Chapter 174: Chapter 163: Promotion
By the artificial lake, the sea siren’s corpse floated, blood staining everything.
Zhou Leng stood alone.
The examiner and prison guards stared in disbelief.
That was a sea siren, one of the strongest races in the Ten Realms.
No coastal demon city in any human nation could triumph over them; all had been occupied by the sea sirens.
The Sea Suppression Army was so strong, yet it could only set up a defense line outside West Sea Demon City, incapable of counterattacking to this day.
Such strong sea sirens, even when numerous, only managed to scratch Zhou Leng’s skin?
Even Mountain and River Origin personnel ended up drenched in blood by the spells of sea sirens in the Vitality Stage.
Zhou Leng looked up.
The blue-skinned half-blood sea siren darted into the deep waters of the artificial lake.
Zhou Leng, who played in water since childhood, was only saved once from a cramp by Huang.
Gazing at the lake, he raised his arms, leaped forward into the water, and quickly swam after the half-blood sea siren.
Zhou Leng initially thought that after entering the deep waters, the half-blood sea siren would attack.
Who knew, the blue-skinned sea siren seemed terrified, frantically fleeing without facing the battle.
As good as Zhou Leng was with water, he was human and couldn’t catch up with the sea siren.
Only when exhausted did he have to return to the shore.
"Examiner, what now? In this situation, does it count as my failure?"
The crowd remained silent.
After some time, the examiner helplessly said, "This artificial lake is a dedicated site for battling fish demons. We’ve held no less than a thousand tests here. This is the first time encountering such a situation. Let me consult the higher-ups."
With that, the examiner made a call to contact them.
The prison guards exchanged looks, all befuddled by Zhou Leng.
One guard said, "Dude, come to our West Sea Demon City defense line. You’re so good with water, and skilled in water element martial arts; you’re perfect for slaying sea sirens."
"When the opportunity arises, I’ll come." Zhou Leng had always wanted to showcase his skills at the West Sea Demon City defense line.
"Your water skills are frighteningly good."
"How do you manage to split water so easily? Even Innate Masters can’t match your ability."
Recalling his first water battle, Zhou Leng realized the oversight now.
In the water, one usually faces great resistance.
But recalling just now, whether walking in waist-deep water, raising a leg above water, or swimming, it all went incredibly smoothly.
All the water seemed to clear a path for him.
The Mystic Tide Technique, powerful though it was, couldn’t achieve this.
The image of the fractured Sea Suppression Picture came to mind.
"It might be some special attribute from my Mystic Tide Technique," Zhou Leng said.
"I see."
"This has indeed happened in similar cases. It might also relate to a Body of Wonders or a Qi Marvelous Body..."
Everyone looked at Zhou Leng with envy, knowing that talent like his would be cherished by the Sea Suppression Army at the West Sea Demon City defense line.
Zhou Leng chatted with the prison guards, occasionally glancing at the artificial lake.
The half-blood sea siren remained hidden.
Soon, the examiner said, "Let’s switch to another venue. Over there, we’ve prepared a new mid-stage body refining sea siren for you. Defeat it, and you’ll pass."
The examiner and prison guards led Zhou Leng to the adjacent artificial lake.
As Zhou Leng stepped in, a humanoid blue-skinned sea siren emerged from the shallow waters.
This sea siren was nearly three meters tall, with bony fins behind its elbows and on each side of its head.
It stepped forward with its massive webbed feet, swinging a palm at Zhou Leng, muttering something unintelligible.
Zhou Leng stepped forward, grasped the sea siren’s forearm, then swiftly pivoted, executing an over-the-shoulder throw.
Bam!
The sea siren slammed onto the ground, its body bouncing, shattering the concrete surface and sending debris flying.
The sea siren vomited blood with a wide gush.
Just as it was about to counterattack, Zhou Leng’s five fingers, brimming with True Qi, seized its head and violently slammed it against the ground.
Its occiput hit solidly, vomiting blood once more, its vision blurring as its clenched fists loosened.
Bam! Bam! Bam...
