Chapter 36 – The heart of striving for progress


“Um, I have already learned the second level, and I haven’t found any major problems so far,” Xu Zong blinked his eyes and said honestly.

“Learn…learned to which level?” Puka suddenly froze.

“The second level.”

“You learned it?”

“I learned it.”

“…”

Puka stared at him in disbelief, then reached out his hand.

“Come, let’s shake hands!”

He didn’t seem to fully believe Xu Zong’s words, which was understandable because his achievements in the past month were truly unbelievable.

World Annihilation was extremely difficult to cultivate. Not only did it require mastering multiple forces, but each level also required learning a unique technique. In the end, one had to be able to integrate two forces together. It was even more difficult to enter the realm of World Annihilation than mastering the Nine Thunderous Blades!

To say that you learned the first two levels in less than a month, who would believe that? Even if it was Hong himself, it would take him several months to overcome the difficulties of World Annihilation if he were to start over and encounter this gun technique!

After all, 2.7 times the force was already an excellent level among the War Gods!

The senators on Earth generally had only three to four times the force. Someone like Puka, who learned the third level of World Annihilation at the advanced War God stage and had 3.6 times the force, was already almost invincible below the senators!

Since Puka invited him, Xu Zong had no reason to refuse.

The two of them shook hands on the table. As their fists clashed, a continuous gust of force blew. After just a few moves, Puka understood Xu Zong’s level.

“That’s enough,” Puka withdrew his hands and looked at Xu Zong with a face full of admiration. “I never expected that there would be such a monster in the world. It’s unbelievable that you were able to master the second level of World Annihilation in about twenty days!”

Someone like him had been practicing for nearly ten years to reach his current level!

“A true genius indeed, completely unreasonable!” Puka sighed repeatedly.

His teacher, Hong, had warned him before that the universe was far from being as simple as Earth people imagined. There were many existences in the universe that completely disregarded reason!

“Puka War God, you flatter me. Actually, I have encountered some difficulties recently,” Xu Zong smiled and then humbly asked a question. “My gun technique is approaching the ‘Perfection’ stage, but I don’t know much about the next realm, the ‘Realm of Artistic Conception.’ I wonder if Puka War God can explain it to me?”

With this modest question, Xu Zong made Puka feel respected again.

Bai Ziwen and the unfamiliar young man next to him also perked up their ears.

“The Realm of Artistic Conception…” Puka pondered for a while and carefully chose his words. “It’s not easy to explain this realm. It’s all about things that are hard to describe. But if I have to say, I think the key is imagination!”

“Imagination?”

“Yes, don’t follow rigid doctrines, but imagine like a child. Fully immerse yourself in imagination, and it will be easier to enter the realm of Artistic Conception!”

It was clear that Puka couldn’t say much about this realm.

Bai Ziwen and the unfamiliar young man seemed to understand but not fully comprehend. They couldn’t understand the connection between practicing gun techniques and imagining like a child.

Xu Zong fell into contemplation, as if he had realized something from their conversation.

Imagination?

Wasn’t that similar to Xingyi Quan?

When experts of Internal Martial Arts reached a high level in Xingyi Quan, they would abandon the “form” and instead comprehend the “intention.”

Emphasizing form over intention, emphasizing form and intention equally, emphasizing intention over form… Once they reached the third stage, they could be free from fixed techniques. They could effortlessly use any attack or defense technique, freely and naturally.

“Thank you, Puka War God. I think I understand a bit!” Xu Zong thanked Puka sincerely.

Huh?

What do you understand?

Not only Bai Ziwen, but even Puka himself looked at Xu Zong with a puzzled expression. When those words came out, even Puka didn’t quite understand what he meant. He was worried that he might have misled Xu Zong, but then Xu Zong suddenly said he understood?

Seriously, what do you understand?

After glancing at the confused Bai Ziwen and the unfamiliar young man, Puka finally examined himself.

