Chapter 107: The Samurai

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Gao Wu only hesitated briefly; he had no real intention of doing anything. Overthinking was, after all, a human instinct. If one’s thoughts were completely restrained, creativity would be impossible. How one thinks is less important than how one acts.

“Every martial artist has their own path. Some need tranquility to gain insight, while others awaken their potential through the thrill of life and death,” Gao Wu said, understanding Zhou Hongying’s thoughts. He smiled, “The Wandering Dragon Sword I practice is suited to facing wind and waves—it fits me alone. Hongying, you shouldn’t try it.”

Zhou Hongying felt a bit disappointed but soon perked up. “If you become amazing someday, I’ll be a witness to a legend’s rise and can be recorded in history alongside you!”

As a senior martial artist herself, she clearly understood what it meant for an eighteen-year-old to become a warrior. For instance, Gao Wu could now directly enter the Martial Arts Institute of Anjing University, which alone demonstrated the prestige of an eighteen-year-old warrior.

Moreover, from Gao Wu’s demeanor and bearing, she had a strong feeling that this younger brother would become a remarkable figure in the future.

“Hahaha…” Gao Wu laughed heartily, “I hope that day comes when we all leave our names in the annals of history!”

Shang Qingjun stood nearby, smiling quietly. She was genuinely pleased but, due to her reserved nature, did not show the same excitement as Zhou Hongying.

Seeing Gao Wu and Zhou Hongying chatting animatedly, Shang Qingjun softly remarked, “If Grandpa knew this, he’d be very happy.”

“I’ll tell Grandpa when I return,” Gao Wu said. “You all have to keep it a secret for now. When I step onto the arena, I’ll give Bai Yushuang a big surprise!”

That little brat dared to come provoke him; he had to embarrass her by giving her a swollen face in public!

“Hahaha… Yes, teach that spoiled girl a lesson!” Zhou Hongying laughed joyfully. She liked Gao Wu’s sly and petty traits—they felt genuine and amusing.

Bai Yushuang was indeed a bit annoying, her gaze more intense than a lecherous man’s.

Shang Qingjun hesitated. Having studied in Anjing for two years, she knew the Bai family wielded considerable influence there. She wanted to warn Gao Wu to be cautious and avoid making enemies with the Bai family.

But then she reconsidered. Gao Wu was smart from a young age, now grown, and knew how to handle matters with discretion. She should not interfere too much.

The arena was a place where skill alone counted; Gao Wu must not be burdened by worries.

Song Mingyue had remained silent. Through spiritual perception, she already knew Gao Wu had opened his energy aperture.

Besides, it wasn’t appropriate to discuss too many details with Gao Wu in front of others.

Among the four, Zhou Hongying was the most excited. She drove while chatting energetically with Gao Wu...

Returning to Qilin Court, Shang Qingjun and Zhou Hongying needed to change and bathe. They agreed to have dinner together in the evening and then left.

Gao Wu and Song Mingyue returned to their room. With no one else around, Song Mingyue softly congratulated him, “You’ve taken a crucial step. Congratulations.”

By rank, martial artists were considered amateurs.

Warriors who could wield source power and attain extraordinary strength truly distinguished themselves from ordinary people.

Within martial arts, warriors were divided into beginner, intermediate, and advanced levels, then ranked as martial masters, martial arts grandmasters, and martial arts patriarchs.

At level seven, one was titled Martial King—meaning the king among warriors, capable of dominating a region.

Among the fourteen states of the alliance, with a population of six billion, only a few dozen martial artists had reached the level of Martial King.

Each Martial King was a strategic powerhouse, a vital force safeguarding the alliance.

Above Martial King was Martial Saint—extremely rare worldwide.

The nine-level Martial Emperor was the supreme pinnacle of martial arts; only one Martial Emperor had appeared in the past century—Qin Liuhe.

No other martial artist, no matter how powerful, qualified as a Martial Emperor.

For martial artists, advancing to Warrior was only the first step on the long path of martial cultivation.

However, Song Mingyue believed this step was of utmost importance, marking Gao Wu’s true beginning on the extraordinary path.

Given Gao Wu’s talent and ability, he should have advanced to Warrior much earlier.

