Friction

"What? Li Jing has already become an Intermediate War General, and he killed more than a hundred Beast General Level monsters during six days in the Wilderness Zone?"

Zhuge Tao lost his composure the moment he heard the news.

His sharply lowered opinion of Li Jing had rested on the premise that Li Jing had set out alone for the Wilderness Zone with the strength of an Intermediate Warrior.

In his eyes, and in the eyes of the higher-ups above him at the Limits Dojo, that had been an extremely reckless and rash act.

They had concluded that if Li Jing did not rein in that sort of temperament, he would inevitably fall before he could realize his talent.

But if Li Jing had ventured into the Wilderness Zone alone with the strength of an Intermediate War General, all their negative judgments of him would be reversed.

An Intermediate War General was already quite strong!

Even in a high-risk Wilderness Zone like City 003, where monsters were extremely dense and powerful, an Intermediate War General had enough strength to venture into the outskirts.

This proved that Li Jing was not reckless by nature and that his temperament was not deficient.

As for how Li Jing had managed to gain the strength of an Intermediate War General so soon after completing the Martial Artist Combat Assessment, Zhuge Tao had no desire to dig deeper.

In fact, cases of rapid physical improvement over a short period were far from rare.

Even within the Limits Dojo, there were treasures like Dragon Blood that could produce an even more astonishing improvement than Li Jing's rise from Intermediate Warrior to Intermediate War General.

Perhaps Li Jing had simply obtained a treasure akin to a lesser version of a Spirit of Nature.

It was Li Jing's talent for cultivating saber and movement techniques that Zhuge Tao and the higher-ups at the Limits Dojo truly valued.

Saber technique specialization at eighteen was far rarer than becoming an Intermediate War General at eighteen!

The latter could be achieved by piling on resources; the former depended entirely on one's own talent.

And Li Jing's feat of hunting down more than a hundred Beast General Level monsters in six days in the Wilderness Zone with the strength of an Intermediate War General-

Demonstrated his formidable ability to adapt to the Wilderness Zone and his prowess in actual combat.

Those qualities were just as important as talent in saber and movement techniques.

No matter how strong someone looked on paper, it was all for nothing if they fell apart and couldn't perform in a real fight.

The information Wu Tong had revealed raised Zhuge Tao's assessment of the already gifted Li Jing by another two notches.

As thoughts raced through Zhuge Tao's mind, Wu Tong spoke again on the other end of the phone. "Supervisor Zhuge, according to the genius contract our Limits Dojo signed with Li Jing, once his strength reaches the War General Level, he can go to the Elite Training Camp at headquarters.

"Li Jing's strength has already met the requirement. Shouldn't that clause be carried out now? Ask the higher-ups when they can send someone to take him there."

"Old Wu, you're right. Since Li Jing has now met the War General Level requirement, it's time to send him to the Elite Training Camp.

"When he graduates from there, with his talent, our Jiangnan Base City may well have another Invincible War God."

Zhuge Tao spoke with a smile, then ended the call with Wu Tong and sent an email to the Limits Dojo headquarters, asking them to send someone to take Li Jing to the Elite Training Camp.

He was one of the four leading figures at the Limits Dojo branch in Jiangnan Base City, one of the twenty-three Base Cities, and his older brother was also a powerful War God Level martial artist.

Although Zhuge Tao was not necessarily all that powerful himself, he could speak directly with headquarters.

A moment later, a reply from the Limits Dojo headquarters appeared in Zhuge Tao's inbox.

Zhuge Tao opened it instinctively, but when he read the contents, his expression turned exceptionally grim.

The Elite Training Camp spot promised to Li Jing was gone?

He would have to wait another year to get one?

What on earth were the higher-ups thinking? The talent Li Jing had now displayed surpassed even what he had shown when he signed the contract!

Weren't they afraid Li Jing would become dissatisfied because of this?

Weren't they afraid the Thunder Dojo or some other faction would pay a tremendous price to help Li Jing terminate his contract with the dojo?

Zhuge Tao no longer knew how to explain it to Wu Tong. Taking a deep breath, he forwarded the email from headquarters to him.

Not long after Zhuge Tao forwarded the email, Wu Tong called.

"Supervisor Zhuge, what's going on? How did Li Jing's Elite Training Camp spot disappear?" Wu Tong's voice was filled with anxiety on the other end of the line.

"Old Wu, you're asking me, but who am I supposed to ask? Headquarters only said spots were scarce and told Li Jing to go next year."

"No, there are too many things that could change if he waits another year. No matter how scarce the spots are, can't they just add one more?

"Even if the assessment for an additional spot is harder, that would be fine, like it was for Luo Feng back then.

"Li Jing is truly talented. Even if it's more difficult, it probably won't stop him!" Wu Tong refused to give up.

"All right, I'll try asking the higher-ups again. If that doesn't work, he can only wait until next year.

"When the time comes, you and Jiang Nian will have to do more to calm Li Jing down. We absolutely can't let him grow resentful, then turn around, break his contract, and join another faction," Zhuge Tao said solemnly.

After ending his call with Wu Tong, Zhuge Tao wrote another email, explaining Li Jing's situation and talent in detail.

He pleaded with headquarters to release one more Elite Training Camp spot, saying that it would be fine even if Li Jing had to take a more difficult entrance assessment, as Luo Feng had back then.

After sending the email, Zhuge Tao waited anxiously.

Several minutes later, an email from headquarters finally brought him relief. "Now I can give Wu Tong and Li Jing an answer!"

"Now that they've gotten their wish and another spot has been released for that Li Jing, I imagine there won't be any more trouble from the Jiangnan Base City dojo or Li Jing."

At the Limits Dojo Global Headquarters, Vladimir, one of the five Inspectors responsible for handling the dojo's current affairs, was not in a good mood.

Only moments ago, he had taken the Elite Training Camp spot belonging to Li Jing, whom he had believed dead in the Wilderness Zone,

And given it to Sang Kui'er, a genius born in Cairo Base City who had the same skin color as him and whom he thought highly of.

But no sooner had he done so than Li Jing slapped him in the face: not only had he emerged alive from the Wilderness Zone, he had also revealed that he had reached the strength of an Intermediate War General and was about to use the Elite Training Camp spot Vladimir had already taken away.

Vladimir's first instinct had been to make Li Jing and the people in Jiangnan Base City wait another year, until spots were plentiful enough for him to enter the camp.

The matter gave him quite a headache. After all, he was the one who had broken the rules first.

If word got out and the other Inspectors who were at odds with him, or even the dojo master Hong, found out, he would surely be punished.

Fortunately, the Limits Dojo in Jiangnan Base City had not pressed the matter relentlessly, instead proposing an arrangement similar to the one under which Luo Feng had entered the camp.

They were willing to have Li Jing take the more difficult Grade B Assessment to obtain an additional spot.

That gave Vladimir a way to save face.

His diversion of the spot would not come to light, and he could also placate Jiangnan Base City and Li Jing.

The only uncertainty was whether Li Jing could pass the Grade B Assessment. But even if he couldn't, it would have nothing to do with Vladimir. Who could Li Jing blame for his own lack of strength?

Just wait obediently until next year!

That was what Vladimir thought.

Jiangnan Base City, Yangzhou City, Mingyue Residential Area.

After a night's rest, the refreshed Li Jing prepared to go out and sell off the things he couldn't use to recoup some money, then set out for the Wilderness Zone to hunt Lord-level Monsters.

As soon as he stepped outside, he ran into Wu Tong, who also lived in Mingyue Residential Area. By the look of it, he had come to see him!