The walls were made of cold metal, bathed in a soft light.
Qin Feng returned to the familiar Martial Arts Room C-709, located aboard the Space Fortress.
He leaned against the wall, panting heavily. Every inch of his body screamed in agony.
But he ignored it all, immediately starting to calculate his gains from the past three days and nights.
His combat record, frankly, was pitiful.
In the non-stop, high-intensity battles, he had only managed to kill a total of fifteen Level 2 Green Skins and, along with dozens of other Martial Artists, painstakingly ground down a single Level 3 Green Skin during a large-scale encirclement.
According to the rules, points for a team kill were split evenly.
"Teacher, how many points do I have now?"
Qin Feng asked.
Lin Yue pulled up a terminal, glanced at it, and said, "Before you came, you had 175 points. In these three days, you earned 150 points for killing Level 2 Green Skins. For that Level 3 Green Skin, you only got 25 points because too many people participated in the siege. So, your current total is 325 points."
Qin Feng nodded slightly, committing the number to memory.
Though his combat record was lackluster, his strength had improved by leaps and bounds!
He opened his system panel.
[Slaughter Method]:
Thousand Army Spear (Perfection)
[Proficiency]: 12121 / 100000
In just three short days of frantic tempering on the edge of life and death, the proficiency of his had actually soared by more than ten thousand points!
This was even more effective than a month of ranked matches in the Imperial Arena!
And another Slaughter Method gave him a pleasant surprise.
[Slaughter Method]:
Vicious Bird Fist (Great Success Realm)
[Proficiency]: 1173 / 10000
His had unknowingly broken through to the Great Success Realm!
And with the breakthrough of the fist technique, a brand-new understanding flooded his mind.
He stood up from the floor and began to move slowly around the empty Martial Arts Room.
His footwork was no longer the smooth and steady movement of the Dragon Body Technique; instead, it had become filled with aggression and offensive intent.
At times, he was like a raptor diving, incredibly swift; at others, like a vicious bird twisting and turning, strangely unpredictable.
This was a completely new Body Technique!
The Vicious Bird Body Technique focused on offensive momentum, perfectly complementing his attack techniques to enhance his forward dash speed and explosive power.
The exact opposite of the defense and evasion-focused Dragon Body Technique, the was a Body Technique born purely for offense!
Qin Feng’s Combat System had once again gained an important new piece!
He picked up a spare long spear from the side, more deeply integrating the insights from his into his spear arts.
The spear techniques he now displayed possessed both the weighty power of the and the fierce swiftness of the , making them more fluid and far more lethal.
To his greater surprise, he discovered that during countless battles fought at his absolute limit, he had unconsciously integrated some of the force-application skills from the into every single one of his combat movements.
Every block, every swing of his spear, every dodge, now secretly followed the rhythm of the Body Refining Technique.
This meant that while he was fighting, his proficiency in the Body Refining Technique was also slowly increasing!
Using battle to fuel battle, cultivating his Body Refining Technique in the midst of combat!
This was Qin Feng’s latest epiphany.
This method of cultivation was slower than dedicated Body Refining Technique practice, but it allowed him to cultivate his Slaughter Methods at the same time and was perfectly suited for use on the battlefield.
’Fighting at your limit is the best form of cultivation!’
For the first time, Qin Feng had such a profound understanding of this sentence.
He even had a faint feeling that if he continued down this path, he might... be able to create a spear art that was truly, uniquely his own!
After reviewing his gains in strength, Qin Feng began to consider another practical problem—resources.
He opened the exchange mall on the private network and found the option to redeem an "Advanced Spiritual Energy Potion."
[Advanced Spiritual Energy Potion: Price 300 points/vial.]
’Three hundred points a vial...’
And promoting to an A-rank contract required a full ten thousand points.
Qin Feng began to calculate quickly in his mind.
’At my current rate of consumption, I’ll need at least ten Advanced Spiritual Energy Potions a month just to maintain my peak training efficiency.’
’The B-rank contract provides three per month. This means I need to buy an extra seven each month.’
’Seven vials is two thousand one hundred points.’
’And at my current strength, earning two or three thousand points a month on the battlefield isn’t difficult. Besides, the number of potions I get will increase by one each month.’
’If I buy them individually, I can exchange points for resources at any time and immediately invest them in my training.’
’But if I choose to save up ten thousand points to upgrade to an A-rank contract, the process will take too long. By the time I have enough points, my strength might have already surpassed the need for an A-rank contract.’
After some calculation, Qin Feng made his decision instantly.
He wouldn’t upgrade to an A-rank contract!
He would buy the potions individually with his points!
He would raise his strength as fast as possible!
’Right now, from my B-rank contract resources, I still have two Advanced Spiritual Energy Potions, two advanced deep-repair medicinal baths, and two Mid-Level Spiritual Energy Recovery Potions left...’
’The Spiritual Energy Potions are a must-have. The rest can be put aside for now. Points must be used where they’re most effective.’
A new, crystal-clear training plan formed in his mind.
’From now on, I’ll operate on a three-day cycle.’
’I’ll consume a Spiritual Energy Potion, then enter the battlefield and fight like mad until I’m completely exhausted.’
’During battle, I must think more, reflect more, and focus on comprehending and creating new Slaughter Methods, while completely integrating my Body Refining Technique.’
