"Lu Chen, did you know? There are about to be some new changes patched into Heavenblessed"s server," Lin Yixin said as she busied herself with summoning more elves.
I was hugging the Heaven-stealing Sword to my chest and leaning against a tree branch behind her when she had spoken up. I lazily stared at her back and smiled. "Oh? What changes?"
Lin Yixin immediately turned around to look at me before replying, "Arenas are going to be opened in the three main cities of Heavenblessed. Players can engage in various types of battles in these arenas and experience will be rewarded to each player according to their weekly ranking. There"s no limit to how many matches you can partic.i.p.ate in each day and the final score you achieve will eventually become another representation of your strength in the game."
"Oh? Why does that matter? I mean we still have to level up and get stronger anyway."
"It matters because partic.i.p.ating sponsors will soon be organizing tournaments for players and there will be prizes to be won. These tournaments will be held in these new arenas and will follow their format. Basically, the company that wants to organize the tournament will have to agree to foot the bill for it before approaching the Eternal Moon Corporation and asking them to approve and send a tournament invite. Once they have obtained approval, they will be allowed to organize an officially-sanctioned offline tournament. This also means that this game is about to enter the era of official sponsors.h.i.+p."
After she said that, a sweet smile appeared on her face. "Moreover, these sponsors won"t only consist of gaming companies. There will be real estate companies, electronics companies, and software companies trying to gain a foothold in Heavenblessed as well. They will also be organizing their own teams to enter these compet.i.tions, and they will basically be using these teams to advertise their products. So, as the crème de la crème of players in China, we might not merely be earning money from selling equipment."
"Oh?" I chuckled before replying, "Then that means there"ll be an untold amount of gaming clubs forming soon."
"That"s right!"
Lin Yixin nodded her head and continued, "The new arenas will be opening up in all the major cities at 1 pm tomorrow. We will only have to pay a fee of 1 gold to partic.i.p.ate in a compet.i.tion, basically an afterthought to us, so we need to work hard and get our ranking up."
"Got it." I chuckled again. "Now that arenas are about to be introduced into the game, things are going to get interesting. We need to work hard and make sure our arena points are above people like Candlelight Shadow and Farewell Song!"
"That"s right!" Lin Yixin said with a sweet smile. "The moment our arena points are high enough, gaming clubs will start approaching you. Once you join a gaming club and start taking part in offline tournaments, you"ll start to earn quite a lot of RMB. This is especially true for CGL Hall of Famers like us. If we join a promising gaming club, our monthly income won"t dip below 1 million!"
"That much, huh…" I was practically drooling at this point.
"Mn!" Lin Yixin pursed her lips and stared at me for a while. After that, she suddenly said, "There"s a bullfrog dry pot restaurant that just opened near my school. Let"s have lunch there tomorrow. I mean, I feel like I haven"t seen you in while."
"Alright, it"s my treat!"
"Okay! Let"s meet at 11 in the morning tomorrow. After we eat, we"ll need to go online and fight those placement matches in the arena."
"I"ll see you tomorrow then!"
……
After I said my goodbyes to Lin Yixin, I took a peek at my own experience bar. I only needed 13% more to hit Level 130. This confirmed my plans. I would use the rest of the evening to level up to 130 before I went to challenge the arena!
I went to my favorite hunting ground, Dragonbone Mountain Range, and managed to find a training spot somewhere near its peak. I would grind Level 140 shadow-rank Wild Bulls here. They were easy to kill and they gave me a decent amount of experience as well. In fact, they were so easy to farm that I could browse the forums while I killed them.
As expected, Lin Yixin really did pay more attention to the official announcements than I did. When I opened up the official webpage, it had a very eye-catching banner running across it which bore the words: "The arenas are about to open! The era of heroes has arrived!"
After I clicked on that banner and it went to a page that provided the details of the new arenas.
Champion arena: This arena will follow a 1v1 format and all players are free to partic.i.p.ate. Every match will last ten minutes and your opponent will be randomly selected from the players ranked 100 places above or below you. You will earn points for every win, and lose points for every loss. Your total points will determine your ranking.
