High Martial Arts: Enlightenment after Practices

Chapter 411: Chapter 411: Star Realm Battlefield

Sweat dripped from his temples. Spiritual Power drained far faster than physical stamina.

But Xu Wuyi’s eyes were clear, and his movements were meticulous.

On his forty-seventh attempt, the Power of his Heart Image finally stabilized as it spread to a ten-meter radius, forming a vague "Perception Field" within that area.

Although it was still crude, and although he could only sense the existence of energy particles without being able to control them, at least its form was holding steady.

[Standard Cultivation Completed Today: 1 time]

The number on the panel jumped.

The corners of Xu Wuyi’s mouth turned up slightly.

With the first success, a second was sure to follow.

In the following days, Xu Wuyi’s life returned to the simplest of rhythms.

Every morning, he would enter the Cultivation Room on time to begin practicing how to connect his Heart Image to heaven and earth. His basic goal was one hundred "standard cultivations," a target that often took him two to three hundred attempts to achieve.

Most of the time, he could only feel the diffusion range of his Heart Image’s Power slowly expanding—from ten meters to twelve, from twelve to fifteen... progress measured in centimeters.

But Xu Wuyi didn’t feel the slightest bit of impatience.

He knew the workings of the [Martial Arts Diligence Record] all too well. An accumulation of quantity would eventually lead to a qualitative transformation.

And that transformation was called "Enlightenment."

[Practice a hundred times, and the meaning will reveal itself!]

[Effective Cultivation for today has reached one hundred times. Rewarded with one "Enlightenment".]

As he completed his one-hundredth cultivation for the day, a new Enlightenment descended. It was as if a thin veil had been lifted, and the entire world became clearer.

He "saw."

Not with his eyes, but through the perception of his Heart Image.

In the air within a ten-meter radius, countless tiny energy particles were scattered like a multitude of stars. They were not stationary; they were slowly flowing, colliding, undergoing annihilation, and being reborn.

More importantly, Xu Wuyi felt a faint "resonance" form between the Power of his Heart Image and a portion of the Fire Attribute Energy particles.

The resonance was faint, so faint it was almost imperceptible, but it was real.

Inspiration struck Xu Wuyi, and he subconsciously adjusted the fluctuations of his Heart Image’s Power to match the frequency of that resonance.

The next moment, a strange transformation occurred.

The Dark Gold Mountain Body Heart Image trembled slightly, and at its peak, the Golden Crow Illusion raised its head and let out a long cry.

Within a ten-meter radius, all the Fire Attribute Energy particles lit up simultaneously, shifting slightly toward Xu Wuyi’s position.

Although it was only a negligible shift of one millimeter, and though it lasted less than a tenth of a second, the sensation of "the Heaven and Earth Energy moving with my Heart Image" sent a tremor through Xu Wuyi.

Xu Wuyi stood in place, savoring the profound mystery of that moment.

It wasn’t an increase in power, but a breakthrough in "cognition."

He now truly understood what "connecting the Heart Image to heaven and earth" meant, and he understood how to "connect."

From that day on, his cultivation efficiency increased dramatically.

His success rate for the standard practice grew higher and higher, and the range of his Heart Image’s perception expanded at a visible rate. More importantly, his use of the "Undying True Flame" began to undergo a qualitative change.

Previously, to unleash the Undying True Flame, he had to use the Power of his Heart Image as a catalyst to "generate" flames at a target location. Now, he could directly command the Fire Attribute Energy particles within his perception range, causing them to "naturally condense" into flame.

The former was like taking goods from his own warehouse; the latter was like requisitioning them directly from the market.

The difference in efficiency and power was night and day.

Every subsequent Enlightenment deepened Xu Wuyi’s understanding of his Heart Image, of heaven and earth, and of the True Intention of Flame.

The feeling was like someone at the foot of a mountain climbing to ever-higher viewing platforms, with the scenery growing more vast each time.

...

「In early April, the feeling of spring deepened.」

In the underground Cultivation Room of Villa 7 in the Hidden Dragon Garden, Xu Wuyi stood in the center, his eyes half-closed.

Behind him, the Dark Gold Mountain Body Heart Image floated silently, the dark gold patterns on its surface pulsing like a slow breath.

Xu Wuyi’s eyes snapped open. He raised his right hand and made a grasping motion toward the test target twenty meters away.

There was no flash of fire, no wave of heat.

But in the center of the test target, a ball of dark gold flame ignited out of thin air. The flame wasn’t violent; instead, it had a kind of slow, heavy quality. Yet, the target’s energy reading was dropping at an astonishing rate.

Three seconds later, a soft CRACK came from within the test target—the sound of its energy circuits being completely incinerated.

Xu Wuyi extinguished the flame, a flash of satisfaction in his eyes.

’Instant-cast Undying True Flame within twenty meters, with enough power to severely injure an ordinary Innate Martial Artist.’

’And that isn’t even my limit.’

’If I have time to prepare, expand my Heart Image’s perception range to its forty-meter limit, and draw upon more Heaven and Earth Energy, the power of the Undying True Flame could increase by another thirty percent.’

’More importantly, my control over the Undying True Flame is now so precise that I can simultaneously mark three targets and control the intensity of the flame’s burn.’

’Whether to only burn their Qi and Blood or to incinerate their Divine Soul along with it—all decided in a single thought.’

"Enough."

Xu Wuyi retracted his Heart Image and walked to the Cultivation Room’s floor-to-ceiling window.

Outside the window, the spring sun was bright, and the garden was vibrant with blossoming peach trees, full of life.

But his heart had already flown to a much more distant place.

’It’s time to go to the battlefield.’

’The real battlefield.’

In the Federation, people sometimes referred to all external Star Realms as Star Realm Battlefields.

The Seventh Star Realm, the Celestial Spirit Star Realm, the Ninth Star Realm... these places had Star Beasts, resources, and conflict, so they were indeed considered battlefields.

But the "Star Realm Battlefield" in the narrow sense referred specifically to a unique, super-massive plane.

It didn’t belong to any single Star Realm but was connected to countless surrounding Star Realms through spatial rifts. The resources within this plane were obscenely abundant, and the variety and number of Star Beasts were terrifyingly high.

Since ancient times, it had been a focal point of contention for the civilizations of the major Star Realms.

Previously, when Federation Martial Artists entered the Star Realm Battlefield, their main objectives were to mine resources, hunt Star Beasts, and establish outposts. But now, things had changed.

The war had begun.

The Celestial Wolf Civilization and the Feathered People Civilization had joined forces to launch a sneak attack on the Federation, causing the fall of three Grandmasters. This blood debt had to be paid in blood.

The Federation’s counterattack was unfolding on all fronts, and the Star Realm Battlefield was undoubtedly the most efficient hunting ground. Its complex environment and intersecting spheres of influence made it ideal for small elite teams to infiltrate, hunt, and exfiltrate.

That was where Xu Wuyi intended to go.

The first ones he would kill were the elites of the Werewolf Race.

The score with Grandmaster Yue, Hong Nianyi’s source injury, and the Martial Artists who had sacrificed themselves in the Broken Star Belt... all of this required the blood of the Werewolf Race as payment.

Xu Wuyi walked back to the control console, brought up the Federation Military’s mission system, and found the "Star Realm Battlefield Access Application" page.

The application process was not complicated.

Fill in personal information, power level, and reason for applying, attach an identity verification code, and submit.

Xu Wuyi’s fingers moved quickly across the light screen. When he reached the "Reason for Application" field, he paused, then typed a single word:

"Revenge."