Infinite Professions-Chapter 117 - 41: Earnings

"There’s still the next match."

"The Wine Immortal ranked seventy-fifth on the Tier Three list."

Battle.net Master of All Knowledge’s eyes narrowed, and he immediately paid the spectator fee.

"Wahla!"

A hundred thousand flowed away like water, but he didn’t care, only waiting for the battle to resume.

But other spectators weren’t so casual. Many flashes of light departed, directly exiting the room, leaving only three to four thousand people, less than half of those from the previous round.

This was unavoidable. Although a hundred thousand wasn’t much, using it to watch one battle was too extravagant. Previously, it was a momentary impulse for novelty, but now as rationality returns, many chose to leave and wait for analysis from major streamers afterward.

Having waited over two hours, Wu Wudi finally returned to the battlefield.

The challenger also arrived at this time; he was a youth, tall in stature, handsome in appearance, but with a hint of melancholy between his brows, and he carried a gourd red as fire.

"Wine Immortal—Luo Tian!"

"Ranked seventy-fifth on the Tier Three list of Divine Martial Battle Net."

"Tier Three Level Nine, close to being a Tier Four expert."

"It’s understandable for the Jinghong Sword Young Master to challenge, but him, a near Tier Four coming to stir up this trouble—if he wins, it’s not glorious; if he loses, it’s downright embarrassing."

"You must not know, but he’s a bootlicker!"

"A bootlicker, are you joking? Does someone like him lack women? What’s a bootlicker got to do with this challenge?"

"He’s bootlicking the Red Flame Fairy!"

"Oh, then it’s no wonder."

"..."

Watching the Wine Immortal approach to challenge, the crowd started gossiping fervently.

Only Master of All Knowledge and a few commentators were entirely focused.

"With Luo Tian’s cultivation at Tier Three Level Nine, considering his background, he surely has cultivated the Battle-Breaking Prohibition secret technique, temporarily condensing Gang Yuan into True Yuan, obtaining a combat power comparable to a Tier Four Martial Artist."

"Thus, he can negate Wu Wudi’s advantage of Xingyi Divine Martial!"

"Moreover, his Dragon Elephant Fist Skill is fully mastered, and he’s even begun advancing to Dragon Elephant Wisdom Skill. Not only has he cultivated Dragon Elephant Giant Power, his body is tempered to be incredibly sturdy, combined with True Essence Protection, even Tier Four Martial Artists struggle to break his defense."

"Apparently, he’s researched thoroughly, understanding Wu Wudi’s methods, thus confidently coming for vengeance on behalf of Red Flame Fairy."

"By acting this way, isn’t he afraid of bootlicking going wrong? I finally understand why Red Flame Fairy pays him no heed."

Under everyone’s gaze, Luo Tian entered, took a swig of virtual yet real fiery liquor, then looked at Shen Hex: "Come, show me what you’re truly capable of."

Having spoken, Gang Yuan trembled, clothes exploded, revealing a robust physique, dragon spine, and elephant back, immensely imposing.

"..."

"Again with this routine."

"If you’re fighting, just fight, what’s with the stripping?"

"These body cultivators love such tricks."

"Why not blow up your pants too while you’re at it!"

Seeing Luo Tian’s actions, boos rang from the audience, yet many screamed excitedly.

"Please proceed!"

Seeing this, Shen Hex said no more, directly adopting a Xingyi posture, dragon soaring tiger leaping forth.

Undeniably, Luo Tian indeed had some skill. Whether it was the Dragon Elephant Cross Training body or the Prohibition-enhanced True Yuan, it severely countered him, preventing a swift victory.

But only preventing a swift victory.

Tier Two against Tier Three, the foundational gap is large, but not irreparable.

Shen Hex strode forward, like a soaring dragon through clouds or a flying tiger breaking space, closing in with ten fingers reaching out like hooks, the tips revealing three inches of True Yuan—a Gang Qi compressed to the extreme by Xingyi Divine Martial.

"So fast!"

