We made you practice martial arts, and you've mastered the Great Golden Body?

Chapter 206 False Myth—Li Hongling!

"Of course... he'll become the first underage billionaire in the history of the Great Xia Dynasty, a true self-made billionaire!" Cheng Shangwu said with a smile. Looking at the boy in front of him, he couldn't help but feel a little envious.

"A billionaire?" Shen Bailian frowned slightly upon hearing this, but he only paused for a moment before a memory flashed through his mind. He immediately realized what it meant and excitedly asked:

"Dean, do you mean that the estimated payment for the high-grade spirit fruit trees I discovered within Cave Heaven No. 98 has already been received?"

“Yes.” Cheng Shangwu nodded in agreement and said, “The signal is blocked here now, so it’s normal that you haven’t received the payment notification.”

As he spoke, he calmly looked at the young prodigy before him, but a fleeting hint of envy flickered in his calm gaze.

A true prodigy!

As it turns out, Shen Bailian not only possesses unfathomable martial arts potential that surpasses the imagination of ordinary people, but also possesses martial fortune that is unimaginable and unattainable for ordinary people.

As the saying goes, success is 99 percent perspiration and 1 percent inspiration, but it doesn't mention that luck is also a crucial element.

A person's luck, whether good or bad, can often influence how far they end up in life.

For example, some people are born into privilege, while others are born into hardship. The group of martial artists represented by Li Tianxing, Chen Yunsheng, and others who are considered to have some talent among ordinary people.

It would take more than ten years of tireless effort, day and night, to possibly reach the level of martial arts that Shen Bailian achieved at the age of 17.

The honorary title of "the greatest person in the history of Tiangang Academy" alone is an achievement that these people can hardly reach in their entire lives.

Not to mention anything else.

"Approximately how much money?" Shen Bailian asked eagerly.

Since Cheng Shangwu said so, then Cheng Shangwu must have opened the account limit and must know the specific transfer information and amount.

"Since this is just an estimated price, the full amount will not be transferred to your account this time. Only 50% will be transferred, which is 250 million Daxia coins."

"what?!"

"Two hundred and fifty million Great Xia coins! And this is only half of it? What kind of rare treasure did he discover?" Yuwen Changkong, who was standing next to Cheng Shangwu, was immediately shocked when he heard what Cheng Shangwu said.

Although his working capital far exceeded 250 million Daxia coins, it was all allocated to him, the ninth holy son, by the Starry Sky Martial Hall.

It was not something he obtained through his own efforts.

To date, Yuwen Changkong has acquired far less than 50 million Great Xia coins through his own efforts and exploration.

And what about Shen Bailian?
In an instant, he jumped to 250 million Xia coins, no, to be more precise, 500 million Xia coins. In terms of personal achievements, Yuwen Changkong was once again overshadowed by Shen Bailian.

"What do you mean, just 250 million Great Xia coins?!" Shen Bailian's lips twitched involuntarily when he heard Cheng Shangwu utter the word "just".

Listen, is this human language?
It has to be said that this amount really stunned Shen Bailian, considering that he had originally expected the amount to be less than one hundred million Daxia coins.

After all, the benefits brought by the grove of high-level spirit fruit trees are not something that can be seen in a short period of time, but rather a steady and continuous stream of income.

Of the tens of millions of Great Xia coins that Shen Bailian anticipated, 60-70% of the amount came from bonuses awarded by the Great Xia government.

'Could it be that there are still rare and precious materials among the Gaoyuan Spirit Fruit Tree grove that I haven't discovered yet?' A thought flashed through Shen Bailian's mind.

Otherwise, it's impossible to explain why the Great Xia government and Congyun City government directly awarded him a bonus of up to 500 million Great Xia coins before the resource had even been fully developed.

Although the group of Gaoyuan Spirit Fruit Trees that Shen Bailian discovered still had many seedlings in their growth period, its scale was already enough to rank it among the top ten in the history of the Great Xia Dynasty.

"Stop daydreaming. There are no hidden treasures in that Gaoyuan Spirit Fruit Tree that you haven't discovered yet." Cheng Shangwu rolled his eyes at the pensive boy.

