Spring rain drizzled on without end.
“Patter, patter.” Rainwater struck the umbrella, droplets scattering in all directions.
Luo Feng held an umbrella and followed beside Yang Hui. After crossing a wooden arched bridge, they arrived at a cluster of buildings. Yang Hui pointed ahead and said, “Luo Feng, that courtyard over there is Jiangnan Pavilion. There are already two students living inside. You will be the third student staying in Jiangnan Pavilion.”
“Jiangnan Pavilion?” Luo Feng was slightly startled and could not help asking, “Teacher, why does it have the same name as Jiangnan Base City?”
Since he had become an official member of the training camp, and Yang Hui was a teacher here, Luo Feng naturally addressed him as “Teacher”.
“Haha, it is named after the base city.” Yang Hui smiled. “The two students living in Jiangnan Pavilion are both from Jiangnan Base City, but they arrived earlier than you.” He suddenly lowered his voice mysteriously. “Let me remind you, among the two living there, one is called Shi Jiang. He is extremely strong. I am not confident I could beat him. Try to get along with him. It will benefit you.”
“Teacher, even you are not confident of beating him?” Luo Feng was shocked.
Yang Hui was an intermediate God of War.
“Yes.” Yang Hui nodded. “Shi Jiang is ranked in the top five among the students in the training camp. Many elite camp students already possess God of War level strength, but they do not obtain the God of War title. That way, they can continue staying in the training camp. Almost all of the top thirty students in the entire camp actually have God of War level strength.”
Luo Feng blinked. Top thirty, and almost all of them have God of War level strength?
That was too exaggerated.
Each of them was pretending to be weak, clearly already able to graduate but deliberately staying in the camp to complete five years.
“The top five are all monsters,” Yang Hui said in a low voice. “Elite talents from all over the world gather here, especially the top five, where competition is extremely intense. Anyone who can stay in the top five for a long time, like Shi Jiang, will receive top-tier treatment no matter where they go after graduation.”
“If he joins our Extreme Martial Arts Dojo, even the position of head of Jiangnan Base City branch would be within easy reach,” Yang Hui said.
Luo Feng was speechless.
Head of the Jiangnan Base City Extreme Martial Arts Dojo? That was one of the four major leaders of the entire Jiangnan Base City branch.
“If he continues for a few more years and breaks through again, becoming a supervisor of our Extreme Martial Arts Dojo would not be impossible,” Yang Hui sighed. “Even if I am about equal to him now, I am already over fifty. He is only in his twenties. His future is limitless.”
…
Still in shock, Luo Feng arrived at Jiangnan Pavilion.
The courtyard of Jiangnan Pavilion was dozens of metres wide, with white walls and black tiles. Even the wall tops were carved with dragon patterns.
He pushed open the gate.
Inside were three buildings. When Luo Feng and Yang Hui entered the courtyard, everything was quiet. Yang Hui called out, “Shi Jiang, Zhao Ru!”
Immediately, a short-haired young girl in a loose night robe appeared on the balcony of the left building. At the same time, from the building in front, a figure jumped down, holding an umbrella and wearing black training clothes.
Luo Feng carefully observed this man praised so highly by Yang Hui.
He was slightly shorter than Luo Feng, about 1.7 metres tall. Although lean, he gave off a feeling of being extremely solid, as if his body was forged from steel. His eyes were restrained, but occasional flashes of sharp light were unsettling.
“So this is Shi Jiang,” Luo Feng silently remembered him.
“A new student?” an excited voice came from above as Zhao Ru jumped down, holding an umbrella and looking at Luo Feng.
Luo Feng also observed this senior sister. Zhao Ru had short hair, a petite build, and her only real flaw was darker skin and small eyes, so she was not considered a beauty.
“He is Luo Feng. From today onwards, he will be living with you in Jiangnan Pavilion,” Yang Hui said with a smile. “Shi Jiang, Zhao Ru, you are his seniors. Take care of him.”
“Leave it to me,” Zhao Ru said, patting her chest. “With me here as your senior sister, he will not suffer any losses.”
“Alright, I will be leaving then.”
Yang Hui smiled, patted Luo Feng on the shoulder, and then left.
There were three buildings in Jiangnan Pavilion. The central one belonged to Shi Jiang, the west side belonged to Zhao Ru, and Luo Feng would stay in the east building.
“Come, sit,” Zhao Ru said enthusiastically. The three of them sat in Zhao Ru’s living room.
“I arrived in year 55, Shi Jiang senior came in year 53. Both of us arrived earlier than you,” Zhao Ru said with a smile.
Shi Jiang also smiled slightly. “53, 55, 57. The three of us are exactly two years apart, and all from Jiangnan Base City. That is quite a rare fate.”
His voice was calm and steady, giving an impression of composure.
“I am from Su City in Jiangnan Base City, Shi Jiang is from the main city area. What about you, Luo Feng?” Zhao Ru asked.
“Yangzhou City,” Luo Feng replied.
