Chapter 148 - 128: The World Fighters Association Pledges Allegiance

Chapter 148: Chapter 128: The World Fighters Association Pledges Allegiance

This was the first time Zhang Ji had seen Orlando in person.

But he had changed a lot compared to the promotional posters.

All four of his limbs had been replaced with prosthetics, and his voice was a sound effect synthesized by a device.

’I don’t remember Orlando being a fighter from the Rationalist Sect. In my memory, he was supposed to be from the Solid Body Sect.’

Zhang Ji, however, was well-acquainted with Ymir, who stood beside Orlando.

Ymir was a mentor-level figure for early-stage Earth-Shaker Sect fighters. His Stone Armor, Rolling Stone, and Ground Collapse techniques were all essential skills for beginners in the Sect.

This time, the two of them had come to surrender.

Zhang Ji didn’t let them finish their superficial pleasantries about Elaven being a fatuous and tyrannical ruler before cutting them off.

Anyway, their point was that Elaven coming to cause trouble for Zhang Ji had nothing to do with small fries like them. They hoped that a magnanimous person like Zhang Ji wouldn’t take his anger out on the World Fighter Association and the Roman Country.

Now that the Roman Country was without a ruler, and Zhang Ji possessed both virtue and ability, it was only right that he should lead the World Fighter Association and the Roman Country.

Zhang Ji had considered ruling the Roman Country, but he hadn’t expected them to come and surrender before he even made a move.

"Orlando, tell me, what’s the current situation in the Roman Country?" Zhang Ji asked.

Orlando bowed and said, "The upper echelons are basically all people from our association. Those politicians are just puppets with no real power. The political side is managed by one of our branch presidents, Michael Burke, while military affairs are handled by Angelo Dickinson. Their actions are generally directed by the World Fighter Association, and we were just carrying out Elaven’s orders..."

As he spoke, Orlando was also observing Zhang Ji.

He never would have imagined that the strength Zhang Ji had shown before was merely the tip of the iceberg.

His true power had actually reached the Venerable Level.

He was horrified just by feeling a hint of the spiritual fluctuations radiating from him.

Of course, it would never occur to him that Zhang Ji had reached this level in just a few short months. After all, under normal circumstances, that was highly unrealistic.

Zhang Ji’s expression turned thoughtful.

The Roman Country had long been taken over by the team Elaven had built. There was no need to find replacements; it could continue to operate under the existing model. It would be incredibly easy for Zhang Ji to take over.

"One question: how do I verify your loyalty?" Zhang Ji asked in a teasing tone.

"You don’t need to verify it," Orlando said. "With your power, you don’t need our loyalty. You only need us to serve you."

It was an answer that cut straight to the heart of the matter.

In a world of the Extraordinary like this, Zhang Ji didn’t need that much loyalty.

The human heart was not worth testing or trusting.

He only needed to ensure he was powerful enough.

The people under him would naturally handle the tasks he assigned and then operate on their own.

Zhang Ji wouldn’t need to interfere much with the rest; order would emerge naturally.

If they couldn’t handle his affairs well, Zhang Ji would simply replace them with people who could.

This was just how a "superman society" worked.

At least, that was the outcome shown in the game Zhang Ji used to play.

’Suddenly, the burden of two countries rests on my shoulders. It seems a bit heavy!’

Zhang Ji smiled and said, "Is Jenelle still organizing the Ultimate Fighting tournament?"

Janelle Lillard was also a member of the World Fighter Association.

Including Orlando, Ymir, the late Valentina, Angelo who handled military affairs, and Michael who handled politics, that made a total of six Sublimation Level fighters. These were all the B-class fighters under Elaven’s command.

Besides them, there were a whole bunch of C-class fighters, though Zhang Ji could only name a few.

"You know about this?" Orlando said. "Do you mean you want to stop the Ultimate Fighting tournament?"

"No, there’s no need to stop. It can continue. What were Elaven’s previous instructions?" Zhang Ji said, waving his hand.

"He demanded that we complete the stage construction by the end of the year and then officially hold the tournament," Orlando replied.

"He was in that much of a hurry?"

Zhang Ji was a little surprised. In his memory, Elaven was supposed to wait at least another two years before officially holding the Ultimate Fighting tournament.

"After witnessing your magnificent form, he grew a bit impatient," Orlando answered cautiously.

He didn’t dare let his gaze linger on Zhang Ji for too long, afraid that Zhang Ji might also be a capricious Venerable.

After all, there was a precedent.

But Zhang Ji wasn’t the type of person who enjoyed killing indiscriminately.

When he did kill, it was always for a very specific purpose: either someone had offended him, or it was to intimidate other beings and eliminate future trouble.

He wasn’t a psychopath who killed for fun when he was bored.

"His personality is indeed quite flamboyant," Zhang Ji affirmed.

If Elaven wasn’t flamboyant and arrogant to a certain degree, he wouldn’t have organized such a tournament.

"What’s the progress?" Zhang Ji asked after a moment of silence.

"We have already mobilized a large amount of construction machinery and human resources. A preliminary fighting arena can be completed by the end of the year," said Orlando.

"Try to do a good job. The Dragon Country can also contribute. Hmm, and we’ll include the Guning Country. I’ll contact them personally later," Zhang Ji said. "Make sure the invitations are sent to all Transcendent Level and Sublimation Level fighters. All qualified participants will have their travel and accommodation expenses waived. Also, increase the prize money. And there are a few other locations you need to send special invitations to."

For the Ultimate Fighting tournament, it was enough for all the Transcendent Level and Sublimation Level fighters in the world to be present.

And the only reason they were invited was because they were qualified to watch the battles up close.

That’s right. Their purpose was to bear witness.

As for ordinary people, they could just watch the livestream.

