Perfection Pill

Perfection Pill

When he had sensed it just now, he did not know whether it had been an illusion, but he had felt as if something indescribable had appeared deep within his mind.

It was somewhat like the embryonic form of the legendary Martial Will, yet he could not be sure.

Generally speaking, one had to reach the Innate Realm before condensing Martial Will.

Only a handful of geniuses could develop Martial Will in the Qi and Blood Realm.

Although what he had developed was only the embryonic form of Martial Will, it was still far too early.

Even a genius like Zhang Xinglie would probably need several more months of tempering.

Zhou Leng closed his Martial Path Diary, opened his contacts, thought for a moment, and imported his Martial Faith friends.

Very soon, the few friends he had appeared in his Martial City contacts, mostly teachers and classmates, along with the parents of a few classmates.

Zhou Leng saw that Xu Qingjin was among them. Remembering that his phone had broken and he had yet to check Martial Faith, he flipped through the messages.

As expected, there were many messages.

He opened Xu Qingjin's 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, once you're back at the base, don't forget to reply."

Zhou Leng replied, "I'm already back at the base. My phone was damaged in battle, and I just replaced it. How are you? Are you planning to stay at the base or go home to cultivate?"

Zhou Leng then replied to the others one after another.

Hu Yi's messages contained only two things: complaints about Jiang Yan, the deputy supervisor of the slaughterhouse workshop, and a request for Zhou Leng to take more photos or videos of Demon City and send them over.

Zhou Leng was busy, so he only replied with an ellipsis before continuing to answer the others.

Before long, Xu Qingjin replied.

"That's great! We discussed it, and since we've already done plenty of Martial Arts Research and our grades are good enough, we're heading back this time. What about you?"

"We'll wait and see. If the demons withdraw or are wiped out, we'll give it another try. After all, the captain and I both need to take the supplemental admission exam. The more experience we gain, the steadier things will be."

"Be extra careful!" A sticker of cheerleader girls hopping around and shouting encouragement followed the message.

"Okay!"

"Have you reported that you're safe to your families?" Xue Chengsong asked.

The team members nodded.

Xue Chengsong said, "Battle merit statistics generally take one to three days to come in. Sometimes they also need investigation and verification, so there's no need to rush. We'll stay for three days first and see how things go. Let's move."

"Where are we going?" Feng Wenhao asked.

"We can't waste these few days. I'll rent out a martial arts arena, and the six of us can cultivate and spar. This afternoon, my dad will send over two more Blood Circulation Stage bodyguards. They can also accompany us in real combat practice and give us pointers."

Everyone's eyes lit up. Hiring a small-time Blood Circulation Stage expert as a sparring partner would cost no less than five hundred an hour.

"Okay!"

The team's morale soared at once.

After walking a few steps, everyone's attention was drawn to a group ahead of them.

Those people wore black robes patterned with blue lines. Floating above every one of their shoulders was a fist-sized orb of light in a different color, its surface giving off faint luminous flames.

"Spirit Masters," Feng Wenhao said quietly.

"They all look pretty young. They're probably out gaining experience, just like us."

"Mages really do have style. At the same realm as us, the power of their Demon Spirit Techniques is simply stronger."

"They're strong, but Demon Spirit Techniques consume a lot of demonic energy. At their age, they can cast at most ten spells in one battle."

Zhou Leng also looked toward the dozen or so young Spirit Masters, his gaze finally landing on an inconspicuous black-curled youth within their group.

The Demon Spirit Light above that youth's shoulder felt stronger than those of everyone else.

That Spirit Master looked over as well, his eyes pale blue.

Their gazes slipped past each other.

Zhou Leng swept his eyes across the others. The humans of the Demon Spirit World were nearly identical to Blue Star humans, their features closer to those of the Mediterranean Sea region, while their skin and hair colors were closer to Easterners'.

The Spirit Masters cooperated most closely with Dragon Country. Dragon Country's output of demonized items accounted for more than 85% of the entire Blue Star market.

In the market for low- and mid-tier demonized items, Dragon Country's output even surpassed that of the entire Demon Spirit World.

