Xiang Ning didn’t wait for Li Zimo, but extended his hand first. His attitude was simple, if others respected him then he would respect them even more.

Li Zimo didn’t expect that Xiang Ning would want to shake his hand and felt that he was a good guy.

Xiang Ning then turned toward Liu Ruoxue and shook her hand as well, prompting her to give him a sweet smile.

“From here onward, I hope that I can become your teammate. As for the exact reason why, I’m afraid I can’t say much,” Li Zimo said. Liu Ruoxue was silently standing beside Li Zimo, which made it clear that she was with him.

Xiang Ning knew that things weren’t simple after hearing what he said. Li Zimo and Liu Ruoxue were definitely from a family with ties to the Federation or the military.

The two of them proceeded to leave after they finished what they had come to say.

Wang Zhe popped up beside Xiang Ning and stared at the two walking away. “So mysterious, but at least they aren’t bad people. Since it’s still early, do you want to go to the Thunder Dojo? I’m just a step away from becoming a martial artist.” He rubbed his hands in anticipation. He was motivated by how many strong people there were this year. Looking at it now, he knew that something must be up since the military was here.

Xiang Ning nodded in agreement. Increasing his cultivation was his priority, since the military was involved. He needed to pass whatever trials that they would give in the future. He remembered that he had three hundred Victory Points within the Battle Network and only needed to win another seven rounds to gain another martial skill. That would be a tremendous boost to his strength.

When they walked out of the gymnasium, a girl walked toward them. Both Xiang Ning and Wang Zhe recognized her.

“Fang Rou? What do you want? Still trying to look for trouble with Xiang Ning?” Wang Zhe instinctively raised his guard.

Fang Rou was just about to speak, but she was interrupted by Wang Zhe. She stared daggers at him before she turned to Xiang Ning, but with a slight blush. “My brother invited you to see him. He had yet to pay you the sparring fee that we agreed on before.”

Xiang Ning finally remembered that Fang Hao still needed to pay him a thousand dollars, but the situation didn’t look so simple. It was a coincidence, but they were also heading to the dojo.

“Alright, let's go.” Xiang Ning grinned as he remembered how he felt when he was soaking in the recovery fluid that allowed him to gain two stars’ worth of strength. He still clearly remembered the feeling.

Fang Rou nodded and looked at him. Why’s he smiling in such a creepy way?

All three of them got in Wang Zhe’s family car and shortly arrived at the Thunder Dojo. They climbed up to the recreational area on the fifth floor. That was where Xiang Xiaoyu had played while Xiang Ning and Wang Zhe were training the day before. The lighting was dim, but it radiated warmth, and the decorations were modest. There was even a bar in the middle. If they trained too hard downstairs, they could always come up here to have a drink and relax.

Fang Rou brought the two to a room and knocked. She opened the door when she heard a reply. “Brother, I brought them here.” She led them into the room and closed the door on her way out.

The room was an office, and Fang Hao was sitting at the desk. He stood up, smiling, and gestured for both of them to sit.

Wang Zhe and Xiang Ning sat while Fang Hao brewed them a pot of tea. “I heard from my sister that you’re very strong, Xiang Ning. I even personally experienced it, too. To be honest, I invited you here to discuss something with you. I would like to request that you don’t reveal my weakness to anyone else.”

Xiang Ning finally understood his intentions. He thought about it and understood where Fang Hao was coming from. If a rival family were to know his weakness, Fang Hao would definitely suffer. Within the city, he was still protected by the law, but once out in the wilderness, he would truly be on his own and would surely suffer at the hands of his rivals.

“Relax, I don’t have any conflict with you. But even though you said it was your weakness, it’ll heal with time.” Xiang Ning shrugged.

Fang Hao remained silent. The reason why he’d sought Xiang Ning out was because he recently accepted a mission and needed to venture into the wilderness. If that weren’t the case, he wouldn’t have needed to find him.

“Here’s the promised thousand dollars, take it.” Fang Hao got the answer he wanted and took out the cash.

Xiang Ning didn’t accept it, as he was deep in thought.

“What’s wrong? Is everything alright?” Fang Hao asked.

“Nothing. It’s just that… I don’t want this one thousand dollars. Instead, can I exchange it for recovery fluid?” Xiang Ning seriously asked.

Fang Hao’s smile froze.

Fury Points +66

Ten seconds later, Xiang Ning was holding the thousand dollars and standing outside the room with Wang Zhe. “It’s fine if you don’t want to give it, but why do you need to chase us out?”

Wang Zhe was seriously impressed by Xiang Ning. He remembered that he had told Xiang Ning before about the cost of the recovery fluid, and how Fang Hao was almost in tears after using so much of it last time. Xiang Ning was lucky that Fang Hao hadn’t thrown him out of his office window!

“Let’s go to the second floor and cultivate,” Wang Zhe sighed.

When they arrived on the second floor, Wang Zhe’s communication device rang. He picked it up and apologized to Xiang Ning. “My father wants to meet me.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll take the bus home.” Xiang Ning knew how to read the room.

Wang Zhe apologized again before leaving and Xiang Ning went and warmed up by himself. But he had barely begun before he was distracted by clamoring voices. Was someone sparring? He perked up his ears to listen to their conversation.

“Who’s young miss sparring against? Looks like a playboy.”

“Shush! Speak softer! That’s the young master of the Sky Conglomerate, Zhang Hongyu. I heard he was trying to woo the young miss.”

“Tch, look how skinny he is. Why’d young miss even agree to spar with him?”

“I heard she was irritated by him and wanted to beat him back to his senses. While she isn’t weak, I don’t think it’ll be an easy task, either.”

Xiang Ning rubbed his chin, deep in thought. So it’s Fang Rou. He walked over to watch them fight.

The two were already sparring in the ring, while everyone was excitedly watching outside. They could tell that Fang Rou wasn’t doing well; it looked like Zhang Hongyu was no simple man.

“Little Rou, your hands are so soft,” Zhang Hongyu said as he intercepted Fang Rou’s fist. She was being toyed with by him, causing the people outside the arena to be infuriated.

Suddenly a voice rang out, “Attack his right abdomen and right knee at the same time.”

Fang Rou heard that familiar voice, gritted her teeth, and rushed toward Zhang Hongyu with her fist raised, attacking as instructed.

Zhang Hongyu was shocked and tried dodging, but the voice rang out again. “Attack his right wrist.”

Zhang Hongyu immediately felt pain in his right wrist, followed by his right abdomen and right knee. The last attack caused him to fall over and many people in the crowd cheered.

Fang Rou looked in the direction of the voice and saw Xiang Ning. He locked his gaze with her, then grinned and winked.

Zhang Hongyu’s eyes were filled with murderous rage when he saw Xiang Ning.

Fury Point +111