Strength Certification

Clang!

As the upper panel of the truck was removed, several protruding fangs came into view.

Bang!

The entire truck bed was opened, revealing a bed full of materials that looked as though they were baring fangs and brandishing claws. There were also many terrifying-looking bones. Neatly stacked pelts reflected ghostly glimmers of various colors beneath the sunlight, and the blood staining them carried a thick, fishy stench.

At a glance, the young staff member's face went pale with shock. He repeatedly exclaimed, "Could these long teeth be the fangs of Long-Tusked Green Ghosts? There are so many! My god!"

"This fur is gleaming with a ghostly sheen, and the texture is fine, like it has a layer of oil on it. This is a Double-tailed Cat Monster, and at this size, it's Warlord-class!"

"And this one..."

At that point, the young staff member hurriedly turned around. After bowing respectfully, he said, "Sir, please wait a moment. There are so many materials, and many of them are Warlord-class. I couldn't finish appraising them in a day by myself. I need to ask a steward to handle this."

"Fine. Go ahead."

"This way, sir."

They returned to the main hall.

"Sir, please wait here for a moment. I'll go request the steward."

"Alright."

Sitting on the sofa in the waiting area, Shu Yi asked in confusion, "There are even Beast Warlord-class materials? Did you kill those too? Didn't your physical fitness only just reach the Warlord standard?"

"Of course!"

Ning Ze reached out and pinched her delicate little nose. "I'm very strong! Once you master a top-tier Secret Manual, your strength will soar!"

"Gale Sword Master? What layer have you cultivated it to?"

"However many layers I bought, I cultivated that many."

"The Fourth Layer?"

"Mm."

Shu Yi complained unhappily, "You're lying to me again! Grandpa said even the First Layer is incredibly, incredibly difficult! How could you possibly reach the Fourth Layer in such a short time?"

"Mm, Grandpa was right," Ning Ze replied lazily.

Feeling that he had brushed her off, Shu Yi grew a little angry. Her mind was in a muddle, and she no longer knew whom to believe.

Neither of them seemed to be lying to her, yet their claims were completely contradictory!

Before long, a somewhat balding middle-aged man walked over. He was the steward here.

After exchanging greetings and briefly introducing themselves, the balding steward led a group of staff members to begin tallying the materials.

They worked for two hours.

The balding steward wiped the sweat from his forehead, then walked over to the rest area in the hall with a broad smile. "Mr. Ning, we've finished calculating the value of your materials."

"Oh? How much are they worth?"

Ning Ze was also curious about the price of this batch of materials. This was his first time selling materials, and also his first time making a large sum of money.

Looking at the tablet in his hand, the bald steward replied, "Your materials came from a total of 1,895 monsters. There were forty-two Beginner Beast General-class monsters. Among them, one Long-Tusked Green Ghost was the most valuable. The martial arts school's listed price is 75 million Huaxia Coin."

Shu Yi's little mouth formed a round O. Her shocked expression was adorable. Seventy-five million Huaxia Coin was practically a hundred million!

She did not really understand how dangerous a Long-Tusked Green Ghost was. After all, any monster included in textbooks was dangerous. At most, there would be a few extra lines of description: naturally social monster, wanders habitually, cruel temperament.

As for just how dangerous it was, anyone who had never entered the Wilderness Area had no concept of it.

Ning Ze thought about it briefly. The price was fairly normal; his own estimate had been 70 million Huaxia Coin.

Under normal circumstances, a Long-Tusked Green Ghost was the leader of a monster pack, commanding at least a thousand underlings. Its team combat ability was extremely strong, and its rarity was comparable to that of an Advanced Beast General.

The price offered by the Limitless Martial Arts School was slightly low. This amount was only two-thirds of what the Underground Alliance would pay, while the remaining third would be converted into martial arts school Contribution Points.

