Chương 39: War God — Chapter 39 - Heavenly Blade Club, Holographic Intelligent Beast Challenge!

Chapter: Training Begins When Wang Xian arrived, the club's main hall was already packed shoulder to shoulder with students.

"Over here!" Zhou Xukun waved him over. Wang Xian walked through the crowd and caught fragments of conversation.

"It's not just our Seventh High... Fourth High, Wangfu Martial High, they're all here too..."

"Makes sense. We have a Martial Arts Class, they all do. These schools have real strength."

"I heard First High went to the Divine Sword Club branch..."

"Divine Sword Club? Isn't that the biggest martial arts club in Dragon Nation?"

"Way more powerful than Heavenly Blade..." Wang Xian listened for a while without much interest. After 10 minutes, he spotted Ye Miyue entering the hall in a plain school uniform. He nodded to himself.

"Alright, everyone's here!" Zhou Dahai counted heads.

"Follow me. Time to get serious." The students fell silent and followed Zhou Dahai and a club staff member to the elevator. They swiped their cards and rode up to the fifth floor. The Heavenly Blade Club's Rong City branch occupied an entire building, over 20 floors tall. Starting from the fifth floor, training facilities filled every level. Along the way, the staff member explained the training process. Combined with Zhou Dahai's commentary, it was straightforward enough.

"For the gravity training room, we're offering two options. The first is 10 times gravity."

"You need to execute one complete martial technique in a 10-times-gravity environment. That counts as passing."

"The faster you do it, the higher your score."

"As for scores..." The staff member smiled.

"Think of them as our assessment of you. Don't worry about them. High or low, they won't restrict your access to equipment." Everyone nodded.

"The second option is 20 times gravity, only for students with 5 life force or above."

"Not available during winter break." Not that it would matter. Even 10 times gravity was brutal. Trying to execute a full martial technique in that environment...

"Isn't the difficulty too high?" someone asked. Ten times gravity—ordinary people could barely endure it. But only barely. Moving at all was nearly impossible, and they couldn't last long. As martial artists, once you reached 1 life force, you could adapt to that environment for extended periods. But that was just adaptation. Running, moving, executing techniques? Far too difficult. Even with 2 or 3 life force, it was a struggle.

"We're not asking you to succeed in one session," Zhou Dahai explained.

"You have the entire winter break to reach this goal. And you only need to execute one technique once. It doesn't even need to be powerful." Despite his words, the difficulty made several students' scalps tingle. Martial arts demanded explosive growth. This training could bring immense improvement. It was just brutally hard.

"Right..." The staff member flipped through a transparent tablet.

"According to our data, the fastest student to achieve this in 10-times gravity was from Fourth High."

"Took about 15 days."

"For all of Rong City, the record belongs to a genius from First High at the Divine Sword Club branch. Seven days. His life force was around 5. 2 at the time." He pushed up his glasses.

"Seven days?" The Martial Arts Class students exchanged glances. That fast?

"Next is holographic intelligent beast training..." The staff member smiled.

"Currently, only the first-order beast 'Saber-Toothed Wolf' AI model is available. You need to defeat one in the holographic environment. That's a pass." Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

"This Saber-Toothed Wolf model has about one-third the strength of a real beast." The students looked at each other.

"That shouldn't be too hard, right?" Zhou Xukun grinned.

"Only one-third the strength... I feel like we could beat it right now..." The other students seemed to agree. The staff member smiled but said nothing. The elevator doors opened. The fifth floor was vast. A large screen dominated the center. On it, a student faced off against a ferocious beast.

"Tan Tianze! Come on, damn it!"

"You lasted 2 hours in the gravity room. You're the toughest in Fourth High... don't get wrecked by a model!"

"This Saber-Toothed Wolf looks kind of real... Brother Tan, move!"

"Why isn't he moving?"

"Teacher, what's wrong with Tan?" Below the screen, students in martial uniforms watched with red faces and tense expressions. Wang Xian's group caught the scene. On screen, Tan Tianze stood motionless. His gaze was cold, but his entire body trembled. Fear rising in his heart. He can't even withstand the beast's presence. Wang Xian counted silently. No way he can move. Facing a beast, the hardest part wasn't the fight itself. It was suppressing the fear.

That model might only have one-third the strength, but its aura was lifelike.

"Ten seconds at most..." At the ninth second, the Saber-Toothed Wolf roared. Tan Tianze shuddered. His eyes weakened. The next second, it pounced. One claw swipe tore him to shreds. The watching students' hearts pounded. Then the Saber-Toothed Wolf leaped toward the screen.

"AAAHHH!"

"It's coming out!"

"Run!" The moment the model burst through the screen, it dissolved into data. The crowd's shock lingered.

"That student was the top performer in Fourth High's Martial Arts Class..." The staff member smiled at Wang Xian's group.

"His life force is 3. 5. He's mastered Mountain-Driving Staff Technique at small success stage."

