Reward

The black youth named Nigel Evans spoke in fluent English, "I would like to accept, but I don't have enough money. If you all could lend me some, I'll take the challenge."

After hearing this, his companions pondered for a moment before a black girl readily said, "I'll lend it to you. Given your top-thirty strength, you surely won't lose."

"I'll lend too."

"I still have some spare cash."

Upon hearing this, his companions all offered to lend him money; this was a risk-free investment, and no one was willing to pass it up.

However, it was hard to say who would win and who would lose when the time came.

In just two hours, Guan Ning had received nine challenge applications. He couldn't help but sigh that the students at the Elite Training Camp were truly wealthy—this amounted to 45 billion Huaxia Currency!

He took a look; the lowest-ranked among the nine was a European Union citizen named Finn Hudson, ranked 53rd, while the highest-ranked was also from the European Union, Adolf Hitler, at 23rd on the Black Dragon Ranking. Most of the others were in the 30s or 40s; after all, those with lower rankings didn't dare to issue challenges, let alone engage in a 5 billion bet.

He accepted all nine challenges. Guan Ning wasn't blindly arrogant; he started from the lowest-ranked, Finn Hudson, and challenged his way up step by step. However, he arranged for Candice, who was in the 40s, to be last—Guan Ning wanted him to experience the terror of walking into the abyss one step at a time.

After handling the challenge matters, he arrived at the trial tower room on the ninth floor of the Nine-Story Tower.

Putting on the helmet with practiced ease, he entered the virtual space. Guan Ning gave a light shout, "Force level test."

Whoosh!

On the silver plains, a punch force testing machine appeared out of thin air beside Guan Ning.

"Student Guan Ning, please proceed with the punch force level test immediately." The electronic voice echoed across the silver plains.

Guan Ning stood before the punch force testing machine, took a deep breath, and narrowed his eyes slightly.

His right fist tore through the air in an instant. Due to the unique nature of the Hidden Edge Sword Technique, it didn't cause much of a disturbance as it slammed heavily into the target.

"Thud~~" The target emitted a muffled sound and swayed violently.

The screen displayed the numbers—"40359kg".

"Punch force level 4.0. Congratulations, Student Guan Ning, your combat power amplitude is now 13.2." The electronic voice remained devoid of any emotional fluctuation.

Hearing the electronic voice, Guan Ning remained expressionless, though a hint of joy flickered in the depths of his eyes.

Without even looking at the trial tower standing on the plains, he logged out directly.

Since he had already met the requirements, why waste the effort?

He dialed the contact number on the contract directly from his room.

"Beep—beep—" Guan Ning connected the call.

"Hello." A deep voice sounded.

"Hello, I am Guan Ning from the Elite Training Camp." Guan Ning organized his thoughts, "I previously signed a contract with the Limit Martial Hall, which included five reward clauses. If I meet any one of them, I can call this number to receive the reward, correct?"

"That is correct!" the deep voice replied.

"My combat power amplitude has exceeded 12, meeting the third clause," Guan Ning stated.

"Please wait a moment, let me verify."

After only a moment, the voice sounded slightly surprised, "Ah, congratulations, Student Guan Ning. Your combat power amplitude is now 13.2, and since it is currently July 30th, 22:56, it falls before August 1st, meeting the clause requirements. Your rewards are... a full set of SS-grade combat gear and weapons, any one secret manual, and a portion of Dragon Blood worth 80 billion."

"Student Guan Ning, please provide me with the detailed specifications for the full set of combat gear and weapons you require, as well as the name of the secret manual you want," the deep voice continued.

"I need a full set of SS-grade combat gear, sized according to..." Guan Ning quickly reported the size and style of his combat gear and the Qingming Sword, and also specified his communication watch, binoculars, backpack, and other auxiliary tools!

"I also need the complete set of the World Destroyer secret manual!"

"Finally, the portion of Dragon Blood," Guan Ning replied. "Oh, and I also need an SS-grade dagger and an SS-grade Coiling Dragon Sword. I can pay for those myself."

In the original story, Luo Feng's SS-grade flying knives were small and used little material, so the Limit Martial Hall could provide them for free, but the SS-grade Coiling Dragon Sword could be considered the highest-tier weapon that could be manufactured on Earth, and it was custom-made at that. Guan Ning didn't think the Limit Martial Hall would give it away for free.

"The SS-grade dagger can be provided for free," the deep voice said, sounding somewhat surprised. Not many martial artists used soft swords like the Coiling Dragon Sword, let alone an SS-grade one; they were extremely rare. "An SS-grade Coiling Dragon Sword? Student Guan Ning, because the material of the Coiling Dragon Sword is special, it must be custom-made by a specialist. Are you sure you want to purchase an SS-grade Coiling Dragon Sword?"

"I am sure. How much will it cost?" Guan Ning said firmly.

"A standard SS-grade weapon costs 30 billion at full price. The Coiling Dragon Sword requires special manufacturing, so the full price is 40 billion, half price is 20 billion. However, Student Guan Ning, you are entitled to an additional 20% discount, so it will be 16 billion," the deep voice said slowly.

