The Favor of Being Recognized?

Li Qingshan stood before the chunks of flesh, blood-dripping long blade in hand, waiting quietly.

The corpses of the previous three ferocious beasts had already vanished, transforming into statues at the edge of the platform.

But You Qingya was different.

Li Qingshan had not forgotten that disgusting tentacled monster.

Yet the red light did not appear for a long while. The chunks of flesh and the blood on the ground swiftly faded away, disappearing as a humanoid statue appeared at the platform's edge.

"She didn't transform?" Li Qingshan frowned, thinking of two possibilities.

The first was that the transformation involved the power of an evil god and had not been recorded by the Martial Dao Space.

The second was that the transformation ability was not without limits either. He had chopped You Qingya's head into several pieces just now, so she had been unable to transform.

"To the Martial Dao Space, even an evil god is just a monster. There's no reason it couldn't record it."

Li Qingshan personally leaned toward the second possibility. Verifying it was simple enough. With a thought, You Qingya appeared again.

"Sorry, but I'll have to kill you one more time."

Li Qingshan grinned and swung his long blade.

Before long, severed limbs crashed to the ground, while an intact torso lay sprawled on the floor. A faint blood-red glow emerged from the mangled corpse.

"Sure enough, I guessed right."

Li Qingshan stood with his blade in hand, quietly watching the tentacled monster take shape.

A moment later, ashes drifted through the air, and the humanoid statue returned to the edge of the platform.

Li Qingshan tossed aside the Thunder Pattern Saber and spread his limbs.

"It's time to test the pattern of proficiency growth after 'Starry Sky Beckons' reached mastery."

The Martial Dao Space ignored physical exhaustion.

Li Qingshan did not pause for even an instant, practicing one round after another.

Only after a full seven hours did he finally stop.

"Starry Sky Beckons" 1/3000 (Mastery) → "Starry Sky Beckons" 2/3000 (Mastery)

Li Qingshan looked at the panel and calculated inwardly.

"I practiced once in reality and seven times in the space—a total of eight sessions for one point of proficiency!"

"It really did double each time!"

Having reached that conclusion, Li Qingshan was not particularly surprised.

At the beginner stage, one practice session gave one point of proficiency. At the proficient stage, it took two sessions for one point, while mastery required four sessions per point.

Now, it took eight sessions for one point. That meant that if he cultivated nonstop in the Martial Dao Space for twenty-four hours—

He could gain three points of proficiency a day. Three thousand points would take one thousand days, nearly three years.

"Thankfully, I'm 'rolling in money' now. Even with another year added for rest, it'll be enough."

Li Qingshan swept his gaze over the available time column, looking relaxed.

With the time flow at a ratio of one to ten, it would take only a little over half a year in reality to grind "Starry Sky Beckons" to perfection.

That was the Fifth Realm, something even Wan Keshan had never mentioned!

"Maybe I can ask Teacher Wan in class tomorrow."

As a genius who had "comprehended" the Fourth Realm, it was perfectly reasonable for him to look ahead to the Fifth Realm.

The next morning, on Bus Route 72.

Since it was the weekend, the bus was not crowded. Most of the passengers were elderly men and women heading out to buy groceries.

The elderly passengers, who had been chatting away, gradually fell silent and turned their gazes toward a corner in the back.

A young man was there, speaking into his Communicator.

Making calls was not strange. What was strange was that in the mere ten-odd minutes since he had boarded, the young man had answered and hung up more than twenty calls.

"Are young people these days really that busy?"

"I see he's carrying a blade. Maybe he's a Martial Arts Class student..."

"Could be. That young man keeps talking about contracts. Could he be a third-year Martial Arts Class student?"

"Definitely. Years ago, Old Wang next door had a grandson. That lad was promising enough to stay in the Martial Arts Class through the third year, and all sorts of companies chased him around trying to sign him. Not long after that, the whole family moved to Wuyi City to enjoy the good life."

Once the topic began, the elderly passengers naturally started gossiping.

