Ancient Civilization Protection

After washing the pots and bowls clean, Zhou Leng went home to get some things he needed for cultivation, then ran back to Xiaoru Village.

Big Yellow was waiting at the village entrance.

Zhou Leng opened the plastic bag.

"Woooof..." Big Yellow's bark changed pitch as it bit down on the lamb chop Zhou Leng offered it, crunching away.

Zhou Leng observed carefully. Sure enough, Big Yellow's bite force had strengthened too.

For many years, Big Yellow had only been able to eat meat and could not gnaw bones. But now it ate like a pit bull in its prime, the lamb bones turning to rotten meat in its mouth.

Besides the lamb chop, there were also some lamb spine bones, which Big Yellow crunched into bone fragments in a few bites.

"Woof!" After finishing its meal, Big Yellow stamped its four paws wildly, excitedly expressing its gratitude to Zhou Leng.

Zhou Leng patted Big Yellow's head and looked up at Ruge Mountain.

"Let's go up the mountain!"

Once again, he entered the Mysterious Forest. Once again, he cultivated beneath the Frost Giant Tree...

The Frost Giant Tree, Xiaoru Village, Yulong Bay—the three points formed a line.

Other than those places, Zhou Leng went nowhere else.

Cultivation, cultivation, and more cultivation. Other than that, he did nothing.

Every time he sensed an improvement, Zhou Leng clenched and swung his fist.

The unceasing progress made Zhou Leng unable to stop.

For the first time, Zhou Leng realized that cultivation could actually be this joyful.

Then he would continue, continue, and continue again!

July 13.

Sunny.

I. Realm.

Blood Qi Realm. Qi-Nourishing Stage.

II. Divine Abilities.

1. Racial Divine Ability: Seed of True Qi.

2. National Divine Abilities: Everlasting Legacy. Martial Path Perception. United Will Forms a Fortress. Medicinal Supplementation.

III. Martial Arts:

1. Internal Art: Mystic Tide Art—Minor Accomplishment, Ninth Heaven. +6

2. Fist Art: Mountain-Punching Fist—Proficiency, Fifth Heaven. +2

3. Palm Art: Wave-Stacking Palm—Major Accomplishment, Third Heaven. +3

4. Leg Art: Cloud-Flying Leg—Proficiency, Seventh Heaven. +2

5. Footwork: Eight Trigrams Step—Major Accomplishment, First Heaven. +2

6. Movement Technique: Wandering Cloud Movement—Proficiency, Eighth Heaven. +1

IV. Four Extraordinary Bodies.

Qi: Mortal Qi.

Blood: Mortal Blood.

Body: Mortal Body.

Strength: Mortal Strength.

V. Martial Path Will.

No perception.

VI. Combat Awareness.

No perception.

Zhou Leng sat before his desk, looking at the martial path journal in front of him.

It felt as though a lifetime had passed.

Just one week ago, he had still been fretting over his martial arts.

Now, not only had he completely recovered, he was advancing by leaps and bounds.

He was only one step away from bringing the Mystic Tide Art to Major Accomplishment.

What other surprises could the Mysterious Forest and Frost Giant Tree bring him?

Zhou Leng rose and headed to Li Linhan's home.

"Finished the Qi-Nourishing Pills?" Li Linhan asked.

"Mm." Zhou Leng answered while eating the Meat Medicinal Diet.

"Good. The Martial Examination carries the greatest weight in the college entrance examination. You've grown rapidly these past few days, so you'll definitely get into a martial university," Li Linhan said.

Zhou Leng nodded and continued eating the Meat Medicinal Diet.

After eating several pieces of meat, Zhou Leng picked up a piece of Demonic Wolf Meat and said, "This Meat Medicinal Diet..."

"I added a little something—meat from a high-ranking Blood Qi Realm magical beast," Li Linhan said.

"Thank you, Uncle Li." Zhou Leng ate silently.

The stronger the magical beast meat, the more comprehensive its effects on the human body.

This clay pot of high-ranking Blood Qi Realm magical beast meat was worth no less than five thousand. On the market, one would need to pay at least double that to buy it.

"Digest it slowly and strengthen your whole body. Wait until tomorrow morning before circulating your art to refine it," Li Linhan explained the value of the high-ranking magical beast meat.

