Chapter 50 - 50: Doubt
With everyone staring in shock, Lin Zhen quickly retreated.
Entering the hotel room, Lin Zhen ran without looking back. After turning a few corners, the giant swallows couldn’t fly in the narrow space, and he was safe.
The others finally came to their senses and hurriedly followed Lin Zhen inside.
They didn’t stop until they reached a small room.
Everyone was panting heavily, but no one spoke.
Shi Lei and the others were astonished by Lin Zhen’s performance just now. Shi Lei was a Level Three War General, but he could feel that Lin Zhen’s spear attack, like a torrential rain, was nearly impossible for him to dodge. He could only choose to withstand it or fight in a mutually destructive way.
Could it be that Lin Zhen already had the strength of a Primary Battle General at its peak?
Everyone found it hard to believe.
Lin Zhen, on the other hand, was immersed in the joy of his harvest. Yes, in that moment of life and death just now, he had another epiphany and successfully grasped the Storm.
That is to say, he had successfully cultivated the second layer of his Nine Layers Spear River!
The Nine-Layers Spear River, an ancient classic, had extraordinary power.
Once Lin Zhen mastered Stormy Wind and Rain, as long as he had the Black Dragon Spear, he could fight against Primary Battle General at the peak and even freshly promoted Intermediate War Generals!
Moreover, throughout the bitter battle just now, Lin Zhen never forgot to use the breathing and exhaling method to cultivate his physical strength. Due to the absorption of the Dark Energy Stone, the residual power of the potion in his body had been stimulated once again, and he could feel that his physical constitution had improved a bit more, probably reaching the peak of a Level Eight Fighter. With a bit more training, he could advance to a Level Nine Warrior.
“As I thought, this kind of life-and-death battle is indeed the fastest way to advance in cultivation. When I left Base City, I had just stepped into Level Eight, but now I’m almost Level Nine.”
“Besides, mastering Storm was my biggest gain today. With my spiritual power, Primary Battle Generals can hardly threaten me now. Facing Zhang Huai, I’m confident in killing him.”
After resting for a while, Lin Zhen noticed that everyone was staring at him, and even Zhao Liang had forgotten that his wound was still bleeding. He realized that his performance had somewhat frightened them.
Lin Zhen smiled and said, ‘What’s wrong, everyone? Why are you looking at me like this?”
“Lin Zhen, you… did you just… break through?” Zhao Liang stammered.
“Yes, Brother Zhao, I did have some epiphany while practicing my techniques just now, and I did break through.”
“I feel like your strength and speed have both increased quite a bit. It seems like you’re not in the early stage of Level Eight anymore.”
“Well, I’ve made some progress, almost Level Nine now.”
“Genius! You’re really a genius! Your progress is simply astounding. How did our team manage to recruit a genius like you? If I report this to the head of the Martial Arts Hall, he’ll definitely report your situation to the headquarters and have you join the Gale Martial Arts Hall’s special training camp.”
The Special Training Camp was a gathering place for the elite of a martial arts hall, dedicated to cultivating talented geniuses. The students there would enjoy generous treatment, and they wouldn’t even have to worry about purchasing resources; the martial arts hall would pay for everything, and the students would only need to focus on cultivating.
Only by reaching the War God Stage could one graduate from the Special Training Camp, and entering it was considered an honor by every martial artist.
However, the entrance conditions are also very strict. Only those who perform particularly well and are recommended by the local martial arts hall head may enter. Even First-Class Students are not eligible to directly enter the Special Training Camp.
The only exception was that Spiritual Mind Masters could enter directly.
Lin Zhen had considered this issue before, but he felt that he was not yet ready to go to the Special Training Camp, at least not before the War General Stage. Because in the wild, he knew of many opportunities, some of which were especially important, and he wanted to seize them. For example, the meteorite in Yi Lan County, which was said to be the largest Dark Energy Stone discovered after God Transformation Day, he couldn’t give up on it.