Even in high-end demonized items, it surpassed any individual Demon Spirit nation.

"What are you looking at? Never seen a tall guy before?" A voice seemed to emerge from inside a water vat, muffled and booming, yet exceptionally loud.

Zhou Leng followed the sound and looked over.

It was an extraordinarily tall burly man, at least two and a half meters tall. His grayish-brown hair was braided into a long plait, and the beard covering his chin looked like a tangled ball of yarn.

Not only was the man tall, he was immensely broad as well, standing there like a wall.

Zhou Leng felt something strange. This burly man, who looked thirty or forty, had skin as tender as a child's, and his eyes were far too clear for an adult's.

"Shan Heyuan. Tsk, tsk. This is my first time seeing the real person too. I'd only seen him in videos before," Cui Mingcong said.

"So he's Shan Heyuan. He's even more built than I imagined. As expected of a Giant Race hybrid," Feng Wenhao said in admiration.

Once Zhou Leng heard that it was Shan Heyuan, he understood.

Shan Heyuan was somewhat famous in Ru City and was also a senior high school examinee in this year's cohort.

Legend had it that his mother had been captured by Giants. After she was rescued, she gave birth to him. He was one of Blue Star's rare Giant Race and Human Race hybrids.

"Shanhe" was his Giant father's surname, while "Yuan" had originally been his given name.

Zhou Leng said, "He's the one who said the strength test was unfair, right?"

"Yeah. Other people score one hundred points on the strength test because they can only score one hundred. He scores one hundred because the test's upper limit is only one hundred. They say his actual punching force is more than three times that of Zhang Xinglie, who came in second. Zhang Xinglie could only suppress him by relying on speed, reaction time, and other categories."

"The unluckiest part for him was the Martial Arts Examination. His True Qi Control was abysmally low, only a little over thirty points, it seemed. But his Total True Qi and True Qi Intensity were both perfect scores of one hundred—terrifyingly strong. Even Wu Sanyi and Zhang Xinglie couldn't compare."

"He should have gotten special admission to Cloud Splendor or Golden Capital, right?"

"He isn't going. He doesn't care about Cloud Splendor or Golden Capital at all. He's staying in Ru City and going directly through Water Continent Demon City to Giant World. The benefits he can get there far surpass Yunhua-Jingjing. Unless something unexpected happens, he should enter West Sea Martial University. Those teachers at West Sea Martial University must be laughing in their dreams after picking up such a treasure."

"That's a bit of a pity."

"Not really. Quite a few people who could get into Cloud Splendor or Golden Capital if they worked hard give up on them, choose to stay local, and then take the local Demon City Army or Martial Guard Bureau route. They can't compare with the future top hundred experts in the country, but they can still obtain ample resources locally. Don't forget, not everyone can thrive at Cloud Splendor or Golden Capital."

"Every year, plenty of people clear the cutoff for Cloud Splendor or Golden Capital but choose military academies or the Top Ten Martial Arts Universities instead."

"My mom's coworker's son got into Cloud Splendor too, but he couldn't keep up with those freakish geniuses' cultivation progress. He obediently went back to West Sea University and became an ordinary genius."

"Ordinary genius, my ass... I want to be one too."

"Someone like Shan Heyuan is destined to become a legend. If he truly promotes to Xiantian, even Martial Saints will fight to claim him. A Giant who can use True Qi and martial arts—tsk, tsk, just thinking about it is insanely awesome. Let's go. We're destined never to cross paths with him."

Xue Chengsong rented a martial arts arena in the cultivation hall for three days, and the six began cultivating.

After cultivating their internal arts, the six took turns sparring.

Before long, all six were bruised and battered, each one injured.

As they applied the medicine for external injuries provided by Xue Chengsong, they exchanged insights.

"No, Zhou Leng, you're way too slippery. How come you're the one with the fewest injuries?"

Feng Wenhao said, "What do you know? This is called 'tides rise and fall, Great Tide True Meaning.' One must be able to bend and stretch to be a true man."

