Chapter 24: New Map Unlocked
“You, go stop Su Laodi, don’t let him leave!”
Chu Qingtian stared at Su Wuming, who had turned and left quickly without another word, completely stunned. But as the president who had been in charge of Heavenly Might for many years, he quickly came back to his senses and immediately told several elders to go and call him back.
Although the elders were still a bit dazed, as experts their reactions were fast. They all rushed toward the elevator entrance, ready to call out to Su Wuming.
“Qing Wei! What on earth did you test him on to make him react like that?”
Chu Qingtian looked at Zhang Qing Wei with intense curiosity, his eyes full of confusion.
The dignified Blade Saint, a top expert ranked in the whole Pilgrimage, had only taken an entry-level job test, yet when leaving, he actually seemed like his heart had been hurt. Who would believe that if it was said out loud?
“Me? I didn’t test him on anything special, just the High Martial Arts Descend Test Assessment.” Zhang Qing Wei also looked in confusion at the departing Su Wuming. “Is it really that hard?”
Being able to earn the title of Blade Saint in Pilgrimage meant his talent and level in battle were definitely not beneath Luo Wu Shang and Zhao Hu. He was already standing at the peak among the experts.
Zhao Hu had said it was very, very difficult, that he still had no confidence yet, implying that he might in the future. It should be the same for Su Wuming, and could serve as a good show of authority.
But that even Su Wuming was tested to the point of heartbreak was something Zhang Qing Wei had not expected.
“The High Martial Arts Descend Test Assessment?” Chu Qingtian was stunned. “Is that the game Wu Shang recommended?”
“Yeah, that game will definitely explode in popularity in the future. Replacing Pilgrimage will be easy.” Zhang Qing Wei nodded.
Thinking of that realism and her own nimble reactions, her heart burned with excitement. She wished she could rush over immediately and keep digging holes. It was a joy she had not felt for many years.
“It seems this game is indeed excellent if it can make you rate it so highly.” After hearing this, Chu Qingtian’s evaluation of High Martial Arts Descend rose another level. He then said, “Since that’s the case, starting today, you and Wu Shang will form a dedicated High Martial Arts department. Money and staffing are no problem, all according to the Treatment of the other three new games.”
“President, this game is a bit special. You must have a quota to enter, and the quotas are very, very few, while the Reservation Count is huge. Getting in to play is like a lottery. It’s not something that can be solved just with some people and money.”
Zhang Qing Wei thought of High Martial Arts Descend, which already had nearly twenty thousand reservations.
If she did not have enough people on her side, even if High Martial Arts Descend opened more quotas, it would be hard to guarantee anyone from Heavenly Might could get in.
“How many people do you need?” Hearing about a lottery, Chu Qingtian understood this game was quite tricky.
“Best would be one million people, plus each reservation needs 4,” Zhang Qing Wei thought for a moment. “That way, when the quotas increase next time, a lot of our Heavenly Might people should be able to get in.”
“Uh, I think we should be more cautious in developing for this game.” Chu Qingtian’s hands trembled slightly. “You know the current Pilgrimage situation is unstable. A lot of manpower is needed to guard the various cities. Let’s start with ten thousand.”
“And the game cannot be entered right now anyway. Sending too many people is a waste of manpower. Let this ten thousand be the vanguard. Let them use that Test Assessment to get familiar with the game. When more quotas open, they can bring others in.”
“Alright, I’ll go arrange it now. I’ll hand over the other guild work to the assistants.” Hearing this, Zhang Qing Wei felt as if she had been set free. She instinctively stepped into Leopard Shadow Steps and rushed home.
High Martial Arts World, Obsidian Martial Arts Hall.
“In these three days, their development speed really has been getting faster and faster.” In the lounge, Lin Qi held his notebook in one hand while doing the accounts.
With the addition of seven newcomers and the continuous improvement of their Physical Fitness, the Underground development progress had also greatly increased. In just three days they had opened up nearly two thousand square meters of Energy Land Underground and planted 490 stalks of Blood Essence Rice.
They only needed to wait about ten days to harvest 4,900 grams of Blood Essence Rice. After deducting costs, they would instantly earn 1,470 Bit, and over a month that would be 4,410 Bit.
