Wang Zhan was also quite shocked by Lv Zhenglong's words.

Before this operation, the education he had received always stressed that humans should not kill each other and that beasts were the greatest enemy!

It was only after he had been involved in a few incidents related to the Original Organization that he finally learned the truth earlier than most.

Because of this, Wang Zhan could better understand that some things were not appropriate to tell them, as they were still students.

Imagine if, one day, someone told you that the ideology you've accepted for over a decade was wrong, and that you couldn't blindly entrust your back to other humans but must carefully discern who to trust. This concern alone would significantly weaken the power of the Coordinated Strike Method practiced by most students in the Academy.

"Shouldn't these things be discussed after graduation? By then, the students will have developed enough rapport and formed their own trusted teams... Isn't it too early to say this now?" Song Dongming had appeared beside Wang Zhan at some point.

Vice President Lu has broken a taboo. Wang Zhan shook his head secretly. In truth, they had no right to judge Lv Zhenglong's words and actions. As a Grandmaster, Lv Zhenglong must have had his reasons for daring to speak so frankly.

As expected, Lv Zhenglong continued, "Zhou Fuhong, a level 8 Martial General! A mentor for the fourth-year practical training courses, and a hero who fought on the battlefield for over twenty years! Such a hero, shockingly, died at the hands of another Human Martial Artist!"

"Old Lu, that's enough!" Liu Zhenfeng frowned, reaching out to stop him.

But Lv Zhenglong brushed Liu Zhenfeng's hand away and declared, "I can't stomach this! Not because Zhou Fuhong was my old subordinate, but because he died a death he didn't deserve!"

Below the stage, Wang Zhan and Song Dongming exchanged a look, both realizing the cause of the incident almost simultaneously.

Teacher Zhou, a level 8 Martial General... It seems Yuan Shisan was the one who killed him. Wang Zhan sighed.

Song Dongming nodded. "Yes. When Vice President Lu let Yuan Shisan go, he probably didn't know about this. Otherwise..."

However, it was too late for regrets now.

Wang Zhan could understand Lv Zhenglong's anger. He had a chance for revenge but had let the other person go because they were supposedly fellow Human Martial Artists. Yet Yuan Shisan had never considered sparing Teacher Zhou.

On the high platform, Lv Zhenglong was eventually stopped. With the intervention of Liu Zhenfeng, who was also a Grandmaster, and several high-level Academy executives, Lv Zhenglong was escorted off the platform.

It's hard to imagine a top figure of the Academy leaving in such a manner.

Due to the recent events, Liu Zhenfeng also seemed disinclined to speak further. He simply proceeded with a brief memorial service as planned. Just ten minutes later, he announced its conclusion.

「...」

After attending the unusual gathering, Wang Zhan dragged Song Dongming to the Training Ground.

After a morning of combat, Wang Zhan's Full Attributes had reached 1,100 points, with 50 extreme attribute points still needing slow cultivation.

Fortunately, increasing normal attribute points only required being in the same realm, not possessing the same strength. Otherwise, Wang Zhan might genuinely have had to seek out Duan Kun for sparring. Having maxed out his regular attribute points, his extreme attribute points now seemed a distant goal. The higher his level, the harder it was to obtain extreme attribute points by killing beasts. Now, as a level 6 Martial Artist, Wang Zhan would have to kill a level 8 beast or a level 9 Martial Artist to gain any. Moreover, beasts of this caliber weren't readily available, especially since the outskirts of the wilderness area had recently been cleared.

「...」

After maxing out his attribute points, Wang Zhan quickly ditched Song Dongming, his go-to training partner, and contacted Cheng Shu.

The two met at the Academy gate and went together to the Military Camp to exchange beast cores. Thanks to Sun Jian having guided him once before, Wang Zhan was familiar with the procedure this time.

"Student, here are your twenty bottles of Grade-5 Essence Pills." The officer, who still remembered Wang Zhan, smiled. "After graduation, be sure to consider joining our military. Actually, you don't even have to wait until graduation. You can earn military merit just by signing up, and military merit is much more valuable than your academic credits."

"Er, we can discuss this later," Wang Zhan replied evasively.

It's too early to decide my future path. Besides, the military is like that. It sounds nice to just 'sign up,' but once I graduate, these old-timers will likely show up with the enlistment papers to claim me. Wang Zhan had heard from others that while the military was a good place, their recruitment methods were too aggressive.

He took the box containing twenty bottles of Grade-5 Essence Pills. After a moment's thought, he took out ten bottles of Essence Pills from the box and placed them back on the table.

"These are for the warriors who need them more."

If this had been in the past, Wang Zhan would never have done such a thing. But after witnessing Sun Jian's conduct, experiencing the wilderness a few times, and seeing Lv Zhenglong impulsively break a major taboo today, Wang Zhan suddenly understood many things. Humanity was never a monolithic bloc. Yet, it was precisely because of the existence of groups like the Original Organization and many others with ulterior motives that people like the Academy's mentors and the soldiers in the military seemed all the more precious. Wang Zhan could use the money from the Grade-5 Essence Pills, but it wasn't as if he absolutely couldn't do without it. Since that was the case, giving half of them away wasn't a major sacrifice.

