Chapter 1 A Skyscraper in Peng Hai City

Inside a towering skyscraper in Peng Hai City.

Cheng Zihao was lying on his gaming chair, wearing virtual reality glasses, when a knock sounded at 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 entered, he first closed the door, and then said with a slightly ingratiating tone, "Boss, the Xingkong Fighting Arena in Binhai City has decided to fire Xu Jingming. I contacted Xu Jingming with a different account, but Xu Jingming blocked me again."

"He's really decisive." Cheng Zihao, who had fair skin, smiled. "Li Miaomiao blocked me, and Xu Jingming blocked us too. These two are really interesting. Is this what they call a love stronger than gold? Hahaha... How interesting. By the way, what about Li Yuanping? He's Li Miaomiao's uncle."

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

"How useless."

Cheng Zihao frowned slightly. "Is this Li Miaomiao really different from other singers? Is she really that indifferent to fame and fortune?"

"She's even switched live-streaming platforms. Her latest live stream was on the microcosm platform," the middle-aged man said helplessly. "Moreover, she has never signed a long-term contract with our platform. She only live streams once a month and has never cared about making money from live streaming. She's very zen. Boss, what should 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 possibly get them all." Cheng Zihao shook his head. "Li Miaomiao's matter ends here for now. But continue to keep an eye on her... People change. I don't believe she'll always be indifferent to fame and fortune."

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

"If she becomes snobbish in a few years, I may not even look at her," Cheng Zihao said indifferently. "You can leave."

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

Cheng Zihao's virtual reality glasses switched back to immersive mode. To him, Li Miaomiao was just a small ripple in his life. He had never really cared about her.

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

"How come Tiger Shark's stock price fell by 8% today? I haven't seen any negative news?" Cheng Zihao couldn't understand it. It was rare for such a large-cap stock like Tiger Shark Group to have such a large drop.

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

The family's largest asset was 8.2% of Tiger Shark Group's stock, so he certainly cared. However, according to family rules, his personal property had no connection with Tiger Shark Group. As for the sharp drop in Tiger Shark Group's stock? His father, Cheng Liwei, had controlled the group for more than thirty years, and Cheng Zihao still had confidence in his father's abilities.

******

Beijing, inside a Chinese-style villa. Besides a butler robot, only one old man lived in the entire villa.

The burly old man was at the dining table, eating a few cloves of garlic and gnawing on beef, also eating a few bites of boiled vegetables.

He was none other than the legendary figure in the world of martial arts—'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. One should know 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 elderly contestant.

He made it into the top three in all five consecutive competitions, and even won first place in the fifth! 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 last thirty years could compare to him. In terms of seniority, he was the oldest; most of the top professional martial arts athletes in Xia country had to call him Master!

Now in his seventies, Liu Hai still spent half a year in seclusion every year, cultivating diligently.

For example, when eating, he ate 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.

"Hm?" Liu Hai had a pair of tiger eyes that exuded dominance. Dominance was mysterious to talk about, as it was a powerful biomagnetic field brought about by a strong physique. Liu Hai, who was one meter ninety-two in height and weighed one hundred and ten kilograms, was able to make it into the top three in the first five World Martial Arts Competitions, when the rules were at their least refined, and was never injured, which showed that his body and skills had reached an astonishing level.

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

"Fang Xinglong," Liu Hai called out.

Fang Xinglong's image appeared on the light screen. Fang Xinglong respectfully said, "Master, I thought about it all night yesterday and couldn't think of any other way, so I told Master about this. My junior brother entered the provincial team in high school and has been like an ascetic monk all these years, focusing solely on martial arts. Who would have thought that Cheng Zihao would come to bully him? My junior brother wouldn't say much in front of me, but I heard that it seems to be related to my junior brother's girlfriend."

"The affairs of love are really annoying. So many young people ruin their futures because of love," Liu Hai shook his head. At his age of seventy-odd, he still went into seclusion for half a year every year, seeing no one.

Love and worldliness would only affect the speed of his moves!

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

"He's a big business group. What can I do? Let me think about it first. Don't worry about this matter," Liu Hai said.

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

The light screen closed.

Liu Hai sat there, thinking while gnawing on cooked beef, only to find that the beef in his mouth had lost its flavor.

"Jingming's physique is still too weak. If he had trained his physique for three more 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 when he entered the World Martial Arts Competition, he would have a chance to take first place in the world. Taking first place in the world would have been glorious, and he wouldn't have been forced into this situation." Liu Hai thought. He was just a martial artist, and it wasn't easy for him to help his disciple.

"Old 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 a person of high standing and great 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.

"Old Guo, that national key cultivation list." Liu Hai put down the beef in his hand. "Don't I have a recommendation quota? After thinking about it, 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 in total! You martial arts masters occupy twelve spots. Other fighting styles occupy five spots. There are only three spots left. If Xu Jingming wants to compete for these three spots... to be honest, his qualifications are a bit low."

"Jingming is only twenty-nine years old this year, and he has great potential. Moreover, he was seriously injured and could still make it to the top eight in the World Martial Arts Competition. If he didn't have a leg injury, he could definitely compete 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 received the title of martial arts master. Only Jingming and Xiao Tong are a little regrettable. Xiao Tong has already given up martial arts, but Jingming has never given up over the years. He's been consistent day after day. Just this mentality alone makes him more worthy of cultivation."

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

"Okay," Liu Hai nodded.

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

"The higher-ups said it's a great thing, but they didn't reveal the 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 will be an opportunity."

Liu Hai's concept was very simple. His disciple was in trouble?

If the disciple himself became strong, the trouble would disappear, and it might even become the other party's trouble!