Chapter 27: The Complete Set of Series 9 Equipment

As time passed, the train carrying Wang Kun and the other prospective martial artists rolled into an expansive military base. Towering, menacing turrets stood everywhere, and within the compound, fighters and soldiers moved about.

Moments later, as Wang Kun and the others disembarked, a prompt sounded in his mind from the system.

Ding! Special location check-in: (Activated. Current special location detected: Northern Military District, Jiangnan Base City.)

"Deep Blue, I want to check in!" Without hesitation, Wang Kun called out the system activation phrase in his heart.

Ding! Check-in successful!

Congratulations, host! You have received: Series 9 Blood Shadow Battle Blade +1, Series 9 Six-Petal Shield +1, Series 9 Throwing Knives +9, Series 9 Full Combat Suit +1, and a Space Ring +1 (internal space: 1000m³).

Gazing at the items displayed by the system, Wang Kun was overjoyed. Although there was no monetary reward this time, the weapons and equipment—especially the space ring—were treasures that could not be bought on Earth, no matter the price. Even the full set of Series 9 gear was worth several billion, and that was not counting the contribution points required to obtain them.

Suppressing his excitement, Wang Kun did not extract the rewards immediately. The circumstances did not permit it, so he forced down his anticipation and followed the main group to prepare for the martial artist combat assessment.

Soon after, Wang Kun and the other prospective martial artists received the gear for their evaluation—a full set of Series 2 weaponry. Though only Series 2, their value still approached a million.

That night, in the dormitory assigned to Wang Kun, he communicated with the system to extract the rewards from the special location check-in: a complete set of Series 9 weapons and armor.

Naturally, what fascinated Wang Kun most was the space ring. After receiving it, he promptly pricked his finger and recognized the ring as his own with a drop of blood. Instantly, he sensed the presence of a 1000-cubic-meter alternate space within what appeared to be an ordinary ring.

With a thought, all the Series 9 gear he had just received was stored in the space ring, one item after another. A space of 1000 cubic meters—ten by ten by ten meters—was already vast. However, Wang Kun, well-versed in the plot of the entire Swallowed Star universe, knew that such space rings were only considered remarkable on a native planet like Earth. Out in the universe, there were world rings capable of easily storing an entire planet. These world rings, functioning like actual worlds, could accommodate tens of billions of people living their lives without issue.

The next morning, not far from the base, in a small monster town, Wang Kun and over a thousand fellow candidates for the martial artist assessment were dispersed throughout the area. As in the original story, this evaluation ranked candidates by the number of monsters they killed.

Though Wang Kun was strong, he did not wish to stand out too much. He refrained from being overly conspicuous. Besides, it was his first time facing such savage monsters, so he remained cautious and alert.

With a swish—

In the ruins of a building, Wang Kun, wielding his Blood Shadow Battle Blade, struck down an Iron-Haired Boar with a single blow, swiftly severed its left ear, and quickly departed.

A day later, within the sealed town, a warning siren echoed.

Wailing... wailing...

"Time is up. All prospective martial artists, please proceed to the town entrance immediately."

Upon hearing the announcement, Wang Kun headed straight for the town entrance. Soon, all candidates began to submit proof of their kills, each presenting the number of monster ears collected.

Because Wang Kun had been cautious throughout the assessment, he stopped after slaying just over twenty monsters. When it was his turn, his tally was twenty-eight left monster ears.

"Next, Luo Feng. Hmm, not bad—thirty-six monster ears. So far, you have the highest count in this batch, and you’re unscathed."

"Luo Feng, you’re truly formidable!" Wang Kun approached Luo Feng and whispered with a smile.

"Brother Wang, don’t flatter me. I’ve seen you hunt monsters before—if your count is low, it’s only because you held back."

Compared to Wang Kun, Luo Feng’s strength was still inferior. After all, Wang Kun was essentially cheating with his system. While Luo Feng had great talent, he had been training in genetic primal energy for less than a month and had not yet purchased any secret manuals. His progress was still limited.

Wang Kun laughed heartily and, with a hint of meaning, replied, "You shouldn’t sell yourself short—you’ve hidden much of your strength as well."

Soon after, the true standout of the assessment emerged: Wan Dong, who, as in the original story, had slain the most monsters.

Once the combat assessment ended, both Wang Kun and Luo Feng received invitations from the Thunder Martial Hall, seeking to recruit them.

However, Wang Kun, fully aware of the plot, knew that the Extreme Martial Hall offered the best prospects. Moreover, he had already been recruited in advance by the Extreme Martial Hall and had no intention of joining the Thunder Martial Hall.

That night, in Mingyue Community, Yangzhou District, on the second floor of Wang Kun's villa—in the training room—nine jet-black throwing knives hovered around him.

With a flash, one of the knives shot forward, striking a metal target on the wall. Instantly, the steel plate was easily pierced by the Series 9 throwing knife, which remained unscathed.

"These Series 9 weapons are truly formidable. With them, venturing into the wilderness, I could even take down a lord-level monster with ease."

Indeed, the advantages a spiritual force user possessed in combat were overwhelming. Battling stronger foes felt as effortless as drinking water. Now, with Series 9 gear—capable of piercing even high lord-level monsters’ defenses—combined with the enigmatic methods of a spiritual force user, even high lord-level monsters no longer posed much of a threat.

Currently, Wang Kun's spiritual force had already reached high-level warlord rank. By the usual standards for spiritual force users, this equated to the power of a mid-tier war god. With such strength, he might not defeat a high-level war god, but he no longer feared them either.

After this power boost, Wang Kun found his spiritual force nearing its limit. Once it barely reached the initial war god level, it would no longer grow in tandem with his physical attributes. Still, to reach this stage was already cause for satisfaction.

That evening, Wang Kun perused the list of secret manuals on the virtual network screen, lost in thought. Now that he had become a martial artist, he favored the blade. His next step was to purchase a blade technique manual.

However, he faced a dilemma: the most powerful manual was undoubtedly the "Ninefold Thunder Blade" created by the Thunder God. But while this manual was formidable, its cultivation difficulty was also the highest. Many martial artists purchased it eagerly, only to find themselves unable to even get started.

Wang Kun had already spent three years reaching the entry stage of genetic primal energy cultivation. If he attempted the most difficult "Ninefold Thunder Blade," who knew how many years it would take just to reach the threshold?

"Forget it. I won’t put too much pressure on myself. I’ll just buy any S-grade blade manual."

"After all, my power relies entirely on the system. The best manuals wouldn’t make much of a difference."

"And besides, in the future, when I have the chance to explore those ancient civilization ruins, I might be able to obtain even better manuals directly."

Since Li Yang had been able to check in at both the Extreme Martial Hall and the military base, Wang Kun reasoned that the ancient civilization ruins on Earth would surely qualify as special locations as well. When the time came, all he would need was a stroll around, and secret techniques or treasures might fall into his lap.

Two days later, Wang Kun arrived at the airport in Jiangnan Base City, preparing to fly to the global headquarters of the Extreme Martial Hall. He believed that if the local Extreme Martial Hall qualified as a special check-in location, then the global headquarters certainly would as well.

…