"Mm."

"Let's go. I'll take you to the examination venue," Li Linhan said.

"The school arranged a car to pick up Zhang Xinglie. He'll bring me along since it's on the way. We're both taking the exam at Ru City University," Zhou Leng said.

"Fine, then I won't go," Li Linhan said.

"Zhang Xinglie's aunt should be taking him there," Zhou Leng said, sneaking a glance at Li Linhan.

Li Linhan did not say a word.

Before long, Zhou Leng slung his backpack over his shoulders and went downstairs.

At the entrance to the residential complex, an extended Yangwang U8 was parked there, its black body gleaming faintly.

The rear window slid down, and Zhang Xinglie reached out to greet Zhou Leng.

Beside Zhang Xinglie sat a middle-aged woman in a red qipao.

"Hello, Auntie." Zhou Leng greeted Zhang Meiqin first.

Zhang Meiqin had fluffy wavy hair and a kind expression. She had dressed up today, making her look even younger.

Zhang Meiqin looked Zhou Leng up and down, then smiled. "Xiao Lie told me your body had recovered, but I didn't believe him. Seeing you now, this heart hanging in my chest has finally fallen back into place. Hurry and get in. You'll definitely get good results today. What are you standing around for? Sit in the front."

Zhang Meiqin suddenly looked at Zhang Xinglie.

With a helpless expression, Zhang Xinglie got out of the car before Zhou Leng could stop him.

The school driver gave Zhou Leng a surprised look, then looked at Zhang Xinglie.

"Come, get in," Zhang Meiqin said with a smile, waving Zhou Leng over.

Zhou Leng and Zhang Xinglie exchanged helpless looks, then Zhou Leng climbed into the spacious back seat.

Zhang Meiqin scrutinized Zhou Leng carefully and smiled. "Good, you've really recovered your health. When I saw you a few months ago, tsk tsk, it broke my heart... Oh, right. Did you bring everything? Check now."

"Okay." Zhou Leng took his backpack and removed his admission ticket, ID card, and all the other things needed for the examination one by one.

"Good, such a good child. Unlike my Xiao Lie, who's so careless he even forgot his admission ticket and needed me to remind him. By the way, didn't Uncle Li come?"

"He has work today, so I told him not to come. But..." Zhou Leng glanced at Zhang Xinglie, who had turned around in the front seat, and said, "Knowing his personality, he'll probably still go take a look at the examination venue."

"That's true. That man is just a stuffy gourd." As she spoke, Zhang Meiqin looked toward the inside of the residential complex.

Zhou Leng and Zhang Xinglie looked at each other, then both lowered their heads to hide the amusement in their eyes.

Zhou Leng closed the door, and the driver asked, "Are we leaving now?"

"Let's go." A trace of regret entered Zhang Meiqin's voice.

Along the way, the driver remained silent while the three chatted and laughed on their way to the examination venue.

On a July morning, the sun shone high in the sky.

The car stopped outside Martial Arts Arena No. 3 at Ru City University.

Martial security police cars stood stationed everywhere, while large numbers of people in police uniforms or camouflage patrolled the area.

On a large screen beside the martial arts venue appeared the majestic Great Hall of the People.

Zhou Leng needed only one glance to recognize the famous promotional video for the "Ancient Civilization Adjudication Declaration."

In the final year of the technological era, the Demon Prison World joined forces with several worlds to attack Blue Star, while the Demon Spirit World joined other worlds in giving Blue Star their utmost support.

Unfortunately, Blue Star was defeated.

At the moment of crisis, a powerful, mysterious, and strange lifeform descended.

On the giant screen, at the center of the Great Hall of the People, stood a pure-white luminous entity. It was a full ten meters tall, like a white oval doorway, with countless twisted white rays of light emerging around it.

To this day, humanity did not know exactly what lay within that radiance.

Some said God had descended, while others believed it was an immortal.

The United Nations named it the Civilization Adjudicator.

It was this Civilization Adjudicator who formally announced the news that would save Blue Star's fate.