He had to admit that the gap between people was truly extraordinary!

An hour and a half later.

The plane landed at the airport of the Global Headquarters of the Extreme Martial Arts School in Hongning Base City.

Hongning Base City was one of the six base cities under China’s jurisdiction. Located in western Asia, it was closer to Europe. In the normal course of history, it should have been the location of those Stan countries.

Because of Hong’s presence, Hongning Base City was undoubtedly the safest place in the world. Every year, countless wealthy people wanted to move here, but the population was controlled to around 80 million.

In this era, a base city with a population of 80 million was relatively rare. Normally, base cities had a population of one billion, and prosperous base cities like Jiangnan had a population of two billion.

After getting off the plane, the group boarded the extended version of the Cadillac exclusive to the martial arts school. After half an hour of driving, Puka dropped off Bai Ziwen and the unfamiliar young man at the basic training camp. Then, he drove with Xu Zong for another ten minutes before finally arriving at the elite training camp.

At the spacious entrance.

As soon as the two got off the car, they saw a fifty-meter-high giant sculpture rushing into their eyes, emitting an astonishing aura that made even Xu Zong, who was prepared, involuntarily hold his breath.

“This is just a sculpture, no need to be nervous,” Puka chuckled lightly, dispelling the tense atmosphere in the air. “You can take a closer look.”

“Okay.”

Xu Zong nodded slightly and walked forward.

The sculpture was fifty meters high and lifelike. It could be considered a landmark building in the entire city. Especially its eyes, they seemed alive, exuding a strong dark aura.

Embedded in the sculpture, like dragon scales, were small screens.

NO.1: Brent Terys (560342)

NO.2: Dai Longwei (560302)

NO.3: Cai Lin (570501)

NO.169: Marin Gray (600323)

NO.170: Li Weiyang (600324)

From top to bottom, a total of 170 names.

It was worth mentioning that the first hundred names all started with 56, 57, 58, or 59, while the last 24 names all started with 60.

“This is the ranking of the sculpture, like the academic ranking in ordinary schools,” Puka explained as he walked up, seeing Xu Zong’s gaze focused on these names.

“The numbers after the names are the IDs. The first two digits represent the year of enrollment, the middle two digits represent the month of enrollment, and the last two digits represent the student number.”

“The elite training camp is a five-year special school. The ones starting with 56 are the first batch of students, and 60, which is this year, is the fifth batch. If the number is 24, it means that 24 students from the 60th batch have already registered.”

“You are also from the 60th batch, but you were recommended separately. You will receive a number after passing the B-level test, but it will definitely start with 6003.”

Xu Zong nodded in understanding. These things were obviously common knowledge, and he could guess the numbers based on what was written.

“The elite training camp graduates about thirty to forty students every year and admits the same number of new students. Seventy to eighty percent of them are absorbed from the basic training camp, and only a small number are allocated to the various base cities. These quotas are very rare. It’s normal for a base city to not get a quota for four to five years!”

Puka continued to explain to Xu Zong. He had a good impression of Xu Zong, so he naturally spoke more.

“The elite training camp graduates almost all become powerful War Gods! That’s why it’s also called the War God Training Camp. When you were selected here, your information was already on the desks of the leaders of major forces around the world!”

Almost all graduates of the elite training camp became powerful War Gods!

Just this point alone made Xu Zong amazed.

After all, the total number of War Gods in the world was only a few hundred. Providing thirty to forty fresh War Gods every year, the elite training camp was truly admirable. No wonder global forces were paying attention to this place. It was the largest and most powerful talent cultivation base in the world!

“Follow me, let’s go and take the B-level test first!”

Puka led the way into the training camp, and Xu Zong quickly followed.

Although it was a training camp, the environment here was very beautiful. Because Hong was Chinese, most of the buildings were in ancient Chinese style. There were not only palaces and pavilions but also many pavilions and rockeries. From time to time, young people could be seen walking between the buildings, representing various races such as yellow, white, and black.

