Hypothesis of Martial Sense

The third basement level of an office building.

Several heavy doors made of special alloy opened one after another.

"Have you thought it through? Being my research assistant will take up quite a bit of time, and it might delay your cultivation progress."

Yuchi Yu pushed up his glasses as the last door before them slowly opened as well.

"Chu Wen, right? I've already sent you the access key. You can come in here by yourself from now on. But remember, don't bring anyone else here. I'll give you a monthly stipend of two thousand. It's not much, but money is money."

"This is the Martial-Sense Laboratory."

Where Yuchi Yu pointed with his right hand, rows of precise instruments operated in orderly fashion, lights of every color flashing overhead. Specimens of demon beasts were neatly arranged in display cases. Artificial blood could be seen flowing clearly through them, their textures meticulously detailed, with the function of every part labeled.

"I use parts of demon beast bodies for experiments. Your task is to find the demon beast flesh most compatible with the Martial-Sense Conduction Instrument. Then I'll procure that type of demon beast in bulk and proceed to the next stage of experiments."

"Research is a long process. It'll already be quite good if we can reach the next stage before you graduate. Right now, we're still in the material-screening phase. This Martial-Sense Conduction Instrument is what I've been working on these past few years..."

Yuchi Yu proudly introduced his research results and familiarized Chu Wen with many different pieces of demon beast flesh.

Yet even without touching them... the Primordial Source Pearl within Chu Wen still absorbed their blood essence as usual.

Fortunately, Chu Wen deliberately kept his distance, lest he suck the pieces of flesh dry into jerky...

"Eh? Strange. Have you noticed that this Scale Dolphin belly meat seems to have shriveled?"

Yuchi Yu scrutinized the piece of flesh in the display case in confusion, then placed it beneath the conduction instrument.

After the instrument's three-colored indicator lights flashed in turn, a line of numbers appeared on the screen.

[Martial Sense: 0.7]

"How did it drop so quickly?"

Yuchi Yu immediately lost all interest in introducing the place to Chu Wen. He grabbed the meat and began dissecting it.

"That shouldn't be possible. The loss of Martial Sense should follow some kind of linear function of time—the fresher it is, the higher it should be. But I bought this piece just a few days ago. How did its Martial Sense fall from 2.3 to 0.7...?"

Yuchi Yu muttered to himself, the swift knife in his hand precisely cutting through the flesh.

Meanwhile, Chu Wen watched his potential points continue: "+1."

Once the flesh left the display case, the Primordial Source Pearl quickly drained it of all its blood essence.

"Hm? How did the Martial Sense become zero?!"

After dissecting it, Yuchi Yu measured the Martial Sense once more and immediately broke out in a cold sweat. This was simply absurd—completely unscientific!

"Professor, I have a special martial skill that can absorb nearby blood essence to increase my own strength. But I can't control this martial skill. The moment I came into contact with that piece of flesh, I felt it begin operating on its own and absorb the blood essence inside."

Chu Wen explained. He had actually already figured out what "Martial Sense" was.

Perhaps "Martial Sense" was not a power possessed by an individual. Perhaps it was a kind of muscle memory—a special memory formed by distributing an individual's power to other parts of their body?

Before Yuchi Yu could even process Chu Wen's information, he burst into laughter as though struck by lightning.

"Yes, your hypothesis is very interesting. Your martial skill can really absorb that... blood essence? Then blood essence is Martial Sense, or rather, some kind of relational expression factor of Martial Sense?"

"You could understand it that way. I just can't control it—it happens involuntarily. That's why I'm so strong. Please help me keep it secret, Professor."

Chu Wen felt that he had taken another step toward understanding the Primordial Source Pearl. Besides, saying it this way did not mean they could dissect him.

"Can you still absorb it now?"

"I should be able to. That piece of flesh just now was absorbed by me, which is why its Martial Sense dropped."

"Good." Yuchi Yu hurriedly opened the cold storage room and dragged over a cart full of frozen meat.

