High Martial Arts Era

Chapter 168: The Bright Ruins Astral Realm

Jiangnan Province is the wealthiest province in China and one of the richest areas on Blue Star, brimming with prosperity. However, that prosperity is confined to the big cities and has nothing to do with the Third Entrance to the Bright Ruins Astral Realm.

The Third Entrance is located in the suburbs, with a military exclusion zone extending for tens of kilometers around it. Normally, civilian aircraft are not allowed to enter this area and could be shot down by electromagnetic towers at any time.

Whoosh! It was drizzling in the sky when a small aircraft sped toward a hundred-meter-tall war fortress.

"Martial Artist Xu An, Martial Artist Yang Zhu, we are about to reach the Third Bright Ruins Fortress," said a burly martial artist with a full beard in a low voice.

"Hmm." Li Yuan nodded slightly, looking into the distance.

This war fortress covered a vast area, not as large as the Kunlun Fortress but still resembling a giant beast crouching on the vast earth.

With Li Yuan's current level of access, he knew that if the entrance to a astral realm was not fixed, it would be fine. But for stable astral realm entrances, human civilization would almost always build war fortresses to prevent unexpected situations.

"Through the war fortress, you can enter the Bright Ruins Astral Realm," said a lean middle-aged martial artist beside him softly. "Of the four entrances to the Bright Ruins Astral Realm, two are in our China, and the other two are in Africa, which are of less concern to us."

Li Yuan glanced at the lean middle-aged martial artist, a fellow Starlight Martial Hall martial artist named Yang Zhu who was also preparing to enter the Bright Ruins Astral Realm.

With a physical fitness level of 18.4, Yang Zhu had an aged look in his eyes and appeared to have experienced much, despite his youthful appearance of around thirty to forty years old.

Rumble~

The aircraft slowly descended and hovered about ten meters above the ground.

"This is as far as we can take you," the female pilot said with a smile. "The military personnel inside the war fortress will guide you."

"Alright, thank you."

Li Yuan smiled, grabbed a rectangular weapon case beside him, and jumped down.

A height of ten meters was nothing. With his current skill and physical fitness, even jumping from thirty or forty meters, he could avoid any injury by using proper techniques to dissipate the impact.

Yang Zhu, carrying a sword and shield, followed silently and jumped down as well.

Rumble~

The aircraft quickly ascended and flew toward the distant city shrouded in mist and rain.

"Who are these two, that we have to personally escort them?" the female pilot couldn't help but ask. "Are they someone important?"

"I don't know either," the bearded warrior shook his head. "It should be the one named Xu An. He's an L6 level member of the Martial Hall."

"L6 level? Usually, that requires a high-level Source Martial Artist, right? Could he be an illegitimate child of a Flying Martial Artist?" The female pilot was shocked.

"Don't ask too much. Some things are beyond your control," the bearded man said. "Just focus on flying."

...

Carrying the weapon case, Li Yuan and Yang Zhu followed two soldiers through a passageway and into a waiting hall.

"Martial Artist, the trains to the astral realm leave with ten people each time," a soldier said with a smile. "The last one just left, so you'll have to wait a bit."

"Once there are ten people, we'll depart."

"There are various free snacks and drinks prepared here. Please help yourselves," the soldier said with a smile.

"Okay."

"Hmm." Li Yuan and Yang Zhu, having either thoroughly researched the rules or being seasoned veterans, asked no further questions and quietly waited.

"Xu An, would you like a drink?" Yang Zhu asked.

"No need," Li Yuan said calmly.

Yang Zhu nodded, fetched a cup of wine and a cup of water from a nearby counter, and handed the water to Li Yuan.

"Thank you." Li Yuan accepted without hesitation.

"Are you a student of a martial arts university?" Yang Zhu asked, looking at Li Yuan.

"Do I look like one?" Li Yuan smiled faintly, having slightly adjusted his appearance. In modern society, such methods were not uncommon. Moreover, he wasn't that famous, so few should recognize him.

"Not exactly, but you look young."

