"I am the captain of Squad One, Ye Zi."
The other captains all focused their attention on this woman, not only because of her cold, sharp demeanor, but also because, in most people's eyes, even without an explicit rule, Squad One was always implicitly the strongest, at least its captain.
After Ye Zi finished her self-introduction, Bai Mo, who had been holding a laptop all this time, naturally put it down, stood up and smiled as he introduced himself to everyone.
"Hello everyone, I am Bai Mo, deputy captain of Squad One."
Under the chilling aura of the main captain, Bai Mo, being merely a deputy captain, seemed to have no discernible presence.
However, no one was so blind as to mock him. Everyone knew that anyone chosen by the higher-ups to be a captain was no simple character.
Moreover, the chillingly formidable captain of Squad One was still right there. If they were to mock him, that woman, for the sake of her reputation, would have to support her own deputy captain. There was no need to create enemies the moment they arrived.
...
After the twenty individuals had introduced themselves one by one, they began to discuss matters concerning the competition.
"We don't need to concern ourselves with the squabbles of those idiots. They can't threaten us anyway. I believe anyone standing here could take on five of them without breaking a sweat. They simply don't understand the gap between us," Yun Jie said, idly playing with his fingernails.
Having fought his way through over the past two months, he had gained a deep understanding of the others' capabilities.
"No matter what, they'll be our subordinates eventually. Is it really good to be so blunt?" the captain of Squad Six said with a laugh, though he seemed to have no objection to the 'idiots' assessment.
"Let's not ramble on about these useless things. Let's just go up and have a spar first," the deputy captain of Squad Three, dressed in training attire, said.
"Just by looking at you, you're a battle maniac. Were you a martial artist before?" Rong Jingya, the deputy captain of Squad Two, asked.
"I started practicing martial arts at eight years old, and it's been over fifteen years now. The person I admire most now is the one who created the Martial Edict, to think they could integrate martial arts and spirit qi cultivation into one.
If I get the chance, I definitely want to visit this author. Unfortunately, the higher-ups are still keeping this person's identity a secret, so I can't get his information right now."
Hearing someone mention the Martial Edict, Bai Mo's attention also focused on the deputy captain of Squad Three. Though strictly speaking, he wasn't really the author of the Martial Edict, just the one responsible for organizing it into written form.
The original authors all unanimously agreed that the Martial Edict should be made public to the entire society, rather than becoming a private collection of some small circle. Bai Mo naturally thought of publishing it directly online.
As for casually uploading it to ZD Novel Network and then buying 'water armies' to push it to the forefront, that originated from two bets Bai Mo had discussed online several years ago.
The first bet was him discussing with other fellow readers online whether, as long as one had money to manipulate and operate, anything written, no matter how bad, could become popular.
The second bet was about the content of the book itself: would anyone actually manage to cultivate something real just by relying on the fantastical concepts from an online novel.
...
"Good thing I set it to auto-update daily before I went to Ukraine, and stuffed the first ten thousand characters of the Martial Edict manuscript into the backend, updating a hundred characters every day..." Bai Mo thought to himself.
Huaxia ultimately did not reveal the true author of the Martial Edict to the public. Instead, they only allowed the information to circulate within the upper echelons. As for Bai Mo's existence, not a single word was mentioned.
The four people had very deep backgrounds; they were not minor figures who could be treated casually. Especially Hua Taishan, whose brother Hua Changjiang was only half a step away from the pinnacle of power in Huaxia.
"Captain Chen Sen, may we spar a bit? I am also a cultivator of the Martial Edict, and I'd like to discuss it with others who practice the same," Liang Zhendao, the captain of Squad Ten, asked the deputy captain of Squad Three.
"Yes," Chen Sen agreed without hesitation.
"There's a show to watch now," the deputy captain of Squad Ten, a little girl of about ten, said, waving to everyone.
