18: Chapter 18 Elite Base, First Encounter with Heroes
Early the next morning, Wang Pingan was picked up by a special federal hovercar.
Wang Pingan carried a simple backpack, opened the car door, and sat inside.
The car was even quieter.
He couldn't even hear the sound of the engine starting.
He sank into the soft seat, feeling as if he were wrapped in a huge sponge.
The hovercar started smoothly, without the slightest bump, and quickly merged into the morning traffic.
Wang Pingan looked at the rapidly receding streetscape outside the window; those familiar breakfast shops, those hurried office workers, all seemed to become somewhat unreal.
He knew that from today on, he would have to temporarily say goodbye to this kind of life.
He didn't know how long the hovercar had been driving; the scene outside the window gradually changed from the bustling downtown area to the rolling countryside.
Just when Wang Pingan thought this hovercar was going to drive until the end of time, the speed gradually slowed down.
He saw a patch of seemingly ordinary mountains and forests ahead.
However, the hovercar did not stop but drove straight toward a dense forest.
Wang Pingan's heart skipped a beat.
Just a second before the car was about to hit a tree trunk.
The air in front suddenly distorted.
Like a pebble thrown into a lake, it rippled with invisible waves.
Immediately after, that patch of forest disappeared into thin air.
Replacing it was a huge gate full of a sci-fi feel, composed of countless blue light hexagons.
The hovercar passed through without any pause.
The next second.
Wang Pingan felt his lungs being thoroughly cleansed.
He took a deep breath.
The air carried a scent of vegetation and a hint of sweetness.
He could even feel every cell in his body cheering because of this rich spiritual energy.
The concentration of spiritual energy in this place was at least three times higher than in the city!
Cultivating here for one day was worth three days of cultivation outside!
The hovercar stopped slowly in a wide square.
Wang Pingan pushed open the door and stepped out.
He looked up and was stunned.
He had imagined what the Elite Base would look like.
Perhaps it was a group of futuristic buildings with a strong metallic feel.
Perhaps it was a heavily guarded military fortress.
But he didn't expect it to look like this.
In the distance were rolling green hills.
Nearby was a clear lake.
Several antique halls with flying eaves and brackets were distributed among the mountains and waters, paired with small bridges, flowing water, pavilions, and towers; it was simply a three-dimensional ink painting.
If it weren't for the few students on the training ground in the distance doing anti-gravity training, jumping up and down like Super Mario, Wang Pingan would have almost thought he had traveled back to ancient times.
"Energy scan."
He muttered in his heart.
The familiar deep blue 3D map instantly covered his vision.
Then, he gasped.
What did he see?
Underneath one of the halls that looked like a warehouse, a huge energy source emitting dazzling blue light lay quietly there.
The intensity of that blue light was a hundred times more dazzling than everything he had found at the scrapyard combined!
That was a spirit crystal vault!
And, judging by the intensity of the energy reaction, what was stored inside was definitely not just any low-grade spirit crystal!
Wang Pingan's heart began to beat wildly.
This is the real rich guy!
The meager pay-to-win points he earned after working hard, risking being beaten to death by the foreman, and digging in the garbage pile for half a day, couldn't even be considered a fraction compared to their reserves.
"Are you Wang Pingan?"
A steady, emotionless voice sounded behind him.
Wang Pingan was startled and quickly closed the system interface.
He turned around.
A tall, middle-aged man was standing behind him.
The man was wearing a black training uniform, his figure was straight, and his shoulders were broad.
He had no expression on his face, but those eyes were frighteningly sharp.
Wang Pingan felt that under the gaze of those eyes, his little schemes were almost seen through.
"Instructor Chen Feng."
Wang Pingan recognized him; the principal had given him the file before he came.
Instructor, a Fourth Rank Peak martial artist, was once a member of the federal special forces and retired due to injury, coming here to serve as an Instructor.
He was a tough guy.
Instructor nodded in response.
He looked Wang Pingan up and down, his gaze evaluating him like a weapon.
"Follow me."
He didn't have any superfluous words and turned to leave.
Wang Pingan quickly followed.
As he walked, Instructor introduced the situation here in his flat, monotonous tone.
"The Elite Training Program has a total of eight people."
"You are the last one to arrive."
"The purpose here is only one: to provide the most outstanding students to the top martial arts universities in the Xuan Yuan Galaxy System."
"Therefore, the rules here are also very simple."
He stopped and turned to look at Wang Pingan.
"The strong rise, the weak fall."
"There will be a comprehensive assessment every month. Those at the bottom of the rankings will be eliminated directly and packed back to your original school."
"We don't raise trash here, and there are no second chances. Do you understand?"
"I understand."
Wang Pingan nodded, but his heart sank.
Eliminating one person every month.
This competition was even more cruel than he had imagined.
Instructor took him through a bamboo forest to a huge open-air training ground.
There were already seven people on the training ground.
Three women and four men.
They were wearing the same black training uniform as Instructor, and each of them looked energetic and full of blood qi.
When Wang Pingan walked in with Instructor.
The original noise on the training ground instantly quieted down.
The seven people stopped what they were doing in unison and cast their gazes over.
Seven gazes.
Carrying curiosity, scrutiny, and a faint hostility, they dissected Wang Pingan from head to toe.
Wang Pingan felt like a husky thrown into a wolf pack.
None of the seven around him were easy to deal with.
He could clearly feel the condensed blood qi fluctuations emanating from them.
They were all Second-Rank Martial Artists!
Wang Pingan's eyelids twitched. The entire Shen City was full of hidden talent!
