Chapter 63: Ghost Martial Sect

The group was stunned for a moment, then suddenly realized a more serious problem: why would they quit? Unless there were better terms!

"Tch, these two guys wouldn't have joined the First Team, would they?"

Zhou Naiyi nodded silently.

Ye Tong gave a disdainful laugh, not too surprised. During this time, the First Team hadn't been idle at all, using all sorts of little tricks to try and persuade her, only she hadn't paid them any mind; but she couldn't control others.

Meng Ye heard this too and shook his head. "Classmate Naiyi, finish handling your affairs before you come looking for me."

Meng Ye knew a little about this matter; it was the new principal's tempering plan, and he didn't want to rashly interfere.

Zhou Naiyi still felt a bit hollow inside. Originally, she had held a sliver of hope that a professor might step up. Ye Tong sensed this too, but she hadn't held any hope at all; people were only helping out of kindness, and not helping was their prerogative—one still had to rely on oneself.

The training room suddenly fell silent. They were already facing various challenges and needed a massive amount of training; now that two people were suddenly gone, what were they to do?

"How about we let Hao Ge fill in for a while?" Zuo Xiaotang suddenly said. This was, after all, an opportunity.

Ye Tong rolled her eyes. "What are you thinking? You know he can't participate in official matches, and you want him to come and make up the numbers? Isn't that just rubbing salt in his wounds?"

Zuo Xiaotang hurriedly waved his hands. "That's not what I meant."

The group fell into another silence. Ye Tong stood up. "Looks like there's no hope for today. I'm heading back first."

Wuzang and Zuo Xiaotang looked at Zhou Naiyi. Zhou Naiyi nodded slightly. "Let's leave it at that for today."

In the empty training room, Zhou Naiyi sat in loneliness. Once upon a time, she had been full of spirit, but now she was on the verge of disbanding. Facing one problem after another, she suddenly felt she was good for nothing. Reason with people? If reasoning were useful, what would the world need military academies for?

She didn't blame Xue Gang and Tang Yu. People strive for higher ground. Gao Yunfeng had given her a solid lesson. She didn't deny her own judgment; Gao Yunfeng's team had no future because it lacked cohesion and wasn't pure.

But was her own team pure?

At S10, she had seen the Moon's team, seen the Mars team, and even the Titan team. That soaring, high-spirited morale, that indomitable desire to pursue victory even by unscrupulous means—it all made her incredibly envious, which was why she wanted a team like that.

When she received support from Long Danni, she felt even more that fate was favoring her, but what was this now...

It wasn't that she wasn't working hard, but she didn't even know what to do. Should she beg?

Even if the people came back, what would this team be?

She wasn't doing this to be a Team Leader; she hoped Tianjing Mecha could have a team full of fighting spirit, one that fought for honor.

Perhaps she wasn't suited to be a Team Leader at all. Without realizing it, she had walked to the EMP Building, but Zhou Naiyi had no desire to fight today. She stood in the hall, staring blankly at the big screen.

"Ladies and gentlemen, the Puppet God is online! After much anticipation, he finally appears!" Zhuang Zhou roared with enthusiasm.

There is a type of person who, the moment they appear, carries their own burning buff. Almost everyone who had watched a Puppet God match instinctively switched over.

The EMP Hall at Tianjing Mecha also switched to the live broadcast of Puppet's match. Tianjing Mecha didn't really have any live streams worth showing off, and experts like Gao Yunfeng weren't willing to make their combat processes public. At the very least, Zhuang Zhou, who had some connection, was still a person from Tianjing Mecha.

Before long, the hall was packed with people. Zhou Naiyi was also in the crowd, watching everyone discuss things heatedly and wait with enthusiasm. This feeling was exactly what she wanted, yet it was the cohesion she couldn't achieve.

Her Skycom rang. It was a text message from Xue Gang apologizing, and at the same time, he told her a piece of information: Huo Ying from the First Team had been eliminated. Actually, he just had a somewhat irritable temper and was a bit scatterbrained, but he had the strength; as a Heavy Armor Mecha Warrior, he was absolutely qualified.

Zhou Naiyi certainly knew this was an opportunity. She had once been a member of the First Team. Huo Ying was a junior this year and was absolutely the most promising person in the number one position at Tianjing Mecha, but his personality was also quite problematic. Even Gao Yunfeng couldn't control him; he would frequently miss training and liked to bark orders blindly. He was a ticking time bomb in the locker room. If it weren't for S10, Gao Yunfeng would have fired him long ago; dragging it out until now was just waiting for the right person.

Zhou Naiyi opened her Skycom friend list. Who in the class could help in an emergency? The few with relatively high EMP scores, or those who were strong in individual categories—who else was there?

As Class Monitor, she had all her classmates as friends. Most students would open their scores to her, so she knew Li Hao was dead last, while Zuo Xiaotang's shooting accuracy was super strong.

...???

1568 points???

Who is this? How could there be someone with such a high score in her own class?

School hadn't been open for long; could it be Wuzang?

... Why was there an 'S' symbol next to it that looked so conspicuous? This was something only obtained after receiving an S-level test certification.

S-level?

... Li Hao?????

Li Hao entered the ranking, stretched his back, and then pressed his palms together with a 'clap'. "Amituo, brother, give me someone fierce. Ma-mi-ma-mi-hong~~~~"

ID: Luomakencuo Huoyun Jiwu

Bang...

