Chapter 1 The Beginning

Peng Hai City, inside a towering skyscraper.

Cheng Zihao was lying in a gaming chair, wearing virtual reality glasses, when suddenly there was a knock on the office door.

"Come in." Cheng Zihao switched his virtual reality glasses to reality mode and looked at the middle-aged man who walked in from outside the door.

After the middle-aged man came in, he first closed the door, and then said with a slightly ingratiating tone, "Boss, the Xingkong Arena in Binhai City has decided to fire Xu Jingming. I contacted Xu Jingming with another account, but Xu Jingming blacklisted me again."

"He's really decisive." Cheng Zihao, who had fair skin, smiled and said, "Li Miaomiao blacklisted me, and Xu Jingming also blacklisted us. Those two are really interesting. Is this what they call a love that is stronger than gold? Hahaha… This is really interesting. By the way, what about Li Yuanping? He is Li Miaomiao's uncle.”

"Li Yuanping personally went to Li Miaomiao's parents, but Li Miaomiao's parents obviously agreed with Xu Jingming as their son-in-law and kicked Li Yuanping out," the middle-aged man said.

"Really useless."

Cheng Zihao frowned slightly, "Is this Li Miaomiao really different from other singers? Does she really not care about fame and fortune?"

"She has even changed live-streaming platforms. Her latest live stream was on the virtual world," the middle-aged man said helplessly. "Moreover, she has never signed a long-term contract with our platform. She only streams once a month and has never cared about making money from streaming. She's very Buddhist. Boss, what do we do next?"

"Li Miaomiao and Xu Jingming are both public figures, and their attitudes are so firm. Forget it, there are many things I like in this world, and I can't get them all." Cheng Zihao shook his head. "Li Miaomiao's matter will end here for the time being, but continue to pay attention to her… People change. I don't believe that she will never care about fame and fortune."

"Yes." The middle-aged man nodded and smiled, "She may be young, and may not care about fame and fortune now that she is in her early twenties, but after a few years, after experiencing the beatings of society and realizing the importance of fame and fortune, she may change."

"If she becomes snobbish after a few years, I may not be interested in her anymore," Cheng Zihao said indifferently. "Leave."

"Yes." The middle-aged man respectfully left.

Cheng Zihao's virtual reality glasses switched to immersive mode again. For him, Li Miaomiao was just a small ripple in his life, and he had never taken her to heart.

In immersive mode, a huge stock market screen appeared. Cheng Zihao watched it, as the capital market was what he truly cared about.

"The Tiger Shark's stock price, why has it fallen by 8% today? I haven't found any bad news?" Cheng Zihao couldn't understand. It was rare for a super large-cap stock like Tiger Shark Group to have such a large drop.

"Dad ordered that, in order to diversify risks, all my investments are prohibited from touching Tiger Shark Group. Let Dad worry about it." Cheng Zihao didn't think much about it.

The family's largest asset was 8.2% of Tiger Shark Group's stock, so of course he cared. However, according to family rules, his personal property had nothing to do with Tiger Shark Group. As for the sharp drop in Tiger Shark Group's stock price? His father, Cheng Liwei, had controlled the group for more than thirty years, and Cheng Zihao still had great faith in his father's ability.

******

Beijing, inside a Chinese-style villa. Apart from a butler robot, only an old man lived in the entire villa.

The burly old man was at the dining table, eating a few cloves of garlic, and then taking big bites of beef. He also ate a few bites of boiled vegetables.

He was the legendary figure in the world martial arts circle – 'Fierce Tiger' Liu Hai.

He participated in the first World Martial Arts Competition at the age of forty-five, competing with experts from all over the world. It should be known that only the top 32 in the world were qualified to participate! Most of the participants were around thirty years old, so Liu Hai was definitely considered an older competitor.

He made it to the top five times in a row, all in the top three, and even won first place in the fifth competition! He served as the head coach of the Xia country's national team for a full twenty years!

In terms of legend, only two martial arts experts in Xia country in the past thirty years could compare with him. In terms of seniority, he was the oldest. Most of Xia country's top professional martial arts athletes had to call him Master!

Now in his seventies, Liu Hai still spends half a year in seclusion every year, practicing hard.

For example, for meals, he eats five meals a day, mainly beef, supplemented by vegetables and other side dishes. There was no way around it, with his training intensity, he couldn't withstand eating less.

"Hmm?" Liu Hai had a pair of tiger eyes, exuding domineering aura. Domineering might sound mysterious, but it was a powerful biomagnetic field brought about by a powerful physique. Liu Hai, who was 1.92 meters tall and weighed 110 kilograms, was able to make it to the top three in the first five World Martial Arts Competitions, where the rules were not yet perfect, and was never injured, which showed that his body and skills had reached an astonishing level.

