The Stars Are Calling, Fifth Layer?

The chubby kid rattled on without pause, spittle flying everywhere.

Li Qingshan quietly took a step back. Once he had finished, Li Qingshan gave a slight nod.

"All right, time to begin today's lesson."

"Huh?" Cao Shaoyu's expression froze, his excitement vanishing in an instant as he pulled a long face.

"Do I really have to do Broadcast Gymnastics?"

"What do you think?"

A smile played on Li Qingshan's lips as he held the chopping knife across his chest.

Cao Shaoyu shuddered and no longer dared bargain. He obediently walked to the center of the classroom and spread his limbs into position.

However, compared to the talent he had displayed in Mizong Step yesterday, today's performance could only be described as too horrible to look at.

The chubby kid's movements were loose and sloppy. Forget getting started—he could not even meet the basic requirements.

Li Qingshan's frown deepened as he interrupted in a low voice.

"Stop! Is this how they teach you at school?"

Before the age of fifteen, New Continent assessed Martial Artist talent by whether one could reach the Third Realm of The Stars Are Calling.

The PE teachers in primary and secondary schools might not have been as skilled as Wan Keshan, but they could not possibly have been this perfunctory.

"What the teachers taught was too difficult. And they said it could forge the body, but it actually didn't do much at all."

Cao Shaoyu muttered under his breath, cautiously glancing at his coach.

"If you practice it like that, it'd be strange if it had any effect!"

Li Qingshan shook his head but did not pursue the matter further.

Because he recalled that before he had transmigrated, the original owner of this body had also treated The Stars Are Calling as nothing more than Broadcast Gymnastics and had barely managed to get started.

In truth, that was the norm.

The Stars Are Calling was easy to learn but difficult to master. Without reaching the Second Level and grasping Force Generation, one could not feel its body-forging effects at all, much less stir up students' enthusiasm for cultivation.

Faced with thousands of students, PE teachers in primary and secondary schools could not supervise every student as closely as those in the Martial Arts Class.

"All right, start again from the beginning. I'll correct you one by one."

Carrying the chopping knife, Li Qingshan stepped forward and signaled for the chubby kid to begin training.

The scabbard occasionally tapped his limb joints, correcting his movements.

Two hours later, all 108 movements were finally finished. Cao Shaoyu collapsed onto the ground, baring his teeth in pain.

Li Qingshan nodded, fairly satisfied.

Though Cao Shaoyu had not yet gotten started, it was clear that Li Qingshan's earlier guess had been right. Cao Shaoyu really did count as talented.

But this Little Fatty would not let go of the hawk until he saw the rabbit. On top of that, The Stars Are Calling took too long to show results, so he had never taken it seriously.

"Coach, what are we practicing tomorrow?"

Cao Shaoyu wiped the sweat from his forehead and asked expectantly.

"Can we switch to Mizong Step?"

"Of course." Li Qingshan cast Little Fatty a sidelong glance, smiling without quite smiling.

"After you finish Body Forging tomorrow, I'll reward you with an hour of Movement Technique training. I won't charge you for overtime either."

"Coach, I was wrong! Pretend I never said that!"

Cao Shaoyu jolted, then scrambled and rolled toward the door.

"I'm heading back to school first."

Yet before he even reached the doorway, he tripped and fell.

Li Qingshan shook his head, stepped forward to help him up, and asked curiously.

"You live at school?"

"My parents work in the provincial capital and only have time to come back on weekends. I stay in the Dormitory at school during the week."

Cao Shaoyu looked utterly unconcerned, with none of the awareness of a left-behind child.

But Li Qingshan did not find him pitiful either. Yesterday, this "left-behind child" had bought 120,000 yuan worth of classes in one go.

With an extra 120,000 yuan on his card, Li Qingshan did not have to worry about Nutrient Solution for the time being. His life settled into an orderly routine.

Every day, he traveled between school, the gym, and home.

The proficiency of The Stars Are Calling steadily increased at a rate of roughly thirty points a day.

His Body Forging progress was likewise climbing slowly yet surely.

Day after day...

One month later, in the Martial Arts Space.

Wolf Poison roared viciously, its fangs gleaming with chilling light.

A hundred meters away, Li Qingshan rested the tip of his long blade on the ground, a smile on his lips.

"I'm in a good mood today, so I'll kill you once to celebrate!"

Man and beast charged at one another.

In the blink of an eye, they crossed the hundred meters, claws colliding with the chopping knife.

After a single exchange, Wolf Poison swiftly turned and pounced again.

Li Qingshan's gaze sharpened. Rather than using Mizong Step to circle behind it as before, he directly swung his arm.

