Chapter 124: When A Pawn Crosses The River, It Becomes A Rook
City of Light Chasing, city proper Martial Artist Association.
As the extended luxury sedan stopped at the association’s gate, Lin Qi had just stepped out of the car when he felt the rich energy in the air surge toward him. It was nothing like the suburbs.
However, compared to the dense energy in the city proper, the Martial Artist Association was undoubtedly even more eye-catching.
The entire Martial Artist Association building rose so high one could not see its top at a glance, and its grounds were more than ten times the size of the Obsidian Martial Arts Hall. Flying cars could be seen shuttling back and forth from time to time, or docking directly inside the association’s building. As for the association’s gate, it was over twenty meters high. The giant men over three meters tall coming and going at the association looked like little ants.
At the gate of the Martial Artist Association, Lin Qi only casually stretched out his senses and immediately detected dozens of martial artists. Every one of them looked quite young, mostly in their twenties.
“There are actually so many young martial artists in the city proper?” Lin Qi looked at the young martial artists chatting at the gate and was stunned.
In the suburbs of the City of Light Chasing, seeing a martial artist was as rare as seeing a beauty in a bikini shopping on the street.
In his impression, martial artists had always been very rare in the City of Light Chasing. Even in the city proper with its richer energy, there should not be this many, especially with so many martial artists this young.
After getting out of the car, Xia Ling glanced over, the corners of her lips revealing a faint smile as she said, “Hall Master Lin, you misunderstood. Enrollment for the city’s Martial Artist Genius Training Camp is about to start, so many martial artists under twenty-five have come to the Martial Artist Association to have their status re-certified.”
“Martial artist status can be certified many times?” Lin Qi could not help asking curiously.
From the information he knew, the Martial Artist Association’s certification seemed to be needed only once. After all, the Martial Artist Association was a very loose organization that usually just served martial artists.
For example, it provided wilderness hunting commissions, team-up information with other martial artists, and various commission tasks issued by the city, somewhat like an adventurers’ association in a game.
When a martial artist came to register and get certified, it was equivalent to becoming an adventurer.
“Confirmation of martial artist status is only done once, but a martial artist’s potential and level can be re-evaluated many times,” Xia Ling explained. “The Martial Artist Association is open to all martial artists, but martial artists’ potential and strength are divided into different ranks. For those with higher potential and stronger strength, the association will grant more permissions and welfare.”
“These martial artists under twenty-five who come to re-certify are mostly getting their potential re-evaluated. Although the Genius Training Camp claims that any martial artist under twenty-five can apply for the assessment, there are too many young martial artists signing up. After all, it only recruits once every three years, and only one hundred people can get in.”
“To save time, the Genius Training Camp now has an unspoken rule: if a martial artist’s potential does not reach high grade, they are all eliminated in the first round.”
When Xia Ling mentioned the Genius Training Camp, a trace of longing appeared in her beautiful eyes.
For children of suburban gang families, just becoming a martial artist was already very difficult. She had struggled hard even to participate in the Five Cities Competition below the level of martial artist.
And the Genius Training Camp was only open to martial artists under twenty-five. If a martial artist was not outstanding enough, they did not even have the qualification to apply. For women from suburban gang families, it was something they would not even dare to imagine.
“Youth with high grade martial artist potential?” After hearing this, Lin Qi could not help feeling a bit shaken.
He knew a little about the Martial Artist Genius Training Camp and the association’s potential reviews from his smart watch and daily conversations with locals like Qin Mu, but he had not expected the Genius Training Camp to be so demanding, requiring high grade potential martial artists right from the start, and that was only the first round.
The Martial Artist Association usually evaluated a martial artist’s potential according to their age and blood qi value.
With different potential, the permissions a martial artist held in the association would also differ slightly. For example, martial artists with high grade potential could live in the Martial Artist Association for free, with status equivalent to regular members who had fully joined the association.
Martial artists with excellent potential could rent training rooms at a twenty percent discount in the Martial Artist Association, with status equivalent to advanced members who had fully joined.
Martial artists with special grade potential could rent training rooms at a forty percent discount and could also purchase a certain amount of martial artist cultivation resources through the association’s internal channels, with status equivalent to stewards who had fully joined the association.
Therefore, anyone who became a martial artist would come to the Martial Artist Association to register and take the martial artist assessment to seek some martial artist resources.
A normal beginner martial artist under thirty would have a standard blood qi value between 100 and 120 units.
Thirty was the peak of blood qi. As age increased, if there was no improvement, blood qi would continue to decline, and the path to breaking through as a martial artist would become increasingly difficult. So the Martial Artist Association used age and blood qi value to evaluate a martial artist’s potential.
