Swallowing the Stars: The Wind Sword Master.

Chapter 50 Elite Training Camp

September 28th, 1:30 PM, Jiangnan Base City Airport.

"You'll have to forge your own path from now on; your dad can't help you anymore."

Ning Hua's feelings were mixed; he was both proud and a little lonely. His son was too talented and didn't follow his plans at all.

The unknown is the most dangerous, and it's inevitable to feel worried. This is the path of a martial artist. He had survived by sheer luck before, and he could only hope that Ning Ze would be as fortunate as him.

"Dad, don't worry." Ning Ze had a faint smile on his face, exuding confidence. His eyes seemed to say, "Trust me!"

He was very confident in his abilities. He had mastered the top-level secret techniques to the final stage, and he felt that he could at least be rated as excellent in the elite training camp!

The martial arts school would never let a talented martial artist die; he would only grow faster after going there!

Li Wan held Ning Ze's hand, her eyes filled with tears, and urged him, "Be careful over there."

She couldn't stop Ning Hua from going into the wilderness, nor could she stop Ning Ze from going there. She could only hope that her son would become stronger so that he could face enough danger.

"Mom, don't worry, I'll be fine." Ning Ze winked playfully. Li Wan knew his strength, and having a trump card would naturally make him safer.

Li Wan simply nodded vigorously without saying anything more, because she was afraid she would burst into tears if she did.

Ning Ze was not quite used to this feeling of parting. He reached out and gently stroked the two little heads in his arms, one on each side, one a younger sister and one a wife. They were like children who had not grown up, holding him tightly all the way.

The entire combat squad came to see him off, and even Xu Gang came. Time flew by as everyone spoke.

"Kid, are you ready?"

A lazy-looking young man walked over, seemingly uninterested in anything.

"Lord Wu, I'm ready."

Ning Ze raised an eyebrow when he saw the newcomer. This war god from headquarters had briefly tested his strength and power yesterday, and then went off to have fun with Zhou Yongzheng, the president of the Extreme Martial Arts Academy, nicknamed "Iron Hand." He vaguely heard that they went to some kind of bathhouse.

Ning Ze gently pulled his wife and sister out of his arms. "Alright, Lord Wu is here, and the plane has landed. I should go now."

"If you miss me, just send me a video. The training camp won't ban internet access."

Shuyi pouted and nodded vigorously, trying hard not to cry. They had only been married for two months when they went to the wilderness, and only three days after they returned, they had to go to the training camp. The happy time was just too short.

"Those who haven't had their tickets checked yet, come over here for your tickets!" A ticket inspector shouted from afar, reminding those about to board the plane.

Wu Zhanshen raised an eyelid and urged, "Let's go, kid. It's the New Year holiday. You'll only be staying for a little over two months."

Ning Ze waved to his family, pulled his suitcase, and followed Wu Zhanshen ahead.

At this time, passenger planes were able to fly in the wilderness, completely different from the passenger planes of the past. They were more like flying saucers from science fiction movies, giant flying saucers.

Because the passenger plane is shaped like a flying saucer, the interior cabin is divided into a top floor, a middle floor, and a bottom floor.

The top floor is for first class. The middle and bottom floors are for economy class.

Ning Hua walked up the stairs, entered the top floor through the hatch, stood at the entrance of the flying saucer, turned to look at his family and friends behind him, smiled confidently, and then turned to walk into the flying saucer.

"A08." Ning Ze glanced at the plane ticket in his hand and looked around.

Similar to the seating in a stadium, the guest seats are arranged in a series of concentric circles, with a hemispherical mound in the center displaying a waterfall-like scene. This is the most advanced projection technology available today – three-dimensional virtual projection.

It's not 3D, it's virtual. No matter which direction you look from, you see the same 3D image.

"Ning boy, I heard your movement technique has reached the 'perfect level'?" Wu Zhanshen sat next to Ning Ze, and seemingly out of boredom, he casually asked about Ning Ze's current cultivation progress.

Ning Ze felt somewhat speechless. He didn't ask or test anyone at first, but only started asking these kinds of questions when they were on the plane heading to the training camp. No matter how you looked at it, this war god didn't seem like a reliable person.

"Yes, I feel that should be 'perfect level', since it all utilizes the environment."

A slight smile played on Wu Zhanshen's lips, though it was unclear what he was laughing at. After a ten-second silence, he asked in a low voice, "How did you manage to kill so many monster materials? Is there some secret? Didn't any of the lord-level monsters chase you? I heard you fought your way across the Huangpu River?"

