Digging Holes Can Bring Happiness

"Fang Zhen?"

"Did you just join the Storm Shadow Club?"

Chen Ya couldn't help but size him up, a hint of surprise in her beautiful eyes. She had expected a young prodigy, not a middle-aged uncle.

At his age, he looked like he should be retiring. Even if he looked youthful, he was still on the verge of retirement.

Yet, she had never heard of such a master on the brink of retirement before.

"No, I've always been a member of the Storm Shadow Club."

Fang Zhen was also startled when he saw Chen Ya at the game pod's opening. He hadn't expected the renowned Blood Flame Spear Princess to approach an unknown nobody like him to ask questions.

"Always been with the Storm Shadow Club? How come I don't have your information?" Chen Ya was even more puzzled.

A master who could perform Triple Micro-Control should have had his details meticulously recorded by every club, but Fang Zhen's name had never appeared.

This made Chen Ya suddenly feel that she needed to have a more in-depth discussion with the investigation personnel later.

Otherwise, she wouldn't know what new masters other teams had acquired for the national competition, and they would be caught off guard like this.

As Chen Ya harbored deep doubts, the Storm Shadow Club members present, especially the coaches, couldn't help but feel ashamed.

Let alone Blue Enchantress not having his information, even their own Storm Shadow Club didn't have detailed records.

In fact, their club had planned to let Fang Zhen retire today, with a selected reserve player taking his place...

"Never mind, it's not important." Chen Ya stopped probing about the detailed information and directly looked at Fang Zhen. "Your spear skills are very good. I look forward to your performance in the national competition. Next time, it won't be so easy to hit me."

As she spoke, Chen Ya turned to look at Li Ranxing, who had not yet recovered from his shock.

"Let's settle the result of this encounter in the individual competition of the national tournament."

"No problem."

Li Ranxing nodded at Chen Ya's challenge, intending to defeat Chen Ya honorably in the national competition's individual match.

Afterward, Chen Ya left the Storm Shadow Club with the members of Blue Enchantress, showing no intention of staying any longer.

"Captain, were you planning to poach that person just now?" Zilan asked in a low voice as she watched Chen Ya walk out the door.

As Chen Ya's friend, Zilan knew her well. She wouldn't inquire about the members of the Storm Shadow Club without reason.

Since she was willing to inquire, it meant she had recognized the person's talent and strength.

Their Blue Enchantress team had always aimed for the championship. If a master beyond the first-rate level joined them now, their chances of winning would increase significantly.

"I had that intention, but I decided against it." Chen Ya shook her head. "He's too old. His reactions and other aspects can't maintain their peak performance for long. The team competition in the national tournament is best of five, and there are few matches that only go for three rounds. It's better to save this money for the originally selected genius."

"What a shame," Wang Yi Dao sighed beside her. "At his age, he's probably participating for the last time this year. If he joined us, maybe we'd have a chance to win the championship."

"What's there to be ashamed of? His potential has been exhausted. Even if he joined the Blue Enchantress, he would be surpassed by newcomers. It's better to let other geniuses have a chance." Chen Ya rolled her eyes at Wang Yi Dao. "As for you, kid, you couldn't even trade one-for-one when it was two against one. It's hard to say if you'll even make it to the main competition this time."

The first-floor lobby of the Storm Shadow Club.

"Fang Zhen, based on your performance today, our coaching staff has unanimously decided to upgrade your contract level from the original B-class to S-class, and renew it for three years. If you feel there are no issues, we can sign the contract now." A middle-aged coach with half-white hair excitedly walked up to Fang Zhen and directly presented an electronic contract.

As soon as S-class was mentioned, the Storm Shadow Club members present all cast envious glances at Fang Zhen.

An S-class contract was held by only Li Ranxing in the entire Storm Shadow Club, with a guaranteed annual income of at least five million, which could increase based on the results of the national league. It was like reaching the sky in a single step.

Of course, Li Ranxing's S-class contract had an even higher guaranteed income, as he had placed sixth in the individual competition last year. Although Fang Zhen was an old member, he had only shown astonishing performance in this simulation match, so he couldn't expect the same price as Li Ranxing.

But even so, it was a contract that countless professional players on Mecha Continent dreamed of.

"Coach, if I sign this contract, can I train independently for my daily training?" Fang Zhen asked the question that was most important to him personally as he looked at the contract.

The power of the game High Martial Descent truly exceeded Fang Zhen's imagination. He hadn't expected that playing High Martial Descent every day could bring such improvements.

This 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-class contracts are very flexible. You just need to check in at the club every day."

All the coaches nodded. They were not surprised by Fang Zhen's proposal. Many professional players had their own lives, and gaming wasn't everything. It was only Li Ranxing's request that led everyone on the team to have daily special training.

But for those who also had S-class contracts, such restrictions had no meaning.

"Alright, I'll sign."

Fang Zhen confirmed there were no issues. Looking at the S-class contract in his hand, it felt like a dream.