Seeing that Ning Ze had no objection, the bald steward continued, "Among the remaining forty-one Beginner Warlords, the Double-tailed Cat Monster is worth 9 million Huaxia Coin, the Golden Feather Long-haired Hou is worth 12 million Huaxia Coin, the Shadow Cat Monster is worth 8 million Huaxia Coin... Together, these total 417 million. Adding that Long-Tusked Green Ghost, all the Warlord-class monsters come to 492 million."

After saying that, he looked over worriedly. Most martial artist squads departed from the main city district, and they also sold their materials at the Limitless Headquarters there. Only a small number of martial artist squads set out from Yangzhou District.

492 million Huaxia Coin was equivalent to the materials from more than fifty Beginner Beast Generals. Beast General monsters were not easy to hunt. An ordinary Warlord-class martial artist squad would need more than half a year to hunt that many. This was a huge haul!

But the Limitless Martial Arts School was famously low-paying. He was worried Ning Ze would be dissatisfied with the price.

Ning Ze considered it briefly before saying, "Continue."

The bald steward secretly rejoiced. Since Ning Ze had accepted the prices for the Beast General-class monsters, the rest would be much easier to discuss.

"The rest are materials from F-class monsters and a small number of high-value G-class monsters, mostly Long-Tusked Green Ghosts." The bald steward was deeply shaken. Without even needing to be told, he knew a whole pack had been wiped out. "There are 586 Long-Tusked Green Ghosts in total: 375 F-class and 211 G-class. F-class are priced at 50,000, and G-class at 20,000. However, your materials were not collected intact. Only key parts like the tusks and tooth claws were taken, so the price has been reduced slightly. We can only offer eighty percent, which is 18.32 million."

"As for the materials from the remaining 1,267 F-class monsters, their prices are much lower than those of Long-Tusked Green Ghosts. You should know that H-, G-, and F-class monsters can easily be killed with firearms. Even the more valuable ones are only worth around 10,000 each. Their total value is only 9.5 million."

"Altogether, that comes to 519.82 million Huaxia Coin. You'll receive 259,910 Contribution Points. Since your Contribution Points have surpassed 100,000, you can advance to Two Star. What do you think?"

At 10,000 Contribution Points, one became One Star.

At 100,000 Contribution Points, one became Two Star.

At 1 million Contribution Points, one became Three Star.

At 10 million Contribution Points, one became Four Star.

The Limitless Martial Arts School only paid two-thirds of the market price. In other words, 260 million Huaxia Coin had been converted into 259,910 Contribution Points, roughly one point per 1,000 Huaxia Coin.

If donated directly, however, 10,000 Huaxia Coin would only earn one Contribution Point.

Selling monster materials gave Contribution Points at ten times the value of simply using money!

Ning Ze agreed without hesitation. "Fine, but help me apply for a strength certification assessment. Use that Long-Tusked Green Ghost as my combat record."

"This..." The bald steward's expression twisted, and he said awkwardly, "Mr. Ning, certification is possible, but your strength must meet the standard. It isn't based on the goods you sell. Your physical fitness must be tested..." After speaking, he looked over cautiously. According to the records, Ning Ze was only nineteen. Could someone so young really be a Warlord? Those who became martial artists at that age were geniuses!

"No problem! Submit the application," Ning Ze answered directly.

"Huh?" The bald steward was somewhat dumbfounded. "Mr. Ning, this isn't a joke. A Warlord martial artist will personally test you. Deceiving the martial arts school..."

"I am a Warlord. Please submit the application. Thank you."

Ning Ze repeated himself politely, then added, "If possible, please do it as soon as you can."

"Alright!"

The bald steward swallowed hard. "I've already sent the transfer request. Please keep an eye on your bank notifications." With that, he hurried off at a jog.

Ning Ze turned back and immediately smiled.

Shu Yi had her little face raised, her eyes wide open, looking utterly adorable.

Ding.

The communicator chimed twice.

Ning Ze lowered his head to look.

Your Contribution Points have increased to 273,085. Having exceeded 100,000 Contribution Points, your Contribution Points are now Two Star.

