Power Level

Bobby thought as he restrained himself from shouting. At this moment, he only needed one thought to emit a faint green glow from his palm. If one did not look closely, one would not be able to see it. This was the first thread of inner strength that Bobby had formed. He had never thought that his dream would be so close to him. Once someone formed their first thread, the bottleneck to the peak of the fourth rank would be almost non-existent. For Bobby, it was now only a matter of time. He only needed to reach the peak of the fourth level, and he would be able to step into the fifth rank, becoming a true martial artist.

After receiving his green bell, there are no Town recruits that have formed their first thread here, not even Calvin and Peter. When Bobby realized that, he had a satisfied expression. Being able to form Chi at the third rank meant that he was unstoppable for his growth of strength. Bobby felt that his body still had remnants left from the blood plant, so he formed a few more threads of Chi. Inner Strength was once strength compressed into a higher level.

To consolidate his Chi, Bobby meditated for one day and one night. The moment he stepped out of his room, he felt that every breath of his could instantly conjure great pressure. Bobby's parents were also aware of this. "Bobby seems a bit different, seems like he has more energy nowadays, isn't it, Ashley?" his mother smiled and said. "It is time for his growth spurt," his father Deont replied, feeling a force emanate from Bobby's body. Their feelings were not wrong; these changes indeed did take place.

After merging with the mysterious eye, Bobby's blood had started to slowly change. The most obvious point was his strength; it had increased at a rapid rate. His height and mental energy were also growing. Adding on to the change of his heart state, his whole aura had changed. "Even my parents can see that I've changed; this means the martial artist can easily see that I've formed my inner strength," Bobby went into deep thought.

There was still one month left until the family sparring contest, and his goal was to enter the top three. "I need a way to hide my Chi." Soon, the 100 martial arts skills popped up in his mind. He quickly chose a skill named Secret Hiding Technique, which was not a combat skill and did not even increase one's power level. The reason why Bobby picked it up before was because it was a peak middle-rank martial art, something which he felt might come in handy soon.

If Secret Hiding Technique was trained to the low level, it could hide one's center strength and power level. When it reached the high level, one could control one's aura. When it reached the peak level, one could erase one's aura, which could be used for tracking and spying. Even a dog would be unable to smell one's presence. Bobby began to train in the Secret Hiding Technique on the same day. Although it was a peak middle-rank martial art, it was easy for Bobby to train in it. Using just half a day's worth of time, Bobby had already trained the Secret Hiding Technique to the low level, which meant that he can now conceal his inner strength. Even true martial artists of the fourth rank or higher would be unable to find out that Bobby had inner strength.

Bobby was slightly shocked, but then he had thought about how he had even learned Lightly Floating Fairy, which was a high-ranked martial art. Since the Secret Hiding Technique was now at the low level, Bobby could now openly walk around. After a few more days, it was time to sign up for the family sparring contest. "Bobby, we have to sign up for the family sparring contest now. Do not forget to register," his mother warned him. "Okay, I will go right now," Bobby said, feeling very confident.

Soon after, Bobby arrived at the registering place. The family sparring contest was held once every three years, and the registration time was one month before the contest itself. There were many other students lining up when Bobby entered the hall. "Did you hear? This year's rewards are extremely good," one student said. "Rewards? Tell us," a few surrounding students had interested expressions on their faces as they looked towards that student. "Those that become one of the top 50 will be trained personally by the senior martial artist and will have a chance to enter the second floor of the martial arts library and choose a high-ranked martial arts skill. They will also receive a 300-year-old blood plant. Those that reach the top 20 can choose two high-ranked martial arts skills and will get two 300-year-old blood plants," the student paused. "Whoa, 300-year-old blood plants, the facility is spending a lot of money for this year's contest. High-ranked martial arts skills, normal students were probably never even learned one in their entire careers," the disciples around seemed shocked by the news.

Even Bobby felt excited. A 300-year-old blood plant was worth 3,000 silver. Obviously, the fact that they got to enter the second floor of the martial arts library was more exciting to him. "If I get the chance to go inside the second floor of the martial arts library, I can take out a large amount of high-ranked skills," Bobby thought, full of anticipation. The city student continued, "The top 10 can choose two high-ranked martial arts and will also get a 500-year-old blood plant." "500-year-old blood plant," many students rubbed their palms together as they thought about it. One 500-year-old blood plant was worth 10,000 silver. "Apparently, the top three can choose a peak-rank skill, two high-rank skills, and will also get a secret blood pill." "Peak-rank martial arts, secret blood pill," someone who trained to peak-rank martial art could level their strength up to the ninth rank. As for the secret blood pill, it was a precious pill that helped increase one's blood flow and strength. This type of precious pill was worth over 50,000 silver. "What does first place get?" someone asked. "You're right, usually first place gets an extra reward," a few students said. "First place will definitely have extra rewards, but even I do not know what that is," the city student said as he shook his head. The disciples felt disappointed; however, because they did not know, they felt more intrigued to find out.

After waiting for a long time, Bobby finally arrived at the registration place and took a badge. The badge had a number of 118 on it. According to the rules, there were only 50 spots for Town recruits under the age of 18. This meant that some Town recruits may be eliminated and then replaced by the newer generation of students. Therefore, this contest was very cruel. After signing up, Bobby returned home to work even harder. Days passed, the time for the family sparring contest grew closer and closer. 20 days before the contest started, there was already an estimated ranking list, and the person who ranked first was a city recruit who was the genius at the facility, Dell Mogos. Dell had reached the fourth rank of the facility two years ago; he was ranked third in the last contest. At that time, he wasn't even 15 years old. Now he was one of the four geniuses of San Francisco. There was no doubt that he was the strongest.

When Bobby saw this, he drew a cold breath. Calvin Kramer, who was first amongst the outer disciples, did not even reach the top 20 of the Town recruits. Peter Chu and Jessica Park were ranked 38 and 40 respectively. As for Joshua and Andy, the Dragon Ey, who were both ranked in the top five amongst the town recruits, they were ranked overall as 49th and 53rd. The ranking had a total of 100 people. Bobby kept on looking. Finally, at the second last position on the list, Bobby finally found his own name.