Zhou Leng spread his legs slightly and slowly walked down the mountain.
The elders in the village saw Zhou Leng's walking posture and came to inquire one after another.
"How did you end up like this?"
"Where are you injured?"
Zhou Leng quickly explained, "I did too many frog jumps and pulled a leg muscle. It'll be fine in a couple of days."
"Then you should go home and get some good rest."
Zhou Leng left Xiaoru Village and couldn't run anymore. He walked slowly back home.
Along the way, those practicing martial arts who saw Zhou Leng's walking posture all gave an understanding smile.
This dead look always comes after training the legs.
Sitting on the sofa, Zhou Leng opened the "Martial Arts City" app, and the latest battle achievements and payments had been updated.
Killing the Ice Crystal Demon Lion earned 11 war merits.
Since participating in combat under a Level 5 alert, it was equivalent to formally participating in a Level 5 Ten Realms War.
For each increase in the intensity level of the Ten Realms War, additional war merits increased by 50%, with Level 5 adding 250%.
Total war merits 38.5.
Killing three Three-headed Blue-backed Demon Wolves earned a total of 3 war merits.
Zhou Leng looked at his personal information.
Military Rank: Student.
War Merits: 41.5.
Accumulating 100 points of war merits allows you to be promoted from a student to a private.
Right now, there are still few war merits, but accumulating more will allow you to exchange for many valuable resources.
The most precious resources can only be exchanged with war merits.
Zhou Leng then looked at his income.
Killing three Three-headed Blue-backed Demon Wolves granted an allocation of 26,056.32 yuan.
The carcass of the Ice Crystal Demon Lion granted an allocation of 5,000 yuan.
The demon crystal of the Ice Crystal Demon Lion granted an allocation of 16,666.67 yuan.
The meat of the Ice Crystal Demon Lion cannot be eaten; it can only serve as feed for magical beasts, with only some materials from its body being valuable. So even though its strength far exceeds that of the Blue-backed Demon Wolves, its price is only 30,000.
However, luckily, a demon crystal was found, which has wide applications and is a primary material for making demonization batteries, with each crystal worth 100,000.
The total harvest in Shuizhou Demon City amounted to 47,722.99 yuan.
Zhou Leng chose to withdraw all of it.
Seeing the new balance, Zhou Leng breathed a sigh of relief.
The living expenses for the next few months are covered.
Zhou Leng browsed various messages on Martial Faith.
"Zhou Leng, contact me after cultivating, and I'll send your compensation," said Xue Chengsong.
"I'm home now."
Soon, Xue Chengsong replied.
"The basic compensation is 35,000, and as agreed, an additional bonus of 10,000 will be sent today. Once your four-year Martial Arts Academy costs are determined after you report to the school, send the figure to me, and I'll transfer it in one go."
"Okay."
Xue Chengsong transferred 45,000 yuan, and Zhou Leng earned nearly 100,000 from the trip to the Demon City.
Zhou Leng slowly scrolled through chat records and group records.
Hu Yi complained about working at Pioneer Company, ranting about Assistant Team Leader Jiang Yan, who forced him to work late, leaving his hands and legs trembling when he got home.
Jiang Yan sent a message to Zhou Leng yesterday, saying the company had received a large batch of demons and asking him to help out as much as possible.
Zhou Leng ignored him.
In a while, he'd go to the Pioneer Company to handle the resignation procedures.
The money now is enough to support him until reaching Qi Nourishing Perfection, so there's no need to waste time at Pioneer Company.
After reaching perfection, he could break through to Blood Transporting.
Once at Blood Transporting, whether tutoring or sparring, the income would far exceed butchering demons.
Zhou Leng searched online for some solar camping gear, choosing an online shop in Rucheng to place an order.
The order included some duck and chicken meat, and additionally, some high-energy pork.
Zhou Leng kept looking for cheap beef, but after a considerable time, he eventually gave up purchasing.
Then, in the Martial Arts Mall of "Martial Arts City," he bought four portions of beginner meat herbal cuisine.
An hour later, the delivery man arrived.
The meat and herbs were pre-mixed and went straight into the stew pot.
Zhou Leng checked his admission status online again.
Still no news.
Tomorrow is the supplementary exam for Martial Arts University, and afterwards, there will be notices about supplementary admissions to affiliated martial halls.
Zhou Leng sighed lightly.
Teacher Sun Xiong sent a message.
"Principal Lu is embarrassed to face you and has asked me to apologize on his behalf. He didn't expect West Sea Martial Arts to give up on such a promising talent like you. He says this matter is not over! Make sure you attend the commendation ceremony at Eighth Middle School on September 8th! If you don't go, he'll have a hard time finding peace of mind for life."
Zhou Leng replied, "Please tell Principal Lu I will definitely attend. Also, let him know it's no big deal. I've always had a fondness for Ruda, so I'm quite satisfied now."
After the chat, Zhou Leng glanced at the gate.
He could now repay Uncle Li, but given his temperament, he wouldn't accept a penny unless it's a substantial amount.
After some thought, Zhou Leng decided to allocate part of the money for meat herbal cuisine, some for daily use, and save the rest. He aimed to accumulate 100,000 to buy a Replenishing Essence Pill.
For martial artists, consuming three Replenishing Essence Pills is crucial to eliminate hidden bodily ailments.
He still needed two more.
After the meat herbal cuisine was cooked, Zhou Leng dug in heartily.
Genuine magical beast meat is more tender than leftover scraps.
After finishing, Zhou Leng meditated to circulate Qi, stimulating the medicinal power throughout his body.
Beads of sweat emerged, trailing down his body.
After cultivation, Zhou Leng felt the heat in his body, thought for a moment, and headed downstairs.
Standing under the horizontal bar, he looked up at the smooth steel pipe above.
During the Qi Nourishing and Blood Transporting Periods, a martial artist's body strength is limited.
Only by reaching the Body Refining Stage does the body's strength experience a qualitative leap.
Before the Body Refining Stage, many methods tested body strength, with the most renowned being the one-handed pull-up.
The no-Qi one-handed pull-up is quite a challenging move.
In the era of technological civilization, the world record for uninterrupted one-handed pull-ups was 30.
A person with such a physique in the Martial Arts Era would be akin to having the potential of a Grandmaster.
Six months ago, Zhou Leng could do 15 in one go, but couldn't manage the 16th.