What Makes a Home (Part One)

In the Oasis Residential Complex stood Dongguan's detached villa.

In the training room, Dongguan sat cross-legged on a yoga mat, a large character for "tranquility" on the wall behind him.

His brows went from relaxed to tightly furrowed, then relaxed again.

All three eyes opened together. The eye between his brows remained crystal clear, but the other two were bloodshot.

With those increasingly overwhelming distracting thoughts interfering, he could barely sleep. His powerful physique kept him going, but that did not change the fact that he still needed sleep.

Under the universe's ranking system, only those who reached Planetary Grade truly qualified as Gene Warriors and Psychics. Those at the Apprentice Level—even Ninth-Order Apprentices, the so-called Invincible War Gods—were still ordinary people.

He stood, took his newly purchased blade from the rack beside him, and performed the moves from Ninefold Thunder Blade from beginning to end.

His movements were precise.

Even with his mind exhausted, years of muscle memory held firm.

After running through the moves several times and familiarizing himself with how this long blade differed from his previous one, Dongguan returned it to the rack.

Both were SS-Level war blades of the same model, but after years of practicing with blades, he could still detect tiny differences. Even manufactured products varied because of factors like temperature and weather.

It was nothing serious, though. He just needed to adjust.

"If this blade struck that water monkey..." Dongguan indulged in a little fantasy, too.

But he still shook his head. The Long-Armed Ape King's defenses were average, but its regeneration was absurd. Anyone who did not know it was an ape king might have mistaken it for an Earth Dragon King.

Earth Dragons were monsters mutated from the earthworms that existed before the Great Nirvana, a species renowned for regeneration.

Advertisements claimed that the Water of Life was made from materials harvested from Earth Dragon Kings. That was just as dubious as the claim that dragon blood was made from the heart's blood of King-level Monsters.

Challenging an opponent above his level was not so simple. That monkey was at the first order of Planetary Grade. Though stupid and clumsy, as a monster, it still had a force multiplier of over two. His own strength offered little advantage.

Besides, reaching Planetary Grade was a transformation of life itself, greatly strengthening the entire body. Although the monkey's defenses were mediocre, its regeneration made up for them.

Fortunately, his spiritual force could counter its most important advantage: flight. With stronger blade techniques and footwork, and a higher force multiplier, defeating it was not impossible.

Still, reaching Planetary Grade first would be best. There was no need to insist on fighting above his level.

He punched the Punch Strength Tester.

511,237 kilograms.

Applying his force application technique to the fullest, he punched again.

3,712,739 kilograms.

By combining the force application techniques from 《World Destruction》 with those from other manuals he had subsequently purchased, he had increased his multiplier, though only slightly.

With his physique continuing to improve during this period, his full power could exceed four million kilograms—the standard for the raw strength of a Planetary Level Second Order martial artist.

After recovering a little, he opened the vertical eye between his brows and controlled his throwing knives with spiritual force.

One, two... all the way to nine.

First, a single throwing knife struck the machine.

462,810 kilograms.

Then all of them together.

3,028,312 kilograms.

He could only control six throwing knives at full power. A seventh could use only half his strength. Even with nine moving together, only six could strike at full power simultaneously; the rest merely served to confuse the enemy.

"I've improved a little again."

During this time, Dongguan had discovered that in Northern Frontier Base City, despite the interference from distracting thoughts, he actually absorbed cosmic energy faster. His spiritual force had increased substantially, and his physique had improved as well.

He checked the date on his Communication Watch: February 1.

Today was the Martial Artist Combat Assessment.

Ten days earlier, Zhang Gui had taken the Quasi-Martial Artist test.

Naturally, Dongguan wanted to watch his "son's" first real battle.

Besides, once the assessment ended, it would be time to lay his cards on the table.

Monster Town.

No matter which base city it was, the Martial Artist Combat Assessment followed the same format. Only the monster species differed.

There were three kinds of monsters in the town: Poison-Bell Snakes, Sand Scorpions, and Illusion Lizards.

All were common around Northern Frontier Base City.

The surroundings of Northern Frontier Base City were not entirely desert. There were plenty of towns, too, but the kinds of monsters found there differed from those around Jiangnan Base City.

Poison-Bell Snakes had mutated from rattlesnakes. The sounds their tails produced had a special effect, making people dizzy as though poisoned. Their fangs also contained deadly venom.

Sand Scorpions were relatively ordinary. Their tails carried deadly venom too, but with a little care, avoiding their stings was not actually difficult. Their raw strength was considerable, however, and they occupied a role similar to the pig-type monsters around Jiangnan Base City.

As their name suggested, Illusion Lizards could change color like chameleons. When motionless, they were almost invisible.

These three kinds of monsters were more dangerous than the Iron-Haired Wild Boars, Shadow Cats, and Tiger Mastiffs used in Jiangnan Base City, but there were fewer of them.

The Quasi-Martial Artists needed to collect monster tails as proof, with at least one from each species required to pass.

Here in Northern Frontier Base City, finding monsters was an essential skill for martial artists.

That afternoon, over a thousand Quasi-Martial Artists collected their equipment and entered the town, where tens of thousands of monsters lay hidden.

Boom! The gates closed, sealing off the entire town. They would not open until the early hours of the following morning, when the assessment ended.

In a room inside a large building near the town, the supervisor from the Limitless Martial Arts Hall watched the surveillance feeds, searching for promising recruits.

Suddenly, the door opened, and a figure appeared.

He was about to snap at the intruder when he got a clear look at his face.

"War God Dongguan, you're here."

As an Advanced General, he inevitably felt somewhat constrained before an Invincible War God. But as a supervisor of the Limitless Martial Arts Hall, he had to uphold the hall's dignity.

