High Martial Arts: Enlightenment after Practices

The jump was more jarring than they had imagined.

As a low-Energy Level plane, the Celestial Wolf Four Star Realm had an unstable spatial structure. The five of them felt a distinct tearing sensation as they teleported from the Federation Military’s jump point.

It was as if an invisible giant hand had seized their bodies, pulling them in different directions.

Xu Wuyi circulated the Hundred Refinements Melting Furnace technique. His Qi and Blood formed a stable cycle within his body, resisting the spatial pressure.

Five seconds later, the pulling sensation vanished.

The scene before them changed in an instant.

The sky was a dark crimson, with three grayish-white celestial bodies of varying sizes hanging overhead. The light was dim.

Below them was a rugged, hilly terrain. The ground was covered in grayish-black rock and soil, and sparse, dark red vegetation was scattered about like dried bloodstains.

A pungent odor, a mix of sulfur and metal, filled the air. The gravity was slightly higher than in the Federation, and they could feel a distinct pressure in their chests as they breathed.

”Take cover,” Hong Nianyi’s voice came through the comms, low and urgent.

The five of them quickly dispersed, each finding their own cover.

Xu Wuyi ducked behind a waist-high block of rock, his long spear resting on his lap as he spread out his Spiritual Perception.

There were no life signs within a one-kilometer radius—only the mournful sound of wind whistling through crevices in the rock.

Two minutes later, Chen Yuan’s voice came through. ”It’s clear. No Werewolf patrols within a three-kilometer radius. Thermal scans show energy fluctuations fifteen kilometers to the northeast. Should be one of the mining areas.”

Lin Jue had already opened a briefcase and taken out a palm-sized silver instrument. She began scanning the environmental data.

Numbers flickered rapidly across the screen. She adjusted her tactical eyepiece. ”Gravity coefficient: 1.37. Atmospheric oxygen content: 18.3%. Sulfide concentration is high... Beginning Energy Level suppression test.”

She took five button-sized metal discs from the case and handed one to each of them. ”Put this on your wrist. It will record the efficiency of your power circulation and calculate the suppression coefficient.”

Xu Wuyi took the metal disc and pressed it to the inside of his left wrist. He felt a faint jolt of electricity, which then vanished.

”Circulate your Qi and Blood. Don’t use your full strength—thirty percent will be enough,” Lin Jue said.

Xu Wuyi mobilized the Qi and Blood in his body. As the Hundred Refinements Melting Furnace began to circulate, dark-gold Qi and Blood flowed through his meridians. He could clearly feel its circulation was slower than in the Federation, as if it were being dragged through some invisible, viscous substance.

Thirty seconds later, Lin Jue looked at her data pad. ”The preliminary data is in. Xu Wuyi, suppression rate: 7%. Hong Nianyi: 8%. Chen Yuan: 1%. You Sicheng: 12%. Me: 1%.”

She paused before adding, ”This is a combined effect of one’s Heart Image tier and Life Energy Level. The more complete the Heart Image, the less the suppression. The higher the Life Energy Level, the greater the suppression. Elder You’s suppression rate is the highest because he was at the Innate Level before his cultivation fell. His body still retains some Innate Traits, so this plane judges him as ’exceeding the limit’.”

You Sicheng nodded but said nothing.

Hong Nianyi looked at Lin Jue. ”Can you extrapolate the suppression rate for the Wolfman Priests?”

”I can, but I’ll need more data.” Lin Jue took another device from the case, this one a fist-sized sphere. ”This is a Federation Military-developed ’Energy Level Disturbance Detector.’ It can capture energy anomalies in the surrounding space. If a Wolfman Priest fights nearby, it will collect data on their power fluctuations.”

She placed the sphere on the ground and pressed a button. Blue light traced patterns across its surface as it silently sank into the earth, leaving only a small hole behind.

”It will take time,” Lin Jue said. ”It should be able to cover a fifty-kilometer radius in about six hours.”

Hong Nianyi nodded. ”We’ll set up a temporary base first and wait for the data.”

The five of them found a natural cave in the hilly terrain.

The entrance was narrow, but the space inside was large enough for a dozen people. The rock walls were dry and had cracks for ventilation.

Chen Yuan set up vibration sensors and an optical camouflage net at the entrance. From the outside, the area just looked like an ordinary rock face.

Inside the cave, Lin Jue set up a simple workstation. Her data pad, scanner, and communications repeater lit up in succession, casting a pale blue glow on the rock walls.

You Sicheng sat cross-legged in a corner, eyes closed, regulating his breathing. His breaths were slow, but each inhalation was deep and forceful, as if he were struggling to adapt to the plane’s suppression.

Hong Nianyi and Xu Wuyi stood at the entrance, observing the outside through a gap in the camouflage net.

Beneath the dark crimson sky, the Gray Rock hills rolled on endlessly, a desolate landscape as far as the eye could see. In the distance, they could faintly make out the silhouettes of towering metal structures—the mining facilities.

”Just like the intel said,” Hong Nianyi said softly. ”The Celestial Wolf Civilization’s level of technology really isn’t very high.”

Xu Wuyi followed her gaze.

The metal structures were crude and cumbersome, completely lacking any streamlined design. The welds were visibly rough.

Conveyor belts, excavators, sorting equipment... all of it was exposed, lacking any protective housing. Pipes and wires were tangled together in a chaotic mess.

”It looks like they bought it all from other civilizations and just slapped it together,” Xu Wuyi said.

”That’s just how they are,” Hong Nianyi said. ”The Celestial Wolf Civilization is centered on its tribes and religion; technology is merely a tool. The Priests are responsible for communicating with the Divine Beings, and the warriors are responsible for fighting.”

”As for ’menial labor’ like mining and smelting, they leave that to the Low-level Werewolves and slaves. It’s inefficient, but for their purposes, it’s enough.”

Xu Wuyi recalled the Werewolf stronghold he had seen before in the Celestial Spirit Star Realm.

’It’s true,’ he thought.

The architecture and facilities of the Werewolf Race all possessed a primitive, crude quality, prioritizing function over finesse.

This might be a weakness on a conventional battlefield, but for resource extraction, it actually made them less reliant on complex automated systems.

”That also means it’s easier to sabotage,” Xu Wuyi said.

Hong Nianyi nodded.

Just then, Lin Jue’s voice came from inside the cave. ”I’ve collected some data. We can do a preliminary analysis.”

The two of them walked back into the cave.

A three-dimensional map was displayed on the workstation’s screen, centered on their cave and clearly showing the terrain for fifty kilometers around.

Five red dots were scattered across the map, each with data annotations beside it.

”Five large mining areas, just as the intel said.” Lin Jue pointed at the screen. ”Mining Area One is the closest to us at one hundred twenty kilometers. Mining Area Two is one hundred eighty kilometers to the northeast. Mining Areas Three, Four, and Five are located to the south and west, all within three hundred kilometers.”

Celestial Wolf Four was a micro-Star Realm; not only was its Energy Level restricted, but its landmass was also very small.

She switched to another interface, which displayed a complex energy-waveform diagram.

”Three hours ago, a relatively strong energy fluctuation was detected from the direction of Mining Area Two. The fluctuation’s signature is similar to that of an Innate Level lifeform, but its intensity was only about 70% of a normal Innate’s.” Lin Jue adjusted her glasses. ”Combining this with our own suppression rate data, I can extrapolate that the Celestial Wolf Priests are suppressed by at least 27% in this plane.”