Neither of them had yet formed a Life Field, and both were martial artists who had trained since childhood. Furthermore, they both cultivated the Martial Edict, and their spirit energy conversion rates were also similar. In the eyes of others, this would not be a one-sided battle.
The other captains were also very interested in the combat strength of those around them. One by one, they stepped forward to watch the excitement.
The group ascended to the top-floor combat testing room. Chen Sen and Liang Zhendao walked into the combat arena, while the others watched from the spectator area.
"Twenty meters high, that's about enough. Please begin," Liang Zhendao said, looking at the ceiling, and cupped his hands in greeting towards Chen Sen.
With that, Liang Zhendao soared directly into the air. His body seemed to find purchase in the air as if treading on solid ground. He instantly leaped to a height of ten meters, and then continuously circled above Chen Sen's head, creating pressure.
"This is even more unreasonable than the qinggong in wuxia novels! To be able to gain leverage directly from the air, it'd be very troublesome to face an opponent like this without long-range attacks." Although it was their first meeting, Liang Gong still worried for his deputy captain from the sidelines. After all, this also represented the face of their squad.
"However, seeing that Liang Zhendao needs to constantly move, one can guess he can't stay still in one spot for long; otherwise, he wouldn't constantly be moving, and should be staying aloft to reduce stamina consumption. And constantly using his ability to move in the air should consume a significant amount of energy. So, a strategy of 'using stillness to counter movement' and outlasting him should be feasible," Hong Qi, the deputy captain of Squad Six, replied.
"Let's first see how Chen Sen responds," Rong Jingya interjected.
He didn't choose to use stillness to counter movement; instead, he actively attacked. Using a martial artist's force generation techniques, he instantly leaped to nearly eight meters high, directly below Liang Zhendao, and then made a punching motion.
Everyone around them was a little bewildered, and even Liang Zhendao didn't react in time to understand what Chen Sen was trying to do.
"Why is he making a punching motion in mid-air? There's still a full two meters of straight-line distance between us. He shouldn't have the ability to gain leverage in the air like I do.
Not good! He definitely has a long-range attack, it's just that the attack range isn't enough!"
Realizing something was wrong, Liang Zhendao quickly jumped away. Unfortunately, he was still a step too slow. He felt as if he'd been hit by a pile driver and was instantly sent flying several meters. Thankfully, he managed to dodge the vital points, so he didn't lose too much combat power.
Chen Sen didn't press the advantage either.
"I concede," Chen Sen said, cupping his hands at Liang Zhendao after descending from mid-air. "Let's not compete with abilities; it feels too illusory. Pure fisticuffs, that's what truly feels impactful; that's a battle between martial artists!"
"Good!"
"What Chen Sen just displayed should be an ability similar to qigong, right?" everyone said in unison.
"However, it seems neither side has revealed all their trump cards; they're both holding back. Liang Zhendao only suffered a minor disadvantage due to insufficient information, and Chen Sen's qigong also seems to be holding back its true power; its lethality should be far more than that."
"Let's keep watching the fight; this is exciting enough."
Bai Mo, meanwhile, silently analyzed the physical structures of both individuals, deducing their true strength.
Both had cultivated the Martial Edict, prioritizing the strengthening of their motor systems. Combined with their backgrounds as martial artists, every punch they threw at this moment delivered tons of force. Every exchange of blows caused violent collisions in the surrounding air.
"Boom! Boom! Boom!" Like two tyrannosauruses in battle, the two began a close-quarters brawl within a very small area. The floor's resistant material was directly pulverized under their violent impacts, and dust permeated everywhere.
The melee lasted for nearly five minutes, and then both sides, with a tacit understanding, ceased fighting. After all, it wasn't a death match where a clear winner had to be decided, and both sides merely went as far as necessary.
"I concede!"
"I concede!"
"The good show is over. Does anyone else want to go up and try a few moves?" the little girl from Squad Ten asked, as if eager to stir up trouble.