"Fang Zhen?"
"Did you just join Storm Shadow?"
Chen Ya could not help studying him closely, a trace of surprise in her beautiful eyes. She had thought he would be some young prodigy, never expecting a middle-aged uncle.
At his age, no matter how one looked at it, he was at retirement age. Even if he merely looked older than he was, he was still standing at the edge of retirement.
Yet she had never heard of such an expert on the verge of retirement before.
"No, I've always been a member of Storm Shadow."
Fang Zhen was equally startled when he saw Chen Ya at the entrance of the gaming pod. He had never expected the renowned Blood Flame Spear Princess to personally seek out and question an unknown nobody like him.
"You've always been with Storm Shadow? Then why don't I have any information on you?" Chen Ya found it even stranger.
An expert who had mastered Triple Micro-Control should have been thoroughly documented by every major club, yet Fang Zhen's name had never appeared anywhere.
Chen Ya suddenly felt that she needed to have a deeper talk with the people responsible for intelligence gathering afterward.
Otherwise, at the national tournament, they would not even know what new experts other teams had acquired, and they could be caught off guard and beaten just like today.
While Chen Ya was filled with doubts, the Storm Shadow members present—especially the coaches—could not help feeling embarrassed.
Blue Enchantress did not have information on him, but neither did Storm Shadow itself.
In fact, the club had even planned to have Fang Zhen retire directly today and replace him with a selected reserve player...
"Forget it. That isn't important." Chen Ya stopped pursuing the matter of his records and looked directly at Fang Zhen. "Your spear skills are very good. I look forward to your performance in the national tournament. Next time, you won't hit me as easily as you did today."
As she spoke, Chen Ya turned to look at Li Ranxing, who was still dazed beside her.
"Let's settle the outcome of this exchange in the individual event at the national tournament."
"No problem."
Li Ranxing nodded at Chen Ya's challenge, intending to defeat her fair and square in the national tournament's individual event.
Soon afterward, Chen Ya left Storm Shadow Club with the Blue Enchantress members, having no intention of staying any longer.
"Captain, were you planning to recruit that man just now?" Zilan asked quietly as she watched Chen Ya walk out the door.
As Chen Ya's friend, Zilan knew exactly what kind of person she was. She would never investigate a Storm Shadow player for no reason.
If she was willing to inquire about him, it meant she had taken a liking to his talent and strength.
Blue Enchantress had always aimed for the championship. If an expert above first-rate joined them now, their chances of winning would rise considerably.
"I did have that thought, but forget it." Chen Ya shook her head. "He's too old. His reactions in every aspect will already find it difficult to remain at their peak for long. The national tournament's team event is best of five, and it rarely ends after only three matches. We should save that money for the genius we had originally planned to recruit."
"What a pity," Wang Yi Dao sighed from the side. "At his age, this is probably his final year competing. If he joined us, he might still have a chance to win the championship."
"What's there to pity? His potential has run dry. Even if he came to Blue Enchantress, he'd be surpassed by those who came later. It would be better to give the opportunity to other geniuses." Chen Ya rolled her eyes at Wang Yi Dao. "You, on the other hand, couldn't even trade one for one in a two-on-one. Whether you can even compete in the main event this time is hard to say."
Storm Shadow Club's first-floor lobby.
"Fang Zhen, based on your performance today, our coaching staff has unanimously decided to raise your contract level from B-rank to S-rank. We'll also renew it for three years. If you have no objections, we can sign it right now." A middle-aged coach with half-white hair walked up to Fang Zhen excitedly and directly pulled out an electronic contract.
The instant S-rank was mentioned, the Storm Shadow members present all looked at Fang Zhen with envy.
In all of Storm Shadow Club, only Li Ranxing had an S-rank contract. Its guaranteed annual income alone was over five million, and it could keep increasing based on results in the national league. It was practically a single step to the heavens.
Of course, Li Ranxing's guaranteed S-rank income was even higher. After all, he had ranked sixth in last year's individual event. Although Fang Zhen was an old member, he had only displayed astonishing performance in this simulation match, so it was impossible for him to receive the same price as Li Ranxing.
Even so, it was still a contract countless professional players on Mecha Continent dreamed of.
"Coach, if I sign this contract, can I conduct independent training during daily training from now on?" Fang Zhen asked, looking at the contract before him. It was the most important personal question for him.
The power of High Martial Descent had truly exceeded Fang Zhen's imagination. He had never expected that playing High Martial Descent every day could bring such improvements.
It made Fang Zhen feel that he should spend more time playing High Martial Descent in the future and not waste time on daily training.
"Of course."
"S-rank contracts are very flexible. You only need to come to the club and check in every day."
The coaches all nodded as well. They were not surprised by Fang Zhen's suggestion. Many professional players had lives of their own, and games were not everything. It was only because Li Ranxing had demanded it that everyone on the team underwent special training every day.
But for someone who also had an S-rank contract, such restrictions had no meaning at all.
"Alright, I'll sign."
Once Fang Zhen confirmed there was no problem, he looked at the S-rank contract in his hand as if he were dreaming.
