Volume One: First Signs of Brilliance Chapter Sixty-Eight: A Little Game

Wang Jue stretched lazily, feeling in excellent spirits, and was just about to close his panel when he suddenly noticed something amiss—the row of zeros behind his sword techniques and martial skills seemed unusually long.

Realizing this, an uneasy premonition crept into his heart as he glanced toward the experience required for leveling up.

“Am I seeing things?” At first, Wang Jue doubted his own eyesight, closing his eyes for a moment. He kept hypnotizing himself—‘I must have misread it’—and then looked again, carefully counting the string of zeros needed for the next upgrade.

When he finally saw it clearly, his mood plummeted, and he even cursed aloud, “Damn it, one... one million?”

“Is this a joke? Breaking through from Perfection to Subtlety only took ten thousand, but advancing from Subtlety to Divine Transformation needs a million?”

“Then to reach Master from Divine Transformation, wouldn’t it take a hundred million?”

“What the hell, when am I ever going to collect that much experience?”

My heart aches just thinking about it...

One skill costs a million, two would be two million.

Even if he could harvest experience once an hour, picking up wool in all three training halls, at most he’d get fifty or sixty thousand.

And he knew perfectly well the students weren’t made of steel.

Though the halls are crowded now, those able to endure late-night training would likely be less than a tenth.

After all, no student’s body is indestructible, and none could withstand prolonged intense training.

With this in mind, Wang Jue realized deeply that he shouldn’t expect to break through his sword techniques and footwork from Subtlety to Divine Transformation any time soon.

Unless he encountered an ‘experience baby’ like Lan Yiyi, dropping vast amounts of experience for him to harvest.

But Wang Jue knew this idea was unrealistic—very unrealistic.

Even if he knew people with high cultivation, they had their own matters and wouldn’t waste time playing around with him.

Despondently, Wang Jue closed the panel, muttering with a speechless expression, “Now I finally understand why Lan Yiyi said breakthroughs in martial skills are so difficult.”

“There must be quite a few who reach Perfection, and some who break through to Subtlety; Divine Transformation, I don’t know if anyone has it, but if there are, they’re rare. As for the Master level, probably can be counted on two hands.”

“Even someone with a golden finger like me feels despair—those without one must be even more desperate.”

“Well, whatever. You can’t become fat in one bite. Sword techniques and footwork at Subtlety should be enough for me for a good while.”

“No point in worrying about these troubles—better to find a place to test the power of Subtlety-level sword techniques, so I have a clear idea and don’t accidentally hurt someone.”

After comforting himself, Wang Jue felt somewhat better, and deliberately chose to forget about the experience needed for Divine Transformation.

Suddenly, Wang Jue remembered he’d already harvested from the Strength Training Hall, Speed Training Hall, and Martial Skills Training Hall. If he wanted to do it again, he’d need to wait another hour.

Only the Physique Training Hall remained unvisited.

Without hesitation, he headed toward the Physique Training Hall.

Soon, Wang Jue arrived at the entrance, only to find his childhood friend Luo Shui standing with a crowd outside, everyone complaining indignantly yet wearing expressions of helplessness.

Though the noise made it hard to hear what they were saying, Wang Jue could guess the situation.

No doubt, some powerful individuals were occupying the Physique Training Hall, not allowing others to enter.

It’s important to note that the Physique Training Hall differed from the other three. Though it required payment, the fees weren’t for entry, but for the nutritional supplements needed to restore the body.

In truth, the Physique Training Hall was essentially a small gravity chamber.

Every martial artist knew that compared to strength, speed, and martial skills, improving physique was far more crucial.

But since physique was so difficult to enhance, the gravity chamber had been introduced.

Initially, the high price of nutritional supplements deterred many. Once the first brave soul tried it, the gravity chamber became wildly popular—even knowing the supplements were expensive, people flocked to it.

As for the exact costs, Wang Jue was unclear. The introduction he’d read simply stated it could simulate gravity environments from one to ten times normal.

Any martial artist training here could achieve twice the results with half the effort.

In short, the Martial Association’s gravity chamber was considered a prized treasure by all.

Whether Body Tempering, Spirit Nurturing, or Red Star level martial artists, everyone hoped to spend as much time inside as possible.

Given the current situation, Wang Jue had no trouble deducing what had happened.

“Mother Tyrannosaurus,” he called as he approached Luo Shui. “What’s going on? Don’t tell me some shameless guys are hogging the gravity chamber and barring entry?”

“Eh, Jue, why are you here?” Luo Shui was surprised to see Wang Jue suddenly appear.

Annoyed, Wang Jue said, “How many times have I told you—either call me by my name or call me brother. Don’t use my nickname like my parents! Now, tell me, what’s the story?”

