Quota Certificate

Zhou Leng sat at his desk, recalling his conversation with Xue Chengsong, then wrote down the key points one by one on paper.

After that, Zhou Leng went next door to chat with Li Linhan.

Li Linhan was not a smooth and sophisticated person. He knew little about Martial University and martial arts academies, so they mostly discussed cultivation.

"...If you don't want to stop at the Innate realm, you should proceed steadily and surely. Don't use Essence Qi Pills carelessly..."

"...Use the wrong pills in the early stages, and you'll have to pay ten times the price to make up for it in the future. You might even be unable to make up for it..."

"...Pills have both benefits and drawbacks. You cannot go without them, but neither can you abuse them..."

"...Your third brother is at a military academy, and the guidance he receives is even better than mine. He said that once you reach Qi-Nourishing Perfection, don't rush to advance to Blood-Circulating. Temper your true qi first..."

"...Before advancing to Blood-Circulating, it's best to prepare two types of pills: one Origin-Replenishing Pill and ten Blood-Replenishing Pills..."

"Advancing through minor realms requires consuming large amounts of food and medicinal supplements. That becomes even more necessary after advancing through major realms..."

"If you don't have enough Origin-Replenishing Pills and Blood-Replenishing Pills, your body's qi and blood will fall into a prolonged state of depletion, taking a long time to recover."

"This is why some Blood-Circulating experts remain stuck for years, even losing all hope of reaching the Innate realm. They delayed at a crucial moment..."

Zhou Leng listened attentively.

Combining the views of both men, his future path became even clearer.

After leaving Li Linhan's home, Zhou Leng headed to the nearest Martial Dao Mall to prepare for his upcoming cultivation.

Just as he reached the mall entrance, a middle-aged man with a single-shoulder bag slung over his back said quietly, "Handsome, need any medicine?"

Zhou Leng immediately shook his head.

"Ours is very cheap."

"No, thank you." Zhou Leng politely declined.

"Come find me when you need some." The man stuffed a business card into his hand.

Zhou Leng accepted it, then threw it into a trash can once he had walked away.

News stories he had seen online about fake pills surfaced in Zhou Leng's mind.

The Martial Dao Mall was filled with a dazzling array of goods.

Gravity Training Armor, reconnaissance drones, Demonic Cutting Blades, Demonic Spirit Protective Suits, and all manner of demonized items—even Demon Spirit Devices—were available.

Qi-Nourishing Pills, Blood-Washing Pills, Blood-Replenishing Pills, Body-Refining medicinal broths, Force-Generating bone powder, and more left the eye reeling.

Videos flickered at the counters selling Martial Dao instructional recordings. Within them, renowned Martial Dao masters gave detailed lectures on screen.

On Blue Star, once someone reached the corresponding rank, they could study the original manuals and original videos of all martial arts and cultivation techniques for free. However, more meticulous and targeted Martial Dao instructional videos required payment.

Still, these videos generally did not cost much, ranging from one hundred to ten thousand yuan.

Zhou Leng did not buy them directly at the mall. Instead, he bought some discount coupons online, then used the Martial Dao video study vouchers awarded for his academic progress to redeem them directly in Martial City.

He first selected an instructional video by a Grandmaster who had once cultivated both the Mystic Tide Art and Wave-Stacking Palm.

There was also a Grandmaster who had cultivated both the Mystic Tide Art and Eight Trigrams Step, but because Eight Trigrams Step was more profound, it cost more.

Finally, Zhou Leng walked to the meat medicinal diet section.

Since he would be staying beneath the Frost Giant Tree for an extended period in a few days, Zhou Leng bought six portions of meat medicinal diet.

He stood in the pill section for a long time. After thinking it over for quite a while, he bought another ten Great Supplement Pills.

Great Supplement Pills cost one thousand yuan each. They were ordinary but comprehensive beginner pills, best suited for use after a cultivation breakthrough. They could replenish everything the body needed and were also essential for high-level martial artists.

It was said that even demons and other foreign races secretly bought Great Supplement Pills. They were hard currency across the Ten Realms.

After buying the Great Supplement Pills, Zhou Leng looked over the other pills in the section.

