Return to Simplicity? Is It Hard?

"Hmm?!"

Even Zhuge Lin, a seasoned War God who had seen it all, was shaken to the core and utterly astonished.

The Burning Blade Technique had returned to simplicity, yet it allowed an intermediate warrior to unleash the strength of an entry-level War King!

Crossing five minor realms! It was practically a miracle!

Zhuge Lin calmly pointed ahead, signaling for him to proceed to the next test.

Chu Wen carefully put away the S-grade combat blade and walked over to the reaction-speed testing area.

That small gesture earned Zhuge Lin's approval. Even if an S-grade combat blade were casually tossed aside, its hardness meant it could never be damaged. Yet Chu Wen had placed it down so carefully, showing that he cherished such a weapon.

"Five-second countdown to the test. Prepare... 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, beep!"

One marker after another rose around Chu Wen and began drifting slowly through the air. They densely crashed toward him, their speed steadily increasing.

Chu Wen remained calm, holding his breath and focusing his mind as he pushed Shadow Follows Form to its limit. To his eyes, those markers moved like they were in slow motion. They could not touch him at all!

As time passed, the speed indicator above continued rising steadily.

A monstrous tide surged through Zhuge Lin's heart. He had thought that the Burning Blade Technique's return to simplicity was already Chu Wen's strongest trump card.

The reaction-speed test was merely a formality. Even if he performed a little worse here, it would not have mattered.

But now, everything had surpassed his imagination.

Chu Wen was like someone who did not exist. The markers clearly swept across his body, yet the indicator did not call for a stop. That meant they had only struck afterimages!

The reaction-speed reading on the instrument began soaring!

In the blink of an eye, it had risen from the level of an intermediate War General to that of a mid-tier War King!

Zhuge Lin stared fixedly at every one of Chu Wen's movements as though he were looking at a monster.

The essence of those movements was Shadow Follows Form, something Zhuge Lin knew all too well.

Yet every move Chu Wen made was extraordinarily nimble, even slightly twisted—movements no human should have been capable of making—

They were too perfect, like a naturally formed ink-wash painting that needed no embellishment whatsoever!

Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep!

The alarm began to sound. Zhuge Lin opened his mouth, then let out a long breath.

[Upper limit exceeded. Test terminated!]

It stopped.

But it had not stopped because Chu Wen failed. It had stopped because he had exceeded the machine's upper limit!

"You... you've brought even Shadow Follows Form to the point of returning to simplicity?"

Zhuge Lin was no fool. Chu Wen's usual performance simply did not match the strength he had displayed just now!

What other explanation could there be—returning to simplicity!

Both his movement technique and strength-based combat technique had reached that state?

Was he trying to defy the heavens?

"Returning to simplicity? Is it hard?" Chu Wen knowingly asked, wanting to glean some information from the other man so he could better gauge his own strength.

In Chu Wen's original plan, he had not intended to perform so outrageously. But since he had already met a mid-level powerhouse from the Chaos Martial Arts Hall, revealing a little of his ability would instead benefit him.

After all, he now needed the resources of these major powers to break through his own realm!

He wanted to tell everyone that he was a genius—a genius even Xinhang Martial University had failed to recognize!

"What a 'is it hard?' Bold enough. An ordinary martial artist might not reach the point of returning to simplicity in even one combat technique in their entire lifetime. Setting aside those old veterans, among young people, considering the entire Blue Star Alliance's population of two hundred billion, producing ten in a single year would already count as an explosive year."

"That is the manifestation of martial sense!"

"It means your martial sense is exceptionally strong. When you learn other martial arts and combat techniques in the future, you'll achieve twice the result with half the effort! Once your realm rises, your strength will undergo a qualitative transformation!"

"Whew..."

Even after saying this, Zhuge Lin could not calm down for a long while.

For ordinary geniuses, if their strength was formidable, their speed would inevitably be a weak point. After all, a person's energy was limited. That was an iron law.

But the young man before him had shown him a possibility.

So geniuses of this caliber truly could exist—and one was standing right before his eyes!

"Magnificent. When did you discover you possessed such talent?"

Zhuge Lin looked at Chu Wen curiously. No such terrifying martial talent had been recorded in Chu Wen's citizen chip.

