Are You Trying to Assassinate Me?

Fifty days until the College Entrance Exam.

Lu Chong still joined the other students in sweeping through the Wilderness that morning. None of them knew he was already an official Martial Artist.

In fact, unless Lu Chong deliberately revealed his Gang Qi, even Sister Yu, who followed behind him, couldn't tell.

The truth was, hunting beasts in the Wilderness had become no challenge for him.

After all, Level 2 Exotic Beasts were rare near the Fortress.

But Lu Chong cared a lot about the military merit he could earn here. It was what he relied on to exchange for resources.

Besides, there was also Xue Cheng, waiting to give him more military merit.

Now Lu Chong was even more short of money than before he broke through—desperately so.

Improving his cultivation required high-grade nutritional supplements, each one costing a hundred thousand. He could use one up every ten days.

And after his Golden Cicada Robe reached perfection, it evolved into the Earth-tier Golden Bell Shield, which also needed more and better medicinal solutions to support it. They were no cheaper than the supplements.

So every morning, the moment Lu Chong opened his eyes, he had to think about how to earn enough to support himself.

But even though he was getting more and more adept at snatching the kills, the military merit he could earn near the Fortress was limited. He only managed a little over three hundred points a day, barely more than Xue Cheng, who ranked second.

"This is fine, too. Xue Cheng hasn't given up, so I can have him pay me back all at once when training ends."

Lu Chong had worked it out: by the end of training, Xue Cheng should have saved up nearly ten thousand military merit points for him, just enough to support him until the College Entrance Exam.

That afternoon, Lu Chong still didn't train with the students. Instead, he sparred with the Martial Artists in the army.

His opponent was Li Yibing, the Special Warfare Class squad leader who had trained him before.

The squad leader, a Martial Artist Third Stage, had come to admire Lu Chong more and more. He was also willing to spar with him tirelessly, helping him get used to how official Martial Artists fought.

Although Lu Chong didn't reveal his Earth-Rank Martial Skills, he could learn about the many ways Gang Qi could be used from Li Yibing, gaining a great deal from the experience.

Li Yibing, meanwhile, was astonished to find that even with his Martial Artist Third Stage cultivation and a Great Accomplishment Earth-Rank Martial Skill, he could only match Lu Chong.

Lu Chong used Human-Rank Martial Skills, but he had so many of them, and every one had reached perfection. He was practically flawless.

What shocked Li Yibing most was that Lu Chong, who had only recently broken through to become a Martial Artist, was in no way inferior to him in strength, speed, or reflexes.

After three days of sparring like this, Li Yibing had no choice but to call for help, bringing in the other squad leaders to take turns practicing with Lu Chong.

Lu Chong was no less generous with the soldiers. Every day, he set aside an hour to guide them in their Martial Skill training.

Before long, quite a few of the young soldiers began calling Lu Chong Instructor Lu of their own accord.

When Principal Fang, Cheng Dongye, and the other instructors saw this bizarre scene, it was easy to imagine how stunned they were.

Cheng Dongye couldn't help sighing. "If that kid stayed in the military, it wouldn't take long for him to become a head instructor."

Unfortunately, that wasn't where Lu Chong's ambitions lay.

At Colonel Huang's instruction, Cheng Dongye had personally approached Lu Chong about recruiting him into the military academy, but Lu Chong had politely declined.

It wasn't that Lu Chong looked down on Zhenwu Military Academy. He was simply used to his freedom and knew he couldn't stand the academy's military-style discipline.

Time passed like flowing water. In the blink of an eye, it was the end of April, with only a week left before training ended.

The other students had also wrapped up their Martial Skill training. Every afternoon, they began sparring with soldiers of the same cultivation level.

Then they realized they still couldn't see Lu Chong anywhere.

Meanwhile, the soldiers sparring with them couldn't stop praising Lu Chong whenever they brought him up. Some even called him Instructor Lu.

Only then did the students learn that Lu Chong's training had become completely different from theirs. He had even started training the soldiers here in turn.

What kind of situation was this?

At that moment, Lu Chong was, of course, still getting along famously with the squad leaders.

However, half a month after breaking through to become a Martial Artist, Lu Chong had already reached Martial Artist Second Stage. His strength had increased several times over, and he could even spar with Instructor Cheng Dongye.

A Martial Artist Second Stage who didn't even use Earth-Rank Martial Skills had managed to draw with Cheng Dongye, a Martial Artist Seventh Stage. The squad leaders all felt ashamed of themselves.

As a result, the squad leaders had been put through the wringer lately, and every one of them had made rapid progress.

Name: Lu Chong

Level: Martial Artist Second Stage (72%)

Martial Skills--

Human-Grade Low-Tier: Nine-Shadow Step, Perfect... Heart-Piercing Kick, Perfect

Human-Grade Mid-Tier: Seven-Step Killing Fist, Perfect; Three-Inch Palm, Perfect

Human-tier Top Grade: Tiger Roar Skill, Perfect

Earth-Grade Low-Tier: Wind Blade Leg, Microscopic (16%); Golden Bell Shield, Microscopic (12%); Gale Shadowless Step, Microscopic (16%)

After finishing that day's training, Lu Chong looked at his panel again. Another day of surpassing himself.

He believed that if he really used these three Earth-Grade Low-Tier Martial Skills, even Cheng Dongye wouldn't be a match for him.

After all, all three of his Earth-Rank Martial Skills had reached the Microscopic realm, far beyond what Cheng Dongye, the head instructor, had achieved.

That night, the moon was dark and the wind was strong.

In a cave more than a hundred miles from the Fortress, two men dressed in black were whispering together.

"Big brother, we've figured out that kid's routine. Shouldn't we hurry up and make our move?" one of them asked.

The other man nodded. "That's right. It's time."

"Damn, it's no easy task to ambush a student right under the regular army's nose."

"If that kid didn't love showing off, we'd have a hard time finding an opportunity."

The man who had spoken first said, "Exactly. We're Martial Artists, but there are several high-stage Martial Artists around that kid."

"Even if we manage to ambush him, we won't get away alive."

The big brother snorted. "Once we've pulled this off, we'll take the money and leave Hedong Province. We'll spend some time cultivating in seclusion before coming back out."

"Big bro, you're incredible."

"You actually thought of using the Mother-Child Rat to assassinate that kid."

"Heh... Child Rat died at that kid's hands yesterday. After daybreak, we'll release the Level 2 Mother Rat to track him. One bite will kill him instantly."

Hahaha...

The two men's suppressed laughter echoed faintly through the cave.

Yet at some point, a young man in black sportswear had appeared at the cave entrance.

Only after the two men had finished their discussion did the young man give a light cough and ask pleasantly, "May I ask if you're looking for me?"

"Who?!"

A startled cry rang out from the cave, and two black-clad figures darted out, exposed to the moonlight.

Lu Chong looked at the two men and grinned. "Weren't you just discussing how to assassinate me?"