Age of Evolution

Lin Zhen returned home, and his parents pestered him for a while to ask about Li Mengxi’s situation.

Lin Zhen adamantly denied any involvement in the matter and promised to resolve the girlfriend issue as soon as possible, finally getting his parents off his back.

Upon returning home, Lin Zhen went to the online shop of the martial arts guild and purchased liquid metal at a price 10% higher than the market rate.

He had been wanting to do this for a while. The current price of liquid metal was 200,000 per gram, as it was specifically for Spiritual Mind Masters, so the market was not large. Those who needed it valued it like treasure, and those who didn’t treated it as trash.

Apart from the Ministry of Technology and the major martial arts guilds, most of the liquid metal was in private hands. Lin Zhen set a price of 220,000 per gram and made a large purchase.

In order to evolve a gun-type weapon using liquid metal, Lin Zhen needed at least 30 kilograms of liquid metal, and the amount he had so far was not enough.

The sale of the first layer of the Nine Layers Spear River had brought in six billion in funds; together with the original seven billion, Lin Zhen had only about thirteen billion now, which wasn’t enough to buy the required liquid metal. Lin Zhen needed money.

After setting up the purchase orders, Lin Zhen checked the progress of the genuine Qi assisting medicine he had ordered.

The order indicated that it would ship in three days, which meant that in three days, Lin Zhen would have the basic conditions to advance to the War General Level.

Closing the website, Lin Zhen rested at home for the evening and went to the hospital early the next morning.

Shi Lei was still looking after Meng Dong in the hospital, while Gao Yan had returned. Lin Zhen checked the conditions of Meng Dong and Zhao Liang, who had improved quite a bit with the help of modern medical care. They were now able to move freely indoors and were expected to be discharged in a few days.

Neither Meng Dong nor Zhao Liang blamed Lin Zhen in the slightest; in fact, they said they were embarrassed to have let Lin Zhen down. This only made Lin Zhen feel guilty, and he swore to take care of Li Tianhao and his group for good.

After leaving the hospital, Lin Zhen went to the martial arts guild, where he found a long line of people waiting to sign up for the guild in front of the entrance.

Gao Yan, who wasn’t at the hospital, was in charge of receiving newcomers.

Upon seeing Lin Zhen, he complained, “Lin Zhen, this is all your fault.” “Me? What did I do?”

“It’s all because you performed too well, making many young people want to join Gale. The guild is too busy, so I was called back from the hospital to help.”

Lin Zhen looked at the long line and noticed that all the people in the queue were young. When Lin Zhen appeared, there was even a commotion in the line.

“Look, it’s Lin Zhen! That’s Lin Zhen ye!”

“Wow! It’s really Lin Zhen, he looks handsome in person, finally able to see him live.”

“I joined Gale just for Lin Zhen, being able to practice martial arts with Brother Lin makes me feel so happy. It would be even better if we could team up to kill monsters together.”

“My goal is to surpass Lin Zhen and become the number one Warrior of the new Ice City generation, that’s why I came here, to learn more about him.”

“You can’t even beat me, let alone competing with Lin Zhen; you have no chance even in your next life.”

These young people discussed one after another, but none dared to approach Lin Zhen. Gale’s recruitment rules were strict, and not everyone who signed up was accepted. There were more than two or three hundred people in line, but the final number of selected applicants probably wouldn’t exceed twenty.

Gao Yan wanted to call Lin Zhen over to help, but Lin Zhen waved his hand, “Old Gao, you better hurry up and finish your work. I have to go practice. You know, I’m an elite now, that means I just practice martial arts and don’t do any chores, hehe.’

Gao Yan smirked, “Fine, go practice, elite. I guess Old Gao’s fate is just to clean up after you.”

Lin Zhen chuckled twice and entered the martial arts guild.

Once inside, several people from the martial arts guild greeted Lin Zhen as they saw him.

“There’s Lin Zhen. You look good today.”

“Brother Li, I want to give up the sword and learn the spear; do you think I have a future?”

“Brother Li, good morning. Your outfit looks really smart. Where did you buy it? Tell me so I can go and buy one too.”

Lin Zhen looked down at his martial arts uniform and was somewhat speechless. Among martial artists, it seemed that only those with strength received respect. At this point, he was practically the guild’s star figure.

Some War General Level Martial Artists also greeted Lin Zhen with a smile. Although Lin Zhen was still at the Warrior Peak level, no one doubted that he possessed the strength of a War General.