She had been anxious for him; sensing and condensing source power was extremely mystifying. Many people simply could not gather source power no matter what.

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Fortunately, Gao Wu had finally taken this step.

An eighteen-year-old Warrior had significant advantages in many aspects. Even among the talented students of Anjing University’s Martial Arts Institute, Gao Wu would receive attention.

Martial arts was a matter where gaining just a step ahead meant more resources and faster progress, entering a positive cycle.

A step behind meant falling into a negative spiral.

Even if the Martial Arts Institute treated all students fairly, the resources available were limited. Without family support, Gao Wu’s access to resources would be far inferior to his peers.

Take Bai Yushuang for example. Even if she made one or two mistakes, her family’s support could help her correct course. Gao Wu did not have that luxury; one misstep might mean being left far behind.

The same was true for Song Mingyue. Even though her grandfather valued her, the support he could offer was limited.

The Song family had grown too large by her generation. As a woman, she naturally faced disadvantages and found it hard to compete with male peers.

On this front, both Gao Wu and Song Mingyue had to rely solely on themselves—a shared plight.

Gao Wu, however, wasn’t deeply troubled by this. He felt becoming a Warrior was only a matter of time.

Advancing today meant the Qilin Cup would be his chance to openly slap Bai Yushuang’s face.

He shared some details of his advancement with Song Mingyue, especially emphasizing that his condensation of the energy aperture seemed somewhat unique.

From the perspective of his shadow spirit, the aperture resembled a bright, stable blue octagonal star—much stronger than Bai Yushuang’s.

Compared even to Song Mingyue’s dantian aperture, his glowed several degrees brighter.

Yet Song Mingyue’s dantian aperture had also made tremendous progress, now shaped like a seven-pointed star emitting a profound radiance.

“You feel your aperture faintly forms an octagonal star?” Song Mingyue pondered, then said, “Condensing the aperture varies by person. Generally, the stronger the aperture, the more stable and star-like its light.

“The higher the level of source power circulation, the more abundant and brilliant the star-like radiance—an octagonal star is the mark of a top-tier source power aperture.”

“However, the source power aperture isn’t a physical entity—it’s a manifestation of the martial artist’s spiritual introspection, so personal observation often contains many errors.”

Gao Wu nodded slightly, agreeing with Song Mingyue’s explanation.

But since he had a shadow spirit that could directly observe source power, unlike ordinary spiritual introspection, he was confident in his perception.

“Source power can be measured,” Song Mingyue said. “The Martial Arts Institute should have source power testers. They are special metals from another realm that expand under source power stimulation.

“It’s quite simple—like a thermometer, the degree of expansion corresponds to a value. Devices measuring spiritual power work similarly, but the materials needed to measure spiritual power are rarer and more precious.”

She continued, “A stable source power value of one hundred marks a beginner Warrior. New Warriors like Bai Yushuang likely can’t maintain one hundred yet. Intermediate Warriors condense two apertures with a source power value of three hundred; advanced Warriors condense three apertures with a source power value of one thousand.”

Curious, Gao Wu asked, “What does the source power value signify?”

“For the same output, a source power value of one hundred fifty can easily overwhelm one hundred. The three Warrior tiers have significant gaps between levels.”

Song Mingyue had witnessed battles involving martial masters; as one progressed, source power’s importance increased.

Gao Wu had just refined source power and lacked much experience in control.

Song Mingyue changed her clothes and invited Gao Wu to the underground training arena for sparring.

The arena charged one thousand yuan per hour, which Gao Wu found steep. He was contemplating finding another place when Song Mingyue already scanned to pay on her phone.

The fully enclosed arena covered sixty square meters, its walls lined with sound-absorbing materials, and the floor made of ultra-strong plastic.

In the corner stood a punch force tester; otherwise, the room was empty.

Gao Wu unleashed a rapid-fire barrage of a hundred punches, each exceeding three thousand kilograms of force.

He could reach this level before, but only with full effort. Now, he executed it effortlessly; though the punch force seemed the same, the level difference was vast.

Opening the energy aperture and condensing source power had raised his agility by 0.5, reaching a total of 10.5.

His innate talent increased by 0.2, totaling 8 points.

Improving a Warrior’s physical attributes requires daily cultivation and source power refinement—it cannot happen overnight.