Your card ending in 8720 received a deposit of 519.82 million Huaxia Coin from Huaxia Bank at 11:30 on September 1. Balance: 522,803,000. (Huaxia Bank)

Ning Ze smiled faintly. The transfer speed really was fast. Raising his hand, he waved it in front of her. "What are you spacing out for, little money-grubber?"

It was as if little stars were sparkling in Shu Yi's eyes. She cried excitedly, "You're amazing! Is all of this yours? How much will you have after it's divided up? Grandpa said that even those who didn't contribute could receive half a share as team dividends. How much will you get?"

Ding.

The communicator chimed again. Seeing that it was a remittance, Ning Ze opened it directly.

Your card ending in 8720 received a deposit of 1.65 billion Huaxia Coin from Huaxia Bank at 11:31 on September 1. Balance: 2,172,803,000. (Huaxia Bank)

The excitement on Shu Yi's face gradually froze. Looking at that long string of numbers, she became dazed once more. Turning to him blankly, she asked, "Who transferred that money? What does this mean?"

With amusement written all over his lips, Ning Ze said, "Didn't you just say it?"

"Say what?" Shu Yi's eyes were filled with confusion.

With a faint smile on his lips, Ning Ze replied righteously, "Of course, it's dividends!"

"Not... not dividends?" Shu Yi's expression was tangled as she struggled to understand. "Shouldn't you be giving dividends to your teammates? Why are they transferring money to you?"

Ning Ze said seriously, "I did give dividends to my teammates!"

"Then why did they transfer money to you? And..." Shu Yi stared at the long string of numbers on the communicator and secretly swallowed. "And it's 1.6 billion!"

Ning Ze smiled faintly, very satisfied by his little girlfriend's shocked expression. Calmly, he said, "That's because there were more monsters over there. The ones on my side were only the low-level portion."

"You..." Shu Yi bit her lip with a troubled little face, unable to figure it out. The monsters here were all low-level, so the ones over there had to be stronger.

That was true. Stronger monsters were more valuable.

The Warfire Squad was indeed a Warlord squad and could hunt High-level Beast General-class monsters, but how many monsters would it take for Ning Ze to receive that much?

She understood monster prices. Advanced Beast General-class monsters ranged from 50 million to 500 million, with most worth less than 100 million.

Now that 1.6 billion had been divided up, even assuming an equal split based on contribution, the six members of the Warfire Squad had each received 1.6 billion. That meant more than sixteen monsters each, and over a hundred monsters in total!

Ning Ze enjoyed seeing her foolishly struggle to make sense of it. This girl never believed in his strength and always thought he was weak. It felt rather strange.

It seemed his father had been the same before. But after they had fought, Ning Hua believed him now.

Even his mother believed him. Only this girl still thought he was bragging.

Ding... ding...

"Stop looking. The digits are right. The bank isn't going to steal two billion from me. Let me take this call first."

Seeing that Zuo Xingyuan was calling, Ning Ze moved the little head leaning against his arm aside and accepted the call.

"Kid! Did the money arrive?" Zuo Xingyuan's voice boomed from the other end, and he sounded thoroughly refreshed.

Ning Ze nodded. "I received 1.65 billion. Uncle Zuo, I sold mine for 519 million. About 260 million should have been converted into Contribution Points, so the total value was 778 million. Everyone should have lost 100 million because of me. Did you deduct that?"

"Lost my ass!" Zuo Xingyuan cursed with his eyes wide. "We transferred 1.65 billion to you. Do you know how much everything sold for?"

"That Long-Tusked Green Ghost alone sold for 300 million. Fifteen Advanced Beast Generals sold for 1.125 billion, and twenty-seven Intermediate Beast Generals sold for 1.08 billion! You took seventy-seven percent of the Advanced Beast Generals, sixty-five percent of the Intermediate Beast Generals, and eighty percent of the Long-Tusked Green Ghost. Twenty-five billion in total. We gave you 1.65 billion, and we still made 850 million."

