CHAPTER 27: CHAPTER 24: NEW MAP UNLOCKED

"You guys, quickly stop Brother Su, don’t let him leave!"

Chu Qingtian was stunned as he watched Su Wuming turn around and quickly leave without saying a word. However, as the long-time leader of Celestial Might, he quickly regained his composure and immediately instructed several elders to stop him first.

Although the elders were still somewhat confused, as experts, they reacted quickly and rushed to the elevator entrance to stop Su Wuming.

"Qingwei! What exactly did you test on him that made him react so strongly?"

Chu Qingtian looked at Zhang Qingwei with immense curiosity and confusion in his eyes.

He, the dignified Blade Saint, a top expert in the entire Pilgrimage, was only participating in an entry test. Yet when he left, he seemed to have a feeling of being emotionally hurt. Who would believe that if it was told?

"Me? I didn’t test anything special on him, just the ’Descent of High Martial’ assessment." Zhang Qingwei was also bewildered as he watched Su Wuming leave, "Is it really that difficult?"

Being titled as Blade Saint in the Pilgrimage, his combat talent and level were definitely not below Luo Wushang and Zhao Hu, already standing at the pinnacle among many experts.

Zhao Hu said earlier that it was extremely difficult, and now he still wasn’t confident. That means there could be confidence in the future, presumably the same for Su Wuming. It could serve well as an initial shock.

But seeing Su Wuming so saddened by the test, Zhang Qingwei didn’t expect that at all.

"The ’Descent of High Martial’ assessment?" Chu Qingtian was also taken aback, "Was it that game Wushang recommended?"

"Yes, that game is sure to be a big hit in the future, easily replacing Pilgrimage." Zhang Qingwei nodded.

When she thought of the realism and her own agile reactions in that game, her heart burned with a desire to rush there immediately and start digging again. That kind of joy was something she hadn’t felt in many years.

"It seems this game is really something to receive such a high evaluation from you." Hearing this, Chu Qingtian raised his evaluation of ’Descent of High Martial’ even further and said, "In that case, from today on, you and Wushang will set up a dedicated High Martial department. There will be no issue with money and manpower; handle it as you would the other three new games."

"President, this game is a bit special. You need a spot to enter, but the spots are very limited, and there are many reservations. Trying to get in is like a lottery; it’s not just about money and manpower."

Zhang Qingwei thought about ’Descent of High Martial,’ knowing there are nearly 20,000 reservations already.

Even if more spots were opened, without sufficient manpower on their side, it would still be difficult to ensure their Celestial Might members get in.

"How many people do you need?" Chu Qingtian understood how tricky the game was once he heard about the lottery system.

"Ideally, a million people, with each reservation needing 4999," Zhang Qingwei thought for a moment and said, "With that, we should be able to secure a substantial number of positions for our Celestial Might members whenever new spots are added."

"Uh, I think it’s best to develop with caution," Chu Qingtian said with a slight tremble in his hand, "You also know the current Pilgrimage situation is unstable, and we need a lot of manpower to guard the cities. Let’s stick to ten thousand for now."

"And since you can’t get into the game yet, sending too many people would just waste manpower. Let this ten thousand be the vanguard; let them use the assessment to familiarize themselves with the game. When more spots open up, they can guide others."

"Alright, I’ll get everything arranged. As for the guild’s other tasks, I’ll delegate them to the assistants," Zhang Qingwei felt liberated as she spoke and instinctively used the Leopard Shadow Step to rush home.

High Martial World, Black Obsidian Martial Arts Hall.

"Their expansion speed in these three days has really been getting faster and faster." Lin Qi sat in the lounge, holding a small notebook while calculating accounts.

With the addition of seven newcomers and their steadily improving physical condition, the underground expansion progressed significantly, opening nearly two thousand square meters of energy land and planting 490 blood essence rice plants in just three days.

