Senior Trainee

Looking at the Synthesis Panel before him, Chen Hao was thrilled and excited. Only now did he realize that his panel had more than just the Identify function. Another function had appeared out of nowhere, catching him completely off guard: Copy.

From what he could see, Copy worked on skills. He didn't know whether there were other things it could copy, too. One thing was certain, though: it couldn't copy items. He had Identified many items over the past while, but the Copy function had never appeared.

Looking at the young man's stunned yet excited expression, Jiang Nian nodded to himself. As expected, his words had made an impression. The Chief Hall Master's name really carried weight.

Having already seen the Identify function appear through a fusion, Chen Hao wasn't completely thrown off by the new Copy function.

Although he was incredibly excited, 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. It's an honor to become a Senior Trainee at the Martial Hall. Thank you very much for inviting me." Chen Hao came to his senses and replied calmly.

"Very good. You've made the right decision, and you won't regret this choice." Jiang Nian was very pleased with Chen Hao's response. He then turned to the front desk. "Xiao Zheng, you did well. I'll leave Chen Hao's Senior Trainee ID to you. Make sure there are no mistakes. I'll give you credit for this later."

The young woman at the front desk flushed with excitement and nearly lost her words. "Y-yes! I'll make sure there are no mistakes. Thank you, Hall Master!"

Looking at the excited young woman, Jiang Nian was very pleased with her, too. After all, if she hadn't reported it promptly, he might have missed a talent like Chen Hao.

A nineteen-year-old Quasi-Warrior was rare even among the Base Cities across the country. Chen Hao was a hidden gem he'd been lucky enough to find.

"Chen Hao, once your trainee ID is ready, you can swipe it to enter the Martial Hall. I'll be waiting for you on the third floor with the Senior Trainees. I'll introduce you to some of them. You can spar with each other when you have time. It'll help you improve."

After giving him those instructions, Jiang Nian left the Testing Office. As the Hall Master of the Extreme Martial Arts Hall in Yi'an District, he had plenty to do every day. If Chen Hao hadn't been such an outstanding talent, he wouldn't have come in person. At most, he would have sent a manager to take a look.

Using the form he'd filled out earlier, the young woman at the front desk quickly prepared Chen Hao's Senior Trainee ID. "Hello, Mr. Chen. Here's your Senior Trainee ID for the Martial Hall. Thank you so much for joining. You helped me earn a great merit, too. Do you have time? If you do, I'd like to treat you to a meal to show my gratitude." As she spoke, she handed Chen Hao his Senior Trainee ID.

Chen Hao took his Senior Trainee ID and examined it carefully from every angle. He gave her a faint smile. "You earned that merit through your own ability. It had little to do with me. I still have something to take care of, so maybe another time."

A hint of disappointment flashed in the young woman's eyes. Then she smiled sweetly. "All right. My name is Zheng Yin. Here's my phone number. If you have time, please give me a chance to thank you." As she spoke, Zheng Yin held out a slip of paper with her number written on it.

"Sure, sure. Goodbye!" Chen Hao took the slip of paper, glanced at it, and tucked it into his pocket. He nodded to her, said goodbye, and left.

Once he'd left the Testing Office, Chen Hao could no longer hold back his excitement. He brought up the Synthesis Panel and looked at the card slot, only to find it completely empty. His heart gave a sudden lurch. That couldn't have been a mistake, could it?

He had planned to head straight home, but after the panel's unexpected development, he hurried toward the Martial Hall's main entrance.

He swiped his trainee ID at the entrance.

"Beep." The Martial Hall doors opened, and Chen Hao walked inside.

From far away, he could see the Trainee Building. It was, after all, the largest building in the area. The Martial Hall had tens of thousands of trainees, and they usually came here to train.

Chen Hao pinned his Senior Trainee ID to his chest and entered the first floor. The spacious hall held at least several hundred people.

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

"Huh? Who's that? I've never seen him before."

"Is he one of our Senior Trainees?"

"I've never seen him among the Intermediate Trainees. He must've been recruited from outside."

Chen Hao paid no attention to the chatter below. When he reached the second floor, he took a quick look around. There were far fewer people there, fewer than a hundred scattered about.

The second floor was just as large as the first, so with fewer people, the hall seemed rather empty.

His arrival caught the Intermediate Trainees' attention as well. But unlike the Junior Students, they understood that if they didn't recognize him, he was probably a Senior Trainee recruited from outside the Martial Hall.

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

Jiang Nian sensed Chen Hao as soon as he came upstairs. His eyes lit up, and he laughed heartily. "Chen Hao, you're here! Come, let me introduce you all. This is Chen Hao. He's nineteen, and his physical fitness already meets the Quasi-Warrior standard. With a little training in movement techniques, he should have no trouble passing the Quasi-Warrior assessment. They're all Senior Trainees at the Martial Hall. Let me introduce you."

As Jiang Nian introduced the Senior Trainees by name, Chen Hao greeted them one by one.

When he heard Yang Wu's name, he took a closer look. Yang Wu had been described at length when the story began, but later on, he'd vanished without a trace. He'd fared far worse than Wei Wen.

"Your junior, Chen Hao, greets all the big brothers and sisters here. If I do anything inappropriate in the future, I hope you won't hold it against me." Chen Hao cupped his fists and sincerely bowed to everyone around him.

"Hehe, so you're Chen Hao? I'm Tong Yun. From now on, I'll look out for you here." After Jiang Nian finished introducing the dozen or so Senior Trainees, a curvaceous, alluring woman with a wheat-colored complexion and white training clothes giggled at Chen Hao, her eyes full of teasing.

"Hahahaha! Yun, have you taken a liking to Chen Hao? Don't tell me you're looking for a young man to spoil! But they say a woman who's three years older is worth her weight in gold. Maybe Chen Hao's into that. If you want to pursue him, your big brother Yang supports you." Yang Wu looked at Tong Yun and teased her with a grin.

"Hahahaha, Sister Tong really has a good eye."

"Alas! Looks like Sister Tong has already set her sights on someone. No hope for the rest of us."

"Get lost! What are you thinking? I'm just being friendly to our new junior, that's all. You lot have filthy minds." Tong Yun rolled her eyes at the laughing group. "Little Chen Hao, don't listen to their nonsense. If there's anything you don't understand, you can ask us. We won't hold anything back. Brother Yang is one of the top three Senior Trainees at the Martial Hall. You won't go wrong if you ask him for advice."

"Thanks, Sister Yun. Thanks, Brother Yang. If I need anything, I won't hesitate to ask." Faced with everyone's warmth, Chen Hao quickly felt at ease. The atmosphere at the Martial Hall was really great.