The Martial Hall is truly ruthless; they've emptied my pockets in one go, Guan Ning thought to himself, but he quickly said, "I'll buy it now. Can I receive it before August 1st?"

"Oh!" The deep voice clearly hadn't expected Guan Ning to go broke buying the Coiling Dragon Sword, sounding surprised before acknowledging Guan Ning's request. "Rest assured, Hongning Base City has specialized swordsmiths; it will certainly be delivered to you before August 1st."

"4563... 12379, please transfer the money to this account," the deep voice said. "The Elite Training Camp is located within the headquarters base city, so the rewards should be delivered to the main entrance of the camp within an hour. You can go there to receive them."

"Can it be delivered to the Jiangnan Pavilion?" Guan Ning asked. He no longer felt the same excitement, so naturally, he preferred whatever was most convenient.

"Of course," the deep voice replied with a hint of surprise.

"Finally, congratulations to Student Guan Ning for obtaining this reward. Please continue to work hard and strive to reach a combat power amplitude of 16 as soon as possible to earn the next reward." After saying this, the deep voice hung up.

Ending the call, Guan Ning transferred the 16 billion. With only 23 million Huaxia Currency left in his hands, he had essentially returned to square one overnight!

Upon returning to the Jiangnan Pavilion, Zhao Ruo, Shi Jiang, and Luo Feng were already waiting for him. Even Chu Qiang, who had occupied the first spot on the Black Dragon Ranking for four months, had appeared and was chatting with Luo Feng.

Well, it seems the things Luo Feng did in the original story—breaking through without needing challenges due to the immense pressure from Li Yao—have now fallen to me.

Guan Ning suddenly realized this and couldn't help but laugh bitterly.

"Whew! That was not easy!"

After finally dealing with Luo Feng and the others and sending them off, Guan Ning let out a long sigh. He could handle the others, but Zhao Ruo was truly difficult to deal with; it took a lot of convincing before he finally managed to appease her.

"Beep!"

Before he could rest for even a moment, the doorbell rang. Guan Ning stood up to open the door, having already guessed who it was. After all, most students were training at this hour, and Luo Feng and the others who had just left wouldn't be returning, making it easy to deduce who might show up now.

Sure enough!

Opening the door and seeing the familiar delivery truck, Guan Ning revealed a smile.

After completing the verification process, Guan Ning returned to his study and opened the briefcase. This one was much larger than the last, as it contained his combat suit and weapons.

The briefcase was divided into two layers. The top layer held the neatly folded combat suit, the Qingming Sword, a dagger, and a series of other items. Guan Ning took these out and set them aside before looking at the bottom layer.

The bottom layer contained only two wooden boxes.

Just like last time, one was the World Destroyer manual, which might be the only manual on Earth related to domains.

The other was the Dragon Blood; under the light, the golden blood made one's heart tremble.

Now, everything was set—he had his stake!

That's right, he hadn't misread it; this was his stake!

Without it, Guan Ning wouldn't even have the qualifications to sign the challenge contracts. After all, the Challenge Room required that the stake be deposited into a special account before a challenge could be considered official.

Only then would Guan Ning and his opponents be eligible to enter the Challenge Room to fight!

The winner would have both stakes transferred directly into their account.

In reality, although Guan Ning had accepted those nine challenge contracts, they hadn't been formally signed yet. Once he uploaded the information that he was using the Dragon Blood as his stake, the training camp immediately sent people to collect it and place it in a safe. Following that, the training camp scheduled his challenge matches for tomorrow morning.

As the wagers were finalized, Candice, Nigel, Fede, and Adolf—the four of them—also received the notification. When they learned that Guan Ning's stake was Dragon Blood, they were all dumbfounded.

They didn't believe Guan Ning was a blindly arrogant person; daring to use Dragon Blood as a stake meant he must be confident he wouldn't lose, or at the very least, he was certain the Dragon Blood would be safe.

Their hearts were in a complete panic, especially those ranked lower like Fede and Candice. Although fifty billion Huaxia Currency was an amount they could scrape together if they gritted their teeth, their reputation was at stake. They had spent the last few days slandering and insulting Guan Ning; if they truly lost to him, they would become infamous throughout the training camp.

Even though it was late at night, the news about the Dragon Blood spread instantly, as there were no shortage of people watching this series of challenge matches.

Whether it was the 45 billion Huaxia Currency from the nine-man side or the Dragon Blood worth 80 billion, both were explosive pieces of news. Within a single night, not only the training camp but also major powers in the outside world received the information, marveling at the sheer scale of the wagers while being stunned by Guan Ning's audacity and confidence.

While news flew wildly in the outside world, Guan Ning sat alone on his sofa, staring blankly at his wristwatch. Ever since that night, he had inquired about Jiang Fang through various channels. Thinking of their similar experiences, a ripple of emotion stirred in his heart, and he began to slowly approach Jiang Fang.

Regrettably, Jiang Fang seemed to have forgotten everything that happened between them, treating him with a distant, respectful attitude. However, this only made Guan Ning more drawn to her...