Level Up in Martial World

Soon, Lu Qing returned to the room with a vial in her hand. Inside the vial was an eerie, greenish-dark liquid that seemed to emit a mysterious aura.

Despite being a martial trainee, Lu Qing's hand made crisp, burnt noises, as if the hand holding the vial was being scorched.

Lu Ming's eyes narrowed the more he looked at the terrifying aura emitted by the liquid inside the vial.

"I think I finally understand why you said previously that I might die if it couldn't be successfully implanted," Lu Ming said with a sigh.

"Ancestor Lu, do you want to step back?" Lu Zhen asked, a glint in his eyes.

"No, I will face it," Lu Ming chuckled, fully releasing his aura. However, it wasn't an oppressive aura; instead, it was very gentle and passed through the people surrounding him like the wind. Gradually, his aura seemed to slightly resonate with an ancient old tree resembling it.

Lu Zhen observed Lu Ming with a glint in his eyes. Although the cultivation method they both practised was the same, there existed a distinct difference. Lu Ming still possessed wood Qi, one of the fundamental elements, a feature absent in Lu Zhen's own cultivation. Remarkably, Lu Ming had yet to advance his Qi even up to this point.

With determination flickering in his eyes, Lu Ming asked, "So, where should I go now, Lu Zhen?" His youthful vigor seemed to sparkle once more.

"Well, Lu Qing needs to implant some drops of the vial directly into your body. After that, you have to enter the pod over there," Lu Zhen pointed towards the tube in the centre of the room. "If you can endure the process and remain alive, you will survive."

"Hmm," Lu Ming nodded in understanding. Shortly after, Lu Qing administered the liquid from the vial through an injection.

As the liquid entered the injection, it emitted a sizzling sound, reminiscent of lava. Miraculously, the injection remained unaffected, prompting a nod and a smile from Lu Zhen.

"Looks like the material is sufficient to endure the bloodline," Lu Zhen remarked, his crimson eyes squinting as he observed the green liquid bobbing from time to time, as if imbued with life. He even sensed a faint trace of vitality occasionally released by the bloodline.

"This is quite a fascinating thing," he muttered.

Unfazed, Lu Ming walked up to Lu Qing and extended his hand towards her.

"I apologise, ancestor," Lu Qing spoke in a respectful tone as she swiftly aimed the injection at the nerves of Lu Ming, putting her full strength into the needle.

Shish!

The needle penetrated his nerves as Lu Qing exerted her full strength. With her other hand, she pushed the plunger. The moment the greenish-dark liquid entered Lu Ming's body, a guttural roar echoed, sending shockwaves throughout the area.

"This…" Lu Zhen hurriedly looked at Feng Yin for healing, who nodded and extended his hand, containing the roar within a metre surrounding Lu Ming.

"Ahhhh!"

Lu Ming's scream echoed in the room, his complexion slowly turning blood-red as if consumed by deep anger. His entire body writhed in pain, emitting small traces of smoke.

Lu Zhen's nose twitched. "The smell of burning something," he noted. Hurriedly, he looked at Lu Ming and urged, "Ancestor Lu, you should enter the pod quickly."

"Yes," Lu Ming replied with muffled grunts, mustering his strength to slowly make his way towards the pod.

"Should we help him, young master?" Lu Qing asked with a tentative expression.

"No, he needs to bear this burden himself," Lu Zhen stated with a cold expression, his crimson eyes flashing with determination.

"For one to implant these bloodlines, the first thing that one must have is resistance to the pain. I wish anaesthesia would work, but unfortunately, the pain wouldn't lessen with it," Lu Zhen thought with bitterness.

He had already implanted bloodlines into many animals before the test, yet to his disappointment, no matter what drugs or pain-reducing methods he used, nothing worked to alleviate the pain from the bloodline implantation, making him bitter.

Besides, this pain was just the first step. If one couldn't endure this much, then it was better not to undergo the process at all.

However, Lu Ming persisted and barely made it into the pod, his skin already blood-red, with veins visibly popping all over his body like he had gone senile with pure rage. The steam that came out of his body became even more in quantity.

"Start the process," Lu Zhen instructed, looking at Lu Qing, who nodded and rang a small bell.

The moment it rang, everyone in the room began to fully focus on their respective tasks.

Whoosh!

The pod closed, and blue liquid started pouring out from inside it. However, Lu Ming was so engrossed in the nerve-ending pain that he couldn't care less about what happened in his surroundings. Before long, he was fully submerged, covering the entire pod with the blue liquid.

"Hopefully, this will work," Lu Zhen muttered to himself.

"So, what do we do now?" Fang Yin asked with a confused expression.

"Well, we wait," Lu Zhen replied in a simple tone.

"Okay," Fang Yin nodded, remaining silent.

"By the way, Uncle Yin, I am curious about one thing," Lu Zhen suddenly spoke with a confused expression.

"Oh, what is it?" Fang Yin asked, wearing an amused expression.

"Well, Ancestor Lu is a first-stage martial artist, and as per my knowledge, first-stage martial artists should have enhanced their Qi by now. However, seeing the ancestor, there is no sign of it at all," Lu Zhen asked with curiosity.

Hearing this, however, made Fang Yin roll his eyes. "Do you think advancing your Qi is so easy? Although technically every first-stage martial artist could advance their Qi, it all depends on chance or specifically luck itself. It has nothing to do with strength at all," Fang Yin said with a regretful sigh.

"Even if you are in the peak of the first-stage martial realm, advancing your Qi might still not be possible at all. It relies on lucky encounters for you to get a chance to ever comprehend beyond the martial arts cultivation technique after reaching its peak."

"Oh," Lu Zhen nodded, "has Uncle Yin ever achieved it himself?"

"About that," Fang Yin coughed with an embarrassed expression. "I haven't yet."

"Okay," Lu Zhen expressionlessly replied; however, his eyes glinted with a strange expression.

"So I have done something that even a first-stage martial artist couldn't do?" His expression morphed into contemplation as the realisation sank in.

Lu Zhen summoned his system once again, a familiar blue panel flickering in front of him before it stabilised again.

—--------------

[LEVEL UP]

—-----

[Name: Lu Zhen]

--------

[Race: Human]

[Bloodline: Human/ Thin Volgrith]

exclusive content mv-lempyr

[Lifespan left: 329 years]

— Click to See more.----

His status hasn't changed much over the past month at all; however, that wasn't the main purpose of him opening his system.

Lu Zhen side-glanced at Fang Ying, who had his stern expression just like normal without a hint of any change.

However, this didn't confirm much about it, so he called Fang Yin while carefully looking at every change of expression on his face.

"What is it?" Fang Yin asked.