Every piece of frozen meat was labeled with its "Martial Sense value."

"Then give it a try first."

Two palm-sized chunks of meat were placed on the table.

The Primordial Source Pearl was like someone let loose at an all-you-can-eat buffet, crazily devouring the blood essence within.

The pleasing sound of potential points: +1, also continued echoing in Chu Wen's mind.

Before long, his potential points reached 97!

Hunting demon beasts outside would take at least half a year to gain that much!

Chu Wen had never expected that his potential-point accumulation rate after entering Xinhang Martial University would actually be faster than in the wilderness. It was truly an unexpected delight.

When Yuchi Yu saw Chu Wen nod, he excitedly placed the two chunks of meat into the Martial-Sense Conduction Instrument.

Martial Sense: 0

"So it really has nothing to do with freshness... It has to do with some kind of particle inside..."

Yuchi Yu swallowed. If that was the case, many of his previous hypotheses could be overturned!

What freshness-over-time hypothesis? All of it was empty nonsense!

Martial Sense was some kind of particle within the body!

The stronger the person, the more particles they had, and the stronger their Martial Sense!

"You truly are a genius. Your visit today has genuinely saved me decades of work!"

"You can leave first. I need to study this properly. Absorb a few more pieces of meat."

"Cut those pieces in half. Absorb one half and leave the other for me as a control. Also, help me deal with these things..."

"Once you're done, you can leave. Don't disturb me during this period... Oh, and help me send out a notice. My classes are suspended for one month, and the exams will be postponed. Tell everyone to study hard..."

Like an excited child, Yuchi Yu instantly lost interest in everything else. All he wanted was to quietly conduct his research here alone.

"Kid, if what you said is really correct, I'll definitely record a great merit for you afterward..."

This was something that could overturn the entire academic world! He had to find the correlation as quickly as possible!

Yuchi Yu immediately began busying himself. Even three hours later, when Chu Wen left, he had not raised his head once.

He threw himself wholeheartedly into the workbench, while the two optical-computing cores behind him continuously performed calculations according to his ideas.

Chu Wen had originally only come to take a look at the laboratory, yet he ended up returning with a full load.

Potential points: 207!

The Primordial Source Pearl had practically been feasting at an all-you-can-eat buffet in there!

He did not dare let the Primordial Source Pearl gorge itself all at once, lest something abnormal happen.

After leaving the laboratory and finishing what Yuchi Yu had instructed, Chu Wen resumed his ordinary school life.

But before peaceful days had even lasted a few days, a notice from Xinhang Martial University shattered the calm.

"The Dragonspine Corridor trial will begin in seven days. Rankings will be determined by total distance traveled. The top ten will receive one of three special rewards, and their points will count toward the year-end overall rankings."

The ranking list!

This seemed to be the list Teacher Rox had mentioned before.

However, he had spoken of reaching the top ten on the end-of-semester rankings.

The end-of-semester rankings should assess overall strength, and the Dragonspine Corridor assessment was only one part of it.

Just as he had grown sleepy, someone handed him a pillow. He had already wanted to visit the Dragonspine Corridor and give it a try.

The release of the trial assessment notice caused a tremendous uproar at Xinhang Martial University.

Because this time, students from the Jiangnan Martial Faction could also enter the Dragonspine Corridor trial!

This was an unprecedented arrangement!

Of course, no one believed those ordinary students from the Jiangnan Martial Faction could rank at all. They even estimated that not a single Jiangnan Martial Faction student would make the top hundred.

Almost everyone was waiting to watch a joke unfold.

Meanwhile, Chen Dai sat on a yoga mat. He suddenly opened his eyes and slowly exhaled a breath of turbid air.

His cultivation of the Primordial Origin Breathing Method had barely reached the point where he could complete a full cycle. His gaze was resolute, though it still carried a trace of foolishness, as he silently made up his mind.

He could not always rely on Brother Wen. The Jiangnan Martial Faction had to carve out a world of its own!