Chapter 7: Home in the Late Night
"Has it increased to 37%?"
"I haven't even felt it myself yet, but the system panel has already sensed it accurately," Li Yuan's eyes lit up slightly.
The system panel cannot directly enhance Li Yuan's martial arts cultivation.
But its greatest benefit is that it directly reflects Li Yuan's efforts and progress in the form of data.
It's like a progress bar.
An absolute positive feedback mechanism.
No one doesn't want to succeed, but many people worry that their efforts will yield no results.
With the system panel, Li Yuan can clearly see his own progress, giving him greater motivation for his cultivation.
Cultivation is very arduous.
"But the rewards of cultivation are also immense." Li Yuan suddenly exerted his strength, the spear in his hand became a blur, and he thrust it out fiercely.
"Whoosh!"
"Whoosh! Whoosh!"
There was a faint, piercing whistling sound exploding, forming blurry spear shadows in the air.
"Martial arts cultivation, with each attempt to break through the limits of life, is indeed exhilarating," Li Yuan said, suddenly retracting his spear and revealing a smile.
More than a hundred years ago, before the widespread practice of cultivation methods and when only traditional martial arts existed, even ordinary people got addicted to fitness.
How much more so with advanced martial arts cultivation?
Li Yuan greatly enjoyed the process of his body becoming increasingly powerful.
Tiring, but very satisfying.
"Li Yuan, your spear technique is truly impressive," a sincere voice suddenly exclaimed.
Li Yuan turned his head and said with a smile, "Tianyou, your blade technique is also impressive. I remember your martial arts skill score was 312 today."
Next to him, Li Tianyou had a thin face, but his eyes were very bright.
"I can't keep up with you," Li Tianyou said with a smile, standing tall and straight.
"It's nine o'clock, everyone else has left," Li Yuan suddenly glanced around, "Aren't you going home?"
The Ministry of Education has set the start time for morning self-study at seven and the end time for evening self-study at nine.
Classes are held six days a week.
Perhaps the subordinate counties and cities are even more competitive, but as a key high school in the provincial capital, it naturally has to enforce these rules strictly.
"I'll practice a bit more," Li Tianyou said.
"Alright," Li Yuan said with a smile, "I'll head home first."
"Mm-hmm," Li Tianyou nodded.
Li Yuan put his spear into the weapon cabinet and walked out of the classroom.
He watched Li Yuan leave.
The smile on Li Tianyou's face disappeared, and he muttered to himself, "Why isn't my blade technique as impressive as Li Yuan's spear technique?"
"It would be great if I could awaken my martial arts spirit as well."
In Class 3 (2), Li Tianyou's martial arts grades consistently ranked in the top five. Occasionally, he could place third, but there was always a gap between him and Wan Xiao, let alone compared to Li Yuan.
Shaking his head to clear away the distracting thoughts, Li Tianyou picked up his long blade and continued to diligently practice his blade technique.
Outside, it was a long night.
Most of the classrooms had already turned off their lights.
Only this martial arts classroom remained lit. Li Tianyou, already thin, looked somewhat lonely at this moment.
...
Under the night sky, on Luoyu Street.
After a whole day of training, Li Yuan's clothes were soaked with sweat as he boarded the driverless '517' tram.
There were very few people on the tram.
In an era of highly advanced virtual networks and abundant material resources, most people's work is completed online.
Even for offline jobs, most workers have already finished work and gone home.
"...In late August, relevant national departments and the China branch of the Starry Sky Martial Hall conducted a joint operation, successfully eliminating the Astral Realm aquatic creatures in the Huai River basin of Jiangbei Province. However, a few managed to escape. Residents along the river are advised to remain vigilant. ..."
"Next, here is the report on the related conflicts in the secondary Astral Realms: the 'Luo Bu Sea' in the Northern Frontier Province and the 'Os Moon Sea' in the Firefly Star secondary Astral Realm..."
The electronic display screen above the driverless tram continuously broadcasted the latest news.
Li Yuan sat on a single seat, pushed open the window, and felt the wind blowing in through the window as he watched the street scenes swiftly passing by outside.
It felt very comfortable!
"Both the stars and love should be pursued with determination. Xinghai World reminds you that we have arrived at Quanyan Station ." The sudden station announcement pulled Li Yuan's thoughts back to reality.
"Xinghai World sure advertises a lot," Li Yuan thought to himself, shaking his head slightly.
He got off the tram.
A little over ten meters away was the entrance to Li Yuan's residential complex—Wanhua Platinum Mansion.
The name of the complex sounded grand, but the buildings were quite ordinary. Compared to the nearby new complex, "Xiongchu Tiandi," it even seemed a bit rundown.
"Welcome home, resident," a gentle female voice said.
Li Yuan entered the complex after passing through facial recognition.
There were no security guards at the entrance of the complex, only two intelligent robots standing at a distance.
Inside the complex, there were only 11-story mid-rise buildings.
Due to the long-term threat of war, super high-rise buildings had not been permitted for decades. The vast majority of buildings were around ten stories, with the highest not exceeding eighteen stories.
Although Wanhua Platinum Mansion was over twenty years old, it was still maintained quite well overall.
Li Yuan's home was in Building 2, Unit 2.
