Martial Ascent to Divinity

In the nine people's packages, there were a total of 5 Replenishing Essence Pills, and thirty to forty Qi Nourishing Pills and Blood Replenishing Pills, along with quite a few miscellaneous items.

Excluding the pills and the demonized crossbows, the scattered items were worth hundreds of thousands.

It shows that most ordinary martial artists are not that wealthy; they spend all their earnings on cultivation.

Zhou Leng continued counting and took out a sealed document folder.

He tore it open and extracted a laminated map, marked with six characters in both Central English and Chinese.

Mountain Melting Furnace Map.

Zhou Leng examined it closely, and the map was very rough, seemingly located within a large mountain.

It marked a few passages and notes inside.

Some notes even included divine text symbols, most of which Zhou Leng recognized.

Zhou Leng thought for a while, then opened the database to search for "Mountain Melting Furnace."

He quickly found several pieces of information.

Mountain Melting Furnace is the name of an Ancient Dwarf King, equivalent to a Human Martial Saint.

He was the rejuvenator of the Dwarf Race.

He was also the Dwarf Race's first "King of Unity."

Mountain Melting Furnace was proficient in divine texts and wielded powerful treasures.

Before him, dwarves were just a bit stronger than ordinary tribes.

After him, all dwarves' skins became as hard as steel, promoting them to Steel Dwarves.

He led the Steel Dwarves multiple times to crush the Beastman Army, laying the foundation for the Dwarf Race.

Like most ancient kings, Mountain Melting Furnace distributed part of his treasure to the tribe, putting some in a maze he constructed.

Zhou Leng recalled that besides Yu Baocheng, whom he had killed, and Tu Rong, whom he had seen a few times, there were also many foreign martial artists in the car at that time.

The reason those foreign martial artists were with Yu Baocheng must have been for the treasure of this Ancient King Mountain Melting Furnace.

Zhou Leng casually put it away; this thing was hard to sell, and he didn't plan on going to any ancient king's treasure, waiting for a chance to ask Molten Hammer instead.

Zhou Leng carefully put away the Replenishing Essence Pills.

In the past month, he had consumed a great many Replenishing Essence Pills.

In the Celestial Ladder, he had accumulated 29 pills.

After coming out, through joint exams, monthly exams, and high-level rewards, he acquired 14 pills.

Also secretly consumed two from Liang Baiyin.

The total had reached 61 pills.

A few days ago, to combat demonization, he finished them all.

Now, with 5 more in stock, he was getting closer to the goal of 100 Replenishing Essence Pills.

"66 pills, a very auspicious number. Indeed, wealth is found in danger..."

In the past, Zhou Leng didn't understand why martial artists always liked adventuring.

Now, watching the records of core elixirs increase daily, getting closer to the 100 pill limit, he finally understood.

Zhou Leng packed everything up, pondering the most important next step.

"At least obtain 'Dwarf Resident' status to qualify for the Giant Trial and gain the Giant Body."

"Currently, neither the people I know nor the database provides any specific method to acquire dwarf resident status."

"I must enter the dwarf tribe to investigate."

"Though the Steel Dwarves are generally rough but fair-minded."

"I need to be well-prepared in the next few days to enter the dwarf tribe."

"Think about what's missing..."

Zhou Leng first listed out what was needed and then searched the database for necessities for entering the dwarf world.

He saw a post someone made long ago on the forum.

"Going to the dwarf world, nothing else is useful, just bring enough orange gold, the hard currency among dwarves and beastmen, and you'll have everything you need."

Zhou Leng's eyes brightened, and he pulled out a bag of orange gold from the Magic Spirit Bag.

This was what he obtained when he dealt with those Hafu Martial Arts Academy students at the Celestial Ladder.

Then, it seemed unsellable, but now it turned out to be very useful.

Next, he continued looking for various necessities.