Ning Ze stretched his legs, but felt he couldn't stretch them out completely. The seat was tilted forward, which was different from his usual sitting posture, making it a bit uncomfortable to sit in.

"I've encountered lord-level monsters, but I escaped them all. As for the secret, I don't know if it's a secret or not."

Wu Zhanshen turned his head with great curiosity. "Tell me about it."

Ning Ze pondered for a moment before replying, "I've noticed that these lord-level monsters only chase you once. After the second time, they realize they can't kill you and stop bothering with you. Those lord-level monsters rarely care about the lives of their subordinates. That's when you can kill monsters at will."

Wu Zhanshen's lips twitched. What secret was this? These monsters were just like people; if they couldn't be killed, they wouldn't bother chasing them unless someone provoked them.

"Lord Wu, what does the elite training camp include?" Ning Ze asked curiously.

Wu Zhanshen said in a serious tone, "There are quite a few geniuses there, thirty or forty every year. They are the strongest geniuses in the world, and there are nearly two hundred in total."

Ning Ze's face darkened. What kind of answer was that? He already knew all this. He had asked what the elite training camp had that could improve cultivation!

Wu Hao smiled smugly, leaned back lazily in his chair, closed his eyes, and looked like he didn't want to talk.

Ning Ze discovered that this God of War had a rather wicked sense of humor, so he closed his eyes and slightly adjusted his posture, instantly entering a meditative state. Strands of cosmic energy converged towards him, penetrating his body to strengthen his genes.

Sensing the fluctuations of cosmic energy beside him, Wu Zhanshen opened his eyes, blinking in disbelief. Was he cultivating? Had he entered a cultivation state so quickly?

This movement isn't the Five Hearts Facing Heaven posture, so how can it be cultivated?

He opened his mouth, but seeing Ning Ze cultivating, he could only swallow his words, close his eyes sullenly, and wondered how this kid was cultivating.

Wu Hao stayed for two minutes, but still felt awkward. He shifted his body back and forth, looking somewhat restless.

Unbeknownst to him, Ning Ze was smiling slightly at that moment.

As a mentalist, his senses were very sharp; he could feel Wu Hao watching him.

An hour passed quickly.

After a slight swaying, the plane came to a stop, and passengers familiar with the procedure unbuckled their seatbelts and prepared to disembark.

Wu Hao had been waiting for a while, but Ning Ze still hadn't come out of his cultivation. He was feeling annoyed and, seeing that the passengers were about to get off, he said irritably, "Kid, we've arrived. Get off with me."

Ning Ze slowly opened his eyes and simply replied with one word, "Oh."

Wu Hao swallowed back the words he was about to say and walked outside with his head down.

Ning Ze obediently followed.

They rode in a car sent by headquarters. Ning Ze still didn't say anything. When the car stopped at a place with a sign that read "Elite Training Camp," the two of them got out of the car, but Ning Ze still didn't say anything.

Wu Hao walked inside with his head down, stopping a short distance from the entrance. He thought to himself, "You brat, serves you right for pretending to be mute! See if you don't get scared this time!"

Ning Ze was indeed stunned for a moment. Before him stood a huge black dragon statue, fifty meters long and lifelike. It was coiled there, just like a real and terrifying dragon monster.

Especially those eyes, with a fierce and savage aura, would definitely terrify anyone who saw them for the first time.

Ning Ze was no exception. However, after a moment of surprise, he immediately entered a state of cultivation. He felt that this pressure could double his cultivation speed!

And that was indeed the case. Once he entered a meditative state, he clearly felt that he was absorbing cosmic energy at an accelerated rate.

Of course, this appearance would be frightening to outsiders.

Wu Hao was about to make a joke, but after carefully sensing it, he felt the cosmic energy around him gather again. He knew without asking that the kid had started cultivating while standing.

He suddenly felt a sharp toothache and asked in confusion, "Kid, aren't you scared?"

Ning Ze honestly replied, "I was a little nervous, but it was great!"

He was now even more excited about the elite training camp. Just a statue at the entrance could double his cultivation speed, and he didn't know how many new and exciting things would accelerate his cultivation later on.

Especially this stone carving, which he hadn't noticed before, upon closer inspection, he saw that starting from the scales on the black dragon's head and continuing down to the front, there were lines of information on the scales.

