The Look

After waiting for nearly half an hour, the students from the other classes finally finished gathering, and the bus slowly headed toward Wanhui District.

On the way, Lu Hao watched his classmates chatter about their Vital Blood levels and worry about the future. Those with higher levels were even bragging.

They were talking about how they would lead their classmates once they got into Martial University. Lu Hao couldn't help laughing at the sight. If they knew about the responsibilities and burdens martial artists carried, would they regret their choices?

The Earth Cave information hadn't been made public yet. In the eyes of ordinary people, martial artists represented privilege. Being a martial artist was wonderful, and having one in the family brought honor to the whole family.

They had no idea what martial artists faced. They had never wondered why martial artists held such privileged status. It had all been forged in blood and flesh.

"Lu Hao, you were gone for one semester, but now you look almost like a different person. What happened?"

Just then, the homeroom teacher beside him asked.

In Lu Hao's memories, this homeroom teacher had always treated him well. When his older brother passed away, Teacher Li had given him a lot of encouragement.

"Teacher Li, I was just thinking about whether they'll regret it one day. What will they do when they realize the real martial world is nothing like they imagined?"

Lu Hao replied. As the homeroom teacher at Beiding No. 1 High School, Teacher Li was a fourth-rank martial artist, so he certainly knew the truth about the martial world. He was someone Lu Hao could talk to.

"Looks like you've been through a lot. No wonder your whole bearing has changed. And your Vital Blood is probably the highest in the whole school."

Li Mingjie didn't know Lu Hao's exact cultivation, but he could sense the powerful Vital Blood within him. Judging by its quality, Lu Hao had likely reached the peak of the first rank, or even the second rank.

"Lu Hao, have you reached the second rank?"

"No. I'm only at the advanced stage of the first rank."

"Then what about your Vital Blood?"

"I've tempered my bones three times."

Lu Hao didn't mind people knowing that he'd tempered his bones three times. Anyone with enough experience could figure it out from the way he fought.

What he really wanted to keep secret was how long it had taken him to go from tempering his bones twice to three times.

"My god, Lu Hao, you've really tempered your bones three times?"

Li Mingjie stared at him in disbelief. At the end of last semester, Lu Hao had only tempered his bones once. Now he'd tempered them three times and broken through to the advanced stage of the first rank.

"Yes, really, Teacher Li. I reached the second tempering over the New Year, then used quite a few pills to reach the third."

Li Mingjie continued to stare at Lu Hao in shock.

"Looks like you'll be this year's Martial Exam Top Scholar, barring any surprises. You've tempered your bones three times and reached the advanced stage of the first rank. I can't imagine anyone else surpassing you."

"I still can't believe it. You reached this level in less than five months. You must have suffered a lot during that time."

"It was all right. I've grown a lot."

"Have you killed anyone?"

"Huh? How could you tell, Teacher Li? I thought I'd done a pretty good job of hiding it."

Lu Hao was puzzled. He'd already reined in his presence quite a bit. To other people, he simply seemed different. How had Teacher Li figured out that he'd killed someone?

"Your eyes. They aren't like theirs. If theirs are innocent, even foolish, yours carry a murderous air. It's very obvious. That's why I sat beside you as soon as I got on the bus."

"If you turned out to be a terrorist, at least I'd be able to subdue you." Li Mingjie joked.

So it was his eyes. He'd have to be more careful from now on. Otherwise, experienced martial artists would probably see through him at a glance.

"Are you planning to arrest me now, Teacher Li?"

Lu Hao joked too.

"Not at all. After chatting with you for a while, I can tell you're not a bad person. I guess that's a martial artist's instinct."

"I see. I've been doing a few small jobs for the Detective Bureau over the past month," Lu Hao said with a smile.

Li Mingjie stared at Lu Hao in shock again. He'd originally guessed that Lu Hao had run into a few Evil Cult martial artists by chance and killed one or two. But now Lu Hao was saying he'd taken on small jobs for the Detective Bureau.

Li Mingjie didn't believe those had really been small jobs. He'd done Detective Bureau jobs himself in the past. It seemed his student not only had an astonishing amount of Vital Blood, but his actual combat ability probably crushed everyone else's too.

Lu Hao and Li Mingjie chatted for quite a while. Before they knew it, they had arrived in Wanhui District.

The Leshao Hotel in Wanhui District was where the school had arranged for all the students to stay. They'd booked the entire hotel, with one room per person.

After getting his room number from a teacher, Lu Hao went straight to his room. The students were only there to adjust today. After all, a good performance might let them stimulate one more card of Vital Blood.

After looking over his room, Lu Hao nodded. It was decent enough. He didn't have high standards when it came to this sort of thing.

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

As he walked past them, he saw that most were practicing the Stance Technique or the Basic Combat Technique.

Lu Hao went into a smaller Martial Arts Training Room nearby. It was empty. He swiped his Martial Artist ID, which automatically deducted 1,000 yuan, then went inside. The ID worked much like a bank card.

But a Martial Artist ID could do much more. It could be used in almost any place.

Inside the training room, Lu Hao picked up a knife and started practicing. It didn't feel right in his hand. After all, the hotel had provided it, so it was probably made of ordinary metal. He was used to his Big Ring Blade.

The knife felt so light that he wasn't used to it at first, but after practicing a few more times, it felt much better.

Facing the practice dummy and punching bag, Lu Hao controlled his Vital Blood, trying to output exactly as much as he wanted.

...Five hours later, Lu Hao left the training room. A payment notification came through on his phone. In total, 7,000 yuan had been deducted. The 1,000 yuan base fee was for the room, and the rest was for the practice dummy and punching bag Lu Hao had chopped up.

On his way out of the training area, Lu Hao also saw a fight. He didn't know what had caused it, but two students were going at each other in the middle of the room.

Their combat experience was so terrible it made Lu Hao wince. Since Vital Blood was the most important part of the college entrance exam, very few people spent time training in combat techniques. Most practiced the Stance Technique.

As a result, their fighting amounted to two people trading wild punches. It was painful to watch.

He didn't pay much attention. He didn't care why those two students had started fighting, either. It was probably just some adolescent impulsiveness.

Back in his room, Lu Hao called his mother to let her know he was safe, then continued tempering his bones. Without Slaughter Points, he could only rely on time to temper them slowly.