Chapter 143: Advanced Energy Force

Night fell slowly, and before long, the entire fortress was completely shrouded in darkness.

Many people, exhausted from staying up all night, had long since fallen into a deep sleep.

However, there were also those tossing and turning in bed, unable to fall asleep.

Just at this moment, a faint sound of footsteps approached rapidly, then gradually faded away.

Someone, unable to suppress their curiosity, opened their door and looked toward the direction the sound came from, but seeing only the empty, pitch-black night, they could not help but be filled with confusion.

They had clearly heard the footsteps; could it be that they were hallucinating?

In fact, that was not the case; in this dark night, a figure had indeed flashed past.

This person was none other than Lu Yu.

He was seen carrying a bag weighing over 150 jin in each hand, with two more bags slung over his shoulders, totaling over 600 jin.

He ran along the inner perimeter of the wall, not running aimlessly, but deliberately controlling the sound of each footfall to a minimum, in order to rapidly increase the proficiency of his 【Basic Movement Technique】.

In this way, with every lap he ran, the proficiency of his 【Basic Movement Technique】 would increase by about 10%. After running ten laps, Lu Yu suddenly felt his whole body lighten; clearly, his 【Basic Movement Technique】 had successfully leveled up.

【Basic Movement Technique: lv4 (0%), Lightness lv3, Evasiveness lv1】

"Evasiveness?" A flash of surprise crossed Lu Yu's eyes.

This seemed to be a trait unique to basic footwork, and its effect was to increase the dodge chance by 30%.

That the Basic Movement Technique could also unlock this trait was within reason.

"If only I could unlock a more Advanced dodge trait." He sighed lightly, then continued to run.

This time, after running one lap, the proficiency only increased by a little over 5%.

After running about twenty laps, the 【Basic Movement Technique】 leveled up again, but no new trait appeared.

By this time, the proficiency gained per lap had already dropped to 2.5%. But Lu Yu remained high-spirited and full of drive.

One must know that when he practiced maneuvering and dodging on the Plum Blossom Stakes before, the rate of proficiency increase was much slower than it was now.

In the darkness, several figures gathered together, watching Lu Yu run past them repeatedly, their eyes filled with admiration.

"No wonder Lu is so highly skilled; even this late, he is still training hard alone. Li Meng and the others don't have this kind of diligence," Zhang Cheng couldn't help but remark.

"Indeed, four bags of rice, that's at least 600 jin! 600 jin! Even 100 jin is a struggle for me to carry."

"Who's to say otherwise? The key is that Lu has already run dozens of laps, right?"

"He really is an impressive person."

As the few were talking, a figure suddenly appeared before them.

"Ah!" The group's eyes widened in fright, and they nearly lost their wits.

"Add two more bags to my shoulders," Lu Yu said.

"S-still want to add more?" Yuan Chen was so surprised his mouth wouldn't close. "Lu, adding more will make it six bags."

"Yeah, Lu, why don't you just call it a day?"

"It's fine, I can still do it."

Lu Yu gave them a slight smile, then turned around, facing away from them, first setting down the two bags of rice in his hands, then steadying the bags on his shoulders.

After running so many laps, he felt this weight was far from reaching his limit.

After all, an ordinary person's Constitution attribute was only 10 points, while his Constitution attribute had already reached 500 points.

An ordinary person could lift 100 jin, but if they were in a running state, a load of 20 jin was about the limit.

Calculating by this ratio, with Lu Yu's current attributes, he estimated that he could at least move as fast as flying while carrying a load of 1000 jin.

If it were just walking while carrying a load, he estimated he could carry 5000 jin, equivalent to being able to walk while carrying an armored rhinoceros!

Seeing that Lu Yu's attitude was firm, the group didn't say anything more, and they worked together to lift the two 150-jin bags of rice and placed them on his shoulders.

"Lu, it's done," Yuan Chen said, his eyes filled with worry.

Six bags of rice, that was 900 jin! Could Lu handle it?

"Good, thank you for your hard work. If you are tired, go back and rest early," Lu Yu said, then picked up the two bags of rice by his side again and stood up.

"It's no trouble at all," the group replied hurriedly. Being able to help Lu was something they were eager to do.

The group watched Lu's figure depart rapidly, and once again, they let out bursts of praise.

Lu Yu began to run, and sure enough, he clearly felt the pressure.

After one lap, the physical strength consumed was more than twice what it was before.

However, the increase in proficiency was also very significant; what was originally about a 2.5% increase per lap was now close to 4%.

After running more than ten laps, Lu Yu gradually began to struggle, and his speed was much slower than before.

After running three more laps, Lu Yu felt his body suddenly lighten.

【Basic Movement Technique: lv6 (0%), Lightness lv6, Evasiveness lv3】

"Didn't unlock a new trait?" Lu Yu panted heavily and glanced at the skill bar.

But he wasn't in a hurry; he planned to spend all his time tonight on improving his Basic Movement Technique anyway.

The higher the level of the Basic Movement Technique, the less Experience Value would be needed to max out those two Lightness Skills later.

Lu Yu set down the two bags of rice in his hands and rested against the wall for about ten minutes before picking up the rice bags again and starting to run. This time, the proficiency only increased by 2% per lap.

After running fifty laps, a strange feeling surged into Lu Yu's heart. He felt a surge of joy and hurriedly looked at the skill bar.

【Basic Movement Technique: lv7 (0%), Lightness lv7, Evasiveness lv4, Expansion and Contraction lv1】

【Expansion and Contraction: Each time the skill levels up, jumping ability increases by 30%】

"Increases jumping ability?" Lu Yu was somewhat surprised.

