Cosmic Professional Gladiator Novel - Chapter 703

703 Ranking
The courtyard door suddenly opened, and Xu Jingming followed the sound to the living room. He saw a young woman in the courtyard carrying a cloth bag filled with food.

“Son,” the young woman exclaimed upon seeing him, revealing a look of joy. “You’re up and about?”

“I feel better after being in bed for so many days,” Xu Jingming replied.

“I’ll contact your father and give him the good news,” the young woman said, raising her watch and pressing a button.

“Honey, I’m in a meeting,” a voice responded from the watch.

“Your son is much better now. He can get out of bed and walk,” the young woman said excitedly.

“What? I’m coming home right now!” The voice coming from the watch was also filled with excitement.

Xu Jingming remembered that his mother’s name in this world was Yuan Yu, a full-time housewife, and his father was Jing Yulong, who owned a small decor company.

Jing Yulong was actually one of the many descendants of the Jing family from the Eastern Cloud Nation, one of the seven human nations. His father was considered mediocre and unremarkable among the descendants of the Jing family.

Actually, most of the children from the large clans were very mediocre; there were even quite a few who had gone bankrupt. The truly outstanding ones were ultimately too few.

“Son, you need to exercise more. Your body is too weak,” the young woman said anxiously as she started cooking in the kitchen. “We don’t expect you to be a martial arts master, but if you train every day, at least your body will become healthy. You’ve been sick so many times since you were little.”

“Got it,” Xu Jingming replied as he picked up a book from the living room bookshelf and began reading.

“A collection of warriors’ stories?”

Xu Jingming flipped through the book.

In this world, combat was highly valued. If the human race wanted to establish themselves among the many species, they had to train their people on a large scale.

Every child started learning martial arts from a young age, and in school, martial arts was the most important subject. Only when the students were exhausted from physical training would they be taught cultural knowledge.

One’s status in society was determined by their achievements in martial arts.

Within the human race, martial arts strength is divided into levels. The entry level is Lv. 1, and based on a person’s strength, speed, agility, and other physical attributes, they are designated Lv. 2, Lv. 3, Lv. 4, and so on. Xu Jingming knew this common knowledge. Once someone reaches Lv. 20, they will be considered a legendary expert in human martial arts.

Lv. 20 human warriors have bodies tougher than tempered steel and can move at the speed of sound! They can even fling a truck weighing a hundred tonnes dozens of meters into the sky like a toy.
Xu Jingming shook his head slightly. The martial strength of this world was indeed very low.

There’s no Cosmic Force, no stronger energy. It’s purely physical evolution!

In the million years of the human race’s history, only three people have entered the Myriad Species Arena! Based on the current method of evaluating strength, these three people had a strength level between Lv. 25 and 26.

In the Myriad Species Arena, only those with Lv. 25 strength have a chance of entering the main competition. Those with Lv. 30 strength can enter the top ten. Usually, those who take first place are all Lv. 30+.

This was the human race’s standard for evaluating strength. Other species had different divisions of strength.

For example, the previous champion of the Myriad Species Arena, the Giant Celestial’s Kabermah, would be considered Lv. 35 according to the standards of the human race. Didiffico, who came in second, was at Lv. 33. Therefore, the strongest person in the Myriad Species Arena was probably at Lv. 35. Xu Jingming nodded.

Lv. 20 made a human a legend. They could move at the speed of sound and collapse a skyscraper with a single punch. However, they would be minuscule in front of the number one expert in the Myriad Species Arena.

It can be expected that the entry threshold for the Myriad Species Arena will probably exceed Lv. 35, Xu Jingming thought.

There are still 322 years until the next Myriad Species Arena, so as long as I live long enough, I can participate in many competitions. I won’t insist on getting first place in my first competition. Xu Jingming was a patient person.

When he fell into the huge painting world, a large number of high-dimensional life forms had fallen in with him. Xu Jingming had seen it clearly back then—many of the high-dimensional life auras were stronger than his.

There are many people with auras stronger than mine. Of course, it took me about 10,000 years to reach this level. In terms of talent, I won’t lose to anyone. Xu Jingming was also very confident.

Whoosh!

Xu Jingming heard a sound and looked out the window. He saw a blip slowly descending, and the pilot was a furry creature with a huge head.

That’s my father’s driver and bodyguard, Huo Long from the Xiao clan. According to human standards, he has the strength of a Lv. 10 warrior, Xu Jingming thought.

As the boss of a small decor company, his father, Jing Yulong, needed a relatively strong bodyguard due to poor public security.

“Ah Long, let’s eat together,” Yuan Yu shouted.

“Another time. I’ll head back first. Boss, call me if there’s anything. Young Master Jing Ming, you need to eat more. You’ll become stronger only by eating more!” The three-meter-tall Huo Long left the compound after getting out of the aircraft.

He rented a place in the same district with his three wives and twelve children. His salary was enough to support all of them.

Some non-humans requested to join human countries, and as long as they were strong enough in martial arts, their application would usually be approved.

Huo Long lived quite comfortably among the humans. It was also very popular among businessmen to hire powerful aliens as bodyguards.

