In Mingyue Community, Yangzhou City, Luo Feng’s home. In the living room, Luo Feng was having dinner with his parents and younger brother, the air filled with laughter. It had only been seven or eight days since Luo Feng first entered the wilderness area, but this time he had been gone for nearly two months. Although he had frequently spoken with his parents and brother on the phone in the interim, the joy of actually seeing Luo Feng in person far surpassed any telephone connection.

After dinner, in his brother Luo Hua’s room. “Luo Hua, what are you writing?” Luo Feng asked with a smile, noticing the large amount of script filling the RD document on his brother’s laptop. “Reviewing the gains and losses from my stock trading over the past month, perfecting my theoretical framework for trading,” Luo Hua replied with a smile. “Brother, establishing the core theoretical foundation for stock trading only takes a few months. But refining that theory through extensive practice requires a very, very long time.”

Luo Feng laughed heartily, “Luo Hua, don’t give me that jargon; I wouldn't understand. By the way, how has the stock market been for you these last three months?” “The recent market has been sluggish, the overall index dropped by about 10%, but the stocks I selected were all blue-chip quality. Through swing trading, I managed to earn a profit of about 50% over the last three months.” A hint of confidence colored Luo Hua’s face, and Luo Feng smiled in response. In truth, Luo Feng had done some cursory research on stocks online as well.

Presently, the entire Earth Alliance stock market was integrated. Because conditions varied across different regions, while the general index might fall, some areas could still see gains, and others, ravaged by monster attacks, might experience catastrophic drops. Trading stocks under such chaotic circumstances was immensely difficult.

“Oh, so that means you made ten million?” Luo Feng asked, surprised. Three months prior, Luo Feng had earned a substantial sum by killing the ‘Hunter,’ and upon returning, he had given his brother twenty million. Though confident in his brother, Luo Feng hesitated to hand over too much capital at once, fearing heavy losses. “Yes, that’s right.”

Luo Feng picked up his phone and swiftly logged into his online bank to initiate a transfer. “Beep!”

His younger brother, Luo Hua, quickly snatched up his phone, viewing the transaction alert— “Your card ending in 3206 received a deposit of 50 million yuan from Bank of Communications at 21:51 on November 30th. Balance: 50,003,000. (Bank of Communications).”

“Brother, fifty million?” Luo Hua looked at his brother Luo Feng in shock. Fifty million was no small sum; Chinese currency still held significant value, with an exchange rate to Earth Currency of only about 3.5. For many wealthy merchants and tycoons within China, producing fifty million in cash would be quite unrealistic. “Luo Hua, keep up the hard work, I have high hopes for you,” Luo Feng grinned slyly. “Mhm.” Luo Hua’s eyes shone as he nodded firmly.

Handling such a massive sum, navigating the stock market, gave Luo Hua a sense of accomplishment. For him, physically disabled in both legs, the stock market had long become his career. Since he started trading years ago, he had experimented with short, medium, and long-term trades, as well as regional and manipulative stocks, finally solidifying his own foundational philosophy. It could be said he already possessed the groundwork of a true master.

However, even masters in the stock market could stumble, as success demanded extremely high standards of both intellectual strategy and psychological fortitude. “Get some rest early,” Luo Feng said with a smile before heading upstairs.

Fifty million—Luo Feng truly didn't care. During his two months of cultivation, he had concurrently earned over eighty million. This speed of earning was certainly the envy of many martial artists, but there was nothing they could do; Luo Feng’s methods were inaccessible to them… After all, Luo Feng was a Spiritual Thought Master, and if he truly intended to make money, his psychic abilities could certainly fell a large number of Beast General level monsters.

...

Last night was a torrential downpour, but tonight the sky was brilliantly starlit. The starlight pierced through the skylight into the second-floor training hall. Luo Feng was repeatedly executing slashes with the Blood Shadow Battle Blade. The frequency of his swings was extremely high, and each time he pushed the Nine-Layered Thunder Blade technique to its limit. Because he had already endured twenty consecutive hours of strenuous work at the supply base, this high-frequency, maximal execution only lasted half an hour before Luo Feng was utterly exhausted.

Immediately after, Luo Feng began cultivating the channeling technique, Nine-Layered Primordial Chaos.

