CHAPTER 59: CHAPTER 59: STAR MARTIAL ART CHAMPIONSHIP

RING, RING, RING—

"Class dismissed..."

"We can’t trust anything Wang Lan says from now on. It’s just so infuriating..."

As the bell rang, the students, as if fleeing for their lives, scurried back to their seats.

But Wang Lan was really innocent!

He truly didn’t know the theoretical knowledge concerning the morphological and property changes of Star Power. Even if he did, it would be a case of knowing *what* happened without knowing *why*. After Mingyue Wucheng’s explanation, Wang Lan combined it with his practical experience and finally grasped the underlying theory.

Heaven be my witness... it wasn’t intentional to demoralize others.

The morphological changes were one thing, but the property changes plunged Wang Lan into another spell of confusion.

Although he had successfully produced flames, what was the first step? Separating attribute-based Star Power?

According to Mingyue Wucheng, every Star Martial Warrior could sense their own Star Power Attribute unless it was a hidden one. But even for hidden attributes, it wasn’t about being unable to classify the type. Rather, it didn’t mean they couldn’t feel the differences.

Yet, Wang Lan felt that his own Star Power was perfectly integrated and uniform, with no distinctions... he even doubted how the seventy percent Fire Attribute and thirty percent Yang Attribute were originally measured.

If the first step was wrong, everything that followed would naturally be mistaken too. But bizarrely, how could it mysteriously correct itself by the second step? Since when was the cultivation system of Star Martial Warriors so laid-back? Could one really just ignore errors and click ’next’? What happened to being rigorous?

If Wang Lan were a regular student, he should aim for the college entrance exam, attend a good university, and then join a company or start his own business. His success on this path would depend on his academic performance.

There was only one way to improve grades: grinding practice questions. So, this was a path that had always been crystal clear to Wang Lan.

But Wang Lan was now a Star Martial Warrior. Similarly, his life path also broadly involved a college entrance exam, getting into a top Star Martial Academy, and then either joining the Tianjian Bureau, the military, or the Pioneer Legion.

However, the ’college entrance exam’ for Star Martial Warriors didn’t rely solely on academic grades, nor could it be passed by simply grinding practice questions.

Star Martial Warriors needed Star Martial Levels, practical combat strength, cultivation, and Star Martial Skills.

「Before he knew it, half a month had passed.」

After half a month of systematic study and organization, Wang Lan finally understood the direction for progression in a Star Martial Warrior’s system.

The advancement of Star Martial Warriors fell into two categories: the poor relied on arduous training, while the rich relied on spending money.

Where does Star Power come from, and how does it exist? To date, there is no solid theoretical system. As of now, the generally accepted theory is cellular energy—the Life Force. The most compelling evidence for this was that Star Martial Warriors could extract Star Power from their cells, but this method is harmful to the body.

Just think about it – when you depleted the energy of normally functioning cells, those cells would lack nourishment and die. Human cells directly affect lifespan; overexploiting cellular energy is tantamount to depleting life.

But... what if you don’t want to exploit cellular energy? The only known method was drawing out Star Power, and if the cells were overexploited, you could only try to replenish by eating more.

Still, as the saying goes about the Way of Heaven, "diminish the excessive and supplement the deficient." No matter how much one replenished, what was overdrawn remained overdrawn.

Everyone understood this. That was why, if possible, it was best to augment Star Power by absorbing Soul Beads. These beads contained refined Star Power that could completely replace cellular Star Power.

This was also why Song Bo and the others felt animosity towards Jiang Xinyu and her peers – it was pure jealousy. What, commoners could become geniuses just through hard work? Deep down, they envied Jiang Xinyu and her peers for their good fortune.

Everyone’s parents lacked the talent of Star Martial Warriors. But just because your family could afford Soul Beads, you not only didn’t need to extract cellular energy but could also advance quickly with their help.

Why am I not born into a wealthy family? Why am I not a rich second-generation? Even a wild one would do!

However, most students from poor backgrounds didn’t harbor such resentment towards the rich. Although it might seem unfair, the world is inherently unfair. The money of the rich isn’t simply blown in by the wind.

The rich relied on spending money, while the poor relied on their sheer tenacity—a stark manifestation of this reality.

Yet... this law seemed not to apply to Wang Lan.

Wang Lan was rich, very rich! He couldn’t be bothered to count the number of zeroes in his bank account.

But even if Wang Lan wanted to splurge, he had nowhere to do it.

For Wang Lan, Soul Beads had only two uses: adding one skill point or recovering Star Power.

No matter how much he splurged, it wouldn’t break the upper limit of his Star Power. He had tested this many times in the Trial Ground. During the assault battle against the Demon Soldiers, Wang Lan used a hundred Soul Beads at a time, only to end up simply replenishing Star Power and skill points.

Skill points are great... pretty good indeed. But skill points are limited by the Star Power Level, by the character level. Even if you max out all skills at the Silver level, what then? Any additional skill points would just collect dust.

So ultimately, leveling up his character was the foremost priority. If his character could level up, spending skill points was always worth it. Next was earning skill points to enhance skill levels and increase his strength.

So the question arises: where to get experience points?

Maybe... Wang Lan could encounter a few more schemes by the Demon Clan, and then, just by chance, play a crucial role in thwarting their conspiracies?

Heh... wishful thinking.

