Water Continent Demon City

Water Continent Demon City

Zhou Leng looked at Feng Wenhao and said slowly, "I've sparred with Feng Wenhao before. He's decent in every aspect, with no obvious weaknesses, but none of his foundations are solid enough. And his mentality isn't strong enough... How should I put it? It isn't hard enough. It's actually quite normal. After all, he hasn't been through enough tempering. I was about the same half a year ago."

Li Linhan nodded. "That's right. That's why I've always said you have the potential to become a master. Your attacks are swift and fierce, charging forward without hesitation. But he worries about this and that, afraid of losing face and afraid that his experience is lacking. He thinks too much. As for his fundamentals, there's no need to mention them. His defense from here on will be even more difficult."

Feng Wenhao attacked with thirty moves, while Guo Xiaohao merely took a single step back.

"My turn."

Guo Xiaohao reached out with one hand and seized Feng Wenhao's wrist with a Seizing Hand. With a shake and a fling, Feng Wenhao lost his balance and staggered backward at an angle.

Guo Xiaohao stepped forward and casually slapped Feng Wenhao's shoulder. Feng Wenhao had not yet managed to halt his momentum, and he stumbled backward again.

Guo Xiaohao took one step and used one move at a time. He no longer even used true qi, relying only on simple techniques such as pushing, slapping, shaking, and flinging. Feng Wenhao could not block a single move.

After seven moves, Guo Xiaohao withdrew his hand, shook his head lightly, and walked behind Xue Tongming without saying a word.

Feng Wenhao looked as though he were drunk. His steps were unsteady, and with a flushed face, he clasped his fist toward Xue Tongming. "I'm sorry. I made a fool of myself in front of you."

"Tell me about your strengths and weaknesses," Xue Tongming said.

Feng Wenhao thought for a moment. "My fundamentals are lacking. Compared to Zhou Leng, I only now realize how enormous the gap really is. He didn't use any flashy feints or variations. Every move was straightforward, balancing attack and defense, meeting force with force. It looked ordinary, but Senior Guo Xiaohao still wasn't able to deal with him that easily. My mentality isn't good either. Once my attacks and defenses fail to take effect, I panic. Finally..."

Feng Wenhao listed many of his shortcomings. In the end, he said, "But I have one strength as well. Like Zhou Leng, I refuse to admit defeat. I think that if I cultivate slowly, I can become as formidable as Senior Guo."

Xue Tongming laughed heartily. "Good. Someone who calmly accepts his shortcomings yet refuses to admit defeat is a fine seedling. The two of you can stay."

"Thank you, Uncle Xue." Zhou Leng and Feng Wenhao thanked him together.

"Come on. Let's go over there and sign the contract. But... your name is Feng Wenhao, right?"

"Yes." Feng Wenhao nodded.

"Your remuneration will be somewhat lower."

"You can decide." Feng Wenhao knew he had no right to argue. What he valued was the two bodyguards.

The two signed the contracts and left under Li Linhan's leadership.

Xue Tongming watched the car carrying the three of them drive away. "Xiao Guo, what do you think of that Zhou Leng?"

Guo Xiaohao recalled the battle and slowly analyzed it.

"He's far stronger than I was back then. Whether he gained a blessing in disguise or for some other reason, he has a chance of reaching the Innate Realm. It's hard to describe that feeling. When you saw those two kids come in, they were both somewhat restrained. They were obviously children from ordinary families who hadn't seen much of the world. They couldn't compare with your nieces and nephews."

"But once the fight began, that kid wasn't afraid of me at all. His attacks were fierce and direct. More importantly, his fundamentals were far too solid. It wasn't that I didn't want to defend; it was that with only my one-handed internal cultivation at the perfected level, I couldn't block him. I could only retreat step by step."

"He gave me a feeling somewhat like a master who had just begun to develop Martial Will. There are many people with good fundamentals, and many with abundant true qi, but there are far too few young people with the shadow of Martial Will in them."

