4 Chapter 4 Ultimate Evolution of Self Healing - Undying Body?

That feeling was quite marvelous, akin to an epiphany as described in martial arts novels. It was as if things that were once incomprehensible suddenly became clear in an instant.

The most important aspect of unarmed combat is not the mind, but the body. No level of intellect or speed of reaction can compare to the body's natural response. In addition to a deeper understanding and mastery of combat, Wang Lan's mind overflowed with numerous moves he had not known before.

"This is... impressive."

He then applied skill points to the Close Combat Sword Skill, elevating it to the Bronze level as well.

In the past, Wang Lan expended the least effort on his sword skill, and his private coach had also advised that the true essence of Close Combat Sword Skill, which was practical in real combat, couldn't be fully imparted to Wang Lan. If Wang Lan really had to kill someone in actual combat, he would likely end up shot dead.

Since Wang Lan couldn't learn the essence of a combat skill, he naturally wouldn't invest much effort in it. However, sword skill was an essential skill for Star Martial Warriors, with nearly ninety percent of them wielding swords.

Why? Because swords are simple and practical, and they're quick to learn.

How great is a sword? It has versatile moves and exquisite actions. Once mastered, its lethality is remarkable. But for most Star Martial Warriors, survival on the battlefield is key—what use is elegance if you can't save your own life?

With a sword in hand, you just slash away.

So although Wang Lan knew that learning the sword was of little use before awakening as a Star Martial Warrior, he still had to learn it. But now, with a few skill points allocated, Wang Lan's sword skill instantly surpassed the beginner stage and reached proficiency.

Even without having tested the technique with an actual sword, Wang Lan just felt it. A swordsman doesn't need to hold a sword all day to be aware of their own strength.

Compared to Basic Skills, Star Martial Skills are the foundation of a Star Martial Warrior.

The only Star Martial Skill Wang Lan had after awakening was one passive ability—a real stark naked start. He remembered when Jiang Xinyu awoke, a sneeze had frozen the cola in her hand, straw and all.

As for himself, he would have settled for an active ability, but what the hell, he got Self Healing. Was he supposed to get hurt that easily?

Despite his internal disdain, Wang Lan still allocated ten points to Self Healing, which elevated the skill to Bronze LV1. But just as the skill briefly shimmered, it suddenly disappeared.

Wang Lan jumped in shock at this scene until he looked up and saw that the Self Healing skill had turned into an active skill, which finally allowed him to breathe a sigh of relief. Wait, passive skills can become active skills? Isn't that different from game settings?

Wang Lan concentrated his spiritual power on the new Bronze skill, "Consume Star Power to recover from injuries."

The description was still simple and straightforward.

Why would a passive skill become an active skill? Wang Lan didn't ponder this for long. When one first awakens as a Star Martial Warrior, they cannot control their Innate Ability.

Just like when Jiang Xinyu first awoke, a sneeze had frozen Wang Lan's cola—was she trying to attack Wang Lan? It was purely a lack of control; for Jiang Xinyu at that time, wasn't it a passive ability?

With this realization, Wang Lan felt relieved; this Self Healing was probably not as ordinary as he had thought. As a man who preferred taking action, the last thing he could accept was being passive.

No sooner had Wang Lan thought this than he acted upon it, grabbing a dagger from the weapon rack and lightly cutting his arm. At first, a dark red line appeared, followed by a slow seeping of blood.

He quickly channeled his Star Power to activate the Self Healing skill and stared unblinking at the wound—one second, two seconds, three seconds.

After five seconds, the wound completely healed.

Under normal circumstances, a wound heals by first scabbing over and then the scab falls off. However, under the Self Healing skill, the wound didn't even form a scar and soon looked as smooth and flawless as before without a trace remaining.

The cut was small, so it healed quickly and didn't consume much Star Power—probably only about one-tenth or so. And this was just the Bronze 1 level of Self Healing. If the skill were to be upgraded to Silver or even further to Gold...

Wang Lan suddenly felt elated—truly delightful.

The more he had disdained it before, the more he found it delectable now. Anyone else with the Self Healing skill could only hope to be a meat shield, but Wang Lan was a man with a system. As long as he had enough skill points, he could keep upgrading the skill through sheer persistence.

In due time, he would become Uncle Wolf... no wait, Uncle Wolf is trash; he must be Deadpool... also trash; he would be the Goddess of Death, the real Undying Body.

Self Healing equals Undying Body. This may not apply to others, but in Wang Lan's case, it was possible. However, this process might take a long while, and before becoming a true Undying Body, Wang Lan would need to first stay low and survive.

In high spirits, Wang Lan took out his phone and dialed a number, "Master Huang, are you free right now?"

Master Huang, whose name was Huang Feilong, was Wang Lan's personal trainer and a Star Martial Warrior of the Star Shine Stage.

There were clear divisions in the levels of Star Martial Warriors, and by invoking Star Power to Open Star Palace, one could clearly and intuitively see their level. Newly awakened Star Martial Warriors were at the Starlight Stage, where a single star in the Star Palace was like a star in the sky.

The next level up was Star Shine, where the stars in the Star Palace were as bright and dazzling as the sun and the moon. Above that was Star Cloud, Galaxy, and Star Sea. As for what lay beyond that realm, Wang Lan had no idea.

As far as is known, Star Sea Stage is already the pinnacle of combat power among Star Martial Warriors, but Wang Lan, deeply influenced by online novels, was entirely certain that there must be a whole new realm above the Star Sea.

