Chapter 15: Aiming for the Pinnacle

For a moment, there was silence on the other side of other side of the phone as Jack mentally repeated Yulian’s words in his mind. Then, the moment passed. “Are you sure, Yulian? Is your fist strength above 900 kg?” Jack thought that Yulian was playing a prank on him.

“Wait a minute, let me show you. I am turning the video calling feature on. Are you able to see this clearly?” Jack’s cell phone screen displayed Yulian waving his hands in front of the Fist Testing Machine. Yulian then punched, and the power of the punch displayed on the screen. “945 kg!”

Seeing the spectacle, Jack’s fantasy of this being a prank disappeared. “Wait a moment, can you punch again? I need to send this to a friend. You remember that young fighter we met that day, Catalan Paulinus? I am sending this to him.”

Yulian punched once again. This time, the screen displayed ‘948 kg!’.

“Done. Yulian, as a fighter, Catalan is a busy person, so I think it will take some time for him to reply back. Congratulations on breaking through… I am proud of you.” As he spoke, Jack’s tone became a bit melancholic. “It won’t take long for you to become a fighter now. Do not falter in your training now that you have reached your goal. As a prospective fighter who hasn’t even turned 10 yet, you hold infinite potential. Don’t let it go to waste.” With these final words, Jack ended the call.

‘Congratulations on breaking through… I am proud of you.’ Jack’s words lingered within Yulian’s mind. In the time Yulian had lived with him, Yulian had never tried to get closer to Jack, preferring to train instead. Even Jack stayed aloof from Yulian for most of the time. Even so, Yulian still unconsciously seeked approval from Jack, and when he said those words, it was as if a 1000 pound weight was removed from his back!

With newfound enthusiasm, Yulian decided to train. Without picking up his saber, Yulian began punching. This was the Nine Yang Thunder Fist, the foundation technique of the Nine Stage Thunder Blade.

As Yulian punched out, a sound of thunder rumbling emanated from his muscles. The Nine Yang Thunder Fist, when mastered to perfection, would bring this sound. Five minutes later after completing the stances, Yulian picked up his 7 foot saber and began slashing out the forms of the Nine Stage Thunder Blade!

Slash! Slash! Slash! Slash! Yulian had already perfected the forms of the Nine Stage Thunder Blade’s blade techniques, so the blade was like flowing river water, fast yet gentle. Even so, Yulian felt that there was an inconsistency in his technique, keeping it a single step away from perfection. After diligently drilling his saber technique, Yulian finally realized his mistake.

“My saber technique has a trace of gentleness and dreamlike beauty within it, originating from training in the sword! The Nine Stage Thunder Blade is neither gentle nor beautiful! It is fast and ruthless, like the boom of thunder and the merciless lightning!” Originally, Zhang Wei, his Warlord trainer, has taught him sword techniques as the foundation. The sword and the saber, though similar, were in the end separate from each other.

The sword was double edged, combining strength and gentleness, the weapon of a Immortal!

The saber was single edged, fast and ruthless, the weapon of a Devil!

Yulian steadily removed all gentleness and beauty from his saber, refining the speed and killing technique. Finally, he reached the point where he completely abandoned the sword technique taught by Zhang Wei, distilling the true essence of the saber!

Swing! Yulian’s saber flashed with golden light. At this moment, Yulian felt a unique sense of connection with his saber, as if it was a limb like his hands or feet. This moment ended, and Yulian was filled with crippling exhaustion. He could feel a hunger in his genes, as if they yearned to devour the energy of the world into themselves. Stripping off his clothes, Yulian decided to give in to the demands of his body.

Even though he had deviated from the path set by his predecessor, Yulian began to circulate the genetic energy according to the Five Colored Stones technique. Hot fire energy entered every pore in his body, circulating through his meridians to enter the dantian. Inside the dantian, it pierced through the gold sea and entered the Five Colored Stones formation. Gathering around the red stone in his dantian, the energy condensed into the stone… but the stone was already dense with flame energy. Finally, the energy rippled outwards, from the inner to the outer, like the spreading undulation formed when a stone was dropped into the water. The majority of the energy entered the abdomen where his dantian was located, and slowly moved outwards to his limbs. This maneuvered the energy to refine his muscles, organs and cells, finally even refining the genes which were the base of his body. Yulian had trained in other body refinement techniques like the Spirit Immersion and the Nine Stage Thunder Blade, and both of them could not compare to this technique. As Yulian cultivated, an extremely comfortable feeling overtook his entire body, as if he was being massaged by gentle hands.

At this moment, Yulian had no control over his body. In a rare moment of enlightenment, the energy circulation was controlled by the world itself. Yulian focused on observing the rippling fire energy entering every cell in his body and transforming them. Countless insights about his cultivation path entered his mind.

“Originally, the Five Colored Stones realm would not allow such physical tempering. However, it seems that my deviation allows my entire body to be strengthened… Like this, the end of the Fire Stone stage will arrive when this fire energy has transformed every cell in my body. So, how can I make my deviated cultivation path return to the path laid down by my predecessor…?”

As the hunger of his genes for energy was satisfied, the rate of fire energy being absorbed began slowing down until it came to a stop. Thankfully, Yulian had gained some insights about his new path.