"Hehe." Upon hearing this, Shen Bailian chuckled and scratched his head, praising, "As expected, nothing can escape your discerning eyes."

"Stop joking around, do you want to know why?"

"miss you!"

Upon hearing this, Yuwen Changkong, who was standing to the side, did not move his feet, but with a slight glance, he shifted most of his attention to Cheng Shangwu.

He was also very curious as to why this was the case. Although the Gaoyuan Spirit Fruit Tree was very precious, it shouldn't be given such a large bonus all at once, right?
If the one-time bonus is already so much, then after that area of ​​high-level spirit fruit trees is fully developed, the dividends that Shen Bailian can get will surely skyrocket.
This amount of money, barring any unforeseen circumstances, should be enough for Shen Bailian to smoothly pass through the Sea Opening Realm.

For most martial artists, the Sea Opening Realm is the end of their lives, but for top martial arts prodigies like Yuwen Changkong and Shen Bailian, it's just an ordinary process.

However, the higher one's talent, the higher the demands on oneself. Therefore, as one's martial arts realm improves, the resource consumption also increases exponentially.

Five hundred million Great Xia coins may seem like a lot, but that's only because the cultivation resources Shen Bailian uses most often in his daily cultivation process are Star Crystals and Spirit Nourishing Potions.

Nothing else.

For this reason, even many martial arts prodigies spend significantly more on resources than Shen Bailian in their daily cultivation.

"Stop being so mysterious, just tell me already." Compared to Yuwen Changkong's arrogance, Lei Zhentian was much more straightforward. He walked directly to Cheng Shangwu's side and urged him on.

"If it were just an ordinary high-level spirit fruit tree, the reward wouldn't be that much," Cheng Shangwu said with a smile, without elaborating further.

"But unfortunately, those high-level spirit fruit trees you discovered have been corrupted by divine power because they have been in an area shrouded in divine power for a long time."

"Isn't this bad news?" Shen Bailian asked in confusion.

Apart from divine power purified by celestial medicine, all other divine power in the natural environment carries, to varying degrees, the power of divine corruption.

Ordinary martial artists, if their mental strength is insufficient, weak, or lacking in quantity, can easily be corrupted into the lowest level of divine favor if they are not careful, becoming puppets of the gods.

Furthermore, the process of removing divine power is extremely complex and requires a large sum of money, all for the sake of removing the divine power from the High Yuan Spirit Fruit. It's like using a cannon to kill a mosquito—it won't do any good.

However, Lei Zhentian, who was standing to the side, seemed to understand something from what Cheng Shangwu said and from the other party's calm and slightly smiling face.

“If this were when you first enrolled, Xiao Shen, you certainly wouldn’t have been qualified to know, but now, with your level of authority, you are qualified to know about this matter.” Cheng Shangwu revealed a faint smile:

"Moreover, this matter is related to an old friend of yours, and this old friend will also become another formidable opponent for you in the Freshman Cup competition."

"?" Shen Bailian frowned slightly, quickly searching through his memories in the depths of his mind, but he couldn't recall anyone among his old friends besides Xinghe Company who could have such great abilities.

It was surprisingly able to influence the decisions of the Great Xia government to a certain extent.

However, this recollection reminded Shen Bailian of an embarrassing incident: he had actually been tricked by Zhou Changqing of the Xingyi Martial Arts School.

A physical fitness level of 20.2? How could that be a martial artist at the Life Establishment Realm?
That's clearly a martial artist at the Transcendent Realm!
Moreover, he was a peak Transcendent Realm cultivator in his thirties or forties, who normally possessed the potential to advance to the Sea Opening Realm.

However, what Shen Bailian was curious about was why a martial artist like Zhou Changqing, who was in a period of rapid development, would be confined to a corner as a small coach.

In his view, Zhou Changqing did this for two reasons:

First: Zhou Changqing's data is fabricated in order to obtain a high salary from Xingyi Martial Arts School;

Second: Zhou Changqing had some hidden ailments that were difficult to cure in the medical ward during the battle, which is why he had no choice but to return to his hometown.

Shen Bailian preferred the second option, after all, when he paid the money, Li Mengyi also said that Zhou Changqing was the most popular coach at Xingyi Martial Arts School.