Xue Tongming nodded. "That Zhou Leng may still be inferior to the top students from those four elite middle-school classes, but after going into a Demon City a few times, he'll inevitably surpass them. Have Xiao Song spend more time with him. He'll be better company than those friends of his who know nothing but eating and drinking."

After leaving Pioneer Company, Zhou Leng went to the Martial Arts Mall and exchanged for one Essence Replenishing Pill and four Qi Nourishing Pills.

He browsed the Martial Arts Mall for another ten-odd minutes, bought nothing, and left.

Zhou Leng took the pills and Big Yellow and headed straight for the Frost Giant Tree.

Sitting cross-legged beneath the tree, Zhou Leng slowly opened the medicine box containing the Essence Replenishing Pill.

A rich medicinal fragrance poured out.

He had eaten one before, to treat his illness.

The Essence Replenishing Pill was one of the most important pills for martial cultivators.

At the end of the human technological civilization, people had suffered all kinds of pollution and poisoning. Then demons had run rampant, leaving behind countless injuries and illnesses. As a result, babies born later were generally weak.

"Fragile young people" had become a popular internet joke passed down from generation to generation.

Even after entering Martial Path Civilization, young people still couldn't make up for their physical deficiencies by cultivating true qi from childhood.

Related pills had emerged in response.

Compared with the Body Replenishing Pill, which was worth a million yuan, the Essence Replenishing Pill, priced at one hundred thousand per pill, was already the cheapest among this series of pills.

Studies had shown that as long as a person ate three Essence Replenishing Pills, they could basically eliminate ordinary physical damage and become truly healthy.

The previous Essence Replenishing Pill had been used for treatment. For Zhou Leng, this one was equivalent to the first.

"Strive to replenish all three pills as soon as possible and recover my health."

Zhou Leng swallowed the Essence Replenishing Pill in one gulp and activated the Mysterious Tide Art.

Under the guidance of the Mysterious Tide Art, the power of the Essence Replenishing Pill slowly spread throughout his body.

Streams of heat flowed through him, merging into his body and repairing the damage.

After a long while, Zhou Leng opened his eyes, picked up a roll of paper he had prepared, and headed straight for the forest.

Big Yellow hurried after him.

After a burst of booming artillery and machine-gun fire, everything returned to silence.

Zhou Leng covered it with tree leaves and said to Big Yellow, "Remember this place. Don't dig around and eat things at random."

Big Yellow crooked its mouth and cast Zhou Leng a sidelong glance.

As Zhou Leng walked, he worked his joints.

An indescribable comfort spread throughout his body. It was just like having slept more soundly than ever before, or like spending an entire day relaxing at a favorite beach or in a forest.

From body to soul, he felt clear and refreshed.

Zhou Leng stood beside the Frost Giant Tree and began practicing the Wave Palm.

At first, nothing seemed different. He struck it out again and again.

Slowly, Zhou Leng discovered errors in his palm technique that he had been unable to feel before.

His shoulders rose too high, he withdrew his strength too quickly, his arms drifted upward, his true qi was too strong, his body was too rigid, and his moves deviated from their proper paths...

Zhou Leng corrected them one by one, growing smoother with every strike.

It was as though he had been given a new body.

It fit him as perfectly as a tailor-made garment, without the slightest discrepancy.

After finishing his External Techniques, Zhou Leng began cultivating the Mysterious Tide Art.

His true qi circulated a little faster.

Its flow had become more concentrated, whereas before it had been too loose.

Zhou Leng swallowed a Qi Nourishing Pill and continued cultivating...

Ru City bordered the northern bank of the Yangtze River.

Across the Yangtze River, the vast region near Taihu Lake had overlapped with several worlds, including the Demon Prison World, forming a Water Continent Demon City.

To prevent demonic beasts from spreading, Dragon Country had built the Shuizhou Pioneer Base in the areas of Water Continent Demon City where the spatial barriers were fragile.

The Seventh Division of the Sea Suppressing Army was stationed there.

The Pioneer Base was like a small county town, complete in every aspect.

