We made you practice martial arts, and you've mastered the Great Golden Body?

8%, 18%...

On the panel, the progress bar for purifying divine matter was slowly rising, but Shen Bailian's spiritual power was about to reach the warning line, so he chose to give up before the extraction was completed.

"Huff—" Shen Bailian gasped for breath, slumped on the sofa covered in sweat, and slowly closed his slightly dim eyes.

After a short while...

The boy's rapid breathing calmed down, and sweat streamed down his resolute face, dripping onto his martial arts uniform made of silkworm silk, where it was instantly absorbed without leaving a trace.

The soaked martial arts uniform clung tightly to Shen Bailian's granite-like muscles, making him look like a sculpted masterpiece.

"It seems like it's been a long time since I've felt this way." Shen Bailian felt his nearly depleted mental energy and a faint smile appeared on his face.

Although from time to time, due to the depletion of mental energy, there would be waves of stinging pain in my mind, like a needle piercing my fingernail.

but.

Shen Bailian actually felt an indescribable pleasure. This was not because he liked being masochistic, but simply because he had not experienced this feeling for too long.

I experienced the feeling of exhaustion.

Since ending his rigorous training at Tiangang Academy, the most serious and devastating injury he had ever suffered was during the pinnacle battle of the Golden Cup League.

After that, Shen Bailian never experienced it again.

Therefore, it's natural to feel a bit nostalgic about this feeling.

However, Shen Bailian was unwilling to continue experiencing it. He took out a second-tier Star Nourishing Spirit Potion from his storage ring and drank it down in one gulp.

All of a sudden.

Like rain after a long drought, Shen Bailian's nearly depleted spiritual sea received a long-awaited spring rain, relieving the stinging sensation in his head and bringing a refreshing feeling.

Tens of seconds later~
"Comfortable." Shen Bailian felt that a quarter of his mental energy had been restored in his mind, so he changed from lying down to lying down and even closed his eyes comfortably.

"If you have time in the future, you should use divergent thinking more often, otherwise you will easily miss out on things you could have had in the first place." Shen Bailian rubbed his temples slowly with both hands and whispered.

If it weren't for this sudden flash of inspiration, he wouldn't know how long it would have taken him to discover the divine substance within the primordial energy of heaven and earth at other times.

Or it may never be discovered.

Sometimes, luck is far more important than hard work and talent.

For a martial artist to become a true supreme master, talent, luck, and hard work are all indispensable.

Genius is 99 percent perspiration and 1 percent inspiration.

Effort can only raise the lower limit of a martial arts student; what truly determines the upper limit is talent, or rather, martial arts potential and comprehension.

"Compared to other martial arts students, I have been much luckier. By chance, I awakened my innate talent and materialized it, which is why I am fortunate enough to stand at my current level." Shen Bailian's mind was filled with thoughts.

Many names and faces flashed through his mind.

Among them were Gao Lei, Xiao Yan, Li Hongling, who were famous in Bozhou City... as well as Xu Changqing, the senior brother who became well-known as soon as he entered the martial arts university, and Yuwen Changkong, the ninth holy son of the Starry Sky Martial Hall and the Nine Heavens Divine Thunder.

These people were all prominent martial arts prodigies in their respective fields.

Shen Bailian even had to look up to these people at one point.

And now?
Time has passed, and in less than half a year, everything has changed. Even a martial arts prodigy like Xu Changqing, a third-year student, could hardly last three rounds against him.

If Shen Bailian goes all out, it's questionable whether Xu Changqing can even last a single round.

Not to mention Yuwen Changkong, who had just recently advanced to the Sea Opening Realm.

Without external forces, let alone tens of millions of volts of electricity, even hundreds of millions of volts of lightning would have difficulty penetrating Shen Bailian's defenses.

With the Force Armor and the Iron Body skill providing double defense, he was confident he could remain invincible even against a martial artist at the peak of the Sea Opening Realm.

And there's a high probability that it can wear down the opponent.

“I have good talent and good luck, so all I lack is time.” Shen Bailian sat up straight, and a sharp light suddenly flashed in his eyes.

If we were to use gaming terminology, he's only at the mid-game stage right now.

The groundwork he laid in various aspects in the early stages was enough to allow him to snowball his success; all that was left was time.