Huonan slammed his palm down, startling Zhuang Zhou. Looking at the opponent's posture... what was this? Was this going to be a full-blown brawl?

"Brothers, brothers, open your eyes! The main course is finally here! I don't know if you've heard of the 'Five Families, Four Streams, Three Sects' saying. The USE has the so-called Ancient Martial Five Great Families, the NUP has the Modern Four Great Mecha Martial Streams, and our ROM is the strongest Three Sects formed by gathering many advantages in a harsh environment: the Ghost Martial Sect, the Wolf Martial Sect, and the Secret Martial Sect. Let me grandly introduce to you: Sa Wutian, a freshman at Huoyun Military Academy, ROM Supernova, heir to the Ghost Martial Sect, a Supernova!" Huonan looked enlightened. He had been waiting for this day for a long time; finally, someone with weight had come to kill this kid.

Don't blame Huonan for being smug; the Mars Three Sects were just too fierce. Unlike the low-key and reclusive style of the Earth Ancient Martial Families, the Mars Three Sects were exceptionally high-profile and adopted strict disciple selection and inheritance. The three major sects also had deep-rooted influence on Mars. When the Solar System was selecting for the Tianqi Youth Class, it was almost entirely swept up by the three sects.

As the young master of the Ghost Martial Sect, Sa Wutian's level was naturally top-tier. Although the Mars Three Sects were arrogant, they couldn't exist without ability. Sa Wutian was also one of the most anticipated Supernovas from Mars this year.

Sa Wutian hadn't expected to be matched with an internet celebrity, but his teammates hurriedly reminded him. He didn't care about the 'Puppet' thing, but recently even he had heard of a challenger from the backward Earth who was exceptionally arrogant, especially since he didn't respect the great ROM.

Zhuang Zhou also choked. A person's name is like the shadow of a tree; the Mars Three Sects were indeed fierce, and their fighting style was reckless—they were the real deal. And he had heard of this guy's name too; it seemed he had beaten someone to death during training in the sect. He was quite brutal. Mars wasn't as reasonable as Earth and the Moon.

But even if you lose the match, don't lose your spirit. Besides, he was a streamer... who was he afraid of!

"Old Nan, don't be so smug. Haven't you suffered enough losses before? Puppet God's strength no longer needs proof, and there are very weighty Supernovas among his opponents..."

"Little Zhuang, can this be the same? Even among Supernovas, there are differences." Huonan didn't hide his contempt at all.

The two streamers went back and forth. Actually, it wasn't all just for the show; it was more about the Martian mindset. Could those old foxes from Earth compare to the great Martians?

The popularity of their two live streams had already reached over nine million, indicating they already possessed considerable appeal. And the most critical thing was the number of VIPs—that is, those who paid for holographic viewing within the EMP system and accepted their live commentary. This was the most weighty metric.

It had already exceeded one million.

This was a significant amount of support. Usually, it was good enough if a few hundred thousand people were willing to pay, and clearly, everyone wanted to see the big battle in this match. Sa Wutian's popularity on Mars was much fiercer than Puppet's. Staring at the title of Ghost Martial Sect young master and Supernova, he was highly visible, and his previous battles were all crushing victories. Compared to Wuzang's low profile, his personality was the most extroverted of the extroverted—aggressive and flamboyant, nicknamed "Lawless".

At this time, among the VIP audience, the number of people with over 1000 EMP points had clearly increased. In terms of quality ratio, the proportion of high scores was definitely among the best, which meant that most military academy students believed Puppet's battles had great reference value.

The Mars Mecha and Cougar sides were almost fixed; as long as they could catch the live broadcast of a Puppet match, they would definitely watch it, even Luo Bi, who had just been beaten and had finally recovered a little—his body still hurt, but the second brother's match had to be watched.

The Ghost Martial Sect was a rather disgusting sect, known for its grueling physical training, emphasizing the transcendence of human limits—the kind of lunatics with muscles of steel and bones of iron who would keep their eyes open even in death. In terms of weapons, they were skilled with blades.

"Sa Wutian is outstanding even among Supernovas, at least stronger than Wuzang."

"His basic skills are actually about the same, both very solid, but he is more ruthless than Wuzang. In the pursuit of limits, Mars does better."

"Let's see how Puppet handles it. Most people's matches are just sparring, but when you compete with the Ghost Martial Sect, every match is a life-or-death struggle."

The match was suspended???

"Everyone, wait a moment, wait a moment, there is a situation. The official announcement is out: contestant Sa Wutian has requested Reality Mode." Huonan's voice was filled with a sense of pride and excitement; that's right, it is one hundred percent Reality Mode, which is very easy to get injured in, but Martian men are not afraid.

In training, Reality Mode is used most by Martians, followed by Titans, and third by the Moon; the Earth side uses it the least, and it is no news that Earthlings are afraid of death, though from another perspective, this is called being steady.

Zhou Naiyi stood quietly in the crowd, listening to the noisy people around her; at this moment, they were definitely all standing on the side of the Puppet. The Martians were too arrogant—what the hell, why should they be able to use Reality Mode just because they want to? Everyone knew the Puppet had fought his way up from the Xuni Qu, and his body's tolerance for pain was certainly not as good as that of the Martian side; this kind of mode change easily causes psychological pressure and deformation of movements.

Zhou Naiyi was also watching; if it were her, she would definitely refuse.

"Naiyi, do you think he will agree?" Gao Yunfeng had walked to Zhou Naiyi's side without her noticing.