Chapter 55: Deciding Both Superiority and Life or Death

"It seems Fisher is going to get serious."

"Flo, will this be a problem?"

Pappu, the Feather-kin warrior with a pair of composite spears strapped to his back, looked at Fisher—who now had her combat saber unsheathed and a razor-sharp gaze in her eyes—with a hint of worry on his face. He couldn't help but turn to look at Flo beside him.

As a senior apprentice, once Fisher grew serious, let alone defeating a junior apprentice in three moves, she could easily slay a junior apprentice in three moves without the slightest difficulty.

However, they had come here to negotiate a partnership, not to smash the place up.

"Win or lose, live or die. I can sense that person is serious, so we don't need to interfere," Flo waved his hand dismissively, glancing at Lin Qi in the distance, and remarked with emotion, "No wonder these people from the Ashen Syndicate dared to attack the White Feather Syndicate's cultivation plantation. With warriors like this who hold their lives cheap, how could those cowardly wretches of the White Feather Syndicate possibly hope to resist them?"

"Indeed, it was my place to overstep," Pappu said as he looked at A Leaf Floating in the Clouds, who had assumed his stance. He felt that he had truly been insulting A Leaf Floating in the Clouds' fighting spirit.

While Flo and Pappu cast looks of reverence, the crowd of players on the other side directed expressions of utter contempt.

"Damn! This kid is showing off way too much."

"I've been wanting to say that exact line for so long, and he actually stole it from me."

"No way, the next time I face those enemies, I'm definitely going to deliver a cool speech before the fight."

The players watched A Leaf Floating in the Clouds striking a pose and then saw the looks of admiration from the opponents across the courtyard. Aside from deep scorn, each of them secretly resolved to imitate A Leaf Floating in the Clouds next time; otherwise, all the hardships they had endured would have been for nothing.

"Come on!"

Looking at Fisher, whose serious expression carried a hint of awe, A Leaf Floating in the Clouds felt an absolute rush of euphoria. He never expected that a single line could win so much favor from the NPCs; if he had known, he would have memorized a few more.

"Since you are such a formidable expert, I won't hold anything back."

After drawing the pitch-black combat saber from its scabbard, Fisher held it directly in front of her. With every breath she took, a faintly scorching heat seemed to exhale from her lips, and the skin across her entire body gradually began to flush red.

"Scorching Moon!"

With a mere low whisper, Fisher violently charged toward A Leaf Floating in the Clouds, her saber flashing outward in a sudden, sweeping horizontal slash.

Apprentice-tier saber technique: Scorching Moon!

This single slash focused on extreme speed and lethal force. Not only was her speed directly doubled, but her striking power also increased by fifty percent, bringing Fisher's blow to a devastating impact of over nine hundred kilograms—enough to easily snap a large tricycle clean in two.

"Well-aimed!"

A Leaf Floating in the Clouds had been waiting for this moment. Thrusting his spear forward and taking a step, his entire body followed the momentum, spinning in unison with the shaft of the weapon.

Martial artist-tier spear technique: Spiral Demonic Spear Kill!

In an instant, a streak of black radiance directly collided with the oncoming wave of crimson light.

Boom!

The two combatants parted almost the instant they made contact. Their weapons were violently deflected, and both players staggered backward for more than ten meters before finally stabilizing their stances.

"Deflected?"

"You!"

Fisher stared with utter incomprehension at her combat saber, which had been knocked away and pinned against the wall, before shifting her gaze to A Leaf Floating in the Clouds, who was covered in bursting blood vessels. The shock in her heart had reached an insurmountable peak.

Her Scorching Moon strike was powerful enough to injure even a quasi-martial artist who tried to take it head-on. Yet A Leaf Floating in the Clouds, a mere junior apprentice, had not only withstood it directly, but now stood on the brink of death, looking like a bloody corpse. Despite being practically a step away from the grave, he actually managed to stand up and retrieve his weapon—a clear indication that he had cast all regard for his own life aside and intended to press the fight to the end.

Moreover, if she hadn't executed Scorching Moon just then, spearwork of that terrifying caliber would have meant inflicting a thousand casualties on the enemy while suffering eight hundred herself. He was nothing short of a suicidal madman.

"Come on! Let's keep fighting!"

A Leaf Floating in the Clouds grabbed his black steel spear and once more assumed a combat stance against Fisher, intending to unleash the Spiral Demonic Spear Kill a second time.

Over the past few days, thanks to his enhanced physical constitution and the guidance of Mentor Number One, the backlash from his Spiral Demonic Spear Kill had lessened significantly, allowing him a marginal second use. A second execution would undoubtedly kill him, but A Leaf Floating in the Clouds was already more than satisfied with this outcome.

At this moment, although Fisher had not sustained any critical injuries, the muscles in both of her arms were severely torn from the violent shock, and her aura had visibly plummeted. If they were to exchange blows one more time, even though he would die, Fisher certainly wouldn't have an easy time of it either.

Sensing the absolute death-determination of A Leaf Floating in the Clouds, Fisher felt not only profound shock but an even deeper layer of awe. Just as she bent down to retrieve her dropped saber, a deep voice suddenly echoed across the entire training ground.

"There is no need to continue."

"Consider this bout our defeat."

As those words fell, both Fisher and Pappu turned their gazes toward Flo, who had spoken, their eyes filled with utter bewilderment.

