Jinwu City

"3,2,1... BEGIN!"

The ten Qi Condensation warriors dashed towards Wu Zhen as fast as they could. Wu Zhen just stood there, showing no signs of panic as he circulated the liquid qi in his dantian around his body.

"Divine Lightning Strikes, Lightning plows through the sky!"

Wu Zhen rushed at the warriors with the strength of 10 bulls, plowing through them. One of them was already knocked out, lying cold on the floor. He turned around to face the warriors behind him.

"Form 2, Lightning's Edge!"

As he spoke, he kicked his legs sideways with all the force his body could produce, which created a slice of crackling lightning that went straight for the warriors.

5 more were knocked out, with chest wounds that would kill them if they were not properly cared for. The medical team rushed out and collected the defeated warriors. Only 4 were left standing.

"Do you surrender?"

The other warriors stood there in disbelief, until they quickly answered, "Yes, yes! Spare us, please!"

With that, the match was over in two moves.

The once arrogant fighters were either knocked out or shaking in their boots.

Wu Zhen once again went over to the reception desk before asking, "What are the rewards for winning a 1V10 match?"

The man at the reception desk looked stunned, before replying, "Uh, sir, the rewards for a 1V10 match are 500 gold pieces and 5 Body Refining pills. We will have it out in a few minutes. Wait right here, sir."

As the receptionist said, he sat down and waited for a few minutes in which time they brought out the rewards as they had said. The 500 gold pieces were in a small but hefty bag, and the 5 body refining pills were in a tiny bottle. Wu Zhen took both and left to go back home.

He quickly arrived back at the Wu residence with a small fortune of 500 gold pieces which he promptly shared with his parents who were shocked and asked him how he got it. He told them that he went to Martial Star Arena and fought against 10 fighters and won.

Qi Ocean cultivators were truly terrifying, not even 10 Qi Condensation warriors could defeat them or even touch them in the slightest. Perhaps it would take hundreds of them to even consider killing a Foundation Establishment, and Wu Zhen was only Foundation Establishment 1. Imagine how terrifying a Foundation Establishment 2 would be.

The sheer power of martial artists was varied, it could be heaven-shaking and earth-shattering, but it could also be weak and unable to defeat even the weakest demons.

With the 500 gold that their son had given them, they would be able to sustain themselves for 5 years or so. The Wu family was finally not poor anymore.

Wu Zhen stayed with them for a week or so where he made sure they were alright before preparing to head off.

As he left the village gates, some people looked at him. They had all read the town's weekly news and knew that Wu Zhen, who had gone lost more than half a year ago, had come back and won a 1V10 match in the Martial Star Arena.

Wu Zhen had bought a map of the areas closest to him and had a destination. That destination was Jinwu city.

Jinwu city was a city with a population in the millions. Even among other cities, it was one of the largest and most powerful. Within it, Qi Ocean experts were uncommon, but not that rare to see, as they were found in every part of the city, except a few. Almost all civilians were Qi Condensation martial artists.

Within the city, there ruled many smaller and greater clans that were embroiled in a struggle to be the strongest. Even beyond the scope of clans, there was a sect in Jinwu city. The sect's name was Azure Blade sect. Its disciples practiced the powerful Dao of the sword.

It was said that a sect disciple could easily beat someone who ranks above him in cultivation in the outside world. For example, a Qi Ocean 1 from the Azure Blade sect would have no problem beating a Qi Ocean 2 or even 3 from the outside world. All the disciples of the sect were geniuses, even the outer sect.

Wu Zhen was actually quite qualified to join the sect, but he had never trained in a sword and he could only stay in the mortal world for 6 months, so it would just hinder his progress rather than speed it up. What he had come to Jinwu city for was the Martial Star Arena. The Martial Star Arena in Jinwu city was hundreds of times bigger than the one in his town, and there, he could find Qi Ocean cultivators to fight.

