"This was martial arts."
"After the Spiritual Energy Revival."
"Humanity developed a cultivation system that absorbed aura to strengthen the body."
"Martial artists."
"First-Order Martial Artists corresponded to First-Tier Ferocious Beasts."
"Second-Tier Martial Artists corresponded to Second-Tier Ferocious Beasts."
"And so on."
"Each order was further divided into Early Stage, Middle Stage, Late Stage, and Peak Stage."
"Right now, the aura around us is so thin that I'm only at the First-Tier Early Stage."
"In the future, that would barely count as a beginner."
"..."
Su Qingxue withdrew her hand and brushed the iron filings from her palm.
She had not lied.
In the future, her level of martial arts really would be nothing special.
But Nie Dingguo's breathing grew heavy.
He forced himself to calm down as his mind raced.
"If humans can cultivate too."
"Does that mean we can fight the Ferocious Beasts you mentioned?"
Su Qingxue gave a bitter smile.
It held nothing but pain and despair.
"It's difficult."
"Extremely difficult."
"At the same level, a Ferocious Beast's body is far stronger than a human's."
"It usually takes three First-Order Martial Artists working together to barely kill one First-Tier Ferocious Beast."
"Only a tiny handful of human geniuses can fight one alone at the same level, let alone kill one above their level."
At that point.
The light faded from Su Qingxue's eyes.
"Eighty years from now."
"Humanity's defensive lines on Blue Star collapse completely."
"Our strongest martial artists are only at the Seventh-Tier Stage."
"And the creature that destroys our last refuge... is an Eighth-Tier Ferocious Beast."
In an instant.
The interrogation room seemed to grow more than ten degrees colder.
Nie Dingguo remained silent for a full five minutes.
He was trying to absorb information that could overturn human history.
"What do you want me to do?"
At last.
Nie Dingguo spoke again.
"Promote martial arts."
"Aura has already begun to seep into the world."
"Teach the Basic Breathing Technique throughout the military and among civilians."
"We have a six-month head start."
"If we can train a core group of martial artists in advance."
"We'll have the advantage when the Spiritual Energy Revival comes in six months."
Su Qingxue's eyes burned with intensity.
That was why she had come here.
"Impossible."
"Promoting it nationwide would have too great an impact. It could easily cause public panic."
"Hostile forces might even exploit it to stir up unrest."
Nie Dingguo shook his head.
He rose slowly and faced Su Qingxue.
"For now, we can only run a secret trial within the military."
"I'll gather the finest soldiers in the armed forces. You'll train them."
Su Qingxue nodded in agreement.
The military would be the main force fighting the Ferocious Beasts.
Arming it first made perfect sense.
"Give me a hundred people."
"Your best special forces soldiers."
Three days later.
At a training ground in the Northwest Military Region.
A hundred muscular men sat cross-legged on specially made mats, their upper bodies bare.
Every one of them was the finest soldier in his unit.
Wearing a training uniform, Su Qingxue walked back and forth through their formation.
"Clear your minds."
"Feel that faint trace of warmth drifting through the air."
"Draw it in with your breath and guide it down into your lower abdomen."
The days passed.
One morning a week later.
Su Qingxue stared at the physical test results before her.
Her brow furrowed deeply.
How could this be?
A hundred of the finest soldiers.
Seven full days of grueling meditation and breathing exercises.
Yet only one had felt a faint flicker of warmth in his lower abdomen.
And it had been no more than a flicker.
He had not even come close to becoming a First-Order Martial Artist.
The other ninety-nine had done nothing but leave themselves sore and aching.
Senior military doctors and research experts approached with thick test reports in hand.
Academician Zhou, who led them, adjusted his reading glasses.
"Instructor Su."
"We compared the soldiers' blood samples and muscle fibers from before and after training."
"There was no substantial change."
Academician Zhou looked at Su Qingxue.
"If there's nothing wrong with your training method."
"Then there's only one explanation."
"The environment can't support it."
Su Qingxue stood frozen.
A realization flashed through her mind like lightning.
Of course!
The environment!
When she had begun training in her previous life.
The Spiritual Energy Revival had already erupted in full force, and the concentration of aura in the air had been astonishingly high.
Back then, any healthy person could sense aura after a little practice with a basic technique.
But what about now?
The full eruption was still six months away!
Aura in the air was as scarce as moisture in a desert.
Under conditions this harsh.
For a human to detect aura.
It was like searching blindfolded for an embroidery needle in a vast football stadium.
Hard work and physical fitness could not solve that problem.
It required an extraordinary natural affinity.
In other words, talent.
The expert team's analysis confirmed it.
"At its current concentration, aura is like an extremely weak radio signal."
"An ordinary person's bodily antenna is too short to receive it."
"Only people born with extraordinary antennas—the martial arts geniuses you spoke of—might resonate with it at this stage."
Su Qingxue rubbed her temples in frustration.
She had overlooked the most crucial difference: timing.
She had reached the First-Tier Early Stage so quickly because she had eighty years of experience from her previous life. She had effectively been cheating.
Nie Dingguo received the report too.
He summoned Su Qingxue back to the command center.
"The trial failed."
"The threshold is too high."
"Those hundred men are already among the best soldiers we have."
"If even they can't do it, searching at random is unrealistic."
"You're from the future. You must know who the true masters are."
"Tell me."
"Who are the top martial artists of the future?"
Nie Dingguo's thinking was clear.
If they could not train martial artists in large numbers, they would focus on an elite few.
They would recruit the people the future had already proven to be geniuses and pour the nation's resources into them.
Su Qingxue perked up.
That really was a good idea.
She went straight to the holographic projection table.
"In my previous life."
"Dragon Country's military had four War Gods, while seven Grandmasters emerged among civilians."
"All of them eventually reached the Sixth-Tier Stage or even the Seventh-Tier Stage."
"Ye Qingshan, the military's foremost War God in the future, became a Seventh-Tier Martial Artist. He should be in Magic City now."
"Chu Tiankuo reached the Peak Stage of the Sixth-Tier Stage. His hometown is Mohe in the northeast, and he may still be working at a forestry station."
"Xiao Zhan, a grandmaster of saber techniques..."
Su Qingxue rattled off more than twenty names.
An official beside her immediately entered them into the military's top-secret files.
"Investigate them at once!"
"Use both State Security's and the military's intelligence networks."
"I want complete files on these people on my desk within twenty-four hours."
"Once you find them, recruit every last one into the military, whatever it costs!"
A little over ten minutes later.
Nie Dingguo gave a sharp wave of his hand.
The officers acknowledged the order and were about to leave to put it into motion.
"Wait."
Su Qingxue suddenly stopped them all.
Her expression turned conflicted.
Struggle, regret, and deep reverence flickered in her eyes.
"What is it?"
"Did you leave someone out?"
Nie Dingguo stopped and turned back to her.
Su Qingxue bit her lip hard, as though making an enormous decision.
"There's one more name."
"I don't know whether I should say it."
"But he... may be the most important one of all."
Nie Dingguo straightened at once.
More important than those Seventh-Tier War Gods?
"Who?"
Before you continue