Team arena: This arena will follow a 2v2 format and you will need a team of two players to partic.i.p.ate in this tournament. Each match will last for ten minutes and it will follow the same random matchmaking system as the champion arena.
Oh, so these arenas were divided into two formats, champion arena and team arena. I need to find a proper teammate for the team arena! It honestly looks pretty fun.
Hm, Lil Beiming would be a decent choice. I"d charge forward and tank the hits, and my lifesteal and Tenacity of the Dead should be able to keep me alive even without a priest. As the party leader, my Martial G.o.d would also be more effective in this situation and it would boost Beiming Xue"s incredible attack as well. Yeah, let"s go with this.
However, I wouldn"t worry too much about the team arena first. I had to get my ranking in the champion arena up first! I didn"t have to be number one, but I absolutely couldn"t drop out of the Top 10!
……
I opened up the guild channel, and just as I expected, the introduction of these arenas had gotten everyone all hot and bothered.
Xu Yang: "Wahaha, the arenas have finally made an appearance. I"ve decided that I won"t do anything but partic.i.p.ate in arena battles tomorrow afternoon. I"m gonna rush straight into the Top 100!"
Li Chengfeng sighed: "The Top 100 in the China server? Hah, I think it might be a little difficult for you, Brother Yang! You"ll need to work hard!"
Gui Guzi let out a guffaw of laughter: "Alright, this arena mode has really come at a suitable time. I just learned Barrier Break so I"m searching for a teammate! I want a top rider to party up with me! It has to be a player who can ride a mount!"
He Yi: "I"m partying up with Murong Mingyue. Gui Guzi, you"ll have to find someone else."
Eighteen Steeds of You and Yun: "Brother Gui, carry me! I"m a strong earth wanderer!"
Gui Guzi: "Alright! Us bros shall form a team! Let"s focus on the champion arena in the afternoon before we try the team arena at night!"
Eighteen Steeds of You and Yun: "Okay!"
Chaos Moon decided to try her luck: "Umm, I really want to partner up with our handsome vice guild leader! Lu Chen?"
I coughed in embarra.s.sment: "Ahem. Actually… I already decided to party up with Beiming Xue. I"m sorry Chaos Moon, you"ll have to find someone else…"
Chaos Moon: "Sigh. My heart aches for an unrequited love…"
I didn"t know what to say in response.
Beiming Xue giggled and said: "Big sis Chaos Moon, why don"t you partner up with Xu Yang? He has Barrier Break, you know! So powerful!"
Chaos Moon: "I"m not in a rush to find a partner. He"ll be my spare tire in case I can"t find anyone else."
Xu Yang: "Spare tire..."
Everyone burst out in the laughter at that point. Teams were starting to form all over the main guild as we prepared to take on the team arena. This was a new hope for everyone. The moment these corporations started to enter the game, it would mean that there would be more ways for players to earn money! As long as our skills were decent, it would definitely be able to put food on the table.
……
I continued to grind until 3 in the morning before a beam of golden light erupted from my character. I had successfully reached Level 130! I was now one step closer to my goal of Level 150.
Mn, once I reached Level 150, it would be time for me to enjoy my days as a mounted player too! Once I got a suitable mount, it would be the beginning of my glory days!
I went offline, took a bath, and went to bed.
I sank into a deep slumber the moment my head hit the pillow. By the time I woke up, it was already past ten in the morning. I hurriedly leaped out of bed and sent a message to both He Yi and Murong Mingyue to inform them that I would be having lunch with Lin Yixin. After that, I threw on some clothes and left the house.
I drove my car out of the neighborhood as I sped toward the main gates of the university. In the distance, I could see an eye-catching beauty standing next to a bed of flowers. She was attracting quite a few stares. It was Lin Yixin! She wore a coffee-colored suit, her adorable looks accented with a hint of maturity. This only enhanced her pure, ethereal beauty. I silently sucked in a breath of air. Any woman who possessed incredible beauty definitely had the fas.h.i.+on sense to go along with it.
