High Martial Arts: Enlightenment after Practices

Chapter 118: Chapter 118: Shen Wei Begins to Contemplate Life

Xu Wuyi felt the killing intent wash over him, and his eyes sharpened.

He knew he could no longer afford to just defend without attacking.

Shen Wei’s ”Seven Kills” True Intention was incredibly formidable, no weaker than his own. Combined with a Secret Technique, a passive defense would be difficult to maintain.

With a subtle thought, the Hundred Refinements Melting Furnace technique within him began to operate at full capacity!

His Qi and Blood surged wildly through his meridians like boiling magma. A scorching aura emanated from his body, his muscles bulged slightly, and the veins on his arms became clearly visible.

His strength, speed, and reflexes skyrocketed in an instant!

He had activated Melting Furnace Boiling Blood!

At the same time, Xu Wuyi pushed his Spiritual Power to its absolute limit, and the True Intention of the ”Mountain” erupted completely!

His originally steady aura suddenly became heavy, as if a real mountain was pressing down on the arena, causing even the energy light-screen to ripple faintly.

The spear in his hand was no longer just for blocking; he took the initiative and met the attack head-on. The spear tip, carrying a scorching airwave, carved out a series of precise arcs.

CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!

In just one second, seven deafening clashes of metal rang out in quick succession, so rapid they sounded like a single, continuous chain of noise.

It was as if Xu Wuyi’s spear had eyes of its own, precisely blocking every one of Shen Wei’s saber shadows.

Each collision carried the heavy True Intention of the ”Mountain,” magnifying the ”Soul Suppressing” effect several times over.

Shen Wei felt his Heart and Spirit violently shake. His Qi and Blood churned as if about to explode, and the hand gripping his saber began to go numb.

After the seventh slash, Shen Wei had already consumed most of his Qi and Blood, and the momentum from his Seven Kills Linked Slash had faded.

He staggered back two steps, his long saber hanging limply at his side, unable to lift it again. His breathing was as heavy as a bellows, his chest heaving violently.

His gaze toward Xu Wuyi was filled with utter disbelief.

In the past, when he went all out, even Chu Shanhe could only temporarily avoid the brunt of his attack. He had just mastered this Secret Technique, yet he never expected that the very first opponent he used it against could block it so forcefully!

Xu Wuyi seized the opportunity. Pushing off forcefully, he shot toward Shen Wei like an arrow loosed from a bow, the tip of his long spear aimed straight at his chest.

He didn’t deliver the final blow, stopping just before Shen Wei’s chest.

After using his Secret Technique, Shen Wei was effectively powerless to resist. The victor of this sparring match was decided.

The scorching airwave made Shen Wei’s skin feel slightly hot. He looked at the spear tip inches away, gave a bitter smile, and shook his head. ”I surrender.”

Xu Wuyi retracted his long spear. The boiling Qi and Blood in his body gradually calmed, and the red glow on his skin slowly faded.

He looked at Shen Wei and said with a smile, ”Seven Kills Linked Slash is indeed very strong. If my Qi and Blood Strength hadn’t been so much higher than yours when I took the hits, I wouldn’t have been able to block it.”

”I practice a B-Level Body Refining Technique, so my Qi and Blood Strength is higher than that of an ordinary Martial Disciple. I guess you could say I had an unfair advantage.” He thought for a moment before adding, ”Perhaps once everyone becomes a Martial Artist, I won’t have this advantage anymore.”

Shen Wei was suddenly at a loss for words. ’So you’re saying I’ll be suppressed until Level 20?’

Shen Wei lowered his long saber, wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, and couldn’t help but ask, ”What is that Spear Technique of yours? It can suppress my Heart and Spirit?”

”It’s a characteristic of the Eight-direction Soul Suppressing Spear. It can interfere with an opponent’s spirit and will, which becomes especially obvious after reaching the Entry Level.” Xu Wuyi didn’t hide it, since it wasn’t much of a secret among High-Tier Martial Artists.

”???”

Shen Wei’s eyes nearly popped out of his head.

”You’re saying... you’ve reached Entry Level with a B-Level Spear Technique??”

”When did you start practicing it?”

”About half a month ago,” Xu Wuyi said after a moment’s thought. ”I redeemed it at the university.”

He knew his progress was a bit outrageous, but since the Eight-direction Soul Suppressing Spear couldn’t be bought anywhere else, there was no hiding it.

”You... you...” Shen Wei stammered for a long time, completely unable to form a coherent sentence.

He felt as if all his years of training had gone to waste.

