"It's... it's an invitation to the War God selection competition..." Fang Fei looked at Gu Ya in surprise and whispered.
Gu Ya stared at the message, calm as ever, reading it three full times. A sense of reluctance welled up within him.
Fang Fei excitedly hugged Gu Ya's head, pressing it tightly against her chest. She shook him vigorously, laughing, "Gu Ya! You've made it! I have high hopes for you!"
Gu Ya impatiently pushed Fang Fei away, "Get lost, don't take advantage of me!"
Fortunately, it was just the two of them in the classroom. If other students had seen this, rumors and gossip would have spread for some time.
"Train hard for these three months. If you need anything from me, just say so, no matter how late it is~" Fang Fei winked at Gu Ya, smiling charmingly.
Gu Ya stood up, saying as he walked, "It would be a great help if you could just be serious." He quickly walked out of the teaching building.
War God selection competition, three months. That was exactly the end of this semester. After the competition, he would return to Dong Yonggu Zhi Lan for the mid-term assessment.
The timing was perfect.
"Three months..." Gu Ya murmured, "Well, let's consider it an assessment of my learning results from the past half-year."
"It's best not to be selected as the War God; that title is too dazzling. Carrying the name of 'War God' will make many things difficult."
"However, I must go all out!"
"The contestants are all candidates for the War God, their strength recognized by the higher echelons of Xian Xia. It's truly exciting to be able to spar with them!"
Gu Ya hurried to the cafeteria, wolfed down a quick dinner, and then drove his mecha to the training grounds, preparing to begin a new round of intensified training.
He had already devised a new training plan on his way.
Firstly, the materials in the textbooks were incredibly useful. These were experiences summarized by our predecessors through blood and wisdom. Every piece of knowledge had to be learned and remembered.
Secondly, all the basic mecha movements in the textbook had to be mastered and standardized, developing muscle memory. This was also why, in one-on-one combat, the instructors only allowed them to spar using basic movements.
The more solid the foundation, the higher the ceiling for piloting skills.
Thirdly, he had to find Dou Mei to catch up on all the courses for the next three months. After catching up, Gu Ya wanted to find a secluded place to train in seclusion.
This academy only offered a year and a half of study. The first half year was theoretical knowledge, and the latter year was entirely practical combat.
Therefore, after completing the courses, Gu Ya would have learned all the scientific piloting skills.
With theory combined with diligent training, his piloting skills would be further honed.
"I'll talk about catching up tomorrow. Today, I'll start training ahead of schedule."
Gu Ya controlled his mecha and began with the first mecha movement: punching.
This seemingly simplest movement had a relatively complex operational process, requiring the system to bring up the punch program and then push the joystick forward.
To save operational time, mecha pilots would pre-write a sequence for punching movements, which could be activated by using shortcut keys or manipulating the joystick when needed.
The shortcut program for a single punch movement was not the same for every mecha pilot.
Moreover, for every mecha movement, mecha pilots would write a unique shortcut program.
Thus, mecha pilots referred to their self-created mecha killing moves as "unique skills."
Each "unique skill" embodied the wisdom and experience of a mecha pilot.
Unless the action code was stolen, it was not easy to replicate.
Wang Shangmeng was very intelligent and talented. His ability to quickly replicate Gu Ya's unique skills was not due to stealing Gu Ya's mecha action code, but rather by using his own experience and logic to write similar action codes.
The codes were different, but the movements were largely the same.
For example, with "Burst Flash," Wang Shangmeng's version was slightly different from Gu Ya's.
Some mecha pilots, wanting to pass down and propagate their self-created unique skills, thus gave rise to the concept of mecha pilot masters and apprentices.
Through the guidance of masters and apprentices, many unique skills evolved into basic mecha movements, and some also gave rise to new unique skills.
Gu Ya was currently performing the punching movement with the most cumbersome operation.
His plan was to perform each basic movement one thousand times.
At this moment, a man entered the training grounds from outside.
The man first watched from a distance, then slowly approached, finally stopping about ten meters away from the assembled mecha.
This man appeared to be around fifty years old, with a calm face and bright eyes. His face was lined with wrinkles, his short hair was thick but completely white. He wasn't tall, but he was robust and sturdy.
Gu Ya initially assumed he was a teacher or a groundskeeper and paid him no mind.
The man did not disturb Gu Ya, remaining stationary. He watched Gu Ya for a full two hours, always keeping his hands in his jacket pockets, unmoving.
Curious, Gu Ya stopped the mecha and emerged from it, walking over.
"Uncle, if you feel I'm doing anything incorrectly, please enlighten me," Gu Ya said politely.
The old man with completely white hair smiled slightly and said in a strong, resonant voice, "I wouldn't dare enlighten you, but I'll offer a small suggestion. Do that movement another ten thousand times!"
Gu Ya froze. Ten thousand times? Was this man joking? Either he was crazy or a master.
"May I ask, what is your name?" Gu Ya asked humbly.