Of course, in this era, there were not a thousand methods, but at least a hundred ways to evade the chip's monitoring. If someone truly wanted to conceal it, they could. But for a child raised in an orphanage to possess such caution...

"I have no family background. If talent like this were exposed, it would inevitably invite jealousy. I would only reveal it before someone I could trust."

Chu Wen spoke neither humbly nor arrogantly, putting Zhuge Lin in an excellent mood.

"Good, good, good. Go to Xinhang Martial University tomorrow. I'll write you a letter of recommendation. A talent like you must receive systematic training."

Chu Wen was somewhat puzzled. Seeing this, Zhuge Lin explained, "You were recommended to study at Xinhang Martial University by our Chaos Martial Arts Hall. You are not a student of Xinhang Martial University."

"The nine martial universities represent the highest achievements of Blue Star martial arts and are places countless people yearn for. How could one enter merely by talking about it?"

"Xinhang Martial University was a top-tier martial university established after Jiangzhe Martial University was reorganized and then merged with Demon City Martial University!"

"There, you can learn things the Chaos Martial Arts Hall does not possess. Otherwise, why would our Chaos Martial Arts Hall recruit only graduates from the nine martial universities?"

Chu Wen understood. It turned out that the nine martial universities possessed martial inheritances unavailable to the outside world. They were likely similar to the Chaos Breathing Method—things that could only be understood, not spoken.

"I'll apply for authorization for the second volume of the Chaos Breathing Method for you shortly. Remember this: the person who recommended you is Zhuge Lin. Don't forget my name in the future."

The moment they met, Zhuge Lin had sensed the change in Chu Wen's breathing. Combined with Chu Wen's outrageous performance, the Chaos Breathing Method had surely played a part.

The Chaos Breathing Method was exceptionally peculiar and emphasized a certain "fateful affinity." Some people could not even begin to grasp it in their entire lives, while others could learn it with a single glance. Zhuge Lin guessed that Chu Wen was probably the latter.

Chu Wen nodded slightly, committing the meanings of "martial sense" and "fateful affinity" to memory. Martial arts in this era truly held some wonders. He had to investigate what the nine martial universities contained, starting with Xinhang Martial University!

"Come out, all of you. Hahaha, this kid has been hiding himself deeply."

Two more men walked out from behind the desk. One was blond and blue-eyed, clearly not from Dragon Nation, while the other had temples completely white with age, though his gaze remained incomparably resolute.

"Have you considered what he fights for?"

"He has no father or mother and grew up in an orphanage. Aside from Chen Dai at Jiangnan Martial University, he has almost no social circle. His teacher Lu Yun and roommate Zhang Yong, whom he was once close to, both died in that incident."

"Someone like that, once cultivated, is not exactly a stabilizing factor."

"Indeed, I do not think he would choose to fight for humanity."

Self-interest was human nature, but too many martial artists cared only for themselves. A behemoth like the Western European Alliance had no idea how many such parasites it had raised!

Zhuge Lin lightly shook his head. "You make it sound as if other geniuses have no selfish desires. Rox, you seem to dislike Chu Wen greatly?"

The blond, blue-eyed man was named Rox. He came from a family in the Western European Alliance but had chosen to join the Chaos Martial Arts Hall. He coldly reminded them:

"I'll say only this: you cannot be certain that Chu Wen is worth cultivating. At the very least, he has no familial ties, no family, no lover, and no obligation whatsoever to give anything to others."

"A person like that, with talent like that, if he loses control, will only become a terrorist. Principal, what do you think?"

Rox remained opposed. His Dragon Nation language was fluent, and his point was concise and direct.

The elderly man with white temples, whom Rox called "Principal," was none other than Yang Tianlong, the principal of Xinhang Martial University!

"I came here at your invitation, but I have actually been watching this fellow for some time."

"I also had Liu Shouren test him earlier, though he seemed to be avoiding something all along. Let's set that aside for now."

"I will only say that during this past month of reflection, he did have a social connection. It was simply that every time he went there, he shut down his lightbrain."

Rox asked doubtfully, "Principal Yang, I'm afraid that argument doesn't hold up. What can a single social connection prove?"

"Zhang Yong's mother, Li Xin," Yang Tianlong said gravely. "Chu Wen visited her before entering the wilderness zone."

Rox's mind crashed. He even wondered whether he had misheard.

Principal Yang was not making that up, was he?