Battle Frenzy

Wang Zhong benefitted a fair amount from this competition. To be respected in the Holy Land, strength was a must-have. After this battle, he would definitely face a lot less trouble, and things would quieten down for quite a while. The Wanderlust Team members were over the moon as well. Although it was not a total reversal of fortune, all of them more or less gained a mini windfall, and their lives improved by a great deal. Of course, such opportunities would not be available again.

After the battle, Wang Zhong went back to his life as usual. The more convenient thing was that no one commented on him anymore when he went to the library. Wang Zhong was extremely focused on the research of his own fighting system. Cellular Cosmology was one aspect, and another more important thing was learning how to apply the knowledge he had gained during the Casted Soul Stage. Enoch’s fighting style gave him certain insights. Coupled with his own Soul Power Circuit, he was extremely close to figuring things out.

His new identity as a Holy Disciple also brought about many benefits for him; for example, the restrictions on his Skylink were removed. Holy Disciples were official members of the Holy Land. As such, they truly belonged and shared common interests with the Holy Land. In addition, as a Holy Disciple, they had official residency and also had the right to buy and sell slaves. The Holy Land’s conquests in the Dimensional World would bring a variety of slaves in strange forms, including humanoids, creatures, demons, etc. These exist in the Holy Land’s official market where apprentices were not eligible to go.

Regarding changing his residence, Wang Zhong did not really care, because, to him, the Holy Disciples’ residences were not that good. They were not spacious enough and not suitable for cultivation. Although his current warehouse was remote and old, the place was huge and quiet. No matter what kind of noises he made, no one would care. It was the best place for him.

Three days after the competition, Wang Zhong decided to clean himself up and look for Murphy to express his gratitude. Even though the help he rendered might have been nothing to Murphy, Wang Zhong still had to do something. Of course, whether Murphy would want to see him was another matter entirely.

“Junior Brother Wang Zhong! Welcome! Welcome! Your performance during the promotion competition was really awesome. We have all heard about it. What’s up today? Do you want to do an experiment today? I will give you a lab immediately. Also, do you lack any materials? Feel free to tell me. No matter how rare they are, I’ll settle it for you!” Upon seeing Wang Zhong, Leo was very welcoming.

Great Master Murphy had given back his job in the alchemy workshop, and he had returned to his former position in the union. Frankly, when his previous life had been smooth sailing, Leo once thought that he might be the kind of genius that was highly sought after by everyone. After experiencing this trough in his life, he could see himself clearly. His talent was limited, and his specialty was business and management. If he did not have a backer, he was nothing.

Upon seeing how Murphy treated Wang Zhong, it was obvious that he thought highly of Wang Zhong. Leo had finally grasped the situation. This person would definitely become something in the future. Thus, he should not put on any airs in front of Wang Zhong. Instead, he should treat Wang Zhong with respect and try his best to help Wang Zhong. This was a rare opportunity. When this person finally makes it big in the future, he could also reap some benefits.

It was just that Wang Zhong was a little overwhelmed and unaccustomed to Leo’s obedience and bootlicking. The moment Wang Zhong expressed his intentions, Leo immediately assured him that it could be done.

“Master Murphy doesn’t come here often, but he already said that you can go to him any time. Let’s go now. I’ll take you there. Master Murphy must be there at this time.”

This was the first time that Wang Zhong had come to the Great Teachers’ District. It was rather similar to the Teachers’ District, but there were many more guards patrolling the area. The Great Teachers’ District did not have a special enclave division for a Tutor Zone, but it had a much tighter guard. Not to mention the identity check if one wanted to go in and out of the area, one would also meet a group of patrolling guards every few minutes; it would have been really troublesome without Leo leading the way.

Great Master Murphy’s residence was the 34th one in the Tianxiang Zone. As they stepped into the area, a huge manor came into view. Two deer-race maids with pointed horns opened the door for Leo and Wang Zhong. This was a race conquered by the Holy Land. Generally, they had ordinary combat power, were gentle, and had timid temperaments. Thus, they were very suitable to be trained into house servants. Additionally, their sexy bodies could attract the attention of countless men, making it extremely expensive to purchase one of them in the Holy Land.

The two servants were dressed rather properly, but they could hardly conceal their meek nature and good figure. Then, one of them politely spoke, “Master is currently working in the laboratory. Are there any urgent matters which we have to inform him about immediately?”

The Great Teachers’ District could be considered a vast place with a scarce population, and one’s private area would be huge. Instead of having to rent a special area for a gourmet lab, as Lan Daier did, there were three personal laboratories for Murphy in this big manor. All his required experimental materials were, naturally, all delivered on time as well. Basically, there was no need to leave his home to conduct an experiment.

Leo had been here several times already. “No need. We’ll wait,” he replied.

The two female servants responded politely. It was apparent that they knew Leo. They led the two to the guest area in the living room of the manor and served them tea in a formal and courteous manner.

This kind of high-end slave was not something ordinary Holy Disciples would even dare to covet. Although Leo had been here many times, he still couldn’t help staring at them until the two servants took their leave. “The deer race produces one of the most docile and obedient servants. Also, owning a deer-race female servant is a symbol of absolute status, which means that one would basically at least be at the level of a Great Teacher. However, the rules of the Holy Land state that we can only get a small number of them.”

Leo definitely knew a lot about these things. Soon, he began to introduce the things that Master Murphy had to Wang Zhong without holding back, and they were basically all representations of luxury. Leo spoke with great familiarity, and it could be seen that he was filled with envy. On the other hand, Wang Zhong wasn’t interested at all in these things. This was probably a matter of having different pursuits and having natural talent.

