High-Level Martial Era

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"Fist strength burst, actually directly exceeded 15,000 kilograms?" Li Yuan's eyes shone with a glint.

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That was already equivalent to a force burst of 15 tons.

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This, has far surpassed the baseline fist strength requirement for a level 15 martial artist.

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"However, the quality of this punching bag is good; even after being struck with a force exceeding 15 tons, it's not even slightly damaged." Li Yuan laughed.

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About this, he wasn't surprised.

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After all, each villa's basement was built with a special fist strength testing ground that could withstand the full-force impact of a level 19.9 martial artist.

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A level 19.9 martial artist, with a normal burst of a punch, could easily exceed 60,000 kilograms.

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One can only imagine how expensive this seemingly ordinary punching bag was.

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"Let's try the burst speed."

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Li Yuan quickly activated the numerous instruments on the speed testing track and then positioned himself at the start of the runway.

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Deep breath.

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The vigor throughout his body circulated, his mind perception reached subtlety, and countless fine streams of power were once again mobilized.

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"Boom!"

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Just like a vehicle bursting to its top speed in an instant, Li Yuan suddenly sprinted forward like a fleeting shadow, the forty-meter-long track passed in a mere flash.

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"Bang~" Li Yuan crashed heavily against the cushioned wall at the end of the track.

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"Beep~!"

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On the electronic screen beside the wall, Li Yuan's burst speed numbers suddenly appeared— "53 meters per second!"

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Another terrifying figure.

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"Is it really that fast?" Li Yuan's pupils constricted slightly, and he couldn't help feeling waves of joy in his heart.

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A level 15 martial artist's standard fist strength is 12,000 kilograms, and the standard burst speed is 50 meters per second.

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A level 16 martial artist's standard fist strength is 18,000 kilograms, and the standard burst speed is 60 meters per second.

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"Does that mean, once my mind reaches subtlety and mobilizes the numerous fine forces hidden within my muscles and bones, the speed and power I burst out with are already on par with a level 15.5 martial artist?" Li Yuan sighed to himself, "But according to the Divine Palace panel, my life level is clearly only 13.9, and my fist strength is just over 7,000 kilograms."

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The power burst had increased by roughly twice the standard state.

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It was simply too exaggerated.

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At this moment, Li Yuan truly understood the real meaning of 'mind reaching subtlety.'

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What he had heard and seen in the past was nothing compared to actually experiencing it.

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"My fourth level high rank technique, when bursting out, surpasses the standard fist strength by forty percent." Li Yuan sighed to himself, "Once it reaches fourth level perfection, it could exceed by more than one hundred percent."

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"No wonder."

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"During my battle with Dantai Feng, he suppressed me with just a knife, and once he used his shield, I was utterly at a disadvantage." Li Yuan sighed inwardly.

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Just in terms of the burst of power and speed, Dantai Feng was way stronger than Li Yuan.

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"If the transition from third stage perfection to fourth level is a qualitative change."

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"Then from fourth level high rank to fourth level perfection is likewise a qualitative change." Li Yuan murmured to himself.

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Techniques of the first, second, and third stages are gradually integrating the body's vigor, unleashing the body's strength.

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From the third stage high rank, one begins to excavate deeper levels of bodily strength, and the manifestation is a burst of speed and power that is stronger than the standard fist strength at the same life level.

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The fourth stage brings even greater improvement.

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When it reaches fourth level perfection, it pushes the excavation of the body's potential to its limit.

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"However, a sudden burst cannot last long, and the limit burst of power and speed brought by reaching the subtlety of the mind can't be sustained for too long." Li Yuan thought to himself, "Otherwise, it would severely damage the body."

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This point.

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On the Spear Technique Manual, there's a special mention: Reaching subtlety is never for long, and routine practice should mainly nurture the body.

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Whew!

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Li Yuan returned to the center of the Martial Arts Room, picked up his long spear again, and held it in one hand.

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"Whoosh whoosh whoosh!" The long spear danced like a great river, endless and uninterrupted.

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"The human body is just like a precise machine."

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Li Yuan thought to himself, "When a machine operates, there must always be a redundancy design to ensure that if one part gets damaged, the whole machine can continue to function."

