Combat System, Online!

"This is actually a game?"

"How could this possibly be a game?"

Zhang Qingwei looked at everything in the room, her beautiful eyes filled with confusion and surprise. The shock in her heart was beyond words.

Real!

It was incredibly real!

Whether it was the bone-chilling cold that permeated the room or the feedback she felt from stepping on the ground, she had never encountered such virtual engine technology, even after playing hundreds of virtual games that focused on the five senses.

"Qingwei, are you alright?"

Luo Wu Shang walked over, looking at Zhang Qingwei, who was acting like a lunatic, hopping around and occasionally stomping on the ground. She waved her hand in front of Zhang Qingwei's face, feeling very strange.

Zhang Qingwei was someone who had seen many storms, having been on pilgrimages and experienced much. It was hard to imagine she would go mad just by entering a game. Even if High Martial Descent was a 100% virtual game, she shouldn't be this frantic.

"I'm fine." Zhang Qingwei stopped moving, shook her head, and looked at Luo Wu Shang with excitement. "Wu Shang! I've got my brain back, I've got my brain back!"

"Yeah, I know, I can see that." Luo Wu Shang nodded.

Anyone could tell from the situation.

"Is this person crazy?"

"It's quite possible. After all, it's so difficult to get into this game. I didn't even dare tell my dorm mates, for fear of what they might do in the middle of the night."

"That's true. After I got my entry qualification, I didn't dare speak loudly in the dorm."

The stern, muscular young man doing squats and the thin young man who kept shuffling their feet both stopped and looked at Zhang Qingwei in surprise. They hadn't expected anyone to be more excited than them about entering High Martial Descent.

"Hello to you two brothers. My name is Twilight of the Gods." Twilight of the Gods looked at the stern, muscular young man and the thin young man with some excitement. "You mentioned dorms? Are you also university students?"

With only ten spots in High Martial Descent, it was too difficult to encounter others like them.

"Yeah! I'm attending university part-time. My main focus is being a reserve member of the Blue Enchantress Team. Just call me Outlander Gunslinger." The stern, muscular young man nodded and introduced himself.

"What a coincidence! I'm also attending university part-time. My main focus is being an official member of the Imperial City Team. You can just call me Peerless One Shot." The thin young man looked at the stern, muscular young man with surprise, not expecting to meet someone similar.

"A reserve member of the Blue Enchantress Team and an official member of the Imperial City Team. Is the professional gaming industry this competitive now?" Fang Zhen looked at the two professional youths, who were only in their early twenties, and were even attending university part-time. He suddenly felt like he was falling behind the times.

The Blue Enchantress Team was a regular participant in the Mecha Continent national league, consistently ranking in the top four. Their most famous member was Blood Flame Spear Princess Chen Ya, whose personal strength ranked third nationally. They had always been the strictest in selecting new talent.

The Imperial City Team was also a regular in the top eight of the Mecha Continent national league. Being an official member meant their strength and skills were undeniable.

"Brother Zhen, I can play High Martial Descent this time all thanks to you. I've always watched your streams, I practically grew up watching your streams." Outlander Gunslinger walked up to Fang Zhen, his face full of excitement. "From now on, little brother will follow Brother Zhen."

"Me too. If I hadn't watched Brother Zhen's streams every day, I wouldn't have found this game." Peerless One Shot also felt like he had found his people.

"Great! That's wonderful! With the help of you two brothers, we'll make High Martial Descent bigger and stronger in the future!" Fang Zhen felt a sudden realization after hearing them, and his heart was filled with joy.

He was desperately short of manpower. He had the energy land that was found, but he lacked the strength to develop it. If two more people could help, the two of them could develop that energy land, which was over a hundred square meters, much faster.

It wasn't like he was the only one silently digging holes every night, which was truly demotivating.

Just as everyone in the basement was introducing themselves, one person walked down the stairs, causing the entire place to fall silent. Everyone watched as that person slowly approached, especially the newcomers, whose gazes were filled with curiosity.

"This person is so real!"

