81: Chapter 81 The war losses need to be settled.

The life-support pod popped open.

Nutrient fluid drained away through the drainage hole, and the medical instruments beeped.

Li Zhengyang opened his eyes.

The first thing he saw was a circle of bright, imposing figures surrounding him.

Lei Qianjue stood at the very front with his hands behind his back. Beside him was Commander Han Tieshan, the commander of Fortress No. 7, and next to him was Professor Wang Zongren, whose hair was as messy as a bird's nest.

Behind them stood several high-ranking military officials, all with solemn expressions.

The scene looked almost like a memorial service.

"The skeletal curves are off the charts!"

Professor Wang Zongren leaned over the monitor, his voice agitated: "His bone density is now comparable to military-grade armor. Look at this scan."

The old man turned and shouted at Commander Han Tieshan.

"These are not bodily data points a human should have; instead, they have characteristics of a dragon bone."

Of course, it wasn't human.

It was the [Tyrannosaurus Bone] that Li Zhengyang had snatched by going head-to-head with the Nether Dragon Venerable.

As long as he had a single breath left, this thing could forcibly drag him back from the gates of hell.

Lei Qianjue ignored Wang Zongren's clamor.

He stared at the naked young man sitting in the nutrient fluid, his eyes full of admiration.

A 5th Grade Martial Emperor, going head-to-head against a Martial Venerable-level demonic beast, killing it on the spot, and even managing to tear off the arm of an Overlord Level demon.

Such a battle record—let alone in the current Northern Territory—could not be matched by a second person even if one searched through the entire century of martial history of Great Xia.

Lei Qianjue was moved.

He decided to take him on as a disciple.

As one of the four Great Xia Nation-Protecting Martial Venerables, becoming his closing disciple was an opportunity that countless geniuses would break their heads begging for.

He believed that as long as he offered this olive branch, the kid would absolutely kneel on the ground in tears of gratitude and call him Master.

Lei Qianjue cleared his throat, adopting the dignified air of a grandmaster.

"You're awake."

He spoke, his voice deep and powerful, "As a 5th Grade Martial Emperor, you fought against a Martial Venerable and slew a demon. In my life, I, Lei Qianjue, have never seen someone as crazy as you. Your temperament suits my taste. Would you be willing to..."

"Venerable Lei."

Li Zhengyang ripped the monitoring tube off his chest, directly interrupting him.

"Where is my space ring?"

The atmosphere in the ward froze instantly.

Lei Qianjue's prepared line, "Would you be willing to be my closing disciple," was forcibly stuck in his throat, making his chest feel tight.

The group of high-ranking military officials around them exchanged glances.

Commander Han Tieshan's face twitched.

With a dark expression, he took a ring out of his pocket and threw it over in annoyance.

"Here! Do you think the fortress would covet your scraps???"

Li Zhengyang raised his hand and caught it steadily, rubbing the surface of the ring.

"Scraps?"

He flipped out of the life-support pod, turned his wrist, and inverted the space ring.

Clatter!

A pile of loot poured out of thin air.

Hundreds of 5th and 6th Grade demonic beast cores, incomplete demon bone armor, and huge skull fragments of the Silver-Crowned Giant Ape directly dented the floor.

Finally, a pitch-black crystal rolled twice on top of the pile of loot and came to a steady stop.

As soon as this crystal appeared, the air in the ward immediately grew several times heavier.

The pure Martial Venerable pressure radiating from it made the knees of the Martial King-level staff officers present go weak.

The Nether Dragon Venerable's demonic core!

All the high-ranking officials in the ward fell silent.

Commander Han Tieshan's mouth hung open as he stared at the black dragon core, his eyes almost popping out.

This was no scrap; this was a strategic-grade treasure that the entire Northern Territory war zone couldn't produce even one of in a year.

Lei Qianjue immediately turned his head and roared towards the door.

"Go! Call the head of the Quartermasters Office!"

In less than five minutes, a chubby middle-aged officer came running into the ward, stumbling and scrambling.

As soon as he entered, his gaze was glued to the Martial Venerable demonic core on the ground, his legs frozen in place.

"Chief."

Li Zhengyang pointed to the pile of demonic cores on the floor, "Let's settle the bill. I want to convert all of these into cash."

The chubby Chief took out a high-precision calculator and began pressing the buttons with trembling hands.

"Silver-Crowned Giant Ape demonic core... 6th and 7th Grade miscellaneous items... blood soul orb and demon materials..."

He called out the numbers as he tallied them up, sweat dripping uncontrollably from his forehead.

Finally, his hand hovered over the Martial Venerable dragon core, not daring to touch it at all.