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"The human body is the same."

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"The countless minute forces hidden in the muscles and bones may seem unused to the average person, but they are essentially redundancy, the potential of life, there to protect the body." Li Yuan was very clear about this, "Warriors who reach subtlety can mobilize all subtle forces to battle, which indeed makes them powerful."

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"But essentially, they are bursting with life potential, putting the body into overdrive and, if sustained for too long, could have lethal effects on various bodily functions and organs."

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It was like some news reports.

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An old man, in a moment of danger, suddenly lifted an object much heavier than normal, but died shortly afterwards.

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The underlying reason is that in that moment, the old man entered a special 'mind reaching subtlety' state, bursting with hidden life potential.

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But with no control over this burst, excessive exertion can very easily lead to bodily collapse and rapid demise.

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"Warriors who reach subtlety."

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"Firstly, they can control this power; secondly, they can continuously adjust and repair various hidden injuries." Li Yuan sighed to himself, "Thus, occasionally bursting at full power won't have too much of an impact."

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With Li Yuan's current strength.

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"In a 'reaching subtlety' state, my power and speed are comparable to a level 15.5 martial artist. Coupled with the advantage of my skills, I should be able to compete with a normal level 16.5-17 martial artist." Li Yuan made a rough judgment.

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'So-called normal martial artists,' from level 15 to 20, typically have techniques of intermediate or high rank of the third stage.

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And if not normal?

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For instance, Kunlun Martial University students who can cultivate to level 17 by their junior year generally possess fourth level techniques and are truly considered 'elite.'

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For the current Li Yuan to win against them would basically be daydreaming.

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...

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Past nine o'clock, as the night grew deeper and Li Yuan was still pondering spear techniques, suddenly.

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"Beep~"

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"Master, Wan Qinghe requests a video communication." The assistant AI suddenly spoke up, "Would you like to answer?"

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This startled Li Yuan from his practice.

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"Uncle Wan?" Li Yuan felt a moment of confusion before he remembered what Dean Hai had said during the day.

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Could it really have come?

"Answer," said Li Yuan immediately.

Drip~ Countless beams of light converged, instantly forming a light screen projection in the Martial Arts Room.

In the light screen, an office scene emerged, featuring a robed elder and a middle-aged man in Tang attire.

"Grandfather Fei, Lord Wan," Li Yuan greeted with a slight bow.

He hadn't forgotten Uncle Wan's advice—to address by official titles at work.

It was better not to make Elder Fei feel that Li Yuan was closer to Uncle Wan than to him.

Nevertheless, Li Yuan's heart brimmed with gratitude towards Fei Qian and Wan Qinghe.

No matter their original intentions.

Judging by results, not by intentions, they had truly helped him considerably, and that was undeniable.

"Haha, Li Yuan, long time no see," Fei Qian said, pleased with Li Yuan's way of addressing him. "It seems that you're still training late at night. We haven't disturbed your practice, have we?"

"No," Li Yuan said with a smile. "I was just about to rest."

"Haha, good, we haven't caused any trouble then."

Fei Qian laughed and said, "Your performance in the freshmen battle at the ten schools today was very good. Both Lord Wan and I know about it; even Lord Yang of the Province knows."

"Grandfather Fei, my apologies," Li Yuan immediately smiled. "I should have reported to Lord Wan first."

"Haha, what's there to apologise for?"

"I planned to communicate with you tomorrow, but considering the importance, I decided to inform you straight away," Fei Qian laughed and said. "Lord Yang of the Province has issued an order, in light of your excellent performance since entering university."

"Your contract with the Martial Hall is hereby officially upgraded from A-level to S-level starting today," Fei Qian announced solemnly.

S-level?

Li Yuan's eyes brightened slightly. Dean Hai indeed hadn't deceived him; likely, he had worked things out with the upper echelons of Starfire Martial Hall.

"Li Yuan, the contract has been sent to you," Wan Qinghe finally spoke up. "Have a look."

Drip~

The smart ring on Li Yuan's wrist vibrated, and he promptly looked down to check. It was a document sent by Wan Qinghe.

"Take a look first," said Fei Qian with a smile. "The S-level contract is slightly different from your previous A-level contract."

