Chapter 116: Rapid Progress and Slaughter!

Chapter 116: Rapid Progress and Slaughter!



Seated in a cross-legged position deep within a cave, the narrow entrance was blocked by wooden logs.

"There are no other life forms in the cave, it's safe." Li Yuan's spirit power was incredibly strong, and with his unique 'Divine Palace Investigation', he could easily detect any life within the cave.

If there were any creatures, he would have sensed them by now.

This was also the reason why he could easily discover the crocodile beast at the beginning.

"The transformation of my body is incredibly fast," Li Yuan closed his eyes, clearly feeling the constant metamorphosis of his physical qualities.

The rapid evolution even made his body feel slightly warm and sore.

This sudden growth in physical qualities was essentially a repeated tearing and reorganization of his muscles, bones, and flesh.

However, with Li Yuan's strong willpower, enduring this pain was relatively easy.

"In the first three hours, I've improved by about 0.5 levels."

"In this last hour, I've improved by about 0.1 level? Judging by the life level, it seems much slower, but in terms of physical strength, there's a subtle trend of acceleration." Li Yuan marveled to himself.

The higher the life level, the more astonishing the gap became.

For example, the standard punch force difference between 10.0 and 11.0 levels was 500 kilograms.

But between 18.0 and 19.0 levels, the standard punch force difference was a staggering 14,000 kilograms.

This was also the reason why many martial artists could reach 15 or 16 levels during their university years but struggled to surpass 19 levels even after two decades of cultivation post-graduation.

This was the same reason why Qiu Jing, despite seemingly less skilled than Li Yuan, could slaughter a group of Stonemar Tribe warriors with his physical qualities 1.6 levels higher.

With a punch force of 12.9 levels, he was twice as powerful as a 11.3-level punch.

The skill gap wasn't too significant, but his overall strength was at least five times greater, allowing him to wreak havoc.

After martial artists reach a certain stage, for every 1-2 levels of life level increase, their standard punch force would double.

"Spirit."

Li Yuan's spirit power was much stronger than before, and he left a portion of his consciousness to sense external dangers while a small part of his awareness entered the Mind Discipline.

He directly entered the Spirit Palace.

As Li Yuan expected, within the Mind Discipline, the previously vanished white jade staircase reappeared.

Streams of golden mist were descending from the upper space above the staircase, merging into the ground of the Spirit Palace.

"The mysterious force that I sense emanating from my brain, guiding the essence energy into my body, is this golden mist? What exactly is it?" Li Yuan pondered.

Suddenly,

A portion of the golden mist that had been dissipating into the ground from the staircase separated and directly merged into Li Yuan's consciousness.

"Boom!"

Similar to the previous incident, Li Yuan's consciousness was struck by lightning, causing him to become dazed once more, and his entire Mind Discipline transformed into an endless dark space.

"Another dark space?" Li Yuan's spirit power was much stronger than before, allowing him to maintain consciousness and clearly perceive the changes in his Mind Discipline.

Hum~

He sensed countless stars appearing out of thin air, nourishing his mind and consciousness.

[Your soul is nourished, and your spirit power has increased from 18.4 to 18.5 levels] Unbeknownst to Li Yuan, a Spirit Palace prompt appeared.

"Just as I expected."

"This golden mist can nourish and enhance my spirit power, as well as guide the essence energy into my body." Li Yuan had a sudden realization as he silently experienced the dual improvement in his physical qualities and spirit power.

At the same time,

Within the dark space where his consciousness resided,

"Seeking the essence, merging as one, the essence of the sun and moon, the beginning of the spiritual foundation..." The majestic and ancient voice resonated once more in the dark space.

A familiar voice, familiar words.

"Spiritual foundation." Li Yuan's heart stirred.

Last time, when the essence energy entered his body, his consciousness fell into a deep sleep, and his perception was shallow.

But this time, he could clearly sense the mysterious vibrations contained within this ancient and vast voice.

It was incredibly profound, seemingly representing some ultimate truth.

"Stars!"

Gradually, as Li Yuan listened to this ancient voice, his consciousness seemed to perceive countless dark stars in the endless darkness, gradually emitting light.

They became brighter and more dazzling.

More and more stars lit up, starting from dozens, then transforming into hundreds and thousands... The vast number of illuminated stars formed various peculiar trajectories, flashing in the dark space...

