Chapter 50: The Support Warehouse Had Just Gone Online, and You Entered the Forbidden Zone?

The support depot resembled an automated vending machine.
Zhang Chu carefully read through the instructions posted on the support depot.
He understood: deposit the beast core, the depot would automatically identify its level and value, and then exchange it for supplies, which could be collected from the output slot.
A level 1 beast core could be exchanged for supplies worth ten thousand.
A level 2 beast core could be exchanged for supplies worth twenty thousand.
And so on!

“Old Hu, would you like to go first?”
Zhang Chu looked at Hu Sanyi beside him, who was rubbing his hands eagerly, itching to try.
For proper martial artists, relying on training and combat to increase their blood energy value laid a solid foundation, but the process was slow.
With the support depot, high-level Blood Energy Elixirs could be exchanged directly.
However, there were strict regulations: one absolutely must not consume Blood Energy Elixirs above one’s own martial artist rank.
If violated, at best the blood energy would collapse; at worst, the body would explode and die.
This was also why the Martial Artist Center limited the monthly procurement of Blood Energy Elixirs.

Hu Sanyi wasted no time.
He soon exchanged part of his beast cores for ten premium level 2 Blood Energy Elixirs.
“Brother Zhang Chu, let me try a few pills first!”
It was his first time taking so many Blood Energy Elixirs at once; Hu Sanyi was beside himself with excitement.
He was only eight hundred blood energy points away from breaking through to level 3 martial artist.
A single premium level 2 Blood Energy Elixir could theoretically boost him by a hundred points.

While Hu Sanyi hid to raise his martial artist level, Zhang Chu was not idle.
He first organized his storage ring:
Two hundred fifty level 1 cores.
One hundred level 2 cores.
Ten level 3 cores.
Fifty level 4 cores.
Except for the level 4 cores, Zhang Chu tossed all the others into the support depot.

Inside the depot were two storage rings forged by Dual-Force Warriors.
The deposit area was specifically for storing cores.
The distribution area was for supplies.
Therefore, saturation was rarely an issue.

As a tremor sounded within, blue lights swept across, and the data on the electronic screen began to scroll and convert.
It lasted ten minutes.
Zhang Chu grew drowsy from waiting.

Meanwhile, outside Canglong Mountain, in the command vehicle,
As soon as the depot was used, Fan Tianlei monitored the data from each support depot.
Soon,
The figures from Depot 56 began to soar rapidly.
His cheeks twitched, “Zhang Chu is unbelievable. If it weren’t for this tournament’s costs being split between the Martial Administration Bureau and the Martial Arts Research Institute, this kid would bankrupt us!”

All sixty-six depot data streams were fluctuating,
But Depot 56, where Zhang Chu and Hu Sanyi were, had the highest column on the graph.
After ten minutes, the exchange amount settled at 4.8 million.
“Director Fan, Zhang Chu deposited all his beast cores. What will he exchange them for? Besides daily supplies, we only have some healing and energy-restoring medicines this time.”
“Is he going to exchange everything for Blood Energy Elixirs?”
Fan Tianlei’s deputy stared at the electronic screen and asked.

Fan Tianlei felt a chill run through him, “Damn it, if he does that, how will we complete Director Chen’s mission?”
At that moment,
The exchange data from Depot 56 appeared—row upon row of Blood Energy Elixir entries.
Fan Tianlei’s face turned pale.

“One premium level 5 Blood Energy Elixir costs two hundred thousand; he can get twenty-four.”
Zhang Chu stood before the depot, watching the premium level 5 elixirs slide out one by one, grinning like a mischievous twenty-one-year-old.
During the wait, Zhang Chu kept busy.
He still had fifty level 4 beast cores.

“Ding-dong, host has consumed one level 4 core, blood energy +1,500!”
As he swallowed a core, the system’s voice sounded in his mind.
Over ten minutes,
Zhang Chu gulped down seventeen in one go—almost vomiting.
Luckily, the system processed high-level cores quickly now, unlike before when it took twenty-four hours to identify and digest.
Swallow one, scan one.