He had thought that in less than half a year, he would have no choice but to retire. His contract was expiring, and he knew very well that participating in the national tournament would be impossible.
The club needed to nurture newcomers. Why would it let an old man compete? At best, he would only warm the bench at the national tournament.
He might as well retire early and devote himself fully to game streaming.
Now that he had secured an S-rank contract, with a guaranteed annual income of five million for three years, that was at least fifteen million guaranteed. It earned far more than game streaming ever could.
"Brother Zhen, can you tell us how you trained? That Triple Micro-Control was insanely cool!"
"And that bizarre footwork—I've never seen anything like it. A ranged mecha moving as fast as a melee mecha is just unbelievable!"
After Fang Zhen signed the new contract, the older members who were on good terms with him all rushed over to ask how he had trained. At his age, for his technical level to improve so drastically was simply a miracle.
"I won't hide it from everyone." Fang Zhen looked at everyone present, old and new alike, all staring at him. He had no intention of concealing it—or rather, he could not conceal it anyway. "Recently, I've been playing a combat game called High Martial Descent. I learned quite a few things in it, which is why I've reached my current level."
"A combat game?"
"Indeed. Playing different virtual games can produce unexpected training effects, since each virtual game has different areas of emphasis."
"Brother Zhen, what kind of training do you usually do in that game?"
"Well, ever since I started playing, I've just been digging holes and chopping trees. Recently, I got another new task: repairing houses."
As Fang Zhen spoke, everyone present looked at him with contempt and speechlessness.
What kind of combat game was that? Instead of fighting monsters every day, he was digging holes and chopping trees. Was this really a proper combat game, rather than a labor game?
Quite a few people even suspected that Fang Zhen simply did not want to tell them, afraid they would catch up to him.
"Digging holes?" Li Ranxing, standing some distance away, felt that Fang Zhen was probably not lying. Fang Zhen had mentioned digging holes in the middle of the night before, and Li Ranxing had thought it was a joke. He had not expected it to be true. Maybe I should try that game too?
Li Ranxing felt that he had reached a bottleneck. No matter how frantically he underwent special training each day, his technical level did not improve. Trying a different training method now might not be a bad choice.
Obsidian Martial Arts Hall, as the sunset gradually sank.
"Brother Zhen, what's gotten into you today? You're actually digging holes this diligently."
Twilight of the Gods watched Fang Zhen. He did not even use an alloy shovel, just unleashed one Crushing Stone Fist after another. Whenever a bag of dirt filled up, he ran off hugging it like he had found treasure, without even taking a breath.
He was as diligent as a little bee.
"I'm in a good mood today, so I plan to dig a little more." Fang Zhen sighed with feeling. "And haven't you noticed? This game develops according to our progress. There will definitely be a huge number of players joining in the future. If we don't dig quickly, others will dig it all away. Of course we need to dig as much as we can while we still can. Otherwise, there won't be anything left to dig later."
"Brother Zhen, that makes so much sense. How did I not think of that?" Twilight of the Gods suddenly felt enlightened. "There's only so much space underground in the martial arts hall, and only so much land that can be planted. The more we dig now, the more farming land we'll own in the future. Once we have enough farmland, we can earn more than those newcomers even while lying down!"
"Uh, I hadn't thought that far ahead." Fang Zhen also felt as though enlightenment had poured into his head. "But you're right. Let's hurry up and dig!"
"Right!" Twilight of the Gods picked up a shovel excitedly and began working like mad.
Meanwhile, Lin Qi, in the martial arts hall's lounge, had a somewhat gloomy expression.
"Have these players all gone mad? Is digging holes really that fun?"
Lin Qi watched as all ten players ignored the task of repairing the martial arts hall and threw themselves wholeheartedly into digging holes. The more they dug, the more energized they became. He simply could not understand what they were thinking.
He had clearly increased the rewards for repairing the martial arts hall, yet the ten of them were like turtles swallowing weights, their hearts set like iron. They frantically raised their Crushing Stone Fist and Leopard Shadow Steps proficiency. In barely half a night, their proficiency had risen by more than 7%, and every one of them had passed 50% of the beginner level.
After he extracted their proficiency, Crushing Stone Fist had leaped to 79% at beginner level, Leopard Shadow Steps to 82% at beginner level, and even his Breathing Technique had risen to 43% at beginner level.
Strength: 155.4 kilograms. (Apprentice: 200 kilograms) Speed: 11.2 meters per second. (Apprentice: 12 meters per second) Meditation Technique: Star Explosion Meditation Technique (Beginner 5%)
Now, in terms of pure strength, with his mental will's control over his body and his reactions, he could probably contend with an expert who had just entered the Apprentice realm even without using martial skills.
"No, I have to think of something. Otherwise, the time needed to repair the martial arts hall will be delayed again." Lin Qi was delighted by the increase in his strength, but increasing the martial arts hall's manpower was the top priority now.
Beep! Beep! Beep!
A series of charging-complete notifications rang out, making Lin Qi turn toward the Mechanical Doll that had only been washed during the day.
"The battery is fully charged. Power on?"
Before you continue