NO.1 Zheng Che (520308)

NO.2 Mara Gold (520377)

NO.3 Renates Bridge (530321)

NO.4 Chu Qiang (540386)

……

NO.184 Nalan Goode (560318)

Seeing this, Ning Ze thought to himself, 'Sure enough, there's competition here too. The first and second place should be from our region, the second place with such a strange name must be from India, and the third place is from the Americas.'

Seeing Ning Ze staring blankly at the statue, as if he had no intention of leaving.

Wu Hao felt helpless. "Kid, stop looking. This is the ranking of the elite training camp. You'll be lucky if you can get into the top 100 in a short time."

"Oh." Ning Ze replied with a single word again, then exited his cultivation state and looked at Wu Hao!

He has already discovered that this war god has a somewhat eccentric personality. If you ignore him, you might be able to get some useful information.

But how could he even make it into the top 100? The third level of "Wind Slash" is enough to get him into the top 100?

"This black dragon's eyes come from a King-level monster!"

"oh."

"This was done by the Master!"

"oh."

Wu Hao's forehead was flushed, and he continued, "The higher the ranking, the better the treatment you receive, including instruments from the ancient ruins and special auxiliary medicines. The treasures in the ancient ruins are all unique, and the higher the ranking, the longer you can use them!" As he spoke, he looked at Ning Ze expectantly.

"oh."

Three black lines appeared on Wu Hao's forehead. He clenched his fists tightly, forcing himself not to hit anyone. He turned and walked into the training camp, introducing the place as he went.

Ning Ze followed behind, looking around and surveying the surroundings.

When you come in from the main gate, it looks like a castle courtyard, but once you walk in, you realize that's not the case at all.

The architectural style here leans towards buildings from the pre-Nirvana period, featuring numerous palaces, streams, gardens, and galleries, creating a naturally beautiful landscape. There are even some uniquely styled pavilions that exude elegance.

Ning Ze was quite satisfied after looking around. The buildings here were similar to those in the Jiangnan Base City, which gave him a sense of home.

Of course, there are also modern buildings in this training camp, and this building is very eye-catching. It is also a tower-style building, but its scale is simply too large to be built using ancient construction methods!

It was a nine-story tower with dripping eaves and figures of immortals and beasts on one corner. From a distance, the tower was extremely wide, roughly estimated to be several kilometers in diameter. Although it only had nine stories, its height was at least sixty or seventy meters, meaning each story was more than seven meters high.

Ning Ze could see people walking towards the Nine-Story Tower from time to time, and many people coming out of the Nine-Story Tower.

"That's called the Nine-Story Tower. It's where all the students study and train. Some special training rooms are also there!"

"Inside the training camp, the trainees spend almost all their time inside the Nine-Story Building, except when they are sleeping."

"oh."

Wu Hao closed his eyes tightly, then opened them again, and hurriedly walked forward.

Ning Ze followed silently behind.

Soon, the two of them arrived at a two-story pavilion, where all the furniture was in an ancient style.

Wu Hao's expression was somewhat blank, and he said stiffly, "Look carefully. There are power outlets here, and laptops are allowed, but no other electrical appliances."

"oh."

Ning Ze responded and looked around. From the moment he entered, he felt that the architectural style was very good. It was normal that there were no electrical appliances. Having electrical appliances would feel a bit out of place and would make the place less refined and elegant. This place gave him a sense of closeness to life, and he unconsciously felt much more at ease. He was able to cultivate in peace, which was wonderful!

Veins bulged on Wu Hao's forehead; he felt that he couldn't communicate with this kid at all!

"You'll have to figure out what to eat yourself!"

"Tomorrow at noon, I will take you to the Nine-Story Tower to undergo the B-level test. Only after you pass the B-level test will you officially become a member of this elite training camp. If you fail, you will have to go to the basic training camp."

"I advise you not to wander around today, or else..." Wu Hao said before walking out the door.

As soon as he stepped out the door, he felt Ning Ze following behind him. Even after he walked out of the attic, Ning Ze was still behind him. The veins on his forehead throbbed even more violently. Turning around, his anger flared up. "Kid, didn't I tell you it was best not to wander around?"

"I'll go to the main gate; I know the way."

Ning Ze calmly replied and walked past Wu Hao, leaving only his suitcase in the room.

A white shadow flashed, and he ran quickly outside.

Wu Hao tilted his head, looking puzzled. Thinking of Ning Ze's reaction when he saw the statue, he seemed to know, more or less, what Ning Ze had gone to do.

He stood there silently, rubbing his temples with both hands. "No, my blood pressure is going to spike when I'm with this kid. I'd better go take a bath first."

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(End of this chapter)