"Since so many people are talking about needing Corpse-Dissolving Potions, it seems it's indeed worth purchasing some. These things truly can avoid a lot of trouble."

"Whom should I ask about this? Instructor Deng Zhijue? Not great, after all, he's with the Martial Guard..."

Zhou Leng left the Fierce Beast World, returned to Xiaoru Village, and contacted Li Linhan by phone.

"Uncle Li, I want to buy something a bit shady, like potions for dealing with animal corpses, do you have any suitable channels?"

"It's what your Uncle Wan does. I'll give you his Martial Faith and contact information. Whatever you want or need to handle anything, just find him. We're all family; there's absolutely no problem. He... won't leak any secrets."

Zhou Leng imagined the middle-aged man who never spoke, always smiling, wearing a transport uniform.

Wan Xingde, a former Sea Suppression Army veteran, was poisoned in battle with Sea Sirens, leaving him unable to speak for years.

Soon, Li Linhan sent over a message.

Zhou Leng added Wan Xingde on Martial Faith.

"Uncle Wan, I want to buy some things from your place." Zhou Leng typed and sent the message.

Wan Xingde directly sent over the address location.

"I'm off to escort something today; my son is home. Just find him to buy it. You two met in childhood, we're family. Don't be too formal."

"Alright, thank you, Uncle Wan."

Zhou Leng tried hard to recall, and an outline of a chubby boy emerged in his mind, but due to many years of absence, he couldn't quite remember his name or specific appearance.

Following the address, Zhou Leng took a cab there.

The vehicle stopped at the Ghost Market.

"Young man, make sure to wear a mask." The taxi driver said and then left.

Zhou Leng bought a mask from a nearby pharmacy and put it on, then used his phone's navigation, and within five minutes, he walked into a street-side shop in the Ghost Market.

"Welcome."

A youthful voice rang out.

Zhou Leng looked up and saw a sixteen or seventeen-year-old youth sitting behind the counter, holding a pen with exam papers in front of him.

The youth was thin and slightly pale, as if he had some illness.

He looked nothing like the chubby kid from his memory.

Zhou Leng vaguely remembered the face and said, "Before I came, I had a word with Uncle Wan."

"My dad mentioned that we met when we were young. My name is Wan Liping." The youth showed a shy smile.

Zhou Leng nodded and said, "I'm Zhou Leng. I'm here to buy some adventure gear and handle some... odds and ends."

"Alright, you can sit down first. Write a list of what you need, and I'll fetch it from the back warehouse. If we don't have it, you can leave your address, or we can arrange a time to pick it up." Wan Liping said as he went to make tea.

Zhou Leng first took out some odds and ends for Wan Liping to appraise.

Then he bought some items for adventure and placed them into the Magic Spirit Bag.

Wan Liping glanced several times at the Magic Spirit Bag, something even his father was reluctant to use.

In the end, he got 160,000 from selling the odds and ends and spent 270,000 on purchases.

After bidding farewell to Wan Liping, Zhou Leng wandered slowly around the Ghost Market.

This trip felt entirely different from the last one.

After a few steps, he saw a stand with a sign that had a few large characters on it.

"High price purchase of Innate Demon Bull Bones."

Zhou Leng glanced at the vendor and then looked away, walking past naturally.

A slight ripple stirred in his heart.

That person was the one who previously bought his Demon Bull Bone.

Zhou Leng thought for a moment, understanding the cause and effect.

Quickly leaving, he circled around to ensure no one was following before heading to Xiaoru Village.

The next day, classes were as usual.

After having lunch with Xu Qingjin at noon, Zhou Leng went to Deng Zhijue's office.

He knocked and entered.

"Hello, Instructor Deng." Zhou Leng walked into the familiar room.

Deng Zhijue glanced at the closed door and asked, "Did you seclude for a week to advance to the late stage of Blood Transport?"

"Yes."