He had thought that with less than half a year left, he would have to retire as his contract was expiring. He even knew that participating in the national competition was impossible.

The club needed to cultivate new talent, so they wouldn't let an old guy compete. The best treatment he could expect was to be a benchwarmer at the national competition.

It would be better to retire early and focus on game streaming.

Now that he had an S-class contract, with a guaranteed annual income of five million for three years, that was a total of fifteen million guaranteed. This was much more profitable than game streaming.

"Brother Zhen, can you tell us how you train? That Triple Micro-Control was so cool!"

"And those bizarre footwork, it's the first time I've seen a long-range mech move as fast as a melee mech. It's incredible!"

After Fang Zhen signed the new contract, the old teammates who had a good relationship with him rushed to Fang Zhen's side, asking him how he trained. How could his skill level improve so much at his age? It was definitely a miracle.

"I won't hide it from you all." Fang Zhen looked at everyone, old and new, watching him, and had no intention of hiding it, or rather, he couldn't hide it. He said directly, "I've recently been playing a combat game called High Martial Descent, and I've learned a lot from it, which is why I've reached my current level."

"A combat game?"

"Indeed. Playing different virtual games, each with its own focus, can yield unexpectedly effective training results."

"Brother Zhen, what kind of training do you usually do in that game?"

"Hmm, ever since I started playing, I've been digging holes and chopping trees. Recently, a new task was added: repairing houses."

As Fang Zhen spoke, everyone present cast looks of disdain and speechlessness his way.

What kind of combat game was this? Instead of fighting monsters, it involved digging holes and chopping trees. Was it really a combat game, or a brick-laying simulator?

Many present even suspected Fang Zhen was deliberately withholding information, afraid they would catch up.

"Digging holes?" Li Ranxing, not far away, heard this and felt Fang Zhen wasn't lying. After all, Fang Zhen had mentioned digging holes late at night before, and he'd thought it was a joke, but it turned out to be true. "Why don't I try that game too?"

Li Ranxing felt he had reached a bottleneck. No matter how intense his daily training was, his skill level wasn't improving. Perhaps switching to a different training method wouldn't be a bad choice.

Obsidian Martial Arts Hall, the sun began to set.

"Brother Zhen, what's gotten into you today? You're digging holes so diligently."

Twilight of the Gods watched Fang Zhen, who wasn't even using a metal shovel, instead using Crushing Stone Fist to dig. As soon as a bag of soil was full, he'd grab it like he'd found treasure and run off, not even pausing for breath.

He was as diligent as a little bee.

"I'm in a good mood today, so I plan to dig more," Fang Zhen said with emotion. "Besides, haven't you noticed? This game develops as we progress. Plenty of players will definitely enter in the future. If we don't dig quickly, others will snatch it all up. We should dig as much as we can now, or we won't have any left later."

"Brother Zhen, what you said makes so much sense. How did I not think of that?" Twilight of the Gods suddenly felt enlightened. "The underground of the martial arts hall is only so big, and there's only so much land for cultivation. The more we dig now, the more cultivation land we'll have in the future. With enough cultivation land, we can earn more than those newcomers just by lying around!"

"Uh, I hadn't thought that far ahead," Fang Zhen admitted, also feeling a sense of sudden realization. "But you're right, let's hurry up and dig!"

"Yeah!" Twilight of the Gods excitedly picked up his shovel and started digging furiously.

Meanwhile, in the martial arts hall's lounge, Lin Qi's expression was somewhat grim.

"Are these players crazy? Is digging holes that much fun?"

Lin Qi watched as ten players ignored the task of repairing the martial arts hall and focused solely on digging, digging with increasing fervor. He couldn't understand what they were thinking.

He had already increased the rewards for repairing the martial arts hall, but the ten players were as stubborn as turtles with their shells on, determined to frantically improve their Crushing Stone Fist and Leopard Shadow Steps. Their proficiency had increased by over 7% in just half a night, with each of them surpassing 50% in beginner level.

And with his extracted proficiency, Crushing Stone Fist had jumped to 79% beginner, Leopard Shadow Steps to 82% beginner, and even his breathing technique had reached 43% beginner.

Strength: 155.4 kg. (Apprentice: 200 kg)

Speed: 11.2 m/s. (Apprentice: 12 m/s)

Meditation Technique: Star Explosion Meditation Technique (Beginner 5%)

Purely in terms of strength, relying on his mental will to control his body and his reaction speed, without using any martial skills, he could probably contend with a newly enrolled apprentice-level master.

"No, I have to think of a way. Otherwise, the time to repair the martial arts hall will be delayed again." Lin Qi was delighted by his own strength improvement, but increasing the martial arts hall's manpower was the priority now.

Beep! Beep! Beep!

The sounds of charging completion notifications made Lin Qi look at the Mechanical Doll he had washed earlier that day.

"Power is fully charged. Shall I turn it on?"