Application Approved

When the Golden-Veined Cloud Leopard charged again, he whooshed the throwing knife from his left hand. Fueled by his powerful strength, it became a black blur as it shot toward the leopard's head.

The Golden-Veined Cloud Leopard reacted in an instant, changing direction slightly to dodge the knife. It opened its jaws and picked up speed.

Feng Qingmo suddenly stopped. He focused all his Spiritual Force into a single point. Of the two throwing knives, one abruptly accelerated, its trajectory shifting slightly. Like a streak of black light, it shot into the Golden-Veined Cloud Leopard's mouth and pierced its brain. Then it twisted!

The Golden-Veined Cloud Leopard froze. Its body went limp, and its four legs splayed out as it slid along the ground toward Feng Qingmo.

Feng Qingmo casually lifted one foot and stopped the sliding Golden-Veined Cloud Leopard.

He looked to his right and said calmly, "You two over there have been watching for a while. Do you plan to keep watching?"

"Hahaha, you're impressive, my friend..." came a laugh. Two figures jumped down from the middle floors of a nearby high-rise and walked toward him, stopping dozens of meters away.

One was a muscular, blue-eyed blond who stood well over two meters tall. The other was a lean, dark-haired middle-aged man around 1.8 meters tall. Both were fully armed.

"Young heroes really are emerging these days. I didn't expect someone so young to be this strong." Seeing how young Feng Qingmo was, the two exchanged a glance. The tall, thin middle-aged man said, "May I ask your name? I don't think I've seen you in the War God Palace..."

"I'm nobody important." Feng Qingmo smiled. "But I've heard of you two. The Caucasian Giant Bear, Shenliukov, and the Shadowless Sword, Wang Xiangying..."

In his spare moments from cultivation, Feng Qingmo often logged onto Huaxia Home's internal network. He'd come across their names in a post.

More importantly, the two men—and the mercenary force behind them—had a poor reputation and were seen as hostile toward Huaxia.

Wang Xiangying smiled and nodded. "It's rare to meet another War God from Huaxia out here. Why don't we find somewhere to sit down together?"

Feng Qingmo's smile vanished. "The Caucasian Giant Bear isn't from Huaxia. And you, War God Wang Xiangying, left Huaxia long ago to join the Beria Mercenaries..."

He took a seemingly casual step forward. "May I ask what brings you two to Huaxia?"

"Looks like you're pretty wary, young man. We won't bother you, then." Wang Xiangying tugged at Shenliukov, and the two cautiously backed away. "As for why we came to Huaxia—hehe, of course it's to hunt monsters..."

Once they were a hundred meters away from Feng Qingmo, the two sped off.

"Xiangying," Shenliukov said to Wang Xiangying in his clumsy Chinese, having remained silent until now. "Why didn't we attack? That was a Golden-Veined Cloud Leopard! An Elementary Lord-level Golden-Veined Cloud Leopard is worth as much as an Intermediate Lord-level one..."

"Big Bear," Wang Xiangying said, his gaze somewhat cold. "Don't tell me you didn't realize that kid's a Spiritual Master. Don't let greed cloud your judgment. Sure, that Golden-Veined Cloud Leopard was only Elementary Lord-level, but it was just as fast as other Intermediate Lord-level monsters. What do you think it means that the kid could accurately send a throwing knife into its mouth? He's at least a Beginner War God-level Spiritual Master!"

He looked at Shenliukov. "Are you confident you could kill a Beginner War God-level Spiritual Master?"

"Not confident," Shenliukov replied, shaking his head. "But we're both Intermediate War Gods. We could team up and drive him off, and then the spoils would be ours, wouldn't they?"

Wang Xiangying stopped outright. "Big Bear, maybe we could drive him off, but you should've seen how young he is. And he knows our names. I'd guess he's from some powerful family. Someone like him wouldn't come out to train without other War God-level fighters protecting him..."

His expression turned serious, and he lowered his voice. "Don't forget, we have another mission. We're not really here to hunt monsters. If we complete that mission, it'll be worth far more than one Golden-Veined Cloud Leopard. And if we fail, we'll both be punished!"

Shenliukov's heart tightened as he recalled what would happen if they failed. He nodded repeatedly.

Feng Qingmo retrieved the S-rank throwing knife from the Golden-Veined Cloud Leopard's brain and used it to butcher the beast. He collected all the valuable materials from both the Golden-Veined Cloud Leopard and the Fire-Scaled Three-Trident Pig, packed them into his backpack, and set off for the Training Camp.

He needed to return and get his achievements verified first, then join the War God Palace. He was quite curious about it, after all.

He hurried back to the Training Camp without incident, sold the materials from the two Elementary Lord-level monsters in his backpack, and had his achievements verified at the same time.

As the highest-ranked pig-type monster, the Elementary Lord-level Fire-Scaled Three-Trident Pig could fetch at least 1.2 or 1.3 billion if sold to the HR Mall. But the Training Camp offered only 1 billion, though they also gave him 500,000 contribution points.

The Golden-Veined Cloud Leopard was worth far more than the Fire-Scaled Three-Trident Pig, though. They paid him 2 billion and gave him 1 million contribution points.

"I've got over four billion in my account now, but I'm still short by quite a bit..."

"Mr. Feng Qingmo, the money has been transferred to your account, and the contribution points have been added to your Martial Artist account," the manager in charge of purchasing said respectfully with a smile. After all, he was dealing with a War God. "Your application to join the War God Palace has been submitted. Someone from the palace will be here soon..."

She turned the screen toward Feng Qingmo. His information was displayed on it.

His rank was listed as: "War God Level (Beginner)."

A notice appeared below: War God Palace application, under review...

After leaving the materials purchasing office, he returned to his quarters in the Training Camp. As soon as he got back, he received a call from Li Ping.

"You're back, kid?"

"Yeah. I just sold the materials from my hunt and got my achievements verified. I've only just walked in..."

"Take a break, then come see me."

After hanging up, Feng Qingmo washed up. Feeling refreshed, he went to see Li Ping.

Sitting behind his desk, Li Ping looked up as Feng Qingmo knocked and entered.

"Not bad, kid. Taking down a Fire-Scaled Three-Trident Pig was already impressive. I didn't expect you to kill a Golden-Veined Cloud Leopard too..."

"It was just luck..." Feng Qingmo told Li Ping how he'd happened upon the Golden-Veined Cloud Leopard fighting a herd of Fire-Scaled Three-Trident Pigs, then taken advantage of the situation.

"I wouldn't call that luck," Li Ping said, shaking his head. "Even if you didn't kill the Fire-Scaled Three-Trident Pig, the Golden-Veined Cloud Leopard is a real achievement. Even an ordinary Intermediate War God might not be able to kill one..."

He paused. "You applied to join the War God Palace earlier, and your assessment task came straight to me..."

Li Ping worked at the computer in front of him, then pulled a metal case out from under the desk and set it on top.

"I've approved your assessment directly. You're officially a member of the War God Palace now." He pushed the metal case toward Feng Qingmo. "This is an awareness-sensing helmet, like the ones in the Trial Room and Combat Room, except it's for your personal use. You can put it on anywhere in the world and enter the virtual space where the War God Palace is located..."