Age of Evolution

After mastering the realm of spearmanship as solid as a mountain, Lin Zhen fulfilled his commitment and gave Zhang Guanyue ten million as promised.

In Lin Zhen’s view, such martial arts were priceless. They’re worth more than one billion, not just ten million, making the dealings more than profitable.

Meanwhile, Zhang Guanyue was also satisfied. With these ten million, his future life is secured. He could live happily and peacefully for the rest of his life.

Putting away the Black Dragon Spear, Lin Zhen said to Zhang Guanyue: “Mr. Zhang, thank you for teaching me such formidable martial arts. If you ever need anything in the future, feel free to call me. I won’t refuse if it’s within my abilities.”

Unexpectedly, Zhang Guanyue declined Lin Zhen’s phone number: “Lin Zhen, I appreciate your generosity, but I don’t think it’s necessary. I don’t plan to get involved in the martial world anymore. I have a girlfriend waiting for me. Now that I have the money, I can marry her. I don’t think we’ll have any intersection again.”

Lin Zhen nodded. There are many martial artists with this mentality. He could understand Zhang Guanyue. Not everyone craves the peak of martial arts. A peaceful and joyful life is desirable for many.

“Ha ha! However, I will keep an eye on you. Maybe one day when you make a name for yourself, I could brag about you to my girlfriend, look! This Lin Zhen, the number one martial artist in the world, learned spearmanship from me.”

With that, Zhang Guanyue hesitated, then asked Lin Zhen: “Lin Zhen, are you planning to go to the Wilderness Area soon?”

Lin Zhen nodded; he naturally planned to go to the Wilderness Area – to Zhao Dong, to have a good fight with Li Tianhao and his group.

However, Zhang Guanyue advised, “I think you better not go for the time being. ”

“Why?” Lin Zhen wanted to hear Zhang Guanyue’s reason.

“I suffer from cold in my legs, and I’m sensitive to wind and snow. My legs have been hurting these days. I feel that there will be a snowstorm soon, and it’ll be particularly intense. Once you go to the Wilderness Area, the road might get blocked, and it will be difficult to return.”

“Oh! A severe snowstorm!”

Lin Zhen paused, memories gradually surfacing in his mind.

Indeed, there was a huge snowstorm this year. The storm has trapped many martial artists in the wilderness, never to return to Base City.

Now, with few satellites orbiting Earth, weather forecasts from the old era have become history. Predicting the weather is based on experience, and Base City hasn’t issued any snowstorm warning.

Lin Zhen had been wondering how to handle Li Tianhao and his crew in the wilderness. Now this snowstorm has given him a new inspiration.

“Thank you. I’ll bear that in mind.” Lin Zhen waved at Zhang Guanyue.

Accompanied by Zhang Guanyue’s laughter, Lin Zhen bade him goodbye and left South City District, where he had stayed for a week.

Once he stepped out, Lin Zhen found his car in a nearby garage. After getting in, he took out his cell phone from his Space Ring.

Before he left, he had told his family and friends that he would be unavailable for a week due to commitments, to focus on his martial arts training. His phone was also placed in the Space Ring, disabling him from receiving calls and messages.

As soon as he powered up his phone, several messages came in immediately.

One was from Shi Lei, stating that Zhao Liang and Meng Dong had received treatment.

There was also a message from Li Tianhao.

“Lin Zhen, where are you hiding, you coward? I know you are planning to hide for a month and a half, then come out when the God Generals Training Camp starts. But let me tell you, even if you hide, your family can’t. I will find a way to deal with them sooner or later. And An Ning, An Ning will be mine sooner or later. Don’t dream of a toad eating swan meat, ha ha ha! If you’re not convinced, come and find me in Zhao Dong. I’m practicing here. Dare you?” Seeing this message, Lin Zhen’s face cooled down.

Li Tianhao dared to threaten his family, breaking the boundaries between martial artists. Although it was just a threat for now, it signaled danger. Lin Zhen won’t let anything like this happen.

And about An Ning, Lin Zhen didn’t doubt An Ning’s feelings for him, but what if he died?

What if he disappeared? Who could guarantee what the future held?

He had to deal with Li Tianhao and he must go to Zhao Dong.

In addition to their messages, there was also one from his mother, Li Qin. She informed Lin Zhen that Li Mengxi had called home looking for him. Li Qin even warmly invited Li Mengxi over, but she didn’t come as Lin Zhen wasn’t home.

Li Qin also left a message asking if he was dating Li Mengxi? If so, he should bring her home earlier as Li Qin liked this potential daughter-in-law very much.

Seeing this message gave Lin Zhen a headache. He and Li Mengxi were impossible, he didn’t feel the same for her. Also, he was convinced Li Mengxi would never be so impulsive to call his home without cause. There might be a reason behind it.

But now without any clue, Lin Zhen could not guess either, he logged on the Martial Artist forum again, wanting to see if there had been any recent happenings.

After logging into the forum, he surprisingly found many posts online slandering him.

The reason was that several online posts had challenged him, with Zhao Dong being the proposed venue for each one.

There were posts from Li Tianhao, Old Hu from Gale, Zhang Huai from the Blood Hand Squad, Ouyang Yu from Dragon Slayer, and even many unknown martial artists who had likewise challenged Lin Zhen.

Challenges amongst martial artists were pretty much a daily occurrence. As long as there is a post as evidence, if someone dies in a duel, it’s their own fault. Absolutely no one would intervene.