Just ten days of waiting is all that’s required to harvest 4900 grams of blood essence rice, subtracting the costs, they immediately earn 1470 Bits, which equates to 4410 Bits in one month.

This income is considerably higher than many official residents of Chasing Light City, making him a small middle-class earner.

It can even be predicted that with a month’s worth of expansion, they could open up to 20,000 square meters of energy land, earning 44,100 Bits in a month.

Within two months, he could not only pay off the hospital fees and the loan from the Gorilla Gang but still have some leftover.

However, more satisfying to Lin Qi than the financial gains was his own self-improvement.

After three days of harvesting, his Shocking God Breathing Technique progressed from the First Layer entry-level 10% to 21%. Though it wasn’t a linear boost as hoped, it greatly depended on the player’s own proficiency. If the player’s proficiency was low, the extraction effect would decrease; hence, it only increased by 11% over the three days.

Yet, this 11% improvement is quite remarkable.

His strength increased from 109.8 kg to 126.7 kg, and his speed went from 10.6 meters per second to 10.8 meters per second, which isn’t considered weak among the ordinary people in the High Martial World.

More astonishingly, the extraction privilege not only allowed the extraction of the Training Technique but also the martial arts learned by players, although the extraction was random, unable to pinpoint what technique or martial art would be extracted.

So in three days, Lin Qi chose the two who would improve martial arts skills the fastest: Zhang Qingwei, who already reached 35% proficiency in Leopard Shadow Step, and Fang Zhen, 37% proficient in Shattering Stone Fist.

These two seemed to have a talent for these martial arts. Other players, no matter how hard they tried, could not exceed 20% proficiency, but Zhang Qingwei and Fang Zhen reached it with ease.

Especially Fang Zhen, his Shattering Stone Fist was executed so proficiently!

Others, when digging, used shovels against hard soil blocks and gravel, but Fang Zhen just pounded them away with his fists. Even Luo Wushang, who ranked second in proficiency, was amazed.

Martial Art: Shattering Stone Fist First Layer Pile Shattering Realm (Entry-Level 53%)

Martial Art: Leopard Shadow Step First Layer Wind Chasing Realm (Entry-Level 45%)

While these two martial arts skills are still at the entry-level and cannot be fully potent, their high energy consumption prevents prolonged combat. Still, they provided Lin Qi with the ability to defeat trainee-level opponents.

"With this kind of strength, I can rent a big tricycle to gather wood," Lin Qi glanced at the system bar at the bottom of his view.

System: Congratulations, the Martial Arts Transmission System’s reservations surpassed 30,000, rewarding Level 2 exceptional admission authority. (Found host does not own a complete martial arts hall; reward distribution paused.)

Regarding exceptional admission authority.

After experiencing Level 1, Lin Qi found it irresistible and had a longing for Level 2 surpassing anything else. But without completing Task One, acquiring Level 2 authority was impossible.

Lin Qi then walked to the training ground’s bulletin board and posted new tasks directly on the board.

Task One: Ore Transport - Accompany the Hall Master to Grizzly Mine to transport ore. For every 100 kg of ore transported back to the Martial Arts Hall, earn 3 Points. The task can be taken up infinitely. (Restriction: Strength must be at least 95 kg, speed at least 9.5 meters per second for players to accept.)

Task Two: Wood Collection - Accompany the Hall Master to Grizzly Mine to chop wood. For every large tree transported back to the Martial Arts Hall, earn 5 Points. The task can be taken up infinitely. (Restriction: Strength must be at least 95 kg, speed at least 9.5 meters per second for players to accept.)

Once Lin Qi published the tasks, and as he was about to head to the suburbs to rent a big tricycle, Fang Zhen, who had been digging all night, was preparing to go offline and rest, saw the new tasks on the bulletin board at the training ground, and suddenly felt wide awake.

"Brothers! Everyone, come out! Something big happened!"

"New tasks! There are new tasks!"

"Not only are there new tasks! There’s also a new map, Grizzly Mine, open!"