Chapter Seventeen: The Pinnacle Club

Luo Yuan stepped into the martial hall on the second floor of the Extreme Martial Arts Center and immediately saw several hundred people training inside. His eyes gleamed as he noticed the attribute bubbles falling from the bodies of these martial artists—most of them were orange, a color he had never seen before, clearly a higher level than the white and red bubbles. He eagerly went in to touch these attribute bubbles.

"Strength +3."
"Strength +3."
"Speed +3."
"Speed +3."
"Defense +3."
"Defense +3."
"Neural Reflex +3."
"Neural Reflex +3."
...
As expected, these were high-level attribute bubbles. Luo Yuan was delighted and began running, storing the bubbles into his attribute space.

To avoid trouble, he only revealed the speed of a beginner warrior, since most people on the second floor were beginners. Others saw him running and assumed he was practicing his footwork, so they paid him no mind. Besides, nobody recognized him; he was just another new martial artist in their eyes.

After two hours of gathering attributes on the second floor, Luo Yuan found that the beginner warriors had little left to offer. He hurried up to the third floor, then the fourth, continuing all the way to the ninth, picking up attributes as he went. He noticed that the higher the floor, the fewer people there were, but their strength increased.

Floors two through four were the training areas for beginner warriors; five through seven for intermediate warriors; eight and nine for advanced warriors. When Luo Yuan reached the ninth floor’s martial hall, he found only about thirty people there, but paid it no mind and immediately began running at full speed.

In fact, this ninth-floor martial hall was the training ground for the elite among advanced warriors—each possessed the strength to break through to the War General level. Luo Yuan’s speed wasn’t remarkable in their eyes, but his subtle, nuanced dodging technique drew their attention.

“Tsk, tsk, tsk. Where did this genius come from? He looks so young, yet already moves at an advanced warrior’s speed, and his footwork seems to be at the subtle mastery level. Many War Generals haven’t reached that degree of skill. Truly, the younger generation surpasses the old,” commented a burly, bearded middle-aged martial artist, looking at Luo Yuan with amazement.

“I don’t know him. He must be a newly promoted advanced warrior, but why haven’t we heard of him?” replied a short-haired, muscular middle-aged woman standing next to the bearded man.

After a few laps gathering attributes, Luo Yuan stopped and noticed everyone in the hall staring at him. He felt a bit awkward—why weren’t they training? Without them, there were no attributes for him to collect.

“Hello, everyone. I’m new here. Please, continue your training—don’t mind me,” Luo Yuan said with a smile.

Suddenly, a mature woman in her twenties with flowing red-brown hair approached him. Her figure was voluptuous, her tight, daring attire bold and unrestrained, her beautiful face alluring and seductive. Her slightly cold phoenix eyes resembled those of a snake, yet her calm demeanor somehow radiated a sense of security.

“You must be Luo Yuan. Hello, I’m Wang Qian, advanced warrior. Chief Instructor Wu called me yesterday and mentioned you, asked me to teach you some combat experience. I was planning to look for you this afternoon—didn’t expect to meet you now,” Wang Qian introduced herself with a smile, extending her hand.

“Ah, hello. Chief Instructor Wu is really efficient,” Luo Yuan replied, quickly shaking her hand. As he did, he felt a surge of strength from her grip. He exerted himself, using all 5,200 kilograms of his strength, yet still felt pain. He realized this woman was stronger than him, likely a top-tier advanced warrior.

Wang Qian watched Luo Yuan wince, then suddenly relaxed her grip and let go.

“Not bad. Your strength and speed are at the advanced warrior level, and your dodging technique has reached subtle mastery. No wonder you caught the supervisor’s eye—you’re quite the genius. I’m very interested in you,” Wang Qian said, licking her lips and giving him a flirtatious look. Luo Yuan couldn’t read her; women truly were unpredictable.

“Let’s go. We’ll head to a private training room and have a chat,” Wang Qian led Luo Yuan toward an isolated training room.

Their actions surprised the other advanced warriors in the hall, for Wang Qian, known as “Serpent Queen,” was a cold-blooded beauty notorious for her ruthlessness. She was also extremely proud and had never treated anyone so kindly—especially not a man.

“Wait, did she just say that kid is a genius who even impressed the supervisor? My god, has the supervisor been here? Who exactly is that kid?” exclaimed a bald middle-aged man. Instantly, the advanced warriors in the ninth-floor martial hall felt a mix of emotions.

Inside the private training room, Wang Qian produced a bottle of red wine and two goblets from somewhere. She handed Luo Yuan a glass and began pouring him wine.

“By the way, Luo Yuan, Chief Instructor Wu said yesterday you were only at the intermediate warrior level. How did you become an advanced warrior overnight?” Wang Qian asked naturally as she poured the wine, her snake-like eyes watching Luo Yuan’s expression closely.

“I cultivated the Five Hearts Toward Heaven technique yesterday. When I woke up today, I had the strength of an advanced warrior,” Luo Yuan answered honestly—this time, he truly wasn’t lying.

“What? You mastered the Five Hearts Toward Heaven technique in just one night and jumped straight from intermediate to advanced warrior? I thought you must have had some miraculous encounter,” Wang Qian’s eyes were filled with shock and a hint of melancholy. So, this was the difference between a genius martial artist and ordinary ones. She remembered it had taken her an entire week just to sense cosmic energy, and her strength had only increased by a thousand kilograms.

“All right, Luo Yuan. Since I promised to teach you combat experience, I won’t go back on my word. From now on, just call me Sister Qian. For the next three months or so, whenever you have time, come find me. If I’m free, I’ll teach you,” Wang Qian said earnestly, determined to guide this young man—helping him might benefit her own path as a martial artist.

“Today, I’ll teach you how to exert force, how to use terrain and fight enemies, how to efficiently and swiftly kill opponents…” Wang Qian patiently explained combat experience to Luo Yuan, especially her knowledge from fighting monsters and the peculiarities of their habits. Luo Yuan gained much from her guidance and had to admit that her experience was vast, likely paid for in blood and tears. He couldn’t help but feel a bit of admiration for her.

“All right, next is actual combat—I’ll be your opponent. Attack me any way you like, here,” Wang Qian said, taking two Blood Shadow War Blades from the weapon rack and tossing one to Luo Yuan. He caught it and found it surprisingly light, probably just over a hundred kilograms.

PS: Dear true gods, please reward, vote, and collect—Luo Yuan bows respectfully.