Chapter 45: This World Has Never Known Peace
Li Yuan declined Deputy Hall Master Zuo's kind offer and, after chatting a bit more, headed to school alone.
However, perhaps to ensure his safety, Deputy Hall Master Zuo ordered two spider combat robots to follow Li Yuan along the way. They only left when he was almost at the school.
As for inside the school? In modern big cities, places like schools, research institutes, government buildings, and large shopping malls all have combat robots stationed there. There are also numerous combat robots patrolling the streets and residential areas.
Because of this, small-scale Astral Realm creature attacks, once discovered, are quickly exterminated. Although minor casualties are inevitable, large-scale disruptions are rare. This city defense system has gradually formed over the past century with the progress of human civilization, technology, and accumulated experience.
Li Yuan arrived at school just before seven o'clock and headed straight to the cafeteria. Despite the tense atmosphere outside, the cafeteria ladies were still diligently preparing breakfast.
"Yuan, over here," Zhou Qi called out to Li Yuan.
Li Yuan bought some soy milk and two bowls of hot dry noodles and sat down with his classmates.
"Li Yuan, I've noticed you've been arriving quite late recently," Li Tianyou said while eating.
"There was a Astral Realm creature attack alert. I waited for the all-clear before coming out," Li Yuan laughed. "Didn't you guys do the same?"
"I waited for the all-clear too."
"My dad drove me to school to avoid any danger," a few others chimed in. "I heard that a lot of people died last night on Lakeside Road."
"Yeah! I hope none of them were from our school."
Even though a Astral Realm creature attack with dozens of casualties had just occurred in Guanshan District, Li Yuan's classmates seemed somewhat used to it, despite their sighs of concern. It was all too frequent.
"Li Yuan," Li Tianyou said seriously, "it's not just today. For the past two months, you've often been arriving later than me in the morning."
"Are you slacking off?"
"Can't keep up with the grind," Li Yuan joked. "You're the number one overachiever in our class."
Since signing with Starlight Martial Hall and learning two second-tier secret techniques, Li Yuan had been training his spear and movement techniques late into the night in the virtual network. As a result, he didn't always arrive at school before five, and sometimes he even arrived after six.
"Tianyou, not everyone is like you, waking up earlier than the roosters and sleeping later than the mules," Zhou Qi teased. "Look at you, you've even lost weight since the start of the term. Take it easy."
"Yeah, Tianyou, you're pushing yourself too hard. Remember to take more qi and blood supplements," Yan Zhou added. "You can't skimp on that for martial arts training."
"Yeah, I know," Li Tianyou mumbled, his head down as he ate.
Li Yuan glanced at Li Tianyou. He could see that despite Li Tianyou's intense training, his physical fitness hadn't improved significantly. Clearly, he wasn't keeping up with his nutritional needs. Li Yuan had tried to subtly remind him a few times, but Li Tianyou only paid lip service. After a while, Li Yuan decided to stop.
Everyone has their own fate; he could only be responsible for himself.
"Yuan, the mid-January exams are coming up, and there's going to be a spiritual potential test," Zhou Qi said, putting down his bowl and chopsticks. "What do you think?"
"Spiritual potential test?" Li Yuan was taken aback, then shook his head. "I don't know."
The other students began discussing it. The spiritual potential test adds 10% to the total martial arts score, which can be life-changing. It can be enough to help a student with no hope of getting into a martial arts university to touch the threshold of one.
In this era, unless your academic scores are high enough to get into the C9 League, most students know that martial arts offer a better future than academics. However, getting into a martial arts university is extremely difficult.
You have killed a ranked creature and obtained spiritual nourishment. Your spiritual awakening degree has reached 0.6%. As Li Yuan quickly finished his breakfast, he looked at the recent notification on his Divine Palace panel and became lost in thought.
This notification appeared after he killed the Fish Spirit Clan member, even causing a change in the Divine Palace panel.
_____
Life Level: 7.8 (Not Entered Tier)
Physical Fitness Index: 81 (measuring overall attributes such as explosive power, endurance, speed, constitution, and mental strength)
Punch Strength: 732 kg
Speed: 17.4 m/s
Mental Strength: 14.2
Spiritual Awakening Degree: 0.6% (current limit: 20%)
Physical Training Method: "Rock Solid Training Method"
Mental Training Method: "Observing the Great Sun Starry Sky Sutra"
Skill Levels: Spear Technique (Third Stage 88%), Movement Technique (Third Stage 65%), Punch Technique (Third Stage 99%)
Note: As the spiritual awakening degree reaches 25%, 50%, 75%, 100%, and 125%, spiritual guidance will gradually be obtained.
