Volume One: First Signs of Brilliance Chapter Forty-Four: Basic Footwork

Wang Jue gasped for breath several times, gradually regaining his senses, straightening his back to support his somewhat weary body.

The burst of strength he had unleashed in less than a minute had pushed him to his absolute limits. Though he hadn't fallen into a weakened state, the aftermath of his sudden exertion left him exhausted, needing a few minutes to recover.

Once he had regained some composure, Wang Jue asked curiously, "Captain Lan, could you tell me your current level of strength?"

"Scarlet Star Realm, fifth layer. My true strength is probably at the eighth layer," Lan Yiyi replied without hesitation.

Wang Jue was stunned, a little bewildered. "Scarlet Star Realm? Is that the stage after Soul Infusion?"

"That's right." Lan Yiyi, seeing Wang Jue genuinely didn't understand the martial cultivation hierarchy, explained simply, "Martial cultivation is divided into nine realms. Body Tempering and Soul Infusion are merely the foundation. After Soul Infusion, the Scarlet Star Realm marks the real beginning, followed by Orange Star, Yellow Star, Green Star, Cyan Star, Blue Star, and Violet Star realms."

"These names..." Wang Jue was utterly speechless.

He never imagined the names of martial realms could be so strange. Body Tempering and Soul Infusion made sense, but the following seven realms—Scarlet, Orange, Yellow, Green, Cyan, Blue, Violet—what nonsense was that?

Lan Yiyi seemed to sense Wang Jue's thoughts, her lips curling slightly. "You find it odd, don't you? Why are the realms after Soul Infusion named like that?"

"If I said it wasn't odd, I'd be lying," Wang Jue replied with a bitter smile. "I really don't understand what those people were thinking when they named the realms. Wouldn't it be simpler to just call them Level One through Nine, or One Star through Nine Star? Why bother with these?"

"You'll understand once you break through to the Scarlet Star Realm," Lan Yiyi said, a twinkle of amusement flashing in her beautiful eyes.

Wang Jue blinked in confusion. "Captain Lan, why must I wait until I reach the Scarlet Star Realm to know? Can't you tell me in advance?"

Lan Yiyi didn't answer. Instead, she suddenly activated her inner star power.

Her shapely figure radiated a frightening aura, and behind her head, an illusory pattern appeared, composed of five scarlet stars.

Though the pattern was incomplete, Wang Jue could easily discern that if finished, it would form a complete circle.

As for why Lan Yiyi's pattern was only a half-formed circle of five stars, it was obvious—the stars represented her cultivation. If he guessed correctly, once Lan Yiyi reached the ninth layer of the Scarlet Star Realm, the incomplete pattern would become a true circular design!

After briefly displaying her realm, Lan Yiyi withdrew her aura and looked at Wang Jue. "Now you understand why the martial realms are named that way?"

"I have to admit, those namers had real foresight!" Wang Jue's attitude changed instantly, offering a bit of flattery, with not a trace of earlier skepticism on his face.

Perhaps realizing his own weakness, Wang Jue urgently wanted to know his current strength. "By the way, what's my current level?"

Lan Yiyi pondered for a moment before speaking. "By my estimation, your final burst exceeded one thousand kilograms of force. You've barely reached the threshold for Soul Infusion. Of course, I'm referring to your strength, not your realm or physical attributes."

Well now, is that how it works?

So his attack power has reached the Soul Infusion Realm, but his body hasn't caught up.

Hearing her words, Wang Jue finally grasped the concept of absolute power. "So my last attack was so easily countered because of this?"

"You could say so. For someone at your current realm to unleash Soul Infusion-level power is already remarkable. But what truly limits your strength is your realm. Raise your realm, and your strength will naturally increase."

"Of course, strength is just one aspect. When it comes to skill, I'm far superior to you. Not to mention experience—I'm not talking about martial arts skills, but combat experience. In that regard, even a hundred of you combined wouldn't match me."

Lan Yiyi spoke earnestly about combat, her manner clearly offering guidance to Wang Jue. Perhaps worried she might discourage him too much, she offered some comfort. "Actually, you don't need to worry too much. These things are accumulated over time. As long as you work hard, by the time you reach my age, you'll surely surpass me."

As she spoke, Lan Yiyi's beautiful eyes fixed intently on Wang Jue, and seeing his expression remain unchanged, she inwardly approved of his composure.

Strength.

Skill.

And combat experience.

In that moment, Wang Jue seemed to understand something. Lan Yiyi was right—these were the three things he currently lacked.

He needn't worry about strength; once his cultivation advanced, power would follow. But skill and combat experience posed greater challenges.

