The Fourth Disaster: People become gods through high martial arts and gaming

Chapter 248 I'll save this transformation for you twice.
The City of Light, downtown.

On the towering steel building that seemed to reach into the clouds, flying cars shuttled back and forth. As one flying car slowly came to a stop on the roof, Lin Qicai stepped out of the car, instantly becoming the focus of the entire scene.

The rooftop of the association building, which should have originally had only a few Bone Forging Realm experts, was now filled with more than two hundred Bone Forging Realm experts. These experts came from various races, and each of them was at least at the mid-level of the Bone Forging Realm. The chilling aura they exuded would make even martial artists at the peak of the Bone Forging Realm, let alone ordinary Bone Forging Realm experts, tremble involuntarily.

"Why are people from Star Tower City here?" Lin Qi looked around, his mind filled with surprise.

Although these experts at the Bone Forging Realm before me are of different races, the second-tier armor they wear all bears the insignia of the Star Tower City Garrison, proving that these experts at the Bone Forging Realm before me should all be members of the Star Tower City Garrison.

Just as Lin Qi was feeling puzzled, a tall human man suddenly stepped forward from the crowd.

This man was none other than Wu Zhuoqun, the captain of the City of Light garrison. However, Wu Zhuoqun was no longer a high-level martial artist, but a genuine Bone Forging Realm martial artist. However, Wu Zhuoqun had obviously only recently broken through, and his rich blood and qi were impossible to contain, as if he was ready to fight at any moment.

"Master Lin, the City Lord and the others have been waiting for a long time." Wu Zhuoqun approached Lin Qi and said respectfully, "The situation in the city is a bit special right now, so Elder Xiang arranged for me to come and guide you."

"Is the situation special? Is it because of these people from Star Tower City?" Lin Qi followed Wu Zhuoqun and looked at the Bone Forging Realm experts from Star Tower City around them, all of whom had unfriendly expressions.

"Hmm." Wu Zhuoqun nodded, his expression somewhat solemn, and said, "Just half a day ago, the city lord of Star Tower City suddenly brought a large number of Bone Forging Realm experts to the Association, demanding that the city lord abdicate and leave the City of Light with his clan. Other clans could hand over half of their existing resources in exchange for retaining half of their original controlled territory and continuing to live in the City of Light; otherwise, they would launch a full-scale war."

"If they don't compromise, they'll go to war. Is Star Tower City really that confident it can take down City of Light?" Lin Qi was slightly surprised after hearing this.

Although he already knew from Fred's information that Star Tower City planned to take action against City of Light, he did not expect it to happen so quickly, not even before winter arrived and the monster outbreak occurred. This was truly beyond his expectations.

The strength of each city in the Fog Mountain region has always been very balanced, and it can even be said that none of them are much weaker than the others. Even if Star Tower City has an additional Blood Condensation Realm expert, the city lord of Chasing Light City is not a fool and will definitely pay the price and join forces with the city lords of other cities to fight against it.

After all, if Star Tower City isn't satisfied with taking over a second city, it might go and take over a third. Unless the city lords of other cities are stupid, they won't allow Star Tower City to grow too big.

“A day ago, the Domain City issued an order that no city lord or other experts of their level are allowed to participate in this city competition.” Wu Zhuoqun sighed and said, “Originally, this was a good thing. In terms of the number of experts in the Bone Forging Realm in our City of Light, it can be said that it is about the same as Star Tower City. If the two sides really fight between experts in the Bone Forging Realm, neither side will gain an advantage. Even if the other side wins, it will definitely be a Pyrrhic victory, which is not good for either of our cities. I just didn’t expect Star Tower City to invite outside help.”

"Star Tower City asked for outside help, but we didn't ask for any?" Lin Qi asked curiously.

Given that taking action is not permitted in the Blood Coagulation Realm, seeking external assistance is indeed the best solution if the city does not suffer heavy losses. Since Star Tower City can request assistance, there is no reason why Light Chasing City cannot.

"After the city lord's people from Star Tower City arrived, they immediately went to invite them," Wu Zhuoqun said with a wry smile, "but no one was willing to come."

"Nobody wants to come?" Lin Qi couldn't help but be surprised. "The city lord wouldn't be so stingy at a time like this, would he?"

As the city lord who governs a city, the entire large energy mine is under the city lord's control. Even the energy ore and energy crystals mined out will go into the city lord's pocket for 60%, and the remaining 40% will be distributed among the various races.

Although the human race had Elder Liu in charge, as an ordinary race in the City of Light, they could only get one percent of the energy ore and energy crystals from large energy mines each year.

The ten powerful clans each receive half of the 40%, or 20% of the total. And this only includes the city's energy mine revenue. The city lord also receives half of the city's various taxes, with the remainder going towards the city's expenses. You can imagine how wealthy a city lord is.

Hiring a Bone Forging Realm expert is practically a piece of cake, as long as you're willing to spend the money. Just like Ithaca, the leader of the White Feather Gang, he can hire the Red Moon Merchant Guild by spending some energy crystals.

