Faced with the invitation from Zhou Yongzheng, President of the Limit General Hall in Jiangnan Base City, Xu Qing thought it over, then looked at Qin Lin. "I'll listen to Linlin."
Hearing his answer, Zhou Yongzheng broke into a smile. This kid was really something. It was such a major decision, yet he was letting his girlfriend decide for him.
It seemed he really liked Qin Lin.
"Kid, are you henpecked?" Wu Jiang teased.
Qin Lin glared at him, then turned to Zhou Yongzheng. "I brought him here to have his Warrior rank reassessed for the same reason. Xiao Qing is a genius among geniuses. He belongs on a much bigger stage."
Hearing Qin Lin's words, Zhou Yongzheng was deeply gratified. He patted her on the shoulder. "Well said. Your parents would be proud of you, wherever they are."
After that, Zhou Yongzheng asked Xu Qing a few questions, and Xu Qing answered honestly.
"The Xu Family had no idea they had a monster hidden in their midst?" Wu Jiang exclaimed in surprise.
If the Xu Family knew how extraordinarily talented Xu Qing was, they'd probably treat him like an ancestor.
"The Xu Family does have a pretty good reputation. Your sister, as a young lady of the Xu Family, has the grace and bearing to match her status. It's impressive how well she's protected you," Zhou Yongzheng remarked.
If not for Xu Xin, once the other members of the Xu Family learned of Xu Qing's talent, they might have turned him into a pawn in their power struggles.
"Of course. Sister Xin has always been so good to me. If anyone dares bully her in the future, I'll make them pay," Xu Qing declared earnestly.
"Haha, naturally. She protected you as you grew up, so you should repay her in kind." Zhou Yongzheng had taken a liking to Xu Qing.
After talking with him, Zhou Yongzheng had gotten a sense of his personality: innocent, lively, mischievous, kindhearted, and grateful. All in all, he was a fine young man.
"What manual have you been training in? Your force output is so high. Is it the World Destroyer spear technique or the Nine-Fold Thunder Blade?" Zhou Yongzheng instinctively assumed Xu Qing had trained in one of the most powerful ultimate manuals.
"President, Xiao Qing hasn't trained in any manual. He figured out how to generate force on his own, without a teacher," Qin Lin explained.
"What? He figured it out on his own?!" Zhou Yongzheng stared at him.
Beside him, Wu Jiang's facial muscles felt sore. He'd made so many expressions today that he'd run out.
"I'm a genius. Isn't that normal?" Xu Qing blinked.
"Normal? There's nothing normal about that! All right, you little rascal, you've shocked me too many times today. Let's sign the contract first. Otherwise, I'm worried something might happen if we leave it too long. I won't be able to sleep easy," Zhou Yongzheng said with a laugh.
He couldn't have been more delighted to find a little monster like this.
Fortunately, Qin Lin was one of their people at the Limit Martial Arts Hall and had brought Xu Qing here. Otherwise, who knew when someone from the Thunder Martial Arts Hall might snatch him away?
As for the Xu Family, they were good at business, but when it came to nurturing geniuses, they were amateurs. Giving Xu Qing to them would be a waste.
Zhou Yongzheng had Xu Qing sign the contract in triplicate.
Once the contract was signed, Xu Qing officially became a member of the Limit Martial Arts Hall.
"Haha, excellent." Zhou Yongzheng looked at the contract, overjoyed that he'd recruited a little monster.
Aside from Xu Qing, he remembered that Zhuge Tao, one of the three directors under him, had also mentioned a genius.
He was from Yangzhou City, if Zhou Yongzheng recalled correctly. His name was Luo Feng. At nineteen, he was a Junior War General and had already mastered the third level of the Nine-Fold Thunder Blade—in just half a year.
Zhou Yongzheng had already reported the matter to the Global Headquarters of the Limit Martial Arts Hall. An envoy would be sent to verify it before long.
If the report checked out, Luo Feng could enter the Basic Training Camp or even the Elite Training Camp.
Two geniuses had appeared at once, each more impressive than the last. The Limit Martial Arts Hall was practically hitting the jackpot.
I'll keep Xu Qing's situation under wraps for now. Once the people arrive, I'll give him a surprise, Zhou Yongzheng thought.
There was no doubt Xu Qing could enter the Elite Training Camp. Only if the higher-ups at the Limit Martial Arts Hall had lost their minds would they refuse him after learning about his abilities.
Still, Zhou Yongzheng trusted the higher-ups. They surely wouldn't lose their minds.
"Xiao Qing, since you haven't trained in any manuals, what kind would you like? I'll make the call and give you the best one we have," Zhou Yongzheng said warmly, in high spirits.
"Thank you, President, but I don't need one. My favorite weapon is the bow, and I'm really good with it," Xu Qing said with a smile.
"Oh? Not many Warriors use that weapon. But if you say you're good with a bow, then I'll have to see for myself," Zhou Yongzheng said.
They then went to the twenty-first floor, where a spacious training ground could accommodate all kinds of practice.
"Xiao Qing, we have bows of all kinds here. Pick the one that suits you best." Zhou Yongzheng opened the weapons cabinet, revealing bow after bow hanging inside.
Xu Qing picked a bow from the middle. It weighed around five hundred kilograms, and its long frame stood as tall as a person.
"Oh? You're starting with such a big bow." A flicker of surprise crossed Zhou Yongzheng's eyes.
Qin Lin and Wu Jiang were also surprised, but they kept quiet, eager to see Xu Qing's archery for themselves.
A bow of that size called for matching arrows. The metal arrows were thumb-thick and each measured a meter and a half long.
"The first target is three hundred meters away, the second is five hundred, the third is eight hundred, and the fourth is a thousand. For someone at your Junior War General rank, hitting the bull's-eye from eight hundred meters would already earn you the title of master archer," Zhou Yongzheng said with a smile.
"That's easy," Xu Qing said casually.
He picked up a metal arrow, nocked it, and drew the person-sized bow until it formed a crescent. The bow creaked under the strain.
The sharp arrowhead gleamed coldly. A moment later, the arrow shot away, tearing through the air.
At the eight-hundred-meter mark, an arrow stood embedded in the bull's-eye, its fletching still quivering.
"Nice shot, kid. You really weren't bluffing when you said you could hit the bull's-eye from eight hundred meters," Wu Jiang said in amazement. Xu Qing hadn't even bothered to aim. He'd simply fired.
Anyone who wasn't confident in their archery couldn't have done that.
Xu Qing continued, picking up arrow after arrow and firing them in quick succession.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!
The arrows tore through the air one after another, all embedding themselves in the bull's-eye eight hundred meters away.
"Rapid fire! This kid..." Wu Jiang's eyes widened. He knew how difficult rapid-fire archery was. Even a master archer couldn't always hit a stationary target consistently.
Rapid fire tested an archer's strength, stamina, and accuracy. There was hardly any time to aim; the archer had to rely almost entirely on instinct.
If it was this difficult with a stationary target, a moving one would be even worse. That showed just how challenging rapid-fire archery was.
By the end of a minute, Xu Qing had already fired more than thirty arrows.
The target eight hundred meters away was bristling with arrows around the bull's-eye, like a hedgehog. If it hadn't been sturdy enough, it would have fallen apart long ago.
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