Home of Extremes

Supervisor Zhuge hurried off once again, just as he had at the Jiangnan Base City headquarters last time. He had received a phone call, and his expression had changed dramatically.

Luo Zhe could guess that it had something to do with the major matter he and Tong Yang were planning. But with his current standing, what could he say?

At the Northern Military Region in Jiangnan Base City, Luo Zhe and the other two had changed back into their own clothes. They walked along the crosswalk, chatting.

"Brother Zhe, I heard you got into a fight with Wan Dong from Thunder Martial Arts Hall and were taken away by soldiers? Did anything happen?" Luo Feng asked, looking worried.

Yang Wu, walking on the other side, also spoke with concern. "Yeah, Luo Zhe, I heard too. Why did the two of you suddenly start fighting? Were you hurt?"

Luo Zhe waved a hand and grinned, spinning around on the spot. "Relax, relax. Just look at me—I'm perfectly fine. Doesn't that tell you nothing happened?"

"That guy Wan Dong charged at us out of nowhere. It was dark, and he wouldn't stop when I told him to. I had no choice but to take him down first."

"Good thing you're all right." Luo Feng let out a sigh of relief, then complained, "You have no idea how worried I was when I first heard. Those soldiers were like blocks of wood. They wouldn't tell me anything."

Luo Zhe couldn't help laughing. "We're not part of the military. You went to ask them as a private citizen, so of course they wouldn't tell you. If you run into trouble in the future, you should go to someone from our dojo first. In this case, it would've been much better to ask Uncle Wu to step in than to handle it yourself."

Yang Wu nodded in agreement. "Right. Luo Zhe was recruited early by Extreme Martial Arts Hall, after all. It would definitely have been better to get Chief Instructor Wu Tong involved."

As he spoke, Yang Wu sounded a little envious. "You're both official members of Extreme Martial Arts Hall now. Once you get back, you'll be able to log into Home of Extremes through the internet."

There were special internal networks online that could only be accessed by people with specific credentials.

Home of Extremes was one such network. Only those with a martial artist's status at Extreme Martial Arts Hall were eligible to enter. It was the internal network for martial artists affiliated with Extreme Martial Arts Hall.

Every martial artist at Extreme Martial Arts Hall had a unique martial artist ID number, and each number came with a dedicated account linked directly to the user's personal information.

The startup funds for martial artists like Luo Zhe and Luo Feng were transferred directly into their dedicated accounts on Home of Extremes by a special management department at Extreme Martial Arts Hall, using their martial artist ID numbers.

After dinner.

In the media room on the second floor of Luo Zhe's house.

"Home of Extremes." Using voice control, Luo Zhe searched for the website on his personal computer.

A massive screen, a full two hundred inches across, appeared on one wall of the media room. The website, Home of Extremes, immediately opened on the screen.

"Beep." After his fingerprint was verified, a loading page appeared.

Gentle music flowed through the room like a babbling stream. At the same time, a personal profile appeared on the huge screen. It displayed a photo of Luo Zhe, with an information form below it—

Name: Luo Zhe

Gender: Male

Address: Yangzhou City, Jiangnan Base City, Huaxia Nation

Martial Artist ID Number: 426126105608010001

Level: Warrior Level (Beginner)

Contribution Points: 0

Currency Balance: 20,000,000 Huaxia Currency

Luo Zhe looked at the huge screen on the media room wall. Seeing the entry for his startup funds, he nodded. "The twenty million Huaxia Currency that Extreme Martial Arts Hall promised really did come through."

A row of buttons sat at the top of the webpage. One of them was flashing continuously, with a line of red text on it: "You have two new emails."

He moved his finger across the touchpad on the wireless keyboard and tapped to open the inbox.

The first email opened to a video.

"Hello, Mr. Luo Zhe." A middle-aged man in a black suit appeared on the huge screen, smiling. "I'm Supervisor Zhuge's assistant. I'm sure you've seen the two million in startup funds promised by the supervisor. As for purchasing manuals on movement techniques, knife techniques, and the Guidance Technique, you can buy them directly through the internal network. As long as the price doesn't exceed one hundred million, the cost will be reimbursed through the network, and you won't have to pay a cent. If the price exceeds one hundred million, you'll need to pay the difference yourself. On behalf of the supervisor, I'd also like to congratulate you on passing the Martial Artist Combat Assessment."