Zhou Leng continued slamming, and after over a dozen strikes, the sea siren’s head shattered, disintegrating with a grasp.
Zhou Leng flung off the blood and brain matter from his hand, calmly walking out.
The prison guards watched silently.
"Exceeded standards." The examiner pronounced.
The combat duration was far too short.
The target time was one hour.
But Zhou Leng’s actual combat time totaled less than five minutes.
Zhou Leng followed the examiner to the demonized helicopter, flying back to the Lieutenant Camp.
The prison guards gathered to analyze the battle in detail.
The demonized helicopter landed right at lunchtime.
Zhou Leng had arranged to meet Li Yuanhe in the cafeteria.
Zhou Leng entered the cafeteria, scanning the crowd, and walked toward Li Yuanhe.
"Third Brother."
Li Yuanhe looked up and stood, observing Zhou Leng closely.
He vividly remembered that a year ago, when he departed, Zhou Leng only came up to his chin, with a face full of boyishness.
Now, Zhou Leng’s height was almost catching up to his, his face still boyish, yet carrying faint traces of wear from life’s experiences.
"You kid," Li Yuanhe laughed as he gently patted Zhou Leng on the shoulder, "How was the combat test?"
"Exceeded standards."
"Good heavens..." Li Yuanhe knew very well the difficulty of a one-day combat camp test.
If it were him back then, in the early and middle stages of Body Refinement, there would be no chance of success, even in the late stage, even if he passed, he’d have to lie down when coming back.
He glanced at Zhou Leng, apart from being stained with blood and having some slight bruising on his skin, there were no injuries to be seen.
"Let’s get some food first," Li Yuanhe said.
Li Yuanhe went with Zhou Leng to get food, and then they chatted together.
The trainees and instructors were particularly puzzled to see this scene while they were eating, wondering how Zhou Leng, having only been in camp for a day, was already friendly with Elder Song and laughing and joking with Li Yuanhe.
Although Li Yuanhe had just arrived at the Competition Camp not long ago, he was already somewhat famous, being a graduate of a formal military academy and a potential Innate. He was here just to gain experience, and maybe in a few months, he would be promoted and soar to great heights.
The cafeteria here was much like a school, but the difference was, every person could have two servings of ordinary meat herbal cuisine for free at each meal.
Or exchange military merits for a serving of upper-rank meat herbal cuisine.
Zhou Leng directly ordered one serving of upper-rank meat herbal cuisine and two servings of ordinary meat herbal cuisine.
After getting their food, the two sat at a table and stopped talking to eat quickly.
After eating, they went to get more food and chatted while doing so.
One round, two rounds, three rounds, four rounds...
Upon reaching fifteen rounds, Li Yuanhe stopped.
Then, he watched as Zhou Leng continued eating.
Seeing Zhou Leng eat over thirty rounds, Li Yuanhe was silent for a long time before saying, "Young people are still growing. It’s normal to eat more."
After eating, the two of them walked out of the cafeteria, chatting as they strolled.
Li Yuanhe talked about his experiences in military school while Zhou Leng recounted his own experiences over the past half-year.
Later, Li Yuanhe said, "I heard from a friend about what happened with you in the morning. Those four who were tested with you were all from West Sea Martial Arts Academy. They wanted to suppress you..."
Zhou Leng thought to himself, no wonder those people looked at him differently than others.
After they finished chatting, Li Yuanhe asked, "Are you planning to challenge someone from the first tier in the afternoon?"
Zhou Leng nodded.
Li Yuanhe said, "Being able to pass the combat test shows that you have enough strength. This afternoon’s battle shouldn’t be difficult one-on-one, but if you fight five matches in a row, even if you can replenish your True Qi, can your body handle it?"
"Shouldn’t be a problem," Zhou Leng sensed his body.
"The morning’s test and combat test didn’t affect you much? On a scale where exhausting yourself completely is a 10, what would you rate your current level of fatigue?" Li Yuanhe asked.
"About 2 or 3, since I’ve been riding back and forth in a helicopter, resting for a while, and taking supplements," Zhou Leng said.
Li Yuanhe asked in surprise, "Did you max out on Replenishing Essence Pills?"
