Chương 112: War God’s : — Chapter 112 - Dao-Inquiring Stele Meditation! The Lost Spear Martial Art!

Chapter: The Dao-Inquiring Stele The next day. Wang Xian and Ye Miyue headed to the university's central island cluster. As for new student enrollment check-in— The moment students boarded the sky-rail and entered the Guixu Archipelago, the island's Black Tortoise Divine Jade system scanned them via satellite. Identity verified instantly, logged into the school network. Check-in complete. Each student's phone received enrollment information: department, class, dormitory location.

Details about tomorrow's activities. Completely integrated, advanced management. The central island cluster occupied the largest area, divided into three islands. The Dao-Inquiring Stele stood in the largest concave plaza ahead. A hundred-zhang monument covered in countless inscriptions. Ancient symbols pulsed across its surface, occasionally emitting the glow of advanced technology. The contradiction was striking.

Eight large characters crowned the top:"Take martial arts as the vessel for the Dao, shatter the void and soar beyond the firmament." Rumor had it the entire archipelago's foundation was built from the skeletal remains of an X-class alien beast, the Star Sea Demon Kun, slain by a Martial God a century ago. Modern construction techniques had filled and shaped the rest. That alien beast was a true starry void creature.

Its bones were exceptionally rare, capable of keeping the entire island cluster suspended in midair. This stele was crafted from that beast's skull. Countless symbols pulsed across it, combining to form the names of martial powerhouses. Martial God Zhao Gang! Ember-Exhausting Spear Venerable Qin Wuji! Frost-Treading Sword Hero Yuan Zhi! Heavenly Sound Zither Sage Liu Baiyin! Mountain-Bearing Martial Venerable Xiang Ding!... Some still lived. Others had fallen. Countless symbols.

Names written in bold, sweeping strokes. The new students stared, captivated. The most eye-catching were the four characters at the very top: Martial God Zhao Gang. Founder of the Heavenly Blade Club. Dragon Country's second Martial God. A new martial war god who stood at the forefront of the era, bridging old and new martial paths. As a historical figure, this Martial God had been fallen for decades. Yet his renown and revered might had never faded. The plaza had gradually filled with over 10, 000 students.

Each stood at their designated position based on the information they'd received. Sophomores, juniors, and seniors crowded the surroundings. Dao-Inquiring Stele meditation. Held once a year. Each student only had this one chance upon enrollment to perceive the will of predecessors from the stele. The senior students wanted to observe the quality of new students. They wanted to see what geniuses would emerge this year. On the platform behind the stele, several figures drifted down.

Leading them was a refined middle-aged man. To his left and right followed a stern-faced older woman and a bald, powerfully built man. Behind them trailed a listless, utterly unremarkable old man.

"I am Song Wujiu, chancellor of Tiandu Jingwu University." The refined man smiled faintly, gazing at the new students as if looking at a rising sun. His voice warmed.

"Today is your first day of enrollment. The Dao-Inquiring Stele meditation is the welcome reception our Tiandu University has prepared for you."

"When the stele begins to glow, your consciousness will be drawn inside."

"Battle flashbacks, heart-realm interrogations, concept tracing... Within the Dao-Inquiring Stele, remember: do not lose yourselves."

"I hope you all gain something from this welcome reception."

"Everyone, please sit down and calm your minds first." He waved his hand. A gentle yet immense force caused all the new students to sit down slowly, involuntarily.

"There is still 30 minutes until the stele activates. If you have questions, you may ask now." As chancellor, Song Wujiu lacked imposing authority. He made people feel as if bathed in a spring breeze.

"Chancellor!" A student raised their hand.

"In the Dao-Inquiring Stele, is it truly possible for someone to comprehend Martial God Zhao Gang's martial true intent? Looking at recent years, in the past two years at Tiandu University, only one senior, Chi Jiuyou, comprehended a seventh-realm saber master's martial true intent, Xue Changkong's 'Tyrannical Sea Plundering River.'""Is the Martial God's martial true intent really there?" Many senior students around them laughed.

"Of course it is!" Tong Laoye stood on a surrounding platform, live-streaming. He curled his lip.