"I have already witnessed the strength of your syndicate. Continuing to fight would only needlessly exhaust your combat force, which would truly be a pity," Flo explained before turning his attention to Lin Qi. "Respected Leader, while I cannot agree to twenty personnel occupying a twenty percent share, if your syndicate can dispatch thirty apprentice-tier experts, I have the authority to grant your syndicate twenty percent ownership of the Crimson Moon Mountain energy mineral veins."

"Otherwise, if your syndicate only dispatches twenty people, the absolute maximum share I can offer is twelve percent."

"Thirty people?" Lin Qi muttered, falling into deep contemplation.

The number of players he could currently mobilize was precisely thirty. If he were to send all thirty out at once, the entire Obsidian Martial Arts Hall would be left completely empty.

The Obsidian Martial Arts Hall was no longer the destitute place it used to be; the hall contained a vast quantity of precious items that required permanent guards.

"That's right. If you want a twenty percent share, you must dispatch thirty people!" Flo nodded, a slight smirk playing at the corners of his lips. "That is absolute. There is no room for negotiation."

This move of his could be considered retreating in order to advance. Although the strength of the Ashen Syndicate was impressive, fielding twenty apprentice-tier experts was likely their absolute limit; it should have been impossible for them to produce thirty.

Under such circumstances, he was only paying an extra two percent in ownership shares while gaining an additional ten apprentice-tier experts to fight a life-and-death battle. This not only saved him the manpower equivalent of a medium-sized wilderness gang but also allowed him to turn a profit on the mineral shares.

"Very well, thirty people it is!" After pondering for a moment, Lin Qi decided to secure the larger share of the energy mineral vein.

Energy mineral veins were exceptional treasures, and ordinary wilderness gangs were completely unworthy of touching them.

Beyond their immense monetary value, simply using energy minerals to pave the floors of the martial arts hall or construct specialized cultivation chambers could drastically enhance training efficiency.

Although the physical cultivation breathing technique brought astonishing improvements, long-term training with it also steadily elevated one's physical foundation—especially when trying to break through and become a martial artist. That wasn't something achieved simply by mastering a breathing technique manual, let alone the fact that the manual he held was only half a volume.

If he built cultivation rooms using energy mineral stones, breaking through to become a martial artist would undoubtedly happen much faster. After all, whether it was the Martial Artists Association of the Chasing Light City or the factions residing in the city center, they all utilized energy mineral stones to construct cultivation chambers specifically to facilitate breakthroughs to the martial artist rank.

"Respected Leader, are you certain?" Flo asked Lin Qi with a hint of surprise.

Thirty apprentice-tier experts was no small number; even for the Azure Bird Syndicate, it would be a severe blow. It was hard to imagine that the Ashen Syndicate, a faction that had risen to prominence only recently, could field so many apprentice-tier experts.

"Of course I am certain. Or was Lord Flo intending to play games with me just now?" Lin Qi's voice suddenly turned cold and deep.

"Of course not." Flo smiled, immediately pulling out a pen and beginning to fill out a new contract. "If the Leader feels there are no issues, you may sign it now."

"Good." Lin Qi reviewed the new contract, and upon confirming everything was correct, he signed his name.

Once the contract was finalized, Flo didn't waste another word. Accompanied by Fisher and Pappu, he quietly departed from the Obsidian Martial Arts Hall, leaving the players in the training ground to erupt into cheers.

"Leaf Bro is a legend! He actually managed to over-fulfill the quest."

"Thirty spots! Does that mean as long as anyone can become an apprentice within twelve days, they can directly participate in this life-and-death battle?"

"It surely won't be that easy, right? No matter what, this is a new large-scale instance quest open to everyone. Are the game developers really that kind-hearted?"

"Jinx, don't slander the game developers! The game developers love giving out freebies to everyone!"

While the crowd celebrated, a few players suspected that the increase in instance slots couldn't possibly be that simple. This silenced the previously jubilant players, who didn't dare speak further for fear that the developers might introduce some nasty twist.

Those players' thoughts echoed Lin Qi's own concerns. If all thirty went away, the Obsidian Martial Arts Hall would be left deserted; naturally, he couldn't allow such a thing to happen, meaning he had to increase the total player population.

"A Leaf Floating in the Clouds, you performed exceptionally well and perfectly executed the mission assigned to you by the martial arts hall," Lin Qi said with a smile as he approached A Leaf Floating in the Clouds, who was drenched in blood. "As the Hall Master, I have decided to reward you with 1,000 contribution points and 10,000 credits. Furthermore, any disciple whose martial arts technique reaches the fifth stage will be directly promoted to an inner sect disciple. I hope all of you will continue to exert yourselves and bring glory to the hall."

Upon hearing about the reward of 1,000 contribution points, A Leaf Floating in the Clouds had initially been thrilled; this would bring his total contribution up to 3,000, allowing him to become a glorious inner sect disciple.

Yet right now, he couldn't feel happy at all.

Reaching the fifth stage of technique proficiency automatically granted promotion to inner sect disciple status. This meant he hadn't even needed the contribution points to secure his promotion.

Moreover, aside from him, whether it was Luo Wushang or Zhang Qingwei, both of them were already very close to the fifth stage of technique proficiency. The only reason they hadn't broken through yet was because they had spent these past few days grinding for contribution points and hadn't focused on advancing their techniques. If they let loose and focused on it now, they would likely reach the fifth stage in no time.

"The fifth stage?"

Luo Wushang glanced at the starlight-point data she had previously recorded, her eyes suddenly sparkling with bright light.

Fourth stage at 89%!