Level Up in Martial World

"While we martial artists harness qi in our bodies, and almost every advancement is related to our own bodies, mages cultivate qi outside of their bodies."

"They had a different power system than us, as they controlled qi to interact with nature, creating miraculous things like a fireball in thin air called a spell. This could only be done by a first-stage martial artist, even at the beginning of their journey."

"They were a terrifying force of destruction, and their technology advanced far too much. They even ruled many other lands apart from ours. However, sigh..." Ancestor Lu continued, sighing, "they eventually collapsed because they became too outdated, too arrogant, fought many internal wars, and a discovery was made that acted as a catalyst for the destruction of the mages."

"The catalyst was due to one particular weakness: they were weak in close combat and could be considered very weak if a person could get near them. Although mages had various backups to ensure that their combat power didn\'t diminish, this didn\'t change the fact that they were too weak at close range."

"When the other races found out about this, they immediately capitalized on it, and a war ensued. After all, they weren\'t foolish, and nobody wants to be a slave. With the internal struggles of the mages still ongoing, they eventually lost the war and were destroyed along with their legacy."

"However, all the races that the mages fought with were also damaged to the point of almost no return, causing them to become weak and backward."

"All technology of the mages was either lost or buried, and our means of traveling through the land were no more, causing us to be restricted to our own plane."

"That is how the mage\'s era ended," Ancestor Lu sighed as he looked at Lu Zhen, finishing his explanation.

"But what does this have to do with ancient warrior ancestors?" Lu Zhen asked with a confused expression.

"After that, ancient martial artists or warriors were born, who primarily focused on their bodies and had a technique similar to ours. However, their bodies didn\'t reject qi like ours do. The condition for becoming an ancient martial artist was extremely harsh."

"They trained their bodies to the limits and beyond before cultivating even a shred of qi, which people barely did in that era. Most of them died trying, and as time passed, ancient martial artists became fewer in number."

"To reduce the chances of people dying, the cultivation techniques were modified and made new. It worked. However, unlike ancient martial artists who could directly take in qi into their bodies, we normal martial artists had to form qi pathways to strengthen our bodies with qi."

"As time passed, ancient martial artists were forgotten, as they eventually died due to their small numbers, fading away through time."

"However, this doesn\'t mean they were weaker than ordinary martial artists. In fact, they were several times stronger than normal martial artists of the same rank, to the point where they could be called invincible within their own rank. They also didn\'t have to go through the tedious process of constructing qi pathways."

Ancestor Lu stared at Lu Zhen, who was listening carefully to his explanation.

"So how did you get an ancient warrior physique?" Hearing this, Lu Zhen snapped out of his concentration.

"Umm… to be honest, Ancestor, I don\'t know," Lu Zhen replied, wearing a confused expression.

"Hmm…" Ancestor Lu\'s gaze deepened as he continued to stare at Lu Zhen.

However, Lu Zhen didn\'t even blink his eyes; he just stared back at him.

"Hahahaha, my boy, whatever you did, since you have acquired the ancient warrior physique, you are definitely the most suitable heir to prosper our Lu family," Ancestor Lu said as he patted Lu Zhen and took out two boxes seemingly out of nowhere.

"This…" Lu Zhen\'s eyes widened when he saw a box similar to the one given by his mother.

"There are some body-refining pills and divine healing pills in the box." Lu Zhen accepted the box without hesitation.

"Hohohoho," Ancestor Lu chuckled. "Oh, I forgot that I have become younger."

"Anyway, you should know about bloodlines though, right?" He stared at Lu Zhen with a peculiar glint in his eyes.

"Ah, yes, Ancestor," Lu Zhen answered as he woke up from tightly hugging the two boxes.

However, Mother Lu had a frown on her face when she heard this, looking at her husband who had a strange expression on his face.

"Ance…"

"Aye, I know, I know, Lu Ying."

"Ancestor, I have another request that will not only help me but also might interest you," Lu Zhen looked at Ancestor Lu with a peculiar glint in his eyes.

"Just call me Lu Ming," Ancestor Lu said warmly to Lu Zhen.

"So, what kind of thing is it that can interest me?"

"I know the location of a crystal mine," Lu Zhen said respectfully.

"Oh, that is undoubtedly still beneficial to me; however, if the mine is small, it isn\'t much," Ancestor Lu replied as he considered something.

"Ancestor, how about I take 60% of the mine, as I will give 40% of the mine to the family?"

"Boy, you are quite ambitious, huh?"

"However, since you found the mine, I will give you a 50-50 split; nothing more and nothing less will be divided, as the mine is truly too valuable, especially since our previous mine will be drained soon."

"Alright, Ancestor," Lu Zhen agreed, still addressing him as "Ancestor" and not "Lu Ming."

"You are a smart boy," Lu Ming smiled as he heard Lu Zhen.

"You might also be curious about \'that\' we were talking about?"