"Yes." Involved in his own vital interests, Li Yuan no longer stood on ceremony.

He tapped on his smart ring, and a small light screen popped up as he began to read carefully.

The S-level contract was largely similar to the A-level contract, except the training resources provided annually by the Starfire Martial Hall had increased substantially.

"Annually, 24 million in cash and 24 million Martial Hall Points?" Li Yuan was inwardly shocked.

It was very generous; combined, these two amounts were equivalent to 48 million Blue Star Coins.

You should know, a normal A-level Martial Hall contract only offers 6 million in cash and 6 million Martial Hall Points annually.

That's a fourfold increase!

Besides the surge in the annual gift of training resources.

This contract also came with many additional privileges.

For instance, Li Yuan's level within the Martial Hall was directly upgraded from L4 to L6.

For example, within a certain range, he could mobilize the 'martial artist squad support' of the Starfire Martial Hall.

And so on, over ten additional rights and benefits, and these were just what was explicitly written.

"An L6 member?" Li Yuan inwardly marveled. "Uncle Wan, as the Hall Master of the Starfire Guanshan Sub-Hall, is merely at L5 level, isn't he?"

As far as Li Yuan knew.

In the Starfire Martial Hall, a Prime Warrior was at L4 level.

L5 often belonged to Intermediate Prime Warriors, a very high status already.

L6 was usually granted to High-Rank Prime Warriors who had made certain contributions.

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"Grandfather Fei."

Li Yuan closed the light screen and looked up to ask, "I remember the last time I saw you, you mentioned that I could only be upgraded to S-level if I reached the Fifth Stage of my contract before turning 20."

This question made both Fei Qian and Wan Qinghe unable to help but laugh.

"Li Yuan."

Wan Qinghe took the initiative to speak, quite moved, "The difficulty for someone your age to reach Subtlety... is even more challenging than reaching the Perfection of a skill's Fifth Stage before turning 20."

"Lord Yang of the Province implied reaching Fifth Stage before the age of 20 because he never thought you could achieve Mind Perception this quickly," explained Wan Qinghe.

"It seems, just as Teacher Li and Dean Hai said, my attaining Mind Perception in the freshman battle of the ten schools is truly an incredible performance," Li Yuan reflected in his heart. "Not only has the school's focus on me greatly increased."

"Starfire Martial Hall's attention to me has also surged substantially."

The stronger one's abilities and the greater the potential, the more they are valued.

"Li Yuan."

"The terms on the contract are just the standard ones," said Fei Qian. "Besides these, there are two special items that need to be specifically explained to you."

"First is the Stellar Earth Marrow Crystal that Lord Yang of the Province promised. He said it would be sent to Kunlun Martial University... to be kept by the school, available upon request."

"Understood," Li Yuan nodded.

"Secondly, we from the Starfire Martial Hall have enquired with the university and anticipate that you will participate in life-or-death adventures early next year," Fei Qian stated gravely. "Therefore, to ensure your safety, our Jiangbei headquarters have made a special request to the Xia Country headquarters for 'a specially made Origin Power Battle Suit' for you."

"An Origin Power Battle Suit?" Li Yuan asked, puzzled.

"Li Yuan, the biggest difference between Second-Rank Martial Artists and ordinary martial artists is that First-Rank Warriors can only absorb Origin Power to strengthen their bodies, and they still consist of flesh and blood in essence."

"While Second-Rank Martial Artists can utilize Origin Power," said Wan Qinghe. "Origin Power is incredibly miraculous."

"The Origin Power Battle Suit can maximize the might of Origin Power."

"Once wearing the battle suit, in combat, one can hold their ground against countless bullets and artillery, almost oblivious to thermal weaponry," Wan Qinghe explained.

"But I don't possess Origin Power," Li Yuan couldn't help saying.

"That's why this is a specially made suit, costing ten times more than a Second-Rank Origin Power Battle Suit," Wan Qinghe said with a smile. "Its greatest advantage is that it allows First-Rank Martial Artists to use it, too."

"With it, your defense will skyrocket, your vitality will surge, and when venturing into the Star Realm in the future, your risk of death will be significantly reduced."

"This single Battle Garment alone is worth more than five hundred million Blue Star Coins."