"Back when the Dao-Inquiring Stele was first completed, the very first martial true intent was left by Martial God Zhao Gang." [What exactly is martial true intent?] [What kind of nine-year compulsory education dropout doesn't know what martial true intent is?] This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source. [Martial true intent is a spiritual force that only grandmasters above the seventh realm can condense. It's generally called a Martial True Intent Diagram, where they condense their lifetime's martial essence and will experiences into a tangible spiritual object. With the augmentation of martial true intent, one can form their own heaven and earth... In short, under the augmentation of this spiritual force, martial arts power increases dramatically. The martial concept comprehended at the fourth or fifth realm is considered the embryonic form of martial true intent. It's akin to a line; when enough of these lines accumulate, a martial artist can condense them into a painting, and that painting is martial true intent... That's how the textbooks describe it.] [Then how could new students possibly comprehend it? They're still far from martial concept, right?] [The martial true intent left by Martial God Zhao Gang... they can't even comprehend that of seventh-realm grandmasters, let alone the Martial God's...] [Trash who aren't even 985 students, how could they know true peerless geniuses?] [Damn, you're a genius? If you're a genius, why are you watching this loser Tongzi's live stream?] [I won't allow you all to insult my loser Tong... if anyone's going to insult him, it's me first!]... Tong Laoye looked at the comments and shook his head.

"Actually, the best reward from the Dao-Inquiring Stele is being able to comprehend the advanced martial arts left by those predecessors."

"At the enrollment stage, that lets you leap ahead of most new students by a huge step."

"Being greedy for martial true intent will only lead to failure."

"Or, use this opportunity to see if you can push your martial realm to return to simplicity. That's also an excellent chance."

"Next best: take martial arts you haven't yet reached peak mastery in, and see if you can comprehend that realm through the stele... otherwise, you'll fall far behind others." As a proper elite student who had experienced this stage firsthand, he naturally understood the greatest benefit of the Dao-Inquiring Stele. Martial true intent. That kind of power was far too distant.

If one could comprehend the martial concept of a martial art from the Dao-Inquiring Stele at this stage, that already counted as world-shaking genius. After all, that was something even his elder sister, as an exchange student cultivating at Azure Dragon University, couldn't achieve. Moreover, what was left behind was only a wisp of martial true intent.

Otherwise, these martial artists not yet at the second realm, even if peerless geniuses, couldn't possibly shake that wisp of terrifying martial true intent with their spiritual will alone, even if they comprehended it. That kind of test on one's personal martial will was far too terrifying.

"There is." Song Wujiu spoke with a smile.

"Zhao Gang left behind a wisp of martial will, Annihilation in All Ten Directions, which has always existed within the Dao-Inquiring Stele, waiting for the fated one. However, I think you can set your goals on these three: elevating martial realm, comprehending advanced martial arts, and for those with talent, attempting to comprehend martial concept."

"Relatively speaking, these are easier to achieve."

"Especially advanced martial arts." Song Wujiu sighed lightly.

"Among the wills left by these predecessors, some contain more than just true intent. Actually, what's more precious is that some predecessors had lost martial arts that they didn't have time to pass down before they passed away."

"Only their residual martial rhythm of those lost martial arts, left behind earlier, remains within the Dao-Inquiring Stele."

"If one can comprehend them, it also serves as a supplement to modern martial arts."

"For such students, the school and the nation will grant tremendous academic credit rewards." The new students' eyes burned with fervor. Academic credits determined everything in university. Comprehending a lost martial art earned tremendous academic credit rewards. This instantly shifted the new students' curiosity from martial true intent to martial arts themselves. But...

"Comprehending a lost martial art, how could it be that easy?" Bai Xingyun stood to the side. As a member of the Sword Dao Academy and chairman of the Sword Dao Association, he had come punctually every year since sophomore year to watch the Dao-Inquiring Stele meditation. Beside him stood a young man with long white hair, handsome and dashing, eyes like morning stars.

"Who knows? Don't we have an old martial arts genius in our school this year?" The white-haired youth smiled.

"They say his martial talent is extremely high. Perhaps..."

"Oh, I almost forgot..." Bai Xingyun thought for a moment.

"Indeed, hard to say. It's just that lost martial arts differ from a complete set of advanced martial arts left behind by grandmasters."

"A complete set of advanced martial arts, with high enough martial talent, can indeed be comprehended in one go through the Dao-Inquiring Stele meditation. For example, I could do it..."

"But for lost martial arts, comprehending them is far too difficult."

