High Martial Arts: Grinding for the Supreme Talent

Chapter 157: Chapter 157: Signing the S-level Contract

Lin Qi knew he was no longer a nobody.

The dangers he faced would only increase as his Talent grew, so a Defense Vest was still necessary.

Spirit Potions were good, but he could buy them himself. Besides, he didn’t think his Spiritual Power was weak.

He could improve his Spiritual Power at a university.

Comparatively, the Defense Vest was more important.

With that thought, he instantly made his decision.

[A-level Defense Vest]

[You have completed your selection. The A-level Defense Vest will be delivered to your address within three days. Please fill in the delivery address!]

After Lin Qi quickly filled out the form, he logged off.

...

In the virtual hall, Lin Qi stepped out of his Virtual Cabin.

”Brother Qi, congratulations on making it into the top 16 of the Genius Competition.”

”Brother Qi, you’re a badass!” Jiangtao, Guo Heng, and a few others crowded around him.

”Lin Qi’s out!” someone shouted.

A crowd started to gather nearby, all wanting to become a familiar face to him.

Seeing the situation, Lin Qi quickly led his friends away.

...

After the Genius Competition ended, Lin Qi’s name was on the radar of many geniuses, as well as the top brass of the Red Dome Martial Arts Dojo.

In an office at headquarters, an incredibly luxurious room was decorated with a starry sky theme, its walls projecting an image of the cosmos.

Seated in the smart chair at the very center was a burly, middle-aged man with a resolute face and hair as stiff as steel needles. He watched the video projected before him and snorted coldly.

Meng Wu folded his arms, snorting as he watched the two people on the screen.

”A bunch of useless trash!”

’I originally thought Li Zehao’s Talent was decent and wanted to give him a hand, but I never expected him to be so weak. To be defeated so easily...’

”BEEP!”

Just then, another video feed projected before him, revealing an exquisite and stunning face.

It was a woman in a blue Combat Suit with a cold, aloof aura. She spoke slowly.

”I’ve heard about what happened with Lin Qi and Li Zehao. This will not happen again!”

”You violated the dojo’s principles of fairness and impartiality. If the Hall Master finds out, you know what the consequences will be.”

Meng Wu shuddered, a terrifying figure flashing through his mind. He bowed his head. ”I understand. I’ll take care of it.”

The woman opposite him nodded. ”The Hall Master has said that here, at the Red Dome Martial Arts Dojo, we must have absolute fairness.”

After the call ended, Meng Wu radiated a terrifying aura. He narrowed his eyes. ’Time for a cleanup.’

...

「The next day, outside an office on the third floor of the Red Dome Martial Arts Dojo headquarters.」

”Mr. Zhang Tai, you are suspected of gross dereliction of duty, engaging in favoritism and fraud, and conspiring with Huang Wei, Xu Bo, and others to help your nephew procure an S-level Contract. This is a serious violation of the Red Dome Martial Arts Dojo’s rules. Please come with us.”

Zhang Tai, with his square, honest-looking face, had lost all of his usual composure. His expression was filled with terror as he stared at the two burly men before him.

Zhang Tai was filled with regret. ’If only I hadn’t been so greedy,’ he thought. ’If only I hadn’t tried to rig the S-level Contract for my nephew, Li Zehao, and had just remained impartial.’

’Would things have turned out differently?’

The surrounding employees watched Zhang Tai being led away, murmuring amongst themselves.

Someone lamented, ”Group Leader Zhang used to be such an impartial person. To think he’d violate the fair selection process the Hall Master established for geniuses, and all for his nephew.”

”He doesn’t deserve any sympathy. Li Zehao was already getting excellent treatment.”

”And he still got greedy for the S-level Contract, trying to snatch it from a Top Level genius like Lin Qi, no less,” someone sneered.

As the crowd chattered, it became clear that many others were being taken away, not just at headquarters.

...

「The next day, in a small conference room.」

The white lights overhead cast a bright sheen on the dark, black tabletop.

The ten leaders of the review teams were once again gathered in the ten smart chairs, only now several familiar faces were gone, replaced by newcomers.

Presiding over the meeting was a beautiful, cool-tempered woman in a long white dress.

”Zhang Tai and the others who violated the rules have been taken away for investigation. The newcomers will be taking their places for a re-vote.”

”Please review these two files!”

At her words, everyone turned their attention to the files projected in the air.

It was a comparison of the latest combat training Points.

Lin Qi: 1,042, compared to Li Zehao’s 700.

There was also the footage of their head-to-head confrontation in the final round of the recent Genius Competition.

Even though they had all seen it several times, they couldn’t help but marvel at how vast the gap between the two was.

”And to think so many people voted for Li Zehao before,” Kelan, dressed in purple, scoffed.

”This proves that Lin Qi is the more exceptional one. If Li Zehao had taken his S-level Contract, letting Lin Qi get poached by another Martial Arts Dojo would have been our greatest loss. The Red Dome Martial Arts Dojo would have become the laughingstock of the Martial Arts Realm.”

Another man added, ”The Vice Hall Master is furious that Zhang Tai and the others had to be taken away.”

Everyone nodded. The Vice Hall Master at headquarters was on a completely different level from a Branch Hall Master in some other city.

You had to be a true Top Level expert of at least the Eighth Realm to hold that position.

The cool-tempered woman spoke. ”Let the voting begin!”

Portraits of Lin Qi and Li Zehao were projected in mid-air.

”BEEP! BEEP!!”

The results came in just a few seconds.

[Lin Qi: 10 Votes!]

[Li Zehao: 0 Votes!]

A smile graced the cool-tempered woman’s face as she announced loudly, ”The results are in.”

