Just now when I was sensing, I wasn't sure if it was an illusion, but I felt like something indescribable appeared deep in my mind.
It felt a bit like the legendary embryonic form of Martial Arts Will, but it was hard to confirm.
Because generally speaking, it takes at least the Innate Realm to condense Martial Arts Will.
Only a few geniuses can produce Martial Arts Will in the Qi Blood Realm.
Even though what I produced was just an embryonic form of Martial Arts Will, it still felt a bit too early.
A genius like Zhang Xinglie would probably need at least a few more months of refinement.
Zhou Leng closed the Martial Arts Diary, opened his friends list, thought for a moment, and imported friends into Martial Faith.
Soon, a few friends appeared in the Martial Arts City's friends list, mostly teachers and classmates, with a few classmates' parents.
Zhou Leng saw Xu Qingjin among them and remembered his phone was broken and hadn't checked Martial Faith, so he started reading the messages.
Sure enough, there were many messages.
He opened Xu Qingjin's message first.
"Level five alert, I'm back, how are you?"
The other party canceled the voice call...
The other party canceled the voice call...
"Zhou Leng, return to the base, don't forget to reply."
Zhou Leng replied: "Already back at the base, phone was damaged in combat, just got a new one. How about you? Are you planning to stay at the base or go home to cultivate?"
Zhou Leng then proceeded to reply to others.
Hu Yi's message only had two things: complaining about the deputy leader of the slaughter department, Jiang Yan, and asking Zhou Leng to take more photos or videos of the Demon City.
Zhou Leng was busy, so he quickly replied with a few ellipses and continued to respond to others.
After a while, Xu Qingjin replied.
"That's great! We discussed it and, since we've done multiple martial studies before and the results are good enough, we're going back this time. How about you?"
"We'll wait and see. If the Demon retreats or is eliminated, we'll give it a try. After all, the captain and I both need to participate in additional practice, and we want to be more stable through more experience."
"Be extra careful!" She added a cheerleading girl jumping and cheering emoji behind.
"Okay!"
"Have you reported your safety to your family?" Xue Chengsong asked.
All team members nodded.
Xue Chengsong said: "The war merits statistics usually have a delay of one to three days, sometimes requiring further investigation and verification, no need to rush. We'll stay for three days first, see the situation, and then decide. Let's go."
"Where to?" Feng Wenhao asked.
"We can't waste these few days. I'll reserve a Martial Arts Dojo, the six of us will train and spar. In the afternoon, my dad will send two Body Technique phase bodyguards to join us for real combat practice and guidance."
Everyone's eyes lit up. Inviting small masters from the Blood Transporting Period as sparring partners wouldn't cost less than five hundred per hour.
"Alright!"
The team's morale surged.
After a few steps, everyone's attention was drawn to a group ahead.
They were dressed in black robes with blue patterns, each with a different colored light orb floating on their shoulders, faint flames flickering on the surface.
"Demon Spirit Masters," Feng Wenhao whispered.
"They all seem young, probably out here for experience like us."
"Mages do have an aura of superiority, and at the same level, Demon Spirit Techniques are just more powerful than ours."
"They are strong, but Demon Spirit Techniques particularly drain magic energy. At their age, they can cast spells at most ten times in one battle."
Zhou Leng also looked at the dozen or so young Demon Spirit Masters, and finally, his gaze fell on an inconspicuous black-haired boy in the group.
The light of the Demon Spirit on that boy's shoulder felt stronger than the others.
The Demon Spirit Master also looked over, his eyes light blue.
Their eyes briefly met.
Zhou Leng scanned the others; humans from the Demon Spirit World and the Blue Star People looked almost identical, with appearances more akin to people from the Mediterranean, skin tone, and hair color closer to Eastern people.
Demon Spirit Masters cooperated the closest with the Dragon Country, and Dragon Country's demonized items occupied over 85% of Blue Star's share.
In the market share of medium to low-end demonized items, Dragon Country's output even surpassed the entire Demon Spirit World.
In high-end demonized items, it also exceeded any single Demon Spirit Country.
"What are you looking at? Never seen tall people before?" A voice came out as if from a water tank, muffled yet exceptionally loud.
Zhou Leng looked over at the source of the voice.
It was an extremely tall man, at least two and a half meters in height, with grayish-brown hair styled into long braids, and a beard on his chin like a tangled ball of yarn.
This person wasn't just tall, but also incredibly strong, standing there like a wall.
Zhou Leng felt odd inside; this brawny man, who looked to be in his thirties or forties, had skin as tender as a child's and unusually clear eyes not typical of adults.
"It's Mountain and River Origin, wow, it's my first time seeing him in person; I've only seen him on video before," Cui Mingcong said.
"So that's Mountain and River Origin, huh? Even more robust than imagined; no wonder he's a Giant hybrid," Feng Wenhao praised.
Upon hearing it was Mountain and River Origin, Zhou Leng felt at ease.
Mountain and River Origin was quite famous in Rucheng, also a senior high school candidate this year.
It's said that his mother was captured by giants and gave birth to him after being rescued. He is one of the rare half-bloods of the Giant Race and Human Race on Blue Star.
"Mountains and Rivers" was his giant father's surname, originally his name.
Zhou Leng said, "He's the one who said the 'power measurement' for physical strength isn't fair, right."
"Yeah. Others score 100 on the power measurement and can only achieve 100. He scores 100 because the measurement cap is 100. It's said his actual punching power is more than three times that of the second-ranked Zhang Xinglie. Zhang Xinglie relies on speed and reaction to barely overcome him."
"The unluckiest thing for him is the martial exams, his True Qi control is ridiculously low, seems to be only in the thirties, but his True Qi total and intensity are a full score of 100, incredibly strong, even Wu Sanyi and Zhang Xinglie can't compare."
