My Arts Evolve When Perfected

The unstoppable Three-Pointed Double-Edged Spear pressed down on Jiang Qiu’s spearhead, its tip about to slice open his head, when Lin Wei’s right arm suddenly met with resistance, like a raging flood hitting a dam. A flicker of astonishment flashed through his pupils.

In that fleeting moment of distraction, a torrent of Qi Blood and Strength erupted from the Double Arc Blade Spear Head. A Qi Blood-condensed Azure Dragon raised its head to stare him down. Though it was in a lower position, it radiated an aura of soaring into the heavens!

A chill ran down his spine.

CLANG—

A storm howled upward, resisting the momentum of the heaven-toppling slash. The Azure Dragon let out a long roar, angrily opened its great maw, and swallowed the crimson moon!

Lin Wei’s pupils widened. He was shocked to find his right arm trembling, bending, and losing control. He felt as if he were at the center of a tempest, trying to stir the clouds with a toothpick.

RIIIP, RIIIP, RIIIP—

In the instant after unleashing [Furious Dragon Ascending to Heaven], his clothes disintegrated like dust in a gale, and his body seemed to melt like a snow sculpture in a heatwave.

With a roar, the furious dragon raised its head, shattered the crimson moon’s phantom, and shot upward. It slammed into the hundred-meter-high barrier, wrapped in a surging gale and the storm’s aftershock, creating a massive ripple with a BOOM that sent the prodigies outside stumbling back in fright, their hearts pounding wildly.

A hundred meters?

A blood-red Azure Dragon, large enough to shatter a ten-meter-diameter crimson moon, shot toward the sky. It blasted through layers of sonic booms to crash against the barrier, the explosion of Qi Blood reflecting in everyone’s wide, silent eyes.

"A Tier Two Spear Skill?!"

Lin Xiao’s eyes flew open, his solemn expression draining of color. "He hasn’t even reached the Jade Sinew Realm, yet he’s managed to unleash the stance of a Tier Two Spear Skill. Is Jiang Qiu’s talent that monstrous?"

Liu Qi’s eyes also widened, the surging Qi Blood in his chest roiling as he thought with delight, ’Yes! He actually jumped a stage to beat the strongest, Lin Wei! He’s definitely getting that Su Fragrance refined from Vermilion Li Essence Blood!’

DING—

[Sparring Exchange Concluded]

[Jiang Qiu has defeated Lin Wei]

[Lin Wei’s projection is now reconstructing...]

The barrier’s external sound shield instantly deactivated. The crowd’s discussions rushed in like a great wave, bringing a surge of heat with them.

Jiang Qiu panted heavily, patting away the remnants of the black shirt on his upper body, which had been disintegrated by the force of the Momentum. His chest felt as hot as an overloaded furnace, roaring with power.

He casually retracted his long spear. Beads of sweat seeped from every pore, drenching his pants in moments.

[Momentum], [Spear Stance], [Blood Circulation], [Steel Arm]... and now, [Furious Dragon Ascending to Heaven] had also evolved to a new level of strength.

Jiang Qiu took a shallow breath. In his mirror-like pupils, Lin Wei’s projection coalesced once more. The prodigy who had been instantly killed was back on the field in the blink of an eye, his gaze vacant. "Your [Furious Dragon Ascending to Heaven] didn’t just break through... it also contains [Momentum]?"

It had taken him three years for his own [Moon Ascending Slash] to reach its current level. Yet, in the blink of an eye, the [Furious Dragon Ascending to Heaven] that had just been registered had already undergone its own evolution.

This evolution far surpassed that of [Moon Ascending Slash]. It was the kind of power that could only be achieved by fusing at least two types of stances to their absolute limit.

It had even allowed Jiang Qiu, whose Realm was lower than his own, to unleash the oppressive aura of a true Tier Two Spear Skill!

Lin Wei’s fingers twitched slightly, and his breath caught in his throat. He stared at the bare-chested young man before him, his mind replaying the image of the blood-red Azure Dragon taking form—its eyes overlapping with the spear’s tip as it shot toward the heavens with an air of absolute disdain!

"I am not your equal."

The words, once spoken, were like a jade-green leaf falling onto a calm lake.

Lin Wei’s gaze focused. He calmly clasped his hands in a fist-and-palm salute and lowered his chin slightly.

