"Sit down." Ian Song pointed at the wooden chair in front of him.
"Thank you."
Jason Long nodded and sat down on the wooden chair, feeling a bit puzzled. He wasn't sure why Ian Song had called him over.
"If I'm not mistaken, you're a martial artist, right?" Ian Song asked with a smile.
"Yes." Jason Long nodded again.
Could you tell me how martial artist realms are divided, and what's the situation for martial artists in the Centralia Republic nowadays?
There was no information about martial artists in his predecessor's memories, so Ian Song was asking Jason Long for advice.
Jason Long was a bit confused. He'd seen Ian Song fight before—both his strength and speed were far beyond any martial artist he knew. If Ian was this powerful, why would he ask such basic questions?
Although he was puzzled, Jason didn't ask further. He thought for a moment and said, "As far as I know, martial artist realms are divided into Ming Strength, Dark Strength, Transforming Strength, and Core Strength. Each realm is split into early, middle, and late stages. As for martial artists in the Centralia Republic, I've heard from my elders that with the development of technology, fewer people practice martial arts. Right now, Shaolin and Wudang are the strongest sects. I don't know much about the others."
"What realm are you at now?" Ian Song asked.
"Early Ming Strength." Jason Long replied.
Ian Song's eyes lit up. "Can you describe these four realms in detail for me?"
Jason Long said a bit sheepishly, "My strength is too low, so I can't describe Transforming Strength or Core Strength. But my father is a Dark Strength martial artist, so I can explain a bit. It's said that once you reach Dark Strength, you generate an inner force in your body. This force has powerful penetrating ability—a single punch can directly injure someone's internal organs."
Jason's explanation was a bit vague, but Ian Song already had a general idea.
If his judgment was correct, Ming Strength corresponded to Postnatal Early Stage, Dark Strength to Postnatal Middle Stage, Transforming Strength to Postnatal Late Stage, and Core Strength to Postnatal Perfection.
After analyzing this, Ian Song asked again, "By the way, how do you train?"
Jason Long hesitated a little and said, "I have a family style of Baguazhang. My father has trained for thirty years and barely reached Dark Strength. I've practiced for ten years and only just entered early Ming Strength!"
"Would you mind showing me a set of Baguazhang?" Ian Song looked at Jason Long.
"Sure!"
Ian Song was even stronger than his father, so Jason Long didn't think Ian would covet his family's martial arts.
So, he stood up and began practicing his family's Baguazhang.
At Ian Song’s current level—Innate Stage Eight—he could tell after watching Jason Long finish the set that this was an external art. The moves were pretty refined, but compared to the internal skills of the real world, it was a few tiers lower.
Suddenly, Ian had a thought and asked, “By the way, does your family have any method for cultivating internal energy?”
“What do you mean, internal energy cultivation?” Jason looked confused.
Seeing Jason’s reaction, Ian was pretty sure that martial arts in this world all start from the outside and move inward, with no real internal energy cultivation. Of course, it was also possible Jason was just low-level and hadn’t heard of internal energy methods.
“What are your plans for the future?” Ian suddenly changed the topic.
Jason looked a little lost at that. The whole world had changed, zombies everywhere—he really didn’t know how to face his future.
“Interested in working with me?” Ian asked with a smile.
“Sure!” Jason’s eyes lit up and he nodded hard.
“Why are you agreeing so quickly?” Ian was a bit surprised.
“You’re really strong. Sticking with you is way better than wandering around alone. Plus, I’m kind of lazy—I only care about training, and I don’t want to stress about anything else!”
Hearing Jason’s reasoning, Ian couldn’t help but laugh. “You’re pretty straightforward. In that case, I can’t treat you badly!”
As he spoke, Ian took out two Evolution Crystals and handed them to Jason. “Eat these!”
“You sure this isn’t poison?” Jason joked.
“Yep, it’s poison.” Ian nodded solemnly.
“Wait, is it really poison?” Jason’s hand trembled as he took the Evolution Crystals.
“Just try it and you’ll see!”
“Alright!”
Jason popped both Evolution Crystals straight into his mouth.
They melted instantly, and Jason immediately felt the crystals turn into a rush of heat that flowed through his limbs and bones.
Instinctively, he spread his arms and started practicing Baguazhang again.
About twenty minutes passed.
Jason threw a punch, and inside his body came a loud 'crack'—there’s a saying, 'a fortune can’t buy that sound.'
Hearing the sound from inside, Jason was overjoyed. That noise meant he’d jumped straight past mid Ming Strength and reached late Ming Strength.
According to his dad, even with decent talent, it should have taken him three years to reach late Ming Strength. He never expected that just by taking two mysterious crystals, he’d save three years of effort.
“Boss, thank you!”
Thinking of that, Jason bowed to Ian.
“Here, try three more—see if you can break through to Dark Strength!” Ian handed over three more Evolution Crystals.
While Jason was breaking through, Ian kept using his Clairvoyant Vision to observe. He found that the two crystals hadn’t fully unlocked Jason’s potential, and since Jason’s constitution was good, he didn’t suffer dehydration or hunger like Leo and the others after absorbing the crystals.
“Boss, what are these things? How are they so amazing?” Jason asked curiously, taking the three crystals.
“They’re called Evolution Crystals. I get them from zombie brains. Usually, you only find one in every ten zombies.” Ian didn’t hide anything.
“Seriously? You actually found these inside zombies?” Jason exclaimed.
“What, you think it’s gross?” Ian grinned.
“No!” Jason shook his head. “I just think these Evolution Crystals are a total blessing for martial artists like us!”
“Not necessarily. These crystals only work for low-level people. For me, they’re basically useless.” Ian said seriously.
Suddenly, Jason couldn’t help his curiosity. “Boss, just how strong are you?”
“A level you can’t even imagine!” Ian replied with a smile.
Jason paused, then didn’t ask further. He popped the three crystals into his mouth and went back to practicing Baguazhang.
As he practiced, the energy from the crystals kept getting absorbed. Half an hour later, Jason finally felt a change inside—an internal force was born, and he’d reached early Dark Strength.
Feeling that internal energy in his meridians, Jason didn’t even know how to describe his mood. His dad took thirty years to reach Dark Strength, and Jason had done it in just one hour. If his dad found out, would he be shocked out of his mind?