In the corner,

"Manager Lin, thank you for your company's kind offer, but I truly have no intention of signing a contract."

Li Qingshan forced out a smile. Without waiting for the other party's response, he decisively ended the call.

"Whew! Aren't these companies reacting a little too fast?"

Li Qingshan let out a long breath and lightly pinched the bridge of his nose.

Since waking up that morning, he had already taken more than thirty calls, all of them contract offers from various companies.

Some of those companies were local to Luoying, while others came from several nearby cities.

Companies he had heard of and companies he had never heard of had all come swarming in together.

"This can't go on, or they'll annoy me to death!"

Li Qingshan lowered his head and tapped his Communicator, directly activating Do Not Disturb and rejecting all unfamiliar calls.

The Communicator's light screen unfolded, revealing several dozen new emails, all contracts sent by those companies from before.

Li Qingshan casually opened several and began reviewing them.

Those emails were largely identical.

Basically, they offered him around fifty thousand a month in sponsorship during his time at school, to be used for martial arts cultivation.

The sponsorship would double with each passing year and continue until he graduated from the third year of Martial Arts Class.

If he could make it to the New Continent, it would rise to five hundred thousand a month.

This sponsorship might look generous, but for martial arts cultivation, it was no more than a drop in the bucket.

The Intermediate Nutrient Solution he needed now alone cost two hundred and forty thousand a month at one bottle a day.

Not to mention—

The essence of these contracts was nothing but indenture contracts!

After graduation, he would have to work for the company for at least twenty years!

"They talk about sincerity, but the contract treats me like a workhorse?"

Li Qingshan's expression darkened. His fingers tapped the screen as he deleted all several dozen emails.

Then he leaned back against the seat and closed his eyes to rest.

A moment later,

Buzz, buzz, buzz!

His wrist vibrated. Li Qingshan opened his eyes in confusion and looked at his Communicator.

"Manager Zhou?"

The light screen unfolded. The bald middle-aged man wore a beaming smile—it was the HR manager of Yinghai's flagship store.

Li Qingshan spoke helplessly.

"Manager Zhou, surely Yinghai isn't trying to sign me too?"

Manager Zhou froze before asking nervously,

"You haven't signed already, have you?"

Li Qingshan shook his head.

"No. I have no intention of signing a contract."

"That's good!" Manager Zhou heaved a sigh of relief, his smile returning.

"Yinghai has always been dedicated to discovering talent and helping them along the path of martial arts. We naturally cannot let a genius like you slip away."

Li Qingshan felt even more helpless and could only refuse again.

"Manager Zhou..."

"Don't rush to reject it. I've sent you the contract. Take a look first."

Manager Zhou interrupted him, saying confidently,

"Yinghai is a major chain brand. The conditions we offer are absolutely not something those small companies can compare with."

The call ended, and a new email appeared on the light screen.

Li Qingshan casually opened it and scanned through it.

"D-Class Investment Contract"

The conditions in the contract were indeed much better than those offered by the previous companies. All the sponsorship amounts had essentially doubled.

But that was all.

Li Qingshan hurriedly scanned the final thirty-year work term and tapped the × in the upper-right corner.

Investment was naturally for the sake of returns. Li Qingshan could understand that.

But understanding was one thing; there was no way he would sign this kind of indenture contract.

Li Qingshan opened his contact list, his finger pausing slightly over Manager Zhou's profile picture.

"It doesn't seem right to reject him immediately. I'll talk to him when I go to the store tonight."

Remembering Manager Zhou's confident smile, Li Qingshan abandoned the idea of calling him.

Rejecting him right away would undoubtedly be a slap in the face.

Yinghai Flagship Store, general manager's office.

A long-haired young man in casual clothes sat in the boss's chair, tapping the tabletop with his fingers as his lazy gaze swept toward the bald middle-aged man before him.

"Did you send the contract over?"

"I did, I did."

Manager Zhou looked nervous and answered cautiously.

A new official always lit three fires upon taking office. The young man before him was Fu Wen, the general manager who had been transferred to Luoying City just three days ago.