"This Martial Venerable demonic core... there are currently no circulation records for it on the market."

"If we go by the highest guidance price from previous years' auctions..." The chubby Chief swallowed hard, glanced secretly at Lei Qianjue, "We can offer five hundred million. In total, that comes to eight hundred and ten million great xia currency."

After reporting this number, he didn't even dare to breathe.

Li Zhengyang didn't respond.

He extended his hand and began counting on his fingers.

"I, a 5th Grade Martial Emperor, went head-to-head against a Martial Venerable, effectively acting as the vanguard for your defensive line, right?"

The chubby Chief nodded frantically.

"I used my life as bait to hold it off and even cut off the arm of an Overlord Level demon, effectively saving the entire Pojun Division branch, right?"

The chubby Chief nodded his head like he was pounding garlic.

"To fight this battle, dozens of my bones were broken, my internal organs were all shattered once, and my spirit suffered severe trauma from the Martial Venerable-level pressure."

Li Zhengyang pointed to himself, "Don't you have to calculate a fee for mental damages and medical expenses?"

The chubby Chief's hand holding the calculator shook more and more.

"And my combat suit." Li Zhengyang patted his bare thigh, "It was all burned to ash by the Nether Death Ray. That was a special-issue model provided by the Fortress No. 7 logistics department."

He looked up, meeting the chubby Chief's eyes directly.

"Adding everything up, let's round it off to one billion." Li Zhengyang's tone was extremely casual, "That's not too much, is it?"

One billion!

The chubby Chief nearly spat a mouthful of blood onto his calculator.

He had calculated all the materials at their highest premium, and even then, it barely exceeded eight hundred million.

This kid just opened his mouth and demanded two hundred million in battle damage costs!

This was shearing the Great Xia military like a sheep until it was bald!

The chubby Chief couldn't make the decision, so he turned to look at Lei Qianjue for help.

Commander Han Tieshan stood to the side, his temples throbbing; he was just about to speak up and teach this kid a lesson for his exorbitant demands.

However, Lei Qianjue suddenly burst into laughter.

Watching Li Zhengyang's righteous, money-grubbing face, he wasn't angry at all; instead, a flash of appreciation crossed his eyes.

"Approve it for him!"

Lei Qianjue waved his hand, decisive and swift, "One billion, special military approval for the transaction! This kid eliminated a major threat for the Northern Territory; he is worth this price!"

The chubby Chief didn't dare to say another word and frantically tapped on the military special approval terminal.

Ding!

The newly reissued tactical terminal in the ward chimed.

Li Zhengyang tapped the tactical watch on his wrist, and a holographic screen popped up with a notification.

[Account credited: 1,000,000,000 yuan]

Ten digits.

Li Zhengyang stared at that string of numbers, his breathing suddenly becoming rapid, and golden light flared in his eyes.

This was even more of an adrenaline rush than killing the Nether Dragon Venerable.

Now he was truly rich!

He rubbed his hands together and looked up, scanning the military bigwigs in the ward.

Seeing that he had received the money and was in the right mood, Lei Qianjue felt the atmosphere was just right.

He cleared his throat, preparing to pick up where he had left off.

"Zhengyang, you've taken the money. The path of martial arts ahead is fraught with danger. If you have me personally..."

"Gentlemen!"

Li Zhengyang suddenly raised his voice, standing up and interrupting Lei Qianjue's spellcasting.

"This nutrient fluid has left me all sticky. I want to change into a new pair of underwear; would you mind clearing the room?"

"Otherwise, my dragon root might scare you all."

The ward fell into a dead silence once more.

Lei Qianjue had been forcibly cut off for the second time, and the corner of his mouth twitched uncontrollably.

He had lived for a hundred years and had never seen someone who only cared about money and nothing else.

"Fine."

Lei Qianjue gritted his teeth and pointed at him, "You change first. After you're done, come find me in the base command room."

He turned and walked out, leading the way, with the group of high-ranking officials following him out of the ward.

Click.

As the last person left, Li Zhengyang pressed the lock button on the wall without hesitation.

With a thought, a pale blue light screen appeared before his eyes.

[Current Blood Qi Value: 1298628]

[Realm: 5th Grade Martial Emperor]

[Account Balance: 1007800000]

One billion.

One hundred million great xia currency equals one million points of blood qi.

One billion—that was a full ten million points of blood qi!

What was there to hesitate about?

Li Zhengyang's finger hovered over the recharge bar on the holographic panel.

He entered the entire long string of sky-high numbers.

[Recharge Successful!]

[Recharge Amount: 1000000000]

[Blood Qi Value Gained: +10000000]