Chapter 685: 685

Once he added Ms. An Ran as his friend, Meng Chao was no longer nervous.

He knew that An Ran might have been joking, but it was also true that Battle God Lei Zongchao had been paying attention to him for a long time.

When Vice Director Nie Chenglong of the Abnormal Beast Research Department had given him the invitation card to Battle God Palace, he had also told Meng Chao something really surprising.

The anonymous donor who had been supporting Broken Star Club all this while was Battle God Lei Zongchao himself.

At that time, Meng Chao, Gu Jianbo, and the Ultimate Style’s research team had wanted to gather all the broken-star superhumans in Dragon City to change their destinies using the Ultimate Style. However, they had no funds, and they could not get enough cultivation cabins for the Ultimate Style. They also could not rent a suitable place to invite more broken-star superhumans to join the club.

At that moment, an anonymous donor had donated dozens of Ultimate Style cultivation cabins and a huge sum of money for Broken Star Club through the Abnormal Beast Research Department.

It was not an exaggeration to say that these cultivation cabins and donations had been the first bucket of funds for Broken Star Club.

After that, the anonymous donor had repeatedly helped Broken Star Club more than ten times.

Practically every time Broken Star Club ran into a wall during its development and needed a huge number of funds to get through its difficulty, the anonymous donor would extend a hand in time.

It could be said that the anonymous donor played a huge role behind why Broken Star Club managed to develop so quickly and possess a few hundred thousand members today.

Meng Chao had been wondering who the anonymous donor was since a long time ago, especially since the donor had not just provided money but also set up a few cultivation plans for Meng Chao.

It was high-intensity training, but the configuration was really scientific. It practically required him to cultivate at the upper limit of his strength, and he was forced to complete it with every bit of strength he had. But after he was done training, he also gained a lot from it.

The cultivation plans were also the reason why Meng Chao was able to reach Heaven Realm so quickly and kill the Demonic Abyss Eye as well the Vortex.

It must be known that even Meng Chao’s tutor, Blade Dancer Gu Jianbo and Black Tortoise Zong Yue of Agricultural University’s martial arts course could not set up cultivation methods like that.

Only a handful of people could be like Battle God Lei Zongchao and set up teaching plans of such standard in Dragon City.

After learning that the legendary Battle God was the one who had been helping him and Broken Star Club quietly, Meng Chao could only sigh once more. This man was the one who was truly doing good without leaving his name behind!

‘I must thank the Battle God properly later.’ Once he thought of that, Meng Chao asked, “Ms. An Ran, what does Elder Lei like? What are the things he avoids? Are there things that I should say or should not say?”

“Yes.” An Ran suppressed her giggles and said, “Mr. Lei doesn’t like people calling him Elder Lei, and he doesn’t like people calling him Battle God either.”

“Huh?” Meng Chao felt a little stunned.

“Mr. Lei doesn’t think he’s anyone special. It’s just that he’s one step ahead of others when it comes to the cultivation of spirit energy martial arts. He feels that the title overpraises him,” An Ran explained.

Meng Chao contemplated it. “Then, what should I call him?”

“Aside from Elder Lei, Battle God, and old man, you can call him however you want,” An Ran said. “The children like to call him Grandpa Lei. The first batch of siblings he took in call him Uncle Chao. The children he took in later and the members of Battle God Palace call him Mr. Lei. As for comrades of the same era as him, even if they’re just normal fighters who are powerless, he just smiles when they call him Old Lei.

“In any case, you’ll know once you see him. Mr. Lei is a really easy-going and casual person. The more relaxed you are, the easier it’ll be for you.

“We’re here. Please go in, Mr. Meng Chao. Do remember to not refer to the Battle God as Battle God!”

Both of them stood in front of a black wall.

The wall was also embedded with Black Stars, making it look as profound as the starry sky. If it were not for An Ran’s reminder, Meng Chao might have knocked into the wall.

An Ran’s fingers danced nimbly across the sparkling stars on the black stone slab as she inputted a password.

The Black Stars quietly sank and slid to the left, revealing a tunnel.

There were hundreds of holes on both sides of the tunnel, and they made antiseptic fall like rain.

At the end of the tunnel was a small bathroom and changing room. After Meng Chao was fully disinfected, he changed into a white, sterile robe inside.

Apparently, Battle God Lei Zongchao was already frail, and his immune system had practically crumbled. He seldom left Battle God Palace now.

Visitors who went there to visit him were also required to be fully disinfected so that they did not bring in any viruses from the world outside.

Once he was done, Meng Chao took a deep breath and entered Lei Zongchao’s living space.

Aside from it being a little smaller, the place was basically an imitation of the Battle God Palace outside.

No, it was an upgraded version of it because the Black Stars embedded into the walls here were of even greater quality. The sparkling fragments in the Black Stars were even higher in number and more dazzling.

If Battle God Palace was like a vast galaxy, then this was the center of the galaxy, where the most number of stars were clustered.

There was not a single piece of furniture that could be found in a common house in the place.

Only one medical cabin that was as large as a pool could be spotted, and it was also made of a Black Star. On it was a semi-transparent crystal.