The officer at the Military Supplies Center was stunned, momentarily speechless. He only snapped out of it after Wang Zhan and Cheng Shu had left the Military Supplies Center. He then quickly ran out and saluted in Wang Zhan's direction.

Wang Zhan happened to see this. He just smiled, gave a casual wave, and then pulled Cheng Shu along, continuing on their way.

The officer watched Wang Zhan depart until his figure completely vanished from sight before finally lowering his saluting arm.

「...」

"Brother Zhan, I'm truly impressed by you today." Cheng Shu's eyes were red, making him look rather comical.

"You're exaggerating," Wang Zhan shook his head.

"No! I admired you before, but that was because of your Talent and your boldness," Cheng Shu said with rare seriousness. "But now, I admire you for your character."

"Enough with the sappy talk. Just lead the way," Wang Zhan playfully smacked the back of Cheng Shu's head.

Cheng Shu quickly reverted to his usual cheerful self and jauntily led Wang Zhan out of the Military Camp, heading towards Chu State City.

Soon, the two boarded a city rail train into Chu State City proper and alighted in the outer D District.

"The Black Market is in D District?" Wang Zhan was somewhat surprised.

He had grown up in E11 District, which was adjacent to D District. In fact, if he hadn't gotten off just now, one more stop would have taken him to E District. From there, it was just a half-hour walk home.

"Fifteen years ago, D District bore the brunt of the Beast Tide. Most of the buildings here were destroyed. Because the reconstruction costs were too high, large sections remain derelict to this day," Cheng Shu explained. "The Black Market is located in one of these abandoned zones. It's a lawless no-man's-land, yet it's still within city limits. So, as long as there isn't a Beast Tide, one doesn't have to worry about dangerous beasts. Thus, it gradually developed into the Black Market."

"I see," Wang Zhan said with understanding.

Following Cheng Shu into D District, Wang Zhan observed that, just as Cheng Shu had described, even right outside the station, he could see the distant ruins of collapsed high-rises—a sight rarely seen in E District.

At least, this was the first time he had seen such a sight. Chu State City was so vast that even a native like him hadn't fully explored E District, let alone the rest of the city.

The two quickened their pace and soon entered the so-called derelict zone. His gaze was met by rampant weeds everywhere, and stray cats, feral dogs, or rats occasionally scurried past. It hardly looked habitable.

But soon, Wang Zhan heard a growing clamor from up ahead.

After navigating past the ruins of a skyscraper tens of meters tall, Wang Zhan finally saw the legendary Black Market.

"This... this is it?" Wang Zhan was greatly disappointed.

He had imagined the Black Market to be a place where everyone wore masks, shrouded in mystery.

But what lay before him was merely a large open area with numerous people browsing stalls, alongside some actual shops with storefronts.

Cheng Shu seemed to have anticipated Wang Zhan's reaction and chuckled. "Brother Zhan, this is quite normal. Sure, it's called the Black Market, but it's an open secret. The authorities essentially turn a blind eye. The higher-ups don't want to completely cut off avenues for Freelance Martial Artists, but they also don't want them or the Black Market to operate entirely outside their control. So, they allow this place to exist."

"I wouldn't be surprised if the Federation had a hand in this Black Market's existence," Wang Zhan mused.

"Of course, the Federation has its means involved. But everyone pretends not to know and just goes about their business as usual."

The two of them walked along a small path into the Black Market area.

Cheng Shu was clearly familiar with the place, while Wang Zhan, by contrast, kept looking around, curious about everything. To accommodate Wang Zhan's curiosity, Cheng Shu deliberately slowed his pace.

In reality, the goods sold at the stalls lining the path were mostly low-grade Essence Concentrating Pills and weapons of seemingly poor quality. Additionally, there were some ancient books, most of which had blank covers, making their contents a mystery.

Wang Zhan picked up one such ancient book and was about to flip it open when the stall vendor raised a hand. "New here? Know the rules?"

Wang Zhan paused, instinctively looking at Cheng Shu.

"The martial arts techniques or cultivation methods these people sell are all like this," Cheng Shu explained casually. "You can't tell anything from the outside. Whether you get something good after buying it is purely down to luck. But think about it, Brother Zhan. If they really had something good, would they openly display it here?"

"True enough," Wang Zhan realized, and the last vestiges of his curiosity vanished.

Enduring the stall owner's murderous glare, the two casually walked away from the stall and continued deeper into the market.

Before long, Cheng Shu led Wang Zhan to a shop with no sign.

"This shop specializes in higher-end or large-volume transactions. Our ten bottles of Grade-5 Essence Pills are just enough to meet their minimum requirement for entry," Cheng Shu said.

"Just enough to get in the door?" Wang Zhan's extinguished curiosity flared up again.

Everything he had seen so far along the way was junk. It seemed the real treasures were indeed hidden from plain sight.

"Come on, let's go in and see."

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