Starry Sky Professional

The Star of Young Eagles.

"A real Daoist with a Golden Core takes action, and the Foundation Laying cultivator meets his demise... Other worlds are indeed perilous."

"I should just obediently stay here and focus on my martial arts training..."

Fang Xing sighed as he glanced at his stats panel.

His primary goal now was to break through to 'Great Dragon Posture!'

Reaching the fourth realm of this power would immediately grant him the 'Essence of the Dragon'!

This would be a transformative leap in his strength.

"The Dragon Blood Elixir now has little effect on me... but with just a bit of progress left, I can achieve it through my own efforts..."

...

The environment on the Star of Young Eagles was peaceful and stable, being a distant education planet in the Black Mountain galaxy.

Unless disrupted by the henchmen of some outer-world evil gods, there was essentially no danger.

For Fang Xing, as long as he did not provoke trouble, he naturally wouldn't encounter any in school either. In fact, under Teacher Xia Long's dedicated guidance.

As an expert in the fifth realm of martial arts, Xia Long was well-versed in the Essence of Dragon and Tiger.

Fang Xing even suspected that Xia Long had long achieved the Dragon and Tiger state, only falling short of affirming the Dragon and Tiger Golden Core...

After all, if the Golden Core of martial arts were likened to towering buildings, then the Dragon and Tiger Essence were merely the foundation. While laying a solid foundation is crucial for building skyscrapers, there is still a long way to the actual construction...

In summary, when he calmed down and quietly practiced his martial arts, he easily entered a state of undistracted focus, free from outside disturbances.

Until that day.

In the Happy Garden neighborhood, the cold wind howled, and yellow leaves fell as light snow drifted from the sky. Inside the training room, however, it was as warm as spring, with an underlying hint of heat, like a roaring furnace.

Fang Xing was standing in the Great Dragon Posture.

Now his Great Dragon Posture had reached [Great Dragon Posture: 199/200], signifying an exceptional proficiency.

The third stage of the Great Dragon Posture made this martial art even more suitable for him.

At this point, he felt a mysterious sensation deep within his heart.

"It's now!"

"This is the time!"

"I will definitely break through!"

Roar!

Fang Xing felt a surge of power at his peak, vaguely hearing the ancient roar of a dragon echoing in his ears.

He could almost see a majestic creature with the body of a serpent, the tail of a fish, four claws on its belly, and horns on its head... it was a dragon!

"Like a Dragon!"

—The Essence of the Dragon!

In that instant, Fang Xing sensed a transformation in his spirit. Fine strands of spiritual energy converged on his brow, penetrating deep into his mind as if a third eye was about to open.

'This is the activation of the "Palace of Muddy Pills"!'

'To break through to the fourth realm of courage, from the third realm of the unrefined martial artist, opening the Palace of Muddy Pills is essential!'

Feeling the stir within the Palace of Muddy Pills, Fang Xing remained expressionless, aware that this time he could not open it: "But I'm not a raw martial artist; I lack the internal cultivation of the five viscera and six bowels... my body simply can't support opening the Palace of Muddy Pills!"

"However, this realization of the dragon's essence, the refinement of the spirit within the Palace of Muddy Pills, will lay a solid foundation for future breakthroughs... If I could also grasp the essence of the tiger, my accumulation towards the realm of courage would be even more profound!"

Martial arts is indeed like this, every step counts, and every drop of sweat shed today becomes strength after surpassing realms in the future!

Fang Xing opened his eyes and touched his brow: "Is this... the essence of the dragon?"

He could feel the spiritual power hidden within his Palace of Muddy Pills, dormant like a dragon in the abyss, destined to erupt like thunder when the time came!

"If my current simulation attacks with the Ghostly Blade and Passion Sword are at level 1, the essence of the dragon is at least above 20..."

"Such essence attacks the mind, probably enough to threaten someone at the peak of Qi training, or even foundation-building cultivators?"

Fang Xing felt that in every movement, there seemed to be an inherent majesty, akin to "dragon might," though very subtle.

"This is also a trouble; it seems I need to take a few days off to mellow this aura, otherwise, it will be troublesome to step outside…"

He frowned slightly and made a decision.

Then, he glanced at the attribute panel:

[Great Dragon Stance: 1/400]

“After the proficiency level, there's the master level?”

Fang Xing murmured softly.

If the proficiency level of the Great Dragon Stance is about making the technique adapt to oneself, then reaching the master level signifies the pinnacle of perfection!

“But clearly, the mastery increase still requires effort, indicating that the Great Dragon Stance has another realm to reach!”

Fang Xing's eyes brightened slightly.

He could sense that the Great Dragon Stance had reached a pinnacle, and if he moved forward... wouldn't he reach the level of the creator or even equate to it?

In such a realm, he might be able to freely revise and adapt the Great Dragon Stance.

“To achieve the Dragon and Tiger Intention, one must subdue dragons and tame tigers, harmonizing yin and yang... allowing it to flow smoothly.”

“Therefore, to attain the Dragon and Tiger Intention, at the very least, the Tiger Subduing Stance and Great Dragon Stance must be trained to the fifth stage for a greater likelihood...”

