High Martial Arts: Enlightenment after Practices

Xu Wuyi nodded and walked out of the villa.

A hovercar was already waiting outside the courtyard—a special vehicle sent by the military. The driver, a taciturn middle-aged officer, saw Xu Wuyi emerge and immediately got out to open the door.

"Martial Artist Xu, are we heading directly to the spaceport?"

"Yes."

The door closed, and the hovercar smoothly departed from Shanshui Manor, speeding toward the spaceport on the outskirts of the city.

Inside the car, Xu Wuyi leaned back against the seat and closed his eyes to rest.

’To be summoned so urgently... this is probably no small matter.’

Ten minutes later, the hovercar arrived at the Red River City spaceport.

On the tarmac, a VTOL transport plane had already started its engines, its hatch wide open. Two officers in military uniforms stood by the ramp. Upon seeing Xu Wuyi, they immediately stepped forward and saluted.

"Martial Artist Xu, the private transport is ready. We can take off at any time."

"Let’s go."

Xu Wuyi boarded the transport.

The cabin’s interior was spartan. Aside from the flight crew, he was the only passenger.

...

The transport’s engines roared as it slowly ascended. After adjusting its course, it sped toward Xingjing.

Two and a half hours later, the transport landed at the Xingjing military spaceport.

Xu Wuyi had just stepped off the ramp when a black sedan pulled up alongside. The window rolled down, revealing Wu Dingbo’s face.

"Get in."

Xu Wuyi opened the door and got in.

The car immediately sped away from the tarmac, passing through multiple security checkpoints before finally entering the familiar gray building that housed the military headquarters.

This time, however, they didn’t go to Feng Zhuohua’s office. Instead, they drove directly into the underground parking garage and stopped before a private elevator.

"This way." Wu Dingbo pushed the door open, got out, and led Xu Wuyi into the elevator.

The elevator descended. The numbers on the display flickered: B1, B2, B3... all the way down to B7.

The doors opened.

Before them lay a wide corridor with walls of dark gray alloy. Recessed cold-light lamps were set into the ceiling every five meters.

The corridor was lined with closed metal doors, none of which had any markings.

Wu Dingbo led Xu Wuyi to the door at the far end of the hall and placed his hand on the recognition panel beside it.

"Identity Confirmed: Wu Dingbo, Lieutenant General."

"Authorization Confirmed: Access Granted."

"Visitor Logged: Xu Wuyi, Quasi-Grandmaster. Temporary Authorization Granted."

The metal door slid open.

Beyond the door was a conference room.

Five or six people were already seated around a long conference table.

Feng Zhuohua sat at the head of the table, flanked by several high-ranking generals in uniform and two middle-aged men in plainclothes whom Xu Wuyi didn’t recognize.

But the most striking figure was an old man sitting to Feng Zhuohua’s right.

He appeared to be in his sixties, with graying hair, and was dressed in a dark blue traditional robe, leaning on a red sandalwood cane.

His eyes were closed as if in meditation, but Xu Wuyi could sense an incredibly subtle, yet profound, aura emanating from him.

A Grandmaster.

A top-tier Grandmaster, at that.

A chill ran down Xu Wuyi’s spine.

"Martial Artist Xu, have a seat." Feng Zhuohua gestured to an empty chair at the far end of the table.

Xu Wuyi nodded and took a seat.

Wu Dingbo also sat down nearby.

"Now that everyone’s here," Feng Zhuohua said, her gaze sweeping across the room, "I’ll get straight to the mission. Time is short."

"Martial Artist Xu, this is Elder Meng of the Observatory," Feng Zhuohua began. "Elder Meng is in charge of Star Realm surveying and first contact protocols. The intelligence for this mission was discovered by one of his teams."

The old man slowly opened his eyes.

For a split second, Xu Wuyi felt the light in the conference room dim, as if it had all been drawn into those profound eyes.

"Xu Wuyi." Elder Meng’s voice was placid, with a rasp that spoke of his advanced years. "I heard about what happened with Old Shen. You did well."

"You’re too kind, Elder Meng," Xu Wuyi replied with a slight nod.

Elder Meng waved a dismissive hand, saying no more. He tapped his cane lightly on the alloy floor and looked at Feng Zhuohua. "Let’s begin."

Feng Zhuohua nodded and operated the console. A holographic screen rose from the center of the conference table, displaying a complex Star Map.

"Three days ago, one of our survey teams discovered a spatial fold by chance while on a routine Star Realm exploration mission."

Feng Zhuohua zoomed in on the Star Map, highlighting a flashing red dot southeast of the Federation Control Zone.

"This spatial fold is highly stable, yet its Energy Fluctuation is abnormally weak. It was missed in several previous scans."

"When the team moved in to investigate, they discovered a stable Star Realm passage within the fold."

The image on the screen changed, showing a blurry video feed.

Judging by the angle, it was recorded by a survey team member’s helmet camera.

A deep blue spatial tunnel. Silvery streams of light flowed along its walls, and faint pinpricks of light were visible in the distance.

"The team entered the passage. After approximately twelve minutes of transit, they arrived at the other side." Feng Zhuohua’s voice grew grave.

"It was a brand-new Star Realm. And... it contains a human civilization."

The atmosphere in the conference room grew heavy.

Although Xu Wuyi had learned about the existence of the True Dragon Star Realm from Shen Jin six months ago, that world was distant, separated from them by thousands of planes.

This newly discovered civilization, however, was right on their doorstep, near the Federation Control Zone.

Xu Wuyi now had Grandmaster Level clearance and was privy to most of the Federation’s intelligence. He knew this was the first time the Federation had ever made direct contact with another human civilization.

"This is the initial visual data," Feng Zhuohua said, playing the next clip.

The footage was shaky, clearly filmed while moving at high speed. The camera passed through a bank of clouds, and the contours of the land below gradually came into view.

Mountains, rivers, fields, and roads.

And, a walled city.

It was a classic ancient city. Its blue-gray walls were immense, towering over a hundred feet high. Banners fluttered atop the gatehouse, where one could faintly make out armored soldiers on patrol.

The city within was a dense collection of buildings with upturned eaves and intricate bracket systems. The streets teemed with pedestrians, and horse-drawn carriages passed to and fro.

The camera zoomed in, clearly showing the pedestrians’ attire—wide robes with long, flowing sleeves in an archaic style. Occasionally, people on horseback or in sedan chairs would pass by, escorted by guards, clearly people of wealth and status.

"Our preliminary assessment places their technology at a feudal level, but..." Feng Zhuohua changed the image, displaying several close-up shots.

The shots showed some kind of device mounted on the city walls. It resembled a ballista but had a more complex structure. It was cast entirely from metal, its surface etched with intricate patterns.

As the camera panned across, a faint flow of Energy could be detected along those patterns.

"They possess technology for harnessing Energy. Although it appears to be at a Basic Level, it’s definitely there," Feng Zhuohua said. "Furthermore, this civilization’s Martial Arts proficiency is not low."

The footage changed again.

This time, the scene was a mountain forest outside the city, where two people were engaged in combat.

One wielded a sword, the other a saber. The sword’s light flashed like lightning, while the saber’s Sword Momentum was like a mountain. The two exchanged blows so quickly that only afterimages were visible.

The surrounding trees were shredded by the ambient force of their attacks, and the ground was pockmarked with craters of varying depths.

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