Chapter 143: Shine

Battle Soldier Fist: Mastery.

When Gao Wu saw the notation on the Boundless Book of Merit, he felt a mix of joy and emotional reflection.

In less than twenty minutes, the Battle Soldier Fist had advanced from minor success to absolute mastery.

Such a level of fist technique had far exceeded the limits of Song Chunqiu's left-behind spiritual imprint, causing the imprint to shatter completely.

Actually, a simple calculation revealed everything: even if he previously had a foundation of ten points, an eighteen-point foundation meant his martial arts talent had increased twenty-fivefold—what a staggering improvement.

It was precisely because of this that he was able to push the Battle Soldier Fist directly to mastery.

On the other hand, it also showed that the Battle Soldier Fist was simple enough.

This military martial art, born from combat, was originally created for ordinary soldiers, featuring both a very low floor and ceiling...

How foolish he had been in the past, unable to even master such a simple Battle Soldier Fist!

Gao Wu suddenly understood people like Song Chunqiu and Lu Yuan. In the eyes of these martial arts powerhouses, he truly had been somewhat clumsy.

If not for his special physical and spiritual talents, he wouldn't even have been qualified to meet these martial arts experts.

The Qilin Divine Hero Incantation remained exceptionally useful, and Gao Wu decided to seize the opportunity to practice the Nine Forms of the Azure Dragon—oh, the Nine Forms of the Dragon—to see what effects it might yield.

The moment he began chanting the incantation, he felt a splitting headache, his brain suddenly churned into paste by some invisible force, and the Qilin divine manifestation dissolved silently...

Gao Wu waited a full minute before suppressing the piercing pain, finally regaining total clarity of mind.

Could the Qilin Divine Hero Incantation be so tyrannical that even with his twenty points of spiritual power, he could only unleash it once?

The Azure Dragon Divine Qi Incantation and the Vermilion Bird Divine Light Incantation were both at the mastery level, yet when unleashed at full power, they had never produced such severe sequelae.

Gao Wu sighed softly. The plan to cultivate martial arts by empowering himself with the Qilin Divine Hero Incantation didn't seem very viable after all...

Feeling extremely unwell, Gao Wu forced himself to complete his daily routines.

He needed to test his true condition, familiarize himself with his body, and understand the negative aftereffects triggered by the Qilin Divine Hero Incantation.

The Boundless Book of Merit merely provided descriptions; the specifics required continuous exploration and practical application on his part.

Even in a poor state, the sensation of practicing the Nine Forms of the Dragon was exceptional. Gao Wu discovered many fine details he had previously overlooked.

He also sensed subtle flaws in his Wandering Dragon Palm and Sword techniques.

Gao Wu realized he had truly become smarter, developing a sharper, more acute intuition for martial arts.

No matter what he practiced, the moment he picked it up, he could sharply perceive the flaws in his cultivation.

A fifteen-point foundation was not to be underestimated; it was equivalent to a seven-and-a-half-fold increase in martial arts talent!

He was both shocked and delighted. Was this what it felt like to be a top student?

Everything was understood at a glance, mastered upon study.

However, the levels of the Nine Forms of the Dragon, the Wandering Dragon Palm, and the sword techniques were extremely high, making it impossible for him to achieve mastery overnight the way he had with the Battle Soldier Fist.

After breakfast, Song Mingyue went to Xinyue Lake to study.

Feeling unwell, Gao Wu initially thought of taking a day off and simply letting Yang Tielin know via a message.

After much deliberation, Gao Wu decided to go to the Nine Limits of Heavenly Extremes anyway. A poor state made it all the more necessary to push oneself.

He was also immensely curious about how much impact a fifteen-point foundation could have in actual combat.

Familiar with the routine, Gao Wu arrived at the Heavenly Extreme Tower, chatted with Old Yang for a while, and then leisurely stepped into the Nine Limits of Heavenly Extremes.

For the first stage, Gao Wu did not use a sword; he wanted to test the mastery-level Battle Soldier Fist.

The moment he moved, Gao Wu immediately noticed something amiss. Previously, relying on the mastery-level sword technique empowered by the Heavenly Fate Sword, he could easily slaughter the giant tiger.

However, that was an enhancement of himself—an optimized, highly rational use of swordcraft. His mastery-level sword technique had only applied to himself.