"Zhou Leng really has something going for him in coordinating his True Qi, footwork, offense, and defense. His stance is especially stable. How does he do it?"

Zhou Leng said, "There's no special technique. It's just hard training. I asked others about this too, including Uncle Li and Zhang Xinglie. It's just hard training. Practice enough, and you naturally become stable."

"I think it's probably a matter of Combat Awareness. Zhou Leng's True Qi, moves, and power are good, but they aren't that different from ours. Yet his handling of certain details is especially precise. The teacher said that this is Combat Awareness, and it takes a long time to temper."

Xue Chengsong fell into thought and said, "I've heard some martial artists say the same. Some people really do have stronger Combat Awareness. Especially those who experienced hardship when they were young—they develop the habit of sensing danger at all times. Once battle begins, they can enter a combat state more easily than ordinary people."

"Could be. Again!"

At three in the afternoon, two Blood Circulation Stage martial artists from the Xue Ji Pioneering Branch Company arrived and began taking turns serving as real-combat sparring partners for the six.

Even though the two held back, the six were still beaten until they wailed repeatedly, covered in minor injuries.

After dinner, they fought another round. Feng Wenhao was the first to be unable to endure any longer and said he needed rest.

The others also gradually said they had reached their limits, sitting on the ground and using ice packs on their wounds.

Zhou Leng, covered in bruises, tossed aside his ice pack, stood up, and looked at the two Blood Circulation Stage martial artists. "Again."

The other five all rolled their eyes.

Only when his True Qi was exhausted and his eyes had swollen into purple buns did Zhou Leng finally stop.

Then he went to the Pioneer Base hospital for bloodletting treatment.

Early the next morning, the six gathered at the martial arts arena they had rented.

"Huh? Are you still human?" Cui Mingcong stared at Zhou Leng.

Cao Jiajia also walked over, reached out to touch Zhou Leng's upper arm, and said, "How did you recover so quickly?"

Feng Wenhao also looked baffled. "Since when has your body become this strong?"

"I took an Essence Replenishing Pill a few days ago," Zhou Leng said.

"You've already taken all three? The medicinal effect must be kicking in. Not bad. By the way, when are you all taking the 'Perfection Pill'?"

Feng Wenhao said irritably, "Do you think everyone can afford Perfection Pills like you? Any pill with 'pill' in its name costs at least five hundred thousand. A Perfection Pill costs over a million. I'll need to save for many years after graduation before I can afford one."

Zhou Leng shook his head. "No plans."

Cao Jiajia said, "I'll take one when I get home. I'll strive to get good results in the Opening Term Test and monthly exam when Rucheng Martial University starts. My talent tops out at the Innate Realm anyway, so I don't care about this."

"I can't afford one," Cui Mingcong said.

"If you don't take Perfection Pills, your first semester of freshman year will be hard to endure. Come on, let's run to warm up first."

The six headed out together for a run.

As Zhou Leng ran, he thought about the Perfection Pill.

Perfection Pill was the common name. Its scientific name was "Essence Qi Pill," a mid-tier medicine worth a million and basically something only Innate Masters would take.

After taking it, its medicinal power went straight to the Dantian and strengthened one's inner qi, helping those at Qi Nourishing Grand Completion rapidly advance to the Perfection Stage.

Without the help of an Innate Master, recklessly taking an Essence Qi Pill could cause one to go berserk. Therefore, it was classified as a "banned drug" before the College Entrance Examination and could not be used.

Many pills with excessively potent effects were listed by the Martial Mansion as banned drugs for the College Entrance Examination, both for fairness and to prevent pulling up seedlings to help them grow.

But in reality, the truly top aristocratic clans all had ways to use other pills worth tens of millions to erase traces of banned-drug use, allowing their clan descendants' True Qi to grow rapidly and earn extremely high scores in the Martial Arts Examination.

Using mid-tier medicines too early did more harm than good for most people, because eliminating the pills' negative effects required an enormous price.

I have no need to take a Perfection Pill...

Zhou Leng easily resisted the temptation.

Mainly because he could not afford it.