"Yes, fully maxed," Zhou Leng replied.
"And how about the Strengthening Body Pills?"
"Six pills. In the early stages I took them slowly to fully digest, then later as the effects diminished, I sped up the intake," Zhou Leng said.
Li Yuanhe looked at Zhou Leng and honestly said, "Your current physical strength is beyond what I can understand, probably only those well-known Innate masters can comprehend it. Very good, in one or two years you’ll surpass me."
"Aren’t you about to advance to Innate?" Zhou Leng asked.
Li Yuanhe sighed lightly, shook his head, and said, "I will soon advance to the Vitality Stage and could be said to have the potential for Innate. But, how many of the Vitality Stage ever reach Innate?"
"Is advancing to Innate particularly difficult?"
"Of course it’s difficult. There are multiple paths to advancing to Innate. Very few can pursue multiple simultaneously, but most people can only choose to cultivate one to the extreme in order to break through to Innate," Li Yuanhe explained.
Li Yuanhe continued, "The three currently common paths are breaking through via Body Refinement, True Qi, and willpower, collectively known as the ’Three Breaches to Innate’."
"At first, I also fantasized about the Three Breaches to Innate because it would make me stronger."
"But over the past few months, as I continually refined and sensed myself, I’m finding the Three Breaches to Innate increasingly difficult."
"Now, I’d be satisfied with just one break to Innate."
"But you’re different," Li Yuanhe said, looking at Zhou Leng.
"You’ve passed two tests, all above the standard, indicating you have no shortcomings."
"When you advance to the Vitality Stage, make sure to aim for Three Breaches to Innate. Your body and True Qi are fine, how about your Martial Arts Will?"
"It’s okay," Zhou Leng replied.
"That’s good. I just formed a semi-transparent Mountain of Will half a month ago. Achieving willpower breakthrough to Innate is nearly impossible."
"My body isn’t as strong as Zhang Xinglie’s, so probably only True Qi is suitable for my Innate breakthrough."
"Can you rely on medicine to break through to Innate?" Zhou Leng asked.
Li Yuanhe shook his head, "Yes and no."
"To rely on medicine to break through to Innate, you need to take a large amount of pills from a young age, with the total cost reaching billions. We’ve already missed that chance, so for us, it’s a no."
"The Innate children of Martial Valve Races often achieve it this way."
"You probably used promotion elixirs when advancing Qi Blood and Body Refinement. That’s just a common name for those pills."
"Innate masters usually call them ’Promotion Supplement’ pills, as they compensate for bodily deficiencies caused by advancement."
"Without these pills, you could still advance."
"It’s the same for Innate; there are Promotion Supplement pills, but no Breakthrough pills."
"Otherwise, even injured martial arts geniuses could achieve a breakthrough."
"Like Elder Song, heard you know him?"
Zhou Leng nodded.
Li Yuanhe continued, "He was injured in such a way that he couldn’t refine his body, and no medicine could change that. If he could just fix his foundational damage, he could achieve Innate in a day, and ultimately even hope to become a Martial Saint."
"Is Elder Song really that strong?"
Li Yuanhe thought for a moment and said, "I heard top experts talk about this before. We often talk about IQ and EQ, but if there were something like ’Martial IQ,’ then Elder Song would probably be at the ’Grandmaster’ level, which means he has potential to become a Martial Saint. It’s just that his origins were humble, plus he got injured; otherwise, he might already be a Martial Saint."
"Elder Song is quite unfortunate," Zhou Leng said.
Li Yuanhe said, "Since you know Elder Song, find an opportunity to consult with him. His knowledge of martial arts is particularly profound, especially in martial techniques. Many Innate and even Grandmasters seek his advice in creating killing moves."
"Is that so? Then I’ll find some time to chat with him." Zhou Leng had always been finding ways to elevate ’Thousand Tides Pouring into the Sea’ into a killing move, but had only managed two killing moves.
Li Yuanhe said, "Since your physical sensing is fine, those five people aren’t much of a concern. If you have the time in the future, go to West Sea Demon City for some honing."