Chapter 900 - Challenge

Chapter 900 - Challenge
Inside the Battle Fortress's main hall, a group of newcomers in linen clothing suddenly emerged from the training field's portal.
"The combat system here is really impressive. Those simulated experts felt like the real deal. They are all so powerful. Even in a one-on-one, they still suppressed me." When Blackie spoke about the combat training he had just experienced, he wore an amazed expression.
When he fought the starter pack's first eight experts, he has some hope of triumphing against them. However, the last two experts were absurdly powerful. They had defeated him easily, leaving him without any power to resist.
"It's a pity that there are so few experts in the starter pack. I wish we had more variations," Flying Shadow sighed. "The Secret Pavilion is fraudulent. Just fighting those ordinary experts costs 100 points per day. If we can't rank among the top 200, we won't be able to afford them every day."
Although he had only fought for a few hours against the starter pack's ten experts, he had learned a lot. If he could face all kinds of experts over time, he would gain combat experience with flying speed. He might even reach the Refinement Realm after a short period.
"That should be enough training for us today. We still have to challenge the Battle Tower and raise our ranks," Fire Dance stated. Although she didn't want to waste their starter packs' duration, it was more important to raise their ranks first. If they didn't, they would be stuck with 20 Battle Points per day.
After they had entered the training system, they had learned a lot about the Battle Tower and the Pavilion's veterans from the other newcomers.
To put it simply, it would not be easy to enter the top 200 ranks with their current strength.
Furthermore, Fire Dance aimed for the top 150 ranks. Only by entering the top 150 would she receive 200 points each day, which would allow her to face one Refinement Realm expert per day. If she were stuck among the top 200, she would have to wait two days to challenge a Refinement Realm expert.
As for the starter pack's experts, the first eight weren't even a warm-up for her. Only the last two experts had made her work for her victory. Even after dozens of matches with those two experts, her win-rate was only 50%.
On the other hand, the Secret Pavilion's top 150 experts had at least an 80% win-rate against the starter pack's Refinement Realm experts.
With her current standards, it would be a relatively difficult task to enter the top 150.
At the same time, she was very excited. There were only a handful of experts in Star-Moon Kingdom that could pose a challenge. In the simulation training system, however, there were crowds of such experts waiting for her.
"Big Sis Fire, look; for some reason, a lot of people have gathered over there." Violet Cloud pointed out as she looked towards the Battle Tower's portal. Curiously, she asked, "What are they doing?"
When they had arrived at the Battle Fortress, not many people had been present. Now, however, over a hundred people had crowded the main hall.
"Ah, someone seems to be leaving the tower," Cola said as he saw the portal flash with white light. The figure of a man then stepped out of the portal.
After a moment, they recognized the familiar figure.
A large crowd had huddled around the portal. As soon as Shi Feng emerged, everyone turned towards him.
They looked at Shi Feng as if he were a monster, curiosity and horror flashing in their eyes.
Shi Feng was simply some newbie that had joined the training system today, yet, he had set foot onto the fifth floor. The Secret Pavilion's members had already been in the simulated training system for over a month. For some, this wasn't even their first year. Yet, they were all still stuck on the Battle Tower's fourth floor. Hence, Shi Feng's achievement was difficult for them to swallow.
"Doesn't he look just over twenty? He actually reached the fifth floor at such a young age. Even among all the geniuses throughout our Secret Pavilion's history, he should rank near the top, right?"
"Yeah, he should rank within the top 20."
"Between Shi Feng and Wen Hua, who do you think has more talent?"
"Do you even need to ask? It is certainly Wen Hua. Even our Guild Leader can't stop praising her talent, claiming that she ranks among the top 10 throughout the Secret Pavilion's history."
When Fire Dance and the others overheard the conversation, they were momentarily at a loss for words.
They did not know whether they should celebrate or smile wryly.
While their heads still ached about obtaining a better rank, Shi Feng had already become number one in the ranking competition…
Meanwhile, before Shi Feng even had the chance to relive the battle on the fifth floor, he heard the sound of an emergency notification. Shi Feng was then forcefully ejected out of the training system and forced into Sleep Mode.
No one was surprised about Shi Feng's sudden disappearance. They all thought that he had logged out to avoid their pestering. Moreover, training in the Battle Tower was very taxing. Almost everyone had to log out and rest after challenging the tower.
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Inside the luxurious bedroom, Shi Feng climbed out from his virtual gaming cabin, the machine continuously beeping.
A single tempering session in the Battle Tower consumes so much? Shi Feng could not help his surprise when he saw the virtual gaming cabin's depleted Nutrient Solution tank.
Before he had entered the training system, he had made sure to refill the cabin's Nutrient Solution storage and had drunk a bottle of A-rank Nutrient Fluid.
The depleted Nutrient Solution was one thing; however, he was extremely hungry. Moreover, his entire body felt drained.
This emptiness felt similar to when he had broken through the limits of his mental strength for the first time.
It's no wonder why Yuan Tiexin had warned me to prepare S-rank Nutrient Fluids. Ordinary people can't afford to play around with this training system. Shi Feng, more or less, understood why Yuan Tiexin had suggested caution. It seems I'll have to prepare some more S-rank Nutrient Fluids from now on.
While inside the Battle Tower, he had pushed his five senses to their brinks for a long time. In God's Domain, however, he usually didn't need to. It was especially true after one reached his standard.
While fighting at one's peak, the brain would be extremely active. This would increase the body's energy consumption. If one did not replenish the lost energy afterward, the consequences would be unimaginable. It was even possible to destroy one's own body.
Now that Fire Dance and the others had begun their training in the simulation training system, they needed enough nutrient supplements after they emerged. Otherwise, their bodies would suffer.
However, it was extremely difficult to obtain the best-performing S-rank Nutrient Fluid. Only transcendental powers like the Secret Pavilion, which were influential in both the real world and the virtual world, could obtain large quantities. As for a foundationless Guild like Zero Wing, it could, at most, obtain a few bottles. Furthermore, each bottle was very expensive.
Meanwhile, Shi Feng needed the Coins he had on had to keep the Guild functioning, and he had not liquidated any funds recently. As for the Credits he had on hand, Liang Jing had already used them to purchase training facilities. Currently, he was almost broke.
It seems I'll have to turn some of the Coins or items into money for now. Shi Feng sighed helplessly. Truthfully, he did not wish to exchange any of the game's resources for Credits. After all, doing so would impact the Guild's development. However, nurturing a group of top-tier experts was far more important right now.
Just as Shi Feng pondered selling the resources of God's Domain, Liang Jing barged into his room, looking worried.
"Master Shi Feng… something has happened!" Liang Jing said, panting. With her hand over her chest, she continued, "A group of people has suddenly arrived to challenge our training center. Several instructors have been injured. From what I have heard, this group defeated Master Chen Wu before arriving. They are demanding a match against you. They claim that there will be consequences if their demands aren't met."
"Challenge? Who are they? What do they look like?" Shi Feng recalled a faint memory after hearing these words.