Next, he needed to prepare one Origin-Replenishing Pill and ten Blood-Replenishing Pills for his breakthrough into the Blood-Circulating Stage, a full two hundred thousand yuan.

After deducting what he needed for daily cultivation, he was still short by around one hundred and fifty thousand yuan.

For now, he could only look.

"Your Origin-Replenishing Pills are out of stock?" Zhou Leng looked at the shelf. There were no pills at all where the label read "Origin-Replenishing Pill."

"You don't buy pills often, do you?" the sales assistant asked.

"Mm."

Today was Zhou Leng's first time using money to buy pills.

The sales assistant continued, "Most pills on Blue Star are in short supply. Things are usually manageable, but whenever war preparations begin, major factions purchase pills in bulk. Manufacturing pills takes time, and when production cannot keep up with demand, shortages occur. Once they do, sales are restricted."

"For example, Origin-Replenishing Pills have always been highly sought after. It's currently the start-of-school period, so they'll probably enter a restricted-sales period lasting two or three months. Unless you have a 'Quota Certificate,' ordinary places won't sell them to you. At the most urgent times, you can't even buy meat medicinal diet, let alone pills."

Zhou Leng recalled hearing others mention pill quotas before, but those transactions often involved millions and had little to do with him, so he had never paid attention.

Zhou Leng asked, "If I want to buy an Origin-Replenishing Pill now, I can only wait another two or three months?"

"That's right. There's no helping it."

"Are there other channels?"

"There's only one official channel: buying through Martial City with military rank and battle merit, though those are limited too. Other than that, every legitimate channel requires a Quota Certificate."

"Why is a Quota Certificate absolutely necessary?"

"Think about it. It isn't just our martial artists who need pills. The Demon-Worshiping Cult and even foreign races need them too. If anyone could buy them freely, the consequences would be obvious. Besides, those with Quota Certificates are basically from the Demon City Army, the Martial Guard Department, or Pioneer Corporation. Once war breaks out, of course their supply has to be guaranteed first. Naturally, there are also all sorts of other reasons."

"So that's how it is."

Zhou Leng took out his phone and opened the Martial Dao Mall. Sure enough, the Origin-Replenishing Pills there were also marked out of stock.

These were pills that cost one hundred thousand yuan each.

Zhou Leng searched online platforms again. Every official platform was out of stock, with only a few private merchants still carrying them.

Some had kept their prices unchanged, while others had raised them considerably.

As for whether they were genuine, no one could say.

"What a hassle..."

Carrying the meat medicinal diet and Great Supplement Pills, Zhou Leng walked out of the Martial Dao Mall.

There were not many people on the pedestrian street at dusk. Before he had gone far, several people approached him, one of whom was familiar.

"Zhou Leng, buying things?" The man gave a slight nod. His gaze swept over the meat medicinal diet packages in Zhou Leng's hands, and a flicker of surprise flashed through his eyes.

Zhou Leng nodded as well. "Team Leader Jiang."

The man was Jiang Yan, deputy team leader of the slaughterhouse workshop at Pioneer Corporation.

The two said nothing further and passed each other.

"Someone you know?" A young man beside Jiang Yan, dressed in gleaming leather jacket and pants, tilted his head with both hands in his pockets and cast a sidelong glance at Zhou Leng's retreating back.

Jiang Yan said, "A student doing work-study in the slaughterhouse workshop."

"Huh? A work-study student can afford that much meat medicinal diet? Even I can't afford it. There are medicine boxes in there too. Those two plastic bags hold at least twenty or thirty thousand yuan worth of goods." the leather-clad youth said.

"Hmph. No wonder he wouldn't answer my calls or come to the workshop. So he's struck it rich." Jiang Yan sneered.

"Now I remember. You cursed out this kid before. Wasn't he one of those who didn't show up during the college entrance exams, leaving you short-handed and getting you chewed out by the manager? You lost your chance to be promoted to team leader because of that?"

Jiang Yan's face darkened. "Tu Rong, don't poke at the pot that won't boil."

Tu Rong laughed heartily, threw an arm around Jiang Yan's shoulders, and asked as they walked, "Want us brothers to help you vent your anger?"

The others grinned and crowded closer.