Yang Zhu smiled. "Entering the astral realm requires at least level 15 in physical fitness, which means most people wouldn't be so young. Besides, today is January 1st. Traditionally, many elite martial arts university students head to various astral realms for life-and-death training after the holidays."

"So, I deduced you are from a martial arts university."

Li Yuan was taken aback. So that's how he was exposed.

Never underestimate anyone's observational skills.

"But you seem to be always ready for battle, so you must have experienced many life-and-death fights," Yang Zhu laughed. "You must be a senior student in your fourth or fifth year."

"Brother Yang, you're quite accurate," Li Yuan laughed.

Being ready for battle at all times? With skills at the fifth stage, he could easily maintain such a state whenever he wanted.

But Yang Zhu's insight spoke volumes.

"The Bright Ruins Astral Realm has been unstable recently. Are you here for a defense mission or a combat mission?" Li Yuan asked, changing the subject to avoid more questions.

"A combat mission," Yang Zhu laughed. "Defense missions are too boring. What about you?"

"I'll follow the arrangements," Li Yuan replied vaguely.

Suddenly.

"Hmm? There's a female martial artist, and she looks quite young and pretty," Yang Zhu's eyes lit up.

"Oh?" Li Yuan also noticed the newcomer, his eyes brightening.

"Brother Yang, do you believe I can get her V-chat contact right away?" Li Yuan smiled.

"You? I don't believe it," Yang Zhu laughed, shaking his head.

"Watch me." Li Yuan smiled, walking straight to the female martial artist who had just completed her identity verification.

The female martial artist turned and saw Li Yuan, her eyes lighting up instantly.

She recognized him.

"Hello, I'm Xu An. May I have your V-chat contact?" Li Yuan smiled.

The female martial artist was stunned for a moment, then noticed Yang Zhu in the distance and instantly understood, smiling, "Hello, I'm Shi Xiao."

...

The unexpected appearance of senior student Shi Xiao took Li Yuan by surprise. To prevent her from calling out his real name, he took the initiative to "flirt."

Shi Xiao, being very intelligent, immediately realized Li Yuan was hiding his true identity.

"Little brother Xu, impressive," Yang Zhu laughed. "The world indeed favors the good-looking."

Li Yuan smiled without a word.

As time passed, more and more martial artist gathered in the waiting hall.

But suddenly.

Clang~ The metal entrance far away opened, and two medical trolleys were quickly pushed out, with two men covered in blood lying on them.

One of the men had both arms severed, with flesh and blood mangled, seemingly a martial artist from his attire.

"Hurry."

"Make way, make way!" Several medical personnel pushed the trolleys, rushing toward the fortress entrance.

Li Yuan, Shi Xiao, and the others instinctively looked outside through the windows.

Outside the war fortress, a small aircraft was slowly descending.

This scene.

Made the originally chatty martial artist in the waiting hall fall silent, a shadow cast over everyone's hearts.

Venturing into the astral realm had a terrifyingly high mortality rate.

"It seems the situation in the Bright Ruins Astral Realm is not optimistic," Yang Zhu sighed. "It's likely a direct conflict with the local forces."

Li Yuan and Shi Xiao exchanged a glance.

Conflict?

They came to the Bright Ruins Astral Realm precisely for life-and-death battles.

"Here we go."

"We have ten martial artist, let's go! Let's go!" The guarding soldier shouted.

...

Clang~ The train slowly started, with the ten martial artist scattered around the carriage.

Li Yuan and Shi Xiao, being from the same institution and both students of Li Yang, naturally trusted each other more.

They naturally sat together.

Buzz~ Holographic projections appeared simultaneously on the walls at the front, back, and sides of the carriage.

In the projection, a burly officer appeared, looking serious.

"Honored martial artist, first, thank you for voluntarily entering the astral realm and contributing to human civilization," the officer said solemnly. "We are about to enter the primary astral realm, Bright Ruins Astral Realm."

"The Bright Ruins Astral Realm is extremely vast. Our known exploration range has a maximum diameter of over 60,000 kilometers, far from the realm's limit."

"In the entire astral realm, besides our human civilization, two other alien civilizations are known to access it through portals: the 'Heavenly Virtue Civilization' and the 'Qilin Demon Civilization.'"