Luo Tian’s eyes contracted, not evading because evasion was useless, just increased Gang Yuan urging, a faint aura shield manifesting around him, vaguely with dragon elephant’s long cries.

True Essence Protection!

Dragon Elephant Body Training!

"Boom!!!"

In this exchange, claws collided with the aura shield, sparking a glaring spark, and Luo Tian’s counterattack followed, fists and feet striking the opponent.

The opponent, seeing this, instead of retreating, crashed forward, engaging closely.

"Boom boom boom boom boom boom!"

Seven consecutive impacts shook the air, ultimately revealing Luo Tian’s defeat, as the Dragon Elephant Body couldn’t withstand the opponent’s Dragon Tiger Skill, causing him to battle while retreating to dissipate force.

"This..."

"So ferocious!"

"He used Xingyi Divine Martial to stimulate life force, akin to Celestial Demon Disintegration, surpassing cultivation limits to temporarily achieve Tier Four Martial Artist levels."

"In reality, this approach would be ’Burning Jade and Stone Together,’ resulting in physical collapse and loss of life absolute after the explosion."

"But this is Divine Martial Battle Net; the virtual body doesn’t matter, so he can freely employ it."

"Luo Tian should now stabilize himself, waiting for his life force explosion to end, then easily claim victory."

The few commentators had sharp eyes, accurately reading the situation, proving their reputation on the battle net.

Spectators were clear, and the participant was also aware of Shen Hex’s storm-like assault, causing Luo Tian to retreat gradually, avoiding when possible, blocking otherwise, or relying on True Essence Protection and Dragon Elephant Body to withstand, aiming to stall for time.

In mere moments, several moves dictated, but it was the deciding moment of victory.

Divine Martial Breaking Extreme, cultivation body over limits, how can it last?

A few moves are its utmost!

Victory or defeat was imminent, and Luo Tian was more composed.

Yet unexpectedly, still caught by the opponent’s opportunity, a punch like a dragon emerging from the sea, another like a tiger through the woods, heavily struck his chest, thrashing True Yuan, body firmly shaken, causing even the Dragon Elephant’s power unable to endure, forcing staggered retreat.

This retreat determined victory and defeat, life and death.

"Huh!!!"

Shen Hex inhaled deeply, mouth absorbing tenfold energy flow, chest like a furnace forging Dragon Tiger Thunder Sound, in an instant a golden light burst forth, explosively striking the opponent’s Dragon Elephant body.

"Not good!"

"This is...!"

"Dragon-Slaying Tiger-Subduing Celestial Thunder Roar!"

In the audience, several people’s pupils shrank, their hearts exclaiming but unable to verbalize it.

"Boom!!!"

Golden light flashed, decisively determining the battle.

Luo Tian stood with difficulty, his muscles tense all over, True Essence protecting his body, dragon spine and elephant back twisted, still wanting to resist, but in the next moment, he was engulfed by the Gang Stream that erupted from his body. 𝑓𝘳𝘦𝑒𝑤𝑒𝘣𝘯ℴ𝘷𝘦𝓁.𝑐𝑜𝑚

"Bang!!!"

A loud noise, lights and shadows flying, Luo Tian disappeared.

Looking again at Shen Hex, who also could not maintain it, vanished into light and shadow.

"The battle is over!"

"Player ’Wu Wudi’ has won!"

"..."

The system’s prompt resounded, determining the victory or defeat, but everyone in the audience remained silent in shock.

Only Master of All Knowledge and others came to their senses, looking at the empty battlefield, shaking their heads with a bitter smile.

"This Wu Wudi..."

"What a ruthless person!"

"Even though it’s a virtual world, with ninety-nine percent fidelity, being able to reach this point requires immense courage."

"Luo Tian just lacked this courage. If he had also used a Forbidden Secret Technique to fight back, with his foundational advantage and the gap in level, he might not have lost in the end."

"Dragon-Slaying Tiger-Subduing Celestial Thunder Roar, a Sound Attack Technique that ignores defense, even the Dragon Elephant Technique cannot withstand it."