”Lin Qi, with a unanimous vote of 10, is officially promoted to an S-class genius!”

Everyone present broke into smiles.

...

「Celestial Sea City, Red Dome Martial Arts Dojo」

「That evening, in the Hall Master’s office.」

”BEEP!”

The office door slid open, and Lin Qi and Manager Sunx entered. A rich, aromatic scent filled the air.

On the sofa sat Yue Feng, the man in the black suit, and beside him, a woman in her early thirties with an intellectual air, dressed in a red and white uniform.

Yue Feng spoke. ”Lin Qi, allow me to introduce you. This is Contract Officer Gong Ruo from headquarters.”

Gong Ruo smiled and extended a hand.

”Hello, Lin Qi. You can call me Sister Ruo. I’ll be handling your contract upgrade.”

”Hello, Sister Ruo!”

Lin Qi reached out and shook it.

After they sat down, Manager Sunx served them freshly brewed hot tea.

Gong Ruo and Yue Feng exchanged a glance before she began to speak.

”Lin Qi, the results of the second round of voting between you and Li Zehao are in.”

”You beat Li Zehao with a 10-vote majority, successfully upgrading you to S-class.”

”Furthermore, Group Leader Zhang Tai, Huang Wei, and the others on the review team who engaged in favoritism and violated the dojo’s principles of fairness have been dealt with.”

Lin Qi couldn’t help but nod. ’I didn’t expect the Red Dome Martial Arts Dojo to move so quickly.’

’They dealt with Zhang Tai so fast.’

’I thought he would get away with it.’

’It seems so-called connections are no match for real Talent.’

”Thank you!” Lin Qi said.

”No, we should be thanking you. Our oversight nearly led to disastrous consequences. We will compensate you for it,” Gong Ruo apologized.

Lin Qi nodded, a satisfied smile on his face.

At that moment, Yue Feng took a file from Manager Sunx and placed it on the desk.

Gong Ruo also projected a large screen, displaying two words in a large, bold font.

S-level Contract

Gong Ruo pointed to the contract on the screen and began her explanation.

”The S-level Contract. Across the entire country, the Red Dome Martial Arts Dojo only signs about nine of these per year.”

”The quality of geniuses this year is particularly high, so we have ten. You are the tenth.”

”Across all Three Great Martial Arts Dojos, that’s only about 30 people in total.”

Lin Qi nodded. The number of S-class geniuses was indeed incredibly small.

Out of millions of Martial Arts Students, only 30 S-class geniuses emerged. That was one in several hundred thousand.

Even more selective than one in ten thousand.

”According to the terms of the S-level Contract, Lin Qi, you will receive a bonus of 15 million Xia Country Coins. Subtracting the 5 million you already received for your A-level Contract, that comes to a total of 10 million Xia Country Coins.”

”However, due to our oversight, we will compensate you with an additional 5 million. This means you will receive a total of 15 million Xia Country Coins,” Gong Ruo said slowly.

The corners of Lin Qi’s mouth lifted as he nodded in satisfaction.

’I’m very satisfied with this compensation.’

Gong Ruo continued, ”In addition, we will gift you 8 million worth of resources. This will be an upgrade from Red Blood Ointment to Blue Marrow Potion and Qi and Blood Pills.”

”The Qi and Blood Pills have side effects, but the Blue Marrow Potion can significantly mitigate them.”

”The two complement each other and will be a great help in raising your Qi and Blood Value.”

Lin Qi nodded to himself. ’These two resources are expensive. Having the Martial Arts Dojo provide them will save me a lot of money.’

”Additionally, you will receive a 40% discount on all resource purchases from the Red Dome Martial Arts Dojo’s online and offline stores.”

”You will also gain the eligibility to purchase rare and exotic treasures.”

Yue Feng, at his side, explained, ”Many of these rare treasures are extremely limited in quantity. You must have eligibility to even be able to purchase them.”

Lin Qi nodded, looking at the contract before him.

’Rare treasures are incredibly scarce. You need special eligibility to buy them, and that eligibility comes from either powerful strength or exceptional Talent.’

’I want to restore my dad’s left arm, and one of the things I need for that is a Potion called the Water of Rebirth.’

’I’ve searched for it on the Red Dome House before, but it always said I didn’t have the required permissions to purchase it.’

’But now I have the permissions. I just need to save up enough money, and I’ll be able to buy it.’

With that thought, he picked up the black fountain pen from the desk and signed his name on the contract with a flourish.

[Lin Qi]

He also left his palm print and digital signature on the electronic document.

Gong Ruo’s face broke into a satisfied smile.

She stood up and extended her hand.

”Lin Qi, congratulations on becoming the Red Dome Martial Arts Dojo’s 99th S-class genius.”

”CLICK!”

As Lin Qi shook her hand, the Alpha Metal Sphere hovered in the air and snapped a photo of the group.

”Lin Qi, now that you’re an S-class genius, you’re one of our own.”

”We will be your staunchest supporters.”

”If anyone dares to bully you in the future, they’ll be making an enemy of the entire Red Dome Martial Arts Dojo.”

Gong Ruo spoke with the powerful confidence of someone with a mighty organization behind her.

And all of this was thanks to the Red Dome Martial Arts Dojo.

Behind the Red Dome Martial Arts Dojo stood numerous Ninth Realm Title Level Martial Artists, and the strongest expert in the world—Emperor Red!

”That’s right. I, for one, will definitely step in!” Yue Feng laughed as well.

’As the one who discovered Lin Qi, my reward will certainly be substantial.’

A smile touched Lin Qi’s lips as he listened.

...