Exchange

At the infirmary, the doctor first set Zhou Leng's bones and bandaged him. Deng Zhijue circulated qi and blood for Zhou Leng, clearing out hidden injuries.

Finally, Zhou Leng was pushed into the Treatment Demon Spirit Device.

The entire Treatment Demon Spirit Device resembled an MRI machine—a large horizontal cylinder. Zhou Leng was pushed into the middle of it.

A humming sound rose. The large cylinder began to rotate, blue demonic patterns flickering across its surface.

Zhou Leng only felt his entire body enveloped in a strange light. Then, the damaged parts of his body recovered at a perceptible speed.

It was Zhou Leng's first time experiencing the power of a Demon Spirit Device.

Demonized items referred to modern technology powered by Demon Crystals.

The core of Demon Spirit Devices was Spirit Magic.

However, the Demon Spirit Devices of the Demon Spirit World had been influenced by the technology of Blue Star's Humans. Over the years, they had absorbed a great many Blue Star concepts, and their forms had increasingly come to resemble Blue Star products.

Once the treatment ended, Zhou Leng was pushed out. The doctor then handed him a blue medicine bottle.

"Drink it."

Zhou Leng took it and downed it in one gulp.

An indescribable bitterness filled his mouth, as if countless tiny people were scrubbing bile and coptis into his mouth with brushes. Zhou Leng's face twisted instinctively.

"This is Demon Energy Potion used alongside the Treatment Demon Spirit Device. If you don't drink it, you'll lose nearly half a year of your lifespan."

"Thank you, Doctor."

"All right. Don't train excessively for the next three days. If you eat Meat Medicinal Diet and Great Supplement Pills, you can resume normal exercise a day early."

Zhou Leng bade the doctor farewell and headed out with Deng Zhijue.

"Thank you, Instructor."

Zhou Leng naturally knew that this kind of Treatment Demon Spirit Device was costly to use. Although the instructors had authorization to use it, there had to be restrictions.

Deng Zhijue tossed him a Great Supplement Pill. Zhou Leng caught it and swallowed it.

"Come on, let's collect your reward. After class, don't forget to take the exam. I've already signed you up. The Divine Script General Administration will assign a Divine Script expert to proctor it."

When Zhou Leng returned to the Martial Dao arena, the students of Class 01 crowded around him. Seeing that only faint bruises remained on his body, they clicked their tongues in amazement.

Before long, the third- and fourth-place students also returned. They had likewise received treatment, but its effects were far inferior to Zhou Leng's.

Chief Instructor Huang Jingqiu came forward and presented rewards to the top four.

First-place Xu Kang'an received one Origin-Replenishing Pill, two Qi-Nourishing Pills, and Blood-Replenishing Pills.

Zhou Leng received five Qi-Nourishing Pills and Blood-Replenishing Pills.

After collecting the rewards, Xu Kang'an asked Zhou Leng, "How many Origin-Replenishing Pills have you taken?"

As they walked, Zhou Leng said, "I just finished my second one."

"So few?" Xu Kang'an could hardly believe it.

"Many people in our class haven't even taken one," Zhou Leng said.

"Let's trade." Xu Kang'an handed the Origin-Replenishing Pill in his hand to Zhou Leng.

An Origin-Replenishing Pill cost one hundred thousand, while Qi-Nourishing Pills and Blood-Replenishing Pills cost ten thousand each.

Xu Kang'an added, "Taking three Origin-Replenishing Pills can eliminate the body's foundational hidden ailments. Every time you take one after that, it can slightly strengthen your body across the board. Do you know how many you need to take before they become almost ineffective?"

"I really don't know that," Zhou Leng said.

"One hundred. After that, they only work when you advance in rank. Taking more is useless. I've already taken a full hundred, so I might as well trade for your Qi-Nourishing Pills and Blood-Replenishing Pills."

"Fine!" Zhou Leng handed his Qi-Nourishing Pills and Blood-Replenishing Pills to Xu Kang'an.

Xu Kang'an said, "There's a concept in cultivation called 'core pills'—the most important pills at a given stage. You have to take as many as possible, or they'll become a short board."