Jiang Qiu’s chest trembled slightly as a warm current flowed through him. The shouts in his ears were like thunder, and he could faintly hear Qiu Hu’s exclamation from outside the barrier: "Brother Jiang is number one!"

The match was over. No one applied to "experience" [Furious Dragon Ascending to Heaven]. The eyes of the non-commissioned officers and prodigies were all fixed on him, as if watching the great sun rise in the east as the moon set.

In front of the group of ordinary prodigies from the same class as Qiu Hu, Sun Yongsheng, and Cheng En, Yang Yu stared blankly at the young man in the center of the field receiving Lin Wei’s salute, her loosely clenched palm growing hotter and hotter.

’His talent surpasses even my brother’s. He’s destined to reach a position of dazzling brilliance.’

The thought flashed through her mind. Yang Yu bit her lower lip tightly, a shimmering light appearing in her ice-cold pupils. "Brother Jiang..."

The public recording session, punctuated by Lin Wei’s challenge, came to an end. Jiang Qiu’s projection vanished under the watchful eyes of the crowd. He blinked, and his soul returned to Pod #8.

"It was just a projection, but it felt excessively real. I can’t believe I went through a Life and Death Drill."

Walking out of the empty pod room, Jiang Qiu gasped for air. His black shirt wasn’t torn this time, but it was soaked and clinging to his skin. Every muscle and bone in his body ached as if he had just undergone major surgery.

The fight with Lin Wei had been exhilarating. The endless supply of Qi Blood had also laid the foundation for [Furious Dragon Ascending to Heaven] to display power beyond his Realm’s limits.

If it weren’t for the special environment of the Virtual Training Pod, unleashing [Furious Dragon Ascending to Heaven] at full power would have certainly shortened his lifespan; he might have even choked on his own blood and died on the spot.

Lin Wei, on the other hand, lacked the do-or-die determination and the stance born from facing death. Thus, his [Moon Ascending Slash] was doomed to be unable to accumulate greater power. And so, he lost.

Recalling all this, Jiang Qiu put his hands on his hips and grinned. "First on both lists. That means I’m first in the overall ranking too."

"DRING DRING DRING—"

A sudden ringtone interrupted his thoughts. He casually picked up the phone he had temporarily placed on the solid wood table and answered it with a BEEP.

"Sir."

"Excellent, excellent! You truly are a Martial Arts prodigy forged through hard work," Liu Qi’s hearty laughter erupted, his excitement as joyous as someone at a rave. "Now, even Lin Wei, who was born with [Martial Arts Talent], has lost to you! He’s already voluntarily given up competing with you for first place. The person with the first choice of Su Fragrance is, without a doubt, you!

"And I have good news for you. The best portion, the Demon Blood Fragrance, has already been refined. It’ll be delivered here ahead of schedule this afternoon. After General Mo has a meeting with a few executive committee members, you’ll be able to get it!"

"That fast?!"

Jiang Qiu’s eyes widened, surprise exploding inside him like a firecracker.

’Even using the Bone Su Fragrance for the first time caused me to transform. The Demon Blood Fragrance, the absolute best of the Middle Level Su Fragrances, will definitely do the same.’

’And it’s refined from the Essence Blood of an Ancestral Great Demon! The best of the best. The transformation it brings won’t be small!’

"Haha, of course it’s fast. General Mo paid a visit to the Dongqi Lake development base. The Su Fragrance specialist who just got stationed there is very efficient."

Liu Qi chuckled, then suddenly remembered. "Oh, right! The Contribution Point reward for you recording [Furious Dragon Ascending to Heaven] has been evaluated by Committee Member Lin Xiao. 5,000 Contribution Points have been transferred to your account."

"He’s a pretty generous guy, hehe. He gave 3,000 Contribution Points for the evaluation of [Moon Ascending Slash] back then, too."

"I see you haven’t spent any of your Contribution Points, and now you’ve just received so many more. You should consider saving them up."

"In the future, if you come across a great opportunity and get your hands on the main ingredients for an Advanced Su Fragrance that’s even better than the Demon Blood Fragrance, you can use your Contribution Points to exchange for the supplementary materials that you can’t buy with money. An Advanced Su Fragrance refined like that would have outstanding effects!"

"But that’s all too far in the future to be talking about now. You don’t have access to Advanced Su Fragrance yet..."