"The Heavenly Virtue Civilization is a humanoid civilization. Their appearance is very similar to ours, except for significant differences in genetic sequencing and some intrinsic differences in their aura... Their appearance is similar, so be wary of Heavenly Virtue Civilization's impostors in the astral realm."

"The Qilin Demon Civilization is a beast-like civilization..."

"And the most powerful in the Bright Ruins Astral Realm are the local forces. Although the primary astral realm's origin isn't strong, the vast territory and their mutual competition and battles still breed several Flying-level beings. Each of them is a dominant force in the Bright Ruins Astral Realm and should never be provoked."

"In various parts of the Bright Ruins Astral Realm, there are many second-tier creatures occupying many high-source treasure lands, spiritual soil veins, and natural treasures... These are the targets of our human civilization's conquest."

"Remember."

"In a primary astral realm, the entrance and exit must be for life levels below 20. In the astral realm, you must practice moderately... Once your life level reaches 20 and you become a Source Martial Artist, you will have to stay in the Bright Ruins Astral Realm forever."

"The following is a detailed introduction to Base Three..." The burly officer continued to explain various details about the Bright Ruins Astral Realm. All the martial artist listened quietly. Even though Li Yuan already knew this information, he didn't mind hearing it again.

Suddenly, rumble~ An invisible pressure enveloped all the martial artist in the carriage, causing almost everyone, including Shi Xiao, to change their expressions.

"Inter-realm passage." Li Yuan knew what this was—an area where the space collision between the astral realm and Blue Star created a unique pressure. It was this special force that prevented second-tier life forms from passing through.

However, this pressure was negligible to Li Yuan, whose skills had reached the fifth stage. With his skills and mental strength, he easily withstood it.

...

The strange pressure came quickly and left quickly. Many people in the carriage gradually returned to normal.

"Li... Xu An, you didn't feel anything?" Shi Xiao couldn't help but ask.

"I can endure it," Li Yuan smiled.

Not long after, the carriage slowly stopped, and the door opened, letting sunlight shine directly in.

"We're here."

"The Bright Ruins Astral Realm." The group of people walked out of the carriage onto a metal plaza outside.

There were many soldiers around the plaza, and everyone could see the towering war fortress hundreds of meters away. And in the far distance, at the end of the earth, a mountain stretched across the horizon like a backdrop.

"Is that Bright Mountain?" Li Yuan couldn't help but ask.

"Yes."

Standing beside Li Yuan, Yang Zhu also saw the mountain at the horizon and said softly, "According to the data, it should be more than 20,000 kilometers away from us... Its height should exceed 1,000 kilometers. It's the highest mountain in the Bright Ruins Astral Realm and is said to be home to more than one Flying-level creature... The mysteries of the astral realm allow anything to happen, and anything to be born. Such a mountain shouldn't exist on Blue Star."

Many veteran martial artist were indifferent, having seen it before, but Li Yuan and Shi Xiao were both amazed. This was a natural wonder not seen on Blue Star.

"Xu An, Shi Xiao."

A warrior officer suddenly walked over and said solemnly, "Please come with me."

Other martial artist looked over, wondering what was going on. Li Yuan and Shi Xiao exchanged a glance, then obediently followed the officer into the war fortress.

They took an elevator, eventually arriving at a large office. An old man in a blue uniform was standing in front of a huge map projection, silently pondering.

In the map projection, there were continuous mountain ranges, large rivers, and several large red dots marked...

"Sir, they are here," the martial artist officer said softly.

"Oh? You can leave now." The old man in blue seemed to notice them for the first time, turning to look at Li Yuan and Shi Xiao. After the escort officer left, he smiled, "Hello, Li Yuan and Shi Xiao."

"Hello, senior," Li Yuan and Shi Xiao said in unison.

Li Yuan was already filled with shock.

Because, in his divine palace, he had detected that the old man in blue had a life level of 24. He was a Source Martial Artist!

But isn't the Bright Ruins Astral Realm a primary star realm? How could a Source Martial Artist return to Blue Star?