At that moment, the crystal lid slowly slid open, revealing the purely black, sticky medical liquid inside. A thick fragrance then entered Meng Chao’s nose.

Meng Chao’s nose flared, and he could smell dozens of valuable ingredients inside.

Ripples slowly spread out on the black medicine’s surface, and an old, pale body appeared.

Meng Chao cocked his brow.

He had carefully examined more than one hundred Battle God Lei Zongchao’s fighting and cultivation videos before.

In those videos, Lei Zongchao was someone with a sturdy body, and he looked as mighty as a soldier from heaven.

During his prime, he had a perfect physique.

This chapter is scrapped from readlightnovel.org

Apparently, aerodynamics experts and ergonomic experts had once scanned the contour of his body and muscles inch by inch. After repeatedly making calculations and conducting tests, they found that the distribution of his muscles and their alignment perfectly fit the standards of aerodynamics. That allowed him to reach maximum speed in all his jumps, runs, and punches.

Whenever Meng Chao was training, he would also instinctively use Battle God Lei Zongchao as his model to train his muscles.

The old man had loose skin, and he was covered in scars as well as dark skin pigmentation. He did not look at all like the Battle God in the past.

Even stepping out of the black medicine and wearing his robe looked like a really difficult task for him to complete. He gasped for breath as if he had just fought long and hard against a monster.

However, the light in his eyes made any skeptical person certain that he was the martial arts legend and strongest fighter in Dragon City, Lei Zongchao!

“My young friend, we finally meet,” the old man with loose skin said with a smile. Then, he pounded his limbs in slight frustration. “Honestly, I wanted to meet you a long time ago to talk and even fight with you. You were really outstanding during your fight at Raging Waves, Noble Descent Hotel, the battle in the lair, and the pitched battle. When I saw your indomitable spirit and how unstoppable you were, I remembered how I was when I was as young as you decades ago.

“Unfortunately—cough—my body won’t let me leave this place for too long. I have to soak in this gene concentrate all the time just to keep my precarious immunity system from collapsing. So, I can only watch fighting videos of you youngsters to satisfy my cravings!”

He laughed.

As he laughed, he started to cough violently, stirring up the gene concentrate under his feet and causing ripples to form.

An Ran was right.

He was a really easy-going old man who did not put up airs.

Many people who seemed fierce tended to become kindly when they got old, though Lei Zongchao had definitely not been fierce even when he was young.

He still had a kind look now.

Besides, Meng Chao knew that Lei Zongchao’s injuries were even worse than what he presented.

A’Ji had told him that Lei Zongchao could not even leave the Supernatural Tower. He must rely on the endless source of high-purity spirit energy and valuable materials there to keep on living.

Once he left the place, his vitality magnetic field might collapse at any moment.

Based on what Meng Chao remembered, Lei Zongchao had indeed left the Supernatural Tower. After fighting in an intense battle against the monster civilization’s mastermind, he had died together with it, thus, a hero had perished.

‘Looks like saving Lei Zongchao is going to be much harder than I imagined,’ Meng Chao thought.

After that, he felt even more grateful for Lei Zongchao dragging that wounded body of his, which might collapse at any moment, to provide for him, Broken Star Club, and Dragon City.

Meng Chao thanked Lei Zongchao seriously.

“Those are insignificant matters.” Lei Zongchao smiled and said, “When it comes to money, they’re things that you aren’t born with, and you won’t be bringing them with you when you die as well. Look at me now, even if I have a mountain of gold in front of me, what will it do for me?

“But the value of that same amount of money will not be the same when it comes to youngsters like you, who have endless potential, and an energetic, rising organization like Broken Star Club. Perhaps that small amount of initial capital could create a great miracle. Who knows?

“That’s why—cough—I’d rather soak in this sticky and smelly bathtub instead of dying. I want to use up all the wealth and strength that I’ve accumulated before I die on youngsters like you. That’s what I call using my money for worthy things. Then I’ll die without regrets, don’t you think?”

Lei Zongchao laughed out loud once again, and his laughter was just as bold and wild as it was when he was young.

“Come and sit here, young man.” Lei Zongchao patted the spot beside him. It was the edge of his cultivation cabin. He motioned Meng Chao to sit. “I know that we have plenty of things to discuss. We can talk about your growth and stories from when I was young. We can talk about Broken Star Club and Blue Home’s development, and we can talk about how you’re gathering investments for those… strange projects. Of course, we can also talk about the troubles you’ve run into during your cultivation. By the way, I’d like to ask you, how did you manage to get so good with your Divine Nine Dragon Seals?”

The last sentence made Meng Chao laugh.

Now, he was completely certain of what An Ran had said. The current Lei Zongchao was a friendly and interesting old man.

“But before we talk about those things, could you first allow this old man to be wilful?” Suddenly, great grief appeared on Lei Zongchao’s face, and his voice trembled a little. “Could you repeat what Jin Wanhao said before he died? Also, did you really… see Jin Qianxi’s image from the bubbles that the Vortex left behind after it died?”