Duel (Please Recommend)

"Off-campus internship... Tsk tsk, as expected of a Natural Human living in Glory River Mansion. Having money is one thing, but the key is having connections..."

Taking off his holographic glasses, Fang Xing felt rather emotional.

Although he had mocked the Gu Family with Liu Wei before, calling them a middle-income household, on Chuying Star, the Gu Family's circumstances were indeed quite good. Gu Renwang had even been a genuine Professional!

Strictly speaking, Gu Yun's family was far better off than any of Fang Xing's former classmates.

"This off-campus internship was arranged through the school and the organization Gu Renwang used to work for. It's meant to give Gu Yun a work-study opportunity—really, it's just taking care of a martyr's orphan... Plenty of money, little work, and close to home. Not bad at all."

Fang Xing pondered for a moment.

Even so, he still had no interest in it now!

Unfortunately... keeping up appearances was important!

Fang Xing, who possessed resources from another world, had no interest in it. But the original "Fang Xing" definitely would have!

"I'd better tag along and earn some legitimate Star Dollars. No need to launder the money, either..."

After thinking it over, he ultimately made his decision.

This would also help him expand his connections here. After all, Gu Yun's background was at least much stronger than his.

Fang Xing's martial path still primarily depended on the Blue Star Federation, so he could not neglect building himself up here.

The next day.

Fang Xing left home early in the morning and headed for school.

On the road, he once again saw Jing Xia doing her morning exercises.

He could not help sighing inwardly. Unless Jing Xia happened to live nearby, there was clearly another reason for her to wander around the area every day.

She might even have come here specifically to investigate something.

Other than Yucai High School, this area only had residential districts for teachers and students. There were no more conspicuous targets.

"Morning!"

Even so, he kept a perfectly normal expression and greeted her.

"Morning!"

Jing Xia nodded and passed by him with the Bully Dog.

Time flew by.

In the blink of an eye, Saturday arrived.

Glory River Mansion, villa training ground.

Fang Xing stood facing Gu Yun, who was dressed in practice clothes.

"This time, I won't hold back anymore."

Gu Yun's little face was solemn as she completely treated Fang Xing as an opponent.

She held a polished wooden blade in her hand, with no weights on her body. She could undoubtedly give it her all.

"Alright, do as you please!"

Fang Xing went to the wooden rack in the training ground and selected a wooden blade. "I forgot to tell you, but I've already reached Beginner level in Ghost God Blade."

At those words, the fighting spirit in Gu Yun's eyes intensified. "You were hiding your strength before? You clearly hadn't even learned Demon Blade..."

"You don't need to learn Demon Blade to reach Beginner level in Ghost God Blade. Maybe I'm just more talented at this blade technique."

Fang Xing spoke softly. "You make the first move..."

"Fine!"

Gu Yun agreed, and before her voice had even faded, her wooden blade had already sliced through the air and reached Fang Xing. It was as though the blade had arrived along with her words.

"Blade following sound—you're still using Demon Blade moves..."

Fang Xing smiled faintly. He shifted to one side, blade in his right hand, while his left thumb and middle finger clasped together and flicked lightly against Gu Yun's blade!

Clang!

Amid the dull collision, Gu Yun drifted away like duckweed in the wind. Her small face was full of surprise. "Your realm?"

"We're both at Tendon Refinement. I might be a little stronger than you, since I am a few years older..."

Fang Xing's smile did not fade.

His realm and blade technique now both surpassed Gu Yun's. Combined with his abundant practical combat experience, he was already capable of toying with her.

After all, in martial arts, a difference of even one level in realm often meant the difference between heaven and earth in actual combat.

"I don't believe it!"

The next instant, Gu Yun's eyes became deep and unfathomable, like those of a god or demon. The wooden blade in her hand seemed to merge into the wind.

"Ghost God Blade!"

Fang Xing's expression turned slightly serious as he sensed her simulated concept.

Cultivating Concept Martial Arts would ultimately amplify one's spirit, even causing a qualitative transformation that produced Spiritual Force!

This was the greatest difference between the Martial Path Fourth Realm, Courage, and the Third Realm, Rough Jade!

In Fang Xing's view, the Innate masters of the Other World had actually already found the path forward: Spiritual Martial Arts!

If Spiritual Martial Arts could be elevated further, causing one's spirit to undergo a qualitative transformation and gain command of Spiritual Force, perhaps one could break through to a realm above Innate!

A-Rank Martial Arts could cause a Second Realm Martial Artist's spirit to begin undergoing a slight qualitative transformation. It truly laid the finest foundation for breaking through to the Fourth Realm in the future!

Federation martial arts are interconnected, forming an entire system—and a remarkably mature one...

Is this the great power of time and the collective? Even if one person is unbelievably talented and can forge a path of their own, it would surely still be crude, with flaws in many places...

The martial path is like this, and so is the Immortal Path...

