Chapter 116: Jiangnan Pavilion

The spring rain drizzled ceaselessly.

“Pitter-patter!” Raindrops struck the umbrella, splashing in all directions.

Luo Feng, holding an umbrella, followed beside Yang Hui. After crossing a wooden arched bridge, they arrived at a cluster of buildings. Yang Hui pointed toward a distant garden and said, “Luo Feng, that garden over there is Jiangnan Pavilion. Currently, there are already two trainees inside Jiangnan Pavilion. You will be the third trainee to reside there.”

“Jiangnan Pavilion?” Luo Feng’s heart stirred as he couldn’t help but ask, “Teacher, why does it share the same name as Jiangnan Base City?”

Now that he had become an official member of the training camp and Yang Hui was one of the instructors there, Luo Feng naturally addressed Yang Hui as “teacher.”

“Haha, it was named after the base city,” Yang Hui chuckled. “The two trainees currently residing in Jiangnan Pavilion are both from Jiangnan Base City, though they arrived earlier than you.” His expression suddenly turned mysterious as he lowered his voice, “Let me warn you—among the two trainees living in Jiangnan Pavilion, one of them is named Shi Jiang! He’s extremely formidable—I myself wouldn’t dare say I could beat him. It would benefit you to get along well with him.”

“Teacher, you aren’t even sure you could beat him?” Luo Feng was astonished.

After all, Yang Hui was a mid-tier War God!

“That’s right,” Yang Hui nodded. “Shi Jiang is among the top five trainees in the camp. Many trainees here already possess War God-level strength, but they deliberately avoid obtaining the War God title so they can remain in the training camp. In fact, nearly all of the top thirty trainees in the entire camp possess War God-level strength.”

Luo Feng blinked in disbelief. The top thirty trainees all had War God-level strength?

That seemed too exaggerated.

Each of them was pretending to be weak while actually being strong. Despite being capable of graduating, they intentionally stayed in the training camp, lingering for the full five years.

“The top five trainees are all freaks!” Yang Hui said in a low tone. “They are elites from all over the globe. Especially those ranked in the top five, the competition among them is especially fierce. To remain in the top five for a long time—Shi Jiang… once he graduates, no matter where he goes, he will definitely receive the highest-level treatment!”

“If he joined my Limit Martial Arts Gym, for instance, he could easily obtain the position of Head of Jiangnan Base City,” Yang Hui continued.

Luo Feng was left speechless.

Head of Jiangnan Base City’s Limit Martial Arts Gym? That was the number one among the four major powers in Jiangnan Base City!

“If he continues training for a few more years and breaks through in strength, even becoming a ‘Supervisor’ of our Limit Martial Arts Gym is not impossible,” Yang Hui sighed. Perhaps he himself could still match Shi Jiang’s current strength, but Yang was already over fifty, while Shi Jiang was only in his twenties! The latter truly had a bright future ahead.

…

Still in awe, Luo Feng arrived at Jiangnan Pavilion.

The courtyard of Jiangnan Pavilion was several dozen meters wide, with white walls and black-tiled roofs. Even dragon carvings adorned the tops of the walls.

Pushing open the courtyard gate.

Inside Jiangnan Pavilion stood three pavilions in total. As Luo Feng and Yang Hui walked into the courtyard, the pavilions were quiet. Yang Hui called out directly, “Shi Jiang! Zhao Ruo!”

Immediately, a short-haired girl wearing a loose robe appeared on the second-floor balcony of the left pavilion. From the pavilion directly ahead, a figure leaped down—a young man in black training clothes, holding an umbrella.

Luo Feng carefully observed the young man whom Yang Hui had praised so highly.

This young man was slightly shorter than Luo Feng, about 1.7 meters tall. Though rather thin, his frame gave off an impression of immense strength, as if his entire body were forged from steel. His eyes were calm and reserved, occasionally flashing with sharp glints that sent shivers down one’s spine.

“He must be Shi Jiang,” Luo Feng noted silently.