"He couldn't last one move?" Everyone drew a sharp breath. This felt even harder than the gravity training. Thinking about it now, defeating such a beast model in seven days seemed impossible. And how strong were real beasts? No one knew. Rong City had special defenses. Even when beasts attacked, most people never experienced it. At this moment, these students living in an ivory tower finally felt the power of beasts.

"Additionally..." The staff member continued.

"For you students, our Heavenly Blade Club has a beast model challenge. Before the Martial Exam, the more models you defeat, the more rewards we'll give you."

"If you achieve a 10-win streak, we'll sign a D-level investment contract with you in advance." Zhou Dahai nodded.

"Holographic intelligent beast training is your top priority going forward."

"Because this year's Martial Exam has increased the practical combat weight to 40%." Martial Exam score distribution: cultural knowledge 10%, technical skills and life force 30%. Originally, talent strength was 30%, practical combat 30%. Now practical combat had gained 10%. The nation was emphasizing real combat more. In fact, Wang Xian knew that in a few years, this weight would increase to 60%. This year's reform was a foreshadowing.

A foreshadowing that vast numbers of beasts would soon surge toward Blue Star like a tide.

"As for the final movement technique training..." The staff member mused.

"You need to survive in a simulated battlefield of gunfire. That's a pass."

"Generally, we recommend completing gravity training and movement technique training before challenging the holographic beasts." Another door on the floor opened. A young man with a grim expression walked out. Tan Tianze from Fourth High.

"Teacher, I want to try." Xia Sichen's eyes burned as he looked at the screen.

"Anytime." Zhou Dahai nodded.

"But it'll affect your condition." Xia Sichen glanced at Tan Tianze and walked into the simulation room. Fifteen seconds later, he walked out, face ashen.

"..." Everyone stared. He died even faster?

"Defeating 10 just to get the lowest-level contract?" Zhou Xukun clicked his tongue.

"I feel like I might not beat one all winter break. And the Martial Exam is only 3 or 4 months away..."

"The main issue is the beast's aura," Xia Sichen frowned.

"I couldn't stop the fear. Even raising my sword, I didn't dare face it. And its speed was insane..." Ten victories for a contract at the lowest level. It felt completely disproportionate.

"The lowest-level D-level contract..." The staff member said flatly.

"Our starting investment is 5 million per year. That doesn't include matching combat gear, gene extraction potions, movement technique martial arts, basic elemental force mental methods, and secret skills exclusive to our Heavenly Blade Club." Everyone drew a collective breath. This contract was incredibly generous.

"What you need to do is provide the club with a certain number of contribution points each year after becoming martial artists in university."

"Three-year minimum." The staff member's expression turned proud.

"Currently in Rong City, at the high school level, only two students in the past 10 years have obtained our D-level contract." No one dared criticize the "lowest-level" contract anymore.

"Alright, everyone's heard the training content." Zhou Dahai clapped his hands.

"Go change and prepare!" The crowd dispersed. Only Wang Xian remained.

"You got something, kid?" Zhou Dahai smiled.

"I do." Wang Xian nodded.

"I have a request."

"Speak."

"After today, I'd like to skip the training until school starts." Wang Xian coughed.

"?" Zhou Dahai stared at him, utterly baffled. What? What are you trying to pull? Principal Xia had given repeated instructions. You're our school's trump card now. Whether we beat Fourth High and First High this year depends on you. And now you're telling me you don't want to train? Are you insane?

"Absolutely not!" Zhou Dahai refused flatly, then lowered his voice.

"What's going through your head? Let me tell you, Principal Xia and I have been working hard to secure a D-level contract for you at Heavenly Blade Club!"

"We even lowered the requirements..."

"As long as you get through winter break and meet just two of the training requirements, Heavenly Blade Club will consider signing with you out of respect for Master Bai..."

"With those resources, you'll soar in the Martial Exam!" Wang Xian stayed silent. It truly was a good thing. At that moment, a hearty voice rang out:"Old Zhou, you're here?"

"This kid is Wang Xian, right? Not bad. Looks like promising material!" Wang Xian turned. A heroic-looking middle-aged man walked over.

"Vice Chairman Zheng?" Zhou Dahai waved and smiled.

"What brings you here?" This was Zheng Changhong, vice minister of the Heavenly Blade Club branch. Also one of Bai Hongtian's disciples. The two were schoolmates. They shook hands and exchanged pleasantries.

"I heard what was just said..." Zheng Changhong looked at Wang Xian kindly.

"Master has mentioned you. Why don't you want to train? Have you run into some difficulty?"

"If so, you can tell us." Wang Xian thought for a moment and said bluntly:"This training won't help me much right now." Zhou Dahai froze. Zheng Changhong froze. Seeing their silence, Wang Xian continued:"How about this—if I complete all the training content you mentioned."

"Teacher Zhou, I don't have to come during winter break, right?" Zhou Dahai opened his mouth. Zheng Changhong raised a hand, cutting him off.

"Fine. As you say!"

"Xiao Bai, go prepare the training content immediately!" The staff member acknowledged, gave Wang Xian a strange look, and left. Wang Xian finally went to change clothes. ➤ Next: You being this humble makes you feel like a stranger to me, you know?