His gaze quickly swept over the faces of the seven people one by one.
He saw a girl with a hot figure and neat short hair; she had just been practicing a set of leg techniques, her speed so fast that it left afterimages.
He saw a boy wearing glasses who looked gentle, but the powerful mental fluctuation between his brows made Wang Pingan feel a palpitation.
There were also two identical twin brothers who were leaning against each other, looking at him with a playful expression.
But what attracted Wang Pingan's attention the most was a teenager who was silently lifting a stone lock in the corner.
The teenager was extremely burly, his muscles bulging under his training uniform, like a humanoid beast ready to pounce.
He didn't look at Wang Pingan with a scrutinizing gaze like the others.
When Wang Pingan entered, he just raised his eyelids, glanced faintly, and then continued to lower his head and lift the stone lock, which looked quite heavy.
That look was very calm.
In that calmness, however, there was a restrained, powerful aura that made people not dare to underestimate him.
Alarm bells rang in Wang Pingan's heart.
He quietly used the system scan on that teenager.
【Target: Lin Zhan】
【Realm: Second-Rank Martial Artist (Mid-stage)】
【blood qi value: 385 / 1000】
Mid-stage!
A blood qi value of 385!
Wang Pingan was shocked.
Himself, counting his breakthrough yesterday, his current blood qi value had just crossed the 300 threshold.
And this guy named Lin Zhan had actually almost reached 400!
This gap was not just a little bit.
He had thought that even if he wasn't the top tier after breaking through to the Second Rank, he could at least rank in the upper-middle.
Now it seemed he was still too naive.
In this place where all the monsters of the city were gathered, his newly broken through Second-Rank initial stage was at most an entry-level standard.
Pressure.
A huge, invisible pressure instantly enveloped him.
He quickly scanned the others.
【Target: Su Yue, Realm: Second-Rank Martial Artist (Initial stage), blood qi value: 325 / 1000】
【Target: Zhao Hao, Realm: Second-Rank Martial Artist (Initial stage), blood qi value: 340 / 1000】
...
Except for that Lin Zhan, the other six people were basically at the Second-Rank initial stage, with blood qi values between 300 and 350.
But everyone had their own focus.
The girl named Su Yue had a speed attribute clearly higher than the others.
And the guy named Zhao Hao had terrifyingly powerful mental strength.
This wasn't some genius training camp at all.
This was a monster containment facility!
Wang Pingan's heart, which had been a bit floating because of his breakthrough to the Second Rank, instantly sank.
He understood.
He had no capital to be proud of here.
His title of "School Third" was worthless here.
He took a deep breath, and his brain worked rapidly.
He remembered his plan.
"Build high walls, store grain, and delay claiming the throne."
Now it seemed this plan was tailor-made for him.
He needed a target.
An obvious strongest person who could attract fire for him.
His gaze fell on the teenager named Lin Zhan again.
It was him.
From today on, his persona would be a "late bloomer" who was gifted but had a shallow foundation and was working hard to catch up with his seniors.
His strength should improve steadily.
But always, it should be just a little bit worse than this Lin Zhan.
Not too bad, or he would be eliminated.
Not too strong, or it would arouse suspicion.
This degree had to be grasped perfectly.
Just as Wang Pingan was frantically adding drama to himself in his heart.
Instructor clapped his hands, attracting everyone's attention.
"Alright, everyone is here."
He pointed at Wang Pingan.
"This is Wang Pingan, your new companion."
"From today on, you eight are both companions and the most direct competitors."
His gaze swept over everyone's face one by one, finally resting on Wang Pingan.
"Wang Pingan, I know you, breaking through in the middle of a battle, your character is not bad."
"But."
He changed the subject.
"I don't care what kind of genius you were in school before, or what kind of first place. Once here, all your previous honors are cleared."
"Here, only strength and results matter."
"In the path of martial arts, the biggest taboo is eagerness for quick success. If the foundation is not stable, even if you are glorious for a moment, you won't go far. Only by taking every step solidly can you climb higher."
These words were impartial.
But to Wang Pingan, they were the sound of nature.
Didn't this just provide the perfect theoretical basis for his future "steady improvement"?
Instructor is really a good person!
"Alright, no more nonsense."
Instructor looked at the terminal on his wrist.
"Warm-up is over, everyone, gather in the gravity room."
"Conduct the first item, physical fitness baseline test."
"I need to know, where is the limit of each of you now."
Following Instructor's order, the seven geniuses put down the equipment in their hands and walked toward a metal building not far away.
When passing by Wang Pingan, the short-haired girl named Su Yue even provocatively raised her eyebrows at him.
The bespectacled boy named Zhao Hao pushed up his glasses, his eyes full of inquiry.
Only Lin Zhan, from beginning to end, did not look at Wang Pingan again, just silently followed at the back of the team.
Wang Pingan followed behind them, silently calculating in his heart.
How much strength should he use for the upcoming test?
Strength should be a little weaker than Lin Zhan.
But speed and reaction could show a slight advantage.
He needed to create a "technique-type genius" persona.
This way, he could both keep his ranking, not be eliminated, and reasonably hide his terrifying true trump card of infinite pay-to-win.
He looked at the broad back of Lin Zhan walking in front, and a spark of excitement that no one noticed flashed deep in his eyes.
This was where he should be.
What was the point of pecking with a bunch of losers?
If you want to play, play high-end games!
Lin Zhan, right?
Second-Rank mid-stage, right?
Just you wait.
It won't be long before I let you know what a pay-to-win player's terror is.
But before that, I'll just have to wrong you to be my "experience pack" for a while.