Martial Artists' Six Tiers
"Jiang Chenyi?" Fang Yu murmured.
As a Wuling City native and a student at Wuling Martial Arts College, he had naturally heard the name... A martial arts student who placed first in the college entrance exam was different from an academic student who did the same.
An academic student who placed first might get into a good academic university, but their future achievements were hard to predict. Quite a few faded into the crowd, so not many people truly paid attention to them.
But it was a completely different story for a martial arts champion.
Since ancient times, there had been no first place in literature and no second place in martial arts.
There was almost no room for shortcuts or luck in the martial arts entrance exam. Only those outstanding in numerous areas-physical talent, technical aptitude, void star aspect, combat awareness, and even family background-had a chance of placing first.
On the other hand,
Martial artists progressed fastest between the ages of sixteen and twenty-five, a period known as the "golden age." The next fastest was from twenty-five to thirty, known as the "silver age."
Someone who became a city martial arts champion at around eighteen had first-rate martial talent and a boundless future.
For that reason,
Any martial arts student who became a champion would become the absolute center of attention, shining ten or a hundred times brighter than an academic champion. Reporters from all sorts of media outlets and independent content creators would scramble to cover them... The rewards each received made the difference clear.
As far as Fang Yu knew, the state generally awarded a city's academic champion anywhere from tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands of star coins directly, while a city's martial arts champion received at least several million.
And that was only the first step. Afterward, they would be nurtured by their university, could sign early with a major martial arts corporation, and might even become a brand spokesperson.
It was a bright and dazzling path.
Compared to Jiang Chenyi, martial arts college students like Fang Yu were far less impressive... Even though he was already an "outstanding college student."
"Comparing yourself to others will drive you mad," Xu Chenyang said enviously. "Jiang Chenyi's only just finished his first year, and he's already this strong. By the time he graduates, he might even have a chance of becoming an earth martial artist."
Fang Yu fell into thought.
Before the Great Burning Heaven era, humanity had yet to undergo its great evolution, and void star aspects had not awakened. Martial arts cultivation was not mainstream, and martial artists were classified solely by their technique as Ming Jin, An Jin, and Hua Jin martial artists, among others... In fact, Hua Jin martial artists, who were hailed as grandmasters, possessed such profound technique that they were no worse than many earth martial artists.
But constrained by their environment, even when they tempered their bodies to the limit, their single-arm punching force was usually only one or two thousand kilograms.
In terms of strength alone, they could hardly match the intermediate martial artists of this era.
It was only after the Great Burning Heaven era,
Especially during the sixty years since the start of the New Calendar era, that martial arts developed at a tremendous pace. With the aid of void star aspects, martial arts reached divine heights, and martial artists gained inconceivable might... Eventually, martial artists were reclassified under a unified system of six tiers according to their strength.
Levels 1-9 fell within the range of ordinary people.
Levels 10-19 were first-tier martial artists, also known as junior martial artists, with a minimum punching-force requirement of 300 kilograms.
Levels 20-29 were second-tier martial artists, also known as intermediate martial artists, with a minimum punching-force requirement of 2,000 kilograms.
Levels 30-39 were third-tier martial artists, also known as advanced martial artists, with a minimum punching-force requirement of 10,000 kilograms.
Levels 40-49 were fourth-tier martial artists, respectfully known as earth martial artists. Their extraordinary power could no longer be described simply by punching force, and even some heavy firearms were ineffective against them.
The still higher fifth-tier heaven-patrolling martial artists and sixth-tier starry sky martial artists were like myths come to life... Beyond the imagination of ordinary people.
And a university graduate was only around twenty-two.
Become an earth martial artist?
To college students like Fang Yu, it was a fantasy... But for Jiang Chenyi, it was possible.
After all, even throwing punches in rapid succession, he could exceed 6,000 kilograms with each one. If he went all out, his punching force might reach 7,000 or 8,000 kilograms. That was why Xu Chenyang had said he was at least level 25.
"I spoke to the supervisor a few days ago. Apparently, Jiang Chenyi is a pretty average student at Crescent Moon Martial Arts University," Xu Chenyang remarked in a low voice. "I really can't imagine how strong its top undergraduates must be."
"It's the strongest martial arts university under the stars. Of course it's strong," Fang Yu said calmly. "Pick any undergraduate from there and put him in Huguang Martial Arts University, and he'd be an absolute sensation."
Not all undergraduates were equal.
The two martial arts universities in Huguang Province admitted ten thousand martial arts undergraduates each year, and Huguang was only one of the Xia Nation's provinces.
Blue Star had a population of thirty billion, and the Xia Nation alone had over five billion. As a result, more than a million martial arts undergraduates were admitted each year on Blue Star alone, though that was not many compared with the planet's total population.
As for Crescent Moon Martial Arts University,
It was unquestionably the best martial arts university on New Moon, and indeed in the whole civilization... It admitted only ten thousand students each year. That might not sound like a small number, but New Moon, with a population of less than two hundred million, took up half the places.
Only five thousand places were allocated to the nations of Blue Star.
Under normal circumstances, only a little over a thousand people from the Xia Nation were admitted to Crescent Moon Martial Arts University each year... Divided among the provinces, that usually amounted to only a few dozen places each.
As for Wuling City? It was fortunate to get one or two admitted in a year. Sometimes there were none.
That showed just how much a place at Crescent Moon Martial Arts University was worth.
Even martial arts geniuses needed the best environment to shine.
Year after year, martial arts champions from across the Xia Nation would try to get into Crescent Moon Martial Arts University. Their next choices were the ten other top martial arts universities on New Moon.
Only after that would they consider the Xia Nation's top martial arts universities, such as Modu Martial Arts University and Yandu Martial Arts University.
"True."
"Most undergraduates aim to become advanced martial artists," Xu Chenyang said. "But I've heard that if students at Crescent Moon Martial Arts University don't become earth martial artists before thirty, they're considered a disgrace to the school."
"Compared to them, we're just too ordinary." Xu Chenyang shook his head.
"There's no need to sell yourself short." Fang Yu patted Xu Chenyang on the shoulder and smiled. "A diploma is made of paper. Your abilities are what belong to you. Undergraduates are strong, but we college students aren't bad either."
"Don't forget."
"The champion of the most recent martial arts tournament was a college student from the Xia Nation." Fang Yu turned and continued downstairs.
"Right, Brother Fang, your technique has already reached greater mastery of minute subtlety. Your future martial arts achievements might not be any worse than an undergraduate's." Xu Chenyang hurriedly turned and caught up. As they walked, he said, "But forget about me. I'm an academic college student, and a liberal arts major at that. Last time, I sent out hundreds of résumés on 91 Same City, and in the end, all the system recommended to me were sales jobs..."
"Wait."
"Brother Fang, the martial arts tournament you're talking about-is it the Alliance Martial Arts Tournament with a one-billion-star-coin prize?" Xu Chenyang suddenly caught on. "Wang Heng was a college student?"
The Alliance Martial Arts Tournament was one of the most dazzling martial arts events in the entire civilization.
Xu Chenyang naturally followed it and knew who the champion was.
"Mm."
"Wang Heng, a martial artist from the Xia Nation, is the youngest sky-roving martial artist in history. He's also universally recognized as the strongest college student!" Fang Yu had already reached the ground floor.
At a glance,
Fang Yu spotted a sentence written on the wall at the far end of the ground-floor hall.
"Civilization's evolution is cruel. But what is crueler than evolution is refusing to evolve. The same is true of life. -Ye Xinghe"
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