"Stars like threads." Li Yuan had a sudden realization, subconsciously trying to memorize these strange star trajectories in his heart.

This action was extremely draining, causing Li Yuan's consciousness to become increasingly drowsy, as if he was about to fall into a deep sleep.

...

In the war fortress of the Star Realm where Li Yuan was located, on the third floor of the meeting room.

"What is Li Yuan doing? He's been hiding in the cave for more than six hours now," Dean Li wondered.

"Isn't that your problem?" Dean Xu, sitting beside him, shook his head.

"My problem?" Dean Li was taken aback.

"Don't you expect him to fight and kill at night?" Dean Xu shook his head. "His physical qualities are at the bottom among the Fourth Base students. With limited visibility at night, forcing him to engage in combat and hunting would be more dangerous."

"It's better to hide and rest, then slaughter during the day."

"This shows that he has self-awareness and isn't reckless." Dean Xu said, "I have high hopes for him."

"Alright." Dean Li nodded, also feeling that Dean Xu's words made sense.

However,

He clearly remembered that when Li Yuan hid in the cave, there was still more than an hour before the sky completely darkened.

"Could it be that I misjudged and pushed him too hard?" For a moment, Dean Li doubted himself.

...

The sun set and rose again.

Time passed, and it was now 10 AM on the second day.

The other participating students at the Fourth Base had rested well and emerged from their respective campsites to begin a new day of practical combat and slaughter.

The cave where Li Yuan was hiding remained sealed, with no signs of activity.

The surveillance drone stationed outside the cave couldn't see inside.

"Could something have happened to Li Yuan?" A hint of worry flashed in Dean Li's eyes.

"It shouldn't be a problem."

"The drone has been monitoring, and no alien creatures have appeared," Dean Xu shook his head. "The positioning bracelet shows that he's still in the cave, and his vital signs are stable... there's no issue."

"Then why hasn't he come out yet?" Dean Li grew anxious. "His grade points have been thoroughly surpassed by Yang Hong and Wu Luo."

As associate deans, they could check the grade point rankings of the entire school and all bases.

For the first-year freshmen,

Although they were in different practical combat assessment regions like Base One, Base Two, and Base Four, they had a shared grade point ranking.

Ranked high in their year, there are rewards.

Ranked high in the base, there are also rewards.

"This is his choice."

"As long as he's not in mortal danger, we can't interfere with the practical combat assessment." Dean Xu shook his head. "We'll have to wait patiently."

"Alright," Dean Li could only wait.

Time ticked by, and it was now noon.

Li Yuan still hadn't emerged from the cavern, and 24 hours had passed since the start of the practical combat assessment.

"The first and second bases have completed their assessments," Dean Xu suddenly spoke up.

The assessment duration for the first and second bases was only one day.

The third and fourth bases would last for two days.

The fifth base would continue for three days.

"I understand," Dean Li muttered, his eyes fixed on the light screen.

At this moment, he felt an urge to rush into the assessment area and pull Li Yuan out of the cavern.

He really wanted to ask Li Yuan what he was up to.

...

At the star realm of the second base.

"Wu Luo." Yang Hong, carrying a battle axe, stepped off the flying vehicle and immediately spotted Wu Luo approaching from a distance, his body covered in blood.

Yang Hong walked up to him.

"This time, I won again."

Yang Hong smiled, revealing his teeth. "In this practical combat assessment, among the freshmen, I scored the highest with 196 points."

After 24 hours of fierce combat, he hadn't even rested at night, constantly searching for prey.

His final score was 196 points, not only ranking first among the freshmen but also placing him within the top 1000 students in the second base.

It's worth noting that the second base was primarily composed of second-year seniors.

This demonstrated how fiercely Yang Hong had fought.

On the other hand, Wu Luo only scored 171 points, placing him second among the freshmen, but the difference in scores was evident.

"First place?" Wu Luo chuckled. "You fought hard, but I'm not as crazy as you. Do you really think you've won for sure?"

Yang Hong was taken aback.

"Idiot." Wu Luo smirked. "Li Yuan is in the fourth base, where the star realm creatures are much stronger. Killing star realm creatures of the same score is far more challenging than what we face in the second base... But the assessment duration is a day longer."

"He still has 24 hours."

"You're the idiot." Yang Hong scoffed. "I've been monitoring Li Yuan's score. At the beginning, his score was rising rapidly."