"What is this?" Liu Hai looked at the information displayed on the light screen in front of him and widened his eyes. "This little bastard, is he bullying my disciple?"

"Fang Xinglong." Liu Hai called out.

Fang Xinglong's image appeared on the light screen, and Fang Xinglong respectfully said, "Master, I thought about it all night yesterday, and I really couldn't think of any other way, so I told you this. Junior Brother entered the provincial team in high school and has been like an ascetic monk for so many years, focusing on martial arts. Who would have thought that Cheng Zihao would still come to bully him? Junior Brother is unwilling to say much in front of me. I found out that it seems to be related to Junior Brother's girlfriend."

"Love, love, love, is really annoying. How many young people ruin their future because of love, love, love." Liu Hai shook his head. Like him, who was over seventy years old, still secluded himself for half a year every year and saw no one.

Love and worldly affairs would only affect the speed of his moves!

"Master, do you have a way to deal with Junior Brother's matter?" Fang Xinglong asked. He knew that his master had a very large network of connections.

"People are a large commercial group, what can I do? Let me think about it first, don't worry about this matter." Liu Hai said.

"Yes, Master, I will listen to you." Fang Xinglong responded.

The light screen closed.

Liu Hai sat there, thinking while gnawing on cooked beef, only to feel that the beef in his mouth had no taste.

"Jingming's kid is still too weak. If he had trained his physique for another three years, and then entered the World Martial Arts Competition… he wouldn't have broken his leg and ruined his future." Liu Hai sighed inwardly, "His marksmanship talent is too high, and his world ranking improved too quickly. Entering the World Martial Arts Competition too early harmed him instead."

Reaching the highest level of the World Martial Arts Competition at the age of twenty was still too young.

"With his talent, if he were twenty-three or twenty-four years old, and then entered the World Martial Arts Competition, he would have a chance to win first place in the world. Winning a world first place, in glory, wouldn't have been forced into this situation." Liu Hai thought. He was just a martial artist, and it wasn't easy to help his disciple.

"Lao Guo." Liu Hai called out.

A light screen condensed in front of him, and a figure appeared in the light screen. It was an old man with white hair sitting at a desk.

"Hai-ge, what's the matter?" The white-haired old man was also in a high position of power, but he still respected Liu Hai, who was three years younger than him, and even called him 'Hai-ge'. The two had been friends for decades.

"Lao Guo, that national key cultivation list." Liu Hai put down the beef in his hand. "Don't I have a recommendation spot? I thought about it, and I'm going to recommend Xu Jingming."

"Xu Jingming?" The white-haired old man thought for a moment and said, "You have the recommendation qualification, but it still has to go through review in the end. There are only twenty people on this list! You martial arts masters occupy twelve of them. Other fighting styles also occupy five. There are only three spots left, and Xu Jingming wants to compete for these three spots… To be honest, he's a bit low on qualifications."

"Jingming is only twenty-nine years old this year, and he has great potential. Moreover, he was able to reach the top eight in the World Martial Arts Competition with a serious leg injury. If he didn't have a leg injury, he could have completely aimed for first place in the world," Liu Hai said.

"We know what you said, but I must tell you that his chances of competing for the three spots are relatively low. Are you sure you want to recommend him?" the white-haired old man asked.

"Most of the disciples I've been most optimistic about over the years have won the top three in the world and have been awarded the title of Martial Arts Master. Only Jingming and Xiao Tong are a bit of a pity. Xiao Tong has long given up martial arts, but Jingming has never given up over the years. He has been consistent for many years. Just this state of mind is more worthy of cultivation."

"Okay, Hai-ge, you quickly write a detailed letter of recommendation, the sooner the better, preferably send it to me today, so I can send it to the selection committee members above," the white-haired old man said. "As for whether it will be successful or not, it still has to go through the final review above."

"Okay." Liu Hai nodded.

After the light screen dissipated, Liu Hai continued to gnaw on the beef, thinking: "In the past World Martial Arts Competitions, Xia country has won the top three a total of twelve times! Among these twelve, the oldest is me, and there is one disabled person, several who are out of shape, and even one with cancer. But all twelve of these are included in the cultivation list. Disability, cancer, old age, can they all be cultivated?"

"The higher-ups said that it's a great thing, but they didn't reveal any details."

"I don't know what kind of great thing it is," Liu Hai thought. "If Jingming can also become a member of the list, it can be considered an opportunity."

Liu Hai's views were very simple. His disciple encountered trouble?

If the disciple himself becomes strong, the trouble will disappear, and even become the other party's trouble!