Today was different. The moment Gao Wu observed the giant tiger's subtle movements, he knew what it was going to do next, how it would exert force, and from what angle it would launch its attack.

Previously, he could read combat based on his own swordcraft as the foundation. Now, reading combat was all-encompassing, unrestricted by any single weapon technique.

The difference between the two was vast. Based solely on swordcraft, without a sword he would have been helpless. Now, lacking a sword, he could respond just as calmly.

Gao Wu truly discovered the benefits of a fifteen-point foundation: his mind was clearer, his analytical and comprehension abilities were stronger, and he possessed an extraordinary intuition for combat.

Through two limit tests, Gao Wu dodged the giant tiger's lunges by a hair's breadth—just a matter of centimeters, causing the tiger's attacks to miss entirely.

He had easily cleared the first stage's giant tiger in the past, but never with such ease and such precise mastery of his opponent.

Once again evading the tiger's pounce with a sliding step, Gao Wu exerted force through his feet to unleash the Landmine Stance. Within a radius of one meter, the ground exploded violently under the impact of his force.

The giant tiger's left leg landed precisely in this area. While the explosive shockwave couldn't hurt it, the altered terrain caused its footing to slip, forcing it into an instinctive recoil to regain balance.

Gao Wu was waiting for precisely this opportunity. He stepped forward and drove a fist directly into the tiger's neck.

The Sniper Rifle Stance: the punch was covert yet lightning-fast, the force unleashed violently fierce, direct, and exceptionally solid. This single punch shattered the giant tiger's protective source-energy field, penetrating straight into its neck while avoiding its hard skull, striking directly into the tiger's brain tissue.

The giant tiger's two dark-golden pupils burst open instantly. Before it could even emit a miserable howl, its massive body collapsed with a loud crash and slid forward...

Having dispatched the giant tiger so effortlessly, Gao Wu realized how crude and simplistic his previous methods of clearing stages had been.

Fundamentally, it wasn't just that the Battle Soldier Fist had reached mastery, but rather that the fifteen-point foundation allowed him to truly read combat from a global perspective, selecting the shortcut to victory from within.

In other words, the Qilin Divine Hero Incantation not only enhanced his martial arts talent but also elevated his combat aptitude.

A fifteen-point foundation should be roughly comparable to Song Mingyue's, perhaps slightly inferior.

After becoming Lu Yuan's disciple, Song Mingyue's growth rate had been astonishingly rapid, proving that her foundation was immensely powerful. It was just that at the combat level, Song Mingyue remained somewhat green.

Gao Wu genuinely hesitated. Should the remaining ten million points of merit be used to upgrade the Azure Dragon Divine Qi Incantation or the Qilin Divine Hero Incantation?

Upgrading the Azure Dragon Divine Qi Incantation was not merely about improving physical constitution; it also raised the ceilings of various attributes.

Most directly, the empowered source energy would receive a massive boost, with a strong chance of opening the brow acupoint and advancing to a senior martialist.

A constitution of twenty-five points also meant the Thunder-Swift Transformation could elevate spiritual power to twenty-four points—a truly massive upgrade.

Empowering the Thunder-Swift Wind Transformation with such a physique would increase actual combat capability by at least twofold, giving him a chance to even kill a martial arts grandmaster.

An ultra-strong physique also granted him an enormous margin of error.

Meanwhile, upgrading the Qilin Divine Hero Incantation to the mastery realm would propel his martial arts cultivation to new heights, likely allowing him to advance to a senior martialist as well.

His enhanced reading and comprehension of combat would also multiply his battle prowess.

From a long-term perspective, the Qilin Divine Hero Incantation was naturally the choice to make.

Relatively speaking, divine incantation upgrades had limits, whereas martial arts had none.

However, the trial was imminent, and entering another realm meant facing unpredictable dangers. As a foundational divine incantation, the Azure Dragon Divine Qi Incantation could save his life at a critical moment—something no other incantation could match...

Gao Wu pondered for a long time, finding it difficult to make a decision on the spot.

Fortunately, there was still time, and he didn't need to rush...

Seizing the opportunity, he might as well thoroughly experience the effects of the Qilin Divine Hero Incantation.

Even with extreme mental exhaustion, Gao Wu relied solely on his fist techniques to fight his way all the way to the seventh stage.

The Heavenly Fate Sword was a tier-six divine weapon; setting aside its bonuses to swordcraft, the weapon itself was extraordinarily powerful.