Fang Xing sighed inwardly, but his movements did not slow in the slightest. His wooden blade swept horizontally, and a blade aura appeared with it.

Whoosh! Whoosh!

The two wooden blades crossed, their blade auras colliding and erupting with terrifying bursts of compressed air.

It was as though they were holding not wooden blades, but Divine Weapons!

"Impossible!"

Gu Yun was even more astonished than Fang Xing.

It was not merely because he had reached Beginner level in Ghost God Blade after only one summer. More importantly, the blade aura on Fang Xing's wooden blade was actually half an inch longer than hers!

That represented that his cultivation of Ghost God Blade was deeper than hers!

But Fang Xing had clearly asked her for the Ghost God Blade materials.

How had he become even stronger than her now?

A trace of determination appeared on Gu Yun's face. She raised her wooden blade high. "Ghost Slaughter!"

With one slash, blade aura spilled outward, carrying astonishing might.

Fang Xing likewise swung his blade, carrying an indomitable blade intent that would cut through anything in its path.

The next moment, the two figures passed each other.

Then, the wooden blade in Gu Yun's hand broke cleanly in half, the fracture smooth as a mirror.

"I lost..."

Gu Yun murmured.

"Victory and defeat are common in battle. I lost to you several times before."

Fang Xing smiled and lowered his wooden blade.

"Sure enough, going to high school was the right decision. There are more goals worth chasing."

Gu Yun let out a long breath. "Since I lost, I'll honor our agreement and bring you along for the off-campus internship."

"Wait, I'm not doing anything dangerous."

Fang Xing suddenly thought of something and hurriedly added.

He had a bright future ahead of him. He was not going to risk life and limb.

"Relax. If it were dangerous, those uncles of mine wouldn't even be willing to let me take risks." Gu Yun seemed to roll her eyes.

"That's good..."

Fang Xing showed no embarrassment at all. "Then how about treating me to a meal next? I'm hungry already..."

"Not convenient."

Gu Yun rejected him directly. "You can leave now. I'll call you when the work starts."

Ah, this junior schoolmate still doesn't understand social interaction at all...

Fang Xing shook his head and walked out of the villa.

As he left, he caught a glimpse from the corner of his eye of what seemed to be a figure on the second floor.

Oh, probably Gu Yun's mother...

Gu Renwang may be dead, but her mother will still take care of her...

No matter what, Biochemical Humans are still the most pitiful...

At that thought, Fang Xing lost any interest in teasing Gu Yun further and left directly.

After returning to Happy Home District, Fang Xing received a message containing information about the off-campus internship.

"I thought it would be fieldwork, but it's actually office work... Faith Theory Department? Does the Federation even have a department like that?"

Fang Xing searched for the department online and was immediately startled. "It belongs to the Prevention Bureau and is responsible for reviewing certain alien texts and other products to prevent the spread of Contamination..."

"Because it carries a certain degree of danger, at minimum, only martial artists who have mastered an A-Rank Martial Arts can take the civil service exam for this department... That works out perfectly. Gu Yun and I have both learned Ghost God Blade, so we aren't afraid of ordinary spiritual contamination... But isn't this job too important?"

As everyone knew, the Extraterrestrial Evil Gods' plans to descend had never succeeded.

However, they had developed quite a few cults among humanity, and some of those definitely spread doctrines and the like.

Besides that, there were exchanges with many alien races.

Perhaps a certain alien race appeared perfectly normal, yet secretly worshipped some Extraterrestrial Evil God. They might even hide information on rituals and sacrifices within various cultural products before selling them throughout Human Territory...

If mishandled, such matters could easily lead to massive chaos. Such incidents had occurred repeatedly throughout Federation history.

"More importantly... can I even do this sort of work? Isn't there supposed to be a qualification review?"

After giving it some thought, Fang Xing directly contacted Gu Yun and voiced his doubts.

"Oh? That? Don't worry. It was arranged by an auntie who used to take very good care of me. They won't give us any real work at all. We'll just be serving tea, carrying water, and doing odd jobs..."

Gu Yun answered with an indifferent expression. "As long as we stay there for two hours a day, we get a generous wage. The school also gives us a subsidy, and it counts as an outstanding experience..."

Damn, parasites...

Fang Xing cursed inwardly.

This sort of skillful maneuvering within the rules had always had nothing to do with the Biochemical Human community.

"Sounds pretty good, actually..."

Fang Xing nodded slightly. It fit his principle of plenty of money, little work, and close to home perfectly.

And the money would be entirely legitimate—no laundering required.

Ah, after using all my last lottery winnings to buy Nutrient Fluid, I'm running low on living expenses again. The scholarship won't be paid out anytime soon, so I really do need an aboveboard way to make money... After all, I can't exactly win the lottery two or three times in a row, can I?

Fang Xing sighed inwardly.

"Alright, my mom's calling me to eat. Talk later." Gu Yun hung up with a somewhat impatient expression.