A Gift

After spending some time looking around the War God Palace, Feng Qingmo ordered six SS-Grade Flying Daggers from its Mall, replacing the ordinary flying daggers he had been using.

Fortunately, SS-Grade Flying Daggers were small, so the price was still within an acceptable range. Even so, they dealt a heavy blow to his wallet. There was nothing for it; he could only head out and hunt monsters again.

He ended up staying in City 007 for over a month, only returning to the Training Camp at the end of June.

After selling the monster materials in his backpack, the total came to less than 10 billion Huaxia Currency.

With his funds running low and the Wilderness Zone keeping him busy, he had missed the War God Palace auctions in both May and June.

In fact, he hadn't even brought his consciousness-sensing helmet when he left the Training Camp. Entering the War God Palace from the Wilderness Zone was practically asking for death. Even with a safety alarm distance set, there was still no guarantee that an accident wouldn't happen.

Another reason was that he didn't have enough money. He'd already asked around: Water of Life sold at auction in the War God Palace went for an average of about 20 billion. Sometimes more, sometimes less—it all depended on how many people were competing.

So he had kept hunting monsters in the Wilderness Zone. But raising 40 billion in a short time wasn't easy. Over the better part of two months, he'd fought tooth and nail and earned only about 10 billion, which was already remarkably efficient.

Naturally, he'd also run into danger. Once, he directly provoked a high-level Lord-level Silver-Crested Ibis, a tyrant of the Qinling Mountains.

It had wings and could fly. If Feng Qingmo, a Beginner War God and Spiritual Master, tried to compete with it in the air, it would be like a kindergarten kid racing Usain Bolt in the hundred-meter dash.

Fortunately, it had happened near the edge of the city. After using his SS-Grade Flying Daggers to hold it off for a few moments, he finally found a manhole leading into the sewers and escaped with his life.

Unfortunately, he had never managed to master the third level of the Wind-Washing Sword he'd been practicing. If he had, not only would his force output have reached the normal War God standard, but his footwork and swordsmanship would have improved as well.

Still, it hadn't been a complete loss. Against the high-level Lord-level Silver-Crested Ibis, his martial prowess had been useless. He could only rely on his SS-Grade Flying Daggers. At that life-or-death moment, he finally managed to combine two streams of Spiritual Force into a single dagger, causing its speed and power to surge. It had approached the level of a peak mid-level War God, buying him enough time to escape through the sewers.

The July trial was only a few days away, and his backpack was full of materials from Lord-level Monsters. He decided to head straight back to the Training Camp.

After taking a day to unwind at his residence, he didn't bother calling ahead and went straight to the Central Building to find Li Ping.

"Teacher Li." Feng Qingmo brought his right hand, which had been behind his back, around to the front and set the two bottles of Xinghuacun, brewed in the previous century, on Li Ping's desk. "I spent over a month in City 007 this time. I didn't expect to find a few bottles stashed in a cellar. This liquor dates from before the Great Nirvana..."

Li Ping picked them up without hesitation and examined them closely, nodding repeatedly. "Not bad. They really are from before the Great Nirvana Era..."

Then he suddenly caught on. "You said a few bottles, so there were more than two? Where are the others?"

"I gave two bottles to Teacher Guan." Feng Qingmo brought his left hand, which had also been behind his back the whole time, around to the front. He was still holding two bottles, which he gently set on the desk. "I was hoping you could help me give these two to Chief Jia..."

Li Ping nodded, then glanced behind him again. Feng Qingmo simply turned around in a circle. "That's all. There were only six bottles in total!"

"At least you've got a conscience..." Li Ping gathered up all the bottles on the desk. "I'll keep one for myself and find an opportunity to deliver the other three to the Chief."

"Thank you, Teacher Li."

"You know, you don't have to call me 'Teacher' anymore." Li Ping pointed to a chair, inviting him to sit. "Old Guan is your direct teacher, so he deserves to be called that. As for me, you can just call me Old Li or Brother Li..."

"All right, Brother Li."

Li Ping was taken aback. "I was just saying. You sure know how to take advantage of an opening..."

"The death trial starts on July 1. It's just a few days away, so you'd better not go out again, right?" Li Ping went over to the sofa in the sitting area and began making tea.

"Yes. I'll take it easy for the next few days so I'm ready for the death trial." Feng Qingmo asked, "But I still don't know where it's being held. Is there anything I should prepare?"

"Our Training Camp has Warrior and War General levels. The Warriors and even the Beginner War Generals train at a few suitable locations around the country. Each time, we randomly pick one of them. As for the War Generals..."

He set a cup of tea in front of Feng Qingmo and asked mysteriously, "Do you get cold easily?"

"That depends on how cold it is." Feng Qingmo lifted the cup and took a sip. Its fragrance filled his mouth, and he couldn't help praising it. "Good tea."

"This time, the War General Level trial is being held in...the Arctic!"

"The Arctic?" Feng Qingmo looked bewildered. "It's all ice and snow up there. There can't be many monsters, can there?"

"Not many monsters?" Li Ping glared at him. "Let's not even mention polar bears, the rulers of the Arctic. There are also seals, Arctic Wolves, Arctic foxes, Arctic Rabbits... Don't underestimate Arctic Rabbits. After mutating, they're quite vicious..."

"There are also snowy owls, sea lions, puffins, and so on. In the water, there are beluga whales, walruses, Arctic shrimp, and capelin..."

"And you have to remember, there were hardly any people living in the Arctic to begin with. After the Great Nirvana, even the scientific expeditions stopped going there. It's just like those island nations from before the Great Nirvana Era—now they're all monster paradises. The difference is, the Arctic doesn't have any King-Level Monsters yet. This is also the first time our Training Camp has held a trial there."

"But," Li Ping said, picking up his cup for a sip, "the Arctic is safer than Australia. Places like Australia, the Amazon in South America, and the Sahara in Africa are the real monster strongholds. Our Training Camp can't compare with the Limit Dojo and the Thunder Dojo. We can't send our trainees to places that dangerous..."

"Do you remember Dr. Long?" Li Ping asked suddenly.

"...Of course!" A graceful figure came to Feng Qingmo's mind. "What does Dr. Long have to do with this?"

"Our Military once sent a team to the Arctic on a mission. They happened to hunt some Arctic monsters and bring them back. After studying them, Dr. Long found that Arctic monsters seemed somewhat different from those at lower latitudes. She wanted to study more of them. That was one of the reasons..."

"There's another reason?" Feng Qingmo grew even more curious.

Li Ping hesitated, then lowered his voice. "Do you remember Shenliukov and Wang Xiangying?"

"Mm." Feng Qingmo nodded. "I spent so long in City 007 this time that I thought I might run into them and find a chance to probe their motives. But I never did."

"Of course you didn't!" Li Ping chuckled softly. "They set their sights on a mysterious research institute our country has deep in the Qinling Mountains. As it happened, the Chief was there and captured them alive..."

He put a little extra emphasis on the words "as it happened," and the two of them shared a knowing laugh.