____
"What is the spiritual awakening degree?" Li Yuan wondered. "Is it related to the compatibility with higher-tier training methods?"
The Divine Palace panel offered no explanation. Or rather, since he gained the ability to sense the Divine Palace, Li Yuan had never received much explanation. Most of it was up to him to interpret.
"According to the last note on the Divine Palace panel, if my spiritual awakening degree reaches 25%, I will receive spiritual guidance?" Li Yuan frowned. "But my current limit is only 20%."
What is spiritual guidance? Li Yuan wasn't sure. However, he suspected that the advanced spiritual entity shown on the Divine Palace panel and the martial arts spiritual potential valued by human civilization might not be the same concept.
"If I want to increase my spiritual awakening degree, I need to kill ranked Astral Realm creatures to obtain spiritual nourishment?" Li Yuan mused. "Nourishment that nourishes my own spirit?"
With only one example, Li Yuan couldn't verify his hypothesis.
However, with a spiritual awakening degree of 0.6%, Li Yuan didn't feel any significant change in himself.
"Most likely, I need to reach a spiritual awakening degree of 25% to notice any significant changes. Maybe it will bring benefits similar to 'Observing the Great Sun Starry Sky Sutra'," Li Yuan thought, feeling a hint of anticipation. "But how can I increase the spiritual awakening limit from 20% to 25%?"
"Physical fitness? Or mental strength?"
"Or perhaps a breakthrough in martial arts skills?"
Li Yuan had no answers.
....
Unable to figure out the changes in the Divine Palace panel, Li Yuan decisively ignored it. So far, the Divine Palace panel had only recorded his martial arts progress without directly enhancing his abilities. Strength still had to be built step by step through training.
"No matter what spiritual awakening is, for now, I will continue my training as planned. As my strength increases, perhaps I will understand it better," Li Yuan thought.
Experimenting by killing Astral Realm creatures? Li Yuan dismissed the idea immediately. This time, he managed to kill the Fish Spirit Clan member because he was strong enough and lucky that it was injured. If he encountered an uninjured ranked Astral Realm creature, even at level 11 or 12, with their absolute superior physical fitness, Li Yuan would have almost no chance of winning.
Moreover, even if Li Yuan wanted to kill, where would he find such creatures?
"No rush. Once the limit increases to 25%, I will figure it out," Li Yuan decided calmly.
.....
"I have bad news to share with everyone."
"Last night's Astral Realm creature attack resulted in the confirmed deaths of two students from our school: one from Year Two, Class Sixteen, and one from Year Three, Class Eight," said Mr. Chen, the homeroom teacher, his voice heavy with sadness as he stood at the podium.
A hush fell over the classroom. Even the students whispering at the back fell silent. Although it wasn't the first time, and the deceased weren't from their class, it was enough to touch everyone's hearts as they were from the same school.
"Astral Realm creatures," Li Yuan's eyes narrowed, his fists clenching instinctively. From childhood, nearly everyone had lost friends or classmates to such attacks.
"The school will launch a donation drive. The account details have been published on the school website," Mr. Chen continued. "The amount isn't important; we won't list the donors or involve any third parties. After the deadline, the funds will be directly handed over to the families of the two students."
"Contribute what you can; there's no obligation."
"Alright, let's continue with the lesson."
"Everyone, look at the second-to-last big question. This is a popular question type this year and will definitely appear in the college entrance exams. I've explained it many times, but many of you are still getting it wrong. Today will be the last time I explain it. Fifteen points, a free gift for you, so pay attention..."
.....
"This Astral Realm creature attack claimed the lives of two students," said Instructor Xu Bo in the martial arts classroom, his voice booming like thunder. "I hope you all understand this."
"This world has never known peace."
"I don't expect all of you to get into a martial arts university or to join the army and fight on the front lines, but I hope you won't slack off in your martial arts training."
"Be a little stronger."
"In the future, if you encounter similar dangers, your chances of survival will be higher."
.....
The Astral Realm creature attack in Jiangcheng ultimately resulted in 86 deaths. However, it didn't cause much of a stir, not even making the top trends on China's virtual network for a full day.
Because, at the same time, a massive battle erupted at Luo Bu Sea. Astral Realm creatures attacked in waves, and in just one day, the military reported over three thousand deaths...
...
On January 3, 2043, the mid-January exams for the third year of high school in Jiangcheng were held as scheduled.