Junior War General

The morning sunlight streamed through the window into the room.

Yun He frowned and woke with his eyes narrowed.

It took him a while to gradually adjust to the light.

Only then did Yun He realize he had fallen asleep right there in the audiovisual room last night.

That blissful sensation from the night before still lingered within him.

His entire body felt light and refreshed.

Yun He lay lazily on the floor. "System?"

"You little bastard, are you there?"

"Heh."

Yun He did not mind. He had simply woken up feeling good and tossed out a couple of teasing remarks.

"Hmm?"

Sniff, sniff...

"What's that smell? Why does it stink so much?"

Yun He noticed a faint stench in the air. He rolled over and sat up, only to discover it was coming from his own body.

He touched his face and found a layer of brown, oily grime on it. He sniffed it. The smell was pungent.

"Could this be the legendary marrow cleansing?"

Yun He stood up, recalling what had happened last night, and muttered to himself as he walked toward the bathroom.

He remembered the little bastard saying last night that his beginner's gift pack contained two things: improved physical aptitude and improved comprehension.

The little bastard might be the passive type, but it was pretty reliable when it came to getting things done, huh?

Yun He smiled at the thought as he stood beneath the shower, washing himself.

By now, he could already feel the changes in his body.

First, his comprehension had improved.

His mind felt exceptionally clear, his thoughts were unusually active, and he could think through problems with remarkable clarity. Had he become smarter?

Comprehension was crucial.

In the world of Swallowed Star, comprehension was extremely, extremely important.

Comprehending laws required it, and creating supreme techniques required it too.

And those two things mattered most.

One could say comprehension was far more important than physical aptitude.

The second improvement was his physical aptitude.

Yun He clenched his fists, feeling the surging power inside him that had skyrocketed overnight.

Crack, crack...

The bones throughout his body shifted against one another, crackling.

After undergoing marrow cleansing last night, his body had absorbed a wave of cosmic energy on its own while he slept. His physical strength had now increased tremendously.

At least twice as much?

Or three times?

I'll find out when I go test it later.

After showering, Yun He put on a loose training outfit and returned to the audiovisual room.

He drew the curtains and looked at the information displayed on the enormous screen.

Name: Yun He

Sex: Male

Address: Jiangnan Base City, Huaxia Country

Martial artist ID number: ...

Rank: Warrior Level (beginner)

Contribution points: 0

Currency balance: 20,000,000 Huaxia Currency

Since he had only just passed the martial artist combat assessment, he was classified as a Beginner Warrior by default. He would need to hunt monsters before his combat record could be reassessed.

"The money really has arrived."

Yun He opened the mail in the upper-right corner.

The first message notified him that his starting funds had arrived. He also had a fifty-million allowance for purchasing technique manuals through the Limit Home's internal network. He could obtain three manuals covering movement techniques, attacks, and a Guidance Technique free of charge, provided their total price did not exceed fifty million.

The second message introduced the Limit Home's various functions.

Yun He read it through carefully.

"Next up, buying manuals. Let's enter the online store."

Yun He opened the online store page.

Various categories immediately appeared on the screen. Yun He clicked straight into technique manuals, then attacks.

Photographs of individual manuals appeared on the screen, along with descriptions and prices.

First, he opened World Destruction, the manual created by Earth's strongest fighter, Hong. After reading its overview and price, he could not help shaking his head.

Can't afford it.

"Nine-Layered Thunder Blade."

Next, he found the Nine-Layered Thunder Blade created by Thunder God, opened it, and carefully read its description.

The Nine-Layered Thunder Blade was reputed to be the world's most difficult ultimate blade technique to master. It incorporated attacks, movement techniques, and a Guidance Technique. Of course, it also included the most important component: the Force Application Technique.

He had some plans for this manual. Before, he might not have had much confidence, but after his comprehension improved last night, he was now brimming with it.

Although it was a blade technique, Yun He mainly wanted to learn its Guidance Technique, movement techniques, and, most importantly, its method of applying force.

