My Golden Core is a Star, do you call this cultivating?

Chapter 289: Sudden Incident, Attacked

The "little cutie" was caught and quickly sent off to be deep-fried.

The mercenary carefully stored the piece of tissue paper that Qi Yuan had given him.

Kuang Huan looked at Qi Yuan and cautiously asked, "Mr. Qi, do you need sea monsters?"

Sea monsters were precious, but for a noble like Kuang Huan, obtaining them wasn't too difficult.

"I might need ones like the one just now. Ordinary ones... I could take a look too," Qi Yuan answered truthfully.

He probably needed mutant sea monsters, and not just any mutant sea monsters would do. For instance, while he had been fishing, he'd kept his eyes on the sea and spotted more than one sea monster. However, none of those gave him the same feeling as the "little cutie."

"There are still many sea monsters on the Haixingya," Kuang Huan quickly said, "I'll gather some for you right away."

"Hmm."

Qi Yuan nodded. He also wanted to study these sea monsters. These sea monsters seemed to have some... connection with martial arts. However, Qi Yuan's martial arts skills were currently too weak to identify what that connection might be.

After a while, the deep-fried mutant sea monster was brought up. It was clear that the chef had tried hard, but the fried mutant sea monster still looked ugly and was difficult to stomach.

The actresses present all covered their mouths and frowned, seemingly quite disdainful.

At this point, Kuang Huan couldn't help but say, "This kind of mutant sea monster meat is rare to find, even at regular banquets. Don't be fooled by its appearance; this small portion is worth millions."

Upon hearing Kuang Huan's words, the actresses' frowns eased. Wu Qi's beautiful eyes widened. "It's that expensive?"

She hadn't had much appetite before, but now her mouth began to water. After all, it was so expensive... it would be a waste not to try it.

At this moment, Qi Yuan took out a chopstick and gently tapped the head of the mutant sea monster. Instantly, a drop of extremely vibrant blood appeared.

The actresses present found this sight to be quite magical.

Qi Yuan looked at the drop of blood with an inexplicable expression.

He could feel his body react slightly, his blood seeming to boil.

"I suddenly suspect that this mutant sea monster and I might share the same ancestor," Qi Yuan said, his eyes filled with amusement.

"How could that be?" the actresses laughed. "These sea monsters are all fish mutated by radiation. How could we humans have the same ancestors as them?"

"Right!" The others also looked puzzled, assuming Qi Yuan was joking.

After extracting that drop of blood, Qi Yuan said softly, "Let's all eat together. It's... very nourishing."

To him, the most valuable part of the mutant sea monster was the blood.

Soon, the football-sized mutant sea monster was divided into more than a dozen portions, and everyone present received a share.

Wu Qi held her plate, a look of pride in her eyes. The only regret was that she didn't have her phone with her. Otherwise, she would have taken a picture and shared it with her group of girlfriends.

After all, the portion on her plate alone was worth tens of thousands, more expensive than gold.

As a star of her level, when would she ever be able to afford something so luxurious?

She carefully took a bite and immediately felt a crispy crunch, with the flavor of the meat spreading through her mouth.

"It's delicious! Really tasty!"

Wu Qi licked her lips and said with satisfaction.

When something is this expensive, it naturally tastes good.

The others felt the same way.

To them, the meat of the mutant sea monster was like an exquisite delicacy.

Qi Yuan did not eat the meat; instead, he swallowed the drop of blood.

Immediately, he felt a slight change in his body.

His blood started to heat up.

Qi Yuan closed his eyes, examining himself internally.

After about ten breaths, Qi Yuan opened his eyes, a strange expression on his face.

"My martial arts aptitude... has actually increased."

That's right, his martial arts aptitude had increased.

If he went to the Ming Wu Martial Arts Hall for testing, he would find that the lines representing his martial arts talent had grown by a few more.

"So, sea monsters are indeed related to martial arts?"

Or perhaps... to bloodlines.

Qi Yuan had already vaguely sensed that martial arts in this world were likely linked to bloodlines. The stronger the bloodline, the stronger the martial arts talent, and the faster the cultivation progress.

However, perhaps because the bloodline was too diluted, the martial arts bloodline had become increasingly weak, making these martial artists less powerful.

Even jumping twenty meters could be considered a peerless feat.

Qi Yuan guessed that this was related to the dilution of the bloodline.

"Mr. Qi... what's wrong?" Kuang Huan couldn't help but ask when he noticed Qi Yuan lost in thought.

"Nothing, I just thought of something interesting." Qi Yuan looked at Kuang Huan and asked, "In ancient times, were there records of very strong martial artists?"