“Brother Zhao, please don’t. I’ve just come out from Base City, and I don’t want to be locked up again. Let me stay wild for a while.”
“Mm-hmm, I’ll listen to you. I also want to be your teammate for a while longer… Ouch, this injury is quite painful, Old Gao, hurry up and apply medicine for me.”
It was only then that Zhao Liang remembered he was injured, and Gao Yan hastily came over to bandage him up.
Everyone had expended a lot of energy and couldn’t go out at the moment, so they stayed in the hotel to rest and recover.
After a short while, Shi Lei said, “Something was fishy about this incident. Someone was plotting against us.”
Gao Yan nodded, “Indeed, someone fired a shot near the bird’s nest back then, alarming the mutated bird flock. The only ones who could fire a gun in the team entering Yi Lan were those few guys with knives and guns.”
“That’s right, it was Kong Shan who did it. But how did he manage to pinpoint our location so accurately? This group of youngsters has a keen sense of smell.”
Ye Tiancheng angrily said, “Those bastards from Demon God, I’ll kill them sooner or later!”
Listening to their words, Lin Zhen remained silent. Demon God and Demon
Hunter had deep-rooted hatred, and their actions could not be blamed. Lin Zhen didn’t think they would be able to find the location of the Demon Hunter team so accurately; it might have been leaked from somewhere.
It was possible that the video Ye Tiancheng had posted online was the source, although it was only posted on the internal network of the martial arts hall, there was still the possibility that the information had been leaked.
Lin Zhen thought for a moment, recalling that Li Tianhao mentioned Old Hu was leaving the martial arts hall, so he asked Zhao Liang, “Brother Zhao, has anyone left the martial arts hall recently?”
Zhao Liang checked the internal network and shook his head, “No, everyone is still here.”
Lin Zhen didn’t say anything more. If Old Hu had left, Lin Zhen wouldn’t be able to determine how the information was leaked. But since Old Hu was still around, there was little doubt.
Old Hu had already joined the Wan Hao Group, and Li Tianhao might have been behind it.
However, without any evidence, Lin Zhen didn’t continue this topic. Shi Lei thought for a while and said, “We don’t have time to seek revenge on Demon God right now. We need to hurry to the stadium, kill the Giant Palm Bear first, and then we retreat. I suggest that we eat and rest now, and take action after midnight.”
Everyone agreed, and Gao Yan was in charge of cooking.
They originally wanted to eat some grilled meat, but now things had changed. Shi Lei took out some compressed biscuits and jerky from his bag, and everyone ate a simple meal before lying down to rest.
Everyone was exhausted and fell asleep as soon as they lay down. Gao Yan, the most relaxed person, took the first two-hour shift, and then Lin Zhen got up to replace him.
As a spiritual mind master, Lin Zhen didn’t need much sleep; he just sat with his eyes closed and rested.
It was already nighttime, and the northern winter had short days. After the God Transformation Day, there was no more environmental pollution or ** heating, so the climate changed even more distinctively, with no more warm winters. Although there was no snow today, the night was cold, and a few scattered stars could be seen in the sky.
Lin Zhen came to the window and sat on the windowsill, gazing at the night sky.
Scenes from his previous life came flooding back. The people of Earth didn’t know how vast and dangerous the universe was out there.
He vividly remembered the helplessness of Earth during the Great Migration, with only a few strong ones able to put up some resistance, while the rest were left to suffer.
It was not long until the arrival of extraterrestrial civilizations, only a decade or so away, which marked the beginning of the second dramatic change for humanity.
Lin Zhen felt an urgent sense of purpose ever since he was reborn. He wanted to do everything he could to improve his strength. In his eyes, Earth’s enemies, as well as Earth’s mutated beasts, were nothing more than sparring partners.
However, some of these sparring partners seemed to be causing trouble, and Lin Zhen would eventually eliminate them.
With these thoughts, Lin Zhen felt increasingly clearheaded, and his spiritual power silently spread out, entering a peculiar state..