Thunk!
Lin Yixin opened the door and plonked herself into the seat, causing more than a few students to shoot me looks of jealousy.
"f.u.c.king h.e.l.l, our campus belle just got into an X12. Ah, there"s no justice in this world! To think that a rich girl like Lin Yixin also has a sugardaddy…"
Lin Yixin"s face started to go red when she heard those words. but she didn"t bother retorting them. Instead, she glared at me and said, "What are you waiting for?"
I spread my hands out helplessly and laughed. "You still haven"t told me where that new bullfrog dry pot restaurant is!"
"Oh! Just turn right at the next turn and stick to the road. It"s just 100 meters away!"
"Okay!"
After I rounded the corner, I started to slow down. Just like she had said, there was a new bullfrog dry pot restaurant by the side of the road.
……
After we sat down and finished ordering our dishes, Lin Yixin and I started talking about Heavenblessed again.
"Lu Chen, did you check the official website this morning?"
"No. What"s up?"
"In a single afternoon, the Eternal Moon Corporation received applications from more than three thousand companies to set up gaming clubs in Heavenblessed. Huawei, Haier, ASUS, Suning, and Shanghai Airlines are among the companies that contacted the Eternal Moon Corporation. Now that these giants have thrown their hats in the ring, the market for online arena teams are about to explode! They"ll start recruiting from all over the country the moment their applications are officially approved!"
Lin Yixin"s delicate lips pursed up before she laughed and said, "I already received three phone calls in the morning and every call was about recruiting me into a gaming club. The highest salary I was offered was 1.2 million."
"Did you agree to it?"
"Nope, I rejected all of them. I"m in no rush to accept any offers. I"ll survey the market first."
"Haha. How come no one has called me yet…"
My phone started to ring just when I had finished saying those words. A look of shock flashed over Lin Yixin"s face before she laughed and said, "Has it really come?"
"Yeah."
It was a Shanghai number. After I picked up the call, I heard a woman"s sultry voice on the other line. "h.e.l.lo, may I ask if I am speaking to Mr. Lu Chen, Heavenblessed"s Broken Halberd Sinks Into Sand?"
"Yes, and you are?"
"Oh yes, I am the a.s.sistant general manager of Shanghai Pingyuan Motherboard. Our company is trying to establish a gaming club within this month and we are asking if you are interested in joining us as the new captain of our gaming club. We are willing to offer you very generous terms."
I grinned before I replied, "Oh? What sort of terms are you offering? Sorry, I"m a blunt person by nature."
The person speaking to me laughed. "Haha, no problem! Let"s get right to the point then! I can make the call on this and offer you five hundred thousand RMB every month. Additionally, 50% of whatever prize money your club earns in compet.i.tions will be given to split among the members of the club. We are also building a base for the gaming club in Shanghai itself. If you come to Shanghai, food and board will be provided. What do you think? Are you willing to join us?"
I chuckled before replying, "Let me think about it first. If I"m interested, I"ll contact you again."
"Oh. Erm… We are still open to discussing your salary. We are really very sincere about…"
"Yeah, I got it. If I"m interested, I"ll contact you again!"
I immediately ended the call. I had been floored by the terms they offered, and it wasn"t in a good way. I said, "d.a.m.n, they even want to take 50% of our winnings from compet.i.tions? Isn"t that ridiculous? Just the amount I"ll earn alone from partic.i.p.ating in these compet.i.tions will be more than five hundred thousand! They"re obviously trying to pull a fast one over me!"
Lin Yixin giggled before she replied, "Yeah, I think so too. Given your skill and ability, you shouldn"t bite for anything less than three million. In the current China server, there isn"t more than ten people who can pose a threat to you in the champion arena, so you have a very high chance of winning."
A mysterious smile crept up on my face as I stared at Lin Yixin. "Hmph, that"s right! The little girl who poses the greatest threat to me even got me to treat her to lunch just now. Ah, there really isn"t any justice in this world…"
"Heh, you b.a.s.t.a.r.d!"