"Well... yes, there are records of individuals taking on entire armies, but... those are mostly exaggerated historical accounts. Modern scientific studies suggest that there is a limit to martial arts. A warrior capable of defeating a hundred enemies is already at their peak," Kuang Huan replied honestly.

The limit of martial arts was a warrior capable of defeating a hundred men. Advanced genetic serums could easily break that martial arts limit.

At this point, Kuang Huan couldn't help but ask softly, "Is the limit of Immortal Dao... perhaps a warrior capable of defeating ten thousand men?"

There are many records of Immortal Dao and mythical tales on Gongxing. However, perhaps the people of Gongxing lack imagination and don't exaggerate much; the most impressive records of these mythical figures only involve flying and crossing seas.

Even their exaggerations didn't hold a candle to some of the tales from a certain populous country on Blue Star.

For Kuang Huan, being able to defeat ten thousand men was already an extreme feat. If he could reach the limit of Immortal Dao and become such a warrior, he would undoubtedly have a place among the great families of the Seven Martial Stars.

"You're underestimating the Immortal Dao." Qi Yuan chuckled lazily, "Right now, I'm... hmm, very weak, but killing ten thousand people... would be quite easy."

Kuang Huan's heart skipped a beat when he heard this. His eyes filled with awe as he looked at Qi Yuan.

Of course, he still harbored some doubt about Qi Yuan's words. After all, it sounded too exaggerated.

The two of them were speaking in low voices, and they were also a little distance from the others, so the others didn't hear.

"Speaking of martial arts, it may have declined now, but in ancient times... it might have been quite strong," Qi Yuan murmured.

The blood extracted from the sea monster made Qi Yuan realize that martial arts weren't so simple. It was just that modern humans had bloodlines too diluted with regards to martial arts, making them unable to unleash the true power of martial arts.

"What a pity... According to my guess, martial arts do indeed have a limit, and the limit is... the ancestors."

The limit of martial arts is the source of the bloodline, that one ancestor.

In other words, for martial arts, descendants can never surpass their ancestors because everything that comes after is derived from the ancestor.

But martial arts have one advantage: if an ancestor breaks through again, it could cause a bloodline leap for all descendants, thereby increasing their strength.

However, looking at the history of Gongxing for the past few thousand years, there are hardly any records of such events. This suggests that the few ancestors at the origin of the bloodline martial arts either died or never broke through again, so no further bloodline leaps occurred.

But this raises another question: If Qi Yuan's strength surpasses that of his ancestors, and his strength increases, would the ancestors' bloodlines also undergo a leap?

If so, wouldn't even a pile of bones experience a bloodline boiling?

Thinking about such things made Qi Yuan feel amused.

If that were the case, couldn't he just lie back and let his descendants break through the bloodline limits, in turn causing his own bloodline to leap and his strength to increase?

Of course, this was just a thought.

...

On the cruise ship.

Wang Xu looked at the burly man in front of him, his expression grim.

This time, they had come to the Haixingya to take the sea monsters and complete their mission.

The person in charge on the Haixingya was quite responsible and had given them some sea monsters.

But now, a call from his superior demanded that these sea monsters be handed over to this group of nobles. It was as if he had made the trip in vain and wasted a whole day, so naturally, he felt disgruntled.

However, facing these armed men in suits, Wang Xu still bent over slightly, "All the sea monsters are here. Not a single one is missing."

"Alright, check them out," said the man in the suit.

The other men in suits opened the boxes and checked the sea monsters inside.

"No issues."

"Good." The man in the suit, seeing that the sea monsters were fine, looked at Wang Xu and said, "Thanks for your help. We'll be taking these things with us."

After saying this, the men in suits left with the boxes containing the sea monsters.

Watching them leave, Wang Xu couldn't help but sigh, "We low-level officials can't even compare to the servants of those nobles."

The man beside him nodded in agreement.

Those family soldiers would have been household slaves in ancient times.

"We can only hope to work hard and become nobles ourselves someday."

"Don't kid yourself. In today's society, what qualifications do we oxen and horses have to become nobles? The few great families of the Seven Martial Stars have held their positions for hundreds of years. There's no room for us."

"Haha, I suppose only a massive world change could give us a chance."

"Forget about a massive world change; I'd rather live a stable life," Wang Xu said softly. "If the world changes, people like us will be the first to die."

He was already quite satisfied with his current life. Compared to his old classmates, like Li Yan and Qi Yuan, he was doing well.

"These nobles are really bored. Even disgusting things like sea monsters... they want to eat them. Aren't they afraid of getting sick?"

...

Time flew by, and night gradually fell.

Wu Qi looked at the distant crowd, her eyes filled with disappointment.

Today, she had used every trick in her book, but she still hadn't succeeded in getting what she wanted. This made her quite disappointed.

