Beyond the Hundred Aspects

The information that clearly showed Fang Yu's life level, martial arts skills, and soul level was not a "system panel" that granted eternal power once obtained, like those in some novels.

It was more like information conveyed by the sleeping Star Aspect after it had examined Fang Yu's body and soul.

Like a precision life scanner, it allowed Fang Yu to check his condition at any time.

It provided no other direct help.

I wonder what level my life level has to reach before I can see this Void Star Aspect completely clearly, Fang Yu thought.

The Void Star Aspect was the source of the flourishing development of starry sky martial arts over the past century and more, and of martial arts reaching divine heights.

According to the general martial arts courses Fang Yu had studied since childhood:

Before the Great Burning Heaven Era,

Some incredible grandmasters of ancient martial arts had long since surpassed the Inner Realm in skill, reaching the realm where "the cicada senses the autumn wind before it stirs." With such skill, they could lock down the blood and qi throughout their bodies, send it to their brains and cleanse their marrow, and turn heaven and earth upside down, allowing them to live easily to the age of 200.

However,

These grandmasters could punch with a force of only two or three thousand kilograms at most, comparable to intermediate martial artists of this era.

Why?

What they lacked was the Void Star Aspect.

According to scientific research and what they taught in general martial arts class, there's a mysterious energy called "Star Power" in the cosmos that we humans find difficult to absorb on our own, Fang Yu thought. Only after reaching life level 10 and awakening a "Void Star Aspect" can we visualize it, use it to illuminate the hundred stars of the body, and then open our Star Apertures, allowing us to gradually absorb Star Power from the cosmos.

This is Star Power Entering the Body.

As Star Power merged into every cell in the body, it drove the body's evolution in every respect. Bone strength, periosteum toughness, cellular vitality, muscle explosive power, skin resilience, and more would all continue to soar, constantly breaking through the limits of life.

It even caused the very nature of one's genes to keep transforming.

That was why human life had evolved so rapidly in the century and more since the Great Burning Heaven Era.

Until, several decades ago, a life-form capable of withstanding a nuclear bomb with its flesh was born-a starry sky martial artist!

In terms of martial arts skills, even sky-patrolling martial artists might not measure up to some of the grandmasters who appeared over the thousands of years of ancient martial arts history, Fang Yu reflected. But those grandmasters would die if they faced ordinary firearms.

Sky-patrolling martial artists, however, could fly at supersonic speeds and even live in outer space for short periods.

The two were no longer the same species.

The difference lay in the Void Star Aspect.

If I didn't have a Void Star Aspect, or if I had awakened a Lower Astral Aspect, Fang Yu thought silently, I wouldn't dare hope for much on the martial arts path.

Not everyone in the Blue Moon Alliance could visualize a Void Star Aspect.

A considerable number of people had no "Void Star Aspect."

Even among those who could visualize one, most had extremely ordinary Void Star Aspects that offered little help. The "Star Apertures" they illuminated were often weak as well, making their absorption of Star Power extremely inefficient.

Age was very important to a martial artist's cultivation.

If a martial artist failed to reach a relatively high level of cultivation before the end of the silver-age period at thirty, their prospects in martial arts would only grow dimmer afterward.

That was also why martial artists were relatively few in number.

Whether parents or the students themselves, they all had to consider the return on their investment.

Even with substantial state support, it was normal for a student to spend hundreds of thousands of star coins to get into a martial arts junior college. Getting into a martial arts university would cost even more.

If they ultimately failed to reach even level 15, had not studied another academic specialty, and could not find a good job, they would lose their entire investment.

So,

Many parents, upon discovering that their children had shown no exceptional talent in middle or high school, would abandon the idea of having them pursue martial arts and ask only that they reach level 10 and obtain a "parenthood certificate."

But as it happens, I can visualize a Void Star Aspect, Fang Yu thought.

The problem was that Fang Yu's Void Star Aspect had remained asleep the whole time.

In Fang Yu's visualization, the Star Aspect was also extremely blurry... Over the years, it had gradually become clearer as his life level rose, and only recently had he been able to see its full form.

