35: Chapter 35 Great Improvement in Martial Arts
"Again!"
Wang Pingan's heart burned with excitement.
"Upgrade [Phantom Step] to the Perfection Realm!"
[Phantom Step] was currently his strongest survival and pursuit movement technique; it was equally important to him.
[To upgrade [Phantom Step] to Perfection, 1000 pay-to-win points are required. Confirm?]
"Confirm!"
Another massive stream of information flooded into his mind.
His body swayed instinctively.
A faint afterimage was left where he had stood.
Fast.
Eerie.
Like a mountain goat hanging by its horns, it left no trace to be found.
The Perfection Realm of [Phantom Step] had already transcended the scope of simple footwork; it was more like an illusion technique that used vision and perception to confuse opponents.
Wang Pingan felt the two streams of martial technique insights that had completely fused with him and nodded in satisfaction.
Offense and movement—he had both now.
What else was missing?
Right.
Defense.
He remembered the new defensive martial technique he had learned at the Elite Base, specifically designed to tank damage.
[Indestructible Vajra].
Practicing this martial technique was extremely painful, requiring constant battering of the body with external force; it was practically self-torture.
Therefore, aside from a few guys born with thick skin and tough flesh, few in the entire base were willing to practice it.
But Wang Pingan wasn't afraid.
He had a cheat.
"System, upgrade [Indestructible Vajra] to Mastery!"
He had only just reached the Entry level of this technique; upgrading it directly to Perfection would be too costly and a bit too exaggerated.
Upgrading it to Mastery first was enough to keep as a hidden trump card.
[To upgrade [Indestructible Vajra] to Mastery, 500 pay-to-win points are required. Confirm?]
"Confirm!"
Buzz.
A strange heat instantly spread through his entire body.
He felt his skin, muscles, and even his bones becoming tougher and denser under the washing of this heat.
He pinched his own arm.
Beneath the skin, there was a sense of toughness like old ox hide.
His defensive power skyrocketed!
After finishing all this, Wang Pingan glanced at his pay-to-win points balance.
[pay-to-win points: 5606]
He had spent two thousand five hundred points, leaving over five thousand six hundred.
That was enough.
The rest would be kept as reserves for emergencies.
Wang Pingan let out a long breath and stood up from the bed.
He stretched his limbs, feeling the power within his body that was much stronger than before, yet restrained to the extreme.
He knew.
From today on.
He was no longer the Wang Pingan who needed to rely on a realm advantage to compete with Lin Zhan.
Now, even if he suppressed his realm to the same level as Lin Zhan's...
He had absolute confidence that he could grind that so-called number one genius of Shen City into the dirt.
He walked to the mirror.
In the mirror was still that harmless-looking youth with somewhat delicate features.
Wang Pingan grinned and slowly retracted the aura that had become somewhat difficult to control after the sudden surge.
He continued to play his persona of a genius with an "unstable foundation but heaven-defying comprehension."
Wang Pingan had just washed off his stinky sweat and changed into dry clothes, preparing to have a good, beautiful sleep.
He felt great right now.
The Perfection Realm [Meteor Fist Technique] and [Phantom Step], plus the Mastery level [Indestructible Vajra].
With these three moves, he felt like a well-rounded warrior who could fight, run, and tank.
His sense of security was overflowing.
He was even wondering if he should find an opportunity to spar with that overachiever Lin Zhan again.
Not for anything else.
Just to see if that blockhead could even touch the hem of his clothes in front of his Perfection-level [Phantom Step].
That scene was exciting just thinking about it.
Humming an out-of-tune little tune, he had just thrown himself onto the soft, large bed.
"Wooo—wooo—wooo—"
A piercing, urgent alarm suddenly echoed throughout the entire Elite Base without warning.
The sound was shrill and sharp, like a death knell.
Wang Pingan jerked and sprang up from the bed, his just-relaxed muscles instantly tensing up.
What happened?
An enemy attack?
Doesn't seem like it.
He had heard this alarm before.
It was the highest-level emergency assembly signal.
It would only be sounded when something major happened that could affect the entire base or even the entire high-level martial arts circle of Shen City.
This was the first time he had heard it since coming to the base.
In the corridor outside the dormitory, chaotic and hurried footsteps had already begun to sound.
Mixed in were a few low-voiced curses and uncertain discussions.
"Damn, what's going on?"
"It's the middle of the night, can't they let people sleep?"
"Something big happened, it must be something big!"
Wang Pingan dared not delay; he quickly threw on his training uniform, pulled open the door, and rushed out.
The corridor was brightly lit.
Everyone had run out of their dormitories, their faces wearing the same confusion and solemnity as his.
No one spoke.
Everyone just exchanged quick glances.
Then, as if by unspoken agreement, everyone sprinted toward the Central Training Ground.
When Wang Pingan arrived.
Every single student of the Elite Program was present.
Everyone stood straight in the formations they used for daily training.
But the irrepressible, restless atmosphere surged like an underwater current through the crowd.
On the command platform at the front of the training ground.
Instructor Chen Feng stood there with his hands behind his back, his face as grim as water.
His expression was more serious than Wang Pingan had ever seen.
On that face, which usually wore either a gentle smile or a look of frustration at their lack of progress, there was now only a heavy sense of an impending storm.
Everyone held their breath.
Their hearts were in their throats.
They knew.
What Instructor Chen Feng was about to announce was absolutely no small matter.