Fortunately, this was an independent martial artist affiliated with the Limitless Martial Arts Hall. Had he belonged to the Thunder Dojo, the supervisor would have had to throw out a sharp remark or two.

"Don't mind me. I'm just here to watch." Dongguan waved a hand and began searching the screens.

Soon, he spotted a figure in Combat Suit carrying a long spear. A thrust pierced the skull of an Illusion Lizard lying in wait to ambush him.

Then Zhang Gui took out a small knife and cut off its tail as proof.

"Not bad." Dongguan smiled.

The monsters here were good at hiding and carried venom, but in a head-on fight, they were actually inferior to those around Jiangnan Base City.

The supervisor beside him, however, was a little nervous.

He silently hoped Zhang Gui would not slip up. If the boy ran into danger, an Invincible War God had the power to force his way inside.

Fortunately, though some martial artists died or were maimed during the night, Zhang Gui was not among them.

At dawn, as the sky began to brighten, the gates of Monster Town opened with a rumble.

A shrill alarm rang throughout the town, followed by an announcement.

"Time is up. All Quasi-Martial Artists, report to the town entrance immediately."

Truck after truck drove out, carrying the bodies of numerous Quasi-Martial Artists.

Many of the family members waiting outside burst into tears at the sight of the bodies.

"Martial artists always walk the line between life and death."

Status, glory, every privilege-all were bought with their lives.

The surviving Quasi-Martial Artists walked out one after another, many supporting each other.

Some bore ragged wounds, and many had clothes stained red. Others had lost limbs. Still others had bluish-purple faces and swollen arms tightly bound with cloth.

After they handed over their monster tails, soldiers supplied them with antidotes.

Of course, some emerged unharmed but had failed to meet the monster quota. If they were missing a particular species, for instance, they naturally could not pass.

The three monsters in the assessment covered the three most common types. Missing one species indicated a weakness in dealing with that type of monster, so a pass would naturally be denied.

Watching the Quasi-Martial Artists emerge one by one, Dongguan recalled the past.

He had never taken this kind of combat assessment.

When he became a martial artist, the Great Nirvana had just ended, and monsters needed to be cleared from the outskirts. Once someone was found to have the physical capabilities of a martial artist, they received a little training and were sent straight into action.

The system back then was nowhere near as complete as it was now.

This combat assessment looked harsh, but compared with those days, it was far better.

Back then, the death rate for martial artists venturing outside the city for the first time approached fifty percent. One in every two died.

The system was incomplete, and they lacked experience. Sometimes, they even encountered a hidden lord nearby and were crushed by its overwhelming power.

Mere Warrior Level martial artists could not even escape a Lord-level Monster, let alone fight one. Psychics were an exceedingly small minority, after all.

The Quasi-Martial Artists came out one after another, and naturally, plenty had passed.

"Zhang Gui. That's him."

"I saw how efficiently he killed monsters. Why didn't a dojo recruit him in advance?"

The Quasi-Martial Artists talked among themselves. They knew several talented martial artists had been recruited early by the Two Great Dojos, yet Zhang Gui, who was even younger, had not.

"These are mine."

A bag of monster tails was emptied out. Even a cursory glance revealed dozens, with all three species represented.

"Next."

Naturally, there was no way he would fail.

Zhang Gui was simply puzzled. Those who were older and less capable than him had been recruited in advance, so why had he not?

"Zhang Gui," a voice called.

"Big brother." Seeing Dongguan, Zhang Gui looked pleasantly surprised.

These past few days, apart from cultivating genetic origin energy at home, he had spent all his time at the martial arts hall.

And this big brother had been there every day, explaining matters concerning martial artists and guiding his spear technique.

Dongguan practiced blade techniques, but he had studied 《World Destruction》, and all weapons ultimately shared the same principles. Giving Zhang Gui pointers was naturally no problem.

His blade technique was at the Artistic Conception Level, and his spear technique could be considered Perfect Level. With more practice, the latter could reach the Artistic Conception Level too; he simply had no need to do so.

Hearing how Zhang Gui addressed Dongguan, the supervisor of the Limitless Martial Arts Hall beside him wore a strange expression.

He knew their actual relationship.

"How about I treat you to a nice meal to celebrate passing the assessment?"

Zhang Gui nodded, but instead of moving, he looked at the supervisor of the Limitless Martial Arts Hall.

"Oh." Only then did the supervisor realize that Zhang Gui was waiting for an answer to his earlier request to join the Limitless Martial Arts Hall. "War God Dongguan will handle your affairs. You can just go with him."

Zhang Gui looked at Dongguan again.

Dongguan patted his head. "Come with me."

Just as they were about to leave, Dongguan suddenly turned back to the supervisor. "Activate his access privileges."

"Oh, of course." The supervisor responded with a smile.

Only after the two left did the other martial artists begin discussing them.

"No wonder he didn't sign a contract early. A War God had already picked him out."

"War God Dongguan? Do any of you know him?"

"I think I've heard of him. He's the one who posted that bounty earlier. He's powerful even among War Gods. Not long ago, he escaped from a King-level monster."

"Wow, so it's him! And he challenged a King-level monster? That's incredible. Zhang Gui's really hit the jackpot."

"He was already a genius. Judging by his age, he still has a year and a half before the college entrance exam."

"But is it true that War God Dongguan nearly defeated a King-level monster?"

"I heard that if a Laser Cannon hadn't interfered, he would have killed that King-level monster on the spot."

"Stop talking nonsense. How could a War God be a match for a King-level monster? He must have been chasing it with a Laser Cannon on his shoulder."