The coach who greeted Lu Yun was named Zhang Jiayan.
He was at the Early Houtian Realm.
He had only arrived at Heavenly Origin Martial Arts Hall last month.
When he first came here, he had heard about Lu Yun.
Because he came from the bottom rung of society,
and had gone through countless twists and turns to reach his current position,
he particularly looked down on second-generation martial artists like Lu Yun.
When he heard his companion's remarks,
he quickly raised a finger to his lips and said:
"Ding Bei, keep your voice down! He is, after all, Hall Master Lu's only son."
"I heard City Lord Chu thinks highly of him as well."
"No matter how useless he is, he is not someone we can afford to provoke."
Yet the man named Ding Bei did not care in the slightest. A mocking expression even appeared on his face.
"What is so impressive about that?"
"Even if Lu Xingwen is the hall master, we still make our living with our own skills."
"As long as we are strong ourselves,"
"we can scrape out a living anywhere."
"Unlike that Young Master Lu. He clearly cannot cultivate, yet he still clings to this place late at night, wasting resources."
"He is simply putting on an act."
"It is truly revolting!!!"
Hearing this,
Zhang Jiayan did not voice any objection.
He merely shook his head lightly and said:
"This Young Master Lu is rather strange."
"He clearly cannot cultivate anymore, so why is he making such a huge commotion here?"
"I thought something had happened over here just now."
"Forget it!"
"Since we are already here, the two of us might as well loosen up our muscles and bones."
"Come to think of it..."
"In three days, it will be the annual Martial Arts Assessment."
Upon hearing about the Martial Arts Assessment,
a trace of gravity clearly appeared on Ding Bei's face.
"That came quickly!"
"In the blink of an eye, it is assessment time again."
"I just wonder how many families will rejoice and how many will grieve this time?"
The so-called Martial Arts Assessment...
was a test organized every September by the Martial Dao Alliance Headquarters.
Its purpose was to track changes in every martial artist's combat power and select young people with greater martial arts talent.
At that time,
all martial artists whose strength had reached the Early Body Tempering Realm or above had to participate in the assessment.
After the final test results came out,
the local branches of the Martial Dao Alliance would distribute corresponding cultivation resources according to each martial artist's strength.
One had to know,
that on Sky Net Star, beast tides could erupt at any time, and invasions by enemies from beyond the domain could also occur.
All of those dangers required martial artists to stand guard against them.
Therefore, for martial artists whose strength had reached beyond the Postnatal Realm,
the Federation often granted special preferential treatment.
The stronger one was,
the more resources one could enjoy.
"Sigh! There is no use saying more."
"The martial path is difficult beyond compare. We should hurry and train more."
"Fortunately, there are not many spoiled young masters like Lu Yun in Tong City!"
Zhang Jiayan patted Ding Bei on the shoulder, then brought him to the area where Lu Yun had trained earlier.
Because Lu Yun had left in such a hurry, he had forgotten to turn off the testing device. When the two arrived, it was still in training mode.
"Brother Zhang..."
"You are already at the Mid Houtian Realm."
"If you train harder these next few days, I feel that you might be able to take another step forward during the assessment."
Ding Bei said this with some envy.
As for martial cultivation...
although the gap between his cultivation and the other's did not seem large, after a martial artist entered the Postnatal Realm, even the difference of a minor realm required who knew how much effort to cross.
Hearing that,
Zhang Jiayan smiled.
"There is indeed some hope!"
"I have gained some new insights lately."
"Perhaps..."
"I really can break through to the Late Houtian Realm."
"I can test it shortly."
"Let us see whether my fist force has increased these past few days."
Seeing the envious expression on Ding Bei's face beside him,
Zhang Jiayan became excited as well.
These past few days,
he had been busy training students at the martial arts hall.
He had not even had time to check his own progress.
Since he was already here,
he might as well see whether he had improved.
But
the moment he walked up to the device's screen
and prepared to test himself,
his entire body seemed to turn to stone.
Dazed...
he simply stood there in front of the electronic screen.
When Ding Bei saw that he had suddenly fallen silent,
he felt somewhat puzzled.
So,
he followed Zhang Jiayan's gaze.
At once,
his face stiffened.
His mind went completely blank.
The two stood there like wooden chickens for several dozen seconds.
Only then did they gradually regain some clarity.
"Damn!"
"Attack power... eight hundred and forty-five kilograms?!"
"That is the level of Postnatal Realm Perfection!"
"This... this..."
"It is fake, right?"
Ding Bei could not help muttering to himself, nearly biting his tongue off.
Zhang Jiayan came back to his senses as well, but the corners of his mouth were still twitching.
"If... if I did not see wrongly, the only person who used this device just now was Lu Yun."
"Impossible!"
Ding Bei gritted his teeth hard, his voice somewhat hoarse. "Wasn't he..."
"His dantian was destroyed some time ago, and his cultivation fell."
"Could he no longer cultivate?"
"How could this be?"
Just a moment ago,
his words had been filled with disdain for Lu Yun.
But now,
the data recorded on the testing device was like a steel blade,
ruthlessly...
shattering all of his pride.
The impact brought by such a psychological gap
was simply too great.
So great that...
even his heart could barely bear it.
Ding Bei only felt
that his entire body was muddled now.
As though he were dreaming.
How... how had Lu Yun done it?
"There is no reason for this, is there?"
"Wasn't there something wrong with his sea of qi and dantian, to the point where he could not even cultivate normally?"
At the same time,
Zhang Jiayan's cultivation was higher after all. After calming down slightly, he said:
"Do you think... Lu Yun has been hiding his strength all along?"
"Could that so-called injury have been an act as well?"
Ding Bei's eyes were full of confusion.
"You mean..."
"He had actually reached the strength of Postnatal Realm Perfection long ago?"
"He had merely been deliberately concealing it?"
"Who knows? Perhaps he wanted to make a stunning splash during the Martial Arts Assessment?" Zhang Jiayan shook his head helplessly.
"No matter what..."
"Let us pretend that neither of us saw what happened today."
"Whatever his true purpose may be, small fry like us have no need to know."
"Just remember one thing! He... is absolutely not an existence we can provoke!"
Before you continue