Only by reaching the creator’s realm can one possibly blend these different martial arts and create a new path for oneself!

Each person is unique, and naturally, the Dragon and Tiger Intention they comprehend is different too!

Only by making 'the self' the master, revising the two major stances to suit oneself, can one practice the strongest 'Dragon and Tiger Intention'!

“Although Teacher Xia Long never explicitly said it, he's always had expectations in this regard...”

Fang Xing glanced again at his martial arts realm and nodded. “The Great Dragon Stance embodies the dragon's intention, the Tiger Subduing Stance progresses beyond the proficiency level... Coupled with abundant resources, my bone refining speed is skyrocketing, perhaps I can achieve completeness this winter...”

“By then, with the aid of a ‘Innate Pill’, I can directly advance to the third martial realm—Jade!”

“Training speeds up, and life becomes increasingly hopeful...”

A day later.

Old Town.

Fang Xing, dressed in black and wearing a mask, exuded a subtle aura of authority.

“Woo...”

At the roadside, several two-headed mutant hyenas glanced at him and immediately, as if sensing a severe danger, whimpered and fled with their tails between their legs.

“I still can't effectively restrain the presence of the dragon... Right now, in the eyes of others, I'm probably like that bully everyone wants to kick, even street dogs.”

He silently mocked himself as he approached the convenience store at the black market's entrance.

“Welcome to the Trouble-Free Convenience Store, guest...”

A young man with brown hair and a round face, wearing a convenience store uniform, put down his comic book and his expression became solemn, sensing Fang Xing's intimidating aura.

*Bang!*

Fang Xing casually tossed the backpack from his shoulder onto the counter, creating a dull thud.

The backpack's zipper was half-open, revealing a glimpse of something dazzlingly golden.

“Convert it all into cash.”

His voice was low.

Needing to refine the dragon's presence, he had taken a few sick days from school, conveniently allowing him to earn some money at the black market.

“Please hold on...”

The store clerk adeptly tallied and calculated, “...After fees, you will receive 12,986,700 Xing Yuan...”

“Alright, I'm planning to purchase a 'metal detection spectrometer,' so deduct it from this amount!”

Fang Xing looked toward the store's shelves.

“We have an RDT93 from Jinlang Group, second-hand, eighty percent new... I wonder if it meets your needs?”

The clerk replied with a smile.

“Yes, I'll take it!”

Fang Xing accepted the spectrometer, about the size of a laptop, and nodded, “And... is there anywhere in this black market where I can buy something interesting?”

Hearing this, the clerk's expression suddenly turned serious, “It seems you’re not interested in just buying weapons... But we are a proper black market; we don’t deal with anything improper.”

“Alright then...”

Fang Xing took the black market communicator, chuckled softly, and stepped into the black market boulevard.

In the Prevention Bureau, he certainly couldn't enter those red zones, but he could wait for someone to reveal information during their idle chatter.

The truth is, not everyone can keep their lips sealed, or sometimes, in everyday life, it's easy to let slip some information.

For example...

Fang Xing knows of several grocery stores in the black market that often sell odd and bizarre items, including stuff from aliens or even cultist relics, leading to multiple raids, yet they persist like cockroaches.

It didn't take him much effort to find one of these shops.

It seemed like a miscellaneous goods store, with various items piled up in disarray. There were weapons and food, and Fang Xing even spotted a few pirated eighteen-rated game helmets he had played before.

'What a mess, they have all sorts of junk...' he mentally remarked, picking up a laser gun only to find it looked decent at first but would break down after just a few shots, causing him to scoff inwardly.

"Heh heh, rare to see a customer, what are you looking for?"

An old man with ashen skin gradually emerged from the shadows.

His skin was pale, his face full of wrinkles and age spots, his head bald except for a few wisps of white hair.

He looked almost like a living corpse!

"I'm here to purchase some things. Here's the list... don't let me down!"

Fang Xing hinted, using his comm device to project a screen.

"Visible Water, Shadow Box, and LIQ714 concentrate? Tsk tsk... impressive..."

The dying old man's eyes flashed with a cold light. "Some of these items, once mixed, seem to have the effect of detecting the aura of dark gods... Though, it’s quite an old method from the Bureau... Do you perhaps have similar items in your possession?"

He grinned, revealing his gumline where many teeth were missing.

"I never knew buying goods from the black market required explaining why..."

Fang Xing snorted coldly.

In reality, due to the flourishing interstellar smuggling in the Federation, many people might have some alien items in their homes.

Alien items in themselves are nothing, but you can never be sure that none slipped through the cracks or are mixed with dark gods' creations!

After all, with smuggling, how could quality inspections be strict?

In such cases, if one does not trust the Bureau or has secrets they don't want the Bureau to know, they have to take matters into their own hands.

"Alright then... Actually, there's no need for you to be so cautious," the shop owner remarked. "This store has the remnants of a just-retired 'Gate of Divine Perception' from the Bureau of Prevention. After some refurbishing, it's still somewhat functional. It only costs ten million..."

The old man, on the brink of death, wore an expression as if he had just taken a severe blow.

]

(End of Chapter)