Ranked Battle First Trial

In late February, the winter chill had yet to fully fade, but the martial arts hall of Honghe No. 1 High School was already steaming with heat.

Xu Wuyi finished practicing the Basic Body Tempering Method and slowly drew his stance to a close.

Feeling the increasingly powerful blood energy in his body flowing steadily, he gently exhaled a breath of turbid air. The white mist shot out like an arrow, briefly condensing in the air before slowly dispersing.

Life energy level: 11.3.

This progress was even a little faster than he had expected. The effects of D-rank Blood Energy Potions were indeed far beyond E-rank, and coupled with the efficient conversion of the minor mastery Body Tempering Method, his rate of blood energy accumulation had remained at a rather impressive level.

But at this moment, his mind was more focused on another matter.

His consciousness sank into his sea of awareness, where the ancient Bronze Scroll floated quietly.

Martial Dao Diligence Record

Martial art: Wind-Settling Spear

Current realm: Beginner (91.5%)

Martial art trait: Not unlocked

Evaluation: Edge restrained, urgently awaiting breakthrough.

A proficiency of over 90% meant that the foundation of Wind-Settling Spear had long since been solidified.

Army-Settling Stance was as steady as a boulder, Wind-Returning Sweep was airtight, and even the hardest to master, Cloud-Parting Force, was already deeply familiar to him. His force circulation and power release moved as naturally as directing his own arm and fingers.

However, just as the panel's evaluation said, he had hit a bottleneck.

The growth of his proficiency had become slow again, and the improvement brought by each "Hundred-Fold Epiphany" had also become negligible.

He knew he could no longer keep working behind closed doors. If his spear technique wanted to break through, it had to undergo the tempering of evenly matched actual combat.

"It's time."

After entering Star Martial Battle Net, Xu Wuyi did not head to the familiar arena battles. Instead, he pulled up the system menu and found the icon that looked completely different from the other areas, glowing with a dark-gold sheen—Ranked Battle.

"Ranked Battle. Start matching."

Identity verification passed. Life energy level: 11.3. Weapon used: spear. Matching you with a placement match opponent... please wait.

Match successful! Teleporting to Asura Field Arena No. 3119.

The pure white space around him receded like a tide, replaced by an ancient stone arena covered all around with mottled dark-red stains.

Beyond the arena stretched an endless black void, the atmosphere grim and oppressive.

This was the Ranked Battle space, Asura Field, completely different from the bright and standardized feeling of the Beginner Arena.

The battle net officials had done this deliberately, all so that the new generation of martial artists could experience the atmosphere of the Astral Battlefield in advance.

Xu Wuyi's opponent was already standing across from him. He was a tall, thin young man with a somewhat sinister gaze. His ID was hidden, which was permitted under the rules of Ranked Battle.

The system scan showed that the opponent's life energy level was 11.1.

"Begin!"

The instant the system prompt fell, the sinister young man sprang forward like a hunting leopard, both hands forming claws as they carried a hissing sound of tearing air.

He wore a pair of knuckledusters on both hands, their tips edged and extremely powerful.

When using this kind of weapon, a martial artist's fist and palm martial arts could be applied directly to the weapon, which counted as a sort of shortcut.

The young man went straight for Xu Wuyi's throat and heart, his moves vicious. What he used was some kind of D-rank claw technique focused on ambush and fierce assault.

Xu Wuyi's gaze was calm. He did not even use his spear, merely shifting his foot slightly as his body drifted half a step back like willow fluff in the wind.

At the same time, his left hand shot out like lightning and precisely locked onto the opponent's wrist as it attacked his throat.

"What?" The sinister young man was startled and tried to break free, only to feel as though his wrist had been clamped in an iron vise.

Xu Wuyi exerted force through his wrist, twisting and pushing along with the motion. A condensed surge of strength penetrated into the opponent's body, while his right foot kicked out soundlessly and struck the shinbone of the opponent's lower leg dead on.

