Chapter 55 : Chapter 55
Chapter 55: Inferior Heavenly Immortal Art
Boom!
The moment the words Junior Wolf Guard were spoken, the entire place erupted.
Then came a long, unending wave of applause and cheers!
The Reserve Force recruits in particular were immensely energized.
At this point, Li Mu could practically be called an idol for half the Reserve Force recruits.
Two hundred Merit Points could promote someone to Junior Wolf Guard. Since Li Mu belonged to the Reserve Force, he did not need to undergo an examination.
But Merit was an extremely difficult thing to obtain.
Only outstanding battle merit could earn it.
An eighteen-year-old Junior Wolf Guard!
That was exceedingly rare.
Even Li Mu found it somewhat unbelievable.
By his own estimate, receiving seventy or eighty points of battle merit this time would already have been very good.
He had never expected it to double outright.
But he quickly understood that this was precisely Wang Longcheng’s painstaking intention.
He had amplified the impact of Li Mu’s squad’s deeds in order to fight for more Merit for Li Mu.
Everyone had seen it with their own eyes. Li Mu had risked his life to protect his teammates, fought to the very end, and killed far more monsters than the limit of what a single soldier should have been able to accomplish.
If a soldier like that was not awarded a large amount of battle merit, then what would the other soldiers think?
He had rendered such enormous service, and they were only going to give him a few dozen points? Were they joking?
Of course, Wang Longcheng was not exactly forcing his superiors’ hands, either.
Granting Li Mu this much Merit also had benefits for them. It would better inspire the soldiers.
A win-win situation.
Li Mu accepted the medal and gave a standard Knight’s Salute.
“Thank you, sir!”
He had seen it. Inside the box, besides the Second-Class Merit Medal, there was also a Junior Wolf Guard badge.
On the Junior Wolf Guard badge was the head of a young wolf.
It looked fierce, yet still carried a trace of youthful immaturity.
According to the formalities of the award ceremony, having a Wolf Guard preside over the conferral of the Junior Wolf Guard rank was entirely reasonable.
The man before him was precisely a Wolf Guard, with a military post roughly on the same level as Qin Zhanye.
“Go on, then! I look forward to you earning new merit again!”
The Wolf Guard returned the salute, then turned and went back into the Honors Department.
Zhao Meiting and the others came over and offered their congratulations one after another.
They even curiously reached out like children to touch Li Mu’s medal.
“So, while the rest of us recover from our injuries, are you already dying to go pick up another mission?”
Song Biao asked, sounding a little sour.
He knew very well that, with his strength, it would be hard for him to squad up with Li Mu again.
This had been the first time, and it would also be the last.
If Li Mu kept bringing people like him and Zhang He along, they would only be burdens.
Li Mu smiled and shook his head.
“I plan to settle down for a few days first and go back to school to stabilize my Third Grade Realm.”
“Yeah. From here on out, you’ll probably need to carry out higher-level missions,” Ma Jun said with a sigh and a nod.
After chatting a little longer, Li Mu took his leave of them and headed straight for the Supply Area of the Abyss-Suppressing Army’s Quartermaster Department.
Thanks to yesterday’s slaughter, along with the Contribution Points Li Mu had not used before, he now had 6,210 Contribution Points.
That was already a fair amount.
Especially since the award of Merit Points had also come with an additional 2,000 Contribution Points.
Within the Abyss-Suppressing Army, Contribution Points were far more valuable than money.
But for Li Mu, it was still too little.
Because after wandering around the Cultivation Art section for quite some time, he could only afford a single High-Grade Cultivation Art.
It was worth 4,000 Contribution Points, and only those with over 200 Merit Points could purchase it.
Li Mu immediately spent 4,000 Contribution Points to buy this set of Returnspring Inner Force.
If it were sold in the market above the Abyss, this cultivation art would be worth at least five hundred thousand.
Among High-Grade Cultivation Arts, Returnspring Inner Force was a very special existence.
Many inner force arts of the same level already possessed various attribute leanings.
For example, someone who cultivated a fire-attributed Internal Cultivation Method would find it twice as easy to use fire-attributed martial techniques.
A Martial Artist who cultivated a speed-oriented Internal Cultivation Method would also have better control over speed-type martial techniques.
There were many other kinds of Internal Cultivation Methods as well.
Defense, physique, strengthening essence and refining spirit, the Five Elements attributes, and so on.
The interaction and synergy between talent, Internal Cultivation Method, and martial technique required a Martial Artist to explore constantly and gradually form a unique personal understanding before they could truly achieve something.
Besides those specialized and focused paths, there were also more unconventional ideas.
There had once been a rather famous Martial Artist like that.
His talent was ordinary and could only expand the range of his attacks, but he cultivated a poisonous Internal Cultivation Method.
He also equipped himself with a full set of life-saving Spirit Treasures and poisonous Spirit Treasures.
And he specialized entirely in speed and movement-type martial techniques.
On battlefields swarming with monsters, that man would plunge deep into the monster horde.
Wherever he passed, poisonous miasma spread everywhere, and the monsters all became weak and limp.
The soldiers of the Abyss-Suppressing Army would then charge into the horde and cut them down as if chopping melons and vegetables.
That man would escape the horde completely unscathed.
He would not kill a single monster himself, yet he would still receive the highest merit of that battle!
As for Returnspring Inner Force, it could rank among High-Grade Cultivation Arts on the strength of a single trait alone:
It accelerated the recovery speed of True Qi.