Shi Jiang showed a hint of surprise and smiled. “My grandfather is from Yangzhou City.”
Although all three were from Jiangnan Base City, their backgrounds differed. Shi Jiang and Zhao Ru had entered the elite training camp through different elite selection paths, while Luo Feng was directly selected from ordinary martial artists.
“Luo Feng, when you return to your room later, open the laptop provided by the training camp,” Shi Jiang reminded him. “Inside it is the Student Handbook. Read it carefully.”
“Yes, that is very important,” Zhao Ru added.
“Especially points,” Zhao Ru continued. “In the training camp, the points ranking is the most important thing. You should have seen the Black Dragon Ranking at the entrance.”
“I saw it,” Luo Feng nodded.
The top three positions seemed to include only one Chinese name.
“That Black Dragon Ranking is the points ranking. Higher points mean a higher rank. From the 1st to the 28th of each month is the period to earn points. On the 29th, results are calculated and final rankings are set. Then everything resets the next month and everyone starts again,” Zhao Ru explained.
Luo Feng understood.
So the ranking was reset every month.
“Senior sister, senior brother, how do you earn points?” Luo Feng asked.
“Points are calculated as battle credits multiplied by combat strength multiplier,” Zhao Ru explained. “For example, if in April you earn 2000 battle credits from the 1st to the 28th, and your combat strength multiplier is 1.8, then your points are 2000 times 1.8, which equals 3600.”
Luo Feng still looked puzzled.
What exactly were battle credits and combat strength multipliers?
“Battle credits are earned by hunting monsters. You will understand the details after reading the Student Handbook,” Zhao Ru said. “As for combat strength multiplier, it is evaluated in the virtual space. You will understand after reading the handbook.”
Luo Feng sighed inwardly.
Everything still depended on the handbook.
“Luo Feng,” Shi Jiang finally spoke.
“Senior brother,” Luo Feng looked at him.
“Remember, if you want to improve quickly in the training camp, you must strive to climb the rankings every month. The higher, the better,” Shi Jiang said seriously. “Rankings are tied to resource allocation. Some resources are even coveted by Gods of War. That is why many students who already reached God of War level still remain here.”
Zhao Ru pouted. “For example, Senior Shi Jiang himself.”
Shi Jiang smiled helplessly.
Zhao Ru covered her mouth and laughed. Luo Feng also smiled.
…
In Jiangnan Pavilion, Luo Feng’s study room.
The laptop had just been turned on, and Luo Feng sat reading the Student Handbook carefully.
“Trial room, challenge room, gravity room. These three training facilities are all products of ancient civilisation ruins,” as he read, Luo Feng learned more about the elite training camp. There were many advanced facilities here, and the most valuable were those from ancient ruins.
But the most important thing in the camp was points ranking.
Rankings determined everything.
For example, the gravity room, which had been replicated on Earth, was far less effective than the original ancient relic device. But there was only one such training room in the entire camp. Who gets to use it depends on ranking.
Higher rank means more usage time.
And that was only one aspect.
“First place in a month, if achieved nine times cumulatively, can obtain a 800 billion value Dragon Blood, a full set of SS-grade combat suit and weapons, and can choose any three complete martial arts manuals, and can choose ‘Hong’ or ‘Thunder God’ as a teacher and become their direct disciple.”
“First place in a month, if achieved six times cumulatively, can obtain a 300 billion value Jade Marrow drop, one full set of martial arts manuals, and one personal guidance opportunity from ‘Hong’ or ‘Thunder God’.”
…
Seeing this, Luo Feng was stunned.
Dragon Blood? Become a direct disciple of Hong or Thunder God? And even get to choose the master?
Any three full sets of martial arts manuals?
One must know that each top-tier secret manual costs an astronomical price.
“Insane, insane. But these rewards are only for first place, and even then it requires nine first places,” Luo Feng continued reading.
“Punch force and strength rating level 6 can obtain 800 billion Dragon Blood, SS-grade equipment set…”
“Punch force and strength rating level 5 can obtain…”
Luo Feng was completely frozen.
“Trial tower level 5 grants the position of Extreme Martial Arts Dojo ‘Supervisor’, 800 billion Dragon Blood, SS-grade equipment set, three complete martial arts manuals, and a set of ancient relic ‘Black God’…”
This trial tower reward was clearly the highest.
Supervisor.
That was a position only those beyond Gods of War could normally obtain. And there was also the ancient relic ‘Black God’. What exactly was that?
“Once you reach trial tower level 5, you get almost everything you want. You would lack nothing,” Luo Feng’s heart raced.
But recalling his experience in the trial tower during the B-level assessment, he felt immense pressure.
He had only been at the first layer, facing 100 early beast general-level rhinoceros cattle.
And that was probably not even the hardest part of the first layer.
Above it were the second, third, and fourth layers.
Even experienced God of War Yang Hui had only reached the third layer.
And the world’s strongest, Hong, had only reached the sixth layer.
To reach the fifth layer, the difficulty was unimaginable. No wonder the rewards were so terrifying.