Xu Jingming, a thin and weak youth, was introverted and was often bullied in school. He did the same thing as always and only watched as Uncle Huo Long left without saying a word.

“Sigh, Huo Long was talking to you. Why didn’t you even greet him?” Jing Yulong, slightly plump and beginning to bald, carried his bag and walked into the living room with a smile.

Xu Jingming glanced at him and lowered his head to continue reading.

“A collection of famous martial arts stories?” Jing Yulong looked at the cover of the book and nodded. “You have to put more effort into martial arts. I’m not asking you to reach the threshold of the preliminaries. At the very least, you need to get healthy. You just caught a cold and were bedridden for more than a month. Your body…”

Jing Yulong nagged.

The couple only had one child, and they were worried sick about his health.

“Dad,” Xu Jingming continued reading. “I don’t want to go to school anymore. I want to drop out.”

“Drop out?” Jing Yulong and his wife, Yuan Yu, were stunned.

They looked at each other, and Jing Yulong smiled at his child. “Why do you suddenly want to drop out?”

“My body has always been weak, and I’m much worse than my peers in school. I’m also bullied by them.” Xu Jingming lowered his head and continued reading. “I can’t focus and practice martial arts in school at all. I want to focus on practicing martial arts! I can do it just as well at home!”

“Alright,” Jing Yulong said with a smile. “Since you’re so determined, I’ll support you. If you want to drop out, go ahead.”

“You agreed?” Xu Jingming looked at him in surprise.

The middle-aged man, who worked so hard in life according to his memories, was actually so easy to talk to?

Most humans still placed great importance on education, and most parents wouldn’t agree to their child dropping out at the age of 15.

“The main objective of school is martial arts.” Jing Yulong smiled at his child. “You’re right—your foundation is weak, and you’ll be bullied if you lag behind in school. We can still find good teachers from outside clubs to teach you. I have the money to groom you for martial arts anyway. Besides, you’re 15 years old. It’s time for you to decide your own life.”

“If you’re determined to practice martial arts, Mommy will agree to you dropping out,” Yuan Yu said with a spoon in hand. “However, you have to take it seriously. Don’t slack off again.”

“Definitely.” Xu Jingming smiled and nodded.

…

In the basement’s martial arts hall, most families in the human world had martial arts chambers. Jing Yulong and his wife were quite capable and lived in a villa. Their basement had a 300-square-meter martial arts hall that had been specially reinforced.

Xu Jingming stood barefoot in the martial arts hall and began practicing seriously.

In my memory, I’ve learned a total of three body tempering techniques: the Fifth National Children Body Tempering technique, the Sixth National Teenager Body Tempering technique, and the 18 Simplified Body Tempering techniques. Xu Jingming practiced each move.

His sharp mind sensed the minute feedback from every part of his body.

According to the introductions, with the Fifth Children Body Tempering technique and the Sixth Teenager Body Tempering technique—the most ordinary body tempering techniques—one can theoretically reach Lv. 10. In fact, most students don’t even qualify to be rated. The 18 Simplified Body Tempering techniques can theoretically reach Lv. 15. For students to reach Lv. 1 with this is already good. Outstanding students can be considered geniuses if they can reach Lv. 3. Xu Jingming practiced slowly, every move and stance precise.

The rules of this world are completely different from the real universe and high-dimensional space. Xu Jingming quickly discovered the effects of the body tempering technique on his body. The potential of the body is astonishing.

A weak body can indeed become thousands of times stronger by constantly unearthing its potential. Xu Jingming was an Eternal of the Heart Realm lineage, and he had mastered the fifth realm of the Eight Directions Map, the Great Joy realm. Even though his body and his mind were weak, he was very perceptive. He could sense the effects every move and stance had on every part of his body.

My body is slowly becoming stronger.

Back on Earth, the principle behind training the body was that ‘super-strength training’ caused slight damage to the body. One’s body would recover and strengthen when rested and provided with sufficient nutrition.

However, this world was completely different.

It feels like my body is like a bottomless pit that hides unfathomable potential. As long as I unearth it, my potential can be constantly converted into strength. Therefore, the two main factors for my growth are firstly, I need a sufficiently efficient body tempering method. Secondly, I need time! Xu Jingming quickly confirmed it.

It took time for a sapling to grow.

According to the rules of this world, one’s potential was slowly unearthed and converted into strength. Every drop of sweat could be exchanged for strength. If the body tempering method didn’t work, sweat couldn’t even be exchanged for strength.

Accidents happen the most when I’m weak. I have to be careful. Xu Jingming was certain. I have to keep a low profile and be careful in the first ten years of my descent.

The first Myriad Species Arena competition was held 322 years later.

More time needed to pass for the second and third time, so he naturally had to have a long-term vision.

…

From that day onward, Xu Jingming dropped out of school to focus on practicing martial arts. He also paid the fee at one of the top clubs in the city, the Black Fire Club, and became a VIP student to learn a new body tempering method.

Xu Jingming planned his schedule with utmost precision. He knew very well that his opponents were also seizing every moment to become stronger; he couldn’t afford to slack off at all.

Time passed silently. In the blink of an eye, ten years went by, and Xu Jingming grew up from a sick teenager to a young adult.