He had been studying the Seven Kills Saber for several years and had comprehended its True Intention of Martial Arts for over a year, yet he had only just reached Entry Level. But this monster, Xu Wuyi... half a month?!

”Ahem.” Seeing his expression, Xu Wuyi racked his brain for a way to comfort him. ”The difficulty in reaching the Entry Level for this Spear Technique lies in comprehending the True Intention of Martial Arts and integrating it into the technique.”

”I had already comprehended a True Intention of Martial Arts and studied the prerequisite spear techniques, so it’s like I was practicing in advance. This speed doesn’t really count.”

With a wooden expression, Shen Wei put away his long saber, squatted down at the edge of the arena, and began to contemplate his life.

Xu Wuyi couldn’t help but scratch his head. He walked over and said, ”By the way, the university has a freshman challenge. You don’t fight human Martial Artists, but Star Beasts. I think it would be a good fit for you.”

He was telling the truth. Shen Wei’s incredibly destructive Saber Technique would give him a huge advantage when fighting Star Beasts.

This was because Star Beasts couldn’t possibly understand any Martial Arts Techniques. Most of the time, they relied on instinct to dodge or simply tanked hits with their tough hides and thick flesh.

Take the Earth-Split Bear that Xu Wuyi had struggled to kill earlier. If it had faced Shen Wei, a few slashes might have been enough to break its legs. It wouldn’t have been nearly as much trouble.

”Star Beasts, huh?” A glimmer of light finally returned to Shen Wei’s eyes.

He shot to his feet. ”Alright! I’ll give the Star Beast challenge a try!”

...

Shen Wei stood in his personal space on the Star Martial Battle Network. As his fingertips swiped across the virtual light-screen, the frustration from his spar with Xu Wuyi still lingered in his eyes.

However, Xu Wuyi’s general explanation of the ”freshman challenge” had reignited the competitive spirit in his bones.

Fighting Star Beasts and fighting human Martial Artists were indeed completely different experiences.

”The freshman challenge... Let’s see what the leaderboard looks like right now.”

With a thought, the light-screen instantly switched to the leaderboard interface for the ”Star Beast Hunting Ground.”

The list, which had been empty just over half a month ago, was now densely packed with names. Red ranking numbers constantly flickered, refreshing with the latest results.

This year’s new students at Star Martial University had been arriving one after another to register, and they had naturally participated in the freshman challenge as well.

However, the vast majority had been defeated on the first or second floors; very few had managed to pass the third.

Shen Wei’s gaze swept directly to the top, and his eyebrows shot up.

[Freshman Challenge Leaderboard]

First Place: Zhao Qingwei (Floors Cleared: 4)

Second Place: Li Hao (Floors Cleared: 4)

Third Place: Xu Wuyi (Floors Cleared: 4)

Fourth Place: Zhou Yu (Floors Cleared: 3)

...

”Xu Wuyi is only in third place?” Shen Wei was a little surprised, but then he smiled. ”It seems this year’s geniuses at Star Martial are truly a case of crouching tigers and hidden dragons.”

Although the top three had all cleared the fourth floor, the rules stated that those with shorter completion times were ranked higher.

Xu Wuyi had relied on hit-and-run tactics to defeat the Earth-Split Bear, which undoubtedly took the longest time.

Shen Wei’s gaze paused on the two words of the first-place entry, ”Zhao Qingwei,” and his fingertips unconsciously tapped against the light-screen.

He was all too familiar with that name.

The direct heiress of the Zhao Clan from the Capital, Xingjing. She began practicing the B-level Martial Arts Flowing Shadow Sword at the age of fifteen, and her Life Energy Level during the college entrance exams was already close to 17. She was a prominent figure among the entire Federation’s new generation.

”Zhao Qingwei... the Flowing Shadow Sword, is it?” A hint of fighting spirit touched the corner of Shen Wei’s mouth. ”B-level Martial Arts versus B-level Martial Arts. We’ll have to see whether your sword is faster or my saber is sharper.”

He didn’t pay much mind to the difference in their Life Energy Levels, because Level 20 was a major threshold.

Aside from a monster like Xu Wuyi who could master a B-Level Body Refining Technique, everyone else would more or less hit a bottleneck.

That would be the opportunity for others to catch up. And after advancing to a Martial Artist, it was like starting all over again.

Many geniuses from high school would see their rankings fall to the middle or lower tiers just a year or two into university, precisely because they were held back at this step.

Shen Wei had no impression of the second-place Li Hao; he figured he must be a hidden genius from some province.

Shen Wei brought up the challenge portal, his eyes sharpening. ”First, I’ll fight my way up. I have to clear at least four floors!”