Chapter 92 - 82: Champion, Meeting

Chapter 92: Chapter 82: Champion, Meeting

"The champion of this season’s World Fighting Spring Tournament is... the Five Elements Sect!!"

Relying on his absolute strength, Zhang Ji successfully won by defeating three opponents in a row.

In the waiting area, Chen Anhe and Fu Tian heard the announcement. They looked at Zhang Ji on the stage. Although they had expected this, they were still thrilled in this moment.

Zhou Hao, Shen Han, and the other Five Elements Sect disciples even unfurled a banner, loudly cheering and congratulating Zhang Ji and the others.

A staff member walked over to Chen Anhe and Fu Tian, inviting them to go on stage with Zhang Ji to receive the award.

The three of them stood shoulder to shoulder. Fu Tian still looked a bit dazed.

There was a time he couldn’t even find a first-rate club to join, yet now he was standing on the highest winner’s podium of the most prestigious fighting tournament in the world.

One of the vice presidents of the Lanz World Fighting Association, Valentina Butler, took the large trophy from the hands of an attendant and presented it to Zhang Ji and the other two.

"Congratulations," Valentina said with a smile.

Zhang Ji looked at this familiar face and felt a bit emotional.

’She’s a B-class master, too.’

Her eyes were dark red, a result of an Alchemy Transformation. They gave her unimaginable dynamic vision, even allowing her to perceive the flow of energy to a certain extent and predict an opponent’s moves one step ahead.

’When I played the game, I got a quest from her to join the World Fighting Association.’

At this moment, Valentina couldn’t tell that Zhang Ji was a Sublimated Grade fighter with sublimated genes. At this stage, no such skill existed. Unless someone displayed power far beyond their current realm, it was impossible to determine their true level.

Of course, that would change after the Battle of the Saint King, in the "Spatio-Temporal Disorder" version, once the transmigrators arrived.

Things like "Qi Observation Skill," "Power Level Scouters," "Energy Level Measurement Magic"... With those, you could basically determine an opponent’s strength with a single glance.

Reaching out to take the trophy, Zhang Ji motioned for Chen Anhe and Fu Tian to raise it with him.

"Come on. I couldn’t have even competed without you," Zhang Ji said with a smile.

Hearing this, Fu Tian and Chen Anhe also reached out and lifted the trophy.

The entire arena erupted in cheers.

Then came the interview portion.

It was nothing more than the usual pleasantries, anyway.

Talk about the past, discuss the future, and promote the Five Elements Sect a little.

After saying a few words about striving forward and continuously improving, Zhang Ji passed the microphone to Chen Anhe.

...

New Fuerlos.

Midliss City.

Unable to find any trace of Robby, Falin was growing extremely agitated.

He had already received pressure from the royal family. It was such a simple mission, yet it had dragged on for so long. If he couldn’t report back with results soon, he had no idea how he would explain himself.

But the problem was, it was as if Robby had vanished into thin air.

He clearly hadn’t left by ship, but the royal guards had searched the entire city. Every major transportation route had been thoroughly checked, yet they still couldn’t find Robby.

At this very moment, emotions like anger and frustration were building up inside him.

He opened his phone, preparing to contact the royal family for reinforcements, when a news notification suddenly appeared at the top of his screen.

[Lanz World Fighting Association Spring Tournament Concludes, Dark Horse Five Elements Gate Club Wins Super Class Championship...]

A photo of Zhang Ji and the other two standing together on the winner’s podium appeared below the text.

’It’s him...’

Falin was all too familiar with that face.

Even now, just thinking about it made his arm ache faintly.

Suffering a loss at the hands of someone far weaker than himself, who then escaped right under his nose—it was a deep source of shame for him.

He had thought it would be impossible to find Zhang Ji again anytime soon. He’d temporarily given up the search and was planning to return and report the truth to the royal family.

But this news report gave him a new idea.

’Go there now, find Zhang Ji, and get the secret of transferring the Divine Blood from him...’

The thought of the Sun God’s legendary power made his breathing slow involuntarily.

More than his loyalty to the royal family, he yearned to become a god himself!

---

Five Elements Gate Club.

After winning the championship, Zhang Ji and the others didn’t immediately move to a new location. Instead, they renewed their lease.

They also began renovating the place.

Now, many endorsement deals were coming their way.

Companies were lining up to sign contracts with the Five Elements Sect.

To be precise, they wanted to sign with Zhang Ji and the other two.

The endorsement fees started at five million a year, and all they had to do was make an appearance and film a couple of videos.

For Zhang Ji, the offers started at over ten million a year.

Beyond that, there were also sponsorships for the Five Elements Sect—direct offers of money, facilities, equipment, and various resources, which also served as a form of indirect endorsement and advertising.

This was the allure of the World Fighting Association.

In this context, the ten-million championship prize money seemed like a minor reward.

Many brands were approaching them, so Zhang Ji left it to Zhou Hao to handle. He asked him to do some research and find a few suitable brands to partner with.

At the same time, Fu Tian also signed a formal contract with the Five Elements Sect.

From now on, he was officially one of the Five Elements Sect’s own.

Zhang Ji gave him 3.5 million of the prize money directly, a share that was nearly an equal split among the three of them.

Although Zhang Ji had given him the choice to leave as he pleased after the tournament, he could tell the difference between one full meal and being fed for life.

With a Sublimated Grade fighter like Zhang Ji at the helm, the Five Elements Sect was destined for greater things.