Not all the martial arts students who paid money were fools. No matter how good Zhou Changqing's acting was, he still had to demonstrate his own strength to keep those martial arts apprentices in check.

Moreover, Shen Bailian remembered something else. The scene from the past appeared clearly in his mind when he asked Zhou Changqing to teach him swordsmanship.

When Zhou Changqing demonstrated for him, he didn't use any techniques at all; he relied entirely on his own powerful strength to cut the dummy in half.

Commonly known as "the strong can make bricks fly".

Besides Zhou Changqing, the only other one left is Kong Chaowu, the city lord of Bozhou City. However, no matter how much power Kong Chaowu has, it is limited to the area around Bozhou City and it is difficult for him to influence Congyun City, let alone the decisions of the Great Xia government.

"Does this person seem familiar to you?" Cheng Shangwu activated his smart bracelet, and a screen immediately appeared in the air.

On the screen, a martial artist of unusual height, standing at 2.34 meters, was shown wearing a helmet that was blazing, making it impossible for outsiders to tell whether he was male or female.

The man had his eyes tightly closed, and his entire body was covered in fiery red scale armor, which seemed to grow out of his body. Fiery red magma flowed down from the gaps in the scale armor, making him appear like a war god emerging from flames.

The space around her was slightly distorted due to the intense heat, which made people feel a little scared.

“There is indeed a sense of familiarity.” Shen Bailian nodded, then looked blankly at Cheng Shangwu and said helplessly, “But I don’t seem to know her at all.”

"Master, what bloodline martial artist is this? I feel like I've never seen him before." Yuwen Changkong frowned slightly when he saw the martial artist with his eyes closed on the screen, and his heart was filled with ripples.

Although the opponent was still asleep, he felt a slight sense of fear and inability to defeat him.

It should be noted that even when facing Shen Bailian, Yuwen Changkong did not show any fear of battle; on the contrary, his fighting spirit was extremely fierce.

But now, even though it's just a moving photo, it has already stirred a slight fear in his heart. Although it's barely perceptible, it's undeniably real.

This is absolutely amazing!

"She's not a bloodline martial artist from any particular lineage." Lei Zhentian's gaze was deep as he shook his head. He focused all his attention on the moving image, his turbulent emotions churning within him. He murmured in a low voice, "..."

"I never expected that they would actually get that child to do it."

"Terrible, horrible, unimaginable. Just how strong must her will to survive and her belief in victory have been to survive such an ordeal?"

"The era of great contention has begun ahead of schedule." Lei Zhentian took a deep breath, slowly calming his turbulent emotions, then turned to look at the bewildered Yuwen Changkong beside him and solemnly said:
"From now on, prepare to cultivate with your life on the line. Advance or retreat, you will die. The real era of great struggle has gradually begun."

"Yes!" Although Yuwen Changkong didn't know why Lei Zhentian would say that, he knew that Lei Zhentian wouldn't speak carelessly on such a crucial matter of cultivation.

Moreover, he was indeed too "careless" in his cultivation process in the past, and he could rest for six to eight hours a day, which was not hard enough.

Before today, in the Freshman Cup League, only Shen Bailian was qualified to be his opponent, but in less than a day, the number has increased to two.

Furthermore, based on Lei Zhentian's words, Yuwen Changkong judged that what was shown on the screen was a feasible cultivation path, and even a path for martial artists comparable to the Holy Body.

"No, no, no, you not only know her, but you are quite familiar with her. In the future, she will become your formidable opponent in the Freshman Cup, or perhaps your teammate with whom you will share life and death."

Shen Bailian stared intently at the dynamic photo on the screen. Although he didn't know who the person was, he felt his familiarity with that person was constantly deepening.

It was as if there was a boundary between them, separating his memories and consciousness.

"Om~"

In an instant, the martial artist in the dynamic photo seemed to sense that someone was watching her from tens of thousands of miles away, and slowly opened her black eyes, which were as calm and still as an abyss.

When Shen Bailian met those eyes, a familiar torrent surged forth amidst a roar, instantly breaking through the boundaries of memory and consciousness.

"Li Hongling?"

"This person is actually... Li Hongling!"

(End of this chapter)