High Martial Arts: Enlightenment after Practices-Chapter 146: Letter of Challenge

While they were chatting, Yu Peiling and Zeng Bonan arrived together, making the living room even livelier.

Yu Peiling looked to be in excellent spirits, her aura harmonious and well-integrated. It was clear her cultivation had improved significantly.

When she saw Xu Wuyi, she smiled and said, "We aren’t interrupting your training, are we? Every time I come over, it feels like the energy field here is a little stronger... Don’t tell me you’ve already started using the gravity field for cultivation?"

The Enhanced Training Rooms in the Hidden Dragon Garden could be set to a maximum of three times normal gravity, but no student was currently able to use it. It was typically reserved for Official Martial Artists.

Xu Wuyi nodded. "Yeah, I’ve been setting it to 1.2 times gravity recently. It puts a little pressure on my Qi and Blood, which makes my training more efficient."

His Qi and Blood Strength was already on par with that of an average Martial Artist, and he had only started using gravity assistance after an evaluation from Anna.

"You’re unbelievable..."

Everyone was left speechless.

Zeng Bonan was as quiet as ever, but his gaze toward Xu Wuyi was filled with admiration, as well as a hint of determination to catch up.

Among the people present, besides Xu Wuyi who was in a league of his own, Shen Wei and Xu Zhi were evenly matched. Yu Peiling was slightly weaker than the two of them, but not by much.

Zeng Bonan was the only exception. He had barely scraped his way into Star Martial University and had no family support to rely on, so he had to do everything himself.

Back at Honghe First Middle School, he had been a genius, but here, he was undoubtedly at the bottom of the pack.

It was only because he, Xu Wuyi, and Yu Peiling were from the same hometown, and because Shen Wei and Xu Zhi weren’t the snobbish types, that they could all hang out in the same social circle.

But Zeng Bonan knew in his heart, ’If I keep falling behind, sooner or later, I won’t have anything in common with these people anymore.’

’Oftentimes, it isn’t the circle that excludes you; it’s you who gets left behind.’

As everyone sat together, the topic soon shifted to the recent activities of the other top freshmen.

"I heard Qin Rui already hit Level 19!" Shen Wei chugged a mouthful of an energy drink, his tone filled with amazement. "That guy is grinding like crazy. They say aside from classes and necessary rest, he practically lives in the Battle Network and the Cultivation Rooms. He’s hell-bent on being the first to break through to the Martial Artist Realm."

Xu Zhi nodded and added, "The news came from the West Courtyard, so it’s probably true. After all, he was the top scorer of Central Province, comes from a family with a deep martial arts tradition, and has no shortage of resources. Progress like this isn’t surprising."

Yu Peiling gently stirred the floral tea in her cup. "Zhao Qingwei isn’t slow either. She’s been frequently seeking out people to spar with, so her Life Energy Level is probably not far from 19. And then there’s Li Hao... still no news from him. He rarely makes an appearance."

Zeng Bonan said in a low voice, "It’s not just them. Batu from Xiliang Province and Zhou Hao from the Southern Domain are also improving rapidly. Star Martial is full of hidden talents; no one dares to slack off."

As they spoke, one after another, a vivid picture of the intense competition among this year’s freshmen began to form.

Everyone was secretly working hard, desperately trying to catch up, terrified of falling even a single step behind.

This atmosphere placed a considerable, unseen pressure on everyone present.

Xu Wuyi listened quietly, his expression serene.

The news of Qin Rui reaching Level 19 didn’t faze him in the slightest.

’With my current foundation, I have nothing to fear from anyone in the Martial Disciple Stage. As for who breaks through to become a Martial Artist first, I couldn’t care less about such things.’

’The path of Martial Arts has never been about who walks the fastest, but who can walk the farthest.’

"By the way, have you guys heard about that Luo Liang fellow?"

"Luo Liang?" Shen Wei raised an eyebrow. "You mean the guy who’s ranked first among the students?"

