Martial Arts Master

For a moment Auman spaced out and fantasized. Then she sat up. She found the Assistant Team’s manager—Ouyang De’s Wechat and began inquiring about the dos and don’ts of a Physical Invulnerability Expert’s assistant.

Elated and zealous as she was, she felt uneasy, worried that erring would cause her efforts to go to waste. She didn’t want to return to her old life.

To Ouyang De, nothing mattered more than maintaining a good relationship with the Physical Invulnerability Experts. Naturally, he didn’t want to get on the bad side of their personal assistants. He spared no details, and at the end emphasized that she had to learn more about Lou Cheng. After all, every Physical Invulnerability Expert had a different temperament, so mimicking blindly could be disastrous.

Auman thanked him sincerely. Then she stood up and paced up and down in the cramped room, mulling over what she could do at the moment.

Hm… Mr.Lou has a habit of practicing in the morning…

Now that he’s staying in the club, he wouldn’t know any places to train at…

I wonder if the Logistics Team could handle Mr. Lou’s breakfast properly…

…

Thoughts racing, Auman hastily sat down and called the other departments. She sent a detailed report to Lou Cheng through Wechat, letting him choose between the 24-hour training grounds and outdoor venues nearby.

“Thanks, I was about to ask,” replied Lou Cheng quickly.

“No problem!” typed Auman happily. She ardently set her alarm clock to 5:45 AM.

From then on, she decided to adjust her body clock to match Mr. Lou’s, so he wouldn’t find her asleep if he needed something.

Mhm! She’ll leave at about six and take a cab to the club to supervise the chefs!

As for taking a cab alone early in the morning, she wasn’t worried at all since she was heading to the Longhu Club. The driver would need balls of steel to attempt anything funny.

In that powerful organization, even a weak-looking girl could potentially take his car apart!

With a private ride booked, Auman headed for the bathroom to shower. She had to wait for a few minutes, but she didn’t get impatient for she knew these days were soon to be over.

After the shower, she dug out a face mask and began her proper skincare routine, something she hadn’t done in a long time. She had the urge to tell her parents and besties that she was going to be a private assistant to a Physical Invulnerability Expert, but managed to stop herself.

It’s best to wait until everything’s set in stone!

…

The night passed peacefully. In the morning, Lou Cheng routinely came to the lake, and breathed in the fresh air while pondering about the Ice Set Physical Invulnerability Chapters.

His lawyer, Lin Qiukang, had arrived by the time his training ended. He had come to Huacheng yesterday, by plane. They talked idly before going their separate ways. One headed for breakfast while the other went to meet the team formed by the External Affairs Team, HR team, and Legal Team.

Sticky-rice cakes, Yunshui noodles, Xiushan Specialty Rice Dumplings… Lou Cheng was very pleased with the breakfast served at the private restaurant. He even bragged about it to his wife and sent some edited photos. Earlier when Yan Zheke occasionally used his phone, she complained about the absence of photo-beautifying apps and thus downloaded a lot of them, including some that were used to beautify food.

Lou Cheng kept his phone and walked to the door after receiving a head-smack emoji. He ran into Lin Qiukang, who was returning with a smile.

“You’re done?” asked Lou Cheng, astonished.

“There wasn’t much to talk about. They offered everything they should. Why would they make things difficult for a Physical Invulnerability Mighty One?” Lin Qiukang produced a thick stack of documents. “Here, I’ll run you through them. You can go straight to Empress Luo later to sign the contract.”

He was skinny and smart, had neatly middle-parted hair, and was thirty years old. He wore glasses that seemed to say “Everyone else is trash.”

“Okay,” replied Lou Cheng, sitting down on a random table. Beside him, the quiet Auman tactfully asked Lin Qiukang if he wanted anything to drink.

“Hot coffee without sugar,” Lin Qiukang replied nonchalantly. He turned to Lou Cheng. “The base salary post-tax is fifty million RMB, a little above the competitive salary, but still reasonable. Also, you will be granted stocks to all the companies under Longhu. You can read the details here, here, and here… By the way, you can enjoy the benefits as a stakeholder but can’t resell these stocks. If you leave Longhu, you will need to relinquish them…”

“And, using layman terms, every time you receive a title, you will be granted rights to convert a company’s stocks to your own asset. It will be the same even if you are no longer a member of Longhu. When a team clinches champion in a top-tiered competition, the conversion rate for each member will differ depending on their contributions. Heh, take the Dragon King for example. He’s already a major stakeholder in many companies…”

As they spoke, Auman returned with a tray. She gave Lin Qiukang a cup of hot coffee and a glass of milk. Of course, she didn’t forget a cup of ice water for Lou Cheng.

Gratified, Lin Qiukang nodded and poured some milk into his coffee. He stirred, took a sip, then went on.

