Chapter 13: News
The man turned and left, his figure flickering in the rain a few times before disappearing completely.
Mo Xiaoyi and Chen Meng took quite a while to recover from the shock, still wondering who exactly that man was.
“Master!” Mo Xiaoyi couldn’t help but speak in a trembling voice, wanting to ask something.
The old man waved his hand dismissively, “Keep whatever you want to say to yourself. Act as if nothing happened at all.”
Chen Meng was deep in thought. He had pieced together some clues. The old man’s surname was Hong, and his name was Hong Qi. If that man earlier was his son, he must have the surname Hong as well. The man mentioned fallen soldiers, which meant he was likely a soldier himself. Among military men with the surname Hong, the first that came to Chen Meng’s mind was Hong Qing. The Tier-5 Divine Body creature, the Dragon Rock Lion, displayed at the science expo, had been slain by Major Hong Qing. Yan Ruoxi had also said that Hong Qing was from Jiangzhou.
With so many coincidences, it couldn't be just chance. The old man’s son was Hong Qing, who had returned to Jiangzhou and brought back the Tier-5 Divine Body Dragon Rock Lion.
Looking at this eccentric old man, known in the village as “Seventh Uncle,” Chen Meng felt for the first time that he had failed to recognize a great figure. The father of a Major could never be an ordinary person. This was definitely someone powerful.
Due to what had just happened, the old man was no longer in the mood, so he let Chen Meng and Mo Xiaoyi practice on their own, strolling away with his hands behind his back.
Rain continued to fall, and the old man walked through it, letting the heavy drops hit him. At this moment, his figure seemed so weathered and lonely.
“You figured it out too?” Mo Xiaoyi suddenly spoke in a low voice.
Chen Meng nodded, “The old man’s son must be Major Hong Qing. As for the woman whose head was taken by the old man’s son, I don’t know who she is. Regarding the matter of bathing in the blood of one’s kin to advance a tier in Divine Body, I did hear a classmate mention it. At the time, I thought it was just a rumor spread by cultists to incite infighting among us. I never expected the source to be one of our own, and apparently someone of high status.”
It was all simply unbelievable.
Human scientists themselves had developed a method for advancing through bathing in the blood of their own kind—what were they thinking? If Divine Body research all led toward self-destruction, what would be left of humanity in the end?
Mo Xiaoyi’s breathing grew heavy. Slowly, he said, “I have a general idea who that woman was, but I won’t go into detail. Pay attention to the news in the coming days—there might be reports. As for advancing by bathing in the blood of one’s kin, it’s not literally bathing. The blood from a fallen comrade’s Divine Body is fully extracted, then refined through a special process to create a potion. This claim has been circulating for nearly a month now, causing a huge stir in our school. A few people even believe that using the Divine Bodies of fallen comrades to nurture more Divine Body warriors is perfectly acceptable.”
Chen Meng snorted coldly, “Soldiers die for their country, but instead of being properly buried, their blood is extracted to feed those who come after. Are those soldiers even regarded as human? Even if the soldiers themselves requested such treatment, we shouldn’t agree. That’s our bottom line. Only low-level creatures like cockroaches eat their own kind’s corpses. People eating people? That’s a regression of civilization. I think the old man’s son was right—some lines can’t be crossed. Scientific research must have boundaries.”
Mo Xiaoyi looked at Chen Meng in surprise. He hadn’t expected such a strong reaction from him. In this world, with so many unable to advance to Divine Body, most would likely not care how they achieved advancement if given the opportunity.
“Actually, there are already people secretly selling these Divine Body potions tainted with kin’s blood. The price is only ten thousand per vial, more than ten times cheaper than the five kinds of advancement potions made by alchemists. But after this incident, whoever dares to sell such potions again will surely face the consequences,” Mo Xiaoyi thought aloud.
...
Chen Meng took a vial of Life Formula No.1, restoring his stamina greatly, feeling as if nothing was wrong with him at all.
He continued practicing for another hour, still full of energy.
The money was well spent; this way he wouldn’t miss his evening tutoring session.
After returning from tutoring, he immediately searched for today’s news, but found no reports.
Sunday came, and as usual, Chen Meng went to the martial arts hall for training. Mo Xiaoyi did not show up that morning, so Chen Meng practiced the Small Lotus Step taught by the old man on his own. The more he practiced, the more he realized its complexity.
He sensed that the Small Lotus Step was quite extraordinary. The so-called “Small Lotus” required both feet to move as if atop a lotus flower, constantly drawing arcs through its center. Within a confined space, the body shifted through various stances, sliding like an eel to avoid enemy attacks and to build momentum for counterattacks.
“You’re still practicing, junior?” Mo Xiaoyi’s voice came, carrying two meals.