"But from yesterday afternoon at 5 pm until now, he hasn't gained a single point."

"He hasn't withdrawn from the assessment, but he's probably injured."

"After all, the fourth base is mostly composed of third-year and even fourth-year seniors. His physical qualities are far inferior, and it's very dangerous."

"Furthermore,"

"The longer the time passes, the fewer star realm creatures there will be... Even if he isn't injured, it's almost impossible for him to catch up by over a hundred points within a day." Yang Hong was confident.

"We'll see." Wu Luo smirked, but in his heart, he had already acknowledged Yang Hong's assessment.

However!

Wu Luo respected Li Yuan because he was genuinely powerful, far surpassing Wu Luo in strength.

But when it came to Yang Hong, Wu Luo didn't feel the same respect.

The two had been secretly competing, vying for the title of the 'Second Best' among the freshmen.

...

If Yang Hong and Wu Luo could remain calm about Li Yuan's score, the same couldn't be said for the freshmen at the first base.

At the star realm where the first base was located, as the freshmen gathered in the plaza, discussions were already underway.

"Li Yuan, why does he only have a score of over 50 points?"

"It's been an entire day."

"Yang Hong at the second base has already scored nearly 200 points, significantly raising the group score for the Third Academy."

"Could it be that in the overall group score, the Third Academy will take first place?" The freshmen from various academies were all discussing this, their attention focused on the group scores.

Except for Li Yuan, the scores of all the freshmen had already been finalized.

Freshman Academy Rankings:

1st Place: Third Academy (4031 points)



2nd Place: Fifth Academy (3951 points)



3rd Place: Sixth Academy (3931 points)



4th Place: Seventh Academy (3874 points)



...

The overall score differences between the academies were not significant.

Kunlun Martial University had made careful arrangements when designing the difficulty levels.

Normally, more than one-third of the students would withdraw halfway through.

Even if they managed to complete the assessment, most students would only score around 20 to 30 points.

The resting area of the first base, where the freshmen from the Sixth Academy gathered.

"Our Sixth Academy's total score is only 100 points behind the Third Academy."

"The gap is much smaller than during the entrance competition."

"Being in third place is still acceptable."

"How does our senior brother only have a score of over 50 points? Yesterday, he said he could score 200 points. Yang Hong has already scored 196 points at the second base."

"Idiot? That's the fourth base, where the participants are third-year seniors. How difficult is it to score 200 points? Try it yourself, and surviving for half an hour would be impressive."

"It's so unfair! If our senior brother was at the second base, he'd probably score 300 or even 400 points. Yang Hong wouldn't have the chance to boast." The freshmen from the Sixth Academy were discussing among themselves.

"That's the school's rule."

"On the first day, our senior brother only scored over 50 points. Can he reach 190 points on the second day?"

"The practical combat assessment becomes more challenging as time passes, with fewer star realm creatures and more difficult scoring." No one truly blamed Li Yuan for his low score.

Most people were aware of the difficulty of the fourth base.

However, many couldn't help but feel disappointed.

"Let's believe in our senior brother."

"There's still an entire day left. He can create a miracle." Many freshmen also firmly supported Li Yuan, believing he could achieve the impossible.

...

31st July, 1 pm.

Within the fourth base's assessment area, 23 hours remained until the end of the assessment.

In the dimly lit cavern, a faint light shone through the cracks.

"Hmm? The essence energy has entered my body, and it's over?" Li Yuan instantly regained his senses.

"Huff..."

Li Yuan instinctively looked down at his fists, lightly clenching them, and felt an endless surge of power within his body.

Ready to explode at any moment.

This power was far more potent than before.

Looking up again, he noticed significant improvements in his vision and hearing.

"My life level," Li Yuan scanned the Divine Palace panel.

---

【Life Level: 12.7 (First Stage)】

【Punching Power: 4460 kg】

【Speed: 34.2 m/s】

【Spirit Power: 20.0】

【Spirit Awakening Level: 20% (Current Limit: 25%)】

【Martial Arts Skills: Spear Technique (Fourth Stage 53%), Body Technique (Fourth Stage 42%), Fist Technique (Fourth Stage 55%)】

【Note: The spirit awakening limit has been raised to 25%. Upon reaching a life level of 14 and a spirit awakening level of 25%, you will receive spirit guidance.】

1. Find a way to approach the target.





I

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end