you break through to Level 11, your body will undergo a small transformation. Both the quality and capacity of your blood energy will increase, and only then will you truly be able to bring out the power of your minor-mastery body tempering method."

"And only after reaching Level 11 will you be qualified to apply for higher-level virtual training modules on Battle Net and come into contact with deeper martial arts knowledge."

A martial arts teacher's duty was to help students identify gaps and make up for the weak points in their martial arts system.

But in Wang Wenhai's eyes, a student like Xu Wuyi was actually the easiest to teach—because he had no weak points.

To have trained the Basic Body Tempering Method to the minor mastery realm at his life energy level meant his foundation was so solid that probably few people in all of Dongjiang Province could compare.

So Xu Wuyi had no need for those flashy things at all. He just needed to steadily increase his blood energy.

Xu Wuyi listened carefully. He knew Teacher Wang's insight and experience were far beyond his own.

"Exchange all of it for Blood Energy Potions... I understand." Xu Wuyi had no objections.

Strength was the foundation. As long as his life energy level rose, everything else would naturally fall into place.

"Of course, after Level 11, you'll need to take D-Grade Blood Energy Potions. Don't go buying all E-Grade Potions in one go," Wang Wenhai reminded him.

Xu Wuyi naturally was not stupid enough to make that kind of mistake, and immediately nodded in acknowledgment.

"Also." Wang Wenhai changed the subject. "Increasing your blood energy alone isn't enough. For the practical combat portion of the Martial Arts College Entrance Exam, if you want to obtain a rating above S-rank, it would be best for you to learn a weapon."

"S-rank rating..." Xu Wuyi frowned slightly, unable to help feeling puzzled. "Didn't they say the college entrance exam doesn't test weapon usage?"

The specific rules of the Federation's Martial Arts College Entrance Exam flashed through his mind.

The practical combat exam was divided into two parts:

First, the student fought against an instructor and received a basic rating. Then they fought against students with the same rating to obtain their specific score.

There was naturally a reason for doing this.

It was said that in the early years, the college entrance exam only had the first part, meaning scores were assigned entirely through battles against instructors. But over time, people gradually discovered that this could not fully test a student's level.

The reason was simple. When fighting an instructor, students could not possibly be in mortal danger, nor would they have the desire to win, because no one could defeat a martial-master-level instructor.

As a result, the so-called practical combat exam became a matter of students trying their best to show themselves off, giving rise to so-called "exam techniques," and gradually drifting away from the words "practical combat."

So starting thirty years ago, the Federation introduced a dual-rating system.

That was, the instructor battle first determined a student's approximate rating, then pure practical combat was used to determine their precise score.

If there was too great a gap between their practical combat performance and their rating, cases of skipping ranks or dropping ranks were hardly rare.

"The college entrance exam indeed doesn't test weapons," Wang Wenhai said. "But you also have to understand that people who study weapons have two advantages."

"First, after mastering a weapon martial art, it can likewise be adapted into fists and kicks. After all, high-grade martial arts are definitely weapon martial arts."

Barehanded martial arts were mainly D-grade, with a small number of C-grade ones. Anything higher was basically secret teachings.

Weapon martial arts were the opposite. They were basically all C-grade or above, and D-grade martial arts were almost never seen.

Xu Wuyi nodded. This was just like learning some university-level knowledge in advance for the academic exam.

Although that out-of-syllabus content would not be tested, it did not stop you from using that knowledge to work out the answer to a question ahead of time, then using the answer to find the process.

"Second is the gap in practical combat tempering."

At this point, Wang Wenhai looked at Xu Wuyi again. "You've been on Battle Net for a while now. Have you felt that there are actually very few experts among your arena opponents?"

"This... is indeed the case." Xu Wuyi hesitated for a moment, but still nodded and admitted it.

The Beginner Arena was mostly high school students, as well as some ordinary social martial artists.

With both sides' life energy levels equalized, there were not many people now who could take one punch from him, let alone fight him to his heart's content.

There were certainly experts among them too, but their numbers were far too small. Everyone went online at different times as well, so the probability of matching with them was very low—possibly even worse than directly arranging a match.

If it were the Intermediate Arena, the situation might be a little better.

But the Intermediate Arena would directly raise one's life energy level to Level 20. Xu Wuyi simply could not adapt to a body like that, and it would have no training value.

"That's exactly where the problem lies." Wang Wenhai smiled. "You don't improve much by playing chess against lousy players."

"Once you reach a certain level, you can only go into Ranked Battles to improve yourself. But weapons aren't restricted there. You can't very well go in with your fists, can you?"

Xu Wuyi truly understood now.

The experts were all fighting weapon battles. Only children played with fists and feet. If he wanted to spar with real experts, then he had to learn a weapon.

"Teacher Wang, I'm willing to learn a weapon." Having figured this out, Xu Wuyi no longer hesitated and spoke firmly.

Wang Wenhai nodded and tapped a finger in the air. A light screen unfolded, listing illusory images of common weapons such as sabers, spears, swords, and staffs.

"You have time now, so you can start coming into contact with a weapon martial art on Battle Net and lay a foundation in advance."

"Battle Net has an assisted cultivation mode that can help you quickly grasp the basic stances and force-generation techniques. Although it can't completely replace real-life training, it's enough to get you started and help you find a direction that suits you."

Wang Wenhai looked at Xu Wuyi. "Which weapon are you more interested in?"

Xu Wuyi's gaze swept over the various weapons on the light screen, his mind recalling his previous fighting style.

Solid defense, good at seizing opportunities, defeating the enemy in a single strike... What kind of weapon suited that style?

Xu Wuyi might not have poor comprehension, but he was not a genius born knowing everything. When it came to weapons, he basically knew nothing at all.

Besides, in his understanding, weapons were basically focused on offense, meant for killing enemies.

A weapon that specialized in defense... Surely he couldn't use a shield, right?

As if seeing through his thoughts, Wang Wenhai shook his head and said, "Weapons aren't all used for attacking... It just so happens you've fought quite a few arena battles lately, so you should have enough points. You can have the Battle Net AI recommend a martial art."

"You can do that?" Xu Wuyi could not help being surprised. He actually did not know much about the Battle Net.

His mental strength was limited, and the time he could spend "online" each day was basically all used to improve his actual combat ability. He had no time to explore the vast Star Martial Battle Net.

As for the points Wang Wenhai mentioned, they were a private currency used exclusively on the Star Martial Battle Net.

They could be obtained by competing on the Battle Net, or by donating Federal Credits, but they could not be traded.

Points were mainly used to purchase some of the Battle Net's virtual services. In essence, they were the Battle Net's way of encouraging martial artists to fight each other.

So Xu Wuyi spoke to the void. "AI, based on my situation, recommend a weapon martial art suitable for my current stage of cultivation, with an emphasis on defense and counterattacks."