"He should have been particularly recruited to Yunhua or Jinjing, right?"
"He's not going. He doesn't care for Yunhua or Jinjing at all, staying in Rucheng, and heading to the Giant World directly through Shuizhou Demon City. The benefits he receives there far surpass those at Yunhua Jinjing. If nothing unexpected happens, he should enter West Sea Martial Arts Academy. The teachers there must be dreaming of waking up smiling from finding such a treasure."
"That's a bit of a shame."
"No shame, actually a lot of people who can strive to enter Yunhua or Jinjing give up on them, choosing to stay local and follow the local Demon City Army or Martial Guard Bureau route. They may not compare with future top hundred experts nationwide, but it's enough to gain ample resources locally. Don't forget, not everyone can thrive at Yunhua or Jinjing."
"Every year, there are quite a few people who pass the score line for Yunhua or Jinjing, choosing military schools or the Top Ten Martial Arts."
"My mom's colleague's son also got into Yunhua, but couldn't keep up with those genius freaks and returned to West Sea University as an ordinary genius."
"An ordinary genius, huh... I wish I could be one."
"People like Mountain and River Origin are destined to become legends. If he truly advances to Innate, even Martial Saints would vie for him. A giant that knows True Qi and martial arts, tsk tsk, just thinking about it blows my mind. Let's go, our paths are destined not to cross."
Xue Chengsong rented the Martial Arts Dojo for three days in the training hall, and the six began training.
After finishing Inner Power training, the six took turns fighting.
Before long, the six were left bruised and battered, each injured.
Everyone applied external injury medicine provided by Xue Chengsong while exchanging insights.
"No, Zhou Leng, you're too slippery, why are you the least injured?"
Feng Wenhao said, "You don't understand, this is called 'Tide Up and Tide Down, True Intent of the Great Tide,' being able to bend and stretch is what makes a real man."
"Zhou Leng does have a knack for coordinating True Qi, body technique, and offense-defense, his stance is particularly stable. How do you manage it?"
Zhou Leng said, "Nothing special, just persistent practice. I asked others about it too, including Uncle Li and Zhang Xinglie, and it's just about the hard practice. The more you practice, the more stable you naturally get."
"I feel it's likely a combat awareness issue. Zhou Leng's True Qi, moves, and power are fine, not much different from ours, but his handling of details is particularly precise. The teacher said this comes down to combat awareness, which takes a long time to hone."
Xue Chengsong said thoughtfully, "I've heard martial artists say that some people do have stronger combat awareness. Especially those who went through hardships in their childhood, they've developed a habit of constantly sensing danger, so once they fight, they enter combat readiness more easily than ordinary people."
"Could be. Let's go again!"
At three in the afternoon, two Blood Transport Martial Artists from Xueji Exploration Branch came, starting rotation practice fights with the six.
Even holding back, the six were still beaten and screaming with minor injuries all over.
After dinner, another round of fighting took place, and Feng Wenhao was the first to give in, claiming he needed rest.
Others gradually admitted reaching their limits, sitting on the ground using ice packs on their injuries.
Covered in bruises, Zhou Leng tossed his ice bag aside, got up, and looked at the two Blood Transport Martial Artists, saying, "Again."
The other five simultaneously rolled their eyes.
Zhou Leng didn't stop until his True Qi was exhausted, his eyes swelling to resemble purplish buns.
Then, he went to the hospital at the Pioneer Base for bloodletting treatment.
Early the next morning, the six gathered at the rented Martial Arts Dojo.
"Huh? Are you even human?" Cui Mingcong stared at Zhou Leng.
Cao Jiajia also walked over and touched Zhou Leng's upper arm, saying, "How did you recover so quickly?"
Feng Wenhao looked puzzled too, "Since when was your body this strong?"
"I took a Replenishing Essence Pill a few days ago," Zhou Leng said.
"Already taken three? The medicine effects must be working, not bad. By the way, when will you guys take the 'Perfection Pill'?"
Feng Wenhao said snappily, "Do you think everyone can afford Perfection Pills like you? Anything with 'Pill' in its name starts at fifty thousand, Perfection Pills are over a hundred thousand, it'll take me years after graduation to save up enough."
Zhou Leng shook his head, saying, "No plans."
Cao Jiajia said, "I'll take it when I get home, aiming for good scores in the start and monthly exams at Rucheng Martial Arts Academy. My talent for Innate has maxed out, I don't care about this."
"I can't afford it," Cui Mingcong said.
"Without taking Perfection Pills, you'll have a tough time in the first semester of freshman year. Let's go for a warm-up run first."
The six headed out for a run together.
Zhou Leng thought about the Perfection Pill while running.
Perfection Pills are commonly referred to, the scientific name is "Essence Qi Pill," a medium-grade medicine worth millions, typically consumed only by Innate Masters.
After taking it, the effects directly reach the Dantian, increasing Inner Qi, helping those who have achieved Great Success of Qi Nourishing quickly advance to the Perfection Period.
Without the help of an Innate Master, randomly consuming Essence Qi Pill could lead to falling into demonization, so before the college entrance exam, it's listed as "Forbidden Medicine," not allowed for use.
Many excessively potent pills are listed as forbidden during the exams by the Martial Mansion, to ensure fairness and prevent rushing growth.
However, in reality, the true top clans have means to use other extremely valuable pills to erase traces of banned medicines use, allowing their offspring's True Qi to grow rapidly and obtain high scores in martial exams.
Using medium-grade pills too early is harmful to most people because eliminating the negative effects of pills requires extremely high costs.
"I don't need to take the Perfection Pill..."
Zhou Leng easily resisted the temptation.
Mainly couldn't afford it.