All of this was witnessed by Murphy. He had arrived some time ago, but he didn’t interrupt. Putting people to good use was one of his special talents. Unlike some masters who were very serious and pedantic, Murphy felt that everyone’s existence had a value and that the key was how to use them. Ever since he appointed Leo as his manager, he had a much better life than other masters as he didn’t have to worry about funding at all. Others were disdainful but in fact, were just jealous. Murphy himself was actually a rather proud person. When it came to using and making friends with people, he would also consider the other party’s nature and temperament. To him, this Wang Zhong was not bad.

Wang Zhong was talented and understood how the world worked. He would definitely benefit from helping Wang Zhong.

Why?

Of course, Murphy didn’t expect anything from Wang Zhong currently. However, he was always accurate in judging people. Not to mention Wang Zhong’s alchemy abilities, his control of Soul Power was already excellent while he was still an apprentice. As long as he was not a complete idiot, it was 90% possible that he would advance to the Heavenly Soul Stage. When that happened, Murphy would stand to gain from it.

Looking at him now, this person also had excellent focus and was unlike Leo, who was easily distracted by shiny objects. He definitely had the potential to achieve great things, and therefore, there was no harm in investing in him at this time. Alchemy masters were also different. Some pursued power, and alchemy was just a complement to them. As for Murphy, his focus was alchemy itself while power was subsidiary.

When Master Murphy strode in from the door, Wang Zhong quickly stood up to say hello while Leo immediately stepped back respectfully without saying a word and took the tea plate from the servant girl that was about to walk over.

“Great Master Murphy. Thank you for your help in the rank-advancement competition. I was afraid of disturbing you. That’s why it took me so long to come,” said Wang Zhong.

Murphy smiled and waved his hand. “That wasn’t necessary. You are not suited for such formalities. I think we were brought together by fate. You can call me Lao Mo, or Murphy will do. Just skip the formalities, I feel uncomfortable when you do that.”

In contrast, Leo was so surprised that he almost ate the plate in his hand. However, the more it was so, the more he dared not show it. This… this situation was not right.

“Alright, Lao Mo. I will not stand on ceremony then,” said Wang Zhong. Wang Zhong was aware that there wasn’t anything great about himself, so he didn’t try to decline further and adhered to Murphy’s wishes. Of course, he could also distinguish whether the other party was sincere or just being polite.

“Can you tell me more about the spiral penetration injection method you mentioned the last time?” asked Murphy, laughing. He liked to be direct when the other party’s EQ was high enough.

Wang Zhong didn’t try to hold anything back. He told Murphy about his thoughts and how he carried it out in detail. Murphy nodded constantly and clarified certain things from time to time. The conversation continued on for a long time, and the two were getting increasingly comfortable with each other. Of course, the discussion wasn’t about anything high-level; it was mostly about the basic techniques and the core control of alchemy.

It was undeniable that if it wasn’t for knowing Wang Zhong’s ultimate goal, Murphy would have really wanted to take Wang Zhong under his wing. This kind of talent and Soul Power manipulation was extremely rare. If he trained hard for 10 years, he definitely would have the opportunity to become a Grand Alchemist Master.

“You used Soul Guards in the competition, didn’t you?” asked Murphy with a laugh.

Wang Zhong was rather stunned. “Soul Guards?”

“The ones summoned by the Golden Stone Slab.” Murphy did not expect Wang Zhong to be clueless about this. Thus, he began to explain the situation briefly. “The Golden Stone Slab was very popular in the early days of the Holy Land. Unfortunately, since the Holy Saint Teacher made that assertion, plus the fact that there had been no results these past few years, its popularity gradually declined. The fact that you can summon a Soul Guard indicates that you are fated with it, but you shouldn’t rely too much on it. Although Soul Guards can make you strong in the Heroic Soul Stage, they can’t survive the Heavenly Calamity. They even make it more difficult for you to pass.”

“Soul Guards will affect the Heavenly Calamity?”

Murphy nodded with a smile. He didn’t mind doing a few more favors today. “A Soul Guard’s power is obviously significant to Heroic Soul Stage soldiers, but do you know why no one is using it?”

Wang Zhong shook his head. He truly didn’t know much about this. This meant that there were ways to utilize them in the Holy Land, and yet, no one used them. Obviously, there were great complications.

Murphy spoke as he observed Wang Zhong’s reaction, “Only those whose Soul wave frequency matches with the Golden Stone Slab can summon Soul Guards, and their strengths can vary. If they are not strong enough, then they are practically useless, because when one tries to advance to the Heavenly Soul Stage, there will be a Heavenly Calamity. With a Soul Guard, you would need to survive two of those. You have two. That would mean three for you. Basically, it would be like seeking death, so it’s better to destroy the Soul Guards before they mature. Anyway, you have already been promoted to Holy Disciple.”

There was no reaction at all from Wang Zhong. Instead, a smile appeared at the corner of his mouth. “Lao Mo, have you studied or researched Golden Stone Slabs?”

“I did a long time ago. Simply put, it is not something that our dimension can understand. In the past, many alchemists immersed themselves in this and delayed their own progress, so this thing is more of a nightmare for us alchemists. Legend has it that if one collected all twelve slabs, one would become a god. But don’t take it too seriously. Back then, even the Holy Saint Teacher didn’t manage to do it,” said Murphy as he laughed.

“Thank you very much!” Wang Zhong couldn’t believe his luck. He actually got pointers from a top-notch expert! It was better to know these things earlier rather than later. No matter how difficult the Heavenly Calamities would be, he wasn’t about to give up his Soul Guards. To him, even if they become a burden, he was still confident in succeeding as his Soul Sea was very different from others.