Then there were only two methods left: hunting Exotic Beasts and challenging Star Martial Warriors.

The Trial Ground was closed for renovations, and when it would reopen was anyone’s guess. As for challenging Star Martial Warriors, I do meet the conditions for it, but... with what reason? Should I really set up a fighting ring?

Looking up, he glanced at Song Bo, intentionally or otherwise.

RING, RING, RING—

The bell signaling the end of class rang, and it was time for lunch.

Starving for nearly an hour, the pack of famished students didn’t even bother using the classroom door. They simply zipped out through the windows.

The school cafeteria meals were rationed, and if you arrived late, you wouldn’t even get a spoonful of soup. Only the children from wealthy families or Star Martial Warrior clans would leisurely stand up and leave the classroom.

"The takeout will arrive in ten minutes, shall we wait a bit?" Xu Xiangwen said, looking at his phone.

From the first day of school, Wang Lan and the others had been taking turns ordering takeout. Go to the cafeteria? All you’d find was a mess.

"What was up with you this morning, Wang Lan?" Jiang Xinyu asked indifferently as she packed up her books.

"What?" Wang Lan turned around, a confused look on his face.

"You glanced at Song Bo seventeen times today. Is there something wrong with him?"

"Before I answer that question, you answer me: just how bored were you this morning? You counted the seventeen times I looked at Song Bo?"

"The teacher was talking about things I already know, so it doesn’t matter whether I listen or not. But what’s up with you? Don’t tell me that fight actually made you two develop a mutual admiration?"

Wang Lan’s mouth twitched. This woman’s way of thinking truly couldn’t be fathomed with common sense. "I was just thinking, what reason could I find to hit him one more time?"

"Just for that?"

"Yep!"

"Do you even need a reason for that? Just walk over and punch him. Or if you want to be more polite, just say, ’Song Bo, please enlighten me.’"

Wang Lan looked at Jiang Xinyu’s confident tone. She must have done this often. "You don’t mean just one beating, do you?"

"Did he offend you again?"

"No, it’s just that recently... I just really want to hit someone, preferably a Star Martial Warrior whose strength is just slightly weaker than mine. Hitting them ten or eight times a day for a year should be about right..."

Wang Lan’s voice drifted out of the classroom. Song Bo, who had just remembered he’d forgotten his spoon, froze at the turn of the stairs, cold sweat instantly drenching him.

Getting hit by Wang Lan once had already cowed him, especially since Wang Lan’s strength wasn’t something he could defy just because he was unconvinced.

He had thought that as long as he didn’t provoke Wang Lan, he could live in peace. But to his great surprise... Are you actually scheming to beat me up for no reason? Ten or eight times a day? For a whole year?

Damn it!

He must switch classes... Otherwise, he really might get beaten to death!

In the end, Song Bo didn’t dare to enter the classroom for his spoon. He only knew that that afternoon, whenever Song Bo saw Wang Lan, he would avoid him.

The day passed by uneventfully, leaving Wang Lan quite anxious.

Apart from acquiring ten experience points and one skill point during today’s combat training, there were no other gains.

But such a small amount of experience and skill points wasn’t even enough to fill the gaps between his teeth.

Standing at the bus stop, a bored Wang Lan scanned the hurrying men and women. Suddenly, an advertisement on the bus stop billboard caught his eye.

"The third Suzhou City Star Martial Championship awaits your challenge!"

A flashy poster with a stirring slogan.

The Suzhou City Star Martial Championship... Wang Lan had heard of it; it seemed to be a very popular show in Suzhou City. Especially when its first season was released, during its prime time slot, it caused a city-wide sensation that lasted for a full six months.

But back then, Wang Lan only heard his classmates discussing it; he himself had never watched it.

Still in high school and watching variety shows? Following TV series?

Were Chinese reading comprehensions not engaging enough? Were mathematical symbols not aesthetically pleasing? Were political ideologies not edifying? Were English words not beautiful...?

Back then, Wang Lan was oblivious to the world outside, his heart set only on studying.

Little did he know, it had already reached its third season without him noticing.

After taking the bus back to Xinyu Building, Wang Lan didn’t waste any time in the Training Room.

"Xiao Ai, order me some takeout and open the computer. I need to look up something."

"Sure! How about stone pot bibimbap for you, Wang Lan?"

"Too hot, I can’t eat that in this weather."

"Then how about sirloin steak?"

"That might give me diarrhea, right? Forget it, forget it, expecting an artificial intelligence like you to understand taste preferences is truly asking too much. From Lighthouse Restaurant, just order a Deluxe Carnival for three."

"Okay!"

By the time Wang Lan came to the study after his shower, the computer was already on. He opened the browser and entered "Suzhou City Star Martial Championship."

Instantly, the official webpage popped up; the homepage featured a registration link with the call to action: "Awaiting Your Challenge!"

The Star Martial Championship was held every autumn. How long it lasted, he didn’t know. It seemed to involve preliminaries, the official competition, and then round after round of duels until a champion was finally decided.

This stage didn’t recognize runners-up or third places, much less rankings from first to tenth. This was a championship; there was only one victor.

This also distinguished it from talent shows. It was both a variety program and a competition, with no live judges—only losers collapsing on the stage and victors left standing.

Because of the show’s popularity, it seemed the champions of the first two seasons not only won prize money but also successfully debuted, becoming Star Martial celebrities.