One could imagine that predecessors like An Zirou who had cleared these stages must have borrowed the power of divine weapons.

Clearing stages relying solely on fist techniques increased the difficulty tenfold. Yesterday, Gao Wu wouldn't even have dared to imagine such a feat.

Today, however, it went remarkably smoothly, using bare fists to directly shatter the giant tiger of each stage. Even more rarely, he hadn't needed to activate the Thunder-Swift Wind Transformation.

His progress in martial arts had also unlocked his physical potential. Even without channeling source energy, relying purely on exquisite technique and leverage, his punch could reach eight thousand kilograms, and a single kick could surpass ten thousand kilograms.

Looking at the giant tiger now, he could perceive how rigid and mechanical it was, lacking the true spirit of life. No matter how thick its protective armor, there was always a way to pierce it.

By the eighth stage, the difficulty spiked abruptly. After maneuvering for a long time, Gao Wu seized an opportunity to sweep the giant tiger's front leg joints with a Battle-Axe Kick, striking repeatedly until he finally snapped one of the tiger's forelegs, thus securing victory.

By the ninth stage, Gao Wu truly could no longer pass relying solely on fist techniques.

Even without a source-energy field protecting it, this giant tiger's armor was exceptionally tough. Combined with lightning-fast speed and reflexes, it possessed a liveliness and agility lacking in the previous eight stages.

What seemed like an insignificant minor change brought about a fundamental transformation.

Gao Wu tried unleashing the eighth-layer Azure Dragon Divine Qi Incantation. In this state, his agility increased to seventeen points, and his source energy tripled—more than enough to kill the giant tiger.

However, the eighth-layer incantation could only be maintained for five seconds, offering too narrow a margin of error. If he failed to kill the tiger, he ran the genuine risk of being torn to shreds.

He wasn't willing to gamble his life on such meaningless odds.

If he used the Heavenly Fate Sword, even without upgrading his swordcraft, Gao Wu had a seventy to eighty percent confidence of slaying the tiger and clearing the stage.

The problem was that clearing the stage would trigger an alarm. Not only would Yang Tielin see it, but it would also leave traces in the energy core, allowing anyone to see that he had cleared it.

Such a fantastic place for practicing fist techniques as the Nine Limits of Heavenly Extremes should naturally be kept for lingering enjoyment.

Gao Wu was no longer in such a rush to take a master. If he truly elevated the Qilin Divine Hero Incantation to mastery, he felt that grandmasters might no longer quite measure up!

It wasn't that he was snobbish; this was simply a two-way choice.

When his aptitude was lacking, Lu Yuan had somewhat looked down on him. Now that his aptitude was superior, he naturally had to choose a better teacher.

Martial grandmasters were indeed powerful, but above grandmasters lay Martial Kings, and even Martial Saints!

Of course, the favor Lu Yuan showed him by imparting *Conquering the Dragon with Regret* was something he would never forget!

He was in no hurry to upgrade his incantations either; he needed time to digest this breakthrough. Once he fully comprehended the transformations of the Qilin Divine Hero Incantation, it wouldn't be too late to consider which incantation to upgrade next.

Over the following days, Gao Wu came to the Nine Limits of Heavenly Extremes every day to practice his fist techniques.

The Battle Soldier Fist had reached its limit at mastery, and a few days of practice merely made it more rounded and familiar.

The Wandering Dragon Palm, Wandering Dragon Sword, and Wandering Dragon Secret Sword had all progressed, but the next realm remained distant.

Though a fifteen-point foundation was high, it merely placed him at a genius level. Such mature and complex secret arts could not be broken through lightly overnight.

Activating the sixth layer of the Qilin Divine Hero Incantation could increase his foundation by three points, but it could only be sustained for three minutes.

Given his formidable spiritual power, he could sustain a sixth-layer activation at most twice a day. Relying on this incantation for daily martial arts training was impractical.

However, the Qilin Divine Hero Incantation could immensely strengthen his comprehension and analytical abilities, elevate his sharp intuition, and enhance his minute control over his own martial arts.

In other words, the Qilin Divine Hero Incantation was equivalent to temporarily tripling his martial arts talent, which proved exceptionally useful in combat.

Gao Wu had tried superimposing the Qilin Divine Hero Incantation and the Azure Dragon Divine Qi Incantation; the effect was stellar, coming within a hair's breadth of defeating the ninth-stage giant tiger with bare fists alone.