She looked at Qi Yuan and Kuang Huan ahead, her eyes filled with admiration.

At this moment, her agent approached, looking at Wu Qi with a teasing look. "What? Failed?"

Wu Qi's admiring gaze turned to one of slight disappointment. "Yes."

"Those big shots have seen all kinds of beauties. Genetically modified beauties can't even compare to us. We look glamorous, but in their eyes, we're just a bit of flavor," the agent said with a sigh. Her tone carried a bit of world-weariness, as if she had been through a lot.

Upon hearing this, Wu Qi's eyes became determined again. "No, I don't want to live like this!"

Meanwhile, Qi Yuan looked at the burly man in a suit in front of him and said softly, "You've been drinking. If you drive me, it would be drunk driving. If the police catch you, you'd have to sit in jail."

As the saying goes, driving irresponsibly causes tears for your loved ones.

Naturally, Qi Yuan wouldn't engage in such illegal activities.

"It's fine; we have permits. Drunk driving laws are only for ordinary people," the man in a black suit said without hesitation.

At this point, Kuang Huan glared at the man in the black suit and walked over respectfully to Qi Yuan. "I'll drive!"

Kuang Huan was a little angry at his subordinate; why was he being so tactless and arguing with Mr. Qi?

If Mr. Qi wanted a sober driver, then he should have one. He hadn't been drinking, so he'd drive.

"Hmm, okay," Qi Yuan nodded.

Kuang Huan personally took the driver's seat and drove the car to take Qi Yuan home.

On the way, four more cars followed.

These four cars were loaded with various medicinal materials and the sea monsters collected from the Haixingya.

Driving the car, Kuang Huan thought of something and slowly said, "These medicinal materials and sea monsters take up quite a bit of space, and... they're not clean; they smell. One of my friends owns a property in your neighborhood, Mr. Qi. How about I give it to you? Otherwise, the smell of these sea monsters might make your house unpleasant."

At this point, Kuang Huan started offering a house.

After a day of conversation, he felt more and more that Qi Yuan was mysterious and unpredictable.

Qi Yuan looked at Kuang Huan and said, "Sure."

He accepted these benefits with a clear conscience.

Upon hearing this, Kuang Huan was delighted. Sometimes, giving gifts could also be a satisfying experience.

The light ahead turned red, and the car came to a stop.

At this moment, Qi Yuan suddenly asked, "Is this car bulletproof?"

Kuang Huan was taken aback but answered without thinking, "This is the city, so it's very safe. It's not bulletproof."

"Safe?" Qi Yuan smiled, "Then why is someone aiming a sniper rifle at me?"

"What?" Kuang Huan's heart skipped a beat.

Just then, a sharp gunshot rang out.

As an arms dealer, Kuang Huan instantly recognized the sound of a Tiger Type-1 sniper rifle.

This sniper rifle was known as the king of snipers.

It could penetrate two centimeters of steel from a kilometer away.

Even soldiers injected with the latest genetic serum wouldn't survive a shot from it.

Someone was using this gun to snipe Qi Yuan; how could he not be shocked?

He could already imagine the scene of Qi Yuan getting shot in the head.

However, when he turned to look at Qi Yuan, he saw that Qi Yuan was perfectly fine, sitting calmly.

In his hand, he held a large sniper bullet.

Seeing this, Kuang Huan was momentarily stunned, filled with disbelief.

Is this something a human can do?

He knew that the bullet speed of such a sniper rifle could reach three times the speed of sound!

Suddenly, he recalled Qi Yuan's mention of defeating ten thousand men. Now, he understood that Qi Yuan wasn't exaggerating; he was telling the truth.

At this moment, Qi Yuan held the bullet, his eyes calm, and smiled faintly, "Good thing I had a breakthrough on the cruise today; otherwise, this shot would have been quite troublesome.

Heh, I never thought there'd be so many bad guys in this game. I've been very low-key, just treating this as a leisurely game, yet there are still villains trying to harm me!
Does someone really want to turn this into a war game?"

At this moment, many thoughts flashed through Kuang Huan's mind.

Today's events were entirely beyond his expectations.

Someone had the audacity to use a sniper rifle against his guest right in front of him.

He felt both furious and terrified.

This meant that the other party didn't respect him at all.

In Tianyue City, there weren't many people who dared to ignore a hereditary viscount like him.

It was clear that the forces behind this ran deep.

He then heard Qi Yuan say, "Wait here for a moment. I'll be right back."

Kuang Huan had calmed down by now. He looked at Qi Yuan and said gravely, "Be careful, Mr. Qi. If the situation becomes uncontrollable, I'll take my brothers and escort you away to Xinyang City. That's my stronghold!"

Qi Yuan simply smiled calmly, "In this world, it's my enemies who should be fleeing."