Chapter 135: Chapter 120: Martial Artist Association
Outside Red Moon Mountain.
A flying transport vehicle slowly ascended into the sky, drawing envious gazes from the vagabonds who stopped to watch.
"The young lady of the Brand Clan has left." Fisher looked at the departing flying transport vehicle, unable to suppress some curiosity as he asked Fluo, who stood at the hilltop beside him, "Fluo, do you think Hall Master Lin will join the Brand Clan?"
"I don’t know." Fluo shook his head, his face full of indescribable joy, as if he’d won the lottery of Chasing Light City, "Whether Hall Master Lin joins or not doesn’t affect us. All we need to do now is cling to the Black Obsidian Martial Arts Hall. With a wilderness force led by a martial artist, Red Moon Mountain is secure."
Fluo had been somewhat concerned before about whether the Black Obsidian Martial Arts Hall could maintain the wilderness trading outpost, even with the Phosphorus Fire Gang backing them.
But now, after the battle at Red Moon Mountain, Fluo had no such worries.
Let alone the fact that the Black Obsidian Martial Arts Hall obviously has a complicated background, able to have Miss Xia Ling from the Phosphorus Fire Gang come personally. Now that Hall Master Lin has also slain the top initial stage martial artist Watu, any wandering gangs who hear of this will probably no longer cause trouble.
As for the suburban gangs, they probably won’t bother Red Moon Mountain either. After all, with Lin Qi as a martial artist overseeing it, any suburban gang looking for trouble would pay a price no ordinary suburban gang could bear.
On the flying transport vehicle.
"Miss, this Hall Master Lin really doesn’t give you any face." A sweet-looking girl with three eyes said indignantly, "Does he really think the Brand Clan makes any martial artist eligible to become an elder? If not for your invitation, other middle-tier martial artists wanting to become family elders would need to undergo a thorough assessment. He only killed a grassroots initial stage martial artist with no backing, which means nothing in the suburbs."
With several million people in Chasing Light City and the ten major clans managing it, not to mention an initial stage martial artist struggling to earn some decent development resources, even suburban martial artist level forces have to go through a lot to obtain these resources for martial advancement.
So anyone who becomes a martial artist in Chasing Light City, except those belonging to existing martial artist level forces, will think of joining the city’s big forces to smoothen their future paths.
The Brand Clan ranks as a notable power in the city’s district, and every year many newly promoted city martial artists want to join, but the Brand Clan often gives no chance.
But Lin Qi, straightforwardly refused.
"Martial artists achieved in the wild tend to be arrogant, which is normal. After all, becoming a martial artist outside the city is highly difficult; roughly only one out of hundreds of quasi-martial artists advances, with more dying on the path. Unlike you, who simply follow the steps in training, where one in a hundred quasi-martial artists becomes a martial artist, and even if one fails, one has the medical support for a second attempt." Estina seemed unconcerned, "For him to achieve martial artist status so young and in the wild, and to kill a master initial stage martial artist like Watu, he’s truly talented. I’ve given him the opportunity, and after a few setbacks, realizing how hard martial artist resources are to acquire, he’ll soon come to me."
Estina knew too well, perhaps from too much contact, with those who achieve martial artist status in the wild.
Each in the wild is a hero in their right, commanding hundreds or thousands beneath them, emperors in their gang, naturally believing that even after becoming martial artists, they can still secure enough resources on their own, unaware of how precious and fiercely contested martial artist resources are.
Watu was like this initially; he chose to refuse at first but after a few months, came around to secretly collaborate with her, capturing monsters in the wild in exchange for martial training resources.
Now Lin Qi is just another Watu.
After Estina left, Xia Ling also entered the two-story building with the old butler.
"Miss Xia, thank you for coming to help today, or else things wouldn’t have gone as smoothly as they did." Lin Qi looked at Xia Ling, very appreciative.
"Hall Master Lin overpraises me. Even if I hadn’t come, Hall Master Lin could have easily cleared out the Great Ape Gang." Xia Ling shook her head and directly stated, "And Estina wouldn’t act; after all, Hall Master Lin’s potential surpasses Watu’s. Though Estina is a madwoman, she always acts calmly, not casually for an ally."