With a few more tries, success was guaranteed—though doing so held little meaning.

Over the past few days, the Nine Forms of the Dragon had shown the most genuine progress.

In particular, the first two forms, *Hidden Dragon Do Not Use* and *Conquering the Dragon with Regret*, had spiritual imprint inheritances attached to them. With his elevated martial arts talent and a clear direction, his cultivation progress skyrocketed.

According to Gao Wu's calculations, he would inevitably break through the Nine Forms of the Dragon to the major completion realm before the trials.

On September 20th, the freshman welcome gala of Northern State Martial Arts University forced Gao Wu to interrupt his training and head to the garrison camp.

The garrison camp boasted an ultra-large training plaza capable of accommodating tens of thousands of people for a grand review.

Today's gala began with a training review of the various martial arts academies in Northern State, inspected by leaders from the garrison, the Inspectorate, and the universities.

This was followed by student performances from each institution and a celebratory gala.

As the most prominent freshman, Gao Wu was designated by the university as the freshman representative for Anhui University (Andah), tasked with giving a speech on behalf of the freshmen and performing the opening sword demonstration.

President An Zirou had arranged this personally, and Gao Wu found it difficult to refuse. After all, the president had given both him and Song Mingyue special permission to skip training, saving them a tremendous amount of time.

For this alone, he needed to show some appreciation. However, having a truant student act as the representative speaker was, frankly, rather ironic.

Gao Wu had lunch with Song Mingyue, Sister Jun, and Zhou Hongying, after which Zhou Hongying volunteered to drive Gao Wu to the garrison camp.

The garrison camp was located right next to the Inspectorate building, and when Gao Wu had visited the Inspectorate last time, he had gazed at the garrison from afar.

Upon entering the garrison camp, Gao Wu and his group were stopped by guards. It required a phone call to President An before they were granted passage.

By the time Gao Wu and the girls entered the plaza, it was already two in the afternoon.

At the front of the huge plaza stood a raised stage draped with a banner reading: *Northern State Martial Arts University Freshman Performance Review...*

A group of people were rehearsing on the stage; everyone was busy, and no one paid Gao Wu and the others any mind.

Wang Zhe, the student union president of Azure Dragon Academy, spotted Gao Wu at a glance and hurried over. He had won quite a bit of money betting on Gao Wu previously, leaving him with an exceptionally deep impression.

Wang Zhe had watched the demon-slaying video and clearly understood that for the next few years, Gao Wu would remain one of the most powerful students in the entire martial arts academy; he needed to manage his relationship with him well.

"Hello, Gao Wu! I'm Wang Zhe, president of the Azure Dragon Academy student union. I'm helping out here today, coordinating the performance for Andah students. Come with me."

Wang Zhe was exceedingly enthusiastic, even helping arrange a resting area for Song Mingyue and the others before leading Gao Wu up the stage to introduce him to the emcees and the field director.

The field director was a middle-aged man who glanced coldly at Gao Wu. "You're opening the show, with a total time of one hundred and twenty minutes—wait, one hundred and twenty seconds. The schedule is to say a few words first, then perform a sword routine. How long will your sword routine take? What kind of background music do you need?"

"Thirty seconds for the sword routine is plenty. Just use some rousing drum music for the background," Gao Wu replied casually, having no special demands for a simple sword performance.

"Is that so? Then ninety seconds will be more than enough for you. The sooner the gala ends, the better; there's no need to drag it out." The field director made the decision on the spot, and an assistant nearby took notes.

Turning to Gao Wu, the middle-aged director said, "Run through it once so I can check your positioning, then I'll figure out the music based on your sword style."

His tone was cold and stiff, carrying a hint of command.

The middle-aged man and Gao Wu were total strangers, and he somewhat looked down on Gao Wu. Coming from a military background, he valued discipline above all else.

In his view, skipping training was one thing, but running over to act as the student representative for the performance review was frankly ridiculous!

Wang Zhe wanted to say something but held back, eventually just shooting Gao Wu a reassuring look to tell him not to get angry. Gao Wu could tell the middle-aged man had some opinions about him, but he didn't mind.

Where there were people who liked him, there were inevitably those who loathed him. That was entirely normal. Although the man's attitude wasn't great, he was conducting official business.

The stage was quite large, measuring roughly eight by six meters—necessary for singing, dancing, and general mobility.