Skill is always intertwined with martial arts techniques and combat experience.

To quickly improve skill and experience, he would need sufficient combat to temper himself.

If Wang Jue continued practicing alone as he had before, his skill might increase, but his combat experience would never improve.

After all, without opponents, how can one gain battle experience?

"Looks like I need to find some opponents as soon as possible," Wang Jue resolved inwardly.

"Enough about that," Lan Yiyi said straightforwardly. "Let's talk about your reward. Based on your performance, I'm quite satisfied, so if you have any requests regarding martial arts techniques, speak up."

She had to admit, Wang Jue's performance had exceeded her expectations, so she intended to offer something worthwhile. Originally, if he'd performed just adequately, she would have given him whatever martial art came to hand. Black Iron-level techniques were too valuable, so she would simply offer a basic one, never letting him choose freely.

Martial arts techniques?

Wang Jue turned around, remembering that when he'd agreed to come here, she'd already mentioned giving him a martial art.

He swallowed instinctively, greedy at heart, but kept his manner polite. "Is it really okay?"

He knew the value of martial arts techniques—just those he'd seen for sale online, the cheapest Black Iron-level ones cost over a hundred thousand, well beyond his means.

Now, presented with such a good opportunity to choose, he wouldn't hold back.

"Of course. Just tell me what kind of martial art you want, and I can help you find it," Lan Yiyi replied patiently and generously. "If I don't have it, I can buy it for you right away."

Wang Jue hesitated, still unable to choose. "Perhaps, Captain Lan, you could suggest one?"

From Lan Yiyi's demeanor, he could tell she wasn't just being polite, but he preferred to let her advise him. For one thing, her experience far surpassed his; for another, the technique was hers to give, so letting her decide seemed best. It would be awkward if he picked something odd or inappropriate.

In short: let the host decide.

"Mm?" Lan Yiyi paused, suddenly remembering that Wang Jue was still only in the Body Tempering stage. Excluding basic martial arts, he couldn't even practice lower-level Black Iron techniques. Realizing her mistake, a blush appeared on her pretty face and she said, a little embarrassed, "Sorry, I forgot you're still at the Body Tempering stage. Aside from basic martial arts, you can't practice any others yet."

Wang Jue: "..."

He was dumbfounded.

This was the first time he'd heard that Body Tempering practitioners could only train in basic martial arts.

At first, he wondered if Lan Yiyi was being stingy and lying to him, but after thinking it over, he realized she had no reason to do so.

He remembered last time fighting Luo Shui, that girl, she'd only used basic punch, palm, and foot techniques from start to finish. He hadn't seen any Black Iron-level techniques.

Thinking of this, Wang Jue felt a pang of regret, though he feigned lightheartedness. "In that case, just give me a basic footwork technique."

For offense, he'd already learned basic swordsmanship from the Extreme Martial Hall. Though he'd considered requesting a punch or palm technique, or even some kind of martial art for fists and feet, after some thought realized what he needed most wasn't martial arts for striking, but a footwork technique suitable for evading.

His strength might be at the Soul Infusion level, but his physical attributes still lagged. If he wanted to face people at higher realms, he needed a footwork technique that allowed him to dodge, escape, and boost his speed.

"Basic footwork?" Lan Yiyi looked at Wang Jue in surprise. "You're lacking in skill. Why not choose punch, sword, or blade techniques to improve? Why pick footwork?"

Given Wang Jue's strength, learning a punch technique would greatly boost his power, so she couldn't understand why he wanted footwork instead.

"It's like this: I've already learned basic swordsmanship at my martial hall, so now I need a footwork technique. As for punch or leg techniques, I'm not very interested and don't want to spend time on them," Wang Jue spread his hands with a grin. "In my opinion, one martial art is enough. We only have so much energy—if you chase after every technique you're interested in, you might end up mastering none. Better to focus on one until you've succeeded, then move on to others."

Even with his golden finger, allowing him to easily learn any martial art as long as he had enough experience, Wang Jue had no intention of spreading himself thin.

His experience points came solely from sparring with his senior brothers at the martial hall. Without new sources, he didn't plan to blindly practice multiple techniques.

Food must be eaten bite by bite, the road walked step by step.

You can't become fat in one gulp, nor learn to fly before you can walk.

The consequences would be too miserable.

Seeing Wang Jue wasn't joking, Lan Yiyi nodded. "Alright, I don't have a basic footwork technique on me, but I'll have the staff bring one."

"Thank you," Wang Jue replied with a smile.

Watching Lan Yiyi's curvaceous figure walk toward the door, Wang Jue quickly averted his gaze—her figure was simply too criminal...