Shen Heng nodded, accepted the contract with both hands, and began reading it clause by clause.
There were not many clauses in the contract. The core requirements were to rush to the scene immediately upon receiving news of a Calamity Beast and eliminate it, while keeping everything strictly secret from the public to prevent social panic, among other things.
Shen Heng read the contract from beginning to end but found nothing about the crucial matter of pay. He looked up at Wang Hai. "How does the pay work?"
Wang Hai explained methodically:
"Our inspectors' pay consists of two parts!"
"One is a fixed salary. For combat personnel, it's 10,000 for the unranked, 50,000 for first rank, 100,000 for second rank, 200,000 for third rank, 500,000 for fourth rank, and 1,000,000 for fifth rank! This portion is adjusted annually!"
"The other is performance pay, determined by the strength of the Calamity Beasts eliminated. This portion is paid entirely in points. Unranked beasts start at 10 points, first-rank beasts at 50, second-rank beasts at 300, and third-rank beasts at 1,000. The points are divided among the participants according to their contributions!"
Hearing the familiar term again, Shen Heng asked, "Points?"
Wang Hai patiently explained, "Our Supervision Bureau has a supply exchange platform called Martial World Easy Exchange. There, you can exchange points for all kinds of things, such as money, combat techniques, custom equipment, Origin Power Crystals, and so on."
Shen Heng nodded, gaining a preliminary understanding of the Supervision Bureau's pay system.
"About how many points would it take to exchange for a Firmament Breath Beast's Lung Crystal?" Shen Heng asked.
"The previous exchange record was 3,000 points!" Wang Hai replied.
3,000 points? ... Shen Heng frowned at that and asked again, "Then what rank might a Firmament Breath Beast be?"
"They've appeared five times before. They were generally third rank!"
Wang Hai answered, then added on his own:
"Judging by the current distribution of Origin Power in the air, breaking through to first rank through normal cultivation should take three or four months, reaching second rank should take around a year, and reaching third rank should take two or three years!"
"However, as the overlap between the two worlds accelerates, Origin Power in the air will become increasingly abundant, so the time needed for breakthroughs should shorten accordingly."
"Going from rank zero to third rank through normal cultivation alone would take at least two or three years!"
Shen Heng knitted his brows and lowered his head in thought.
Exchanging for it would take 3,000 points. Given the mission frequency mentioned earlier, along with my rank, and the points being divided by contribution after missions, could I gather that many points in a year or two?
And reaching third rank would take at least two or three years through normal cultivation. Even if I cultivated for all I was worth, could I make it in time?
Even if I saved enough points or cultivated to third rank myself, a Firmament Breath Beast would still have to appear!
No matter how I looked at it, both paths seemed very, very...
"No need to think so much. Isn't cultivating seriously all you can do right now?" Wang Hai suddenly said.
Those words struck Shen Heng like a cudgel to the head. As though waking from a great dream, he slowly nodded.
That's right. Whatever these two paths were like, however difficult they were, and whether I could ultimately succeed or not, there was only one thing I could do right now, and that was...
Cultivate seriously, cultivate diligently, cultivate for all I was worth!
Shen Heng took a deep breath and reorganized his thoughts.
Long-term goal: cultivate seriously, strive to reach third rank as soon as possible, and work hard to save points along the way.
Short-term goal: pay off Huang Shaohua's loan-shark debt, but...
While unranked, my monthly salary would only be 10,000. That definitely wouldn't cover what I owed Huang Shaohua. Should I find some other way to get money?
Hmm... doing that would clash somewhat with the long-term goal.
Pay back a portion first, then put off the rest until later paychecks came in?
Hmm... Remembering how Huang Shaohua had looked when mentioning Shen Shuning before leaving yesterday, Shen Heng frowned slightly and rejected that option.
Even if I couldn't afford to repay it, I could borrow elsewhere. Once the deadline came, it would be best to cut ties with Huang Shaohua as soon as possible, lest more trouble sprout!
"Any other questions?" Wang Hai asked.
After thinking for a while, Shen Heng looked up and asked, "Then should I come here during the day from now on?"
"Don't you graduate in June?" Wang Hai asked.
Shen Heng nodded in confirmation.
Wang Hai continued, "From now on, attend school during the day and come here to cultivate at night. Regulations require you to reach first rank before taking missions, so this period will serve as your transition."
At this point, Wang Hai paused briefly and looked up at Shen Heng.
"You should be fine with that, right? I've already investigated, anyway. You don't study at school; you mostly sleep! This works out perfectly. Sleep at school during the day and come here to cultivate at night!"
"..." Shen Heng was speechless for a moment, but he still nodded to show he had no objections.
"All right. Since there are no problems, sign it." As Wang Hai spoke, he handed him a pen.
Shen Heng took the pen, solemnly signed his name on the contract, pressed his fingerprint onto it, then handed it back.
Wang Hai accepted the contract, took several stamps from a locked drawer, stamped the contract with each in turn, and put it away securely.
"That settles it. From this moment on, you're a member of the Linhai City Supervision Bureau. I'll give you the relevant credentials and so forth once they're ready!"
Having said that, Wang Hai stood and extended his right hand toward Shen Heng.
