51: Chapter 51 Breakthrough to Great Martial Master

"What? This... this is actually true?"

Inside the cave, Gong Shuting looked at the Cultivation Technique in her hands, her mouth agape in shock.

With her SS-Rank Heaven-defying Comprehension talent, she quickly grasped the Ten Thousand Dao Scripture (Simplified Version).

The speed of her cultivation was more than ten times faster than the Medium Grade Earth Rank Profound Water True Technique she had cultivated previously, and this was only just having mastered the basics.

If she were to completely Master this Cultivation Technique, how terrifying would her cultivation speed be?

At this moment, Gong Shuting was shocked beyond measure. She never expected that by muddle-headedly taking on a Master, she would actually obtain a Divine-Grade Cultivation Technique?

Could it be that what Master said about him being the Ten Thousand Dao Sword Venerable and a Martial Venerable was also true?

This was a Martial Venerable!

An existence above a Martial Emperor. In Jiangbei Base City, there wasn't even a Martial Emperor, let alone a Martial Venerable.

A Martial Venerable powerhouse could be considered a top-tier existence even in the Great Xia Alliance.

"What exactly is Master's background?"

Gong Shuting only snapped out of it after a good while, murmuring curiously.

She flipped open the other two Martial Skill manuals to take a look; they were both Profound Rank Martial Skills, which surprised Gong Shuting once again.

Especially that High Grade Profound Rank "Wind-Thunder Palm"; cultivating it to Perfection would be no weaker than an average Low Grade Earth Rank skill.

It was more than a notch stronger than the Azure Wave Sword Technique she had been cultivating.

Because of her Heaven-defying Comprehension talent, she mastered the basics of both Martial Skills after reading them just once.

This talent was truly Heaven-Defying.

On the other side, after Han Ming left, he found a secluded spot, changed out of his black clothes, and began to perceive the changes in himself.

"Haha... As expected, truly worthy of Heaven-defying Comprehension. This time, I've really struck gold."

Feeling the changes in his body, Han Ming laughed out loud in excitement.

Before, he had been worried that his Breakthrough was too fast, that his Martial Skills wouldn't keep up, and he wouldn't be able to perfectly Master his surging strength.

Now that he possessed Gong Shuting's Heaven-defying Comprehension talent, he no longer needed to worry.

[Host: Han Ming]

[Blood Qi Value: 97,369 points]

[Realm: 9-Star Martial Master]

[Physique: SS-Rank Profound Ice Spirit Body, SS-Rank Heaven-defying Comprehension]

[Cultivation Technique: Ten Thousand Dao Scripture (Immortal Rank)]

[Martial Skills: High Grade Yellow Rank Wind Shadow Step (Perfection), High Grade Yellow Rank Mountain Crushing Palm (Perfection), High Grade Profound Rank Wind-Thunder Palm (Perfection), Low Grade Profound Rank Qi Concealment Art (Perfection), High Grade Profound Rank Water Shadow Step (Perfection), High Grade Profound Rank Azure Wave Sword Technique (Perfection)]

[Current Disciple Slots: 3/4 (One disciple slot is gained for every Breakthrough to a major Realm)]

[Bound Disciples: Lin Fan (5-Star Martial Master), Li Xuewei (5-Star Martial Artist), Gong Shuting (Two-Star Martial Artist)]

Han Ming glanced at his panel and revealed a satisfied smile.

Not only had all his Martial Skills reached Perfection, but he also gained two more High Grade Profound Rank Martial Skills; he had hit the jackpot this time.

Although he was currently only at the Peak of the Martial Master Realm, he believed that an average 1-Star Great Martial Master might not necessarily be his match.

At the very least, he felt his father, Han Yonghui, wouldn't be able to withstand a single palm strike from him.

"It's still early; let's see if I can Breakthrough to Great Martial Master before tomorrow."

Han Ming glanced at his bracelet; it was only noon on the second day of the Martial Exam.

Although his ranking had dropped by several spots, he wasn't anxious at all.

After simply taking out some food from his space to eat, he began to consume a Grade 4 blood qi pill and started cultivating.

On the other side.

After Gong Shuting learned that the Cultivation Technique her mysterious Master gave her was indeed Divine-Grade, she believed the news about the Blood Demon Alliance members infiltrating the area a little more.

Her Master was so powerful, he couldn't possibly be lying to her.

Therefore, she wasn't in a hurry to go out and hunt exotic beasts; she understood the principle that the nail that sticks out gets hammered.

Thus, she also began to Cultivate the Ten Thousand Dao Scripture that Han Ming had given her inside the cave.

As the Cultivation Technique circulated, Spiritual Qi of various attributes surged crazily toward Gong Shuting, forming a visible vortex of Spiritual Qi above her head.

The blood qi value within her body also began to grow rapidly.

"Boom!"

After some unknown amount of time, a faint, barely perceptible muffled sound came from within her body; her blood qi value broke through the 3,000 mark, and she successfully broke through to a 3-Star Martial Artist.