Crack! A clear sound of bone breaking rang out across the arena.

"Ah!" The sinister young man screamed, his body losing balance as he pitched forward.

Xu Wuyi released his hand, turned sideways, and drove his right elbow down like a long-readied heavy hammer, smashing viciously into the man's back over the heart.

Pfft!

The sinister young man collapsed to the ground. After struggling twice, his virtual body turned into white light and dissipated.

Winner: Xu Wuyi! Ranked points +10.

The battle ended so quickly that there was barely time to react.

Xu Wuyi stood where he was and shook his head slightly. The opponent was too weak, not even qualified to make him take things seriously.

However, placement matches were just like this. They could match him with opponents whose strength varied wildly.

Once the five placement matches were over, he would be matched with opponents whose rank and life energy level were both close to his own.

The second placement match began very soon.

The arena he was teleported to this time was a weathered stretch of Gobi desert, yellow sand filling the sky.

His opponent was a middle-aged man with an ordinary face and a steady bearing, wearing a plain gray martial arts uniform and gripping a simply shaped long saber in his hand.

Life Energy Level: 11.5.

Xu Wuyi's gaze sharpened slightly. From the way the man gripped his saber and his steady bearing, he could tell this person was no ordinary fighter—and most likely had a military background.

He didn't dare get careless. He tightened his grip on his long spear, angled the spear tip toward the ground, and assumed the Army-Settling Stance.

"Please." The middle-aged man's voice was calm. He seemed to have noticed Xu Wuyi was still a student and gestured for him to make the first move.

Xu Wuyi gave a slight cupped-fist salute, then advanced without hesitation. A thrust carrying Cloud-Parting Force shot out—his strongest attack at the moment!

Almost the instant he made his move, the middle-aged man moved as well.

His movement wasn't fast. It was just a simple step forward, naturally avoiding Xu Wuyi's spear, while the long saber in his hand swept upward from below in a rising slash!

The instant the saber swung out, a scorching, explosive aura enveloped the entire arena!

A faint layer of pale red light shimmered over the blade, and even the surrounding air seemed to warp.

Xu Wuyi's pupils contracted violently.

Danger!

An extreme sense of danger crashed over him like ice water poured over his head, making every hair on his body stand on end!

Without thinking, Cloud-Piercing Thrust instantly shifted into Wind-Returning Sweep. His long spear danced as he tried to block.

But it was too slow!

That seemingly ordinary long saber seemed to ignore the distance of space, arriving first despite moving later. The power contained in its edge far exceeded his imagination.

"Screech!"

With the first slash, Xu Wuyi's long spear was cleaved aside by an irresistible force.

The second slash followed like a shadow, directly shattering the protective qi and blood he had hastily condensed around his body.

With the third slash, his vision was filled with crimson. A scorching wave of air rushed into his face, and he could even make out the clear patterns on the blade.

"Pfft—"

There was no room for resistance. Xu Wuyi's virtual body was cut open down the middle. The intense pain didn't even have time to reach his nerve endings before his consciousness instantly sank into darkness.

You have died! Rank points -15.

In reality, Xu Wuyi abruptly sat up from the virtual pod. Fine beads of cold sweat had seeped out on his forehead, and his heart was still pounding violently.

That feeling of being torn apart in an instant, without the slightest ability to fight back, had been far too real.

Battle Net's user protection mechanism had directly kicked him offline to avoid causing irreversible mental damage.

"In previous arena battles, I've lost and died before, but none of them were as intense as this one."

He took several deep breaths to calm himself down, then chose to replay the battle recording.

In the footage, the middle-aged man's movements were crystal clear.

Those three slashes were not complex, but each one contained a unique "rhythm," as if the saber were an extension of his body. His qi and blood fused perfectly with the saber's momentum, erupting with terrifying power far beyond his own Life Energy Level.

"This is B-rank martial arts... and he's comprehended Martial Dao True Intent!" Xu Wuyi murmured, his tone utterly certain.