The man waved his hand again, smiling, and said, "My name isn't important. In short, your foundation is too poor. You need to do each basic movement ten thousand times to be sufficient."
"Ten thousand times..." Gu Ya suddenly felt the man was toying with him.
Performing the punching movement once according to the textbook steps took 20 seconds. Ten thousand times that would equate to 55.55 hours – nearly two days and eight hours!
The key point was that the textbook contained 384 basic movements. If each movement, with an average time of 30 seconds, was practiced ten thousand times, it would equate to 1333 days – 44 months – 3.7 years!
And that was without eating or drinking.
If one trained diligently, it would take at least four to five years to complete!
"Haha." The man laughed calmly and humbly. "If you want to become a War God, this is the path you must tread."
Gu Ya looked up and re-examined the man. The fact that he could utter such a statement clearly indicated that he knew Gu Ya's background. He had come prepared, specifically for Gu Ya.
"Uncle, you..." Gu Ya felt a sense of caution. Although the man appeared to have no aura, he exuded a strange sense of pressure and suffocation.
He was a powerhouse!
The man smiled without speaking, turned, and left as if strolling through a garden.
Gu Ya pondered for a few minutes, still unable to grasp the uncle's meaning. Logically, such tedious and repetitive movement practice was a waste of time and rather dull.
Even if the foundation was important, everyone operated using action codes. There was no need for such an exaggerated repetition of ten thousand times.
"I can't figure it out..."
Gu Ya trained for another three hours until the early morning, his arms and wrists aching with fatigue, before returning to his dormitory.
The next day, before classes even started, Fang Fei burst into the classroom and sat in front of Gu Ya, asking mysteriously, "Did someone visit you last night?"
Gu Ya thought of the strange uncle from last night and nodded.
Fang Fei looked at Gu Ya, her eyes full of excitement, "Which city's War God was it?"
"Huh?" Gu Ya was confused by her question. A War God? Was that uncle a War God?
Fang Fei said anxiously, "The other guy in our class who received an invitation card met a senior last night. He claimed to be the War God from Lianhuang City and taught him a lot! He speculated that to prepare for the War God selection competition, someone from the top specifically arranged for a War God to personally guide the participants."
"Is that so..." Gu Ya suddenly felt that the mysterious uncle's words might have some truth to them.
Fang Fei excitedly asked, "Did the person who found you introduce himself? What did he look like? Male or female? How old?"
Gu Ya said in a low voice, "He was quite old..." Then, Gu Ya described the uncle's appearance to Fang Fei.
Fang Fei gave an "ok" gesture and said, "Leave it to me." She then quickly ran out.
Within fifteen minutes, Fang Fei returned, her expression serious and focused. She looked at Gu Ya and said, "I found out. It's a War God from Xian Xia City. Guess what his ranking is?"
"A War God from Xian Xia City..." Gu Ya thought for a moment, "He must be in the top ten at least."
Fang Fei rolled her eyes and gave a cold snort, then immediately exclaimed excitedly in a low voice, "Number one! Number one!!!"
To be honest, Gu Ya was truly shocked. His eyes widened, and he stared at Fang Fei in disbelief.
Fang Fei tapped her wristband, and a picture of the uncle appeared on it, followed by his information.
"This is top-secret information from Special Division Nine! The higher-ups went to great lengths to obtain this data! But much of the information is redacted."
Gu Ya looked at the information: "Name unknown; Age unknown; Place of birth unknown; Title unknown. War God of Xian Xia City, ranked first in the War God strength rankings three years ago. Everything is unknown, are you sure this isn't fake?"
Fang Fei became agitated upon hearing this, "How can you say that! As punishment, you have to spend a night with the higher-ups!"
Gu Ya glared at her and ignored her.
That night, at the training grounds, the mysterious uncle reappeared.
Fang Fei, who had come on a pilgrimage, stood behind Gu Ya, looking excitedly at the arrival of Xian Xia's strongest War God.
The uncle smiled peacefully and said, "We meet again. Have you thought about what I told you? Do as I say, and you will naturally understand."
Gu Ya nodded.
Fang Fei, with a look of adoration, smiled and asked, "Uncle, what are you asking Gu Ya to do? Can you teach me too?"
The uncle smiled kindly and said, "Of course, it's nothing much. Just do each basic movement ten thousand times."
"Huh? T-ten thousand times?" Fang Fei was stunned.
The uncle patted Gu Ya's shoulder and said, "Do as I say. I won't appear again from now on."
With that, he left the training grounds with a leisurely gait.
"He just left like that? What kind of guidance is this?" Fang Fei felt speechless, grabbed Gu Ya, and said, "Are you really going to do each movement ten thousand times? Then you'll have to wait until... the next next War God selection competition!"
Gu Ya smiled and shook his head, "No, I'm not that foolish."
Fang Fei breathed a sigh of relief, patted her chest, and nodded, "Yes, indeed. Who would be foolish enough to do each movement ten thousand times?"
Gu Ya smiled and said, "I plan to do fifty thousand repetitions for each movement!"