“It’s some people from other small towns, about our age,” Luo Shui replied, her pretty face tinged with anger and dissatisfaction. “Those guys are awful! They completely disregard the rules and act all arrogant, lingering in the gravity chamber and giving no one else a chance!”

“People from other towns?” Wang Jue frowned, curiosity piqued. “Hasn’t anyone gone in to teach them a lesson?”

“Yes, of course,” Luo Shui pointed to a nearby group of people beaten black and blue, sighing. “Unfortunately, not only did they fail, they all got thrashed instead.”

Wang Jue followed Luo Shui’s finger and quickly recognized among the battered crowd a famous student from Peace No. 10 High School.

His name was Chu Ming, reputed to have the ninth level of Body Tempering, and many teachers believed he was destined to become a powerhouse.

“Seriously? Chu Ming is supposed to be at Body Tempering Nine, right?” Wang Jue’s curiosity grew. “Even he got beaten?”

“Not just him!” Luo Shui forced a bitter smile. “Even Lin Zifeng from Peace No. 1 High School wasn’t their match. He lasted less than a minute before being tossed out—it was humiliating…”

“Lin Zifeng?” Wang Jue’s brows lifted.

He was no stranger to that name.

He knew Lin Zifeng had always been among the most famous talents in Peace Town since childhood.

Lin Zifeng’s aptitude was especially high—only sixteen, yet already a Spirit Nurturing level martial artist with rich combat experience.

He’d even attracted the attention of the top ten ranked martial arts schools among the Hundred Strong Martial Schools.

At this moment, Wang Jue was deeply puzzled. “That’s odd. Someone like Lin Zifeng, Spirit Nurturing One with combat experience, actually lost to them? Surely there aren’t Spirit Nurturing Two or Three among those other towns?”

“I don’t know,” Luo Shui replied. “But Lin Zifeng said their lowest cultivation is Body Tempering Nine, and only one matches him at Spirit Nurturing One. He thought he could beat that guy, but the Spirit Nurturing One had battle experience equal to his own, and his martial skills had reached Perfection.”

“Lin Zifeng’s martial skills are still some distance from Perfection—Expert versus Perfection, anyone can see Lin Zifeng couldn’t win…”

Hearing this, Wang Jue’s eyes lit up, his heart racing with excitement. “Just when I didn’t know where to test my techniques, someone shows up.”

“Unlike me, with my cheat, it’s my first time seeing someone with martial skills at Perfection.”

“Perfect! If you can use Perfection-level skills to bully Experts, then I can use Subtlety to bully Perfection—no one could fault that.”

“Though I don’t know Lin Zifeng well, he’s from Peace Town, and someone from another town is here deliberately causing trouble. That’s an insult to Peace Town…”

“Whatever happens, I can’t let this arrogant guy off easily. For ‘experience babies’ like this, I won’t miss a chance to harvest experience!”

With this thought, Wang Jue perked up.

He immediately prepared to enter the gravity chamber and ‘challenge’ the Spirit Nurturing One with Perfection-level martial skills.

He was fully confident.

Wang Jue knew that, whether in strength, physique, or martial skills, he now far surpassed what his realm suggested.

Even though his realm had caught up, he still considered himself a late bloomer.

His realm lagged behind, but his martial skills could easily crush the opposition.

Wang Jue believed that, even if the opponent’s realm was higher, he could make them search for their teeth on the floor.

After all, his strength couldn’t be measured by realm alone!

With this confidence, Wang Jue strode toward the entrance of the gravity chamber.

Luo Shui, seeing this, grew anxious and hurried to intercept him, asking, “Jue, you’re not really thinking of going in, are you?”

“Yes, I am,” Wang Jue replied calmly. “I plan to go in and play with them.”

“Play?” Luo Shui was momentarily confused. “Wait, Jue, your cultivation is only Body Tempering Three—those guys hit hard. Even if you’re crazy, you can’t go in just to get beaten!”

Damn it…

Wang Jue nearly spat blood.

Who’s crazy here?

He was going in to harvest experience, for heaven’s sake!

Now that he knew the strongest inside was only Spirit Nurturing One, he had no worries.

Before his breakthrough, he’d already defeated such opponents, even fighting Spirit Nurturing Three to a standstill.

Now, having advanced, not just Spirit Nurturing One—even Spirit Nurturing Three or Four wouldn’t faze him.

Suppressing the urge to smack Luo Shui, Wang Jue patted her shoulder reassuringly, saying lightly, “When have you ever seen me do something I wasn’t sure of? Relax. I’m just going to play—I won’t use too much force…”

With that, Wang Jue gave Luo Shui no chance to speak, taking several strides into the gravity chamber…