Gao Wu insists on cultivating immortality.

Chapter 172 Genius and Threshold

Through a simple exchange of push hands, Lu Yuan had already discerned the level of martial arts cultivation and source power of a high-level martial artist.

He knew that Gao Wu still had secret techniques he hadn't used, but with his foundation in place, no matter what kind of secret techniques he used, the power he could unleash would only be two to three times the normal amount. This was a basic rule.

Judging from Gao Wu's condition, his source power is extremely strong, surpassing that of ordinary martial artists and even reaching the level of advanced martial artists.

It should be noted that Gao Wu only condensed three acupoints, yet the source energy he circulated was stronger than that of a high-level martial artist who had opened twelve acupoints!

It is conceivable that once Gao Wu condenses the twelve acupoints, his source power will be exceptionally strong and profound.

His powerful source energy cultivation must be attributed to Gao Wu's incredibly strong body.

Lu Yuan has encountered countless masters throughout his life. Just considering his physical strength, he is already considered top-tier in martial arts. What's even more impressive is that his body is full of vitality and shows no signs of injury whatsoever.

According to military sources, it's a miracle that Gao Wu survived being pierced through the chest by Shi Tieyu's sword. In just one day, he has fully recovered, which is truly amazing!
Even among the mythical beasts known for their physical strength, only some legendary level seven beasts possess such abilities!
It must be said that such a strong physique has a huge advantage in unarmed combat in the ring.

However, winning first place in the Azure Dragon Cup is not enough...

Seeing Gao Wu's excited face, Lu Yuan couldn't help but smile with satisfaction. He hadn't seen such a spirited and passionate young man in a long time.

Back in the tea room, Song Mingyue was still brewing tea. Gao Wu respectfully asked, "Master Lu, who are the formidable figures in this year's Azure Dragon Cup?"

The internet is advanced, but there's too much useless information. Searching for geniuses from other states isn't difficult; selecting the truly talented ones from among them is.

The Qinglong Cup competition covers an age range that is limited to college students. Normally, the age limit is 25, but in some special cases, even 30-year-olds are still considered college students.

Of course, such a person is unlikely to participate in the Azure Dragon Cup.

There's no lower age limit, meaning even a seven-year-old could perform on stage. This is only in theory; in reality, universities wouldn't recommend participants who are too outrageous.

Normally, the participants should be mainly between 20 and 25 years old.

For someone of Gao Wu's age to participate in the competition, he's considered quite young. As for Song Mingyue, she doesn't like ring fighting and has no interest in changing masters.

Although the Sword Saint was powerful, she felt that Lu Yuan was more suitable to be her master. She had no desire to participate in the competition at all.

Lu Yuan was very clear about this. Song Mingyue was similar to him in temperament, calm and composed. Although she had not experienced too much hardship, she seemed somewhat naive, but that did not affect the purity of her nature.

They simply haven't experienced it, so they don't know the pros and cons, and make their own choices based entirely on their own subjective opinions.

It is simply that, faced with various interests and preferences, one remains steadfast and unmoved by them.

Song Mingyue has a pure nature, but she lacks wisdom and experience, which makes her seem somewhat naive.

This is actually an illusion; his apprentice is incredibly skilled!
Lu Yuan greatly admired his disciple, and by extension, thought Gao Wu was quite good as well. As it turned out, his disciple had better judgment than he did…

He said to Gao Wu, "Do you know how many kinds of geniuses there are?"

Gao Wu instantly thought of many famous boastful quotes, such as, "Genius is merely the threshold to meeting me!" and "There are no geniuses in front of me!"...

These boastful words may feel good to say, but they are clearly unrelated to Lu Yuan's problem.

Lu Yuan wasn't asking for an answer; he continued, "Genius is just a title. If you're the top student in your class, the worst student will think you're a genius. There's no clear standard for genius, so the title has become overused."

The old man glanced at Song Mingyue as he spoke: "Mingyue has extraordinary talent. At the age of eighteen, her mental power had already reached the master level. Would you call her a genius?"

Gao Wu nodded quickly: "He must be a genius!"

He wasn't just praising him randomly; Xiao Song's aptitude was far superior to his. If he didn't have the Qilin Divine Heroic Mantra, he would never be qualified to compare his aptitude with Xiao Song in this lifetime.

Xiao Song deserves immense credit for killing Shi Tieyu. Although Shi Tieyu broke free from the bindings of the Frost Nether Serpent, he had already exerted all his strength. Furthermore, the shattered Frost Nether Qi also had a significant impact on Shi Tieyu.

The battle that night wouldn't have affected the overall situation without Yan Xiling, but without Song Mingyue, the situation would have been very bad.

Lu Yuan nodded slightly: "It's not an exaggeration to say that Mingyue's talent is unparalleled in the Northern State. However, the Northern State only has 300 million people, while the other thirteen states combined have more than 5 billion people."

"Among them, Dongzhou, Zhongzhou, and Nanzhou are all economically prosperous and martial arts flourish. After decades of continuous accumulation, their foundation has actually far surpassed that of other states."

"They have also established a very comprehensive talent selection mechanism, so that true geniuses will be discovered very early on."

He couldn't help but sigh softly as he said this, explaining that these mechanisms were not difficult to explain, but they required substantial financial support.

The Northern Governor's Office always had a deficit, relying mainly on the sale of timber, coal, grain, and otherworldly resources.

If the army weren't supported by the alliance, the governor's office would have gone bankrupt long ago. Under such circumstances, it could barely maintain people's livelihoods and had no spare capacity to invest heavily in martial arts. Gao Wu didn't feel this very clearly yet; he thought universities were quite wealthy, just not nearly as well-off as the military.

