Awakening

A minute later, Lu Hao heard shouting from outside. He looked up to see his mother arriving; it had been less than five minutes since he had called for help.

It seemed his mother had rushed over the moment she received the news.

Seeing his mother enter, Lu Hao knew he was finally safe, so he closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep. After all, he had exhausted far too much of his mental energy; if not for the constant fear of further complications, he would have collapsed long ago.

Now that his mother was here, the taut string in his mind finally snapped, and sleep came naturally.

[Remember this site's domain, Taiwan Novel Network, for convenience.]

Bai Qiuyao entered and first saw the scattered limbs and remains on the ground, then spotted Lu Hao fainted. She quickly finished off the remaining few Third-Grade Evil Cult martial artists.

Bai Qiuyao came to Lu Hao's side and probed him with a wisp of blood vitality, discovering that Lu Hao was merely suffering from severe exhaustion of blood vitality and mental energy, along with a few broken ribs—nothing too serious.

Bai Qiuyao took out a Third-Grade Healing Pill and fed it to Lu Hao, ensuring his injuries would recover rapidly.

"What happened here?"

Facing Bai Qiuyao's inquiry, the Square-Faced Man recounted everything that had just occurred. Upon learning that her son had actually slain a Fourth-Grade martial artist—even if it was through the use of a combat technique—she knew that combat techniques were, after all, a part of a martial artist's own strength.

Lu Hao slowly opened his eyes, his eyelashes fluttering slightly, his gaze filled with a trace of confusion.

Where is this? What was I supposed to be doing?

After shaking his head, Lu Hao recalled the last scene he had witnessed: his mother rushing in, followed by him fainting.

It seemed to be the result of excessive mental exhaustion. After looking around, he realized he was in his own bedroom.

Lu Hao picked up his phone from beside the pillow. He had no idea how long he had been asleep, but he felt refreshed all over.

Opening his phone, he saw it was August 31st, three in the afternoon. Nearly three days had passed since he killed the Fourth-Grade Evil Cult martial artist.

With a thought, the panel unfolded.

[Slaughter Point System]
[Host: Lu Hao]
[Blood Vitality: 496/496 cal]
[Mental Energy: 339/339 Hz]
[Storage Space: 1000 cubic meters]
[Slaughter Point: 2161]

Both his blood vitality and mental energy had fully recovered over the past three days.

Lu Hao got up and moved around; he felt no discomfort, and even the injuries to his ribs had completely healed.

After washing up and taking the time to review the previous battle, Lu Hao was even more eager to master a true ultimate move. After all, relying on Blood Battle Mad Blade consumed too much blood vitality, and if he could master it completely, he could have killed both of the Fourth-Grade opponents he encountered last time.

Moreover, he had used at least a thousand calories of blood vitality in that fight, while he only possessed five hundred calories himself. However, this wasn't a major issue; he had the cover of Blood Vitality Pills, and his mother would certainly provide some cover as well.

Tomorrow was the start of the semester at Magic Martial University. Tomorrow, he would finally get to see this center of the storm: see the world's protagonist Fang Ping, see the unyielding Qin Fengqing, see the human-hearted grandmasters of Magic Martial University, and see the Long-Life Swordsman Duan Changsheng.

Lu Hao was full of anticipation. He went to the practice room and began to continue practicing his blade techniques; after all, he was now incredibly hungry for an ultimate move.

In the evening, his mother returned. Seeing that Lu Hao had woken up, she prepared a table full of food to reward him.

"Mom, what was going on with that mission? How did a Fourth-Grade martial artist suddenly pop up?"

Lu Hao asked. He had been suspicious during the fight; after all, Fourth-Grade martial artists weren't exactly common. The scouts couldn't have overlooked someone of unknown identity; they definitely would have investigated thoroughly.

"The reason for this incident lies with the Detective Bureau. The scouts didn't make a mistake; it was indeed just one Fourth-Grade martial artist. However, before the mission began, someone tipped off the Evil Cult."

"This led them to dispatch another Fourth-Grade martial artist, intending to surround and kill your group of martial artists on the mission. At the same time, if they could kill the Fourth-Grade martial artist from the Detective Bureau, it would be a huge achievement for them."

"This time, it was all thanks to you. If you hadn't erupted in time and used Blood Battle Mad Blade to kill one of the Fourth-Grade martial artists, it might have been too late by the time I arrived."

"After returning, the Detective Bureau began an internal investigation and finally discovered the mole last night. That mole is likely being interrogated right now."

"Hao'er, this was an exceptional circumstance. If you go to the Earth Cave in the future, you must not use Blood Battle Mad Blade unless it is a life-or-death situation. Otherwise, just like this time, you will collapse from exhaustion immediately after using it."

"If the Fourth-Grade opponent hadn't died, you would have been at their mercy."

Lu Hao nodded. Outsiders didn't know his true situation; if he had used his Slaughter Points to restore his blood vitality and mental energy at that moment, he could have used Blood Battle Mad Blade again in the next second.

Lu Hao naturally couldn't tell Bai Qiuyao these things, so he could only nod in agreement.

"By the way, since you've woken up, you can go and report for school tomorrow as usual. I had already contacted Magic Martial University, and they told you to report once you recovered."

"Alright, no problem. I've fully recovered. I'll go to Magic Martial University tomorrow to take a look—to see the school my older brother once attended."

Lu Hao nodded.

On the other side, at Magic City Martial Arts University.

Zhang Yu was arranging the various affairs for the new students arriving tomorrow.

"Qin Fengqing, tomorrow you go to the school gate to welcome the new students, especially a freshman named Lu Hao."

Qin Fengqing, who was sitting to the side, raised his head and spoke.

"You want me to go welcome the freshmen? No way, I still need to temper my torso bones. Besides, since when do they send a Rank-3 martial artist to welcome freshmen? Zhang Yu, did you temper your brain along with your bones while you were cultivating?"

"Qin Fengqing, are you trying to defy the president's arrangements?"

Zhou Yan, standing to the side, spoke up.

"Defy? Of course I'm not defying anything, but Zhang Yu needs to give me a reason. I've never heard of Magic Martial University sending a Rank-3 martial artist to welcome freshmen."

"You..."

Before Zhou Yan could say anything more, Zhang Yu cut her off.

"Take a look at this kid's file first, then decide whether you want to go or not."

Zhang Yu tossed a data sheet over to Qin Fengqing.

"Holy crap, is this kid even human? He broke through to Rank-1 after three bone-tempering sessions, then completed multiple missions for the Detective Bureau, reached Rank-3 the day before yesterday, and even killed a Rank-4 martial artist? Zhang Yu, you aren't joking, are you?"

Qin Fengqing stared at the file of Lu Hao in astonishment. He knew that even with his own daredevil, fight-to-the-death attitude, he was only at the middle stage of Rank-3 as a junior. Yet Lu Hao was already Rank-3 upon enrollment and had even killed a Rank-4; his combat power might not even be weaker than his own.

This is a freshman? If this is a freshman, then what does that make him, Qin Fengqing? Just unlucky?

"It's the truth. This junior is truly terrifying. If I hadn't already broken through to Rank-4, I'd probably be feeling quite anxious myself. So, how about it? Are you going or not? Give me a straight answer."

"I'll go, of course I'll go. When did I ever say I wasn't going?"

Once Qin Fengqing heard there was such a ruthless character, he naturally wanted to go and see for himself. He could get to know him, and maybe next time they could head into the Earth Cave together; after all, he knew of several good spots, but his own strength wasn't quite enough.