Application Approved

As the Golden-Veined Cloud Leopard lunged again, he flicked his wrist, sending a throwing knife whistling through the air. Fueled by immense power, the blade transformed into a dark blur, streaking toward the beast's head.

The Golden-Veined Cloud Leopard reacted instantly, shifting its trajectory just enough to evade the strike. It bared its massive jaws, its speed surging by another thirty percent.

Feng Qingmo suddenly stood his ground, focusing his entire mental energy into a single point. One of his two throwing knives suddenly accelerated, its angle shifting slightly. Like a bolt of black light, it shot straight into the Golden-Veined Cloud Leopard's maw, pierced directly into its brain, and twisted!

The Golden-Veined Cloud Leopard's movements stiffened. Its entire body went limp, its four claws splaying out as it collapsed and slid toward Feng Qingmo.

Feng Qingmo gently raised a foot, bracing it against the sliding Golden-Veined Cloud Leopard.

He looked up toward the right and spoke in a calm, indifferent tone, "My two friends over there, you've been watching for quite a while now. Do you still intend to keep watching?"

"Hahaha, truly impressive, friend..." A burst of laughter echoed as two figures leaped down from the middle floors of a nearby high-rise, then approached, stopping a few dozen meters away.

One was a blond, blue-eyed giant standing over two point one meters tall, and the other was a lean, black-haired middle-aged man around one point eight meters tall. Both were fully armed.

"A hero truly emerges from the youth. I didn't expect someone of your age to possess such strength," the two men said, exchanging a glance after seeing how young Feng Qingmo was. The lean, tall middle-aged man added, "May I ask how to address you? We don't seem to have seen you in the War God Palace..."

"Just a nameless nobody," a smile appeared on Feng Qingmo's face. "However, I have long heard of your great names: the Caucasian Giant Bear Shenliukov and the Shadowless Sword Wang Xiangying..."

In his spare time between cultivation sessions, Feng Qingmo often logged into the internal network of Huaxia Home, where he had seen the reputations of these two men mentioned in various posts.

Most importantly, the reputation of these two, along with the mercenaries they led, was poor, and their relationship with Huaxia was subtly hostile.

Wang Xiangying nodded with a smile, "It's rare to meet a fellow War God of Huaxia here. Why don't we find a place to have a small gathering?"

The smile on Feng Qingmo's face vanished. "This Caucasian Giant Bear is certainly not from my Huaxia, and as for you, War God Wang Xiangying, you withdrew from Huaxia long ago to join the Beria Mercenaries..."

He took a step forward, seemingly casual. "I wonder what business you two have in my Huaxia?"

"It seems our little brother is quite guarded. We won't disturb you further," Wang Xiangying pulled on Shenliukov, and the two retreated cautiously. "As for why we are in Huaxia, hehe, naturally it is to hunt monsters..."

After putting a hundred meters of distance between them and Feng Qingmo, the two deployed their movement techniques and sped away.

"Xiangying," Shenliukov, who had remained silent until now, spoke to Wang Xiangying in broken Chinese. "Why didn't we make a move? That was a Golden-Veined Cloud Leopard! A low-level Lord-class Golden-Veined Cloud Leopard is worth the price of a mid-level Lord-class..."

"Big Bear," Wang Xiangying's eyes were cold. "Don't tell me you didn't notice that kid is a spirit reader. Don't let greed cloud your judgment. Although that Golden-Veined Cloud Leopard is a low-level Lord, its speed is no worse than other mid-level Lord-class monsters. The fact that the kid's throwing knife could precisely pierce the beast's mouth—do you understand what that implies? He is at least a low-level War God spirit reader!"

He looked at Shenliukov. "Are you confident in killing a low-level War God spirit reader?"

"No confidence," Shenliukov shook his head. "But we are both mid-level War Gods. We could easily join forces to drive him away, and the spoils would be ours, wouldn't they?"

Wang Xiangying stopped walking entirely. "Big Bear, we might be able to drive him away, but you saw it yourself—the kid is extremely young and knows our reputations. I suspect he is a scion of some major family. Someone like that out for training is definitely protected by other War God-level experts in the shadows..."

His expression turned serious as he whispered, "Don't forget we have other missions. We aren't really here to hunt monsters. If that mission is completed, the reward will far exceed a single Golden-Veined Cloud Leopard. But if we fail the mission, you and I will face severe punishment!"

Shenliukov felt a chill in his heart. Remembering the consequences of failing the mission, he nodded repeatedly.

Feng Qingmo retrieved his S-grade throwing knife from the Golden-Veined Cloud Leopard's brain and used it to begin the dissection. He collected all the vital materials from both the Golden-Veined Cloud Leopard and the Fire-Kirin Three-Trident Pig, stowed them in his backpack, and set off on the path back to the training camp.

He needed to return to verify his combat record and join the War God Palace first. Truth be told, he was quite curious about the War God Palace.

After a swift journey, he returned to the training camp without incident. He sold the materials from the two low-level Lord-class monsters in his backpack and verified his combat record.

As the top-ranked monster among the pig species, the materials of a low-level Lord-class Fire-Kirin Three-Trident Pig would have fetched at least 1.2 or 1.3 billion if sold to the HR Mall, but the training camp only offered 1 billion, though they did provide 500,000 contribution points.

However, the Golden-Veined Cloud Leopard was worth far more than the Fire-Kirin Three-Trident Pig, fetching 2 billion and 1 million contribution points.

"I have over 4 billion on my card now, but there's still quite a gap..."

"Mr. Feng Qingmo, the money has been transferred to your card, and the contribution points have been issued to your warrior account," the manager in charge of acquisitions said with a respectful smile, knowing she was dealing with a War God. "Your application to join the War God Palace has been submitted. Someone from the War God Palace will be sent over shortly..."

She turned the screen around to face Feng Qingmo, displaying his profile information.

Under the rank column, it read: "War God Level (Low)."

Below that was a line of text: War God Palace application, under assessment...

After leaving the acquisition department, he had just returned to his quarters in the training camp when he received a call from Li Ping.

"You're back, kid?"

"Yes, I just sold the materials from the hunt, verified my record, and only just walked through the door..."

"Rest up, then come see me."

Hanging up the phone, Feng Qingmo washed up, feeling refreshed before heading out to find Li Ping.

Sitting behind his desk, Li Ping watched Feng Qingmo walk in after knocking.

"Not bad, kid. Being able to hunt a Fire-Kirin Three-Trident Pig is impressive enough, but I didn't expect you to take down a Golden-Veined Cloud Leopard as well..."

"It was just luck..." Feng Qingmo recounted how he had stumbled upon the Golden-Veined Cloud Leopard and the Fire-Kirin Three-Trident Pig fighting, and how he had picked up the scraps.

"That doesn't count as luck," Li Ping shook his head. "Even if you didn't kill the Fire-Kirin Three-Trident Pig, the Golden-Veined Cloud Leopard is a genuine combat record. Most mid-level War Gods wouldn't necessarily be able to kill a Golden-Veined Cloud Leopard..."

He paused. "You applied to join the War God Palace earlier, and the assessment mission was sent directly to me..."

Li Ping operated his computer for a moment, then pulled a metal case from under his desk and placed it on the table.

"I've passed your assessment directly. You are now officially a member of the War God Palace," he pushed the metal case toward Feng Qingmo. "This is your consciousness-sensing helmet. It's the same as the ones in the Trial Room and the Combat Room, but this one is exclusively yours. Anywhere in the world, you can put on this helmet to enter the virtual space where the War God Palace resides..."