He had come to this city to prove to himself that he was a great fighter. Although he had killed demons, it was still not the same as fighting against humans, who were vicious, cunning, and practiced their own unique martial arts.

The journey took over 2 weeks and was a bit grueling, but it was nothing compared to climbing Mount Thundersea. He arrived at the city's tall gates where the guards stood on each side. He walked towards the gate until he was stopped by a guard.

"Hand over 1 gold piece or an appropriate token."

Wu Zhen was prepared for this. He took out his martial apprentice token, which was actually now a martial spirit token. As one got stronger, they could redeem better tokens which granted them more privileges. A martial spirit token granted one free entry to any city, which was quite convenient for Wu Zhen.

A Qi Condensation martial artist could choose to become a martial apprentice and get a martial apprentice token with which came some privileges. In exchange, he would have to help out civilians with their problems.

A Qi Ocean martial artist could choose to become a martial spirit or upgrade his martial apprentice token. Martial spirit tokens granted even more privileges. Martial spirits had more freedom, only having to do one task per month, but this task was much more dangerous than the tasks martial apprentices took on.

Tokens and tasks were assigned to martial artists by an organization known as the Royal Xia Martial Arts Organization. This organization was headed by the royal family of the Great Xia Empire, the empire they currently resided in.

"You may enter the city.", the guard said as he stepped aside and let Wu Zhen enter the city.

He was finally here, after a whole lot of traveling.

Wu Zhen asked around a bit before finally arriving at the Martial Star Arena. It was the biggest and most extravagant building he had seen in his entire life. Thousands of people entered and exited each minute. He stood there for a second, just admiring the architecture. He had never seen any building like it, after all.

"Must be a village bumpkin, being so stunned by the Martial Star Arena."

He could feel that someone had just taunted him, but he didn't care much. He entered the building when he was greeted by yet another receptionist.

"Sir, are you here today to enter into the martial star arena?", the receptionist said kindly.

"Yes. My name is Wu Zhen. My cultivation level is Qi Ocean 1. I'd like a 1V1 match against another fighter of the same rank."

The receptionist quickly jotted down some words on a pad. While young Foundation establishment experts were rare, he would see one every week or so. It was no longer surprising to the young receptionist.

"Please be seated until your name is called. It may take half an hour or so, so please be patient."

Wu Zhen walked over to an empty seat and sat in it and began praying that his opponent was weak.

While he had spent a couple of weeks coming here, Freedom God-Emperor had warned him to not cultivate until at least three months later. Still, he had gotten accustomed to his newfound strength after the breakthrough and could use it much more efficiently than before. Even after reaching Absolute Perfection with Divine Lightning Strikes, he still practiced daily as much as he could.

Wu Zhen had heard legends of a realm of comprehension even beyond absolute perfection, where one would break through the limits of a technique's rank and make it their own. Even if it was just a myth, it did not hurt to practice martial arts anyway.

He spent 30 minutes pondering upon what he was going to do after gaining experience in the Martial Star Arena. Eventually, he decided upon breaking through to the third tier of Nine Lightning Body.

Compared to his cultivation, his body refining was relatively slow and was still stable, so he could break through in body refining.

His thoughts were interrupted by a loud voice calling out his name.

"Wu Zhen, enter the stage!"

He slowly got up from the chair and walked out onto the stage. The fighter he was going to face walked out of the other entryway. The other fighter's eyes were full of hostile intent. Wu Zhen felt a sense of fear, before dispelling it with his willpower.

A loud voice could be heard across the entire massive arena.

"LET THE FIGHT BEGIN!"

Wild cheering broke out in the arena as people started placing their bets and debating on who was going to win.

"Easy prey for the hunter! I'll give you a chance, kid, go back to wherever you came from. Martial Star Arena isn't a place where you can play around.", the other fighter said, taunting Wu Zhen.

"Enough taunting, come and fight me and we'll see who the real hunter is!"