"But Miss Xia did indeed help me a lot." Lin Qi smiled, "Please tell me if there’s anything I can do for you, as long as it’s within my capabilities, I’ll certainly help."
Though Xia Ling didn’t help much this time, she did assist greatly during the early establishment of the Black Obsidian Martial Arts Hall. Now that it has gained some scale and strength, as long as it doesn’t involve matters of life and death for the hall, he’s willing to assist. After all, the Phosphorus Fire Trading Market could cooperate with the Black Obsidian Martial Arts Hall in many ways.
Such as the B Level series of battle armor!
The A6 Level armor isn’t suitable for martial artists. Only the B Level series of armor is truly martial artist’s gear.
However, B Level series armor is very hard to obtain. At least from what Qin Mu knows, acquiring B Level armor requires substantial contributions to Chasing Light City to be eligible to purchase it.
As for the prices, the lowest B1 Level armor costs fifty million bits for a set, the B2 Level armor set sells for one hundred million bits, and the prices for higher armor levels double.
For him, the price is somewhat negotiable, but without contributions to Chasing Light City, he can’t purchase it, not to mention players also needing B Level armor to possess genuine martial artist level power, or to meet the formal martial force level of major cities.
Otherwise, they’d remain a band of miscellaneous troops, never gaining prestige, let alone establishing a player town and becoming a sovereign.
Although the Phosphorus Fire Gang lacks resident martial artists, it likely has pipelines to buy B Level armor, according to Estina. Xia Ling needs to collaborate with him, and he could consequently buy through Xia Ling, forming a win-win situation.
"Since Hall Master Lin put it like that, I’ll be straightforward." Xia Ling understood Lin Qi’s directness, and without hesitation, added, "I’m planning to participate in the Five Cities Grand Competition organized by the Martial Artist Association, but participation requires martial artist recommendations. My mentor’s spots were given to another student, so I want to ask Hall Master Lin for a recommendation. In return, I can provide a B4 Level longsword."
"A B4 Level weapon?" Lin Qi was indeed tempted upon hearing this.
B Level series weapons in suburban stores are at most available up to B3 Level, while B4 Level and above are very rare.
The primary cause is the lack of B4 Level and above alloy minerals, so each B4 Level weapon costs tens of millions of bits, obscenely pricey and not necessarily obtainable.
"No problem, how do I make the recommendation?" Lin Qi nodded, deciding to agree to this matter.
"According to the rules, a martial artist wishing to recommend another must be a registered martial artist with the Martial Artist Association, passing the official test to confirm martial artist status to qualify for recommendation." Xia Ling expressed joy immediately, saying, "Considering Hall Master Lin may not have registered after becoming a martial artist, if convenient, I can arrange someone to take Hall Master Lin to the association tomorrow. The procedures are all familiar to us; we can complete them all within a day."
"Official registration at the Martial Artist Association?" Lin Qi pondered, recalling that Qin Mu previously suggested registration after becoming a martial artist, knowing the association isn’t inferior to any faction, even not belonging strictly to Chasing Light City but serving martial artists specifically, joining only having advantages without disadvantages, but not all new martial artists can join—it requires passing a martial assessment, "Alright, have someone come tomorrow."
"Then I won’t disturb Hall Master Lin any longer. I’ll arrange the Martial Artist Association’s matters now." Seeing Lin Qi’s willingness, Xia Ling was a bit eager. The Five Cities Grand Competition’s day was approaching, with the registration deadline drawing near, so earlier registration naturally better.
Subsequently, Xia Ling left Red Moon Mountain with her people, making the two-story building calm down, leaving only Lin Qi.
"Finally, I can start welcoming a new batch of players." Lin Qi checked his system, noting the transformation of the martial arts hall’s five rooms was complete, then turned to a pile of battle trophies in the warehouse, "These veteran players haven’t had much to do lately. It’s perfect for the newcomers; I can open the shop system to keep the veteran players busy, and also help the new ones level up quickly."
Lin Qi then opened Blue Star’s official forum and issued an announcement detailing the latest system update and new shop system gameplay.
After posting the announcement, Lin Qi closed the system, quietly organizing the battle trophies, ignoring the external turmoil his update caused.