“Senior, where were you? If you hadn’t given me the key yesterday, I couldn’t even get in,” Chen Meng complained.
“I went to deal with your ancestral gold,” Mo Xiaoyi replied, giving Chen Meng a sidelong glance. “It’s been taken care of. The weight was 2.24 kg, gold content was 76%. Since it needs further refining, they couldn’t pay market price and offered 14.5 per gram. Altogether, it sold for 24,685, rounded up to 24,700. I’ve already transferred the money to your mobile account, check it.”
Chen Meng hadn’t expected such a sum, much more than he’d estimated. He’d assumed the gold content was only 70%, but it turned out to be 76%.
He checked his account and saw the 24,700 deposited. However, he knew he couldn’t take all that money for himself, so after thinking it over, he transferred 2,000 to Mo Xiaoyi as a service fee.
“Junior, what’s this for?” Mo Xiaoyi frowned.
“Senior, you probably guessed where the gold came from. If you hadn’t helped me, it would’ve been much harder to deal with. This is what you deserve. If you feel embarrassed, you can just teach me more things,” Chen Meng said with a grin.
Mo Xiaoyi nodded, saying no more.
After giving Mo Xiaoyi 2,000, Chen Meng had 22,700 left, plus the 6,500 transferred by Tang Wenjing and 5,000 from his parents. His assets now totaled 34,200.
Chen Meng muttered to himself, feeling excited. If he spent all this, he could almost finish paging through all the high school runes.
But how should he spend the money?
Chen Meng thought for a moment, then turned his attention back to Mo Xiaoyi. “Senior, do you know any potions or weapons suitable for me at this stage?”
Although he had money, Chen Meng didn’t want to waste it.
Mo Xiaoyi looked at him in surprise, then said, “Junior, if you want to invest in improving your abilities and prepare for becoming a Divine Body, I suggest you start learning shooting.”
“Shooting?” Chen Meng was caught off guard. What does shooting have to do with any of this?
“After advancing to Divine Body, shooting is a crucial skill in combat. After all, no Divine Body below Tier-4 can claim to be invulnerable to bullets,” Mo Xiaoyi explained. “Once you reach college and become a Divine Body, you’re allowed to carry a firearm.”
Chen Meng couldn’t help but mutter, feeling that this university was truly bold—firearms were allowed.
But it made sense. Humanity’s advantage lay in technology, so it was natural to further build on that.
A Tier-1 Divine Body with firearms would have a greater advantage facing enemies.
“All right, I’ll learn!” Chen Meng gritted his teeth. He would treat this as preparation for becoming a Divine Body. Once he advanced, unless he wanted to remain inactive, he would eventually face enemies.
“I’m currently learning shooting myself. The range I go to is called the Skeet Range. Tuition is charged monthly—ten thousand per month, for twelve hours of practice. You can sign up for this range. I’ll send you a link tonight; log in and register, then pay the fee. As for practice times, arrange them yourself, but it takes over an hour from your school to get there, so I suggest you go on Sundays,” Mo Xiaoyi advised.
“So I won’t be coming to the martial arts hall on Sundays?”
“There isn’t much more the hall can teach you. It’s mostly self-practice. The Small Lotus Step from the old man is enough for you to work on for a month or two.”
Chen Meng nodded. He could see that as well.
Most of the time at the martial arts hall was spent practicing on his own, and since he could practice every day, there was no need to go daily.
...
Chen Meng continued practicing for a while longer, taking another Life Formula No.1 during the session.
When he got home, he clicked the link Mo Xiaoyi had sent. It opened successfully; he wondered if the site was government-approved, since his phone hadn’t blocked it.
He registered and, gritting his teeth, signed up for three months to try it out.
Three months meant thirty thousand, and ten thousand only covered twelve hours—quite expensive.
After spending the money, the stats before him changed:
Knowledge Points: 300.
Pages Turned: High School Runes (501/862), High School Alchemy (0/909), High School Forging (0/712)
He silently recited “Page Turn,” and watched as the High School Runes quickly flipped, with vast amounts of rune knowledge flooding into his mind.
The pages turned for High School Runes now reached 801.
Chen Meng felt the rune knowledge in his mind and grew more confident than ever. He took out a set of rune test papers, feeling that he could score at least 120 points.
“My method of acquiring knowledge is true mastery. So for me, what I know is what I know; there are no blind spots,” Chen Meng analyzed his advantage. He thought that once he finished paging through High School Runes, his score could exceed 140 and he could become a science prodigy like Tang Wenjing.
“With only 4,200 left, I need to spend it soon,” Chen Meng pondered where next to invest.
...
The next morning, Chen Meng got up to brush his teeth. His father, an early riser, was watching the morning news.
Right then, a piece of news came from the television that left Chen Meng utterly astonished.