If the city lord can't hire a Bone Forging Realm expert, then it can only mean he's unwilling to spend the money.

"It's not that the city lord is unwilling to spend money. This time, in order to fight against Star Tower City, the city lord has practically given up half of his resources. However, after learning the specifics, all the invited Bone Forging Realm experts refused," Wu Zhuoqun explained.

"Even with half of the city lord's wealth, no one is willing to come?" Lin Qi was surprised.

With such wealth, even experts at the Blood Condensation Realm could probably be invited. It's hard to imagine that experts at the Bone Forging Realm wouldn't be tempted.

“It’s the Holy Blood Mercenary Group!” Wu Zhuoqun sighed and said, “I don’t know what methods Star Tower City used to invite the Holy Blood Mercenary Group. Those Bone Forging Realm experts who were invited by the city lord didn’t dare to come after they learned that Star Tower City had hired the Holy Blood Mercenary Group. Now the city lord and the various clans don’t have any good solutions. They can only stall for time while waiting for the city lord’s people to go to the Domain City to ask for external assistance.”

"The Holy Blood Mercenary Group?" Lin Qi asked, realizing what was going on.

Besides the three major forces that should not be provoked, there are some other very powerful forces in the entire Fog Mountain region. Among them, the Mercenary Alliance is second only to the three major forces that should not be provoked.

This mercenary alliance is a very loose organization, composed of many mercenary groups that make a living in the wild. In fact, many assassination jobs for martial artists in cities are done by these mercenary groups.

The Holy Blood Mercenary Group is a legend within the Mercenary Alliance. They were once hired by a city lord to destroy a branch of the Red Moon Merchant Guild in their city, enraging the Red Moon Merchant Guild.

Enraged by the Red Moon Merchant Guild, the city lord died the next day, but the Holy Blood Mercenary Group was not destroyed. As for the reason, no one but the Holy Blood Mercenary Group and the Red Moon Merchant Guild knew.

All that is known is that since then, the Holy Blood Mercenary Group and the Red Moon Merchant Guild have kept to themselves in the Mist Mountain region.

Now that Star Tower City has hired the Holy Blood Mercenary Group, it will be extremely difficult for the city lord to hire other Bone Forging Realm experts or other mercenary groups.

After all, you can't make money without being alive to spend it. The fact that the Holy Blood Mercenary Group can still thrive in the Fog Mountain region after wiping out a branch of the Red Moon Merchant Guild speaks volumes.

While Wu Zhuoqun was explaining the current situation of the City of Light, he quickly led Lin Qi to a rooftop hall of the Martial Arts Association.

As Wu Zhuoqun opened the door, a spacious hall, roughly the size of a football field, was revealed. Hundreds of experts at the Bone Forging Realm stood on both sides, led by a burly man from the Three-Eyed Clan with half-white hair and an elderly man from the Mountain Clan with completely white hair.

The two men's qi and blood were clearly much stronger than those in the Bone Forging Realm. The mere clash of their qi and blood was like an egg hitting a stone. The fact that the two men sat there quietly made the surrounding high-level Bone Forging Realm martial artists feel suffocated.

"Is this the Blood Coagulation Realm?"

Looking at the two, Lin Qi felt that their blood and energy were like a stream compared to the ocean compared to a Bone Forging Realm martial artist—completely on different levels. He even suspected that if the two wanted to, they could suppress all the Bone Forging Realm experts present, rendering them unable to move.

With Lin Qi's arrival, both sides turned their attention to him.

"So he's the new deputy city lord of your City of Light." The mountain elder, nearly six meters tall, glanced at Lin Qi. "He's young enough and has potential. He might actually succeed you as the new city lord of City of Light in the future. But even if your City of Light has one more deputy city lord, it won't change anything. You might as well obediently step down. That way, you can at least take your accumulated wealth with you instead of wasting your time and life here."

As the elder of the Mountain Clan praised him, everyone present, whether they were Bone Forging Realm warriors from the City of Light or the City of Star Tower, looked at Lin Qi with a hint of jealousy and envy.

As the city lord of Star Tower City, the elder of the Mountain Clan is a veteran Blood Condensation Realm expert who has seen countless geniuses throughout his life. For such a veteran Blood Condensation Realm expert to praise Lin Qi and even believe that he is likely to achieve the Blood Condensation Realm in the future indicates that the possibility of Lin Qi becoming a Blood Condensation Realm martial artist is extremely high.

Blood Coagulation Realm!
For martial artists in the Bone Forging Realm, this level is a lifelong dream.

Unfortunately, even among the genius martial artists who graduate from the genius training camp, less than one in a thousand can ultimately become a Blood Condensation Realm martial artist.

But for Lin Qi, reaching this level was clearly not difficult, which naturally aroused jealousy and envy.

"Is he the owner of the Lin family's shop?"

Xiong Yuedie, standing in the crowd, couldn't help but glance at Lin Qi as he walked in, her heart filled with curiosity about him.