Lin Zhen was particularly in the limelight lately, being ranked the top Warrior Level person in Ice City. This reputation was enough to make too many people envious. Some who genuinely felt indignant at Lin Zhen and wanted to challenge him could be understandable. Others were merely using this opportunity as a stepping-stone to become famous through increased attention.

Lin Zhen had seen such situations in his previous life, but this was the first time it has happened to him.

These posts started appearing a week ago. Initially, people would denounce this kind of behavior and defend Lin Zhen. However, as days went by without any response or appearance from Lin Zhen, those challenging him became increasingly excited. As if they had won the lottery, they bounced around online like chickens on drugs, incessantly coming up with an array of attacks to defame Lin Zhen.

Take what this kid Ouyang Yu said, for example: “Lin Zhen, you’re just a poor boy from a impoverished neighborhood. Since you’re broke, you’re quite adept at profiteering, aren’t you? I’ve figured it out; there was a spirit power potion wrongly displayed on my stall which you snagged instantly. I intended to put up a price of a million, but mistakenly typed a hundred, and you bought it. When I asked you for it, you did not return it. Have you never seen money before in your life? Let me tell you, I couldn’t care less about a few hundred thousand, take it as my gift to you. I am not afraid of your reputation, and I

dare to challenge von. this low life- If von are not satisfied. let’s meet in Zhao

Dong. Enough said, here are the images!”

There were several images attached to the post, screenshots of his booth being emptied by Lin Zhen’s account.

When Internet users verified it, indeed the potion from Ouyang Yu’s booth had been bought by Lin Zhen. After all, real names are used today; everyone can be tracked.

Many people thought there was a character flaw in Lin Zhen; strength does not necessarily garner respect. Originally jealous of Lin Zhen, these people now had converted into Lin detractors.

Apart from the kind of posts by Ouyang Yu, there were others that listed Lin Zhen as a fraud during his graduation exams.

People now universally believed Lin Zhen to be a born Divine Speedster. But when checking facts about Lin Zhen’s punch speed and nerve response during his graduation, it was clear that he was far more powerful now. If Lin Zhen had revealed his status as a born Divine Speedster earlier, he could have been sent for special training. There was certainly something fishy about him keeping it under the wraps.

Some people mentioned that Lin Zhen was malicious and deep, implying that he would cause harm wherever he settled down.

Others brought up the point that Lin Zhen had taken the opportunity to challenge the Russian martial artists, demanding an exorbitant price and had even won the trade rights from the Base City’s tech department. Their argument was that Lin Zhen completely saw this battle as a means of personal gain, overlooking the nation’s and ethnic group’s prestige. With no vision of the bigger picture, he was a classic despicable man.

Although Lin Zhen had won many hearts during his battle with Gale, he had drawn too much attention. The taller the tree, the stronger the wind; Many people were jealous of Lin Zhen and used all manner of excuses to attack him.

There were also those who accused Lin Zhen of being ruthless, questioning his decision to kill the three Russians. They argued that martial arts competitions should foster friendship and respect, as the Russians themselves had not killed

Fu Chengya and Shen Yuhua from Gale.

Thus, people started to label Lin Zhen as the Butcher.

Of course, there were still a lot of people who supported Lin Zhen. After all, his defeat of the Russians truly resonated with many in Ice City, and he was also quite good-looking, winning the support of many women.

Online, Lin supporters and detractors clashed fiercely, cutting down each other with their words, engaging in a grand ‘flame war.’

However, at the end of it all, the slanderers confidently challenged Lin Zhen,

“If you are truly so powerful, dare you to go to Zhao Dong?”

You have so many challengers, if you have the guts, step forward!

Lin’s supporters also hoped Lin Zhen would make a comeback, completely suppressing those who looked down on him. But Lin Zhen had been keeping low-key, disappointing some of his fans.

Lin Zhen perused these posts, quite aware that there was definitely someone scheming behind the scenes. Their aim was to coerce him to promptly head to Zhao Dong where they would keep him indefinitely and prevent him from ever going to the God Generals Training Camp.

Even if Lin Zhen remained silent and his supporters saw that he wasn’t showing himself, they would eventually cease to support him. His reputation, already stained, would likely be completely ruined soon.

Lin Zhen logged into his account and posted an article using his real name.

“To those who slander me, those claiming I have a poor character, those challenging me, listen up!

“I, Lin Zhen, am no saint, nor a national or peoples’ hero, but simply a martial artist. In these apocalyptic times, where survival is a luxury, I’m accustomed to letting my martial force do the talking.

“It’s not that I cannot refute those slandering me, your so-called ‘evidence’ is full of holes. But I find no need to explain. You want to provoke me to Zhao Dong? Well, just wait there; I’ll be there soon. And then, with my fists and long spear, I shall teach you the real rules of survival in this post-apocalyptic

world.”

“Lastly, for those saying it was wrong for me to kill those Russians, let me ask you: when I was falling from the sky, if I had not shot at them, would they have torn me to shreds? Showing Mercy is only possible when there is a significant gap in strength – in a close battle, any leniency can lead to defeat or even death. At the last moment, Ivan fought me for his life, Nelov gripped my arms and ankles. I ask you, wasn’t it justified for me to retaliate with maximum force? Is my defeat or death what you were hoping for? Remember, if peace could be won through handshakes and pleading, there would be no need for martial artists.”

Having posted this, Lin Zhen turned off his mobile and drove home humming a tune.

As for those setting their traps for him in Zhao Dong, they’d have to wait a bit longer.. Beware, for the storm is on its horizon!