"Damn it, I personally made 200 million this time. Even Old Yang, that bullet-burning spendthrift, made a net profit of 100 million. Over more than a decade, they only saved up 600 million. This haul equals two years of earnings for us. We're not short on money!"

"You should've seen the scene when we went to sell the materials. Those guys were so stunned their eyes went blank! Hahaha..."

Zuo Xingyuan vividly described the scene, while Ning Ze tried to suppress his smile.

Shu Yi secretly leaned her little head against Ning Ze's shoulder as well. Seeing Zuo Xingyuan's comical expression, she covered her mouth and giggled.

After talking at length, Zuo Xingyuan finally noticed the figure on the screen.

"Eh!"

He wore an ambiguous smile, scrunching up his nose and narrowing his eyes until his face looked like a pumpkin.

"You two youngsters are together? Then I won't disturb you. We're getting ready to drink at Old Xu's place. Your aunt's cooking is ridiculously good! You even went there a few times when you were little."

"Alright, Uncle Zuo. I won't be going this time. I'm planning to take Xiao Guai home. I also have something I need to discuss with my dad," Ning Ze said regretfully.

"Going home?"

"Good kid, I completely forgot!"

Zuo Xingyuan suddenly looked enlightened. He hurriedly said, "You young couple go have a look around outside first. Let me call Boss Ning."

Ning Ze smiled broadly. Uncle Zuo was clearly preparing to show off to his father.

"We do need to wait a bit. I still have to undergo the strength certification. The person just left, so they should be here soon."

"Alright, that's it. Hanging up."

The call ended.

Ning Ze lowered his arm. In the blink of an eye, Shu Yi had lowered her little head in thought, seemingly wondering about something.

"What are you thinking about?"

Shu Yi shook her head. Ning Ze wanted to ask again, but a shout came from the distance.

"Mr. Ning, the assessment personnel will be here shortly. Shall we begin your strength certification now?"

Ning Ze raised his head and answered, "Alright." He turned back to Shu Yi. "Come on, accompany me for the strength certification first."

Following the bald steward, they arrived at a training hall. No one was training here. There were only several testing machines, so it was likely specifically used for strength certifications.

A tall middle-aged man in formal attire stood beside the Punching Power Testing Machine. Seeing them enter, he frowned and asked, "You're the one applying for strength certification? And you want to use a Long-Tusked Green Ghost as your combat record?" His gaze made it clear that he did not believe it.

Ning Ze thought briefly and recognized the man. "That's right, Uncle Zhuang. I'm the one undergoing the strength certification."

The middle-aged man was stunned. He knew him?

"You are?"

"My father's nickname is Gilded Blade. I met you at the martial arts school two years ago."

The middle-aged man immediately understood. His face brightened with delight, and he laughed. "So it's you! Ning Ze, right? Everyone said you were exceptionally talented. I didn't expect you to become a Warlord so quickly. Come, give it a try."

Ning Ze lightly patted Shu Yi's hand, signaling for her to let go. He walked over to the Punching Power Testing Machine and threw a punch without hesitation.

Bang!

The punching target shook violently.

The Punching Power Testing Machine displayed—8150 kg.

Uncle Zhuang teased, "Kid, are you trying to fool me just because you call me Uncle? Strength like that can't kill a Long-Tusked Green Ghost."

Ning Ze smiled and nodded. His body moved, and he threw another fierce punch at the target.

Bang!

The Punching Power Testing Machine displayed—17107 kg.

Uncle Zhuang's pupils abruptly contracted, and he cried out, "Good kid! That Force Generation is more than double! Your strength isn't far from that of an Intermediate Warlord. You've mastered the Second Layer of Gale Sword Master!"

Ning Ze smiled faintly. "I gained some insight during this trip to the Wilderness Area. I was fortunate enough to comprehend the Second Layer."

"Amazing!"

"Amazing!"

"Old Ning has really struck it rich!"

"Come, continue with the tests!"

The final test results were as follows.

Speed—185 m/s. Intermediate Warlord standard.

Neural reaction speed—full marks for Intermediate Warlord, excellent for Advanced Warlord.