Chapter 36: The First Battle Upon Return!

The time to depart had arrived.

Shi Yu sat upright on the stone bed, gazing at the stone monkey before him, along with the old Tongbei ape, Little Golden Fur, and the multitude of monkeys and descendants. He smiled, his body slowly turning ethereal as countless crystalline specks of light swirled and diffused throughout the cave.

"I am leaving."

"Do not forget our seven-year covenant."

"King Stone, come back soon to eat melons with us!" Little Golden Fur shouted, hopping on his feet.

A hearty laugh echoed from the void: "Very well! Remember to brew plenty of wine; wait for my return!"

A few breaths later, the stone bed was empty.

The old Tongbei ape murmured, "Could this be the legendary ascension of an immortal, shattering the void?"

The stone monkey stared blankly, stepping forward to touch the stone bed, which still held a lingering warmth. He remained silent for a moment, then let out a great shout: "Children, brew more wine! We shall drink heartily when the day comes!"

...

Blue Star, Great Xia, Yali High School Training Building in Nanhu Province.

Shi Yu opened his eyes. Before him was the familiar silver alloy shell of the soul-spirit pod, adorned with intricate, faintly glowing blue runic patterns. The faces of the stone monkey's family still seemed to flicker before his eyes.

With a crisp "ding," the hatch of the soul-spirit pod slowly opened. The face that appeared before him was that of Lin Zhenfeng.

"How do you feel?" Lin Zhenfeng asked.

Shi Yu nodded slightly, a smile playing on his lips. "Very well, no issues at all."

Seeing his student in such good condition, the weight in Lin Zhenfeng's heart lifted, and he nodded with satisfaction. He checked his Feixin (messaging app) and said, "I received a message while waiting for you; I should share it with you."

"The preliminary preparations for the summer training camp hosted by the Municipal Education Bureau are complete. It will officially begin at Central South University the day after tomorrow. I will send you the specific reporting time and location via Feixin."

"For this training camp, our Yali High School has three participants, with seventy-eight students in total from across the city."

Lin Zhenfeng smiled broadly. "I asked a friend at the Education Bureau, and among these seventy-eight students, none have a soul-spirit level as high as yours. Aside from you standing out, the highest is a student from Changjun High School with a level 10 soul-spirit."

"In an ordinary year, that level 10 would be absolutely dazzling. It's just a pity they ran into you." Lin Zhenfeng chuckled, feeling quite pleased. When a student excels, the teacher is naturally overjoyed.

...

After bidding farewell to Teacher Lin, Shi Yu returned home to have dinner with Aunt Lan and his younger sister. After the meal, he rested for a short while before heading back to the school's martial arts hall without delay.

In his plan, there was one important thing to do after returning from the Journey to the West: venture into the Hongmeng Network! After all, he only had a one-month trial period and had to make the most of it.

The Hongmeng Network data connection device he had purchased yesterday had already been delivered. He quickly set up the device according to the manual and immediately activated the network.

[Welcome to the Hongmeng Network.]

[This is the starting point for a martial artist's dreams, and the cradle where legends are born.]

[Welcome, new user "Shi Yu." May you find your true self in Hongmeng and embark on the journey to the peak of martial arts.]

After a series of welcome messages, the system guided Shi Yu to the novice tutorial area. Here, martial artists could learn the basic operations, competitive rules, and common functions of the Hongmeng Network.

The most important feature, of course, was the competitive ranking matches. The seven tiers of each martial realm—Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum, Diamond, Star-Glory, and Monarch—were all determined through ranking matches. The distribution was 20% for Bronze, 15% each for Silver through Star-Glory, and the fewest, 5%, for Monarch. The top of each tier received martial arts resource rewards.

Beyond ranking matches, there was the Otherworld Arena. Here, various otherworldly creatures were deployed to help martial artists familiarize themselves with the characteristics of different species. This area was similar to the cross-world war simulation games Shi Yu had experienced at Mount Yuelu. Each arena had different difficulties and rewards, allowing martial artists to choose challenges suited to their strength. Success earned arena points, which could be exchanged for rare items and rewards.

Additionally, there was the martial arts practice area. If real-world space was limited, martial artists could refine techniques and skills here. If a martial artist wished to create their own techniques, they could test them here first to avoid any physical repercussions from a failed creation.

Once Shi Yu understood the basics, he turned his attention to his virtual body. In the Hongmeng Network, everyone's physique was set according to their soul-spirit level; if someone’s soul-spirit was level 10, their physical constitution was set to level 10 accordingly. In other words, strength in the Hongmeng Network was determined entirely by soul-spirit level, martial skill, combat awareness, and martial insight, independent of one's actual physical fitness.

Shi Yu pondered for a moment. To be safe, he used the Void Spirit Sealing Technique on himself, capping his soul-spirit level at 12 to match the outside world's perception of him. Otherwise, if his soul-spirit rose by more than three levels in just a few days, it would be troublesome if anyone investigated his background on the Hongmeng Network.

"Come on! The first battle in the Hongmeng Network!"

As a newcomer, Shi Yu prepared himself and hit the matchmaking button. His figure vanished from the personal lobby and appeared in the combat arena. An opponent also materialized. The battle was imminent.

...

Qian Mingjie, a student at Central South University, looked at the martial artist appearing across from him, clad in basic, plain gear.

"A pure novice, it seems." He glanced at the opponent's profile; every data point was zero. There was no need to worry about hidden experts using smurf accounts in the Hongmeng Network, as everything was verified with real names—one account for one real person.

Qian Mingjie had successfully completed his foundation building two months ago and had entered Hongmeng to climb the ranks. He was currently hovering in the middle of the Bronze tier.

He watched the novice, who was curiously examining the arena. "Definitely his first time here," Qian Mingjie nodded to himself. It seemed this match would be easy, and his win rate would climb. "He chose a long staff as his weapon, so I should close the distance quickly," he analyzed. "I'll aim to finish this in under a minute."

[Countdown: three, two, one, begin!]

Qian Mingjie charged forward, holding a blade in one hand and a shield in the other!

The opponent seemed to have no reaction. Qian Mingjie sneered—too slow; this novice needed a good lesson. Let big brother teach you!

Qian Mingjie swung his blade with a fierce, lightning-fast strike. At that very instant, the opponent finally moved. The long staff shot out like a dragon emerging from the sea, moving after but striking first, slamming heavily against the blade.

"Clang!"

An unimaginable force surged through, and the blade was instantly knocked from Qian Mingjie's hand!

"What?!" He looked on in disbelief. Before this novice in starter gear, he couldn't even hold onto his weapon?!

Qian Mingjie didn't have time to think; he instinctively raised his round shield to block.

Then came a whistling sound.

With a roar, his shield groaned, buckled, and shattered into pieces!

Qian Mingjie’s gaze passed through the pulverized shield, and a rapidly enlarging staff filled his vision. It descended like Mount Tai, like a falling meteor!

"I..."

Before he could finish, he was driven deep into the ground by the unstoppable staff. Stones flew, and a deep crater formed in the cloud of dust. Qian Mingjie's body dissolved into specks of light and vanished.

In the arena, the figure stood, withdrawing his staff.

Fifteen seconds. The first match was over.