Becoming a Warrior brought little immediate change to Gao Wu’s basic physical stats.

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However, having an additional aperture condensing source power allowed his body to coordinate internally and externally, which was the fundamental reason for his increased agility.

Another key change was that his Dragon Form Nine Styles had reached a minor accomplishment stage.

These two improvements enabled him to truly unleash his bodily strength, allowing him to skillfully control punch forces as high as three thousand kilograms.

Song Mingyue watched in surprise. Even advanced Warriors rarely reached such raw physical levels.

Without source power fields to protect them, three-thousand-kilogram punches could injure a Warrior upon strong resistance.

Gao Wu, however, bore the immense strain thanks to his exceptionally powerful body and could express the subtlety of his techniques instead of relying solely on brute force.

At this stage, Gao Wu could suppress beginner Warriors even without source power.

During sparring, Song Mingyue maintained full focus, carefully countering Gao Wu’s strikes.

Previously, Gao Wu had only reached minor accomplishment in Wandering Dragon Palm and Sword. Now, advancing to Warrior, he had fully integrated body and spirit, embodying the essence of martial arts within himself, truly forging the Wandering Dragon body technique.

His movements flowed like water, smooth and agile, changing naturally with the situation.

Song Mingyue admired this greatly. At this point, Gao Wu had finally shed his old habit of stubbornly overpowering his opponents, gaining the bearing of a true martial arts master with a body like a wandering dragon.

The two exchanged four palm strikes, each releasing source power that roared like muffled thunder in the enclosed space.

After half a second of stalemate, they each stepped back. Song Mingyue said thoughtfully, “Your source power should be around two hundred, maybe more. I had to summon mental force to withstand that strike.”

This was not only due to Gao Wu’s pure source power but also his formidable body.

Overall, Gao Wu now had a great advantage over ordinary beginner Warriors and should hold his own against intermediates.

He was pleased with his performance; in past sparring with Song Mingyue, he had never gained the upper hand. This time ending in a draw was a major improvement.

They exchanged tips on source power techniques, such as efficiently activating source power fields to protect the body and how to unleash source power bursts.

These were secret arts of source power, closely guarded and rarely shared outside family traditions.

Though estranged from her family, Song Mingyue had learned some secret source power techniques from the Song and Shen families. Teaching Gao Wu was well within her ability.

After an hour of sparring, Gao Wu felt he had gained much.

If guided by other experts, the effect would have been far less. Only Song Mingyue’s spiritual resonance with him allowed her to discern subtle issues and offer targeted advice.

The results were immediate.

Back in the room, after washing up, Gao Wu softly chanted a spell and waved his hand, using the Vermilion Bird Divine Light incantation to dry his dripping hair.

This was possible only because his mastery over source power had refined his control of divine spells; previously, such a flame could have burned his hair off.

Shang Qingjun had arranged to dine out with him in the evening. Seeing the time was near, Gao Wu took Song Mingyue to the lobby.

Shang Qingjun and Zhou Hongying were already waiting. As the four gathered to leave, Gao Wu’s phone rang unexpectedly.

The caller ID showed An Ziru from Anjing University Martial Arts Institute—the dean of the Azure Dragon Academy and a martial arts grandmaster.

The number had been left during their time in the secret realm. Gao Wu hadn’t paid much attention to it before. He knew the dean was important but had no relationship with her and didn’t want to impose.

He apologized briefly and moved to a quiet corner to answer, “Dean An, hello.”

“Gao Wu, are you free now?” An Ziru’s voice was somewhat cold and stern over the line.

“Yes, I am,” Gao Wu replied. He wasn’t sure what the matter was, but compared to dinner, the dean’s invitation was clearly more important.

“I just freed up some time. Come to the Azure Dragon Academy; I have something to discuss with you…”

Gao Wu hung up, feeling apologetic as he explained the situation to Shang Qingjun and Zhou Hongying.

Shang Qingjun was unfazed. “When the dean calls, it’s serious. Dinner can wait.”

Then she smiled at Song Mingyue, “If Xiao Wu doesn’t go, we can dine together.”

Song Mingyue was considering how to refuse when her phone rang—also from An Ziru…

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