“You belong to the Longhu Club’s Core Team, which is equivalent to the Longhu’s director board. That means you have the rights to decide on where the Longhu’s companies are heading, who to replace in the top brass, and who will be in charge of each department. If you are not good at this, you can hire a professional advisor. Don’t worry, being a boss doesn’t mean you have to excel in everything. When it comes to technical questions, all you need is a professional to guide you.”

“I’m not too worried about that,” Lou Cheng gave a carefree smile.

His wife specialized in business and would be meeting many important people in the years to come. That means she would be learning from the very best.

“Looks like you are already getting into your role,” laughed Lin Qiukang. “Your Elder Martial Sister didn’t care about anything and just threw all the work to your brother-in-law.”

I’m about the same… Lou Cheng kept quiet with his mouth twitching.

“One more thing. You’ll have to take on Longhu’s missions as long as they are reasonable. Is that alright with you? Any concerns?” asked Lin Qiukang.

This must be regarding the military… Since Geezer Shi had mentioned it before, Lou Cheng was mentally prepared. He took a gulp of his iced water.

“We have already discussed that.”

“Great! There’s not much apart from these, other than boring terms and legal jargon… Just give me a call if you don’t understand anything in the terms and conditions,” Lin Qiukang said as he kept the thick documents on the table.

“Alright. Same rates?” asked Lou Cheng with a smile.

“I’ll even give you a discount,” laughed Lin Qiukang.

They shook hands and waited as Auman arranged his appointment with Empress Luo. After confirming, they stood up and headed for the fifth-floor. Empress Luo will be signing on the company’s behalf.

When all was said and done, Lin Qiukang took his leave. Lou Cheng had Auman go to the Financial Team to sign the necessary documents for his future payments to be directly deducted from his salary. Ning Zitong led him to the “quarantined area” of the building, where the Fire Sect’s Physical Invulnerability Chapters and the Volcano Lab was.

“You don’t have to use the Volcano Lab for now. You can start thinking about it after you grasp the basics of the Physical Invulnerability Chapters,” said Ning Zitong smilingly as she walked. “The Fire Sect is different from the Ice Sect. No matter how dangerous the Ice Sect may be, it takes some time for the effects to seriously harm you, whereas it’ll only take a couple of seconds in the Fire Sect. Think about it. If you are in that kind of extreme temperature without a solid grasp of the Physical Invulnerability Chapters, any mistake would instantly turn you into ashes. Nothing can save you if that happens. When you have your foundations fortified, you can start adapting to it a step at the time. Eventually, you’ll be able to train in the middle of lava and liquid iron like the Dragon King.”

“Mhm.” Lou Cheng didn’t object. He too knew the difference between the Fire and Ice Sect.

Then again, Empress Luo was overly cautious. There was a stark difference between him and Physical Invulnerability Experts who only specialized in the Fire Sect. If anything went wrong, he can save himself with his abilities from the Ice Sect, so it’s not likely for him to burn to ashes right away.

Walking past labs and through alloy doors, Lou Cheng entered the Physical Invulnerability Training Room. The sharp rise in temperature made him feel like he was thrown into boiling water.

The Fire Sect’s Physical Invulnerability Chapters was kept in nine small rooms, each with a name carved on the door. Lou Cheng read them all in one glance.

The 1st style—Prairie Burning Starry Flames.

The 2nd style—Golden Godly Flames.

The 3rd style—Lord Emperor’s Purple Flame.

The 4th style—Flying Flame Meteorite.

The 5th style—Incinerate City, Vaporizing Lake.

The 6th style—Wheels of Wind and Flames.

The 7th style—Firelike Invasion.

The 8th style—Mirage, Suffocating Hell.

The 9th style—Nine Rotations of Five Flames. Descend Of The Sun!

Whew… Lou Cheng exhaled and warmed up. Elated, he headed for the first door.

…

As long as Yan Zheke was in Connecticut, Lou Cheng made it a rule to take a half-hour break at 11 AM every day so he can video-call her. After lunch and a siesta, he would continue training to make up for the break.

At three-thirty PM, he rode on the Nanny car to check out the two mansions and one high-floored apartment. He videotaped the place and checked the details. Auman shamelessly knocked on the doors of nearby residents, surveying them on their living experience. She also got more information for reference from the management.

After a round of comparison, Yan Zheke decided on the mansion close to Xiapei Lake. The following day, with Lou Cheng’s authorization and identification, Auman went on the quest to register the property under his name.

At the window, after verifying the documents, the staff threw a suspicious and curious glance at Auman. Handing them back, he asked, “What about his wife’s information? Registering a property requires documents from both spouses.”

Wife? Spouse? Auman was almost at a loss.

She then realized.

Lou Cheng’s already married!