“A new trainee has arrived?” A cheerful voice came from upstairs as Zhao Ruo, holding an umbrella, excitedly looked at Luo Feng.

Luo Feng also observed this senior sister. Zhao Ruo had short hair and a petite build. Her only drawbacks were her darker skin and small eyes, which prevented her from being considered a beauty.

“He’s Luo Feng. Starting today, he’ll be living here with you two in Jiangnan Pavilion,” Yang Hui smiled. “Shi Jiang, Zhao Ruo, as his seniors, Luo Feng has just arrived. You must take care of him.”

“Don’t worry, leave it to me,” Zhao Ruo patted her chest proudly. “With me as his senior sister, no one will dare take advantage of him.”

“Alright then, I’ll be off.”

Yang Hui smiled, patted Luo Feng’s shoulder, and left directly.

…

Jiangnan Pavilion had three pavilions in total. The central one was Shi Jiang’s residence, the left (western) one was Zhao Ruo’s, and naturally, Luo Feng would reside in the eastern pavilion.

“Come on, Luo Feng, sit down,” Zhao Ruo was very enthusiastic. At the moment, she, Luo Feng, and Shi Jiang were all gathered in Zhao Ruo’s living room.

“I arrived in 55th year, and Shi Jiang senior arrived in 53rd. Both of us came much earlier than you,” Zhao Ruo laughed. Shi Jiang beside her also smiled slightly, “53, 55, 57—we three are exactly two years apart. And all of us come from Jiangnan Base City. It’s quite a rare and fortunate connection we share!”

As Shi Jiang spoke, Luo Feng sensed a deep, calm confidence in his voice.

“I’m from Sucheng, Jiangnan Base City. Shi Jiang senior is from the main district. What about you, Luo Feng?” Zhao Ruo asked.

“Yangzhou City,” Luo Feng replied.

Shi Jiang smiled in surprise, “My grandfather lives in Yangzhou City too!”

All three hailed from Jiangnan Base City, though Shi Jiang and Zhao Ruo had different paths. Shi Jiang had entered the elite training camp after passing the basic training camp. Zhao Ruo had originally been a military elite and was later sent here. Luo Feng, however, had been directly selected from among ordinary martial artists.

“Luo Feng, when you go back to your room later, open the laptop provided by the training camp,” Shi Jiang reminded him. “Inside the laptop, there’s an e-book called ‘Trainee Guidelines.’ Be sure to read it thoroughly.”

“That’s right, that thing is very important,” Zhao Ruo quickly added.

“Especially the points!” Zhao Ruo emphasized. “In the training camp, the point ranking is the most important! You must have seen the ‘Black Dragon Ranking’ at the entrance?”

“I did,” Luo Feng nodded.

The top three names seemed to include only one from the Han race.

“That Black Dragon Ranking is the points ranking. The higher your points, the higher your rank! From the 1st to the 28th of every month, you earn points. On the 29th, the results are tallied to determine the month’s final ranking. Then, the next month, everyone’s points reset to zero. Everyone must strive again to earn points and climb the rankings,” Zhao Ruo explained.

Luo Feng nodded in understanding.

So the point ranking was a monthly cycle!

“Senior sister, senior brother, how do we earn these points?” Luo Feng asked eagerly.

“Points are calculated as ‘Battle Record Points’ multiplied by ‘Combat Power Amplitude’,” Zhao Ruo explained. “For example, in April, you’ll start competing for rankings too. Suppose from the 1st to the 28th of April, your total battle record points are 2000, and your combat power amplitude is 1.8. Then your total points would be 2000 multiplied by 1.8, which equals 3600 points! Based on your total points, your rank is determined.”

Luo Feng became even more puzzled.

What exactly were battle record points and combat power amplitude?

“Battle record points are obtained by hunting and killing monsters. As for the detailed explanation, you’ll understand once you read the ‘Trainee Guidelines’ e-book,” Zhao Ruo explained. “As for ‘combat power amplitude,’ it’s determined in the virtual space. The details are also explained in the Trainee Guidelines.”

