Conversation

"Are you in the Gravity Room right now?" Feng Mu sounded somewhat anxious; even with his typically indifferent temperament, he found it hard to remain calm after receiving the notification.

"Yes." Guan Ning nodded.

"The Inspector is looking for you. Stop training for now, hurry back to take a shower and change your clothes. I'll wait for you at Jiangnan Pavilion."

An Inspector—that was an existence surpassing a War God, and an aspiration Feng Mu could never reach. He had been severely injured during a beast tide, and although he recovered, he remained trapped at the level of a high-tier War God with no hope of becoming an Inspector. It was, truthfully, a form of torture.

"Understood, I'll be back immediately." Guan Ning hung up the phone, wiped the sweat off with a towel, buckled the Coiling Dragon Sword to his waist, and headed out with the Qingming Sword in hand.

Guan Ning returned to Jiangnan Pavilion quickly, where Feng Mu was already waiting. He was dressed in his cyan training suit, just as he had been when they first met a month ago, though his expression was somewhat dejected.

"Guan Ning!" Feng Mu called out the moment he saw him.

"Teacher, please wait a moment, I'll be out shortly."

Guan Ning said after observing Feng Mu's demeanor.

In the building where Luo Feng lived, a figure darted into the first floor and then quickly rushed upstairs: "Teacher, I'll be down in a moment."

"Eh? Teacher Feng, you're here too?" Zhao Ruo asked, her face full of confusion upon hearing the voice. "Are you here to find Guan Ning?"

Feng Mu did not speak, merely nodding slightly.

"What's going on today? Teacher Jiang Fang came to find Luo Feng, and you're here for Guan Ning. Is something big about to happen?"

Zhao Ruo asked Feng Mu, but it was clearly a wasted effort; Feng Mu saw no need to explain anything to her.

Feng Mu ignored her, and Zhao Ruo was not surprised. Feng Mu's reclusive nature was famous in the training camp; even his own students couldn't find him outside of their scheduled instruction times.

At this moment, Guan Ning, now wearing casual clothes, rushed downstairs holding an umbrella: "Teacher."

"Let's go," Feng Mu said.

"Little Ning, is something going on?" Zhao Ruo asked with concern.

"I don't know yet, I'll tell you when I get back," Guan Ning explained.

"Alright, go ahead then!" Zhao Ruo waved her hand in satisfaction, signaling that Guan Ning could leave.

Feng Mu glanced at Guan Ning and said, "Inspector Wang is an existence beyond a War God. How are you not the least bit nervous?"

"How could I not be excited? It's just that the initial rush has passed, and now all that's left is a longing for the training camp's rewards."

Although Guan Ning wasn't particularly excited, he lied anyway.

Feng Mu didn't know what to say. He had originally intended to urge Guan Ning to be respectful and relaxed, but it seemed that was unnecessary now.

With a bitter smile, he stopped worrying about it.

Under Feng Mu's guidance, the two soon arrived in front of a seemingly ordinary, quiet villa. The villa featured the style of an ancient Tang Dynasty residence from China, and compared to the villas of other War God teachers, its only unique point was... it occupied a larger area.

"Teacher Feng Mu, the Inspector is waiting for you and student Guan Ning inside," a butler, an elderly man, said with a smile at the villa entrance.

Entering the courtyard.

Guan Ning saw at a glance that four people were playing mahjong in the first-floor hall: three middle-aged women and Luo Feng's teacher, Jiang Fang.

"It seems Luo Feng has already arrived."

"Oh, it's Old Feng. You haven't been here in a long time," one of the women, who was well-maintained and possessed the air of a noblewoman, said with a smile. "Old Wang is in the reception room upstairs. He just said to let that little fellow named Guan Ning go up. Old Feng, let's chat; we haven't seen each other in ages."

"That's right, Old Feng, don't be so gloomy all the time," another woman added.

Guan Ning thought to himself that Teacher Feng was indeed an old acquaintance of theirs.

"You go on up," Feng Mu instructed.

"Understood."

Guan Ning went up to the second floor and followed the scent of tea to the reception room. The door was wide open.

He could see a lean man in his forties sitting across from a young man—it was Luo Feng, who was currently signing something with his back to him.

"It seems they have already finished."

"Come in," a slightly hoarse voice sounded.

"Inspector," Guan Ning bowed slightly.

"Sit!" The lean man gestured toward the seat across the table.

Guan Ning sat cross-legged next to Luo Feng.

"Junior Brother Guan Ning, you're here."

There was no surprise in Luo Feng's eyes; after all, he himself had been summoned, so Guan Ning's arrival was within reason.

"Senior Brother Luo Feng," Guan Ning replied.

"Alright, if you two want to catch up, do it later. For now, look over this contract carefully. If there are no issues, sign it," Inspector Wang said calmly.

There were two contracts on the table. Luo Feng had already signed one, so Guan Ning picked up the remaining one and began to read it carefully.

This was an official recruitment contract for the Limit Martial Hall, involving not just benefits and power, but also responsibilities.

Annual activity budget: 5 billion!

Although it was only 5 billion—a figure vastly different from the offers he had received from other factions—Guan Ning didn't care about that. What he cared about was the reward mechanism the Limit Martial Hall had set for him.

However, for the sake of caution, he still read through it word by word, clause by clause.

He soon reached the third page, which contained a series of terms.