Jiang Yan looked back at Zhou Leng's nearly vanished figure. His eyes flickered, his right fist clenched and loosened, and he said, "Forget it. He has an elder working as a minor supervisor at our company. Although he lost an arm, he's still a Force-Generating Stage expert."

Tu Rong laughed. "A Force-Generating Stage expert? Tsk, that's a minor nuisance, but it's fine. Our boss is Force-Generating too."

"If I really want to vent, I should go after Hu Yi. I can handle him myself."

"Then let's go eat. But I have to leave early today—I've got plans with Tao Bing. Ever since that kid started following Young Master Chang, he's been strutting around. Tsk."

Jiang Yan muttered to himself, "Help me think of a way first. Lately, I don't know which wire in our manager's brain got crossed. It's like he's gone into qi deviation—at the drop of a hat, he tears into people with a storm of abuse. If he doesn't nod, I have no way to take another step up. I haven't even been sleeping well these past few days."

"Fine, fine, I'll help you first. Now that I see you today, your complexion really is worse than usual."

"Mm. I occasionally wake up in alarm in the dead of night these days. Come on, let's eat meat medicinal diet hotpot and nourish ourselves."

A faintly shining crescent moon hung in the sky, with four tiny crescent moons suspended beneath it.

Zhou Leng looked at the sky and quickened his pace.

After Blue Star entered the Martial Civilization, humanity began worshiping strength, and violent incidents surged abruptly.

Dragon Nation maintained policies from the old era through the Martial Government and was relatively safe, but most countries were chaotic beyond recognition.

During the technological era, Cactus Nation's chaos had been common knowledge. As soon as the presidential election began, dozens of candidates were killed.

By the Martial Dao era, at least half the countries were comparable to Cactus Nation, completely controlled by capital, rebel armies, religions, and criminal forces.

Even though Dragon Nation was one of the safest countries, the prevalence of force had still bred many underground factions.

Zhou Leng glanced at the surveillance camera overhead.

This was a populated urban district, so the cameras remained. In places with even slightly fewer people, all the cameras had been smashed.

The appearances of the people beside Jiang Yan flashed through Zhou Leng's mind.

Although the people around Chang Luan dressed in gaudy colors, no matter how rebellious they were, they still looked like students.

The people beside Jiang Yan were clearly thugs from those underground factions.

Only, Team Leader Jiang Yan's bloodshot eyes had made him uncomfortable to look at.

After returning home, Zhou Leng borrowed a clay pot from Li Linhan and stewed two pots of meat medicinal diet at once.

Over the past few days, Zhou Leng had gradually carried tools such as a solar-powered electric stove beneath the Frost Tree in several batches.

He had originally wanted to bring a tent and other items as well, but he found the temperature there pleasant, with no wind or dust, not even insects, so he could not be bothered.

However, the pleasant temperature there only applied to one person and one dog. Ordinary food placed there would rapidly cool down, like a natural refrigerator.

After informing Li Linhan, Zhou Leng brought everything he needed and arrived at the Frost Giant Tree.

He began his long cultivation in Martial Dao and study of Divine Script.

The first move of the Standing Elephant Chapter was currently the most important, but even with meat medicinal diet, he could only cultivate it once every three days.

The burden it placed on the body was too great, so he had to give his body time to slowly recover and grow anew.

After each cultivation session, his entire body would ache intensely.

Starting on the third day after cultivation, his bones, muscles, skin, and every other part of his body would improve.

Especially his strength.

Basic strength was even harder to improve than internal or external arts. Only at the Body-Refining Stage and Force-Generating Stage could it slowly increase.

Aside from the Standing Elephant Chapter, he could not neglect anything else.

The Mystic Tide Art was the foundation beneath all foundations. If the Mystic Tide Art did not reach Perfection, he could not advance to the Blood-Circulating Stage.

Wave-Stacking Palm and Eight Trigrams Step were the external arts best suited to him, and he needed to intensify his training in them.

Mountain-Punching Fist, Cloud-Flying Leg, and Wandering Body Step made up for the shortcomings of Wave-Stacking Palm and Eight Trigrams Step. Combining multiple external arts would allow him to handle many possibilities.

With the high-grade Spirit Land here, along with reduced sleep, Zhou Leng's cultivation speed far surpassed that of ordinary martial artists.

Cultivate, cultivate, continue cultivating...