Viewing the Corpse

As they walked toward the back, Lu Hao asked, "Brother, why do we even have a morgue here? Are you afraid the corpses might come back to life?"

"Coming back to life is impossible, but we do worry about people trying to use these bodies for some kind of experiment. Besides, I've been watching over this morgue for several years now, and I've never seen a corpse rise. It's all nonsense," Xiao Li replied.

Just like that, Lu Hao followed Xiao Li toward the back.

"Director Bai, is this kid a prodigy from the Magic Martial University? But prodigies don't usually come out at this time of day, do they?" the middle-aged man asked.

"Viper, stop prying. That's my son. He has decent martial arts talent and broke through early, so I brought him here to get a taste of blood," Bai Qiuyao said. As for Lu Hao's identity, revealing it would make Viper take him more seriously, and besides, Viper was practically an official himself, so it wouldn't hurt for him to know.

"Your son? If I recall correctly, this is your youngest son, right? Isn't he still in his third year of high school? Why bring him here already?"

Viper knew that Bai Qiuyao's eldest son had died, and he had his own suspicions about where it happened. That was exactly why he felt so surprised; after all, with her eldest son just recently deceased, who would let their youngest son walk down the same path?

"Sigh... there's no helping it. A grown son doesn't listen to his mother. The kid has talent, and he'd be fine staying at the Magic Martial University, but he'll have to face this sooner or later. Besides, this was his own request."

Viper didn't say anything more.

On the other side, as Lu Hao walked deeper inside, the lights grew dim. This had to be intentional—designed specifically to scare people and train the martial arts students who came here to get a taste of blood.

After walking for a few minutes, he finally arrived in front of a room where the shouting from the arena could no longer be heard at all.

The two guards outside the door saw Xiao Li and greeted him, "Brother Li."

"Is there anyone inside? Has anyone been processed yet?"

"Not yet. We'll process them all together when it's over."

"Good, then don't worry about it. You two clean up the inside, let this little brother go in, and don't worry about what he does in there. The usual rules apply—you can leave once you're done."

Xiao Li gave simple instructions, but judging by the reactions of the two men, this wasn't their first time doing this; they were very practiced.

"Alright, little brother, you can go in. If anyone dies later, we'll come and notify you so you can go up and collect the body. Don't worry, there are no ghosts here," Xiao Li said as he opened the door.

Seeing this, Lu Hao gritted his teeth and walked inside.

He had barely stepped in and hadn't even had a chance to properly observe the room when he heard the door behind him shut, followed by the sound of it being locked. Lu Hao's mouth twitched twice.

Was this to keep him from running away?

Only then did Lu Hao begin to survey the room.

The room wasn't large, probably about fifty square meters, and it contained seven or eight beds, just like the ones in a hospital morgue.

There was only a single small lightbulb on the ceiling, emitting a yellow glow that barely illuminated the space.

In front of him was a television playing a film. Lu Hao walked over to take a look—wasn't this the horror movie Mountain Village Corpse?

The screen was massive, covering almost half the wall, making it impossible to ignore.

Was this really necessary? Lu Hao felt speechless for a moment. It seemed they wouldn't be satisfied until they scared someone to death.

Shifting his gaze, Lu Hao saw two dead bodies on the beds. Through the dim light, he could see their ferocious expressions and their eyes, which hadn't been closed—they had died with deep resentment.

One of them was the martial artist he had seen beaten to death when he first arrived, and the smell of blood they emitted was pungent.

An average person would have likely been terrified out of their wits by this atmosphere, but Lu Hao's experience in the slaughterhouse made it much easier for him to cope.

Even so, Lu Hao felt a chill in his heart.

After all, he was currently alone with two corpses, one of which might still be warm, and that was on top of the sounds coming from the television.

Damn it, who wouldn't be scared in this situation? Even if you knew there were no ghosts, in an atmosphere like this, even the absence of ghosts would start to feel like their presence.

Just as Lu Hao was looking around, a ghost's face suddenly popped up on the television screen.

Lu Hao's heart skipped a beat, but fortunately, he didn't scream out loud. He took a breath—his mother really had found him a "great" place.

However, since those prodigies from the Magic Martial University could pass, there was no reason he couldn't. Lu Hao forced himself to watch the movie while keeping an eye on the corpses nearby.

Lu Hao didn't know that this specific setup was reserved for the geniuses among the geniuses at the Magic Martial University. Normal people wouldn't be left in the room alone; they were usually in groups of two or three. While they also played horror movies, the lighting wasn't nearly as atmospheric, and the corpses were usually covered with white sheets.

Outside the room, in another chamber a few dozen meters away.

Xiao Li and the two others were smoking and chatting. They were watching Lu Hao's performance on a monitor; if Lu Hao fainted, the three of them would be responsible for going in and carrying him out.

After all, having been here for so long, they naturally encountered those geniuses who weren't as brave as they seemed. Some couldn't handle it and would faint, which was when they had to step in.

One of the burly guards said, "How long do you think this kid will last?"

"Half an hour? An hour? This is the highest level of treatment, after all. No matter how good his talent is, this kind of thing isn't something you can just endure through talent alone."

"I actually think this kid might be able to hold out. When I went to pick him up, I saw that it was Director Bai who sent him over. She isn't just some ordinary instructor from the Magic Martial University, and she brought him here personally."

"I guess he must be a relative. Director Bai knows our standards here. Since she specifically requested the highest standard, this kid might actually be able to handle it."

"That's incredible. If he can pass the highest standard, then this kid's future can truly be described as bright."

"I'm so envious of these Martial Arts University students. I wonder if my own brat will be able to get into one."

"It's tough. There's no hope for mine; I'm just waiting for him to finish school so he can find a job."

Lu Hao was unaware of the discussion among the three people outside. Right now, his attention was entirely focused on the corpses and the movie. Perhaps it was because Lu Hao was naturally bold, or perhaps it had something to do with his experience at the slaughterhouse.

After the initial panic, Lu Hao slowly calmed down. After all, the corpses in front of him couldn't exactly come back to life. Besides, if they dared to reanimate, Lu Hao would make them taste the power of his Minor Accomplishment leg techniques.

Just like that, Lu Hao watched the plot of the movie while studying these two martial artists.

Lu Hao discovered that of the two, one had thicker upper arms, while the other had thicker lower limbs. It was clear that these two had made different choices for their bone tempering.

Once Lu Hao tempered his own body to a certain degree, he would become like the corpse that had tempered its lower limbs—his legs would thicken, become more resistant to impact, and the amount of blood energy he could withstand would increase. By then, the power of his leg techniques would also increase significantly.