Finally, he proceeded to practice the Five Hearts Facing Heaven gene energy cultivation method. “Hiss hiss~~” Sitting cross-legged, Luo Feng’s face broke into a pleased expression. He could clearly sense that every single cell in his body felt ravenous, desperately devouring the surrounding cosmic energy. “When I mastered the first layer of the Nine-Layered Thunder Blade, my cultivation speed nearly doubled! Now that I have mastered the second layer, my cells seem even hungrier, capable of absorbing much more gene energy.”

Time ticked by, minute by minute.

After a long while.

Every cell in his body seemed to ‘burp’ contentedly, no longer able to absorb any more energy, reaching a state of saturation. “When I mastered the first layer, cultivation speed doubled! Mastering the second layer, although the increase wasn't as dramatic as the first, it still boosted speed by one-third!” Luo Feng marveled. The Nine-Layered Thunder Blade was truly wondrous; combined with the channeling technique, it made his cultivation speed astonishingly fast. “I trained diligently at home for a month, and then spent two months tempering myself in the wilderness. I wonder how much my strength has increased over these three months.” Luo Feng felt a sense of anticipation.

During these three months, Luo Feng’s daily progress had indeed been staggering. First, as a Spiritual Thought Master, his mental force was silently improving his body every day, which was one reason why Spiritual Thought Masters experienced rapid initial power gains. Second, Luo Feng was cultivating the supreme technique, the Nine-Layered Thunder Blade, coupled with two months of fighting at the edge of life and death. These three factors combined meant Luo Feng’s cultivation speed was five to six times faster than that of an average, relatively outstanding martial artist. “Tomorrow, I’ll go to the Limit Gymnasium to test myself and see what level my strength has reached,” Luo Feng decided, eager to verify the results of his grueling training.

It was just past five in the early morning when Luo Feng headed to the Limit Gymnasium. “Crazy one, out so early?” Some martial artists in the community were doing their morning exercises. “Crazy one, I heard you made a fortune over the last two months.” “You have to treat us! Take all the brothers in the complex out for a good meal, let’s celebrate!” Many martial artists greeted him cheerfully.

The last time Luo Feng made a killing by defeating the ‘Hunter Silver Moon Ferocious Wolf,’ few people knew about it. But over the past two months, Luo Feng’s frenzied slaughter of ordinary Beast Soldier level monsters had made him known to many within the martial artist circles. A battle record of slaughtering over ten thousand monsters in two months was certainly ‘insane.’ Thus, earning the nickname ‘Crazy One’ was not surprising. Because of this reputation, everyone respected Luo Feng much more. After all, even the dullest person would gain highly proficient techniques and experience after successively killing over ten thousand monsters; practice truly made perfect. “Sure, no problem. How about tonight?” Luo Feng laughed heartily.

Entering the Limit Gymnasium, the reception girl in the lobby spotted Luo Feng and called out, “Mr. Luo, so early? No one is upstairs yet. Would you like something to drink? I can send it up for you.” “No need, just prepare some tea and snacks; I’ll come down later to eat,” Luo Feng smiled and headed straight upstairs.

Limit Gymnasium, sixth floor.

Looking at the massive training hall on the sixth floor, Luo Feng felt a wave of emotion. His Quasi-Warrior assessment had taken place right here. He never imagined that in the blink of an eye, he, who was once a Quasi-Warrior, was now considered a true elite martial artist. Luo Feng first switched on the fist power testing machine, then activated the speed testing instrument.

After starting the speed tester, Luo Feng casually stepped onto the track. “Let’s see my current strength.” Luo Feng, who had been standing calmly on the track, suddenly shot forward like an arrow released from a bowstring. In the blink of an eye, he dashed across the track and slowed to a stop.

Luo Feng walked over to the speed testing instrument and looked at the screen displaying the number—“78.6 m/s.” “Not bad.” Luo Feng’s eyes lit up. Generally, 60 meters per second marked the lower limit for physical fitness at the Advanced Warrior level. And 90 meters per second was considered the lower limit for the Novice Warlord level.

“Time to test the fist power.” Luo Feng moved to the fist power testing machine, took a deep breath, and unleashed a surge of strength! Boom!