"This person is practically like a real person!"

After the initial exchange, the newcomers already knew that the NPC before them was the highest-ranking NPC managing them, the players. If they disobeyed or behaved badly, the consequences would be severe.

"Newcomers! Welcome to Obsidian Martial Arts Hall. I am your hall master, Lin Qi. According to the rules, if you wish to become honored disciples of the martial arts hall, you must prove yourselves."

Lin Qi glanced at the eager newcomers, feeling very satisfied. Although the system's assessment was clearly a trap, with not a single person passing the assessment, seven players had been brought in. However, the results were quite good; they were all young and strong, perfect material for work.

Lin Qi then pointed to a table nearby.

"On that table is a registration book. Write down your names and ages, then choose a beloved small shovel. Head out the door, turn right to the small warehouse, and you have twelve hours to develop as much energy land as possible."

"The person who develops the most energy land within the time limit can choose one of these two town-guarding martial arts techniques to learn. The person who develops the second most can choose the other martial art technique. I look forward to your performance."

After speaking, Lin Qi took out two books from his pocket, Crushing Stone Fist and Leopard Shadow Steps, which were divided into upper and lower parts.

The reason they were divided into two parts was simply because these martial arts techniques could only be split into two parts. Otherwise, Lin Qi would have really wanted to split them into nine parts and eighteen books.

Apprentice-level martial arts techniques generally had two stages of mastery. Crushing Stone Fist was divided into the Crushing Pile stage and the Crushing Stone stage, while Leopard Shadow Steps was divided into the Chasing Wind stage and the Hunting Shadow stage.

The two stages of these martial arts techniques, each stage's burst power was stronger, and each stage was more difficult to master.

Lin Qi was willing to offer two martial arts techniques as rewards for the newcomers' development.

Firstly, it was to prevent players from exploiting bugs and "reaping leeks." Competition led to efficiency.

Secondly, it was to promote the martial arts techniques, allowing all players to learn them and improve quickly.

Once a player learned a martial art technique, it meant all other players could also learn it, just at different times. After all, he couldn't prevent players from spreading it, unlike people in the High Martial world. Without dedicated instructors, practicing incorrectly could cripple a person. Instructors would check the learner's purchase records, and without purchase records, they wouldn't teach.

However, players had no worries about practicing incorrectly; it was just a matter of dying a few more times if they messed up.

"Holy crap!"

"Is this going to activate the combat profession system?"

"I knew there would be a big move when so many newcomers were introduced at once. I didn't expect the officials to pull off something like this."

Everyone present stared intently at the two martial arts techniques in Lin Qi's hands, their eyes practically glued to them. Especially Fang Zhen, Luo Wu Shang, and Twilight of the Gods, who had arrived a few days earlier, their eyes were almost touching the two books.

Although the sandbox gameplay of underground exploration was quite good, in High Martial Descent, with its 100% virtual reality, who wouldn't want to experience being a superhero?

Especially since all three of them had personally witnessed the fight between Qin Mu and Hou Fei; it was like two monsters battling.

And the audience watching the live stream from outside the arena completely exploded when they saw this scene.

"Heavens! This is too unfair! Why can they all start becoming superheroes, but we can't even get into the game yet."

"No, brother, not only can we not get into the game, we can't even pass the test assessment. We can only watch them play the game silently."

"I saw someone earlier saying professional boosters only cost 98. I'll offer twenty thousand if he can pass!"

"You mean that booster? I seriously doubt he'd live long enough to earn that twenty thousand."

As the people in the live stream excitedly discussed, more and more people began to try challenging the test assessment again, especially players who enjoyed combat.

Previously, everyone thought the fight between Qin Mu and Hou Fei was just something the game developers staged for everyone to see. After all, once players entered High Martial Descent, they had nothing else to do besides digging dirt every day and occasionally practicing the Soul Shocking Breathing Technique.

But now, seeing the two martial arts manuals in Lin Qi's hands made everyone realize that the battle, which resembled a blockbuster movie, wasn't staged for show but was something players could actually achieve.