"Welcome, Comrade Shen Heng!"
"Thank you, Director!" Shen Heng stood and shook his hand.
"No, call me Captain from now on!" Wang Hai corrected his form of address. "The director title is only there so we'll have an identity to show ordinary citizens when carrying out missions in the future! In actual operation, we're more like a squad!"
Shen Heng nodded and addressed him anew:
"Captain!"
With the onboarding formalities completed, Wang Hai led Shen Heng toward the training room.
On the way, Wang Hai said, "As I explained earlier, our ranks depend solely on how much Origin Power our bodies can store, and how much Origin Power our bodies can store depends solely on physical fitness!"
"So our cultivation also revolves around just two aspects: how to absorb Origin Power, and how to temper the body!"
"Next, I'll teach you one cultivation method for each aspect. Both were developed by headquarters and are currently the most efficient cultivation methods available."
Shen Heng listened attentively as he walked, nodding to indicate that he understood.
Wang Hai continued:
"Put simply, cultivating from unranked to first rank is a process of constantly approaching the limits of the human body, then surpassing them!"
"For ordinary people, gradually approaching that limit takes years upon years of exercise combined with strict control over diet and sleep. This process is often measured in years."
"But by guiding Origin Power to temper our bodies, we can greatly accelerate and shorten this process. At the fastest, we can approach the human body's limits in a month or two!"
"Once you approach the human body's limits, you'll find that your body enters a plateau. At this stage, you must continue guiding Origin Power to temper your body, ultimately inducing a qualitative transformation, achieving a breakthrough, and entering first rank."
As they talked, the two arrived at a spacious training room on the first floor.
The training room's walls were painted white, and various pieces of training equipment stood neatly along them, gleaming with a faint metallic sheen in the sunlight.
Wang Hai led Shen Heng to an upright machine by the wall.
"This is a punching power tester. Try throwing a punch and see what your current strength reading is."
As instructed, Shen Heng stood before the punching power tester, raised both fists, took a deep breath, and drove his right fist fiercely into the target.
Bang!
An extremely loud sound rang out.
The panel on the punching power tester quickly displayed the force of that punch.
123.2 kg!
"An ordinary person's punching power is roughly 50-100 kg. Your body has been strengthened by Origin Power, so yours is somewhat above the upper limit for ordinary people! The human body's limit for punching power is around 500 kg. That limit fluctuates according to individual body weight!" Wang Hai explained from beside him.
Shen Heng nodded. He had a rough understanding of this.
A person's strength was directly related to body weight. The heavier someone was, the higher their strength ceiling, which was why competitive sports such as boxing and weightlifting had different weight classes.
The two then moved to the center of the training room. Standing opposite Shen Heng, Wang Hai said:
"Today, I'll teach you the Five Animal Fist!"
"A fist technique adapted from the Five Animal Frolics!"
"When practicing this fist technique, you can follow the movement of the muscles throughout your body to guide Origin Power toward the corresponding areas, rapidly tempering your body!"
"Now watch closely. I'll demonstrate it for you first!"
As he spoke, Wang Hai took several steps back, stopping in a more open spot.
"First, the Tiger Form!"
Wang Hai abruptly spread his feet, bent his knees into a squat, and raised his clenched fists before his chest.
"The Tiger Form mainly trains the lower-body muscles. When you bend your knees and squat, they must support your body with all their strength, maintaining stability and preparing to exert force afterward."
Immediately afterward, a low growl like a tiger's roar rose from his throat. His right fist shot out fiercely, whipping up a gust.
"And this punch fully works the upper-body muscles. When you twist your waist to add force, the muscle groups around your waist also participate."
As Wang Hai spoke, he swiftly followed with his left fist. As his body twisted, dust rose lightly beneath his feet, fully displaying a tiger's might.
As the Tiger Form ended, Wang Hai rose, straightened his legs, and touched his toes to the ground, shifting into the Crane Form.
"The Crane Form seeks lightness and agility. This form is particularly effective at training the deltoids in the shoulders. As the arms swing gently, the deltoids exert continuous force..."
Wang Hai demonstrated each move before Shen Heng. The Tiger Form's ferocity, the Crane Form's elegance, the Ape Form's agility, the Bear Form's imposing power, and the Deer Form's nimbleness unfolded before Shen Heng's eyes one by one.
After a long while, Wang Hai slowly drew back his fists, straightened, and asked, "What do you think?"
"I couldn't understand it. It just seemed really impressive!" Having never practiced fist techniques, Shen Heng honestly expressed his thoughts on the routine he had just seen.
The blunt words made the corner of Wang Hai's mouth twitch into a slight grin despite himself, but he quickly composed himself.
"All right. That routine just now was the Five Animal Fist, the fist technique you'll use to temper your body for quite a long time to come!" Wang Hai said.
Shen Heng nodded to show he understood.
"Good. Next, we'll learn the other cultivation method-the one for absorbing Origin Power!" Wang Hai said.
"Huh?"
Shen Heng looked at Wang Hai in some bewilderment. He had thought he would be following along to practice the Five Animal Fist next. Why had they moved straight to another cultivation method?
"Didn't I only watch the Five Animal Fist once just now? I haven't learned it yet, have I?"