Wang Qian spun the Blood Shadow Battle Blade in a graceful flourish, looking utterly at ease. She crooked her left index finger at Luo Yuan in an unmistakable challenge.
Luo Yuan had never used a blade before, so he simply raised his battle blade and chopped down at Wang Qian's head. She sidestepped the strike with ease, and her blade was already at his neck before he could even see her draw it. The cold against his skin sent a shiver through him. This was the touch of death. No matter how strong he was, his strength meant nothing if he couldn't hit his opponent. Actual combat was the true measure of ability.
Wang Qian withdrew her blade with a smile and let Luo Yuan attack to his heart's content. Yet no matter how he slashed or chopped, she evaded him effortlessly, even laying her blade against his neck several times. Clearly, he still had far too much to learn about actual combat. Even with his micro-level movement technique, he couldn't evade every attack from an experienced fighter. In a real fight, he would already have been dead. And this woman's movement technique was already infinitely close to the micro level.
"When it comes to blade techniques, nothing beats Thunder God's Nine-Layered Thunder Blade. Unfortunately, it's incredibly difficult to learn, and it costs so much," Wang Qian said with a sigh.
Nine-Layered Thunder Blade? Luo Yuan had actually already decided to make that manual his primary training method. After all, plenty of people practiced it.
"Again!" Luo Yuan shouted, charging at Wang Qian.
And so Luo Yuan spent the rest of the day practicing combat with Wang Qian. At first, all he could do was hack and slash, but later he began wielding his blade with greater flexibility. He felt he had some talent for blade techniques after all.
"You have to treat the blade in your hand as an extension of your arm. Only when your hand and blade become one can you wield your blade techniques however you please..." Wang Qian explained as she evaded Luo Yuan's attacks.
Time flew, and evening arrived before they knew it. Luo Yuan and Wang Qian were both a little exhausted. They ate a meal on the first floor of the Limit Hall, then went their separate ways. Before leaving, Wang Qian gave Luo Yuan her villa's address and told him to drop by whenever he had time. There was something thoroughly seductive about the way she said it, leaving Luo Yuan unsure what she was really thinking.
After returning to his villa, Luo Yuan took a quick shower and began Attribute Fusion again. This time, he barely felt anything, and the process took only two hours. He opened his attribute panel to take a look.
Name: Luo Yuan Strength level: Apprentice Level (Advanced Warrior) Power: 6,000 kg Speed: 72 m/s Defense: 6,000 kg Mental power: 3,500 kg Cultivation method: Five Hearts Facing the Sky Method Skills: Movement technique (micro level)
Looking at his attribute panel, Luo Yuan knew he would have to collect more and more attribute bubbles to improve his strength, and their required grades would rise as well. This would be a long-term process.
"The road ahead is long and winding; I shall search high and low," Luo Yuan mused as he lay on his bed.
And so Luo Yuan settled into a routine of collecting attributes in the morning, learning practical combat from Wang Qian in the afternoon, and fusing attributes and practicing the Five Hearts Facing the Sky Method at night. Though it was somewhat monotonous, he enjoyed it. He also grew increasingly familiar with Wang Qian, but she kept teasing him, seemingly both deliberately and casually. Eventually, she even began pressing close to him from time to time, which was a little too much for the hot-blooded Luo Yuan to bear.
More than two months passed in the blink of an eye. On the evening of July 31, Luo Yuan sat cross-legged in his villa's martial arts hall.
"Open my attribute panel."
Name: Luo Yuan Strength level: Apprentice Level (Intermediate Warlord) Power: 17,000 kg Speed: 162 m/s Defense: 17,000 kg Mental power: 6,500 kg Cultivation method: Five Hearts Facing the Sky Method Skills: Movement technique (micro level)
Looking at the results of more than two months of diligent attribute collecting and cultivation, Luo Yuan nodded in satisfaction. His power and speed had both reached the level of an Intermediate Warlord, though his mental power was still only at the advanced warrior level. Even that had required him to spend all ten million of the investment funds Jiang Nian had given him on a litter of Illusion Fox pets, which he kept in his villa to collect mental power attributes from every day.
Luo Yuan had spent more than two months collecting attributes from the second through ninth floors of the Limit Hall, yet he had never seen any of those warriors drop mental power attribute bubbles. He couldn't help marveling at how truly rare Psychic Masters were-one in ten thousand.
"Tomorrow, August 1, is the martial artist combat assessment. Making an Intermediate Warlord like me take the assessment alongside those rookie Quasi-Martial Artists—isn't that just bullying them? Heh." At the thought, Luo Yuan chuckled to himself.
Luo Yuan couldn't help thinking of Luo Feng, that child of destiny, again. On July 1, when Luo Feng had come to the Limit Hall for the quasi-warrior assessment, Luo Yuan had gone to watch. He had to admit that Luo Feng really was a genuine genius. The mental power attribute bubbles Luo Feng dropped were actually yellow, a high-grade color Luo Yuan had never seen before. A single bubble could increase his mental power attribute by five points, even though Luo Feng was still only a Quasi-Martial Artist.
Later, Supervisor Zhuge Tao had come again to test Luo Feng's strength. With Zhuge Tao deliberately guiding things along, Luo Yuan and Luo Feng had briefly gotten acquainted. Hearing the future City Lord Luo call him senior brother had put Luo Yuan in an exceptionally good mood, and he had treated him to a meal.
On the morning of August 1, more than thirty Quasi-Martial Artists, including Luo Yuan, Luo Feng, and Yang Wu, headed to the train station under the guidance of a warrior from the Limit Hall.
The rhythmic clacking of the speeding train was faint, but its carriages were filled with noise. The carriages were completely enclosed, without glass windows or anything else that offered a view outside. A figure appeared on the large screen in every carriage.
Inside the carriage, a large number of Quasi-Martial Artists sat in their seats.
"Quasi-Martial Artists, warriors of the future, I represent the HR Alliance." A middle-aged man's speech was being broadcast live on the carriage's large screen. "I'm sure you've all heard of the HR Alliance! The most powerful organization in the world, the wealthiest organization, and the organization with the most warriors! You must also be familiar with our HR Alliance's other name-the Underground Alliance!"
The Quasi-Martial Artists in the carriage gradually quieted down.
Luo Feng and Yang Wu sat side by side, looking up at the large screen. Opposite them sat a thoroughly bored Luo Yuan. Since they happened to know one another, they had simply sat together.
"Our alliance is the world's largest platform for warriors to connect! Here, you can accept missions with enormous rewards."
"Our alliance wields tremendous influence all around the world! Join our alliance and become one of us, and you'll enjoy the very best services wherever you go, whether it's the United States, the European Union, or any other region."
"Our alliance possesses formidable military and political power. Join us..."
Luo Yuan curled his lip. He wasn't particularly interested in the HR Alliance. It was just a bunch of rich people banding together to protect themselves.
He couldn't help thinking again of Xu Qian, that cold, beautiful woman. He wondered how she was doing now. To be honest, Luo Yuan had feelings for her that he couldn't quite explain. Though they had only spent a short time together, she had brought him warmth during those days when he was weak-the warmth of being cared for by someone else.
P.S. To all you True Gods out there, please send tips, monthly votes, and add this to your favorites. Luo Yuan bows before you.
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