Once he learned how to apply force, he could use it with a sword just as well.

It was the same principle as applying force with one's hands: that force application could also be used with one's feet.

After reading the Nine-Layered Thunder Blade's description, he clicked through to check its price.

The first two layers of the Nine-Layered Thunder Blade: 100 million Huaxia Currency at full price, 50 million Huaxia Currency at half price. Half-price requirement: two-star contribution rating.

There was no contribution requirement for a first manual purchase, so Yun He's fifty-million allowance was just enough to buy the first two layers of the Nine-Layered Thunder Blade.

Luo Feng's hundred-million allowance, meanwhile, could buy the first three layers.

Without much further thought, Yun He clicked purchase.

The webpage displayed a warning that the Nine-Layered Thunder Blade was an ultimate secret technique and extremely difficult to practice, advising Yun He to consider carefully. He clicked the X and dismissed it.

"My comprehension has improved, and so has my physical aptitude. What's there to consider? If I can't even master a manual like the Nine-Layered Thunder Blade, should I just jump into the sea when it comes time to comprehend laws?"

Beep!

Fingerprint verification passed!

Purchase successful!

Payment successful!

Yun He let out a soft breath. With the manual bought, weapons and a Combat Uniform were next.

He opened the equipment tab and carefully browsed the prices of the various equipment series.

"Twenty million in starting funds really isn't enough!" Yun He shook his head helplessly.

Although he had not yet tested his current physical abilities, he could roughly estimate them. He was certain he had reached Advanced Warrior, perhaps even the minimum threshold of Beginner Warlord.

He was not far from Intermediate War General, so he would definitely need better equipment.

He filtered out the equipment suitable for his current needs:

Sharp Edge 3-Series A6 Longsword: 18 million at full price, 9 million at half price. Suitable for fighting Advanced Beast General monsters without worrying about damage to the weapon.

B5 Model Shield: 3 million at full price, 1.5 million at half price. Capable of blocking attacks from Intermediate Beast General Level monsters.

D5-Series Battle Suit: 18 million at full price, 9 million at half price. Capable of withstanding attacks from Intermediate Beast General Level monsters.

As for things like backpacks and Communication Watches, those were minor items that did not cost much.

The entire equipment set cost 19.5 million even at half price. Including a backpack and a Communication Watch, the total came to around 19.6 million.

His twenty-million starting fund had evaporated.

"My contribution rating isn't high enough to buy equipment at half price yet. I'll have to ask someone else to buy it for me."

Equipment could be bought at half price through someone else, but technique manuals could not.

Yun He called Wu Tong, the Limit Hall's chief instructor, and asked for his help.

Over the phone, Wu Tong agreed to help buy the equipment at half price. Yun He thanked him, hung up, and transferred the money straight over.

Just like that, 19.6 million was gone.

Before long, Wu Tong replied that he had bought the equipment and listed Yun He as the recipient.

The equipment and manuals would arrive together tomorrow.

With everything settled, Yun He relaxed. After a moment's thought, he headed out to eat at the hall's first-floor restaurant and test how much his strength had increased while he was there.

Punching force: 8,825 kg.

Speed: 96 m/s.

He did not test his nerve reaction speed, since he still could not perfectly control the sudden surge in his physical strength.

The test results startled Yun He.

His strength had shot up by a full 5,300 kg in a single night!

8.8 tons in one punch!

Yun He was now a genuine Junior War General!

The Junior War General range was 8,000-16,000 kg.

In terms of physical abilities, Yun He had already surpassed Luo Feng by a considerable margin.

At this point, Luo Feng's physical abilities were still hovering around Intermediate Warrior. He had not even reached Advanced Warrior yet.

At around ten the next morning.

Yun He went downstairs to receive his manuals and equipment.

He happened to see Luo Feng next door receiving his manuals at the same time. There was no need to ask; Luo Feng must have bought the first three layers of the Nine-Layered Thunder Blade.

The two exchanged a smile.