Level Up in Martial World

Lu Zhen's hair fluttered in the wind as he walked out of his grand throne room. His seclusion room was right beside his throne room for convenience, although he had implemented a self-governing model for all of Phoenix City. Nonetheless, he still needed to keep a close watch on affairs.

There seemed to be no limit to a person's stupidity, and Lu Ying was currently secluded as well, focusing on her cultivation for the upcoming war.

She was on the verge of breaking through to become a first-stage martial artist, a potential game-changer in the impending battle. Despite this, Lu Zhen still had to handle paperwork at times, but it wasn't overly burdensome given his high level of intelligence.

Understanding his own abilities, Lu Zhen knew that he could only inflict minor injuries on a first-stage martial artist, even if he utilised all his strength and revealed his trump cards. He doubted he could do much beyond that, apart from causing some harm.

Not to mention that both leading individuals were mid-first-stage martial artists; as for early-stage combat, there might be a chance, but for the level of their battle, Lu Zhen was still not qualified to fight. As for the battles of lower ranks...

"I hope they will be in for a surprise, but before that, I need to eliminate somebody." Lu Zhen's eyes narrowed as they gleamed with a ruthless killing intent.

The servants all bowed with reverence upon seeing him walking, followed by Zhang Shi.

"When did you spot them?" Lu Zhen inquired.

"Just now, Leader," Zhang Shi spoke tentatively.

However, Lu Zhen's steps suddenly halted, and his crimson eyes seemed to reflect a blue hue.

"What is wrong, young master?" Zhang Shi turned to Lu Zhen with a curious gaze.

"Nothing. I will arrive shortly; you can go ahead," Lu Zhen replied, patting him firmly.

Although Zhang Shi was confused, he still followed Lu Zhen's instructions and proceeded ahead, leaving Lu Zhen alone in the hallway.

Lu Zhen remained motionless, his crimson eyes staring straight ahead at the floating panel in front of him.

[You have stimulated your mana heart]

[Your mana heart has leveled up]

His crimson pupils seemed to twinkle with sheer shock.

"My mana heart has leveled up!?" Lu Zhen thought, still contemplating.

"How did it level up now?" he wondered, his expression turning perplexed. Until this moment, ever since he had constructed his mana heart and reached the level without mana, it was impossible to upgrade it. But now it had suddenly upgraded naturally, leaving Lu Zhen stunned beyond belief.

"Was it stimulated when I opened my heart meridian?" Lu Zhen pondered, considering the possibility.

As he contemplated, strange changes began to occur in his body. An unknown energy from his system appeared again and entered his heart, transforming into mana and nurturing the mana heart.

His consciousness was slightly being tempered with the change in the mana heart, and Lu Zhen could now sense some strange energy in the environment.

This energy was so dim that it was almost non-existent to Lu Zhen previously, but now it became more apparent, and he could sense it with his body cultivation from the system. It gave him the natural gift of a terrifying five senses, which were even more powerful than a first-stage martial artist.

"I wonder," Lu Zhen's curiosity was piqued as he touched the red energy in the surroundings and gathered them together. Although the process was nerve-wracking slow, eventually he was able to gather a fistful of red energy from the different energies surrounding him.

Then, he supplied a small amount of mana from his mana heart into the ball of flame.

Instantly, a small ball of fire appeared in Lu Zhen's hand. Although the fire was just a mortal fire, its strength was still considerable and potent. It couldn't deal much harm to Lu Zhen, though.

"That's it?" Lu Zhen thought with a little disappointment. If he needed to gather nature's energy and go through this process just to make a small fireball that could be created by any mortal, then being a mage was really disappointing.

Even if he progressed, the improvement might not be much.

Suddenly, Lu Zhen thought of something, making his eyes flicker. His consciousness searched for the memory when he read those books and finally found a solution to why this was happening.

"I forgot I needed to have spells which would rapidly increase the strength of the mage several times," Lu Zhen thought. However, he soon shook his head. The mana heart, even after levelling up from his system, was only at the first circle, which was equivalent to the third stage martial realm.

For the current Lu Zhen, it was useless. However, the power to interact with nature still intrigued him a little, as countless possibilities erupted in his mind that could fully utilise the potential of a mage.

"I will have to deal with the trouble in front of me though first," Lu Zhen sighed as he walked out. Seeing Zhang Shi, he nodded his head and was about to walk into the ancestor place. However, Lu Ming and Fang Yin appeared in front of him, casually tearing a dimension.

"I miscalculated, Lu Zhen. They suddenly increased their pace, even with the risk of some soldiers dying, and arrived sooner," Fang Ying said, his expression serious.

Lu Zhen nodded.

"We two will handle the two mid-first-stage martial artists. Are you sure you could handle those low-rank martial artists?" Fang Ying was still a little doubtful. From what he could see, there were at least a thousand second-stage martial artists alone, like cabbages filling the entire place.

Even he wasn't sure if he could survive such herds of thousands without any possibility of escape. At best, he would be exhausted or even seriously injured, counting his last breath.

A thousand second-stage martial artists were nothing to scoff at, as they say, even an ant could finish an elephant if it could pressure it with its sheer number.

"Don't worry, Uncle Ying, I will be fine," Lu Zhen said with confidence.

As they were talking, four stunning women followed by twelve more women appeared as well, each one more stunning than the next.

Immediately, Lily rushed out and hugged Lu Zhen with a sad expression on her face.

"Young master, you must win," she said in a whisper to his ears, which made Lu Zhen smile.

For Lily, Lu Zhen was always her young master, and he himself preferred being called a young master than a leader.

"Have you prepared all the things I have said for you to prepare?" Lu Zhen smiled warmly and patted her.

"Yes, young master," she said with a blush on her face.

"Good," Lu Zhen nodded his head as he looked behind her.

"Are you sure you guys want to fight too?"

"Yes," Xia Mei said with a frown on her face, "or do you think women are not as capable as men?"

Lu Zhen chuckled upon hearing this. "What is the difference of gender if you have strength?"

"There is still some preparation to do. Who knows, we might not even have to lift a single finger if all goes according to my plan," a devilish smirk appeared on Lu Zhen's face.