Leaving the Martial Arts Assessment Center, the crowd dispersed in groups of threes and twos. Some had excited expressions, while others looked dejected.

On the way back, Chen Shouyi was no longer alone.

"You stay here? I didn't expect you to be staying at the same hotel as us!" said a burly man with a full beard loudly as they reached the hotel's entrance.

"Yes, what a coincidence," Chen Shouyi replied with a smile.

Through conversation, he learned that the man's name was Lu Weifeng and his companion was named Wei Chenghao. Both were from the same place, but unfortunately, only Lu Weifeng passed the preliminary test.

"Let's have a meal together later," Lu Weifeng said, extending an invitation to Chen Shouyi. Although there were significant age differences between them, it didn't stop him from befriending Chen Shouyi. A person like him, barring any accidents, was destined to become someone important.

Wei Chenghao, who had been somewhat gloomy, also chimed in, "Yes, let's have a meal together, and choose a nicer place."

"Alright, I just need to grab something first," Chen Shouyi agreed readily.

"Let's meet at the hotel entrance then," said Lu Weifeng.

Chen Shouyi returned to his room, picked up his briefcase, took a quick look inside, then closed it back up. By the time he reached the door, the two men were already waiting outside.

The group chose a high-end restaurant and booked a private room.

…

"I'm not planning to go back; I intend to train at the training room in this otherworldly place for a while," Wei Chenghao said as he put down his chopsticks and gulped down a drink, speaking in a serious tone.

"What about your wife and kids?" Lu Weifeng asked.

"I'll just have to bring them over. Luoshan City is still experiencing power outages, and she doesn't have a job anyway, so it doesn't matter where she stays. Fortunately, we have some savings, so we should manage for a year or two," Wei Chenghao sighed.

Lu Weifeng was also tempted, but then shook his head, "Hedong City is indeed much more convenient, with more resources. I want to move here too, but the housing prices are too high."

"You and Shou Yi have nothing to worry about. From what I know, Hedong City offers a settlement grant of three million to attract Martial Artists, so how could you not afford a house?"

"That much?" Chen Shouyi said, somewhat surprised.

"Is it a lot?" Lu Weifeng asked, seeing Chen Shouyi's astonishment:

"I watched the news yesterday, and now the housing prices in Hedong have risen to fifty thousand per square meter; three million is just enough to buy a small apartment. Moreover, once you become a Martial Artist, you'll need to purchase your own equipment. Buying a slightly better sword and a War Bow will cost a million.

Additionally, a Martial Artist friend told me that future training is quite costly. You need to regularly procure 'Divine Blood' and some special treasures through special channels, otherwise, it's hard to improve your power."

Chen Shouyi thought he misheard or misunderstood something else, so he couldn't help but ask:

"Divine Blood! You mean the blood of a deity?"

"Well, that's not exactly wrong. You should know that over a decade ago, many deities fell on Earth, right? Aren't you curious about what happened to their corpses?"

Wei Chenghao, who hadn't heard of this either, looked curious, "Were they cloned?"

Lu Weifeng couldn't help but laugh, "It's not that easy to clone them, instead they were cultivated. These remains possess highly active cells and an incredible metabolism, and Divine Blood is the cell fluid extracted from them."

"Why use cell fluid? Isn't directly using the flesh better?" Wei Chenghao asked.

"I don't know, I'm not a scientist. But it should be very dangerous. The flesh of such terrifying beings probably retains some inconceivable abilities, even on Earth,"

Lu Weifeng continued, "It's said that the initial Divine Blood was the most effective, but it has degraded gradually during cultivation, which is quite a pity."

"So are these gods still alive or dead now?" Chen Shouyi asked, voicing his confusion.

"That part is unclear, probably dead. But who can say for sure with these things?"

When talking about taboo topics like otherworldly deities, the atmosphere inevitably became more excited, and they ended up having dinner for a full two hours.

This meal was quite insightful for Chen Shouyi, revealing many secrets about Martial Artists. Compared to these veteran Martial Artist Apprentices, he lacked both social experience and knowledge.

Some things simply cannot be found online and only circulate within small circles and special channels.

For instance, "Divine Blood".

He had never even heard of such a thing before.

But thinking about it makes sense.

For one, the annual production of this stuff is quite limited.

Secondly, if it were put online, it might cause a stir and create a wave of public opinion.

The internet is never short of moral crusaders, and although the forms of the Otherworldly gods are often not human, they are still considered intelligent creatures. Consuming "Divine Blood," for those with a moral purism, is akin to cannibalism.

When it came time to pay after the meal, they found that Lu Weifeng had already settled the bill when he supposedly went to the restroom.

"How about we relax a bit, for digestion?" Lu Weifeng suggested as they stepped out of the restaurant.

Seeing the somewhat sly smile on his face, this "relaxation" clearly had a special meaning.

Startled, Chen Shouyi quickly said, "No thanks, I think I'll pass. You guys go ahead."

"I'm not going either!" Wei Chenghao also declined, lacking interest, "I need to go home this afternoon to bring my family here."

…

Back at the hotel, Chen Shouyi put down his briefcase.

He sat in front of the computer desk, turned on the computer, and once the desktop appeared, he quickly logged onto the Hedong City Martial Arts website. Soon, he found that the list of those who passed the physical assessment was already out. He clicked on the list, and the first name on it was his own.

He glanced at the bottom of the list—the location and gathering time for the Martial Artist Club.

Then he closed the webpage and opened Dongning City's official website. There was little information there, and nothing about "evil cults." Chen Shouyi clicked on a news item titled "Notice on Strictly Cracking Down on Violent Crimes" published the day before yesterday.

He skimmed through it.

It appeared Dongning City was already under lockdown, with a significant number of workgroups dispatched to comprehensively take over the city's affairs and security, and large-scale inspections had started.

He sighed.

Then he looked up news from Pingqiu City but found little useful information; many of the items were dated over twenty days ago, before the power outages. Nevertheless, no news was indeed the best news.

…

At this moment, an idea struck him, and he immediately entered the address of the haunted house.

Hedong City, Shigang Alley 18.

The first few entries were information about this haunted house being for sale.

"Twenty-two million!"

Chen Shouyi glanced at it, feeling utterly indifferent.

He wasn't going to buy it, nor could he afford it.

In fact, the price wasn't high; it was practically dirt cheap. The haunted house was in the downtown area, with the house and yard occupying an acre, and judging by Hedong City's market, the land alone would cost much more.

Sadly, this property had been on the market for three years without being sold.

Chen Shouyi continued his search for a long time until he finally found something useful.

"At the time, to save money, I bought a haunted house, namely Shigang Alley 18. I didn't expect it to really be haunted. Every time I sleep, a woman appears in my dreams. I've had several rituals done and even invited a master to change the feng shui, but it seems ineffective. My mental state is getting worse, and now, even when I'm awake, I've seen this woman..."

It seemed to be a post by a former owner from years ago on a local forum, but when he clicked on it, he found it had long been deleted.

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