More importantly, the regional head of Yinghai in Wuyi Province was also surnamed Fu.

"Good thing I came this time. Otherwise, you people really would have let a talented person slip through your fingers."

Fu Wen's tone gradually sharpened. The laziness vanished from his eyes, replaced by cold severity.

Sweat beaded on Manager Zhou's forehead as he explained,

"General Manager Fu, the news that Li Qingshan killed the ferocious beast only spread last night. Our response wasn't slow."

"Wasn't slow?"

Fu Wen sneered twice and casually pressed a button on the desk. A projected light screen appeared.

The projection played footage from a month ago—the battle between Li Qingshan and Yu Zhuo.

"Last night? Open your eyes wide and look at what this is. You were there at the time. Were you blind?"

"This... General Manager Fu, Yu Zhuo was only at the third level of Body Tempering. Although Li Qingshan defeated a stronger opponent while weaker himself, that shouldn't qualify him for a D-Class contract, should it?"

"You're not just blind—you're deaf too!"

Fu Wen slammed his hand on the desk and pointed at Yu Zhuo in the footage.

"That Yu Zhuo already said that Li Qingshan's 'Mystic Steps' had reached mastery. Do you know what that means?"

"Among all the first-year Martial Arts Class students in Wuyi Province, you couldn't find a second person capable of that in an entire year!"

"He's that impressive?"

Manager Zhou stood there dazed. It was something he had never considered before.

But now, he could not be bothered with being reprimanded. Excitedly, he said,

"General Manager Fu, doesn't that mean Li Qingshan has a chance to go to the New Continent?"

"It is still uncertain how long it took him to bring 'Mystic Steps' to mastery. But based solely on the information we have now..."

Fu Wen tapped his fingers and pondered.

"If his Body Tempering realm doesn't fall behind, then he really does have a sliver of a chance three years from now."

"A sliver is enough!" Manager Zhou clenched his fist excitedly.

Each year, only two or three martial arts students from Wuyi Province could go to the New Continent. Who could claim absolute certainty?

But he soon thought of another issue and asked cautiously,

"General Manager Fu, haven't geniuses with a chance of reaching the New Continent always been given A-Class contracts?"

The difference between A-Class and D-Class was as vast as heaven and earth.

"A-Class?"

Fu Wen glanced at Manager Zhou and gave a derisive snort.

"A-Class contracts are signed before each year's 'Final Battle,' for those geniuses who have begun to show their edge."

"If I gave him an A-Class contract, how would that show off my skill?"

Fu Wen leaned back in his chair, interlacing the fingers of both hands as he said smugly,

"The earlier the investment, the greater the return. I deserve that return."

"General Manager Fu, that's true." Manager Zhou cautiously glanced at Fu Wen, hesitating as he said,

"But... isn't a D-Class contract too low?"

Though contracts were binding, that did not mean everything would be settled once and for all.

Especially with this sort of speculative contract—if it was mishandled, they might even end up turning against each other.

Fu Wen saw what Manager Zhou was thinking and shook his head with a smile.

"Don't worry. Li Qingshan is just a poor student raised on public assistance, one who has to work odd jobs everywhere just to buy Nutrient Solution. How much money has he ever seen?"

"With a D-Class contract alone, one hundred thousand a month in the first year will save him from worrying over basic Nutrient Solution."

"Besides..."

Fu Wen looked at Manager Zhou, his words carrying hidden meaning.

"Only with a gap can there be a surprise."

"The D-Class contract is merely a way for you to keep Li Qingshan steady, so that he doesn't become short-sighted and fall into the trap of some local small company."

"When he arrived at the shop, I would appear during the signing and personally raise his contract to C-tier."

"From D-tier to C-tier, the benefits would more than double. Such 'grace of recognition' would be enough for Li Qingshan to remember for the rest of his life!"

"President Fu is wise." Manager Zhou forced a smile as he flattered him.

"Ha ha ha!"

In the vast office, only Fu Wen's smug laughter echoed...