Only by completing the Six Martial Artist Refinements could one possess the foundation to step into the Grandmaster realm.
Martial Artists used the first through third grades to temper the foundations of their bodies and raise their vitality.
Starting from the Fourth-grade, they could undergo the Six Martial Artist Refinements to achieve Mortal Transcendence.
With every refinement completed, their strength would make a considerable leap.
It was an all-around improvement.
Of course, some Martial Artists only focused on raising their vitality and combat power, never undertaking the Six Martial Artist Refinements at all.
Such people still made up the majority.
The Six Martial Artist Refinements were inhumanly grueling!
Many people simply could not endure the pain brought by the six refinements.
Moreover, once they failed, their vitality and combat power would plummet severely.
They would then have to cultivate all over again.
The later it got, the harder it became to improve one's vitality and combat power.
Starting over and cultivating again was not something everyone could manage.
Therefore, many Martial Artists who lacked talent or opportunity simply gave up outright.
Yet once one completed all six refinements—even just a single refinement—their strength would surpass that of Martial Artists without refinements by a notch. It could even be said that they were invincible within their grade!
That was why many Martial Artists were still willing to risk a decline in strength and desperately give it a try.
During this process, if one possessed abundant resources and guidance from seniors experienced in the six refinements, the odds of completing them would naturally be much greater.
And the Martial Artist Elite Camp offered such an opportunity.
This immediately piqued Lin Mo's interest.
If it were merely about increasing vitality and combat power, Lin Mo truly would not have been that interested.
Besides, Wang Xiao had just said so.
Within this Elite Camp, there was also a chance to obtain Earth Grade Martial Skills.
That was a treasure. If he obtained one and then had the system's support, would it not evolve into, at the very least, a Heaven Grade Martial Skill?
There seemed to be only two Heaven Grade Martial Skills in all of Huaxia, possessed by those two legendary supreme Martial Artists of Huaxia.
If he had one too, how impressive would that be?
"Lin Mo, when you go to the Martial Alliance Elite Camp this time, you must bring honor to our Southern Province."
Lu Li appeared to be in an exceptionally good mood as he smiled at Lin Mo.
"Commander Lord, I will certainly do my utmost."
"Good, good, good. As long as you can place among the top thousand in the Elite Camp assessment, I will definitely submit an application above and grant you an additional handsome reward."
Lu Li said "good" three times in a row, his face full of satisfaction.
However, when Lin Mo heard those words, his heart skipped a beat.
"Top thousand? With the combat power I've displayed publicly so far, I can't even make it into the top thousand?"
Lin Mo could not help but feel surprised.
"Are the people in this Elite Camp really that formidable?" Lin Mo looked at the screen and asked Lu Li.
"Of course. There are no shortage of monstrous geniuses.
Think about it. How large is Huaxia's population base alone? It exceeds five billion.
Among more than five billion people, would one thousand geniuses really be considered many?
Even if ten thousand appeared, what percentage would that account for?
And among them are countless Martial Artist lineages.
A major lineage has abundant resources. Is it really much for it to cultivate several, or even over a dozen, outstanding geniuses in a year?
How many such major lineages are there in Huaxia? They are simply too numerous to count.
Forget all of Huaxia. In Southern Province alone, there are one thousand slots for the Elite Camp every time."
"Hiss!"
Hearing this, Lin Mo could not help drawing in a sharp breath.
Southern Province alone had one thousand people, while all of Huaxia had twenty-three provinces.
Wouldn't that make twenty-three thousand people?
There might even be some additional slots.
By that calculation, there really were quite a lot of people.
Among fewer than thirty thousand people, ranking in the top thousand was indeed quite challenging.
"Of course, you needn't worry too much. With your current stats, as long as you work hard enough, you still have a great chance of entering the top thousand."
Seeing Lin Mo fall silent, Lu Li spoke again.
"What are the criteria for entering the Elite Camp?" Lin Mo thought for a moment before asking again.
"The criteria? Eighteen years old, an Awakened, and at least a Third-grade Martial Artist."
Upon hearing Lu Li's words, Lin Mo frowned.
This once again opened his eyes.
He had thought Awakeneds were rare, but apparently they were not that scarce.