"Due to material constraints, this Dao-Inquiring Stele cannot accommodate the consciousness of experts above the fifth realm for extended periods. Martial artists within the fourth realm find it very hard..."

"Speaking of which, Jiuyou, back then you were able to comprehend a grandmaster's martial true intent..." Bai Xingyun glanced at the white-haired youth.

"But you couldn't comprehend a lost martial art either, right?"

"That... it's different, after all."

"My spiritual will couldn't endure it. I had to go perceive a second predecessor." Chi Jiuyou waved his hand.

"Martial true intent requires simultaneously undergoing battle flashbacks, heart-realm interrogations, concept tracing..."

"After going through that entire process, I was only at the second realm back then. My spirit was completely drained, my will nearly collapsed."

"How could I have the energy left to comprehend some lost martial art?"

"Haha, true..."

"I hope more of these junior classmates can comprehend a set of advanced martial arts..." Time passed bit by bit. The minds of the many new students gradually settled into complete calm.

"Everyone, 10-second countdown." Song Wujiu called out lightly from the platform. The Dao-Inquiring Stele began to radiate intense light.

"Remember, within the Dao-Inquiring Stele, how powerful you are is determined by yourselves. Although everyone can choose to perceive martial true intent, even the Martial God's martial true intent, the stele will, based on each individual's information, select suitable martial predecessors for you."

"Try your best to choose what the Dao-Inquiring Stele selects for you."

"Otherwise, you will gain nothing." His voice fell. The Dao-Inquiring Stele erupted with dazzling light, enveloping all the students present. In an instant, countless students' consciousnesses entered the stele... — Lost spear art, here I come. The moment his consciousness entered the Dao-Inquiring Stele, Wang Xian's mind was utterly composed. The Dao-Inquiring Stele. Ye Miyue had spoken of it often. But in truth, he understood it even better than Ye Miyue.

Because in his previous life, when he finally returned from the Alien Star Battlefield, he had left his own martial true intent on Azure Dragon University's Dao-Inquiring Stele. Originally, he'd intended to leave behind the entirely new Nation-Guarding martial arts school he'd comprehended. But then he'd thought: new students had little opportunity to comprehend Nation-Guarding martial arts. It would be better to directly organize it and contribute it to Dragon Country.

So he'd left behind a wisp of his martial true intent from when he was at the half-step eighth realm. Of course, he definitely couldn't cultivate it now. His realm was insufficient. This martial true intent stuff, you either had to cultivate it step by step yourself until the seventh realm, or receive it through a predecessor's transmission, direct enlightenment. But transmission carried too much danger. Yet if a person died and their martial true intent was lost, that was too great a loss.

So it was better to leave only a wisp, letting later generations perceive it themselves. Comprehending it was equivalent to gaining an additional powerful force. At the same time, based on this wisp of residual power, they could slowly supplement and perfect it. When they reached the seventh realm, if they couldn't cultivate a new martial true intent themselves, then it was equivalent to having a guaranteed baseline martial true intent. This way, the embers of the strong were at least preserved.

It could be considered a form of spiritual inheritance from the new martial era. Wang Xian's objective: martial true intent was secondary. The main goal was a Nation-Guarding spear art that would later be lost. Within the Dao-Inquiring Stele of Tiandu Jingwu University, there existed the most important prerequisite advanced spear art for a Nation-Guarding martial art that would be lost in later generations. And this spear art was also an extremely rare one, passed down from the old martial era.

Within a pure white space.

'Selecting martial predecessor's will for examinee based on new student information... Examinee may also decide for themselves.' A purely mechanical, intelligent voice rang out. Wang Xian did not hesitate.

"Select: Ember-Exhausting Spear Venerable. Qin Wuji."

"Detected that your scores contain no results related to spear martial arts. Confirm selection?"

"Yes."

"Selected: Ember-Exhausting Spear Venerable, Qin Wuji."

"This martial predecessor left behind a lost advanced spear martial art, Prairie Fire Spear Art. Confirm you wish to perceive it?"

"Confirm."

"You must undergo battle flashbacks and heart-realm interrogation, these two items, to have a chance of comprehending this spear art."

"Please prepare. Meditation begins." ➤ Next: Prairie Fire Spear Art — The Fire Seed Never Dies! Ignite the World!