"Of the four periods in the Blood Qi Realm—qi, blood, body, and strength—the true core pills are Origin-Replenishing Pills and Body-Strengthening Pills. Once you've taken one hundred Origin-Replenishing Pills, or advance to the Body-Refining Stage, you can take Body-Strengthening Pills. Their theoretical limit is also one hundred."

"Other than those two kinds of pills, Meat Medicinal Diet is actually the most important. We generally record the number of core pills used in our Martial Dao diaries."

Zhou Leng calculated inwardly. Origin-Replenishing Pills were one hundred thousand each, Body-Strengthening Pills were two hundred thousand each, one hundred of each... that came to thirty million...

"Others may not understand why I traded you an Origin-Replenishing Pill, but you should understand," Xu Kang'an said.

"We need to do as Martial Saint Zhao said: reduce internal friction and unite against the outside," Zhou Leng said.

Xu Kang'an nodded heavily. "See you around."

Zhou Leng looked at the Origin-Replenishing Pill in his hand.

He had thought that he would not be able to take first place in this school-opening exam and would not receive this Origin-Replenishing Pill, forcing him to endure until the monthly exam. He had not expected Xu Kang'an to offer a trade on his own initiative.

After taking this Origin-Replenishing Pill, his old injuries would basically be healed.

Then, he could throw himself fully into breaking through to the Blood-Circulating Stage.

However, he needed to save an Origin-Replenishing Pill and ten Blood-Replenishing Pills in advance for the Blood-Circulating Stage.

After lunch, Zhou Leng attended Martial Dao class with his fellow students from the martial academy.

Teaching at the martial academy was vastly different from high school and university. They read the theory books themselves, and watched videos for the instructional material themselves as well.

There were only a few large classes each week, which required all four classes to attend together.

Today's classes were all held in the martial arts hall. The instructors taught from the front while picking students to demonstrate.

By the end of a class, every student was covered in bruises, and some had even been beaten until they bled.

The final class was Deng Zhijue's internal cultivation class.

After teaching, Deng Zhijue explained many more matters concerning martial academy cultivation to the students.

"Martial academy students are said to attend class for only half a day. That's true, but not entirely."

"You have practical demonstration classes in the morning, but in the afternoon, you still have to cultivate in the martial arts hall."

"Whether it's physical training, true qi cultivation, or sparring practice, you must meet certain time requirements to earn credits."

"Under this model, martial academy students grow faster on average than Martial University students of the same level."

"As for external martial arts forms, that depends entirely on yourselves. Then, Demon-Worshiping Cultists and Devil Sirens will help you test the results."

"Arrive half an hour early tomorrow morning to run for class monitor, as well as the various single-subject Martial Dao committee positions."

"Every month, the Martial Guard Bureau sends some Martial Dao cases to the martial academy. The instructors will lead some outstanding students to participate in handling them."

"Not only will there be bonus credits, you can also earn military merit. Whether in the Martial Guard Department or the Demon City Army, you can exchange it for corresponding resources."

"You must remember this: military merit will be your most valuable resource in the future."

"If there's anything you don't understand, ask me directly. I'll answer when I have time, and I'll post some Q&A every week..."

Afterward, Deng Zhijue led Zhou Leng into the proctoring room.

Zhou Leng took out his student card and electronic ID. After his identity was verified, he sat down at a computer desk.

Before long, an image appeared on the blackboard ahead.

It looked like a laboratory. A young woman with long hair sat in a chair.

She wore a white lab coat. Her black hair hung down like silk, lustrous and smooth, while a pair of black-framed glasses without lenses rested on her nose.

Amid the plain clothing and surroundings, her vivid red lips and pair of indifferent eyes were especially striking.

Deng Zhijue said, "This is the expert who'll be proctoring the exam."

"Hello, Teacher," Zhou Leng greeted politely, though inwardly he was surprised.

Becoming a Junior Divine Script Researcher was not difficult, but intermediate and senior qualifications were extremely hard to obtain. Expert-level researchers needed multiple major research achievements, and were generally at least forty years old.

This Divine Script expert picked up her proctor's ID, gave it a shake, then put it back down.

Zhao Nandi, Divine Script Research Expert.