Standing in the center of the stage, Gao Wu calmed his mind and drew his sword. With the Heavenly Fate Sword in hand, even without deliberately channeling source energy, his spirit naturally harmonized with the weapon, his gaze fierce and radiant, exuding a sharp, piercing sword aura.

The female emcee and the middle-aged director, watching from the side, couldn't help but be awed by Gao Wu's sword aura. The female emcee's expression shifted slightly, while the middle-aged director, though a martial master, felt a sudden chill in his heart: "Such a strong, pure sword aura..."

Wang Zhe's expression turned solemn as well. He had repeatedly watched the video of Gao Wu slaying demons, but in that state, GaoWu had clearly unleashed special secret skills. Right now, Gao Wu had merely drawn his sword and assumed a stance; his movements were composed and fluid, yet carried the natural demeanor of a grandmaster.

He couldn't help feeling a mixture of surprise and doubt: had Gao Wu's swordcraft really reached such a level?

Gao Wu didn't care what others thought. He proceeded to perform the sixty-four forms of the Wandering Dragon Sword. His movements were relaxed and unconstrained, his body flowing with the sword; as the sword light surged and coiled around him, it truly possessed the momentum of a soaring dragon.

When Gao Wu finished his routine and sheathed his sword, he landed precisely back where he had started.

The female emcee checked her watch; it had taken exactly thirty seconds. This precise mastery of time drew a silent exclamation of admiration from her: Today's youth are truly formidable!

The middle-aged director nodded slightly. Even though he didn't like Gao Wu, he had to admit that this sword technique was truly exquisite—far more refined than the violent, ferocious display in the demon-slaying video.

He said to the female emcee, "Discuss the specific details and keep tight control of the timing."

Actually, performances like this weren't usually subjected to such strict demands. However, many important figures were attending today, including representatives from the gubernatorial office, the Inspectorate, the military, and various universities.

After all, this was the first major expansion enrollment of the martial arts academies, and all parties attached great importance to it. Consequently, the review had to be treated with gravity to avoid major incidents.

After running through two rehearsals to lock down the process, Gao Wu spoke with Wang Zhe and headed off to rest in an adjacent room...

At four in the afternoon, all the trainee freshmen from the various academies had arrived. The plaza was densely packed with young men and women in black combat uniforms.

Next came the unit rehearsals for each academy. Over ten thousand people formed multiple phalanxes, marching past the stage in sequence.

Though their training period had been short, the formations already looked sharp and orderly. Being martial artists, marching in neat unison wasn't difficult. It was just that they still looked somewhat green, lacking the cold, hard edge of true soldiers.

Yet, they possessed a vibrant youthful vigor that ordinary soldiers lacked.

Watching from the side in a small building, Gao Wu found it quite entertaining. Despite looking simple, the display carried a strong sense of power.

Within the phalanxes, he spotted several genuine experts. In particular, the student carrying the flag at the head of the Northern State University phalanx was about his height, but broad-shouldered and powerfully built, with a cold gaze and sharp perception—he actually sensed Gao Wu's gaze.

He also caught sight of Bai Yuxiong, Bai Dishuan, Yuan Qiansheng, along with Han Yang, Yang Ru, and Song Minglin.

After twenty days of training, everyone had tanned. Bai Yuxiong's wheat-toned skin worked to her advantage here, remaining unchanged no matter how much she baked in the sun...

Thinking of Bai Yan's request, Gao Wu couldn't help chuckling softly.

Shang Qingjun and Zhou Hongying accompanied Gao Wu to watch the spectacle. Their perceptions were far inferior to Gao Wu's; from such a distance, they could only see neat formations without making out individual faces, let alone distinguishing who was who.

Zhou Hongying didn't know what Gao Wu was laughing at, but she could tell his smile carried a hint of crafty triumph... She hugged Gao Wu's arm and acted coquettishly. "What are you laughing at?"

Gao Wu said with a straight face, "Nothing, just thinking that I'll be shining brilliantly tonight, and I couldn't help feeling a bit happy!"

"Just how brilliantly?" Zhou Hongying asked, playing along.

"Blindingly bright!"

"Hahaha..." Zhou Hongying and Shang Qingjun both burst into laughter. Especially Zhou Hongying, who laughed so hard her shoulders shook, leaving Gao Wu feeling slightly embarrassed...