"Little Yuan, you're back from class?" asked an elderly couple jogging around the green path of the complex.
"Yes, Grandma Sun, you are exercising again," Li Yuan responded with a smile.
Although this is a commercial residential area, most of the people who bought here originally were employees of the same state-owned enterprise, enjoying discounted prices.
So, in a sense, this area could be considered as company welfare housing.
Plus, after all these years.
Many residents within the community know each other.
"Grandma Sun and the others are almost ninety years old, but they're still in good health, and none of them even bought a home assistant robot," Li Yuan remarked to himself. "According to the books, over a hundred years ago, the average lifespan was only seventy or eighty years."
Due to the spread of cultivation methods, apart from accidental deaths, the average lifespan of Blue Star residents has exceeded one hundred years, and Xia Kingdom residents have an average lifespan closer to one hundred and ten years.
If they become advanced martial practitioners, their lifespans become even more astonishing.
Li Yuan had just arrived downstairs.
"Brother?" a pleasantly surprised voice of a girl rang out from nearby.
"Brother~" another voice of a young boy chimed in.
The sound of footsteps approached, and two teenagers, about twelve or thirteen years old, wearing loose martial arts uniforms, jogged over from the shadows in the distance.
"Qianqian, Muhua," Li Yuan smiled and asked, "Why haven't you gone home yet?"
The girl is lively and beautiful, with fair skin and very bright eyes.
The boy has a youthful face, but he is nearly as tall as Li Yuan, standing half a head taller than the girl.
Li Qianqian and Li Muhua.
They are indeed the twins, children of Li Yuan's uncle and aunt, fourteen years old and both in the second year of junior high school.
"Brother, we just came back from the martial arts room," Li Qianqian said with a smile, linking her arm with Li Yuan's and shaking it.
Li Yuan nodded with a smile, "How was it?"
Each residential area has a public sports hall, as mandated by national regulations. These facilities are constructed with government funding and managed by property management for free access to residents.
"Not great, quite crowded, not much space for practice," Muhua shook his head and said.
"At your age, focus on laying a solid foundation, practice more standing exercises, and contemplate cultivation methods," Li Yuan advised. "Especially you, Muhua, since you've already awakened your martial arts spirit, take your time with your practice."
Li Muhua has a very high talent in martial arts.
Li Qianqian, on the other hand, has much lower talent in martial arts, but her academic performance is very good.
"Yeah," nodded Li Muhua, then he seemed to remember something. "Brother, I remember today is the day your school tests martial arts spirits, right?"
Li Qianqian also looked at Li Yuan.
"It didn't succeed," Li Yuan said casually, shaking his head indifferently.
Li Qianqian and Li Muhua glanced at each other.
"Brother, don't be discouraged. Even without awakening martial arts spirit, you can still get into a martial arts university," Li Qianqian chuckled. "Let's head home first. Mom just messaged me asking when we'll be back."
"Little brother, go to the property management office to pick up the delivery."
Li Qianqian pulled Li Yuan's sleeve and headed towards the direction of the elevator.
"Sis, last time I went to pick up the delivery, this time it's your turn," Muhua said with a helpless expression.
"Good little brother!"
"Qianqian, go with Muhua," Li Yuan patted Li Qianqian on the head.
"Brother!!!"
...
"Yi!" The door opened.
"Mom, Brother and we are back!" Li Qianqian called out before even entering the door.
"Everyone's back?"
Voices could also be heard inside the house.
Li Yuan followed his younger siblings into the house, entering last. Glancing around, he noted that the room was fairly spacious.
It's a four-bedroom, one-living room layout, covering an area of 130 square meters.
Visibly, various decorations and furnishings appeared somewhat outdated.
"Uncle, Aunt," Li Yuan greeted as he saw his uncle and aunt emerge from the bedroom. His aunt was dressed in long-sleeved pajamas and had no makeup on.
His uncle had gained some weight, with dark skin tone, but was neatly dressed in a black short-sleeved shirt, long pants, and outdoor sneakers on his feet.
"Ai Yuan," the aunt smiled when she saw Li Yuan.
"Qianqian, you and Muhua go back to your room, wash up. Your dad and I need to talk to your brother," Aunt instructed.
"Okay."
"Brother, don't open my package, okay? I want to open it myself later," Li Qianqian said as she pulled Muhua along and headed towards their room after setting down the delivery.
In the living room.
Only Li Yuan and his uncle and aunt remained.
"Uncle, another business trip?" Li Yuan whispered, noticing the large suitcase in the living room.
Li Yuan's uncle was a state-owned enterprise employee involved in civil engineering construction, frequently traveling nationwide for work. Business trips were a regular part of his life.
"Yeah, just got the notice this afternoon," nodded his uncle.
"Where are you going? Why the rush?" Li Yuan asked.
There was a hint of hesitation on his aunt's face.
"What's there to hide? Little Yuan is grown up now," his uncle chuckled, looking at Li Yuan. "I'm headed to North Xinjiang."
"Leaving in such a hurry, and to Northern Xinjiang again." Li Yuan was taken aback for a moment, then seemed to realize something, and his expression became slightly tense: "The Secondary Astral Realm 'Luo Bu Sea'?"