11: The Limits of Non-Warriors

"Well, that's ambition!"

Li Tianyang nodded and gave Chen Qing a thumbs-up.

He didn't think there was anything wrong with what Chen Qing said; one should have such goals.

However, he still reminded him, "Talking is one thing, but you still have to take it one step at a time. Hehe, at your school, Jinling Martial Arts University, I only know one person who goes all out to Breakthrough.

"That person is Li Qingshan, a sophomore who's about to become a junior. That guy is just like Yan Zheng, who you just saw—he Cultivates like crazy! His ability isn't even as good as Yan Zheng's; he barely reached the C-Rank threshold during testing, yet he managed to Breakthrough to the Third Rank before his sophomore year ended, and now he's even more desperate!"

"Hehe, I estimate that as long as that guy doesn't die, he'll be aiming for Fifth Rank before graduation!"

Chen Qing was deeply moved. Li Qingshan? Is he that ruthless?

Adding Yan Zheng to the mix, Jinling Martial Arts University really has a lot of madmen.

Sure enough, he hadn't chosen the wrong place.

Seeing that Chen Qing showed no fear, but rather a hint of relief and excitement, Li Tianyang bared his teeth, as if his warning had backfired.

"Chen Qing, don't actually learn from him! I saw him last time I went to your school; he was arrogant and almost got himself killed by me. You're S-Rank, even if you just follow the Dark Department's path, you should still reach his level. Don't go seeking death."

He was a little scared; this guy's eyes were even stranger than that madman's, seeming very excited.

As for almost killing Li Qingshan, that was an accident, something that happened half a year ago. At that time, Li Tianyang was Second Rank, and Li Qingshan was also Second Rank. The two met during a mission. They discovered their missions conflicted, and Li Qingshan wasn't one to take insults, so he immediately told Li Tianyang to cancel his mission.

Who knew Li Tianyang was also a tough nut? The two fought fiercely during the mission, ignoring the main objective.

The outcome, naturally, was that Li Qingshan lost.

Li Qingshan, therefore, worked harder and, with a C-Rank ability, forcefully entered the Third Rank within half a year, leaving most of his peers behind.

Chen Qing looked a bit sheepish and smiled, "Of course I won't learn from him! Yang-ge, I value my life; why would I learn from a madman?"

However, he had already noted down this person named Li Qingshan; perhaps he could pay him a visit sometime.

He thought of a problem he encountered last night and immediately asked,

"By the way, Yang-ge, is there a Bottleneck in the strength of a human body's vitality?"

During his Cultivation yesterday, after his vitality reached 0.89, it became very difficult to advance further. He guessed it was most likely a Cultivation Bottleneck, so it was a good time to ask about it.

Li Tianyang was startled upon hearing this, "You've reached a Bottleneck?"

Chen Qing's eyes darted around, and he didn't tell the truth, because his vitality was only detected as 0.68 at the martial arts hall yesterday, which Li Tianyang saw with his own eyes.

Telling him now that it had increased to 0.9 overnight would easily arouse unnecessary suspicion.

He hadn't known Li Tianyang for long and wasn't clear about his true character.

"No, I just heard a classmate mention it, and I'm about to Cultivate myself."

Li Tianyang didn't pay much attention; he hadn't really thought in that direction, it was just a casual question.

"There is a Bottleneck. You don't need to know about the Bottlenecks for subsequent Rank advancements yet; let's talk about the step from non-Martial Artist to Martial Artist first."

Li Tianyang poured a cup of tea brewed by the principal and casually introduced, "In the non-Martial Artist stage, there are actually the most Bottlenecks! And it's also where the gap between people begins to widen!"

"In fact, everyone says that a vitality of 1 is a watershed, distinguishing between Martial Artists and non-Martial Artists, so naturally, the limit of a non-Martial Artist's vitality seems to be 1. But that's not accurate; in the non-Martial Artist stage, 0.89 is the limit!"

He pointed at the teapot containing tea on the table and continued,

"When your vitality reaches 0.89, you'll find that your body is like a teapot, and the vitality gained from Cultivation is like water. The lid of the teapot is closed, and no matter how hard you try to Cultivate, it's difficult to pour more water into it."

"If the teapot is lidded, I can slowly pour water in through the spout!" Chen Qing asked, puzzled.

"Smart! In my opinion, that's exactly it! At this point, a non-Martial Artist who wants to continue Cultivating can only rely on time to slowly grind away! Slowly pour water from the spout until 0.89 becomes 0.9. Congratulations, you can Breakthrough to become a Martial Artist!"

"Once you choose to Breakthrough at this point, your lid will be reopened, and the water that has accumulated outside the lid for a long time will instantly enter the pot. Your vitality will quickly Breakthrough 1, and you can continue to Cultivate."

"You can Breakthrough to a Martial Artist at 0.9? Doesn't that mean that the students from the four famous universities are likely to Breakthrough to Martial Artist soon after entering school?"

Li Tianyang smiled, "No! 0.9 is just the beginning of the non-Martial Artist stage!"

"I just said that the lid will be reopened after Breakthrough to a Martial Artist, but I didn't say the lid would be fully open. In fact, if you Breakthrough directly from the 0.9 stage, you'll find that your lid is only partially open, and the speed of water inflow will be restricted in the future. And for others, if they Breakthrough at 0.91 or 0.92, their potential will be greater, and their Cultivation speed will be faster than yours in the future!"

"Does that mean the closer the vitality is to 1 before Breakthrough, the greater the potential after Breakthrough?"

"Exactly!"

This step, one could say, determines both a Martial Artist's future Cultivation speed and their future Cultivation ceiling.

"Then wouldn't it be invincible if one Cultivated directly to 1 in the non-Martial Artist stage?"

Li Tianyang chuckled, looking at the junior in front of him, "Chen Qing, do you think Cultivation is that simple? This requires Genius! Most people are doing very well if they can Cultivate to around 0.92. Beyond that, it's extremely difficult to make any progress, which is also the choice of most people."

"Students from the four famous universities, generally, will also advance in the 0.93-0.94 stage, with a few being able to Cultivate to 0.95 before Breakthrough. Throughout the history of the entire Federation, not many people have been able to reach beyond 0.97."

"This is related to the strength of their respective abilities. The limit for an A-Rank ability is probably around 0.95, but without a great Opportunity, most can only reach 0.94. The limit for an S-Rank is probably around 0.97, but those who actually reach 0.97 are extremely rare."

He explained it very clearly, almost telling Chen Qing that since he was S-Rank, his limit was probably around 0.97. Even if he couldn't reach it, he should at least try to grind to 0.95 before choosing to advance, so as not to waste his S-Rank ability Genius.

Chen Qing pondered, so there were so many intricacies in the Dao of Martial Artists. It seemed he needed to continue improving his vitality. He couldn't Breakthrough now; that would be equivalent to squandering his own Genius.

"Of course, the Rank of an ability doesn't completely determine a person's Cultivation ceiling at this stage. For example, Yan Zheng, although he is C-Rank, his theoretical limit is probably only around 0.92. But he works very hard, and I don't know how he did it, but I suspect he Cultivated to at least 0.94 before making the Breakthrough."

"And there's Li Qingshan; he's also an anomaly. I suspect he also Cultivated to at least 0.94."

0.94, just one more step forward would be 0.95, which is the theoretical limit for A-Rank!

This is also the biggest reason why these two could quickly Breakthrough and overpower others!

Chen Qing nodded.

No wonder very few people in universities advance exceptionally quickly. He guessed that many people spent a lot of time stuck in the non-Martial Artist stage, just to strive for a greater future.