This Income was already higher than that of many official residents of the City of Light Chasing, enough to count as lower middle class.
It could even be expected that if they kept developing like this for a month, they could open up nearly twenty thousand square meters of Energy Land and earn 44,100 Bit in a month.
In two months, they could not only repay the Hospital debt, but also pay off the loan from the Gorilla Gang, and still have some left over.
But compared to the Profit in Money, what made Lin Qi happier was his own Improvement.
After three days of Harvest, the Startling Spirit Breathing Technique had risen from First Floor entry-level 10% to 21%. It was not as simple as he had imagined, directly stacking Improvement. To a large extent it still depended on the Player’s own Proficiency. If the Player’s Proficiency was low, the extracted effect would keep decreasing. So in three days it had only increased by 11%.
But even this 11% Improvement was astonishing.
Strength had increased from 8 kilograms to 7 kilograms, Speed from 6 meters per second to 8 meters per second. Among ordinary people in the High Martial Arts World, this was not weak.
And the truly shocking part of the extraction Permissions was not only being able to extract Cultivation Methods. Even Martial Skills learned by Players could be extracted. But this extraction was very random. You could not determine whether you would extract a Cultivation Method or a Martial Skill, nor which Martial Skill.
So over three days, Lin Qi chose the two people whose Martial Skills were improving the fastest: Zhang Qing Wei, who had reached 35% entry-level in Leopard Shadow Steps, and Fang Zhen, who had reached 37% entry-level in Crushing Stone Fist.
For some reason, the two of them seemed very gifted in these Martial Skills. The others trained desperately and still could not exceed 20% entry-level, yet Zhang Qing Wei and Fang Zhen easily reached those levels.
Especially Fang Zhen. His use of Crushing Stone Fist was simply slick.
When others were Digging Holes and encountered hard soil and rocks, they all used a Shovel. But Fang Zhen just went at it with his fists. His Efficiency made even Luo Wu Shang, whose Proficiency was second highest, click her tongue in amazement.
Martial Skill: Crushing Stone Fist First Level Crushing Pile Realm （ entry-level 53% ）
Martial Skill: Leopard Shadow Steps First Level Wind Chasing Realm （ entry-level 45% ）
Though these two Martial Skills were only at entry-level and could not exert their full power, and their Consumption was extremely high so they could not be used for long in battle, they already gave Lin Qi the Strength to defeat Quasi-apprentices.
“With this kind of Strength, I can rent a tricycle and start getting Wood.” Lin Qi glanced at the System Panel at the bottom of his view.
System: congratulations, Martial Arts Transmission System reservation count has exceeded thirty thousand. Reward: Level Two Merit-Based Admission Authority. （ detected that the Host does not own a complete Martial Arts Hall. Reward distribution paused. ）
As for the Merit-Based Admission Authority:
After experiencing Level One, Lin Qi was completely hooked. His desire for Level Two surpassed everything. But without completing task one, there was no way to obtain Level Two Permissions.
Lin Qi then walked to the Training Ground Announcement Board and directly posted new Tasks on it.
Task one: ore transport. Follow the Hall Master to Grizzly Mine to transport ore. For every 100 kilograms of ore brought back to the Martial Arts Hall, you can receive 3 Points. Can be accepted without limit. （ restriction: only Players with Strength of at least 95 kilograms and Speed of at least 5 meters per second may accept. ）
Task two: wood collection. Follow the Hall Master to Grizzly Mine to cut Wood. For each large tree transported back to the Martial Arts Hall, you can receive 5 Points. Can be accepted without limit. （ restriction: only Players with Strength of at least 95 kilograms and Speed of at least 5 meters per second may accept. ）
After Lin Qi finished posting the Tasks, he went alone to the suburbs to Rent a tricycle. Fang Zhen, who had been digging soil all night and was preparing to Log Off and rest, saw the two new Tasks on the Training Ground Announcement Board and instantly lost all sleepiness.
“Brothers! Come out, quick! Big news!”
“New Tasks! There are new Tasks!”
“Not just new Tasks! The New Map Grizzly Mine has opened!”