"If Party B achieves a combat power amplitude of 8 before August 1, 2057, they shall receive a full set of Grade 9 combat gear, weapons, and any one complete set of secret manuals."

"If Party B achieves a combat power amplitude of 12 before January 1, 2060, they shall receive a full set of SS-grade combat gear, weapons, and one drop of Jade Marrow worth 30 billion."

"If Party B achieves a combat power amplitude of 12 before August 1, 2057, they shall receive a full set of SS-grade combat gear, weapons, one portion of Dragon Blood worth 80 billion, and any one complete set of secret manuals."

"If Party B achieves a combat power amplitude of 16 before August 1, 2060, they shall receive a full set of SS-grade combat gear, weapons, one portion of Dragon Blood worth 80 billion, and be bestowed with one 'Black God' set."

"If Party B achieves a combat power amplitude of 16 before January 1, 2060, they shall receive a full set of SS-grade combat gear, weapons, one portion of Dragon Blood worth 80 billion, and be granted the position of 'Inspector' within the Limit Martial Hall."

There were five clauses in total, and the rewards for each were undeniably tempting.

Guan Ning was determined to secure the first three clauses. As long as he could master the Hidden Edge Sword Technique within three months, he would meet the requirements for the third clause and obtain a portion of Dragon Blood. Furthermore, having SS-grade combat gear and weapons would make his life-and-death training in Australia much safer.

Guan Ning had originally planned to graduate as soon as he returned from Australia, but upon seeing the last two clauses, that plan was instantly discarded. He could forgo the position of "Inspector," but the "Black God" set was not to be missed. It was the only force-based combat suit on Earth; with it, his survival capabilities would increase significantly. Not to mention that Guan Ning's defense was already formidable—adding a force-based combat suit would be like adding wings to a tiger.

"Combat power amplitude of 16?"

However, this condition was extremely high. He was well aware of the difficulty and significance represented by each level of combat power amplitude.

1-2 is elementary, 2-4 is intermediate, 4-8 is advanced, and 8-16 is elite!

Currently, not a single person in the entire Elite Training Camp had reached 16. Even the top five on the leaderboard, such as Chu Qiang and Shi Jiang, only had a combat power amplitude of 14-15.

The top ten were basically at 13.

The top twenty were basically at 12.

This was merely a rough standard.

Based on Guan Ning's current conditions, he could only meet the requirement by clearing the third floor of the Trial Tower and mastering the Hidden Edge Sword Technique.

He could still see a glimmer of hope for mastering the Hidden Edge Sword Technique.

But as for clearing the third floor of the Trial Tower, he couldn't see any hope at all. Those who could achieve that were either masters of both intent-level combat techniques and movement techniques, or they had already stepped into the Planet level as an official.

Thinking of this chasm-like difficulty, Guan Ning felt a headache coming on.

"Are you finished reading?" a hoarse voice rang out.

Inspector Wang looked at the dazed Guan Ning, his brows furrowed slightly, though he soon relaxed. He knew how astonishing the rewards above were; no one could remain indifferent after seeing them.

Clearly, he had misunderstood the reason for Guan Ning's daze.

"I am finished," Guan Ning replied, regaining his composure with a respectful expression.

"Do you have any objections?" Inspector Wang asked indifferently.

"None." Guan Ning decisively signed his name on the document.

Guan Ning sat in his study, eyes fixed on his computer, waiting for a certain moment to arrive.

"Ding-dong!"

Hearing the email notification, Guan Ning's face lit up with joy, and he quickly opened it.

"Student Guan Ning, your activity funds have been issued. Please check your account."

Seeing that it wasn't the information he had been waiting for, he felt a bit disappointed, yet still excited—after all, this was 5 billion! He had never handled such a large sum of money before.

Immediately after, his communication watch received a message: "Respected Mr. Guan, your account has received 5 billion Huaxia Currency. Your balance is 6,523,890,472 (over 6.5 billion)."

Excluding the newly received 5 billion, the remaining billion-plus was what Guan Ning had earned from hunting monsters during this period. If he hadn't been prioritizing combat achievement points by only selecting the most valuable parts, he could have earned several times more!

"Ding-dong!" Another email arrived, and Guan Ning quickly clicked it open—

"Elite Training Camp Announcement: The head of the Limit Martial Hall, 'Hong', will attend the departure ceremony for the life-and-death adventure on August 1st. We hope all students will strive to perform well."

After reading the content clearly, Guan Ning thought to himself: "It's here!"

This was the notification he had been waiting for. Now, his plans for today could finally be set in motion.

After a hurried meal, Guan Ning left, filled with excitement, to practice. No matter how excited he was, he could not afford to slack off!

However, because he couldn't focus, his training results that afternoon were quite poor. There was no helping it; he simply couldn't control himself!

After finally making it to the evening, Guan Ning arrived in front of Luo Feng's villa and called out, "Senior Brother Luo Feng."

"Senior Brother Luo Feng."

"Senior Brother Luo Feng."

Guan Ning called out three times, but no one answered. He guessed that Luo Feng must be in the basement.

He then gave him a call.

"Junior Brother Guan Ning, is something the matter?" Luo Feng appeared on the screen, covered in sweat.

"Senior Brother Luo Feng, I have something to discuss with you." Guan Ning chuckled, thinking to himself, There is a reason why Luo Feng is so successful.

"Alright, wait a moment!" Luo Feng pondered briefly, unable to guess Guan Ning's intent, but agreed nonetheless.