After Bai Xiaoling and a group of special police left, Chen Shouyi took the briefcase back to his bedroom.

He opened it and looked at it for a while. The Divine Blood and Divine Marrow were easy to distinguish. The Divine Blood was clear with a faint golden-red color, while the Divine Marrow was transparent and colorless, both emitting a weak glow.

But compared to those obtained after completing the insect nest mission last time, this batch's glow was noticeably dimmer, clearly of far inferior quality. Fortunately, the quantity was substantial. Compared to the mere three to four milliliters last time, this single tube alone contained thirty milliliters, with a total of twenty tubes.

Of course, compared to the huge body of the Barbarian God, the Divine Blood he received seemed somewhat insignificant, totaling just a bit more than half a liter.

He guessed that most of this Divine Blood and Marrow were probably allocated to the military. However, it wasn't something to mind. It was reasonable, given that the military made the greatest contributions and sacrifices in this war, suffering countless casualties. As for us Martial Artists, aside from holding back the Barbarian God at the last moment, our contributions were limited.

After this war, the number of Martial Artists in the military will probably increase exponentially, surpassing those governed by the City Government, and there might even be a few Grand Martial Artists extra!"

He took out a tube of Divine Blood and removed the beeswax on top.

With a "pop"!

He pulled out the cork and then sat on the bed. After a slight hesitation, thinking it probably wasn't dangerous, he drank it in one gulp.

He quietly waited, and soon a wave of warmth spread from his stomach, rapidly extending to his limbs.

Hmm, it seems to have little effect.

Except for feeling warm all over and a slight sense of pleasure, there was no other unusual reaction, let alone the fragmented consciousness experienced after taking it last time.

Could it be that the amount is still too little?

He stood up, took another tube, pulled out the cork, and poured it into his mouth.

The result was the same.

He consecutively drank three tubes, opened the attribute panel, and found that all attributes were unchanged. However, his whole body was brimming with energy and mentally excited.

It feels like he's drunk several tubes of weird-tasting stimulants.

"Could it be that the amount is still too little? I always feel like this Divine Blood is missing something, the effect is quite weak, worlds apart from the Divine Blood obtained earlier." He felt puzzled.

Feeling that after taking these ten tubes, he would at most increase by 0.1, he decided not to waste the remaining Divine Blood and switched to a bottle of Divine Marrow, planning to see if the extracted cerebrospinal fluid was effective.

He opened the cork and drank it all in one go.

After waiting a bit, he found the effect was still quite similar, so he took three more tubes consecutively. Upon checking the attribute panel, he discovered this time the attributes did increase, with an increase in intelligence by 0.1.

His initial feeling of disappointment was suddenly lifted.

In fact, Chen Shouyi didn't care much about whether other physical attributes increased.

If they did, great; if not, it didn't matter. After all, compared to others whose strength showed no progress, he could still improve through practicing the 36 Body-Refinement Postures, just consuming some time at most.

Moreover, now with the fourth optimization of the 36 Body-Refinement Postures already in sight, at most within a month, his strength will definitely enter another period of rapid growth as before.

Only intelligence cannot be improved through the 36 Body-Refinement Postures, and every 0.1 increase is invaluable.

"Well, my sister's intelligence is already high enough, obviously not needed, as for dad and mom... um, they're better off a bit dull, having a healthy body from taking Divine Blood would be enough."

Thinking quickly and assuring himself, he poured the remaining seven tubes of Divine Marrow into his mouth with a clear conscience.

Finally, after finishing the last tube, his intelligence arduously rose to 14.4 as he hoped.

At this moment, Chen Shouyi's keen ears caught a faint noise from the briefcase, like a cat's paw eagerly scratching.

Hadn't it just fallen asleep?

...

In the afternoon, an assistant office director came to the door on behalf of the City Government.

The two talked in the study for a while, mentioning a special mission to kill a certain dangerous criminal. The words carried a lot of hints, suggesting that once the mission was completed, the City Government would focus on training him, allocate more resources, and even double the Divine Blood share.

But when Chen Shouyi asked about the specific target, the other became vague, saying it was to avoid alerting the target and needed confidentiality. Unless agreed, nothing could be revealed.

At first, Chen Shouyi was bewildered. What kind of criminal required the deployment of a Grand Martial Artist?

But soon he recalled the current handling of Martial Artists refusing recruitment in Hedong City, which hadn't shown any progress, leading to some speculation, and he politely declined.

He watched the disappointed office director leave, feeling a slight chill in his heart.

He was mistaken about one thing; after gaining the Divine Blood, the City Government or military of Hedong had obviously become much more assertive. Even without him and Qin Liuyuan as Grand Martial Artists, Cui Ziweng was already in grave danger this time.

Not quite sympathy, but there was some kind of camaraderie.

He didn't want to play the role of such an executioner.

Perhaps the city wanted to make an example to frighten those civilian Martial Artists evading conscription.

But how many people can truly say they are completely unafraid of death? He wasn't sure he could next time charge in with blood boiling, prepared to die heroically as before.

Since ancient times, the hardest path is simply to die! Maybe in a fleeting instant, he would make a different choice.

...

The next morning.

A long queue formed outside the newsstand—such a scene, once rare before the mutation, had become commonplace.

Chen Shouyi waited several minutes until it was finally his turn.

"Give me a copy of Hedong Daily!"

"One dollar!"

Chen Shouyi handed over the money, took the newspaper, and stood to the side, shaking it open for a look.

The first headline on the front page was about the treatment notifications for Martial Artists violating wartime discipline and refusing recruitment. As he skimmed through, his expression slightly grew serious at one particular line.

"The primary offender, Cui Ziweng, resisted arrest violently and was ultimately killed."

Although he had expected it, seeing it in print still made his heart feel somewhat suffocated.

He read it carefully, then sighed after a long pause.

Besides Cui Ziweng being killed, the other Martial Artists were all let off lightly, mainly subjected to financial penalties and disciplinary warnings.

However, the latter meant little to Martial Artists. They are not state personnel who rise through ranks, receive grades, or get salary increases. Even with levels, they only concern their strength, not individual performance.

The only real pain was the former.

Confiscating the current month's Martial Artist salary and allowance, and withholding the national, provincial, and city Martial Artist stipends for six consecutive months.

This penalty isn't light, yet not heavy either, indicating the provincial and city governments' attitude is mainly about maintaining stability, executing the principal culprit as a deterrent, and avoiding a large-scale struggle.

In the coming days, more Martial Artists might gradually leave Hedong City.

However, Hedong City probably doesn't care. With the Divine Blood, Hedong City will foster more Martial Artists who adhere to discipline, potentially even Grand Martial Artists.

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