High Martial Arts Era

Chapter 54: Chapter 54: Meteor Rank Promotion Match

Li Yuan connected his consciousness and entered the virtual network, heading straight to his personal space on the Starry Combat Network.

"Master, you have finally arrived," greeted a cheerful girl in white. "Your personal assistant, Little Jade, at your service."

Li Yuan smiled and commanded, "Display my personal ranking match record."

With a swoosh, a light screen appeared:

Ranking Match: Gold Rank

Points: 990 (1000 points needed for promotion match)

Win Rate: 88%

"990 points. I hope I don't run into a Meteor Rank opponent and can get the remaining 10 points in one match," Li Yuan thought. "Otherwise, it will be a waste of time."

Two months ago, Li Yuan's spear technique improved to 99% at the third stage. A week ago, his movement technique also reached 99% at the third stage. Since achieving 99% in his spear technique, he had been dominating the Gold Rank matches in the Starry Combat Network. He rarely lost a match, pushing his win rate from around 50% to much higher. Last week, when his movement technique reached 99%, he won 56 matches in a row, essentially becoming invincible in the Gold Rank.

Then, the matchmaking system seemed to punish him. In three consecutive matches, he was pitted against Meteor Rank experts. He managed to hold out for a few moves in one match, but in the other two, he was defeated in just a few moves.

"Let's start," Li Yuan said, setting up his weapon configuration.

Beep—matchmaking successful.

"Entering ranking match, opponent Gold Rank (996 points). Prepare for battle," the system reminded. "Entering battle space in 10, 9..."

"996 points? Could he be an expert? Is my luck that bad?" Li Yuan wondered.

A flash of light, and Li Yuan appeared in a large arena with no audience. On the opposite side, a middle-aged man with a spear and shield appeared.

"A spear and shield?" Li Yuan gripped his long spear.

Warriors using combinations like sword and shield or spear and shield were common. A spear, though a long weapon, was often shorter than a single spear since it was a one-handed weapon, making it less flexible. However, the shield greatly increased survivability, allowing for more margin for error in life-and-death battles.

But the drawback of shield combinations was their lack of flexibility. Li Yuan, not used to using a shield, believed his long spear alone was enough to overcome any challenge.

"Boy, if I defeat you, I can enter the promotion match," the middle-aged man laughed. "Today, I've already won ten matches in a row."

"Ten wins in a row?" Li Yuan was surprised.

"Yes," the man nodded confidently. "You won't be a match for me. You might as well surrender to avoid getting hurt." In ranking matches, surrendering was allowed. The advantage was avoiding mental trauma, but the downside was losing more points.

"Uncle, I know why you were matched with me," Li Yuan suddenly grinned.

"Why?" the middle-aged man was puzzled.

"Because the system wants me to punish you!" Li Yuan laughed and suddenly moved like a dragon, fully unleashing his strength and speed.

"So fast! Is he at 8.0 level physical fitness?" The middle-aged man was startled, realizing his opponent was formidable.

In the virtual network, one could change appearance and attire freely. However, to prevent fraud, each person was bound to their identity information, disallowing gender changes and restricting age alterations to within five years.

Boom! The middle-aged man moved as well. Being able to reach over 900 points in the Gold Rank meant he was no weakling.

The man wielded his shield to block, shifting his steps and trying to deflect Li Yuan's thrust to the side.

Bang! Spear and shield collided.

"Blocked," the man smiled, but his expression quickly changed.

Rip! The long spear that should have crashed heavily against the shield seemed to cling to it instead. The spearhead retracted, scraping along the shield with a piercing sound. In the next instant, the spear pulled back half a meter and then thrust forward like lightning, avoiding the shield.

The swift spear change was too fast, causing the man to feel fear.

In a life-and-death moment, the man hurled his spear. If Li Yuan continued his thrust, he would be impaled, potentially resulting in a tie.

Clang! Without hesitation, Li Yuan withdrew his spear and deflected the flying spear with a burst of strength, sending it crashing into the ground outside the arena.

In the arena, Li Yuan turned his spear and executed "Balancing Heaven and Earth," slashing down hard on the middle-aged man.

Boom! The man blocked with his shield but was pushed back by the force.

"Go!" Li Yuan withdrew and adjusted his stance, then launched a mid-level thrust, his spear flashing like lightning.

Clang! Boom! The sounds of repeated clashes echoed as the man, despite his skill, was pushed to his limits. Although he was highly skilled, Li Yuan's mastery of physical control, mental awareness, and weapon handling was superior.

On the nineteenth strike, Li Yuan found an opening, piercing through the man's throat with a swift thrust.

Blood splattered.

"I lost?" The man's last thought before disappearing was of Li Yuan's brutal skill.

"Your shield technique was good, but your spear and shield coordination and physical control were lacking," Li Yuan mused. He had defeated hundreds of such opponents in the past two months.

The system notification arrived: "Congratulations, Defender Yuan... Points +10."

"Your points have reached 1000. Would you like to enter the promotion match? Note: Promotion match cooldown is one week. Failure will result in a 50-point deduction. Success will promote you to Meteor Rank permanently."

"Enter the promotion match," Li Yuan decided.

His figure disappeared from the arena.

...

He appeared on a small island with lush trees and roaring waves in the distance.

"This is the fifth time. I wonder if my perfected movement technique will help me pass this time," Li Yuan, in light armor and holding a long spear, scanned the surroundings.

Quickly, twelve humanoid creatures emerged from the distant forest. They were of varying heights, with the tallest over 1.8 meters and the shortest around 1.7 meters. They had four arms, blue skin, webbed claws, and fish-like tails with fins.

"Fish Spirit Tribe," Li Yuan muttered.

In the Starry Combat Network's promotion matches, opponents were not other warriors but pre-set astral creatures. Each rank had multiple astral creature choices. Li Yuan always chose the Fish Spirit Tribe.

Roar! The Fish Spirit creatures charged at Li Yuan with red eyes and sharp claws, as if they had seen a mortal enemy.

"The virtual network's realism is impressive, even simulating the hatred of these creatures," Li Yuan thought.

He advanced with his spear, targeting the tallest Fish Spirit. His spear left afterimages as it thrust towards the creature's throat.

Clang! The creature reacted swiftly, blocking with its claws.

Clang! Clang! Li Yuan's spear changed direction, deftly clashing with the creature's claws three times before piercing its chest.

Blood splattered, but instead of finishing it off, Li Yuan withdrew his spear and swung it like a heavy club to block an attack from the right.

There were twelve opponents in total.