The battle had already ended, yet the people hadn’t dispersed, still reminiscing about the previous sequences.

Meanwhile, in the real world.

"Shh!"

A burst of air venting sound as the Life Support Pod door opened.

Shen Hex sat up from within, opened his personal terminal, and looked at the string of numbers on his account with a satisfied smile.

Nine hundred eighty million!

Discounting the fractional part, in just a few days, he had made nearly ten billion in funds through hyping topics, selling tickets, and challenge betting.

This was the outcome even after the Divine Martial Battle Net’s deductions and taxes.

So, with ability, making money is quite simple.

The Human Empire, though with severe class solidification, hasn’t completely closed the ascension paths. As long as you have considerable ability, becoming wealthy overnight, and achieving rapid ascendancy is no mere dream.

This arrangement is intentionally set by the Empire, needing the emergence of advanced and even ultimate professionals among the populace to counter the terrifying Cosmic Evil Gods.

Thus, they’ve left room for development and channels for mobility to uncover the top talents among the people.

This Divine Martial Battle Net is one of them. As long as you have the capability, making money becomes easy. You might even see it as an enormous scholarship distributed by the Empire in an alternative way.

Unfortunately, Shen Hex is not such a top talent.

He knows his own Martial Arts Talent very well.

The reason he could sweep through the Divine Martial Battle Net’s geniuses this time is because of his thousand-year accumulation and honing in the Spirit Control Realm, the rewards of Celestial Dao rewarding the diligent, rather than his high talent or great comprehension.

This accumulation can only take him to Tier Five at most; beyond that, he will be beaten back to his original state.

He still has a gap compared to truly talented individuals, especially those at the core of major forces and conglomerates, where the gap in not only talent but resources is significant.

Therefore, this Divine Martial Battle Net can be played, but not relied on solely, nor can everything be sustained on it alone.

After all, others aren’t foolish. It’s fine to capitalize on hype and gimmicks to make some money initially, but who will continue to give you money later on when they can either avoid you or hide from you?

In all likelihood, this ten billion will be a difficult-to-surpass peak in the short term, unless he comes up with some novel antics; otherwise, the revenue from the Divine Martial Battle Net will inevitably decline.

Shen Hex had long been prepared for this and did not plan to solve all problems relying solely on the virtual network industry.

Real industry must be developed, and not just developed, but significantly expanded.

But before that...

Shen Hex opened his personal terminal and sent a communication to Zhong Qin.

"There?"

"Not there!"

Zhong Qin quickly replied, and the exchange turned into a virtual image: "I thought you were dead or something, haven’t replied to messages, not even attending the farewell party for the senior sister organized by the club."

"Sorry, I’ve been a bit busy lately."

Shen Hex shook his head, then immediately started the transfer operation.

"Hmm!?"

"Thirty million, where did you get so much money?"

Zhong Qin widened her eyes, looking at him with surprise and uncertainty.

"Made a little extra income."

Shen Hex smiled, not saying much more. Though with the Gate of Ten Thousand Realms now, he had a retreat and confidence for many matters, allowing him to be less cautious, but some things still had to be kept hidden.

"A little?"

"Extra income?"

Zhong Qin suspiciously looked at him but ultimately didn’t probe deeper, simply saying: "This is more than needed; you only borrowed just over thirteen million from me."

"Isn’t there Senior Sister Teng too? Help me pay her back, and the extra can be considered interest."

Shen Hex smiled: "Also help me express my thanks, and congratulations on her advancing in studies."

"Congratulate for what!"

Zhong Qin unexpectedly said: "The advancement in studies fell through."

"Hmm!?"

Shen Hex’s eyes narrowed: "What happened?"

Zhong Qin shook her head: "Not sure about the details, but the senior sister said she couldn’t go, and will have to stay on Yunlan Star to study on her own, perhaps just taking online courses at most."

"..."

Shen Hex fell into silence, frowning involuntarily.