Jumping ability was closely related to the Agility attribute; a normal person's vertical jump distance was between 50-60 centimeters.

Some people with outstanding talent could reach 80-90 centimeters, and these gifted individuals certainly had Agility attributes far exceeding ordinary people.

Before Lu Yu broke through, his Agility attribute was only a little over 100 points, and even then, he could jump onto the 5-6 meter high Watchtower.

Now his Agility attribute has reached 300 points, allowing him to jump at least fifteen meters; in other words, with one easy jump, he could clear the walls of Zhou Family Fort!

If the bonus from the "Open-Close" attribute is also factored in, he could reach 20 meters!

"How about I try jumping while running next?" After pondering for a moment, he gave up on the idea; after all, it would be embarrassing if he accidentally dropped the bag he was carrying.

"There are still too few tools for training." He sighed helplessly and continued to run.

As time passed, accompanied by a faint warm current rising within his body, 【Basic Movement Technique】 leveled up to level 9.

【Basic Movement Technique: lv9 (0%), Lightness level 9, Flitting level 6, Open-Close level 3】

At this moment, Lu Yu was drenched in sweat, as if he had just been fished out of water.

Having leveled up two more times, each lap he ran now only increased his proficiency by 0.5%, meaning he would have to run 200 laps to level up again.

The sky was gradually brightening, and Lu Yu felt he should stop training here for today.

After returning to the villa, he first took a refreshing shower, then had a hearty meal.

After advancing to the Rujin Realm, his appetite was now more than twice what it was before; a single meal could increase his Potential Point by a little over one hundred, and three hundred points a day was not bad at all.

After eating, Lu Yu looked at 【Water-Pointing Swimming Dragon Skill】 and 【Grass-Flying】 in his skill bar; these two martial arts looked quite similar.

"Let's start with 【Grass-Flying】 first." Lu Yu recalled the scene of sparring with Li Meng in the morning and couldn't help but feel curious.

He first added one Experience Value to 【Grass-Flying】, and its proficiency immediately increased by one-third.

After adding two more Experience Values, Lu Yu instantly felt his body become light, and a memory naturally surfaced in his mind.

He looked at it impatiently.

【Grass-Flying: Initial Glimpse (0%), Trait: Light Body level 1】

【Light Body: Every time the skill levels up, Agility attribute permanently increases by 5 points】

"Increases 5 points of attribute? Not bad." Lu Yu nodded. By this calculation, upon reaching Consummation, the Agility attribute could increase by 25 points, nearly ten percent.

However, was there only this one trait, nothing else?

He rubbed his eyes and looked carefully again, confirming it twice; there was indeed only this one trait.

Lu Yu shook his head helplessly and had to add another Experience Value; this time, the proficiency rose by 20%.

After consuming 5 Experience Values, he felt the lightness of his body again, but other than that, there were no other changes.

"???" Lu Yu looked at the skill bar in confusion.

【Grass-Flying: Minor Accomplishment (0%), Trait: Light Body level 2】

As expected, no new trait was unlocked. Lu Yu scratched his head; the traits unlocked by this movement martial art seemed a bit few?

Next, he consumed another 10 Experience Values; this time, a strange feeling appeared in his heart, and a new trait was finally unlocked.

【Grass-Flying: Entering the Hall (0%), Trait: Light Body level 3, Flying Steps level 1】

【Flying Steps: Active skill, after activation, continuously consumes a small amount of Force, travel speed increases by 50%, every level up increases speed by an additional 10%, ineffective in combat state】

"This is it!" Lu Yu's eyes lit up immediately.

Li Meng's sudden burst of speed back then must have been due to using this skill; looking at it this way, his proficiency realm must be Entering the Hall?

However, this skill only increases travel speed, which means it is useless in close-quarters combat?

Lu Yu frowned slightly; he had originally thought it would increase the Agility attribute, as that would be effective for both long-distance running and close-quarters combat.

Wait. He seemed to have noticed something and shifted his gaze forward.

"Consumes a small amount of Force?" He was a bit surprised; shouldn't it consume Blood Qi Power? That guy Li Meng was only a Martial Artist in the Refining Flesh Realm, where would he get Force to consume?

Lu Yu frowned deeply; suddenly, he seemed to realize something and cast his gaze toward other martial arts.

Only then did he discover that whether it was Taiji Fist, Baji Fist, or Phantom Arrow Technique, the parts of the original skill descriptions that consumed Blood Qi Power had all changed to consuming Force.

And the skill descriptions that originally consumed Mental Power had not changed.

"So that's how it is." Lu Yu suddenly understood. After becoming a Clear Force Martial Artist, the Blood Qi Power in his body had already transformed into Force.

Now that he activated these active skills, he no longer had to worry about falling into a weakened state, although this worry was somewhat redundant for him.

"Huh, the amount consumed has also changed." Lu Yu's gaze fell on the trait "Spear Settles the Universe".

The original description was to consume a large amount of Blood Qi Power to explode with the strongest strike, but now it had changed to consuming a medium amount of Force, while the effect of the boost remained unchanged.

"Force is indeed a higher-level form of energy."

Lu Yu thought to himself that if True Qi appeared in his body, the trait descriptions of these martial arts would likely change again.

Fist techniques like Taiji Fist and Baji Fist could be used in the Body Tempering Realm, Refining Flesh Realm, and Rujin Realm, and presumably could also be used above the Rujin Realm.

However, the Rujin Realm might be the stage where their power is greatest; further up, the application of energy within a Martial Artist's body might not compare to other martial arts.