Gaze

After waiting for nearly half an hour, the personnel from the other classes finally finished gathering, and the bus slowly began its journey toward Wanhui District.

On the road, watching his classmates discuss their blood vitality values and worries about the future, those with high blood vitality were even bragging.

Talking about how they would lead their classmates once they got into Martial University, Lu Hao couldn't help but be amused by this scene. If these people knew the responsibilities and burdens a martial artist carried, he wondered if they would regret their current choices.

Information about the Earth Cave has not been made public yet. In the eyes of the general public, a martial artist is a symbol of privilege; being a martial artist is a good thing, and having one in the family brings honor to their ancestors.

They don't know what a martial artist has to face, and they haven't thought about why the status and privileges of martial artists are so high. These are all forged with blood and flesh.

"Lu Hao, how come you look so unrecognizable after not coming for a semester?"

Just then, the homeroom teacher sitting nearby asked.

In Lu Hao's memory, this homeroom teacher had been good to him before. During the time his older brother passed away, the teacher gave him a lot of encouragement.

"Teacher Li, I'm just feeling a bit emotional. I'm wondering if they will regret it one day. What will they do when they discover that the reality of the martial arts world is nothing like what they imagined?"

Lu Hao said. As the homeroom teacher at Beiding No. 1 High School, Teacher Li is a Rank 4 martial artist, so he certainly knows the truth about the martial arts world and can be considered someone he can communicate with.

"It seems you've been through a lot. No wonder your temperament has changed so much, and your blood vitality is probably the highest in our entire school."

Although Li Mingjie didn't know Lu Hao's specific cultivation level, he could feel the powerful blood vitality within him. Judging by the quality of this blood vitality, he feared it had already reached the peak of Rank 1, or even Rank 2.

"Lu Hao, have you reached Rank 2?"

"No, just high-stage Rank 1."

"Then this blood vitality of yours?"

"Triple bone marrow refinement."

Lu Hao didn't mind people knowing about his triple bone marrow refinement, because anyone with enough experience could judge it based on his strikes.

What Lu Hao really wanted to hide was the time it took to go from double to triple bone marrow refinement.

"My god, Lu Hao, have you really achieved triple bone marrow refinement?"

Li Mingjie looked at Lu Hao in disbelief. At the end of last semester, Lu Hao was only at single refinement, and now he had already reached triple refinement and broken through to high-stage Rank 1.

"Yes, really, Teacher Li. I reached double refinement during the New Year, and after that, I used quite a few medicinal pills to reach triple refinement."

Li Mingjie still looked at Lu Hao in shock.

"It seems the Martial Exam Top Scholar this year will be you without a doubt. Triple bone marrow refinement, reaching high-stage Rank 1—I really can't imagine anyone else who could surpass you."

"I still find it hard to believe. In less than five months, you've reached this point. You must have suffered a lot during this time, right?"

"It's alright, I've grown a lot."

"Have you ever killed anyone?"

"Huh? How did you see that, Teacher Li? I feel like I've restrained myself quite well."

Lu Hao asked in confusion. After all, he had already suppressed his aura significantly. To outsiders, he just seemed different; how could they tell he had killed someone?

"Your eyes. Your eyes are different from theirs. If they are naive or even stupid, then you carry killing intent. It's very obvious, and that's why I sat next to you as soon as I got on the bus."

"In case you were a terrorist, I'd be ready to subdue you," Li Mingjie joked.

So it was a matter of his eyes. It seems he needs to be more restrained in the future, otherwise, the veteran martial artists would probably be able to tell at a glance.

"So, does Teacher Li intend to arrest me now?"

Lu Hao also joked.

"That won't be necessary. After chatting with you for a while, I feel that you aren't a bad person. I suppose that's a martial artist's intuition."

"So that's how it is. I've been doing a few small tasks at the Detective Bureau over the last month," Lu Hao said with a smile.

Li Mingjie looked at Lu Hao in shock once again. He had originally guessed that Lu Hao might have stumbled upon one or two Evil Cult martial artists by accident, but now Lu Hao was talking about tasks from the Detective Bureau.

Li Mingjie didn't believe they were really "small" tasks. He had done tasks for the Detective Bureau before; it seemed this student of his not only had super-high blood vitality but likely possessed combat ability that crushed everyone else.

Lu Hao and Li Mingjie chatted for a long time, and before they knew it, they had arrived in Wanhui District.

Wanhui District, Leshao Hotel—this was the place the school had arranged for all the students. The entire hotel had been booked, with one room per person.

After getting his room number from the teacher, Lu Hao went straight to his room. Today was just for the students to adjust; after all, if they performed well, they might be able to stimulate an extra unit of blood vitality.

After checking his living environment, Lu Hao nodded. It was decent enough; he didn't have many requirements in this regard.

Lu Hao asked the front desk about the hotel's Martial Arts Training Room and headed over. It was a huge training room, and people were already practicing there.

As Lu Hao walked past them, he noticed that most were practicing Stance Technique or Basic Combat Technique.

Lu Hao came to a small training room on the side. It was empty. After swiping his Martial Artist ID, 1,000 yuan was automatically deducted, and Lu Hao walked in. The Martial Artist ID functioned much like a bank card.

However, the Martial Artist ID contained much more, and it could be used in basically every place.

Entering the training room, Lu Hao picked up a blade from the side and began to practice. The feel wasn't quite right; after all, the props provided by the hotel were likely made of ordinary metal. Having grown accustomed to his own Big Ring Blade, he felt a bit awkward using such a light blade, but after practicing a few more times, it felt much better.

Facing the wooden dummy and sandbags, Lu Hao controlled his blood vitality, trying his best to output exactly as much as he intended.

...Five hours later, Lu Hao walked out of the training room. His phone received a deduction notification: a total of 7,000 yuan had been deducted. 1,000 yuan was the basic room fee, and the rest was for the dummy and sandbags that Lu Hao had hacked to pieces.

On his way out of the martial arts practice field, Lu Hao witnessed a sparring match; he didn't know the reason, but two students had just started fighting right in the middle of the arena.

However, their combat experience was so painful to watch that Lu Hao could barely stand it. Because the most important factor for the college entrance exam was blood-qi value, very few people spent time practicing combat techniques, and most people focused on the Stance Technique instead.

This resulted in their current combat experience being nothing more than wild, flailing brawls that were truly an eyesore.

He didn't watch for long, and as for the reason those two students were fighting, Lu Hao didn't care; it was nothing more than some adolescent impulse.

Back in his room, Lu Hao made a phone call to his mother to let her know he was safe, then began to continue tempering his bones. After all, Lu Jingxuan had no Slaughter Point, so he could only rely on time to slowly temper his bones.