Under thirty, with a blood qi value below 120 units, was ordinary potential, the most common among martial artists.
120 to 140 units was medium potential. As long as they cultivated a beginner martial artist cultivation method properly, their blood qi after becoming martial artists could reach this range. So their potential could only be rated as medium, not much different from those who could only cultivate beginner martial artist cultivation methods.
140 to 150 units was high grade potential, which could be called a watershed for martial artists. Generally, merely cultivating an intermediate martial artist cultivation method would not be enough. They also needed talent, or else they would have to have learned difficult advanced martial artist cultivation methods, or intermediate secret techniques.
150 to 160 units was excellent potential, which normally required cultivating advanced martial artist cultivation methods.
Above 160 units was special grade potential. Blood qi at this level could not be achieved just by learning advanced martial artist cultivation methods, so many among various races called such people genius martial artists.
Now the Martial Artist Genius Training Camp was directly eliminating those who had only learned intermediate martial artist cultivation methods. The competition was already extremely intense.
“Hall Master Lin, let’s go inside. All the procedures have already been arranged. You just need to take the assessment,” Xia Ling said as she led Lin Qi, adding an explanation. “But quite a few people have come to re-certify today, so we might need to wait a bit.”
“It’s fine. I just happen to want to have a look too.” Lin Qi smiled. He was quite curious about what martial artists in the city proper were like.
However, just as Xia Ling led Lin Qi into the first floor lobby of the Martial Artist Association, Lin Qi happened to see a familiar face walking from the first floor lobby toward the martial artist assessment room.
Steward Feng Ge Lin of the Martial Artist Association!
At the same moment Lin Qi noticed Feng Ge Lin, Feng Ge Lin also sensed Lin Qi and could not help but frown.
“How did you end up here, kid?” Feng Ge Lin looked at Lin Qi following behind Xia Ling, feeling very surprised, and questioned him.
In his impression, Lin Qi had somehow hit the jackpot and turned the Obsidian Martial Arts Hall he founded into a gang ranked forty-second in the wilderness. But in his eyes, Lin Qi was still just an ant. If not for the association commission, the two of them would never have intersected.
It was hard to imagine that a small gang leader living in the abandoned area could actually come to the Martial Artist Association.
“Lord Feng Ge Lin, it has been a long time,” Lin Qi looked at Feng Ge Lin, his tone calm with a faint smile. “I came to the Martial Artist Association because I have become a martial artist. Otherwise, what would I be doing here?”
He had not forgotten what happened with Feng Ge Lin.
Despite having no grievance or hatred between them, Feng Ge Lin had arranged a ten-deaths-no-life transport task for him right from the start. He had not expected to see him again so soon.
Now that they were both martial artists, as long as they did not leave the city, under the City of Light Chasing’s iron rule that martial artists were forbidden to fight each other inside the city, he no longer feared Feng Ge Lin.
“A martial artist? You became a martial artist?” Feng Ge Lin looked at Lin Qi, full of disbelief. But after carefully sensing the blood qi on Lin Qi’s body, faintly like mist drifting off him, it was indeed not something someone below martial artist level could achieve. He then showed a trace of disdain. “For a nobody like you to become a martial artist so quickly, you do have some ability. But becoming a martial artist is only the starting point of the martial path. There is still a long road ahead. Young people like you still need to learn to be humble. Do not become arrogant and complacent over such a small achievement.”
“Hearing you say that, Lord Feng Ge Lin, reminds me of an old saying from my hometown,” Lin Qi looked at him, smiling neither warmly nor coldly. “A pawn that crosses the river becomes a chariot. I hope this saying will be of some help to you, Lord Feng Ge Lin.”
“Fine. I will see how far a young man like you can really go,” Feng Ge Lin said with open disdain. He flung his sleeve and left directly, entering the martial artist assessment room with the other stewards.
Only after Feng Ge Lin left did Xia Ling beside him let out a breath of relief.
“Hall Master Lin, do you have a grudge with Lord Feng Ge Lin?” Xia Ling could not help asking.
Seeing Lin Qi and Feng Ge Lin talk, even a fool could tell they were not on good terms. And as a steward of the Martial Artist Association, Feng Ge Lin’s status was so high that even all the major suburban gangs had to watch his mood. After all, any steward of the Martial Artist Association was a Peak High-Level Martial Artist, not far from breaking through that barrier.
“No,” Lin Qi shook his head.
“That is good then,” Xia Ling nodded slightly, as if she had set down a heavy stone.
“He is the one who holds a grudge against me,” Lin Qi said calmly. “The martial artist assessment has started. I am going in.”
With that, Lin Qi followed a group of young martial artists directly into the martial artist assessment room, leaving Xia Ling alone in the corridor, stunned in place.