’After I’m exhausted, I’ll return to the fortress and use three days to recover, consolidate my gains, and cultivate my Mental Power.’
’And repeat the cycle!’
Once his plan was set, Qin Feng finally looked up at Lin Yue, who had been sitting quietly to the side the entire time without disturbing him.
"Hm?"
Lin Yue seemed to know what he wanted to ask and pointed to the other side of the room. "The washroom is over there. If you want to rest, there’s a bed."
She shrugged and added, "You don’t need to mind me; just carry on with your plan. Pretend I’m not here."
"Okay, Teacher. Thank you," Qin Feng said with a sincere nod.
Hearing this, Lin Yue suddenly smiled. "No need to thank me. I’m actually completing an Empire mission by taking on this ’Guardian’ task for you. When the mission is complete, I’ll also receive Imperial Contribution Points as a reward."
Despite her words, Qin Feng thanked her again.
He walked into the washroom, rinsing the bloodstains and fatigue from his body with hot water, then poured an entire packet of advanced deep-repair medicinal bath into the tub.
Under the effects of the medicinal power, his body slowly recovered. His physical form grew tougher, and his vitality index steadily rose.
He then consumed another Advanced Spiritual Energy Potion before returning to the bed and falling into a deep sleep.
-----------------
On a battlefield of blood and fire, time is both the cheapest and fastest-flowing unit of measurement.
A month passed in the blink of an eye.
When Qin Feng once again dragged his exhausted, blood-soaked body back from the Purgatory-VII battlefield to the Space Fortress "Divine Shield-III," his entire temperament had undergone a world-shaking transformation.
His greenness and immaturity had long since been completely washed away. In their place was a calmness like that of a ten-thousand-year-old glacier and a pair of eyes as tranquil as an ancient well, as if they had seen through life and death itself.
In this month, he had experienced over a hundred battles, large and small.
He had once gone deep behind enemy lines with an elite squad of veterans, raiding over a thousand kilometers to take out a massive Green Skin "WAAAGH! Mill," making a narrow escape amidst a sky full of fiery explosions.
He had also been forced to lead a group of "newbie" grunts just like him, holding a canyon besieged on three sides by the Green-skinned Army for two full days and nights until reinforcements arrived.
He learned how to find the safest route to advance through a hail of gunfire;
He learned how to judge an artillery shell’s point of impact from its whistle;
He learned how to form the most effective offensive and defensive alliance with complete strangers in a single second.
He had killed cunning Green Skin snipers, cut down rampaging Green Skin war-tanks, and even, during one brutal encirclement, personally drove his long spear into the heart of a Third-level Warlord.
He was no longer the "newbie" who needed protection.
In this cruel meat grinder, he had grown into a truly qualified and trustworthy Iron Blood Warrior that any teammate could rely on.
...
Inside Martial Arts Room C-709.
Qin Feng sat cross-legged, silently reviewing his gains and changes over the past month.
He opened his data panel.
[Name]: Qin Feng
[Vitality Index]: 21.23
[Martial Artist Level]: Second Level Martial Artist
Looking at this number, Qin Feng’s brow furrowed slightly.
One month.
After a whole month of non-stop, high-intensity, life-and-death combat, his vitality index had only increased by 1.21 points.
Compared to his previous terrifying efficiency of gaining 0.2 points a day, this speed was worlds apart.
And the resources he had consumed to achieve this were enormous.
The three Advanced Spiritual Energy Potions from his B-rank contract, plus another two he had exchanged for with all his points, made for a total of five advanced potions, all of which were long gone.
"The rate of improvement has slowed down."
Qin Feng calmly analyzed his current situation.
’First, it’s because after my reached Perfection, the passive boost from the system disappeared. Every point of progress now has to be earned through my own hard-fought struggle.’
’Second, and most importantly, I haven’t been setting aside large blocks of time for the tedious practice of the Body Refining Technique. Instead, I’ve integrated its circulation into my combat. While this method allows me to adapt to the battlefield and improve my Slaughter Methods faster, the frequency at which I push my body to its absolute limit has been greatly reduced.’
’Back in the academy, I could perform three to four sessions of extreme body refining in a single day. But now, on the battlefield, I have to fight continuously for three days and nights just to truly push my body and mind to their limit once. The efficiency is naturally worlds apart.’
He also compared it to another training approach in his mind.
’If I had first used my resource advantage to go into seclusion on the Space Fortress and raise my vitality index all the way to 30.0, then when I entered the battlefield, the pressure I’d feel from those Level 2, or even Level 3, Green Skins would be much less. In that case, the progress of my Slaughter Methods would inevitably become incredibly slow.’
’The way it is now is just right.’
’The high-intensity pressure of battle can maximize the tempering of my Slaughter Realm and Combat Will. And while integrating the Body Refining Technique into combat is less efficient, the gains are more solid. In any case, this mission lasts for a year. I have plenty of time.’
’Besides, even if I raised my vitality index to 30.0 early on, what then? I’d still be stuck at that level, waiting for next year’s Qiming Inter-Academy Tournament.’
Once he thought this through, the trace of anxiety in Qin Feng’s heart over his slowed progress vanished.
The path of the Martial Dao was never meant to be accomplished overnight.
Sometimes, consolidation is more important than reckless advancement.