Level Up in Martial World

Lu Zhen's voice echoed throughout the place, causing the man to pause for a moment.

"Is this a trap? Does he have another partner?"

Although Lu Zhen was like a bug, it didn't mean the man was unmatched in the world. There were many people who could crush him like an ant to meat paste.

The envoy gritted his teeth, but he still went forward and followed Lu Zhen.

"Even if it isn't a bluff, does this little brat think I will be scared of a first-stage martial artist? I can definitely escape if things go awry," he thought to himself with gritted teeth.

Lu Zhen frowned, seeing this, with a disappointed expression on his face.

"Oh well."

With his injured body, Lu Zhen dragged himself inside the bamboo temple, leaving a blood trail behind.

"I know you are here." His voice echoed in the old bamboo temple; however, no reply came, which made Lu Zhen frown.

"So you are not coming out?"

A sneer formed on Lu Zhen's face as he tapped into his mental energy.

"If you are not coming, I will make you come out!" he roared, his voice echoing through the bamboo temple.

"Knew it." Without hesitation, Lu Zhen kicked the ground, causing it to cave in as he travelled underground. After digging two feet down, he found an empty space, which made him smirk.

"Oh, Elv, I found you. The first-stage martial artist's body already." Lu Zhen felt a cold shiver down his back as he entered the empty space without hesitation.

Boom!

The temple crumbled as if a nuclear bomb had exploded, turning into bits and pieces.

"Huh, where is he?" The envoy frowned as he couldn't sense Lu Zhen for a moment, causing him to frown. He spread his mental senses all over the surroundings, covering almost all the distance around him.

"There, you bastard. No matter where you hide, you will die this time…" The envoy's eyes had already gained clarity, but still, the man pursued Lu Zhen endlessly; after all, it was a matter of his martial heart.

He walked to the pile of bamboo and started to dig violently, sensing Lu Zhen's location.

….

Thud!

Lu Zhen fell to the metal floor, looking around at his surroundings covered with metal.

"Why did you come?"

A deep, feminine voice rang in Lu Zhen's ears.

He just chuckled, hearing this. "Well, I kept my end of the deal. I brought the first-stage martial artist here." Lu Zhen felt a sense of danger as he seated from just the voice he heard.

"That was not part of the agreement?"

"What do you mean? It was part of the agreement. I brought the first-stage martial artist; you will help me become a first-stage martial artist."

"You…"

"Was there an agreement that the first-stage martial artist should be injured?" A sneer appeared on Lu Zhen's face as he suddenly coughed blood, expelling his internal organs.

"Damn it, that bastard." Lu Zhen could feel a strange energy blocking his natural regeneration, rendering him completely vulnerable.

"This intent is unreasonable…" Not only did this completely halt Lu Zhen's healing, but he could also sense a beastly energy invading his body, attempting to harm him from the inside. Even his mind was under attack, as if it were a live beast. However, since his consciousness was relatively strong, the intent couldn't affect Lu Zhen's mind.

Lu Zhen frowned, hearing no voice.

"You are going to remain silent now? Did you think I wouldn't know your trick? You really underestimate a martial artist too greatly," he said with a sneer on his face.

"What do you mean?"

The eerie cold voice rang in his ear; however, from his instinct, Lu Zhen could sense that it was a little confused.

"We were supposed to divide all the loot of the room equally, however, you took the greatest thing in the room without telling me…" A sneer formed on Lu Zhen's face.

"Wait, what do you want?"

"Tell me what that motor-like thing was, first."

"It is a generator to de-mutate Qi into mana."

"I knew it." Although Lu Zhen couldn't sense the entire thing that was in that hidden room previously, he pretty much knew it was valuable since an era-old monster was hiding it from Lu Zhen despite the risk of the contract.

Lu Zhen could even bet that the entire blood contract that she was willing to sign was because of this one crucial device; he wasn't a naive idiot who thought the world revolved around himself.

"Kill the guy that is coming right now, and let me get some mana. As long as you can do that, we are even. How about it?"

The voice was not heard for a solid fifteen seconds before it finally replied.

"Alright."

As if on perfect timing, the envoy fell to the metallic floor as he looked around.

"I finally found you, bastard. You are dead now," although he said that, he was rather looking around the metallic room, even with his weight that he didn't control at all. The metal was fine, which surprised him greatly.

The higher the stage of a martial artist, the more body mass they have. While he didn't look heavy, just the sheer density of his bone and muscle had caused his body weight to be around half a ton at least, that's why martial artists needed to control their body, and almost everyone knew how it was the most basic that almost every cultivation technique there was written in.

It's just the level of manipulation one could reach with their body was different and it didn't even depend on cultivation it rather depended on how much you know your body.

As the man looked around, his expression finally relaxed, seeing no one.

"I knew you were bluffing, you little bastard. You are dead," his expression turned cold as he regained his demeanour; however, he remained alert.

"Oh, is it? Idiot," a sneer formed on Lu Zhen's face.