His fist struck the impact pad like a cannonball. The pad vibrated violently, and the screen displayed the figure—‘6121g.’ Generally, 4000g indicated the lower limit for an Advanced Warrior. And 8000g was the threshold for a Novice Warrior. Of course, these were just approximate benchmarks, as current strength assessment was based on monster-slaying records rather than just physical fitness. After all, physical fitness accounted for only part of one’s overall power.

“Let’s try unleashing power with the Nine-Layered Thunder Blade.” Luo Feng breathed calmly, then his eyes snapped open. A burst of force from his legs caused the training hall floor to subtly tremble. Immense power surged from his legs instantly transferring to his hips and waist. Kaka-ka—Luo Feng’s spine straightened segment by segment, channeling potent punching force to his right arm. Simultaneously, his hips, waist, and even his back rippled like concentric waves on water, releasing two bursts of hidden force. Force linkage! The second layer of the Nine-Layered Thunder Blade, 210% power, unleashed!

As Luo Feng’s fist swung out, its speed continually escalated, finally crashing into the impact pad with a sound like an air explosion. Rumble~~ The impact pad tilted deeply before slowly rebounding. The screen paused for a moment before displaying a line of numbers—“12928g.” “Good heavens.” A smile touched Luo Feng’s face. Based on 6121 multiplied by 2.1, the precise number should be 12854. However, force exertion was inherently approximate; sometimes it read slightly higher, sometimes slightly lower, which was normal. It could be said that at his full exertion, Luo Feng wielded nearly 13,000g of force.

His base physical strength was at the Advanced Warrior level. But utilizing the unleashing method of the Nine-Layered Thunder Blade, he reached the Novice Warlord level, significantly exceeding the 8000g baseline. Novice Warlord fist power generally ranged between 8000 and 16000. “Finally, let’s test my neural reaction speed.”

Luo Feng entered the neural reaction testing room, directly adjusting the setting to ‘Novice Warlord level’ mode, and setting the timer to ‘Delayed activation for 5 seconds.’ After pressing the red button, Luo Feng swiftly walked into the designated circle. Standing inside the circle. Approximately five seconds later, “Beep~~ Beep~~” the barrels of the neural reaction testing machine began to rotate, accelerating until they reached an astonishing speed. Then, dozens of projectiles were fired sequentially from the large barrels, shooting rubber bullets rapidly toward the red shield. “So fast.” Luo Feng moved swiftly in the center of the red zone.

His footwork was ethereal yet incredibly quick. Effortless. If one were to find someone with a neural reaction speed matching Luo Feng’s, they likely couldn’t evade with such ease, because… Luo Feng’s movement technique had reached the ‘Subtle Level.’ Aided by this micro-level control, Luo Feng could maximize his evasion capabilities. Thwack! Thwack! Two bullets hit Luo Feng consecutively, but he didn't hesitate, continuing to dodge.

One minute later, the barrels slowed and stopped rotating. Luo Feng walked to the screen location and examined the results carefully: “Hmm? 60 seconds, hit 21 times, without touching the red light—Superior?” Luo Feng was surprised by this score; he had actually achieved a superior rating on the Novice Warlord neural reaction test! This demonstrated the effect of the Subtle Level! In truth, this ‘Neural Reaction Testing Machine’ primarily tested evasion ability. And evasion ability was linked to speed, neural reaction, awareness, and other factors. But this was currently the best testing methodology available. “Speed: 78.6 meters per second.” “Fist Power: 6121g, capable of reaching nearly 13000g when bursting.” “Neural Reaction Test: Novice Warlord level, Superior!”

Luo Feng was quite pleased with these test results. He knew clearly that his physical constitution was that of an Advanced Warrior, but due to the power unleashing method of the Nine-Layered Thunder Blade and the assistance of the Subtle Level, he had reached the Novice Warlord tier in both attack power and neural reaction tests.

After finishing the tests, Luo Feng descended the stairs in high spirits. In the bar area of the first-floor lobby, several martial artists were seated and chatting. “Crazy One.” “Luo Feng.” The Gym Manager, Wu Tong, was also among them, smiling. “You came by so early, are you here to watch the Quasi-Warrior assessment? You missed the previous few, but it’s good you’re here this time. We can see how this new batch of rookies fares. Perhaps you could administer their tests later?”

Luo Feng paused. Quasi-Warrior assessment? Right, today was December 1st. The 1st of every month was the day of the Quasi-Warrior assessment.