It belonged to a rather “mediocre” sort of cultivation art, so very few people were willing to choose it.
But for Li Mu, it was far too important.
He no longer had enough Contribution Points to buy another High-Grade Cultivation Art.
So Li Mu spent another 260 Contribution Points and chose two Mortal Grade Internal Cultivation Methods.
In any case, Internal Cultivation Methods could be replaced in the future, so he would use these two for now.
After picking a Training Room, Li Mu immediately began absorbing the three cultivation arts.
【The Inferior Heavenly Immortal Art has fused with ‘Returnspring Inner Force,’ gaining the ‘Returnspring’ trait.】
【Returnspring: Greatly increases the recovery speed of True Qi.】
【The Inferior Heavenly Immortal Art has fused with ‘Woodspirit Force’ and ‘Inchheart Art,’ gaining the ‘Woodspirit’ and ‘Inchheart’ traits.】
【Woodspirit: Slightly increases the richness of True Qi.】
【Inchheart: Slightly reduces the amount of True Qi required for martial techniques of the same level.】
The current state of the Inferior Heavenly Immortal Art was now:
【Inferior Heavenly Immortal Art: Deepens understanding and insight into cultivated arts by one hundred years. Greatly improves the Dantian Sea and Meridians. Can fuse Internal Cultivation Methods and absorb their traits into the Heavenly Immortal Art. Current traits: ‘Returnspring,’ ‘Woodspirit,’ and ‘Inchheart.’ Fused Internal Cultivation Methods may be replaced.】
After fusing the three Internal Cultivation Methods, Li Mu stretched lazily.
Feeling the surging True Qi inside his body, he could indeed sense that it had become somewhat richer.
Although Woodspirit Force was only a Mortal Grade Internal Cultivation Method, the fact that Li Mu could clearly feel his True Qi becoming denser meant the effect was still very obvious.
After all, it was still an Internal Cultivation Method.
By itself, it was enough to support the growth of a fairly capable Martial Artist.
But here, in Li Mu’s case, it was merely a single trait.
Li Mu immediately activated the Seventy-Two Transformations and turned into a mosquito.
The True Qi inside his body began to drain continuously.
But his Dantian Sea also began to operate wildly.
His body became like a thirsty sponge, drawing in the surrounding Spiritual Energy and converting it into True Qi, restoring large amounts of it.
Although the recovery speed was still nowhere near as fast as the consumption speed, it could roughly keep up with one-fifth to one-sixth of the amount being consumed.
That was already quite terrifying.
Li Mu canceled the transformation, feeling greatly refreshed.
For now, his biggest flaw had been partially resolved.
Just then, his phone rang.
The caller was his Homeroom Teacher, Zhao Qingshan.
Li Mu had not taken leave today.
As his Homeroom Teacher, Zhao Qingshan naturally had to fulfill his responsibility and check on him.
After receiving Li Mu’s answer that he was returning to school right away, Zhao Qingshan said with a smile, “Actually, it’s nothing serious. If the Abyss-Suppressing Army needs you, just send me a text so I know you’re safe.”
“Oh, right. Did you know about Zhang Zhiwei and Lu Chenfeng transferring schools?”
Li Mu froze.
“Huh?”
“Looks like you really didn’t know. Lu Chenfeng and Zhang Zhiwei have transferred to our school.”
“They’re obviously both here because of you. If you come back, you can meet with the two of them first.”
“All three of you are exceptional talents. If you maintain a good relationship, that will become an extremely powerful force.”
Zhao Qingshan spoke meaningfully.
The future achievements of all three of them were guaranteed to be extraordinary. If they could build close ties while still students, then in the future, once they supported one another, their prospects would surely be limitless.
“All right. Thank you for the reminder, Teacher.”
After the two finished speaking, Li Mu hung up.
Zhang Zhiwei and Lu Chenfeng had actually transferred to their school?
Could it be because of the matter of the school resource rankings?
With that thought in mind, Li Mu walked outside while opening the news on his phone.
Sure enough!
The related reports had already connected the entire chain of events clearly.
Blackwater High School had suffered from an unfair ranking and become a laughingstock.
Zhang Zhiwei and Lu Chenfeng had transferred schools one after another, using their actions to show support for Blackwater High School.
That move had dealt Saint Dragon Martial Academy and Chongming High School a severe blow.
Saint Dragon Martial Academy in particular had been hit hard. The Zhang Group behind Zhang Zhiwei was a massive financial backer.
The moment Zhang Zhiwei left, Saint Dragon Martial Academy lost nearly half its lifeblood.
And on top of that, this act had caused the issue of Blackwater High School’s unfair resource ranking to be questioned even more intensely.
After fermenting for the past two days, the matter had already grown enormous.
People everywhere were demanding that the Department of Resources come forward and give an explanation.
School resource rankings could only be updated once per month, in the month after each school’s Abyss First Battle ended.
If they wanted to update it again, they would have to wait until the second month.
Or until the standings changed in the next major school-level competition.
The Department of Resources was now stuck in an impossible position.
If they immediately changed Blackwater High School’s ranking, then reversing themselves so quickly would be an indirect admission that they had made a mistake.
But if they did not change Blackwater High School’s ranking, the pressure would only continue to grow.
If this kept going, the Department of Resources’ credibility would take a major hit.
At that thought, the corner of Li Mu’s mouth curled upward.
He really wanted to see what expressions that Saint Dragon Crown Prince and his uncle by marriage were wearing right now.