71: Chapter 71 Toys from Deep Space

Wang Pingan's answer was resonant and powerful.

Thunderstorm looked at his eyes, which had become clear and firm once again, and nodded with satisfaction.

The flame of fanaticism in his eyes slowly subsided, replaced by a much deeper sense of expectation.

"Very good."

He turned and walked to a console against the office wall, inputting a series of complex commands.

Hum—

The floor in the center of the office split open silently.

A silver-white metal platform slowly rose.

On the platform sat a black helmet filled with a sci-fi aesthetic.

"This is the 'Deep Space Battlefield Simulator'."

Thunderstorm pointed at the helmet, his voice low.

"It is one hundred times more advanced than the B-3 simulation battlefield you used before."

"What is stored inside is not a program we wrote ourselves, but the most authentic combat data collected in real-time from the front-line battlefields."

"You will no longer be facing those mindless mutant creatures."

"Instead, you will face true, cunning, cruel, and highly intelligent warriors of alien civilizations!"

A flash of cold killing intent flickered in Thunderstorm's eyes.

"Zerg, silicon-based lifeforms, psionic entities..."

"Those things that only exist in textbooks and top-secret archives—you will have the most direct 'intimate contact' with them here."

He walked over to Wang Pingan and handed him the cold helmet.

"This is the new 'toy' I am giving you."

"It is also your new test."

"I don't care what method you use; I want you to thoroughly stabilize your Fourth-Rank Martial Artist realm within the next two days, and elevate your practical combat ability to a whole new level."

"Two days from now, Teacher Liu Qing will come in person to take you to Tianshu Star."

"I hope that when the time comes, what she sees is a true Fourth-Rank powerhouse, not a 'vase' that only has the realm but no substance."

Wang Pingan took the helmet; it felt icy to the touch.

He could feel that this seemingly ordinary helmet contained extremely complex energy circuits and a type of technology he could not comprehend.

"Yes, Instructor."

He did not ask any more questions and simply nodded solemnly.

Thunderstorm looked at him deeply, said nothing more, and turned to walk out of the office.

The heavy metal door slowly closed again.

Only Wang Pingan was left in the entire room.

He looked at the helmet in his hands, his eyes flickering.

Warriors of alien civilizations?

For him, this was simply a huge surprise!

This meant that in the future, he would have the opportunity to come into contact with more, higher-level, and more diverse "energy cores."

He did not hesitate any longer, walked directly onto the platform, and put the black helmet on his head.

Everything went black before his eyes.

The next second.

The world turned upside down once again.

The cold, metallic feeling of the previous simulated battlefield was gone.

Replaced by a desolate, deathly silent red Gobi desert.

The sky was an eerie dark purple, with two moons of different sizes hanging high above, emitting a cold light.

The air was filled with a pungent smell of sulfur.

The gravity was at least three times that of Blue Star.

【Welcome to the 'Deep Space Battlefield Simulator'】

【Current Scene: Scorpio Galaxy, Resource Star 7-34】

【Mission Mode: Free Hunt】

【Mission Objective: Survive as long as possible and hunt as many enemies as possible.】

The cold system prompt sounded in his mind.

Wang Pingan stretched his limbs, feeling the realistic tactile sensations of this simulated body.

With a thought, he activated 【Eye of Truth】.

The world before him was instantly covered by a stream of data.

He could clearly "see" that beneath this seemingly dead Gobi desert, countless life energy sources of varying strength were lurking.

They were like venomous snakes coiled in the sand—quiet, yet filled with lethal danger.

"Interesting."

A curve of excitement tugged at the corner of Wang Pingan's mouth.

He was not in a hurry to find prey.

Instead, he first brought up his system panel.

【host: Wang Pingan】

【Realm: Fourth-Rank Martial Artist (Initial Stage, blood qi value 1000 / 5000)】

【Strength: 100.0】

【Speed: 100.0】

【Physique: 100.0】

【Spirit: 100.0】

【Recovery: 100.0】

【pay-to-win points: 43865】

Over forty thousand pay-to-win points gave him sufficient confidence.

He pondered for a moment and did not choose to immediately raise his realm.

Thunderstorm was right.

His current realm was forcefully boosted; although his strength was genuine, his application of power was still at the Third-Rank level.

He needed one or even several high-intensity battles to let himself fully adapt to this brand-new body belonging to a Fourth-Rank Martial Artist.

And this "Free Hunt" mode before him was the best whetstone.

He sank his consciousness into the system.

"System, perform a deduction and optimization on the Meteor Fist Technique and the Phantom Step."

He was now a Fourth-Rank Martial Artist; although he had already cultivated those two Human-Rank martial arts to perfection, they were gradually failing to keep up with the growth of his strength.

He needed stronger attack methods and faster movement techniques.

【Command received, starting martial arts deduction...】

【Detected that host has entered the Fourth-Rank, blood qi can now transform into gang qi, existing martial arts can be upgraded.】

【Optimizing and deducing Meteor Fist Technique...】

【Deduction complete, obtained Intermediate Martial Art: Meteor Fist】

【Optimizing and deducing Phantom Step...】

【Deduction complete, obtained Intermediate Movement Technique: Phantom Flowing Light Steps】

【To learn and master Meteor Fist to perfection, requires consumption of pay-to-win points: 2000 points.】

【To learn and master Phantom Flowing Light Steps to perfection, requires consumption of pay-to-win points: 2000 points.】

【Confirm?】

"Confirm!"

Wang Pingan did not hesitate.

Boom!

Four thousand pay-to-win points vanished instantly.

Immediately after, two torrents of information, more massive and profound than any before, exploded in his mind!

One was about how to condense blood qi gang qi onto the fist, simulating the terrifying, indestructible power of a falling meteorite.

The other was about how to combine movement techniques with the spiritual energy particles in space, achieving strange footwork that resembled light and shadow interweaving, nearly akin to teleportation.

Wang Pingan's body moved subconsciously.

He slowly threw a punch on the spot.

Meteor Fist.

There was no whistling wind from the punch, nor any shocking momentum.

But the pale golden blood qi gang qi in front of his fist rotated and compressed at high speed in an extremely profound way, eventually forming a fist-sized energy vortex emitting an aura of destruction.

He then lightly took a step on the spot.

Phantom Flowing Light Steps.

His figure left an afterimage in place that was almost impossible to distinguish with the naked eye, while his real body had already silently appeared ten meters away.

Fast!

Strange!

Like light and shadow interweaving, like an antelope hanging by its horns, leaving no traces!

"Awesome!"

Feeling the two brand-new martial arts insights that had thoroughly merged with him within his body, Wang Pingan couldn't help but let out a low shout.

With these two Intermediate Martial Arts, his combat effectiveness had improved by at least thirty percent compared to before!

Just then.

Rustle, rustle...

A faint sound, like countless arthropods crawling on the sand, came from the ground beneath his feet.

Wang Pingan's eyes instantly became sharp.

He looked down.

He saw the red sand beneath his feet undulating violently like waves.

The next second.

Boom!

The ground beneath his feet exploded!

Dozens of monsters, the size of wild oxen, covered in black carapaces, with eight sharp arthropod limbs and a pair of huge pincers, looking like a cross between a scorpion and a spider, burst out from the sand!

Their scarlet compound eyes were filled with tyrannical and bloodthirsty killing intent, surrounding Wang Pingan completely.

【Detected target: Zerg 'Burrowing Demon Worm' (Mature Form)】

【Strength Assessment: Third-Rank Mid-Stage】

Looking at these hideous-looking "toys," a brilliant smile appeared on Wang Pingan's face.

"Just in time."

"I'll use you to test my new fist technique."