The Martial Alliance's Elite Camp alone had more than twenty thousand Awakeneds appearing at once.
Hadn't they said Awakeneds were one in ten thousand? Wasn't this far too many?
"Hehe, Lin Mo, are you wondering why there are so many Awakeneds?"
As though he had seen through Lin Mo's doubts, Lu Li said with a smile.
Lin Mo looked at him and nodded.
"Not all the Awakeneds here underwent Natural Awakening. Most awakened later on.
Strictly speaking, they became Awakeneds through special means.
For example, Companion Beads obtained while hunting in the wilderness.
Or by consuming certain rare Rare Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures.
These can all turn someone into an Acquired Awakening Awakened.
Those who truly awaken naturally are exceedingly, exceedingly rare.
However, under normal circumstances, Naturally Awakened abilities are stronger than those of Acquired Awakening Awakeneds.
Take you, for example. You are both of the Thunder Element, but because you underwent Natural Awakening, you are stronger than those Thunder Element Awakeneds who awakened later.
So, you still possess a great advantage."
Hearing this, Lin Mo felt somewhat embarrassed.
He was not as Lu Li imagined; he too had undergone Acquired Awakening.
It was entirely because he had consumed the Thunder Bead that he gained the Lightning Ability.
The reason Lu Li and the others had misunderstood was because only Naturally Awakened individuals experienced sudden, drastic increases in vitality and combat power.
Acquired Awakening Awakeneds only gained special abilities; their vitality and combat power would not suddenly surge drastically.
Lin Mo would not say much about that.
If they wanted to misunderstand, then so be it. It would save him from having to explain why his combat power and vitality had suddenly skyrocketed.
However, Lin Mo neither agreed nor disagreed with the claim that Acquired Awakening Awakeneds' abilities were weaker than those of Naturally Awakened individuals.
With the system, he believed such a gap should not exist for him.
Still, thinking of how there were so many monstrous geniuses his age, Lin Mo was rather shocked.
"Lin Mo, here are your Camp Entry Certificate and contract. Take a look."
At that moment, Wang Xiao had already brought over the newly customized contract and Camp Entry Certificate.
Lin Mo took them and glanced through them, his eyes widening involuntarily.
"The entire training period lasts three years? Reaching the Seventh-grade, or passing the designated assessment, counts as graduation.
Upon graduation, one can obtain the Elite Camp's Graduation Medal as well as a diploma from Military Martial University?
After graduation, if one chooses to join the Military Department, one can directly receive Major Rank!
If one chooses to return to a Base City, one can directly serve as City Lord.
Of course, one may also freely choose one's future path.
But no matter what one chooses, the Huaxia Martial Alliance will provide an additional Monthly 10 Million Subsidy every year.
The only requirement is that when Huaxia faces danger, one must return whenever summoned!"
"So in other words, if I join this, I won't even need to attend Martial University?"
"That's right! Everything Martial University can teach, you can learn there. And everything Martial University cannot teach, you can learn there too."
Wang Xiao chuckled as he looked at Lin Mo.
"Oh? That does sound quite good! But what is that designated assessment?"
"You'll naturally find out once you enter the Elite Camp." Wang Xiao laughed heartily without telling him directly.
"Uh, alright then." Lin Mo looked over the contract again, felt there were no issues, and directly signed and pressed his fingerprint.
"Alright, then I wish you every success and hope you achieve excellent results in the Elite Camp. See you tomorrow."
Seeing that Lin Mo had completed the procedures, Lu Li exchanged a few words and ended the video call.
"Lin Mo, keep it up. You are the pride of Jiangcheng No. 2 High School, and I'll be waiting for your good news!
Also, the school will give you a reward of five million.
Before you set off tomorrow morning, I'll have your homeroom teacher deliver it to you."
Yang Ziqing also laughed as he said his farewells and hung up.
"Five million? Hehe, that's quite an unexpected income."
Lin Mo smiled, chatted with Wang Xiao for a few more moments, then took his leave and went home.
He had experienced too much that day, and he was tired as well.
After returning home, he washed up, lay on his bed, and went over everything that had happened today once more.
"Tomorrow will be another new beginning!"
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