“Puka War God, hello!”

From time to time, the young people would greet Puka.

“I also graduated from the elite training camp before. Now, even though I have graduated, I occasionally come to give lectures and be a teacher,” Puka chuckled and responded warmly to the greetings of the young people.

“We’re here. This is the key place of the entire elite training camp, the Ninefold Tower!”

Puka stopped with Xu Zong in the center of the palace group.

There was a nine-story tall tower in the style of ancient China. Although it only had nine floors, it was taller than most twenty-story buildings. The number of people entering and leaving here was several times more than other places, indicating that this was the core building of the training camp!

Although the exterior looked ancient, Xu Zong immediately noticed that the interior was highly technological. The floors and walls were made of hard alloy, and there were two elevators in the corners. In the hall, many men and women could be seen practicing knife techniques, gun techniques, and more. Each of them had an impressive aura.

“There are three people here who are comparable to Han Qihu!” Xu Zong scanned the surroundings and couldn’t help but lick his lips in excitement.

This was the place he should be!

Up to now, although he possessed terrifying talent that no one could match, he always maintained an upward mentality.

Some people might say that since he had the talent to cultivate without bottlenecks, he could just keep practicing until he became the Lord of the Origin and never retire.

But Xu Zong would never think that way.

That was the approach of a passive person. It’s not that this approach was bad, it just didn’t fit Xu Zong’s intentions.

In this world, there were always some people who had already achieved great success and had countless wealth, but they still remained active in their field and had no plans to retire.

His experiences from his previous life, the uniqueness of this world he was reborn into, and the results of his meditation practice had given Xu Zong a strong desire to strive forward!

This was also the reason why he had the strength of an advanced student at the age of only sixteen without any external assistance. People without the will to actively strive would not achieve such results.

“Follow me, let’s go and take the B-level test!” Puka led the way, and Xu Zong quickly followed.

Although it was a training camp, the environment here was very beautiful. Because Hong was Chinese, most of the buildings were in ancient Chinese style. There were not only palaces and pavilions but also many pavilions and rockeries. From time to time, young people could be seen walking between the buildings, representing various races such as yellow, white, and black.

“Puka War God, hello!”

From time to time, the young people would greet Puka.

“I also graduated from the elite training camp before. Now, even though I have graduated, I occasionally come to give lectures and be a teacher,” Puka chuckled and responded warmly to the greetings of the young people.

“We’re here. This is the key place of the entire elite training camp, the Ninefold Tower!”

Puka stopped with Xu Zong in the center of the palace group.

There was a nine-story tall tower in the style of ancient China. Although it only had nine floors, it was taller than most twenty-story buildings. The number of people entering and leaving here was several times more than other places, indicating that this was the core building of the training camp!

Although the exterior looked ancient, Xu Zong immediately noticed that the interior was highly technological. The floors and walls were made of hard alloy, and there were two elevators in the corners. In the hall, many men and women could be seen practicing knife techniques, gun techniques, and more. Each of them had an impressive aura.

“There are three people here who are comparable to Han Qihu!” Xu Zong scanned the surroundings and couldn’t help but lick his lips in excitement.

This was the place he should be!

Up to now, although he possessed terrifying talent that no one could match, he always maintained an upward mentality.

Some people might say that since he had the talent to cultivate without bottlenecks, he could just keep practicing until he became the Lord of the Origin and never retire.

But Xu Zong would never think that way.

That was the approach of a passive person. It’s not that this approach was bad, it just didn’t fit Xu Zong’s intentions.

In this world, there were always some people who had already achieved great success and had countless wealth, but they still remained active in their field and had no plans to retire.

His experiences from his previous life, the uniqueness of this world he was reborn into, and the results of his meditation practice had given Xu Zong a strong desire to strive forward!

This was also the reason why he had the strength of an advanced student at the age of only sixteen without any external assistance. People without the will to actively strive would not achieve such results.


Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *