Bidding for Qin Heng

At the sight of that number, Qin Heng's eyelid twitched. Damn, they're loaded!

But on second thought, last year's genius who had scored over 800 kilograms in the First Assessment had been offered a monthly salary of 20,000. This time, he had exceeded that by 128 kilograms and broken the city record. Would offering him the same 20,000 be a little insulting?

Sure enough, the other Martial Halls thought so too!

Last year's 20,000 monthly salary had been the final "selling price," meaning the other Martial Halls either could not compete or did not want to.

But this time, Qin Heng was worth more than last year's "Han Liang." They wanted to fight for him!

Shen Biqing, the female executive from Dragon God Martial Hall, directly wrote down a monthly salary of 25,000 on her placard.

This was the price offered by the supposedly most "impoverished" Dragon God Martial Hall!

Hero Martial Hall refused to be outdone. Its representative, Huo Wen, held up three fingers, indicating that they were willing to offer a monthly salary of 30,000!

Qin Heng's heart stirred.

A monthly salary of 30,000 was no joke!

If he really got it, he could immediately take his parents and Fang Lingxue to rent a place in the New City District.

If he saved for a few months, he could even buy a place himself!

After all, even genuine martial artists who entered the Wilderness Area to hunt typically earned only thirty to fifty thousand on a single trip.

And one trip to the Wilderness Area took at least half a month round-trip. Leaving aside the danger, there were battle losses, medical expenses, and equipment costs to account for along the way.

The terms offered by Hero Martial Hall were enough to make even many martial artists envious.

But it was not over yet!

How could the wealthy Heavenly Dao Martial Hall possibly stop there?

The 20,000 had merely been an opening move. Seeing Hero Martial Hall offer such a high price, the bearded Zhong Wanshan did not hesitate. He erased the first number and changed it to 40,000 yuan per month.

Qin Heng's heart began pounding uncontrollably.

Su Kuang, sitting beside him, gaped. "Good heavens, a monthly salary of 40,000? Are you insane?"

Qin Heng whispered, "I already am..."

He did not even know how he would spend that much money!

But it still was not over!!

Shen Biqing, the female executive of Dragon God Martial Hall, silently raised a number: 45,000.

Even impoverished Dragon God Martial Hall had moments when it was willing to go all in!

The bearded man's eyes widened. He said to Shen Biqing, "Sister Shen, weren't you people short on money? Why are you being so generous this time?"

Shen Biqing replied, "For such a once-in-a-lifetime prodigy, we would take out a loan if we had to. If I don't make a move, the hall master will scold me until I'm drenched in dog blood."

Huo Wen of Hero Martial Hall chimed in, "Exactly! Heavenly Dao Martial Hall, stop pretending you're so wealthy this time. Before a true genius, our financial capacity won't be any worse than yours."

The bidding began again.

Hero Martial Hall: 46,000

Heavenly Dao Martial Hall: 48,000

Dragon God Martial Hall: 50,000

Hero Martial Hall: 51,000

Heavenly Dao Martial Hall: 55,000

The three Martial Halls had gone mad, frantically raising their bids.

Qin Heng and Su Kuang watched with blank expressions. Everyone nearby was equally stunned, their envy written all over their faces.

At some point, Chen Yuan had also completed his assessment and come over to fill out his preference form beside them.

Seeing the numbers rise without end, Chen Yuan asked in confusion, "What are they doing? What do these numbers mean? Could that be an annual salary?"

Su Kuang said, "Annual salary? Can't you aim a little higher, kid?"

"Gasp! Could it be a quarterly salary?" Chen Yuan's eyes widened.

"Country bumpkin!" Su Kuang gave him a look of utter disdain.

The bidding among the three Martial Halls had already reached 65,000.

And they looked like they were about to start fighting!

The bearded Zhong Wanshan glared as he viciously wrote down a monthly salary of 80,000. He told his two competitors, "Stop fighting. Keep this up, and you'll go bankrupt!"

"Damn, are you for real?" Seeing the other side raise the bid so ruthlessly, Huo Wen of Hero Martial Hall immediately spread his hand... then crossed two fingers into the shape of a "ten."

Meaning... a monthly salary of 100,000!

