Dragon Country's Martial Saints, Qin Chen's Mysterious Master

What followed was simple. Qin Chen naturally took first place, while everyone else had already been carried away for treatment.

In a spacious room, more than ten instructors stared at Qin Chen as though he were a monster.

"Everyone, there's no need to look at me like that, is there?" Qin Chen was beginning to feel a little embarrassed.

"Tell me, just how strong are you?" Yang Xue asked seriously.

Right now, she couldn't get a read on Qin Chen's strength at all. Were dual elements really that terrifying?

"I'm a One-Star Martial Artist," Qin Chen replied.

"Tell the truth." Yang Xue glared at him.

A One-Star Martial Artist? Who was he trying to fool? She had never seen a One-Star Martial Artist this monstrous.

"A dual-element One-Star Martial Artist!" Seeing that they didn't believe him, Qin Chen had no choice but to explain helplessly.

As for his third element, he naturally kept it to himself. Dual-element martial artists were rare, but there were still some across Dragon Country, and there had been people who had broken through to become martial artists in both elements at once before.

"So you broke through in both elements? No wonder!"

Just then, the instructor who appeared to be the oldest among them spoke up.

Everyone turned to look at him. His name was Xie Jun. He was the oldest among them and the first to have joined the Military Department, so he surely knew more than they did.

Seeing their questioning looks, Xie Jun didn't explain immediately. Instead, he said, "This is a secret, but you're all elites of the Military Department, so there's really no harm in telling you."

"However, Qin Chen, if you want to hear it, it's fine as long as you join the Military Department later. If you don't, you'll have to forget what was said here today!"

"Of course!" Qin Chen nodded.

He was definitely going to join the Military Department. Beast crystals could help him rapidly increase his strength, and the only way to obtain large quantities of them was to join the Military Department and go to the front lines.

Otherwise, he would need a great deal of money to buy them, and he didn't have that much.

Seeing him agree, Xie Jun nodded and continued, "You all know that Dragon Country has four great Martial Saints."

Everyone nodded. Martial artists above nine stars were known as Martial Saints.

Dragon Country had four in total. One of them was the founder of the Military Department, Xia Nantian, whom its members respectfully called the War God.

"Our Military Department's War God Xia isn't actually above nine stars. He's a nine-star, a dual-element nine-star!"

Xie Jun's words were like a depth charge, making everyone tremble in shock.

None of them had met Xia Nantian, but as far as they knew, he was a Martial Saint, an expert above nine stars.

Yet they could hardly believe the truth. Those above nine stars were Martial Saints; the word "saint" alone showed how powerful they were. It was hard to imagine that a nine-star could also be called a Martial Saint.

"Are dual elements really that terrifying?" the instructors couldn't help exclaiming.

"That's why I think nothing is too far-fetched when someone breaks through in both elements at once!" Xie Jun looked at Qin Chen.

Qin Chen hurriedly said, "Instructor Xie really does know a lot!"

He hadn't expected Xie Jun to offer him an explanation.

But Xie Jun wasn't right, either. Qin Chen was this strong because he had three elements; someone with two definitely wouldn't possess his current strength.

That was also because Xie Jun didn't have two elements himself. He had said that by comparing Qin Chen to Xia Nantian.

But he had forgotten that Xia Nantian was a nine-star. Cultivating multiple elements became more difficult the further one progressed and required a great deal of time, so one also became stronger at the later stages.

"All right, everyone knows Qin Chen's true strength now. But when we submit his information, let's just say he's a One-Star Martial Artist," Yang Xue said with a sudden smile.

The other instructors also wore mischievous grins and voiced their agreement.

They were all from Jiang Province, so they naturally hoped that this time's General Star would come from Jiang Province. Concealing Qin Chen's information could also catch the others off guard.

Before long, the other instructors left the room, leaving only Qin Chen and Yang Xue.