At Dragon Nation's Dadiwan Ruins, there existed sixteen inscribed artifacts from roughly eight thousand years ago. Supplemented by physical Banpo Pottery Inscriptions from six thousand seven hundred years ago and an unbroken subsequent inheritance, the civilization had not been extinguished. Dragon Nation met the standards for "Ancient Civilization Protection."

Thus, Blue Star received fifty years of Ancient Civilization Protection, and the Demon Prison armies could no longer launch a full-scale invasion.

Because of its defeat, a mysterious power descended and erased and locked away numerous technologies. Blue Star could no longer manufacture technological weapons.

For survival, the United Nations voted to choose a new direction for civilization.

After long negotiations and arguments, most nations joined their hearts and strength, crushed the schemes of a small handful of countries, and bet humanity's future on Dragon Nation.

Afterward, the United Nations announced that Blue Star would embark on a new path: Martial Civilization.

From then on, the entire world began cultivating martial arts.

The Martial Examination also became the most important component of the college entrance examination.

"Goodbye, Auntie." Zhou Leng and Zhang Xinglie waved to Zhang Meiqin as they walked away.

Nearby stood many women in qipaos, and some little girls also wore qipaos as they cheered for their older brothers and sisters.

After the two had walked for a while, students from No. 8 High School occasionally shouted, "Eldest Senior Brother!" before coming over.

Before long, a small group had gathered around Zhang Xinglie.

There were quite a few girls among them.

"The eldest senior brother from No. 8 High School—is he that Zhang Xinglie?" A student from another school beside them spoke softly, gazing curiously at Zhang Xinglie.

"What a powerful sense of oppression. He's practically like a lion king. No wonder he came first in the physical examination."

"I wonder whether he can take first place in the Martial Examination."

The group arrived outside the martial arts arena and took out their admission tickets.

"I'm going to Area Two through Passage Two. What about you?" Zhang Xinglie asked.

"I'm in Area Two too!" A girl from Class Five raised her admission ticket and waved it, her eyes sparkling as she looked at Zhang Xinglie.

"I'm in Area Four. I'll be going first," Zhou Leng said.

"See you later," Zhang Xinglie said.

Holding his ID card and admission ticket, Zhou Leng passed the inspection and entered the martial arts arena through Passage Four.

Once he emerged from the passage, an enormous venue stretched out before him.

The martial arts arena was broadly similar to the stadiums of the past, with tiers of spectator seating around the perimeter and an oval field in the center.

But the martial arts arena was far larger than an ordinary stadium.

The field had been divided by temporary large modular cabins. Each white cabin was an examination room.

At the entrance to every large cabin, one person in camouflage stood on each side, wearing earpieces and looking stern.

More and more students converged on the large cabins.

"Ha ha ha..."

Zhou Leng looked toward the sound. In the spectator stands, some students whose school affiliations he could not make out were chasing and roughhousing. Dressed head to toe in trendy brands, they stood out like cranes among chickens beside the majority of students in school uniforms.

Zhou Leng checked the time. There was still a while before entry, so he reviewed the contents of the Martial Examination.

The first round tested total true qi quantity, the second tested true qi intensity, and tomorrow's third round would test true qi control.

Zhou Leng touched the spot on his abdomen where his dantian was located.

Even at the same internal art realm, different cultivation arts and different people produced vastly different total amounts of true qi.

For example, Zhang Xinglie cultivated the Ten Directions Storm Art. The total true qi in his body exceeded that of ordinary people using the same art at the same realm by fifty percent.

However, Zhang Xinglie was not without weaknesses. His total true qi and true qi intensity were too powerful, which instead made his true qi control slightly weaker. Even so, he was still among the outstanding.

Previously, Zhou Leng had tested his true qi at school with the Demonized True Qi Measuring Instrument. Thanks to the Mystic Tide Art's ceaseless, layer-upon-layer stacking nature, his total true qi was roughly ten percent greater than that of martial artists at the same realm, placing him at an upper-middle level.

After cultivating beneath the Frost Giant Tree, Zhou Leng could clearly sense that the Mystic Tide Art's layer-upon-layer stacking property had grown stronger. By all reason, it should increase by at least another five percent.

Before long, the martial arts arena broadcast began.

"...In this midsummer beneath the blazing sun, we welcome a new year's Martial Examination..."

"...We hope every candidate can achieve outstanding results..."