She had carefully reviewed Lin Qi's information.

After reading it, she discovered that Lin Qi's growth was incredibly fast. From initially hanging around in the abandoned area to later establishing the Obsidian Martial Arts School, he defeated gangs in the wild and suburbs. With each move, his strength increased significantly.

Not long ago, she even suggested that Elder Xiang could help the Obsidian Martial Arts School more. But in such a short time, Lin Qi has become the deputy city lord whom she has to look up to.

This rate of growth is something even she, who is considered a prodigy, has to admire.

"Good, good, good! Our human race finally has hope!" Elder Xiang looked at Lin Qi with excitement in his eyes.

Previously, the human race in the City of Light relied solely on Liu Tianzong. These old guys were only at the high level of the Bone Forging Realm, and they couldn't influence the race at all. They even had difficulty guarding their own small piece of land.

But now Lin Qi is not only a top-level Bone Forging Realm expert who has mastered extraordinary martial arts, but he has also been recognized by Hu Lei, the city lord of Star Tower City, as having a great chance of becoming a Blood Condensation Realm expert. Now, even if the Mountain Clan takes over the City of Chasing Light, as long as Lin Qi is given time, the human race can completely rebuild a city belonging to the human race and restore the glory of the human race in the past.

"The human race is really lucky. After the death of someone like Liu Tianzong, such a monster still appears." The golden-haired middle-aged man of the ape race sighed as he looked at Lin Qi. "Unlike our ape race, it's difficult for us to produce another top-level Bone Forging Realm expert now."

“There’s nothing to envy.” A noblewoman from the Feather Clan curled her lip, full of displeasure. “If we can’t defend the City of Light this time, even if the human race has Lin Qi as their deputy city lord, they won’t have an easy time. Without the city’s resources, achieving the Blood Condensation Realm will be nothing but a dream.”

The golden-haired ape didn't refute, and his gaze immediately turned to the two people on the arena in the center of the hall.

Talent and hard work are the foundation of a martial artist's path, but resources are essential to reaching higher levels, especially the Blood Condensation Realm. The resources required to reach this level are beyond the reach of ordinary forces.

Just as the chieftain of the Feather Clan said, if the City of Light changes hands, neither the human race nor they will have a good life in the future.

On the arena, a middle-aged man from the Three-Eyed Clan, dressed in dark black armor, was locked in a fierce battle with a young man from the Flame Horn Clan, who wore blood-red armor, was over three meters tall, had smooth, jade-like skin, and two horns on his head.

The two exchanged blows, each one potentially fatal. The intense clash of their vital energies caused the air to explode continuously. However, the fluctuations of their battle did not escape the arena, as they were all blocked by a semi-transparent energy barrier.

This arena was built by the Martial Arts Association at great expense. As long as energy crystals are spent, martial artists below the Blood Condensation Realm can fight to their heart's content without worrying about destroying anything.

However, just as the golden-haired ape-man looked towards the arena, the two sides, who had been locked in a fierce battle, suddenly separated. The young man from the Flame Horn Clan, clad in blood-red armor, suddenly increased his height with a loud shout, transforming into a figure nearly five meters tall with dark red skin all over his body, as if he were a demon born from fire.

With a single sweep of his spear, he sent the three-eyed man flying, crashing heavily into the energy barrier. The man coughed up a mouthful of blood, and the shock made it impossible for him to hold his weapon.

Before the three-eyed man could stand up again, the young man from the Flame Horn Clan thrust again. The three-eyed man instinctively used his footwork to dodge, but the young man from the Flame Horn Clan caught up with him at an even faster speed and swept him across the room.

This time, the middle-aged man from the Three-Eyed Clan lost his weapon and was unable to defend himself with his bare hands. His arm and neck were broken, and he died on the spot.

With the death of the three-eyed man, the people of the City of Light also turned grim, their eyes filled with despair.

Because the three-eyed man on the arena was none other than the veteran deputy city lord of the City of Light, the undisputed number one person after the city lord, and now he had been killed on the life-or-death arena...

"Who's next in your City of Light?" Hulei smiled at the three-eyed man with half-white hair. "If no one steps up, and you refuse to surrender, then don't blame us for starting a full-scale war right now!"

"Is this the legendary transformation ability that only the Flame Horn Clan possesses?" Di Luoya, the city lord of the City of Light, stared intently at the Flame Horn Clan youth on the arena, filled with shock.

The Flame Horn Clan is a very rare race in the entire Mist Mountain region, but they are recognized as a warrior race in the region, practically born for war and destined to die for war.

Legend has it that if the Flame Horn Clan can awaken their bloodline, they can transform, greatly enhancing their combat power. However, this has always been considered a story by everyone. Even he, the city lord, has never actually witnessed the Flame Horn Clan's transformation. He never expected to see it today.

"Yes, the transformations of the Flame Horn Clan are quite rare," Hu Lei laughed. "And I'll reserve two of these transformations for you!"

"Who's next?"

(End of this chapter)