The blade tore through the wind, howling without end as it grew faster and faster.

In but an instant, the physical chopping knife had vanished into the wind, leaving behind only an unbroken stream of blade shadows.

"Wind Shadow Blade at Great Accomplishment—Blade Light Becomes Shadow!"

The blade shadows filling the sky resembled a Net as they descended overhead.

Wolf Poison's extended claws were instantly forced back by the blade shadows, its forelimbs covered in wounds.

Wolf Poison let out an unwilling howl and pounced again.

But the blade shadows were watertight, leaving it no way to break through. Instead, wounds were carved across its body one after another.

Blood scattered alongside the blade shadows, and Wolf Poison's howls steadily weakened.

In less than a minute,

Wolf Poison's massive body suddenly went limp, collapsing to the ground as blood gushed from its wounds and formed a pool beneath it.

The blade shadows filling the sky abruptly dispersed.

Li Qingshan sheathed his blade and stood before the pool of blood. Looking at the dying Wolf Poison, he revealed a satisfied smile.

"I can finally kill you head-on once."

Over the past month, his Body Forging progress had long since surpassed 18/100, reaching the Body Tempering Second Level.

Although his speed and punching force still could not compare to Wolf Poison's, coupled with the Great Accomplishment Wind Shadow Blade, he was now capable of killing it head-on.

But that was not the reason for today's "celebration."

Watching Wolf Poison breathe its last and its corpse turn back into a statue, Li Qingshan willed himself out of the Martial Arts Space.

In the classroom, Cao Shaoyu was drenched in sweat as he practiced Body Forging.

Compared to a month ago, a layer of fat had disappeared from the chubby kid's body, and his movements were now incomparably precise. He had officially gotten started.

"A famous teacher produces brilliant disciples!"

Li Qingshan smiled smugly, his gaze falling upon the illusory Status Panel.

[Li Qingshan]

[Realm: Body Forging 20/100]

[Technique:

The Thirty-Sixth Set of Broadcast Gymnastics—The Stars Are Calling 1/3000 (Great Accomplishment)]

[Martial Techniques: Mizong Step 276/3000 (Great Accomplishment), Wind Shadow Blade 5/3000 (Great Accomplishment)]

[Function: Martial Arts Space Lv1 (1/100)]

[Available time: 150 days]

[Time Flow Rate: 1:10]

"The fourth level of The Stars Are Calling, Muscle Rhythm?"

Li Qingshan lightly pinched the bridge of his nose, carefully recalling the information that had flooded into his mind when the technique had upgraded.

"Use breathing to mobilize the heart's power, sense the nerves hidden within the muscles, and grasp the pulse of the muscles."

"When exerting force in each movement, simultaneously mobilize the nerves in the corresponding area and make the muscles tremble."

The contents in his mind had not changed much from what Wan Keshan had explained before.

But unlike before, when he had only half understood,

at the instant The Stars Are Calling upgraded, he had completely gained "insight." His body had instinctively learned what to do.

"With the Status Panel and the Martial Arts Space's time acceleration, I count as a low-end version of someone with heaven-defying comprehension."

Li Qingshan smiled in satisfaction, then his gaze settled on the technique section.

[The Stars Are Calling 1/3000 (Great Accomplishment)]

"Didn't they say there were only four realms? Why is the progress bar still there?"

Getting Started, Familiarity, mastery, Great Accomplishment, and Perfection—these were the five realms classified by the Status Panel, and they were also the realms used for Martial Techniques in reality.

But The Stars Are Calling was different.

When Wan Keshan had first explained the technique, he had specifically mentioned that The Stars Are Calling had only four realms.

Li Qingshan had always assumed that techniques differed from Martial Techniques, so their classifications differed as well.

Yet now, The Stars Are Calling at Great Accomplishment was no different from Mizong Step and Wind Shadow Blade. All of them required 3,000 proficiency.

"Could The Stars Are Calling also be raised to Perfection? Could there be a fifth layer?"

The thought flashed through his heart, and Li Qingshan's eyes gradually lit up.

Every time the technique upgraded, it represented a doubling of his Body Forging efficiency.

Over two months in the Martial Arts Class, his Body Forging progress had risen by eleven points.

Now that The Stars Are Calling had reached Great Accomplishment, his Body Forging efficiency had doubled. Even if Body Forging became harder to improve later on, he was confident he could reach the Body Tempering Third Level within a month.

If The Stars Are Calling could still be raised to Perfection, doubling his Body Forging efficiency once more...

His Body Forging speed would become absolutely terrifying!