A livestream broadcast by drones and satellites would be enough for ordinary people to understand what kind of event this was.

Of course, Zhang Ji knew they wouldn’t all come.

So, he estimated that it would be amazing if even a few dozen B-class fighters showed up in the end.

As for C-class fighters, there would probably be tens of thousands, serving as the "atmosphere crew."

As for the few extra locations Zhang Ji pointed out, they were naturally the locations of the other four Saint Kings.

Although all four Saint Kings came in the game’s plot, he couldn’t guarantee that a butterfly effect wouldn’t occur because of his presence.

So, to ensure all four Saint Kings would arrive, Zhang Ji decided to leave a little something for them.

With a thought, the True Solar Flame from between his eyebrows appeared in his right palm. The crimson-gold flame burned, melting a piece of silver-white metal, which Zhang Ji then reshaped into four cards using spiritual particles.

That silver-white metal was the material of Jesus’s cross. Based on what Zhang Ji knew, it was supposed to be something called "Mithril."

It wasn’t much. Zhang Ji took a small lump and molded it into four cards.

He injected a stream of purple Origin Qi into each card.

Mithril was very suitable for storing Biological Energy. Biological Energy combined with Spiritual Power could be injected into it for storage. Zhang Ji remembered it was a good material for making Magic items.

With this strand of Origin Qi inside, Zhang Ji believed the four Saint Kings would definitely come to the tournament.

...

After leaving his contact information and giving some instructions to Liu Hetong and the others, Zhang Ji had Oranwen and his group leave to organize the Ultimate Fighting tournament together.

The Ultimate Fighting tournament had to be held.

The world could not remain a heap of loose sand.

Facing the various troubles that would come with the future "version updates," only by unifying the world could he better acquire resources, grow, and respond.

Besides, unity would also benefit the world itself.

Back then, Elaven had failed to truly rule the entire world and become the sole Venerable. He could only create the Saint King Conference, with the five Saint Kings ruling together.

But the him of today might not necessarily fail.

Zhang Ji set the date for the Ultimate Fighting tournament for January 1st.

He still had over a hundred days until then.

That was enough time for him to acquire his second (Epic) Combat Crystal.

This time, Zhang Ji would not be affected by anything and would be able to weave the (Epic)-grade Combat Crystal he most desired, completely according to his own will.

It could even far surpass the Circulation Qi Body Divine Origin Skill Combat Crystal he currently possessed.

After all, from his current perspective, that Combat Crystal still had many areas that needed improvement.

Things like the "Five Forms True Skill" and the Profound Iron Body Refining Skill, these relatively low Star Level Combat Crystals, really didn’t need to be lumped together.

If he were to choose, it would be better to try and get some high Star Level Combat Crystals.

Additionally, he could also create his own techniques.

With his current knowledge and perspective, Zhang Ji felt that creating an (Excellent)-grade martial art was not actually difficult.

It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say he could do it with ease.

The amount of related martial arts knowledge he had mastered was overflowing. Moreover, after his breakthrough, he had a commanding perspective. Looking back, he found that the so-called "Terrestrial Immortals" were nothing special after all.

There were many paths, many methods, to easily reach that realm.

This was no exaggeration.

Because, according to the normal logic of cultivation, Zhang Ji had truly reached the Terrestrial Immortal realm eleven times.

This corresponded to the eleven (Excellent) Combat Crystals he had accumulated through cultivation, and each time, he had used different fighting techniques and different methods.

During his battle with Elaven, Zhang Ji was still a bit dissatisfied with his energy reserves.

Therefore, for this new (Epic)-grade Combat Crystal, Zhang Ji decided to focus on increasing the quantity of his Origin Qi, while also improving its quality. If possible, there should also be a boost to its transformation properties.

"Perhaps that one martial art can be used for reference, or maybe I’ll use that art for my next Combat Crystal."

Zhang Ji thought of a Ruins Realm.

The Ruins Realm of the Ancient Sect, the Wuxiang Sect.

The Wuxiang Sect also existed over five thousand years ago, making it a contemporary of the Child Venerable’s Sect.

The founder of this Sect, Master Wu Xiang, could be said to be an existence of extraordinary perception and talent.

In that era, he once vied for supremacy over the world, but he later encountered the Child Venerable and was beaten into a reclusive state with a single move. After that, his ambition to rule the world was extinguished.

However, even though he couldn’t take a single move from the Child Venerable, it didn’t mean he was weak. On the contrary, he was absurdly strong.

After all, not everyone could survive a serious blow from the Child Venerable.

His Great Formless Scripture was an (Epic Eight-Star) fighting technique. It allowed one to cultivate Formless Origin Qi, which could simulate the properties and effects of any other Origin Qi.

The simulated effects could even surpass the original.

It was equivalent to using a more advanced algorithm and more powerful processing power to simulate the operational methods of other types of Origin Qi.

For the martial arts world of that time, this was practically an attack from a higher dimension.

If it weren’t for encountering that Child Venerable, whose perception was simply heaven-defying, the Wuxiang Sect might have ruled the Xia Yu Country for over a thousand years of its history.

The Ruins Realm of the Wuxiang Sect was located within the present-day Dragon Country, and Zhang Ji still remembered how to enter it.

One just needed to inject seven types of Origin Qi, containing the properties of Yin, Yang, and the Five Elements, into the core of the Ruins Realm.

In theory, it was a team dungeon.

However, Zhang Ji’s own Origin Qi possessed all seven properties, so he could enter by himself.

The miscellaneous Exotic Beasts entrenched within the Sect in the Ruins Realm were also easy to deal with. The strongest was merely a B-plus-class great winged Tiger.

He had previously planned to make a trip there after his breakthrough, and now was the perfect time to go.