Deng Zhijue looked Zhou Leng up and down and said, "Very good, you can now prepare for the Body Refining Stage. I'll send you a document with the promotion's key points. But you'd best wait to finish 100 Replenishing Essence Pills to solidify your foundation, then eat at least three Strengthening Body Pills before advancing to Body Refinement."

"I will prepare seriously," Zhou Leng replied.

"Sign these two documents," Deng Zhijue said, pushing two papers across his desk.

Zhou Leng looked closely, his eyes brightening slightly.

One was an invitation to the "Elite Training Camp of the Martial Guard Department."

The other was a final review result for the "Eagle Plan."

Deng Zhijue said, "The processes are complete for the invitation to the Elite Training Camp of the Martial Guard Department; sign, and you can directly receive it."

"As for the Eagle Plan, after you sign, arrangements will be made, and resources for cultivation will be distributed once every three months."

"Additionally, Hall Master Wang has specially applied for a 'Ladder Supplemental Agreement' for you. If you reach the Body Refining Stage by the end of this semester, the Eagle Plan reward increases by 30%. If you reach the Vitality Stage by next semester's end, you'll be directly promoted to the Flying Eagle Plan."

"The Three Eagles Plan provides increasingly more resources. You must have heard. If..."

Deng Zhijue paused, fixing his gaze on Zhou Leng's eyes, and said slowly, "If you can advance to Innate within four years and become a 'Student Innate,' not only will you be directly promoted to the Divine Eagle Plan, but the Martial Guard Department will strive for you to have a 'Special Selection Student' spot and 'Holy Land' qualification, offering unimaginable rewards. Or rather, anything you want, you can request."

Zhou Leng pondered for a moment and asked, "Has our Martial Arts Hall ever had a Student Innate?"

Deng Zhijue shook his head, saying, "A Student Innate typically only emerges at Yunhua Jinjing, and those two schools don't have affiliated Martial Arts Halls. Even within the Top Ten, producing a Student Innate is difficult, let alone a Martial Arts School Student."

"Martial Arts School Students have also produced Innate, but that's after graduation."

"So, if you become the Martial Arts Hall's first Student Innate, the old folks at the Martial Guard Department won't be stingy with their rewards."

"Four Wonders Body?" Zhou Leng asked.

"It can be helped to acquire."

"Martial Saint's student?"

"You can become a registered disciple," Deng Zhijue said.

"Headless God?"

Deng Zhijue paused for a moment and said, "You should be able to obtain a usage right for one item, but not a gift. After all, it's currently humanity's strongest weapon."

Zhou Leng nodded lightly, realizing the rewards were even more generous than he imagined.

"What if someone targets me?" Zhou Leng asked, seemingly casually.

Deng Zhijue smiled slightly and said, "The new Martial Guard Department Chief, when he was still a Deputy Chief, brought a search warrant with his signature and led the Martial Guard into a Martial Clan's head residence, arresting one criminal. You might not believe me, but you should trust Hall Master Wang and the Martial Mansion."

"I trust Hall Master Wang and the Chief," Zhou Leng responded.

Deng Zhijue said, "Sign."

Zhou Leng signed first, then slowly reviewed the contents.

The Elite Training Camp of the Martial Guard Department doesn't have much to it, just an intermediate-level camp.

Whereas the Eagle Plan contains a detailed description.

The Eagle Plan aims to cultivate high-level talent for the Martial Guard Department over three years.

A batch of cultivation resources is distributed every three months.

Each time, different tiers of pills are given depending on each person's realm.

The minimum value of resources dispatched each time is at least three million.

Annually, no less than twelve million.

Zhou Leng looked at the first batch of resources.

Replenishing Essence Pills, 20 pieces.

Qi Nourishing Pills, 50 pieces.

Blood Replenishing Pills, 50 pieces.

Cash, fifty thousand.

This batch of cultivation resources reached a total value of 3.5 million.

Zhou Leng finally understood why so many competed for the Three Eagles Plan and the even higher Three Qing Major Fund.