Senior Trainee

Looking at the Synthesis Panel before him, Chen Hao was both excited and thrilled. Only now did he realize that his panel didn't just have the Identify function—it had other functions too. This new feature, Copy, had appeared abruptly, catching him off guard.

From what he could see, the target of Copy was skills. He didn't know if there were other categories it could copy. One thing was certain, though: items couldn't be copied. He had identified many items over the past while, and the Copy function had never appeared.

Watching the young man before him, who seemed dazed yet excited, Jiang Nian nodded to himself. Sure enough, his words had stunned the other party. The title of Chief Hall Master really did carry weight.

With the earlier appearance of the Fusion and Identify functions, even though a new Copy function had now emerged, Chen Hao didn't lose his composure.

Though his heart was racing with excitement, the most important thing now was to handle the situation in front of him without letting anyone notice anything unusual.

"Hello, Hall Master Jiang. My name is Chen Hao. Becoming a Senior Trainee of the martial arts hall is my honor. Thank you very much for the invitation." Chen Hao snapped back to reality and replied in a calm tone.

"Very good. You've made the right decision. You won't regret this choice in the future." Jiang Nian was quite satisfied with Chen Hao's response. He then turned to the front desk. "Xiao Zheng, well done. I'm leaving Chen Hao's Senior Trainee card processing to you. Don't make any mistakes. I'll note your merit later."

The young woman at the front desk flushed with excitement, almost stammering. "Y-yes, I won't make any mistakes. Thank you, Hall Master!"

Watching the excited front desk girl, Jiang Nian felt quite pleased with her as well. After all, if she hadn't reported in time, he might have missed a genius like Chen Hao.

A 19-year-old Quasi-Warrior was rare even among the base cities nationwide. This was a pearl lost in the sea, and he had picked it up.

"Chen Hao, once your trainee card is processed, you can swipe it to enter the martial arts hall. I'll be waiting for you on the third floor with the Senior Trainees. I'll introduce you to some of them then. You can spar with each other when you have time—it'll help you all improve."

After giving his instructions, Jiang Nian left the Testing Office. As the Hall Master of the Extreme Martial Arts Hall in Yi'an District, Jiang Nian had many things to do every day. If it weren't for an outstanding talent like Chen Hao appearing, he wouldn't have come in person. At most, he would have sent a manager to handle it.

With the form Chen Hao had filled out earlier, the front desk girl quickly processed his Senior Trainee card. "Mr. Chen, here is your Senior Trainee card for the martial arts hall. Thank you very much for joining us. You've helped me earn a big merit too. Do you have time? If you do, I'd like to treat you to a meal to express my gratitude." As she spoke, she handed Chen Hao his Senior Trainee card.

Chen Hao took his Senior Trainee card, examined it carefully from all angles, and gave her a faint smile. "That's your own ability—it has little to do with me. I have things to deal with now. Maybe another time."

A flicker of disappointment passed through the front desk girl's eyes. Then she let out a playful laugh. "Alright then. My name is Zheng Yin. Here's my phone number. If you're free, give me a chance to show my gratitude." Zheng Yin handed over a slip of paper with a phone number written on it.

"Mm, okay. See you!" Chen Hao took the note, glanced at it, and tucked it into his pocket. He nodded to her in acknowledgment, said his goodbyes, and left the place.

Once he was out of the Testing Office, Chen Hao could no longer contain his excitement. He pulled up the Synthesis Panel and looked at the card section, only to find it empty. His heart skipped a beat. It wasn't just my imagination earlier, was it?

He had originally planned to go home first, but with the panel throwing him off, he hurried toward the main entrance of the martial arts hall.

He swiped his trainee card at the door.

"Beep." The gate opened, and Chen Hao strode inside.

Entering the martial arts hall, he could see the Trainee Building from a distance—it was the largest structure here. The entire hall had tens of thousands of trainees, and they usually trained here at the Trainee Building.

Chen Hao pinned his Senior Trainee card to his chest and entered the first floor. It was spacious, with at least a few hundred people inside.

He didn't stop but headed upstairs. Some trainees noticed him, but when they saw the Senior Trainee card on his chest, their puzzled looks turned to envy and understanding.

"Hey? Who's that? Never seen him before."

"Is he one of our Senior Trainees?"

"I haven't seen him among the Intermediate Trainees before. He must have been recruited from outside."

Chen Hao paid no attention to the chatter below. He climbed the stairs to the second floor and took a quick look. There were far fewer people here—scattered groups of less than a hundred.

The second floor had the same amount of space as the first, but with fewer people, the hall felt rather empty.

His appearance also caught the attention of the Intermediate Trainees, but unlike the Junior Students, they understood that since they didn't know him, he must have been recruited from outside as a Senior Trainee.

When Chen Hao reached the third floor, he found only a dozen or so people scattered around. Hall Master Jiang Nian seemed to be explaining something to a few of them.

As soon as Chen Hao came up, Jiang Nian sensed his presence. His eyes lit up, and he laughed heartily. "Chen Hao, you're here! Come, let me introduce you. This is Chen Hao, 19 years old, and his physical fitness has already reached the Quasi-Warrior standard. With a bit of practice in movement techniques, passing the Quasi-Warrior assessment won't be a problem. These are all the Senior Trainees of the martial arts hall. Let me introduce them."

As Jiang Nian listed the names of the Senior Trainees, Chen Hao greeted each one in turn.

When he heard the name Yang Wu, he couldn't help but take a closer look. After all, this was a character with quite a bit of description at the start of the story, but unfortunately, there was no news of him later on—his treatment was far worse than Wei Wen's.

"I'm Chen Hao. Greetings to all you big brothers and sisters. If I do anything inappropriate in the future, I hope you won't hold it against me." Chen Hao sincerely clasped his fists and bowed to everyone around.

"Hehe, Chen Hao, right? Big Sister here is called Tong Yun. From now on, I've got your back." After Jiang Nian finished introducing the dozen or so Senior Trainees, a woman in a white training uniform with wheat-colored skin and a graceful, alluring figure grinned at Chen Hao, her eyes full of teasing.

"Hahaha, Sister Yun, are you setting your sights on Chen Hao? Trying to snatch up a younger man? But hey, they say a woman three years older brings gold bricks. Maybe little brother Chen Hao is into that? If you really want to go for it, your Brother Yang supports you." Yang Wu chimed in from the side, teasing Tong Yun with amusement.

"Hahaha, Sister Tong, you've got good taste!"

"Ah, looks like Sister Tong's heart is taken. No hope for us."

"Get lost! What are you thinking? I'm just getting close to our new trainee brother, alright? You guys have filthy minds." Tong Yun shot a glare at the others who were laughing. "Little brother Chen Hao, don't listen to their nonsense. If there's anything you don't understand, feel free to ask us. No one's holding back. Brother Yang ranks in the top three among the Senior Trainees here. Ask him for advice, and you won't lose out."

"Thanks, Sister Yun, Brother Yang. If I need anything, I won't hold back." Faced with the warm crowd, Chen Hao's sense of unfamiliarity quickly faded. The atmosphere at the martial arts hall was really good.

The writing software isn't very user-friendly. If there are any typos, please bear with me.