“Ding-dong!”
“Congratulations, host has broken through to level 6 martial artist!”
After the seventeenth core, the system chimed again, and the personal information panel appeared automatically:

Name: Zhang Chu
Level: 6
Blood Energy: 100,300/500,000

Seeing the data, Zhang Chu was so excited he almost spat out the core.
“Exchange completed!”
Just then, the depot’s notification sounded.
He took out twenty-four premium level 5 Blood Energy Elixirs, feeling utterly exhausted.
He could barely stand to look at them anymore.
No need for dinner; he’d just eat these.
Zhang Chu stored the elixirs in his ring, then remembered Hu Sanyi.

Hu Sanyi had just finished digesting his elixirs too.
Overcome with excitement, he leapt at Zhang Chu, hugging him and spinning in place, “Xiao Chu, I feel my body surging with power—I must have broken through!”
“There’s a blood energy test wall behind the depot. Try it out,” Zhang Chu suggested.

A few minutes later, Hu Sanyi was radiant.
He had just tested and reached the certified level 3 martial artist standard.
For the next two hours,
The points leaderboard barely changed, even Su Mingyue’s score only crept up by ten.
With the depot’s new function online, all contestants seized the opportunity.

“We’ve lost big!”
Fan Tianlei watched the depot’s exchange records, his heart bleeding.
Most exchanged for Blood Energy Elixirs to boost their energy, even to break through.
Only Fan Chengcheng exchanged for a whole roast lamb.

“Which depot is Su Mingyue using?”
Fan Tianlei ignored Fan Chengcheng’s data and signaled his deputy to pull up Su Mingyue’s stats.
“Director Fan, Su Mingyue just completed her exchange and entered the level 4 martial artist zone. She’s still 178 kilometers from Canglong Mountain, and her score is refreshing rapidly,” reported the deputy.

Fan Tianlei sighed in relief, “Looks like picking Su Mingyue was right. That girl’s talent is impressive—she broke through to level 4 martial artist.”
“And Zhang Chu?”
Fan Tianlei crossed his legs, sipping coffee, calm as he asked.

“Director Fan, something happened…”
The deputy soon cried out, startling everyone in the command unit.
“Director Fan!”
Just then, Zhang Xueying rushed into the command vehicle, visibly exhausted.
She opened her tablet and zoomed in on a mountain in the three-dimensional map of Canglong Mountain, “Martial God Drone No. 1 just sent a warning—Zhang Chu and Hu Sanyi have entered the level 5 zone!”

What?
Fan Tianlei sprang to his feet, but quickly calmed down, “It’s only the level 5 zone; before the depot was deployed, that kid could go there too.”
“Uncle Fan, are you saying Zhang Chu is a level 5 martial artist?”
Zhang Xueying’s heart trembled.
At twenty-one, level 5 strength—such a prodigy hadn’t appeared in Binzhou for years.

“Ding-ding-ding!”
In that instant, the red warning lights in the command vehicle flashed, the electronic screen zoomed in, displaying a flashing “Warning, warning: contestant detected crossing level 5 beast zone, entering level 6 forbidden area!”
Fan Tianlei shot up, his whole body shaking, “Zhang Chu, don’t mess around! You just used the depot and now dare step into the level 6 forbidden zone!”

“Uncle Fan, I’ll deploy Drone No. 1 with a warhead over the level 6 zone immediately—we must ensure Zhang Chu’s safety!”
Zhang Xueying quickly left the command vehicle, boarding a helicopter headed for Canglong Mountain.

…

Bang!
Level 6 forbidden zone, riverside.
Zhang Chu leapt onto the back of a level 6 beast—a divine turtle crocodile—and plunged his Black Steel Greatsword into its spine.
With a forceful twist, a blue core was tossed out, “Level 1 Fiery Thirteen Sword—dealing with a level 6 beast is indeed tough. It took five minutes!”