Soldiers, pioneers, laborers, and students engaged in research came and went.

Green military vehicles drove along the main road in front of the entrance to Pioneer Hall. A team of seven slowly descended the steps of Pioneer Hall.

Two women and five men.

At the front, a fair-faced young man wore camouflage fatigues and carried a large black backpack.

The boy wore a lazy smile as he listlessly surveyed Shuizhou Base.

Zhou Leng, Feng Wenhao, and the other five all wore camouflage fatigues and carried black backpacks, standing behind the lazy-looking youth.

A dozen or so meters away from the seven, two adult men wore the same outfits. The difference was that one carried a bow and the other a crossbow.

Blue patterns of light clung to the surfaces of the two bows.

Demonic Weapons.

"Captain, should we make preparations, or go straight into the Demon City?" Feng Wenhao looked at the lazy youth.

The lazy youth was the captain of this Martial Arts Research Team, Xue Chengsong, Xue Tongming's only son.

According to the signed contract, the six of them had to do their utmost to protect Xue Chengsong's safety and obey his orders.

"Put on your Battle Merit Tokens first. When I entered a Demon City for the first time, the pioneer captain told me that these were the most important things." Xue Chengsong turned toward the others.

"Some of you are entering a Demon City for the first time, so I'll explain a few things..." Xue Chengsong raised his Battle Merit Token.

It was about the size of a pair of eyeglasses, a silver regular octagon covered in dense blue patterns.

"Put it in the inner pocket on the chest of your camouflage uniform. If an enemy attacks your heart, this thing might save your life. Of course, its main function is to detect the aura of demonic beasts' deaths and calculate your battle merit."

Zhou Leng and the others followed his instructions one after another.

"We didn't feel it deeply at school. But once you set out on the Martial Path, whether you attend a martial university, enter a martial arts academy, become a pioneer, or take any path in the military or police, battle merit will be the most important thing of all. There is no equal. Remember, no equal."

"I once personally saw an elder who was clearly on the verge of death and wouldn't survive three days. But after exchanging his battle merit for a pill, not only did he become full of vitality, his strength also advanced."

"I've also seen a Big Shot who normally possessed tremendous authority and didn't even take my father seriously exhaust all his battle merit to save his child, then come to my father and beg to borrow battle merit to exchange for a pill. On Blue Star, as long as you have enough battle merit, you can even wrestle with a Martial Clan—or rather, you become a Martial Clan yourself!"

The six team members listened carefully.

Then Xue Chengsong gave a self-mocking smile. "Unfortunately, my talent is truly poor, and I don't work hard either, so this is as far as I've gotten... But if I can't get into West Sea Martial University through supplementary admission, things will be even worse for me. So..."

Xue Chengsong swept his gaze over everyone. "As long as all of you work together to help me, I'll give each of you ten thousand as a token of gratitude after I enter West Sea Martial University. I'll cover four years of tuition for whoever helps me the most. At the same time, when you graduate and look for a way forward, I can help introduce you to opportunities."

Everyone's hearts began to race.

With this money, they would no longer need to care about other people's expressions, and could cultivate peacefully for the next four years.

The Xue Family's connections also far exceeded those of ordinary families.

Zhou Leng secretly observed everyone. Every one of them was tempted, including Feng Wenhao, who had originally come only to pad his Martial Arts Research credentials.

He was no different.

That was four years of tuition.

"But... everything rests on all of you working together to complete this Martial Arts Research trip. So I hope that no matter what selfish motives or ideas you have, you'll wait until the research trip is over before acting on them. But the Demon City is dangerous, and human hearts are even more treacherous."

Xue Chengsong revealed a faint smile. "I'm actually a softhearted person. After all, I haven't experienced any great storms. But my father is the most ruthless person I've ever seen. If any of you do something you shouldn't, he'll do something even worse. Besides, the contract makes it perfectly clear: if I die, you won't receive a single cent."

The six people fell silent, seemingly cowed by Xue Chengsong's words.