However...

"This is just in theory. Over the past half month, I've been constantly improving it. The daily qi and blood increase from the Xuanpin Gate has already risen from the previous 0.035 to 0.088. Although the improvement efficiency has slowed a bit now, reaching 0.1 in the end won't be difficult. If I supplement it with some martial arts herbs and increase the number of training sessions, it might reach 0.15 per day. In just over two months, I could attempt to form the Dan."

No famous master for guidance? No top-tier inheritance?

His own body's feedback was the best teacher.

Next, Grace Thompson did not proceed with a second round of training.

He took a shower, changed his clothes, and turned on the computer he had brought from the dormitory, logging onto Taibai's most popular martial arts website.

As soon as he entered the site, a window popped up.

Taibai was planning to launch a campaign to clear out the vicious beasts and monsters in Death Valley, recruiting martial artists for in-depth investigation.

Gaia Star covers an area of over two billion square kilometers, but two-thirds of it is wild mountains and wilderness occupied by ferocious beasts and monsters.

The source of all this...

The Star God.

A higher-dimensional being so great that thousands of words cannot describe it.

Its radiance fills the entire solar system.

Ninety-three years ago, after some "gifted" individuals "saw" this great and vast existence through visualization, fear, chaos, madness, and despair quickly spread.

Order collapsed.

Countless wars broke out because of It.

Three years later, the wars also ended because of It.

The failure rate of humanity's proudest weapons of war suddenly skyrocketed.

Gunpowder failed, cannons exploded, warships broke down, instruments malfunctioned.

Because...

"Atoms" bathed in starlight gained will and drew close to the Star God.

When some weapons or instruments, carrying hostility, attacked Star Refiners who had bathed in starlight through visualization of the Star God, the atoms resisted, causing frequent malfunctions, and often the first to be destroyed was the user themselves.

War was forced to a close.

From then on, the era of the Star God began.

And those bathed in starlight were not limited to humans.

Beasts, plants, birds and animals—every living thing on Gaia shared in the blessing.

The human living space shrank again and again.

The world was in turmoil for twenty years.

Until seventy years ago, the first batch of Star Refiners stepped onto the world stage, leading the armies of various nations to fight against the ferocious beasts and monsters, finally forming today's situation.

The Tianyuan Federation was the product of thirty years of turmoil and the union of various countries.

Together with Dashang, the Empire, the Star Alliance, Sunlight, and the Thirty-Six Nations of the East Sea, they are known as the Six Poles of the world.

...

Grace Thompson glanced at the conditions offered for recruiting martial artists.

Depending on strength, the daily wage ranged from at least ten thousand to as much as a million.

Special discoveries could earn even more generous bonuses, up to over a hundred million depending on their value.

But he only glanced at it before looking away.

"Monsters and Star Refiners originate from the same source. When they get close, they sense each other, so only martial artists can scout. But... this is a job that risks your life."

Grace Thompson closed the pop-up window, navigated to another page, and searched for videos of the rare Dan Jin masters and Gang Jin grandmasters in action.

In fact, there was no need to search.

Every Dan Jin master and Gang Jin grandmaster's video was extremely popular, easily racking up over a million views.

He searched by view count, and aside from a few silly ones, the quality of the videos was generally quite good.

Some of these videos even discussed Dan Jin insights and Gang Jin experiences that he had sought in vain on Blue Star.

Although they were mainly for attracting followers and not systematic, it was still better than on Blue Star, where he couldn't even find a living Gang Jin grandmaster.

"It truly is a flourishing age for martial arts."

Grace Thompson sincerely sighed.

He scrolled for a while and soon saw a video titled "Detailed Explanation of Dan Formation."

The uploader had a string of credentials.

Deputy Senior Professional Certification from the Jiangzhou Martial Arts Association, Vice President of the Yunguang City Martial Arts Association, Head of the Iron Sword Martial Arts School, direct heir to the Thirteen Swords of the Divine Ape, veteran martial artist Master Parker.

"A provincial-level martial arts association professional certification?"

Provincial-level certifications always had some water in them.

For a deputy senior title, being able to unleash Dan Jin was enough.

As he clicked in, he found that the other party was indeed a genuine Dan Jin master.

But after just a minute, the video abruptly stopped.

"Paid video?"

Grace Thompson paused.

A half-hour video, but the price wasn't high—just ten yuan.

He registered an account, ID...

After thinking for a moment, he entered the words "One Hundred Thousand Star Years."

Then he paid to watch.

The video content made Grace Thompson quite pleased.

Although this Grandmaster Parker only talked about relatively basic things, it was still quite helpful for him to perfect the Dan Formation stage of the Xuanpin Gate.

As for the shortcomings, he could try to work them out bit by bit.

"I was too narrow-minded. As I am now, I don't necessarily have to spar with a Dan Jin master to understand how to form qi and blood into a Dan."

Grace Thompson watched for a while longer, then continued to browse some videos on Dan Jin application.

All these videos ultimately pointed to recruiting disciples for martial arts schools, claiming that only hands-on teaching could help people quickly step into martial arts.

But in reality, after signing up and paying, if the head of the school showed up once a month, that was already considered honest and decent.

...

In the days that followed, Grace Thompson's life clearly became more regular.

In the morning, he went to Changfeng Martial Arts School to train.

From time to time, Coral would come to spar with him.

In the afternoon, he would take some time to teach a few rich kids who had been forced into martial arts.