Even if Ankyo University were to offer him a top-tier position, it would only amount to 20,000 points per year, which translates to a mere 20 million yuan...

The gifts that Song Chunqiu and Bai Tiejun gave were worth tens of millions of yuan, and they didn't even blink an eye when they gave them, which shows how extravagant the military is.

Lu Yuan suppressed his complicated emotions and continued, "I specifically asked my friends about the situation. There are two very powerful geniuses participating in the Azure Dragon Cup this year. One is Qu Tianji from Dongzhou, and the other is Chu Shenxiu from Nanzhou."

"Qu Tianji is twenty-five years old. It is said that he had already condensed his source power at the age of 14 and condensed his sixth acupoint at the age of 22. From then on, he connected his perineum, spine, brow, heart, and dantian, thus advancing to the Martial Master level. Now, three years have passed, and his cultivation must have made great progress again."

"Chu Shenxiu of Nanzhou is even more amazing. It is said that he learned the nine forms of the Dragon Form in one day when he was seven years old, and after ten days he integrated and sensed the source power... When this news spread, Dragon King Tian Wuji immediately visited him. After examining him, he was very satisfied and immediately accepted him as his personal disciple."

"When Chu Shenxiu was eighteen years old, he had already condensed six acupoints and advanced to the level of a martial artist. To celebrate this, the Dragon King held a grand banquet, inviting relatives and friends from all directions, and publicly announced Chu Shenxiu as his successor."

"Chu Shenxiu is already twenty-two years old this year. He will not become Hai Gong's disciple, but he will definitely participate in the Azure Dragon Cup to prove himself."

Lu Yuan said, "Besides these two top geniuses, I've heard that there's another eighteen-year-old girl named Yan Qiushui in Zhongzhou, whose talent is exceptional. She's a personal disciple of the Heavenly King Qitian..."

"Besides that, some of the Martial King's personal disciples will also be participating this time, and each of them is very powerful..."

His gaze swept over Song Mingyue, who was brewing tea. These disciples personally taught by the Martial King were at least no less talented than Song Mingyue.

As for Gao Wu, Lu Yuan really couldn't understand it. He was just average a few months ago, but he has made rapid progress in the past few months.

Martial artists can improve their speed, strength, and even mental power through training. This was the first time Lu Yuan had ever seen a martial artist whose talent for martial arts could be enhanced so dramatically.

All I can say is that Gao Wu cannot be judged by ordinary standards; he is a god!
Lu Yuan asked Gao Wu, "If Chu Shenxiu advances to the Martial Arts Master level, your chances of winning will be very slim."

Without a level six divine sword, even a high-level martial artist's skills, while excellent, are only at the warrior level. Against a martial arts master, a high-level martial artist will absolutely not have an advantage in terms of skill.

He has the superpower to control fire, and others also have supernatural abilities!
From all aspects, Gao Wu is very strong, but he is not strong enough to guarantee victory.

Gao Wu nodded. Although he was confident, he also knew the power of a martial arts master. However, killing Shi Tieyu gave him a clearer understanding of his own strength.

More importantly, he gained a lot of valuable experience in such fierce and brutal battles, which greatly boosted his confidence.

He humbly asked, "Master Lu, I still have more than a month left. Where should I go to cultivate?"

The 341 Secret Realm is no longer accessible, but its effectiveness in actual combat is truly remarkable.

Unless he awakens the other two divine spells, it will be difficult for him to improve much in a short period of time. He might as well find a secret realm to hone his martial arts skills.

Lu Yuan said, "We can't go to the secret realm. The White Crow Sect is unpredictable and we must be extremely careful. You should try to minimize going out recently and not give them any opportunities."

The old man pondered for a moment and said, "I'll go talk to Bai Yunfei, Han Yujun, and Wang Tianyin and ask them to give you some guidance on your studies for a few days."

The Martial Arts Academy has four Grandmasters, the other three of whom are Bai Yunfei, Han Yujun, and Wang Tianyin.

Gao Wu was pleasantly surprised; what a wonderful thing! He quickly stood up, bowed, and thanked him: "Thank you, Master Lu."

Although a martial arts grandmaster is only one level higher than a martial arts master, the difference is enormous.

Although the four grandmasters of the martial arts academy are not enemies, they are clearly in competition with each other. Lu Yuan's request for guidance from the other three grandmasters is a huge favor.

Lu Yuan waved his hand: "If you can win the championship, it will be a huge encouragement to the whole of Beizhou. A good role model can lead many people onto the right path."

"The most direct benefit is that it can also make the academy famous. From this point of view, it is only right that they help."

He paused for a moment and then said, "However, they also have requirements..."

“Please speak, Master Lu,” Gao Wu said.

"They made a list of ten people. They'll teach you as many skills as you can beat."

Lu Yuan looked at Gao Wu calmly and asked, "How was it?"

“I like the challenge mode.” Gao Wu’s eyes gleamed. He would feel a little embarrassed if he were to receive guidance from the other grandmasters for no reason.

Gao Wu then asked with some concern, "Where is the competition held? What if you lose?"

Lu Yuan shook his head slightly: "We will be watching the arena matches. You also need to be careful, real combat is dangerous, don't get hurt, and don't hurt others."

"Understood." Gao Wu nodded vigorously. He couldn't say anything else, but he was confident that he wouldn't get hurt!
The next day, Yan Shanyue, Wang Ye, Ye Chang'an and the others received the news that Gao Wu had challenged ten masters from the academy in a row. The young geniuses were all shocked. Had Gao Wu taken too many drugs and damaged his brain?
(End of this chapter)