Reston sat idly on the arena floor, gnawing on a carrot while waiting for another opponent. So far, no matter who came, each one had been cut down in a single strike. None had been worth his time as sparring partners. Aside from Riven, who at least showed some strength, the rest were pathetically weak...
"Is there really no one with even a bit of true strength...? Haaah~" Reston sighed tiredly. He hadn't exerted himself at all, but sitting here waiting felt strangely exhausting. He was starting to feel sleepy again. He pulled his legs in, wrapped his arms around them, tugged the hood of his windbreaker up, rested his head on his knees, and waited.
After a while, just as he was about to doze off, someone finally stepped onto the stage.
"Bai Chengyu, Martial Warrior peak. Please advise!"
"What? Bai Chengyu?"
"No way—the Commander-in-Chief's son actually came here?"
"With Bai on stage, he'll definitely win this time!"
The crowd burst into noise again. Reston slowly stood, ready to face him.
"Should've known better than to skip that nap… now I'm even sleepier…" Reston thought.
"Reston, Martial Warrior stage one. Please advise."
"Both sides, prepare!" the referee announced. After about fifteen seconds, the countdown began.
"5! 4! 3! 2! 1! Begin!"
Neither moved. Reston thought his opponent would charge in like the others, so he had already taken a defensive stance.
"I wonder… when this battle ends, can we be friends?" Bai Chengyu suddenly asked.
"...?" Reston blinked. He came here just to make friends?
"We'll see…" Reston muttered. Truthfully, he just wanted to sleep!
Upon hearing Reston's reply, Bai Chengyu charged two seconds later. His weapon was also a blade. His class was none other than the SSS-ranked Mad Blade Emperor!
"Thunderclap Sword Art!" Reston immediately drew on his blade technique. He could feel that this opponent's offense was different from the previous ones.
"Well struck!" Bai Chengyu's eyes lit up. Reston's strength clearly wasn't as simple as it looked.
Clang! Clang! The clash of blades rang out, each strike evenly matched.
"Finally… someone who can test the results of these past days!" Reston thought, his strikes growing sharper. With every exchange, his mastery of Thunderclap Sword Art refined itself further.
"Then I'll get serious! Lunar Cascade!" Bai Chengyu roared.
"Thunder Dragon!" Recognizing the immense force behind that move, Reston unleashed the strongest technique of the Thunderclap Sword Art.
Their auras collided in midair, surging into violent waves. The referee hastily raised a barrier to prevent the surrounding buildings from being destroyed. This was no duel between Martial Warriors—this was at the level of Martial Kings!
"Ugh!" Bai Chengyu was slammed into the wall by the Thunder Dragon and flung out of the arena. Even with his Lunar Cascade, he still couldn't win.
"Reston wins!" the referee declared.
"Impossible! He really defeated Bai Chengyu?"
"A stage one Martial Warrior just beat a peak Martial Warrior… are you kidding me? Even novels wouldn't dare write this!"
The crowd was in uproar, but Reston remained calm. Through this intense clash, he had validated his own progress. Against a genius like Bai Chengyu, even though his aura had been somewhat depleted after this fight, no one dared challenge him further.
"Time's up! Congratulations to Reston for successfully defending the arena for twelve hours. In addition, because he defeated the Commander-in-Chief's son, Bai Chengyu, while still only at Martial Warrior stage one, you are hereby granted a special reward: one-time access to the military district's vault to choose any item!" a soldier from the challenge decree office announced.
Finally, it was over… Reston thought. But what exactly was this reward? It sounded intriguing… Still, he didn't care. With the challenge complete, all he wanted was sleep!
He headed straight for his quarters, ignoring the soldier who was trying to ask whether he wanted to claim his reward right now.
Back in his room, Reston showered, dried his hair, threw on a hoodie, and collapsed onto his bed. Within a minute, he was asleep. And in his dream, the system appeared.
"System Points: 234,000."
Reston's eyes widened. "That much?!" Dreaming or not, his eyes lit up. He immediately upgraded Cultivation of Eternal Slumber to Lv9. The cost was enormous—just reaching Lv9 had drained most of his points, leaving only 42,000.
"What should I do with the remaining 42,000…?" Reston suddenly thought as he scrolled through the interface. Then it struck him. Wasn't this the Omni System? Didn't it claim he could do anything?
Sure enough, he discovered he could directly enhance his physical attributes!
Strength: Lv0
Defense: Lv0
Speed: Lv0
Luck: Lv0
Charm: Lv0
Spirit: Lv0
Intelligence: Lv0
"I didn't expect there were this many attributes I could upgrade… System, I'll hand the remaining points to you. Distribute them however you think best," Reston said.
"Calculating…" Five seconds later. "Complete."
Strength: Lv3
Defense: Lv0
Speed: Lv0
Luck: Lv0
Charm: Lv1
Spirit: Lv0
Intelligence: Lv0
System Points: 2,000
Reston suddenly felt his body strengthen immensely. Now, it seemed he could topple Bai Chengyu with a single strike!
"Wait… why did Charm go up by one? Do I really need that right now?" Reston muttered. But if the system assigned it, there had to be a reason...