Previously, Shen Bailian had even considered seeking Duan Wuyai's help to find a hidden world where time flowed faster than outside, where he could cultivate in seclusion for a few years.

In this way, as long as he can survive, he is fully confident and determined to keep grinding and max out all his skills.

At that time, not to mention the Sea Opening Realm and the Moon Embracing Realm, even the Divine Palace Realm is not out of the question.

Unfortunately, times have changed, and plans can never keep up with the changes.

If Shen Bailian wants to upgrade his current Iron Body skill, it will take at least two months.

Furthermore, he also had to dedicate most of his cultivation time to tempering his physical body.

but now?
With enough skill points, a single second is enough to level up the Iron Body skill several times and upgrade it to the advanced level.

Furthermore, leveling up by grinding skill experience points and leveling up by using skill points have exactly the same effect.

Although a skill point requires a full 4999 points of divine matter.

However, for Shen Bailian now, just one trip through the ferocious beast tide can yield anywhere from several thousand to tens of thousands of divine substances.

Moreover, such ferocious beast tides occur five or six times a month at Hulao Pass.

Therefore, farming skill points is far more efficient than grinding experience points.

However, this does not mean that Shen Bailian will choose to give up his daily cultivation. His choice is to do both at the same time and not neglect either.

Daily training can help him quickly familiarize himself with and master the increased power after the skill upgrade, and with his originally high comprehension, plus the spiritual power of the second-level Spirit Stream Realm mid-stage.

There is a high chance that one can enter a state of enlightenment during daily cultivation, thus promoting further development of the field.

Although Shen Bailian had previously managed to comprehend a domain by taking advantage of the second advancement of his basic swordsmanship.

But that wasn't real; it was entirely due to the powerful base attributes of the [All Things in the World] skill, coupled with a sudden impact, that he forcibly broke through to the fifth stage of martial arts and comprehended the essence.

To put it simply, although he has learned the Senro Domain, he is not yet able to use it skillfully.

Furthermore, although the Senluo intent is very powerful, it was not something Shen Bailian comprehended on his own, but rather an intent attached to the sword technique [Senluo Wanxiang].

Although the panel is a concrete manifestation of his original talent, he can also fully grasp the meaning of [Senro].

But it cannot break the limit.

This is the most important point.

Why are martial arts prodigies stronger than those top-tier martial arts geniuses?
It depends on its combat strength, whether it can break through the limitations of its physical fitness level, and whether it can break through its limits and reach the lowest point.

If we define combat power as a unit of 1, assuming equal levels of physical attributes, then the strength that a top-tier martial arts genius can unleash is 1.

However, if a martial arts prodigy were to use this body, after becoming proficient, the combat power they could unleash would be between 1.5 and 2.0.

Even in a state of initial familiarity, the actual combat power that can be exerted will be above 1.2.

Therefore, for Shen Bailian now, mastering his current power is merely a trivial foundation.

The fifth level of martial arts he needs to comprehend is the intent that can break through limits, the intent that can double his current true combat power.

"Continue to consume the remaining Yuan Crystals, then sleep for an hour. Get up early tomorrow to continue hunting ferocious beasts and obtain divine matter." Shen Bailian felt that his mental energy had recovered to three-quarters, and breathed a sigh of relief.

As for physical strength?

He had only been tasting the flavor of the Yuan Crystal, not cultivating the Myriad Manifestations or Primordial Qi, so he had consumed almost nothing.

It can be said that it was at its peak.

As one of the six major universities in the Great Xia Dynasty, the final examination process of Tiangang Academy is naturally different from that of other martial arts universities.

In a typical top-tier martial arts high school, only one group participates in the city defense battle during the first-year final exam.

However, the final exams for freshmen at Tiangang Academy are divided into two rounds, with the collective participation in the city defense battle being only the first round of trials, which is the easiest and has the lowest requirements.

The second trial was to clear out the mother nest of ferocious beasts in the wilderness.

Due to the unique nature of the second round of trials and the unpredictable dangers of the wilderness, certain thresholds were naturally set for the second round of trials.

Participants must be martial arts students at or above the mid-stage of the Establishment of Destiny realm, and their physical fitness level must be above 18.0 and their mental strength level must be above 7.0 to be eligible to participate.