"That’s the one," Yu Peiling said, her tone a bit strange. "He’s been all over the freshman section of the intranet lately, completely stealing the show. He keeps making posts boasting about being ranked first twice, as if he’s afraid someone out there might not know."

"Ranked first among students?" Xu Zhi couldn’t help but laugh. "Everyone’s currently stuck at the Third Rank. Anyone who wants to hold back their progression to stay at the top of the leaderboard can be number one. What’s there to brag about?"

Shen Wei shook his head. "We understand that, but a lot of people don’t. They just assume being number one means you’re the strongest."

Zeng Bonan picked up the thread. "It’s not just posts. Luo Liang has also been actively challenging various experts."

"He’s been working his way down the list from the initial freshman challenges. Among the top ten, aside from the absolute strongest few, he’s already publicly challenged and defeated several of them."

"He’s certainly high-profile!" Xu Zhi said with a pout. "I looked him up. Luo Liang is from Capital Xingjing, a member of the Xingjing Luo Family. He was in the top ten in Xingjing for the college entrance exams, so his strength and background are both impressive. And... rumor has it he’s one of Zhao Qingwei’s suitors."

"One of Zhao Qingwei’s suitors?" Shen Wei scoffed. "Then why doesn’t he go challenge Qin Rui? Qin Rui uses a sword too, and he’s much more famous."

Yu Peiling explained, "Apparently, after enrolling, he had a stroke of luck and learned a B-level Martial Art that perfectly suits his personal style, causing his strength to advance by leaps and bounds. He might have been hesitant before, but now that he has the confidence, his ambitions have naturally grown."

"Lately, he’s no longer satisfied with challenging less famous people. He posted on the intranet, putting the word out that he wants to challenge Qin Rui, Xu Wuyi, or that mysterious Li Hao—any one of the three."

Everyone’s gazes simultaneously fell upon Xu Wuyi.

Shen Wei asked with an expression of someone ready to watch a good show, "Xu Wuyi, what do you think? The guy called you out by name."

Xu Wuyi’s expression didn’t change in the slightest. He responded calmly, "The university encourages sparring, so this isn’t a bad thing. If he wants a challenge, he can come."

His attitude was the same as always; he never feared a challenge.

’In Martial Arts cultivation, sparring is an important way to test what you’ve learned and discover your own shortcomings.’

’As long as his opponent plays by the rules, he’d welcome anyone who came to his door for a match.’

Seeing his calm and unconcerned demeanor, Yu Peiling couldn’t help but remind him, "You should still be a little careful. This Luo Liang... his style is quite flashy, and his methods are ruthless. In his last few challenges, his opponents all suffered rather humiliating defeats."

"I understand." Xu Wuyi nodded at Yu Peiling.

The group chatted for a while longer, exchanging some insights and news about their cultivation, before leaving one by one.

The living room returned to its quiet state.

To Xu Wuyi, the noise of the outside world and the struggle for rankings were far less important than the tangible improvement of his own strength.

He turned and walked toward the underground Cultivation Room once more.

...

Xu Wuyi had long since put the matter of Luo Liang’s challenge to the back of his mind.

To him, a challenge like this, being called out by name, was far less important than a single small tip from Teacher Han Mo.

However, while he sought peace, the world had other plans.

The next morning, just as Xu Wuyi finished his daily training routine, his personal communicator began vibrating nonstop.

It wasn’t just Shen Wei’s active little group chat; even some unfamiliar classmates he rarely contacted had sent him messages, all pointing to the same thing.

He clicked the link Shen Wei had shared, which took him directly to the "Sparring and Exchange Zone" on the Star Martial University intranet.

A pinned and red-highlighted post was exceptionally eye-catching. The original poster was none other than "Luo Liang."

The post’s title was worded with undisguised flamboyance:

"A Sincere Invitation to Fellow Students Xu Wuyi and Li Hao for a Spar to Compare Notes. I Eagerly Await Your Instruction!"