He had been lucky enough to catch a ride with the Five Elements Sect when it was at a low point. Getting off now would be pure idiocy.

As for the slight conflict between Zhang Ji’s origins and his own?

’What a joke. Zhang Ji is from the Five Elements Sect. My Flaming Blade Sect had a conflict with the Vajra Sect, what does that have to do with Zhang Ji?’

In any case, he managed to convince himself.

Back then, it was the disunity and infighting within the martial arts world that led to two great sects being wiped from history.

Now was the time to set aside disputes and advance together.

Of course, the main reason was that he truly felt he was no match for Zhang Ji.

A "terrestrial immortal" who wasn’t even twenty years old... him trying to argue with Zhang Ji about old conflicts?

’Might as well go wash up and go to bed. That’s more realistic!’

And just like that, the Five Elements Sect entered a period of rapid development.

Many people were signing up to join the club, so Zhou Hao became very busy. He had no choice but to find a few more quick-witted disciples to help him manage the affairs.

Zhang Ji wasn’t good with these things. Chen Anhe was old and struggled with electronic devices, and his business sense was only rudimentary. As for Shen Han, don’t even mention it. He was too young and single-minded; making him handle this would be the death of him!

So, they could only trouble Zhou Hao to be busy.

As for Fu Tian, to be realistic, since he had just joined, it wasn’t appropriate to have him immediately participate in crucial matters.

「That evening.」

Inside the conference room, Zhou Hao handed some documents to Zhang Ji. Zhang Ji glanced at them and handed them back. "You can handle all of this yourself," he said. "When it comes to recruitment, be selective. As for the club’s training, don’t be too stingy with the regular members. Just treat them as Outer Sect disciples. We need to make their membership fees worthwhile. However, for internal personnel, we need to test them a bit. Both character and talent are required."

Trust those you employ, and don’t employ those you distrust.

Zhang Ji didn’t have the spare energy to focus on such mundane affairs.

It was far more useful to focus on increasing his strength than to worry about worldly matters.

With enough strength, any and all problems could be suppressed and resolved with absolute force.

"I understand," Zhou Hao said with a nod.

He was quite pleased with Zhang Ji’s affirmation and delegation of authority.

To have his value affirmed, with no one holding him back, to have the freedom to do as he saw fit—God only knew how great that felt.

"Shen Han," Zhang Ji then instructed, "don’t neglect your own training time. You don’t have to personally handle all the teaching. It would be more beneficial to the Five Elements Sect if you become a Grandmaster sooner."

For the past two days, Shen Han had been constantly hanging around the disciples, telling the story of Zhang Ji’s legend to every new member who joined the club.

He was praising Zhang Ji with the same fervor he once used to praise Li Long, to the point of neglecting his own cultivation.

In his eyes, Zhang Ji was the spiritual successor to his Senior Brother, Li Long. With Zhang Ji taking the lead, the pressure on his heart instantly lessened a great deal.

That was why he had relaxed a bit recently.

Hearing Zhang Ji’s admonition now, Shen Han’s expression turned serious. "Yes, I know."

Zhang Ji nodded and looked at Chen Anhe. "Elder Chen, I’ll have to trouble you to send people to verify the information I gave you."

He had recorded the locations of some secret treasures and dungeon instances that he knew about but lacked detailed information on, and even some information about NPCs.

Because the game version Zhang Ji played was different, the maps were not the same, and he wasn’t sure about the exact situation for many of them. So he asked Chen Anhe to send people to confirm.

Once the information was confirmed, Zhang Ji could go himself, or simply have people from the Five Elements Sect bring the items back.

Not all treasure locations required a master. A large portion could be claimed by D-class individuals, only requiring some puzzle-solving. Of course, the rewards themselves weren’t that great and might not be very useful to the current Zhang Ji.

However, they could be brought back to build up the Sect’s foundation.

"Yes," Chen Anhe also said.

Fu Tian was also in the conference room. Zhang Ji hadn’t assigned him any tasks, leaving him in a somewhat awkward position at the club.

He had joined, but he hadn’t been given any duties teaching members. He was mainly left to train on his own and do whatever he wanted.

"I also know many basic fighting techniques. I should be able to teach the members as well," Fu Tian suddenly spoke up.

Hearing this, Zhang Ji understood that Fu Tian was looking for something to do.

Zhang Ji had originally planned to arrange for him to handle external affairs later on. But since he was restless and wanted to teach members, letting him stretch his legs a bit was also good. It would prevent him from sitting around overthinking things.

"Alright. Once the new eastern training hall is built, Fu Tian, you can go there and teach the new members. It will create some competition," Zhang Ji said.

Having received a task, Fu Tian instantly relaxed.

He knew his strength was somewhat lacking and was afraid of being gradually marginalized. If that happened, sooner or later he would be abandoned, just like before.

"But don’t neglect improving your own strength. Having enough power yourself is the most crucial thing," Zhang Ji said to Fu Tian.

"I know what’s important," Fu Tian said.

The meeting ended. The future development of the Five Elements Sect now had a clear direction, and the current relationships between its members were firmly established.

Zhang Ji’s position became even more stable. In a sense, although no ceremony had been held, everyone already regarded him as the current Sect Leader of the Five Elements Sect.

However, Zhang Ji secretly had other plans.

He wanted to return to the Eastern Extreme Country, to Golden Hook Mountain. There, under the watchful eyes of Yan Ruifeng and Li Long’s graves, he would formally assume the position of Sect Leader of the Five Elements Sect—not here!