My Void Star Aspect can actually monitor my cultivation even while it's asleep, Fang Yu thought. And it can even grant me an Innate Divine Ability?

I've never heard of even the twelve Upper Astral Aspects doing anything so miraculous.

The Void Star Aspects awakened by martial artists came in all shapes and forms.

Each had its own strengths.

Over the decades, as technology advanced and all kinds of big data were collected, the Blue Moon Alliance had gradually recorded, cataloged, and ranked the various Void Star Aspects.

Today,

Void Star Aspects could be broadly divided into Lower Astral Aspects, Mid-Rank Star Aspects, and Upper Astral Aspects... The higher the rank, the rarer the Star Aspect, and the stronger the abilities it typically granted a martial artist.

There were twelve publicly known Upper Astral Aspects and over eighty Mid-Rank Star Aspects, while Lower Astral Aspects were far more numerous... The course "The Hundred Aspects of the Void," a required subject at martial arts junior colleges, recorded nearly a thousand Lower Astral Aspects.

Memorizing every Star Aspect in "The Hundred Aspects of the Void" and learning about Star Aspects was a requirement for every martial arts junior college student.

Innate Divine Abilities were precisely the "hallmark" of Upper Astral Aspects.

Judging solely from the appearance he could see vaguely and the Innate Divine Ability it possessed... Fang Yu's Void Star Aspect did not belong to any of the twelve Upper Astral Aspects.

It was an unknown Star Aspect.

One beyond the hundred aspects.

After all,

According to "The Hundred Aspects of the Void," even martial artists who awakened an Upper Astral Aspect had to reach level 30 before they could begin to awaken an Innate Divine Ability. Before then, they could possess only a few "innate traits" at most.

For example, greater cellular vitality, strength, speed, soul power, or stronger Star Apertures, and so on.

But I gained the Innate Divine Ability "Devour" when I was only level 8.

For a moment, Fang Yu's thoughts drifted. Without this Innate Divine Ability, relying only on the money Father gave me and my martial arts skills... I couldn't possibly have cultivated my life level to 15.9 using nothing but the Twenty-Four Basic Fist Forms.

I'd probably have reached level 12 or 13 at most.

The New Calendar Era was different from ancient times.

After the great excavation of Primordial Star, many incredible natural treasures had emerged. They allowed many wealthy people to bring their bodies to level 20 or even level 30 without awakening a Void Star Aspect or needing particularly advanced martial arts skills.

However,

Without Star Power Entering the Body to strengthen the flesh, relying solely on rare and precious resources to increase physical strength was unimaginably costly, requiring an astronomical amount of money.

For that reason, Fang Yu had long since concluded that his sleeping Void Star Aspect was highly unusual.

But no matter how unusual the Star Aspect is, if it never fully awakens, it'll ultimately be nothing but a mirage, Fang Yu thought. Even with my Innate Divine Ability helping me, the blood and qi mixture and bone-strengthening pills are becoming less and less effective at assisting my cultivation.

Father's business is doing worse and worse because of the internet.

My younger brother and sister are both fifteen now. It's almost time for them to begin formally cultivating martial arts, and the family's expenses will rise sharply... Fang Yu frowned slightly. He had been anxious all along.

Although his visualization of the Void Star Aspect was becoming clearer and clearer,

Who could say what level he would have to reach for it to truly awaken? Level 18? Level 20? Or even level 30?

Greater mastery of Subtlety has given me a much better chance, Fang Yu thought. I hope my application to transfer into a university succeeds... If I can get into a university and receive help from state resources,

Only then can I greatly ease the pressure on Father.

As Fang Yu was lost in thought,

"Dear passenger, Shenzhou Driverless Cars reminds you that you have arrived at your destination. Please check your belongings..." the taxi's notification sounded.

Only then did Fang Yu come back to his senses.

He got out of the car.

He looked up at the residential community a short distance away, made up of detached villas-Zhonglin Imperial View.

Located on the outskirts of Wuling City, it was a relatively remote villa community. Most of the people who lived there were middle-class families with some money, but not a great deal... It was also where Fang Yu's home was.