A Star Shine Stage Star Martial Warrior willing to be hired by an ordinary person to become a private coach? Those who don't understand might say Huang Feilong is degrading himself for money, giving up the honor of a Star Martial Warrior.

But for most Star Martial Warriors who are stuck in the middle tier and have no chance of ascending to higher levels in their lifetime, this is a coveted job that turns eyes green with envy.

Star Martial Warriors need to eat as well, and not just that, their food intake is several times that of an ordinary person. Just ask in Suzhou City, which brave soul would dare let a Star Martial Warrior into their all-you-can-eat restaurant?

During the imperial era, the status of Star Martial Warriors fluctuated, but most were held in higher regard than ordinary people. Since Jade Country ended the imperial era two hundred years ago, the promoted tenet has been national unity and equality among citizens, with no one permitted to lord over others.

It's an obvious truth that human civilization is like a machine, with each person within civilization being a part of that machine, and the mission of Star Martial Warriors is to protect civilization from harm by external threats.

Protection is both a duty and a mission, and if even Star Martial Warriors lord over the people, when humanity faces external threats, how can one expect them to protect with self-sacrifice?

Star Martial Warriors receive a state stipend and benefits, but absolutely no special privileges. The benefits and stipends are completely linked to strength. In the hierarchy of Star Martial Warrior groups, Starlight is at the bottom, and Star Shine is only slightly higher. The state stipend alone is not enough to feed them.

Then why not get a job? With the immense strength of Star Martial Warriors, doing anything would earn money.

Indeed, they can make money, but not a lot of it. Star Martial Warriors are strong, but docks have cranes and forklifts. Star Martial Warriors are quick, but factories have robots on the assembly lines.

Compared to ordinary citizens, Star Martial Warriors have no advantage in the workplace. They lack the education and skills. And even if they did the same work as ordinary people, the income would not be sufficient to sustain a Star Martial Warrior's livelihood.

An ordinary person can live on seven or eight thousand a month, even afford to sing and buy clothes. But for a Star Martial Warrior, if the monthly food budget is less than ten thousand, it can only be described as living in hunger and cold.

Therefore, for many Star Martial Warriors, there are only two prospects: the military, or the Pioneering Legion.

But the existence of a Star Martial Warrior is extremely cruel, it's survival of the fittest. It's considered lucky for the weak to retreat in one piece, especially for someone like Huang Feilong, who is nearly forty and whose strength is stuck at the Star Shine Stage.

Either become someone's bodyguard or work as a private coach. And clearly, working as a private coach is somewhat more dignified. After all, coaches are addressed as Master or Teacher.

Huang Feilong was Wang Lan's full-time private coach, but Wang Lan knew he coached at least five other people and also ran a small martial arts gym, charging tuition to teach students.

Juggling so many jobs had to be scheduled around Wang Lan's commitments because they could only be undertaken with Wang Lan's permission. Without it, Huang Feilong would either have to give up a seventy thousand monthly salary and resign, or devote himself entirely to his role as private coach.

A seventy thousand monthly salary could afford a Star Martial Warrior a comfortable life.

That's why to Wang Lan, Huang Feilong was always on call, even if it meant leaving his wife at the most intimate moments, often without a second thought, just pulling up his pants and leaving.

In less than half an hour, Huang Feilong's car arrived at the third level of the underground parking lot, and he came walking over, shirtless.

Huang Feilong's body bore many scars from blade wounds, which were left from his days in the Pioneering Legion. Scars on an ordinary man could mark him as a despicable villain, detested by women, but on a Star Martial Warrior, they were heroic badges of honor in the eyes of women.

And to have survived with so many scars and still remain in one piece, one had to be a veteran of a hundred battles. Who would dare to call him weak, who would dare to call him a coward? Just take off your clothes, and if you too can be left with so many scars without dying, respect to you as a true man.

"Mr. Lan, why so early today?"

"Summer vacation starts tomorrow..." Wang Lan never carried the air of a rich scion, always speaking to others in a polite and approachable manner. This was also why Huang Feilong cherished this job so much.

Generous, easy to talk to, and even agreeing for him to make extra money on the side, where else could one find such a good boss?

"So, Mr. Lan, which kind of training do you plan to do today?"

"Let's start with free sparring," Wang Lan said, removing his clothes to reveal the tight-fitting, stretch short-sleeve shirt underneath.

"No protective gear today, it hampers movement."

"Alright!" Huang Feilong was not shy, hopping onto the ring with a smile, one hand behind his back and the other in front, signaling to bring it on.

The starting pose was a bit showy, and Wang Lan had been annoyed by it for a long time. But alas, even with one hand, Wang Lan couldn't beat Huang Feilong. Showboating only counts when you have the strength to back it up, so even though Wang Lan had been bothered for a long time, he could only bear with it.

Wang Lan's movement technique had reached the bronze level, a sudden epiphany he had during a previous sparring session. What did Huang Feilong say at the time? Mr. Lan's movement and evasion have reached a new level of mastery, and getting hit by all those punches was not in vain.

Just listen, it makes your heart ache.

And now, Wang Lan didn't just want to dodge punches and kicks, he wanted to attack.

Without any preliminaries, he rushed straight to Huang Feilong's face. This change of style took Huang Feilong by surprise for a moment. A punch headed straight for the dragon's head; Huang Feilong casually blocked it, and then lifted a foot to kick towards Wang Lan's chest.