The video ended.

He opened the second email. It contained another video.

"Welcome, new martial artist Luo Zhe. On behalf of Extreme Martial Arts Hall, I'm delighted to welcome you to our big family." A sweet-looking young woman smiled at him. "This is your first time logging into Extreme Martial Arts Hall's internal network—Home of Extremes! Let me introduce what you can do on Home of Extremes."

"First of all, on Home of Extremes, you can buy weapons of all levels, Guidance Techniques, movement technique manuals, and combat manuals, including manuals for knife, spear, and sword techniques. You can also buy firearms, transportation, protective gear, communication systems, custom explosives, special medical treatments, gene potions... and even rare materials and treasures. As long as you have enough money, you can buy them."

"Once you've paid, your goods will be delivered within twenty-four hours."

"Through Home of Extremes, you can even hire Warrior-Level and even War God-Level martial artists to provide you with one-on-one instruction online. Naturally, you'll need to pay enough."

The young woman in the video smiled. "If you have enough contribution points, the prices of all the items mentioned above will be cut in half!"

Luo Zhe was startled.

He had already learned about the first part from Chen Gu, Wu Tong, and the others, but he hadn't expected the prices to be halved.

He already knew that when new martial artists bought manuals for the first time, they didn't need to meet any contribution-point requirements and could buy them at the best prices.

But he hadn't expected that on Home of Extremes, every item—including one-on-one instruction from a War God-Level martial artist—could be bought at half price with enough contribution points.

If something cost one hundred million, and he had enough contribution points, wouldn't he only need to pay fifty million? Contribution points were incredibly useful. But his current balance was only 0.

"Contribution points have many uses beyond discounts on purchases. For example, once you reach a certain level of contribution points, you can call on special squads from Extreme Martial Arts Hall," the young woman in the video said with a smile. "The more contribution points you have, the higher your standing in Extreme Martial Arts Hall, the greater your authority, and the better your benefits."

"There are two main ways to earn contribution points."

"First, hunt monsters and collect important materials from their bodies. Sell those materials to Extreme Martial Arts Hall, and you can earn both money and contribution points."

"Second, donate money to Extreme Martial Arts Hall. The more you donate, the more contribution points you'll receive. The current rate is... one contribution point for every ten thousand Huaxia Currency you donate! The donation system requires a minimum donation of ten million Huaxia Currency, and martial artists can donate up to one hundred billion. In other words—you can earn at most ten million contribution points through the donation system!"

Luo Zhe sucked in a sharp breath.

Damn! Did that even sound like something a person would say?

There was a limit to donations? The most you could give was one hundred billion? Would Extreme Martial Arts Hall really refuse to accept any more? That was one hundred billion Huaxia Currency! The richest person in Huaxia Nation, according to Forbes, had just over one hundred billion in assets. The richest person in the world had only twelve hundred billion U.S. dollars—equivalent to four hundred and twenty billion Huaxia Currency.

"Mr. Luo Zhe, let me remind you that hunting monsters is the best way to earn contribution points. You can earn contribution points and make money at the same time," the young woman said with a smile. "You have startup funds now, but don't rush to spend them. You can visit the information section of the Martial Artist Forum and read up on some basic knowledge for martial artists. It'll help you choose your manuals and weapons."

"Finally, I wish you the best as you strive for the pinnacle of martial arts as part of the big family at Extreme Martial Arts Hall."

The young woman bowed, and the video ended.

To be honest, Home of Extremes offered an astonishing range of content. The wealth of information on it was beyond anything Luo Zhe could have imagined before.

Although he had two million Huaxia Currency in startup funds, plus another two million he'd earned from Wang Meng, Luo Zhe wasn't in a hurry to buy weapons or anything else. Following the young woman's instructions, he first familiarized himself with the internal website, Home of Extremes.

Home of Extremes had many features and sections. There were sections for accepting and posting missions, private chats, training, and donations.

But the two sections that drew the most attention were the Martial Artist Forum and the Online Mall.