High risk, high reward.

The louder the waves, the more expensive the fish.

The second round of trials at Tiangang Academy was similar.

All the equipment and resources required for the second round of trials will be provided free of charge by the Tiangang Academy.

Based on data from previous years, even the surviving individual with the lowest earnings could acquire military assets with a value and purchasing power equivalent to three million Da Xia coins.

For an ordinary martial artist, a military asset worth three million Great Xia coins is enough to allow them to cultivate in seclusion without worry for several months.

Even for those martial arts students at the Radiant Moon level, these military supplies can be used to exchange for a first-tier rare herb. If they also consume some auxiliary medicines, they can create Life No. 1, which increases cultivation speed.

Its amplification efficiency can reach 1.2-1.5 times, last for up to three weeks, and can also slightly improve martial arts potential.

This is just the bottom person's harvest.

The martial arts students of this year's Tiangang Academy, stimulated by someone, have seen most of them improve their overall quality and physical fitness by more than one percentage point compared to previous years.

It was a full 17.8%!

A cowardly soldier is a coward, and a cowardly general leads to a whole army of cowards. The impact of a benchmark-setting powerhouse among his peers on a martial arts student who is a prodigy in his own city is self-evident.

Among this year's Sun-level Dragon Gate Martial Arts students, even the weakest one has reached a physical quality level of 20.0.

The physical fitness levels of the martial arts students at the Bright Moon level are also between 18.9 and 20.0.

Therefore, the number of martial arts students who signed up for the second round of trials this time far exceeded that of previous years.

However, for Shen Bailian, even if all the martial arts students were combined, they would not be a match for him.

When the gap in strength is too large, quantity becomes meaningless.

……

The next day, early in the morning.

In the northern border of the Great Xia Dynasty, in front of a gate shimmering with a hazy blue light, stood thirty-six young men in brand-new military uniforms, their faces resolute, standing like towering pine trees.

Not moving.

This portal, shimmering with a hazy glow, is the gateway to the thirty-seventh grotto-heaven, namely the Earthly Kui Grotto-heaven.

Everyone was pale and solemn, saluting with one hand, their eyes fixed on the corpses covered with white sheets.

There are more than a dozen such white cloths on this cement ground.

Beneath a white cloth lies the memory of a departed youth, a martial arts student barely twenty years old.

Furthermore, a solemn and mournful melody echoed continuously in the air.

Time flowed slowly, and before we knew it, a ray of bright sunlight pierced through the darkness of dawn and reached the prison in the depths of the universe.

next moment.

Thousands upon thousands of rays of light rose from the east, illuminating every corner of the world and shining on the resolute faces and misty eyes of those young people.

“Dafei, Xiaoyang…” Xiao Yan looked at the pieces of white cloth with tears in his eyes, and a silent but deafening voice came from his heart.

His appearance was no longer youthful; he looked much more mature, and he even had some stubble around his mouth.

But at this moment, he gave people an extremely reliable feeling.

Xiao Yan quietly looked at the white sheets. Beneath the white sheets were his comrades-in-arms, his comrades-in-arms who had fought side by side and risked their lives together.

He remembered the name of every person lying there clearly, and his face was etched into his heart.

Although they only spent a few months together, they have become like family.

A comrade-in-arms who can confidently entrust their back to the other side.

In fact, their relationship was even closer than his relationship with Shen Bailian, since they were sworn brothers who had faced life and death together.

They were also sworn brothers in the army.

However, the weather is unpredictable, and fortune can change in an instant. Everything in this world is beyond the control of ordinary people.

No one can predict the future.

Trials and trials, life-or-death situations, they were never blessed with good fortune, but death was a frequent visitor.

The original 49 people have been reduced to only 36 in less than a month.

More than a quarter of the loss rate
Even with the protection of a martial artist at the Sea Opening Realm, it's understandable that casualties would occur, as even a martial artist at the Sea Opening Realm cannot be in two places at once.

Logically speaking, Xiao Yan has been in the army for more than half a year. As a professional soldier of the Great Xia Dynasty, he should have long been used to the life-and-death separations with his comrades.

"The ceremony is complete..."

(End of this chapter)