Many times, people debated whether Lin Zhen had the strength of a Junior War General or an Intermediate War General.

As for the Warrior Level discussions, Lin Zhen wasn’t included anymore.

There was a Third-Level War General named Li Huainian on the stage who said to Lin Zhen: “Lin Zhen, do you want to come up and play? We’re all looking forward to seeing your spear skills.”

Many War General Level Martial Artists practiced against each other near the stage in the martial arts hall, but they never invited Warrior Level practitioners to join them because winning against them wouldn’t be considered a glorious victory.

It could be said that Lin Zhen was the first to receive such an honor, which also meant that these War Generals already treated Lin Zhen as someone with the strength equal to them.

Lin Zhen smiled: “Alright, let’s play a little.”

Seeing that Lin Zhen was about to go on stage, Li Huainian hurriedly said to the people around him: “Hey! Everyone, please wait below. I’ll practice a bit with Lin Zhen.”

Lin Zhen went on stage, took out his Black Dragon Spear, and said to Li

Huainian: “Brother Li, let’s have a small bet.”

“What’s the bet? I’m not a tycoon, don’t make a living out of me.” Li Huainian was cautious. Lin Zhen loved to bet and always managed to win. He didn’t want to fall prey, even though he was proud, he didn’t have complete confidence in defeating Lin Zhen.

“Hehe! Our bet is small. I’ve been practicing defense lately. If Brother Li can knock me out of this circle within five minutes, I’ll treat everyone to lunch. If Brother Li can’t do it, you will treat everyone, how do you like that?” Lin Zhen then drew a circle with a diameter of about one meter on the stage.

Upon hearing that the bet was only for treating everyone to lunch, Li Huainian was relieved. How much could they eat? Even if it costs hundreds of thousands, it’s nothing for these martial artists.

“Lin Zhen, you’re getting bolder, having so much confidence in yourself. Alright, deal! If I can’t knock you out of this circle, you can pick any restaurant in Ice City!”

Li Huainian took out two golden cudgels from behind, which were his weapons.

“Don’t say Brother Li is bullying you. Although you are still at the Warrior Level, your strength has probably already surpassed Brother Li’s. So, even if I win, it won’t be considered a hollow victory. Haha, here I come!”

Activating his Dantian Qi, Li Huainian stomped on the ground with one foot, rushed to Lin Zhen, and smashed his left-handed golden cudgel towards his head!

Lin Zhen calmly blocked Li Huainian’s attack with both hands holding his spear horizontally.

Li Huainian also had a follow-up attack. His right-handed golden cudgel struck Lin Zhen’s shin, expecting to make Lin Zhen flustered, but he didn’t expect Lin Zhen to easily dissolve his carefully planned second attack with a swipe of his spear.

Li Huainian smiled, his two golden cudgels struck from above and below in a sweeping motion. His continuous three moves were very skilled and concealed, making him believe that this attack would force Lin Zhen to retreat.

Yet, Lin Zhen held his long spear upright and swiftly flicked it left and right like lightning, dissolving his attack once again.

“Nice!”

Many martial artists below the stage hooted and clapped. Lin Zhen’s defense was indeed brilliant, but most people didn’t think he could really withstand Li Huainian’s attacks without fighting back.

After trying the three moves, Li Huainian became more cautious, waving his golden cudgels and launching a fierce attack.

Lin Zhen remained calm, bent his waist and assumed a horse stance, his Black Dragon Spear whirling up and down! Absolutely not fighting back, he managed to withstand Li Huainian’s onslaught like a tidal wave!

“This… Lin Zhen’s defense is too strong!”

The martial artists below the stage initially watched for fun, but as they continued to watch, they discovered that Lin Zhen’s long spear defense was virtually watertight. Despite Li Huainian’s best efforts, Lin Zhen didn’t budge an inch within the three-square-feet area, not even moving his feet!

With the long spear in Lin Zhen’s hand, he exuded a commanding presence, while Li Huainian grew more and more apprehensive as he fought. The feeling Lin Zhen gave him was like that of an insurmountable mountain towering into the sky, making him feel that there was no chance of defeating Lin Zhen.

As soon as this feeling of futility emerged, Li Huainian’s momentum began to wane, and he was quickly losing confidence.

Lin Zhen, however, didn’t think too much about it. He had just grasped the immovable like a mountain concept and wanted to practice against someone in the martial arts hall. In Lin Zhen’s view, these War General Level Martial Artists of Gale were the perfect sparring partners..