Qin Heng's mouth went dry.

Zhong Wanshan rubbed out the number on his paper and replaced it with a new one: 120,000.

Shen Biqing of Dragon God Martial Hall was nearly at her limit. She turned an imploring gaze toward Wang Jianming of War God Martial Hall and whispered, "Old Wang, why don't you make a move? We can't let Heavenly Dao Martial Hall suck up all the talent. At this rate, they'll become the only dominant force."

Wang Jianming had not made a single move from beginning to end.

It was not that he did not care about talent, but as a Grandmaster, he would not repeatedly raise bids and compete like the other three representatives.

As a strong man, either he did not act, or he settled it with a single strike!

Seeing that the bidding among the three was nearing its end, Wang Jianming slowly said, "You all..."

"Great-uncle!"

At that moment, Wang Peng walked over.

"Peng, why are you here?" Wang Jianming looked at him.

Wang Peng looked at the other three representatives, then at Qin Heng, and said quietly, "I know this Qin Heng. His strength had always been nothing special before, but recently it has surged by leaps and bounds. That's highly abnormal. I suspect he... may have taken divine medicine!"

"Divine medicine? Where would a kid from the Slum District get divine medicine?"

The representatives of the Four Great Martial Halls all frowned, clearly unconvinced.

Wang Peng said, "What else could it be? Didn't you look at his records? He has only practiced the Innate Fetal Breathing Art for two days. How could his strength suddenly jump from around 500 kilograms to 928 kilograms?"

"This..."

Wang Jianming fell into thought.

When one practiced the Innate Fetal Breathing Art, the effects during the first week were obvious. It usually increased punching force by 20 to 50 kilograms, after which the effects gradually weakened, becoming an increase of around 0.5 to 1 kilogram per day.

A few exceptional geniuses could rapidly gain 100 kilograms, or even 150 kilograms, during their first week.

But Qin Heng's situation... was unprecedented!

It was something unheard of, the first case in history to break through the heavens!

Shen Biqing pondered, "It is indeed a little exaggerated. If I remember correctly, the Innate Fetal Breathing Art's record is an increase of 66 kilograms after the first practice session, reaching 845 kilograms after one week of cultivation."

"That's right. That person is the current holder of the advancement-speed record, Grandmaster Chen Yao of Kyoto," Huo Wen nodded.

The Innate Fetal Breathing Art was a cultivation method created and compiled only within the past fifteen years. It had not existed before then.

Therefore, among those who practiced it, the strongest were currently only Grandmasters. No Martial God had emerged yet.

Wang Peng continued, "People from the Slum District may have little chance of coming into contact with divine medicine, but nothing in this world is absolute. What if a natural divine medicine happened to grow near Qin Heng's home?"

Wang Jianming nodded. "That is possible. Thirty years ago, I broke through to the Grandmaster realm because of a natural divine medicine. Otherwise, I would have long since died in a beast tide."

That immediately shook the three representatives.

Divine medicine was a good thing. Consuming it could cause one's strength to soar, allowing an ordinary person to become a martial artist in an extremely short time.

But divine medicine also had drawbacks!

A person could only take divine medicine once in their life. After taking it, their potential would be exhausted, making further improvement difficult. If they took divine medicine again, it would trigger organ failure, severely damage their strength, and could even bring rapid death.

Therefore, the Four Great Martial Halls had an explicit internal rule forbidding students from taking divine medicine before their potential had been fully developed.

Only after one could no longer advance through cultivation and had completely excavated their potential should they seek divine medicine to break through their shackles. That was how its benefits could be maximized.

And Qin Heng...

If he had truly become a genius by taking divine medicine, then his value would be far, far too low—perhaps not even equal to those who had merely passed.

"Little brother, how confident are you in this?" the bearded man asked Wang Peng, still somewhat doubtful.

Wang Peng patted his chest. "I wouldn't dare say one hundred percent, but I'm at least eighty percent sure!"

After thinking for a moment, Wang Jianming said, "I trust my grandnephew. This child grew up in District 7 Slums and knows this Qin Heng."

With that, the great-uncle and grandnephew left together.

The three representatives looked at one another, sinking into hesitation.