"Progress increased by 10%!" "Progress increased by 9%!" "Gale Step's epiphany has ended. Current realm: Expert (progress: 99%)!"
Ning Chuan stopped and stood up straight.
The notifications continued to sound in his mind.
"Advancing to the Perfect Realm requires an epiphany to break through the barrier between realms!" "Gale Step currently has no epiphany and cannot break through for the time being!"
Ning Chuan blinked.
His luck was just too terrible!
He was only one percent short!
It seems there's a threshold between the Expert and Perfect Realms of martial arts.
Ning Chuan pulled himself together and analyzed the situation inwardly.
Or rather, there's a bottleneck. Ordinary practice won't work; an epiphany is essential!
As for how to achieve an epiphany,
Ning Chuan had a vague idea.
It involved exposing a martial art to something of the same type but at a higher level.
For example, Flash Thunder Slash had sensed the artistic conception of lightning.
And this time, Gale Step had perceived the power of wind.
Unfortunately, like the artistic conception in the Silver Blood Saber, this kind of exposure has a limit to the epiphany it can bring. Director Gu's power of wind could only get me to the peak of the Expert Realm. Otherwise, I could ask him to demonstrate it again!
Ning Chuan was full of regret.
His Gale Step was at the peak of the Expert Realm, seemingly only one percent away from the Perfect Realm.
In truth, a slight difference led a thousand miles astray.
The six realms of martial arts were Foundation, Proficiency, Mastery, Minute Subtlety, Expert, and Perfect.
Of these, the Expert Realm was the highest that ordinary practitioners could attain.
The Perfect Realm was utterly without flaw.
Usually, only the creator of a martial art could reach it.
"Heroes really do emerge from the young!"
A burst of applause interrupted Ning Chuan's thoughts.
He looked up to see Gu Tianyu walking over and clapping.
"Director Gu, thank you!"
Ning Chuan bowed slightly.
Gu Tianyu smiled and said, "Your epiphany was thanks to your own ability. I wouldn't dare take the credit."
"If you hadn't demonstrated Gale Step, I wouldn't have been able to achieve an epiphany."
Ning Chuan spoke sincerely.
Gu Tianyu stopped deflecting the credit. After a pause, he said gravely, "If I'm not mistaken, your Gale Step has already reached the peak of the Expert Realm."
"Yes."
Ning Chuan nodded in acknowledgment.
As soon as he spoke, a stir swept through the crowd, and many people were shocked.
Experts were among the very best in any given field.
The fact that the realm bore that name showed just how formidable it was.
Many people practiced martial arts diligently for years without ever reaching it.
Even with an E-grade martial art, it was an extraordinary achievement.
Gu Tianyu thought for a moment, then said to Ning Chuan, "If your Gale Step ever advances to the Perfect Realm, come find me. I'll teach you a martial art."
"Thank you, Director Gu!"
Ning Chuan was delighted.
A martial art taught by a Knight Class martial artist had to be at least A-grade!
The students watching were once again filled with envy.
Afterward, Gu Tianyu chatted with the students for a while longer before returning to the building.
Ning Chuan looked around, spotted Wei Bohu, and strode over.
"Am I qualified to speak of an epiphany now?"
Ning Chuan asked, feigning puzzlement.
Wei Bohu had picked fights with him again and again, and he wasn't about to endure it in silence.
He was only at Awakening Stage Nine.
That wasn't enough for him to crush Ning Chuan.
Wei Bohu's face instantly darkened, and he said coldly, "Gale Step is only an E-grade martial art!
"The Expert Realm isn't all that powerful, either.
"A B-grade movement art at the Mastery Realm can match it!"
"That's true!"
Ning Chuan nodded in agreement, then looked at Wei Bohu and smiled. "You sound so confident. You must have mastered a B-grade movement art to the Mastery Realm, then. Why don't you show me?"
Wei Bohu's expression froze.
Practicing martial arts was nowhere near that easy.
It took arduous training.
B-grade martial arts were even more difficult.
He had trained hard for years and only just managed to bring one B-grade fist art to the Mastery Realm.
Wei Bohu snorted coldly. "Even without a B-grade martial art, I can still beat you without a problem. If you don't believe me, let's try it in the monthly exam arena!"
"I believe you!"
Ning Chuan answered honestly.