Putting on his clothes, Yulian checked the time. About two hours had passed since he gained an insight into his saber technique and his sudden jump in cultivation. Suddenly, Yulian realized that he had stripped naked in the Training Room. He was suddenly filled with shame and embarrassment.

“…Whatever. Let’s check my saber technique first.” Quickly removing all thoughts from his mind, Yulian held the 7 foot saber in his hands. The inexplicable sensation, the feeling that the saber was a limb connected to his body, filled his mind.

Yulian quickly swung his sword. A flash of golden light covered the blade. “The measurement of blade technique is split into four levels: Basic——Intermediate——Perfect——Conception. This flash of blade light means that I have left the Basic level to enter the Intermediate level!”

What did blade light mean? This blade light did not simply increase the power of blade techniques, it also meant that Yulian had fully mastered the First Stage of the Nine Stage Thunder Blade.

After taking a step further in both his blade technique and his cultivation, Yulian decided that he had reaped enough gains with his training. He decided to spend some time surfing the internet, in particular, porn.

…

6:00 PM.

“Gah, this is meaningless! I haven’t entered puberty yet, watching porn doesn’t get it up!” Yulian glared at the X-Rated video, before closing the window and clearing his history. All the good mood after his breakthrough had disappeared.

Just then, his phone buzzed. Jack was calling. “Yulian, get yourself in a presentable state in 15 minutes! Catalan Paulinus is coming!”

After a quick reply, Yulian changed to a comfortable looking red formal shirt and black pants. It was one of the few times he was wearing clothes other than his training outfit.

Yulian was looking forward to this meeting with Catalan Paulinus. Back when he had transcended worlds and found himself as a homeless orphan, Catalan Paulinus had convinced Jack to let him stay in his house. Without this occurrence, Yulian would have been forced to rely on his spirit force to steal food, he would have been unable to train in martial arts and ultimately, would have died due to the eruption of his spirit force.

…

“It’s been a while, kid. It seems that you have made huge improvements in that short time.” Yulian looked at the young looking man in front of him. With black hair and a trenchcoat, Catalan Paulinus looked like any ordinary college-goer. In reality, he was a 39 year old Wargod who looked like a teenager due to his cultivation.

“Yeah, I broke through to a prospective fighter. You told me that you’ll help me become a fighter and train my spirit force after my breakthrough, right?” Yulian’s voice and tone was childish, yet gave the impression of intelligence. After some practice, he had perfected this tone.

“So you still remember. Well, first let’s check out your strength first.” Catalan Paulinus was usually a arrogant, aloof Wargod. Around a year before, he had met a street urchin with spirit force. Since this boy was fated to die, Catalan decided that it would be better for him to spend his last days in peace. He bullied an HR Alliance civilian employee to adopt the child.

Now when he had nearly forgotten the incident, this civilian employee had called him. He originally thought that the boy had finally died or something. Instead, to his surprise, the boy had actually broken through! On finding this out, he immediately dropped everything on his schedule, took a plane to New York and came to visit the boy.

Meanwhile, Jack who was tagging behind Catalan was also tremendously surprised. He originally thought that Zhang Wei’s death had killed Yulian’s desire to train and become a fighter. Disappointed yet relieved by his decision, he never thought that Yulian would regain his drive and break through!

Yulian looked at the peculiar expressions of Catalan and Jack as he walked with them to the Training Room. He walked up to a Fist Testing Machine, clenched his fist and punched out. ‘947 kg.’ As before, he controlled his strength so that his strength would be lowered.

“So you weren’t lying, kid.” Catalan had a smile on his face as he stared at the flashing screen. The boy, Yulian, held limitless potential within him.

“Kid, how about we check your spirit force? Use this dagger.” Catalan took out a rusted dagger and threw it at Yulian’s feet. Yulian immediately used his spirit force to make the dagger hover, and shot it at the Fist Testing Machine. As before, he tried to lower the power of the blow.

‘1569 kg.’

“Heh, not bad. Based on your current strength, you could absolutely apply for the prospective fighter examination and pass. However, with your talent, you can aim for and achieve miles above that!”

“In the current world, there are five main ranks in cultivation: Prospective Fighters, Warriors, Warlords, Wargods and Existences above Wargods. Currently, I have struck a bottleneck as a Wargod, yet I will eventually break through to an Existence above Wargod. However, you have broken through to a Prospective Fighter before even turning 10! You… have an absolute 100% assurance of becoming an existence above Wargod!” As Catalan said these words, he had fanatical expression on his face. As long as Yulian joined the HR Alliance, they would have a Wargod in a decade, and an Existence above Wargod in two!

As Catalan said these words, Yulian enthusiastically replied. “What do I have to do to become an Existence above Wargod?”

“To be honest, the only thing you have to do is train! Train your genetic energy, attacking techniques, agility techniques and supportive techniques. Refine your control over spirit force. Without caring for hardships and bearing agony, ruthlessly cultivate!”

“It would be difficult for you to cultivate further in this house. Obtaining resources for your cultivation will be harder as well. Since it’s like that, I will send you to an HR Alliance manor in Hong Ning city in China. This is the strongest city, the city that produces the most fighters, the base of the strongest fighter in the world, Hong!”

…

Chapter sponsored by PrinceeDealer! And there will be changes between blade/saber. They are the same thing.