Yang Xue looked at Qin Chen. "There's a reward for this assessment. If you want money, it's four million. If you want martial arts or something similar, you can exchange it for an equivalent value."

"That much?" Qin Chen asked in surprise.

He wasn't surprised that there was a reward for the assessment; there always was one, after all. But a reward of four million outright was still unexpected.

Yang Xue said calmly, "Four million isn't all that much. This is the reward for the first-place winner in all of Jiang Province. Although our Military Department is short on funds, we're never stingy when it comes to nurturing geniuses."

The Military Department could be said to need geniuses more than anyone else in Dragon Country.

"Aren't you afraid I won't join the Military Department later?"

"You don't have to join, but you'll definitely have to pay the money back." Yang Xue smiled.

The Military Department wasn't a sucker, so of course it wouldn't be so generous for nothing. The reason it offered such a large reward now was to make the geniuses it recruited feel grateful to the Military Department, making them more inclined to join it later.

"Very reasonable!" Qin Chen nodded.

"Well, have you decided? Do you want money, martial arts, or a weapon?" Yang Xue asked.

Qin Chen shook his head. "None of those. I want beast crystals, level-one beast crystals."

Yang Xue was taken aback. She looked at Qin Chen seriously before finally saying, "What do you want beast crystals for? I suggest you ask for something that can directly increase your strength instead."

Beast crystals could only be used to forge special equipment, which took a great deal of time. If he wanted equipment, he could ask for it directly.

Qin Chen thought for a moment, then said slowly, "There's something you don't know, Instructor Yang. The reason I've achieved what I have is actually..."

"What is it?" Yang Xue asked hurriedly.

She had always been curious about why Qin Chen had improved so quickly, but some things were personal secrets. If he didn't bring them up, she couldn't very well ask.

It was the first time Qin Chen had seen her so curious. He smiled. "Actually... Instructor Yang, please don't tell anyone else."

"Don't worry!" Yang Xue hurriedly nodded. She was getting a little anxious and thought Qin Chen was being too long-winded.

Qin Chen continued, "Actually, I have a master. He's been teaching me all along, which is why I've improved so quickly. The reason I want beast crystals is that my master needs them. He's very fond of studying beast crystals and says he wants to use them to bring about changes in martial artists themselves and make them stronger."

"Or he might study some special martial arts to give martial artists greater strength!"

Hearing this, Yang Xue was shaken and couldn't help showing a trace of admiration.

"Your master..."

"My master is just a martial artist who wants to devote himself to research. He doesn't want anyone to know he exists, but he said that once his research finally bears fruit, he'll make it public!"

Qin Chen hurriedly interrupted Yang Xue and spoke up.

Yang Xue's expression grew complicated. After a long while, she said, "Your master is a great man!"

She knew that Dragon Country had martial artists who devoted themselves to research. They labored in obscurity, yet they had made enormous contributions to the entire country.

Take martial artists today, for example. Many martial arts had actually come from those people.

In fact, martial artists with dual elements weren't necessarily born that way.

Decades ago, a dual-element Grandmaster martial artist had used himself as a research subject and ultimately developed a special medicine. Taking it gave a person a chance to gain dual-element talent, working on the same principle as the Sensitivity Enhancement Pill Qin Chen had obtained from the system.

The medicine's chance of success was very low, however, so even now there weren't many dual-element martial artists.

But some people had succeeded in the end.

Yang Xue knew that the Grandmaster martial artist and his successors were now in some unknown place, researching a medicine with a higher success rate.

"My master's main focus is on three elements!" Qin Chen suddenly added.

He thought he could start preparing for the eventual exposure of his multiple elements.

Yang Xue stared at Qin Chen in shock before finally nodding.

"In that case, I'll convert your reward into the corresponding amount of level-one beast crystals," Yang Xue said, offering to help.

Qin Chen was delighted and hurriedly said, "Then thank you, Instructor Yang. My master also has the fire element, so fire-element crystals would be best!"