Luo Feng blinked helplessly.

Everything required him to read the Trainee Guidelines himself…

“Luo Feng!” Shi Jiang finally spoke.

“Senior brother,” Luo Feng turned to Shi Jiang.

“Remember, if you want to improve quickly in the training camp, you must strive hard every month to climb the rankings. The higher your rank, the better,” Shi Jiang said solemnly. “The rankings also determine access to various resources. Some resources are coveted even by War Gods. That’s why many trainees who already possess War God-level strength still choose to stay in the camp.”

“Like our senior brother Shi Jiang here,” Zhao Ruo added with a smirk.

Shi Jiang was momentarily speechless.

Zhao Ruo covered her mouth, stifling a laugh, and Luo Feng also smiled.

…

In Luo Feng’s study at Jiangnan Pavilion.

The laptop had just been turned on, and Luo Feng was sitting on a chair, carefully reading the “Trainee Guidelines.”

“Trial Room? Challenge Room? Gravity Room? These three training rooms were all constructed from relics of ancient civilizations.” As he read, Luo Feng learned more about the elite training camp. The camp indeed had many high-end facilities, but the most valuable were the relics from ancient civilizations.

The most important thing in the training camp was—point ranking!

The rankings affected many aspects.

For instance, the ancient gravity room, a relic from an ancient civilization, far surpassed the replicated gravity rooms on Earth in terms of effectiveness for martial artists. However, the entire training camp had only one such “training room.” Who got to use it? That depended on the rankings.

The higher the rank, the longer the allocated training time—and that was just one of the benefits!

“If you rank first for nine cumulative months, you can receive a vial of Dragon Blood worth 80 billion credits, freely choose any three complete sets of secret techniques, and choose either ‘Hong’ or ‘Thunder God’ as your master, becoming their personal disciple.”

“If you rank first for six cumulative months, you can receive a drop of Jade Essence worth 30 billion credits, freely choose any complete set of secret techniques, and receive a single personal guidance session from either ‘Hong’ or ‘Thunder God.'”

…

Reading these descriptions on the e-book, Luo Feng was stunned.

Dragon Blood? Becoming a personal disciple of Hong or Thunder God? And even being allowed to choose the master?

Three complete sets of secret techniques?

Considering that a single ultimate secret technique was already extremely valuable.

“Monsters, monsters… but all these rewards are for the top rank, and even require accumulating nine first places,” Luo Feng continued reading.

“Reaching Grade 6 in fist power grants you a vial of Dragon Blood worth 80 billion credits, a complete set of SS-grade combat gear and weapons…”

“Reaching Grade 5 in fist power grants you…”

Luo Feng stared at the long list of rewards, stunned.

“Reaching Level 5 in the Trial Tower grants you the position of ‘Inspector’ in the Limit Martial Arts Gym, a vial of Dragon Blood worth 80 billion credits, a complete set of SS-grade combat gear and weapons, any three complete sets of secret techniques, and a complete set of ‘Black God’ relics from ancient civilizations…”

…

Clearly, the rewards for reaching Level 5 in the Trial Tower were the highest.

Inspector!

In theory, that was a position reserved for those who had surpassed the War God level. And a complete set of “Black God” relics from ancient civilizations? What kind of thing was that?

“If you reach Level 5 in the Trial Tower, won’t you have everything you could possibly need?” Luo Feng’s heart raced, but recalling his experience facing the B-level trial in the Trial Tower, he felt immense pressure.

He had only faced the first level trial, yet encountered a hundred low-tier beast soldier-level Bull Beasts! And that wasn’t even the hardest part of the first level.

There were still the second, third, fourth, and even higher levels above.

Even the experienced War God Yang Hui had only reached the third level.

The world’s strongest martial artist, “Hong,” had only reached the sixth level!

Reaching the fifth level was unimaginably difficult. No wonder the rewards were so incredibly tempting.