His words made Wei Bohu's breath catch.
"It doesn't matter if you believe me!"
Wei Bohu spoke through gritted teeth.
Ning Chuan smiled and added, "Then can your fists break the sound barrier?"
Wei Bohu's expression turned scornful.
Only Knight Class martial artists could strike fast enough to produce a sonic boom.
Ning Chuan was obviously talking nonsense.
"Looks like you can't. That's a relief."
Ning Chuan patted his chest and spoke casually.
Wei Bohu frowned. "What do you mean?"
"You can't punch faster than I can say I surrender, so how are you going to hit me?" Ning Chuan asked in puzzlement. "Don't you understand?
"Looks like you're not very good at physics!
"The college entrance exam is coming up. That won't do.
"Let me tell you, anything that doesn't exceed the speed of sound can't outrun sound.
"Can you understand it when I put it that way?"
Pfft!
Seeing Ning Chuan explain it with a perfectly serious face, Lu Mengyue couldn't help bursting out laughing.
"At that level, he's obviously a king of trash talk!"
Laughter rippled through the crowd nearby.
Wei Bohu's face went from pale to red. After glaring fiercely at Ning Chuan, he shoved his way through the crowd and left.
"That was too brutal. You practically treated Wei Bohu like an idiot!"
Lu Mengyue smiled at Ning Chuan.
Ning Chuan shrugged. "He went looking for trouble, so I taught him a lesson."
"Oh, right, I haven't congratulated you on having another epiphany."
Lu Mengyue said.
Ning Chuan sighed. "It's a mixed blessing."
"What happened?"
"I'm only one step away from Perfect, stuck in the middle, and it's bothering me. I might as well not have had the epiphany."
"..."
"Lu Mengyue, why did you stop talking?"
"I shouldn't have laughed at Wei Bohu!"
The two chatted and laughed casually.
Before long, the police officers leading the teams arrived. Their purposeful strides and serious expressions dispelled the relaxed atmosphere.
"Li Haoran, Han Yu, come with me!"
"Wan Chuxue, Wang Wu, I'm your team leader. Gather over here!"
The students began moving out.
Ning Chuan also saw the officer leading his team and couldn't help raising an eyebrow.
He was someone Ning Chuan knew.
Zhou Wei.
Ning Chuan glanced sideways at Lu Mengyue. They had surely been assigned Zhou Wei, a full-fledged martial artist, because of her.
Most police officers in Qingshan City were at Awakening Eighth Stage or Awakening Stage Nine.
"Get in the car first. We can talk on the way."
Zhou Wei led the two of them into a four-seat police car.
After driving more than ten kilometers,
the three arrived at an enormous shopping plaza in Qingshan City.
The area was bustling, with streams of people weaving back and forth. Shops stood side by side, their decor lavish.
In Ning Chuan's memories, his predecessor had visited a few times.
Zhou Wei pointed ahead. "This is the area we're responsible for searching."
"Is Zhao Weiping here?"
Lu Mengyue asked in puzzlement.
Zhou Wei explained, "Checkpoints have been set up at every entrance and exit of Qingshan City. If Zhao Weiping wants to stay alive, his only choice is to flee into the wilderness.
"To get through the wilderness, he'll definitely need plenty of supplies!
"He might come here to buy them.
"Our job is to find him if he comes."
"Just the three of us?"
Ning Chuan looked surprised.
The shopping plaza before them spanned several thousand meters and occupied a prime location, with dense crowds of people.
Its daily visitor count was probably over a hundred thousand.
Zhou Wei said, "That's not a problem. All the surveillance cameras here have been connected to the police department's Dragnet system. As soon as Zhao Weiping shows his face, he'll be identified."
"Of course, Zhao Weiping isn't stupid. He'll disguise himself."
Zhou Wei handed them two earpieces.
"Put these on. Dragnet's artificial intelligence will tell us where the customers whose identities it can't detect are. We just need to approach them and verify their identities."
"People wearing masks or excessive makeup, or who've had excessive cosmetic surgery, are a minority, after all. The three of us are enough to handle them."
Zhou Wei spoke calmly.
Ning Chuan and Lu Mengyue fitted their earpieces.
Zhou Wei waited a moment, and when no one asked anything else, he said, "Since there are no other questions, go familiarize yourselves with the area and get a good sense of the place."
"Understood."