"Is... is this the power of a Divine-Grade Cultivation Technique? A mere half-day of cultivation is worth ten days of my hard work."

Gong Shuting felt the surging blood qi power within her and gaped in disbelief.

"Boom!"

At the same time as Gong Shuting's Breakthrough, on the other side, a muffled sound also came from within Han Ming's body; his blood qi value broke through the 100,000 mark.

He successfully broke through to a 1-Star Great Martial Master.

The blood qi within his body, which had already liquefied, was condensed once more, transforming into wisps and strands of Protective Aura.

This was the mark of breaking through to Great Martial Master: blood qi transforming into Protective Aura, capable of both offense and defense, greatly increasing his power.

"Unexpectedly, Lin Fan has also broken through to a 6-Star Martial Master; it's time to hunt!"

Han Ming felt the powerful blood qi within him and slowly opened his eyes, a cold glint flashing through them.

It was time to collect some interest from Zhang Beiwang.

Inside the Martial Exam monitoring room at the entrance of the Secret Realm.

A dozen or so invigilators were whispering to each other while staring at the Secret Realm's monitoring screens.

"Hey, the candidates in Jiangbei this year are quite good, much better than the past two years."

"Isn't that right? It's only been two days, and the first-place Lin Fan and second-place Zhang Beiwang have already exceeded 3,000 points. You know, last year, our Jiangbei Martial Exam champion only had a little over 2,800 points."

"That's right! And Zhao Yuting is also good, with over 2,800 points, firmly occupying the third position."

"What is Gong Shuting doing? Her score hasn't moved for a long time. She was previously ranked fifth, but now she's dropped out of the top ten."

At this moment, a teacher who had been paying attention to the ranking changes looked at Gong Shuting's ranking and asked in confusion.

"I don't know. She has been stuck in this position for a long time. Could she have encountered some trouble? Should we send someone to check?"

Another instructor also gathered around, looked at the location where Gong Shuting was, and said.

"No need, but notify the teachers patrolling the Secret Realm to be vigilant. Once a candidate sends a distress signal, they must rush to the scene to rescue them immediately."

"Although the higher-ups have given us a death quota, we must try our best to ensure the safety of all candidates."

The head invigilator at the head of the table shook his head and said with a serious expression.

"Understood."

Everyone replied in unison.

He did not notice that several of them exchanged subtle glances before walking out.

"Is everything ready?"

After the few left the monitoring room, they entered another room, and the middle-aged man leading them asked.

"The people below are all ready; they are just waiting for your order to begin the operation."

Another teacher who followed them in said respectfully.

"Good. Wang Ming, it's your turn to be on duty in the monitoring room tonight. At 10 o'clock, send me the target locations of the top twenty. We will act on time at 10 o'clock tonight."

"Remember, this is a mission arranged by the higher-ups. If you fail, you know the consequences."

The leader glanced at the few of them and said with a serious expression.

"Yes!"

Upon hearing this, the pupils of the few contracted, and they all replied.

Since they had joined the Blood Demon Alliance, there was no turning back; they could only continue down this dark path to the end.

Soon, it was 10 o'clock at night.

With a loud "Boom," the monitoring nodes in the Secret Realm were instantly destroyed.

At the same time, the screens in the Secret Realm monitoring room instantly went black, losing the locator coordinates of all candidates.

"What happened?"

The middle-aged man who was cultivating next to the monitoring room suddenly opened his eyes upon hearing the commotion, and a powerful aura radiated out, causing his clothes to rustle.

He was none other than the Director of the Jiangbei City Education Bureau, and the person in charge of this Martial Exam invigilation—Bureau Chief Li Baili, a Peak Martial Marquis powerhouse, only one step away from breaking through to Martial King.

"Report, Director, the monitoring nodes of the Secret Realm are broken, and we have lost the positioning coordinates of all candidates."

At this moment, an instructor who was on duty in the monitoring room ran in, flustered and anxious.

"Damn it, it's the Blood Demon Alliance! Quickly, notify Martial Emperor Xue and the people from the Martial Alliance, and send people in to rescue. Also, have all the instructors responsible for student safety in the Secret Realm mobilize, head to the coordinates of the top twenty candidates, and ensure their safety."

Bureau Chief Li Baili gave orders while speeding toward the depths of the Secret Realm.

Unfortunately, he was not a Martial King and could not fly through the air yet; it was too difficult to carry out a rescue.

The Secret Realm was so vast, and the enemy was in the dark while they were in the light; he could only speed through the Secret Realm like a headless fly.

And because the monitoring nodes were destroyed, many instructors also didn't know where those Genius candidates were, and could only blindly search the Secret Realm.

"Quick, we only have half an hour. After half an hour, the Martial Kings outside the Secret Realm will come in to rescue."

"Strive to kill all the top twenty geniuses within 20 minutes, then disguise yourselves again. Move out!"

The moment the monitoring nodes were destroyed, the dozen or so Blood Demon Alliance members mixed into the instructor team all moved out.

They sped toward the locations of their respective targets.