Chapter 1132: The Butterfly Effect

"Ten bottles!" Xiao Yu's eyebrows jumped at the words.

S-rank nutritional potions weren't the kind of thing you could pick up anywhere — even with money, they were nearly impossible to buy. They were hailed as the water of life in the real world, and even the cheapest bottle of S-rank nutritional potion cost at least a million Credit Points. Even he couldn't bring himself to drink them casually. On the rare occasions he did, it was one bottle a year, enough to fully heal damaged cells throughout the body and significantly slow the aging process.

For nationally renowned combat athletes, these potions were practically treasures. They were usually only used after sustaining serious injuries. For ordinary training, using A-rank nutritional potions was already considered extravagant.

Earlier, to win over Shi Feng, they'd already spent a considerable amount of money and pulled quite a few strings to get a batch.

Now, to obtain an invitation from the Green God Company, spending an additional ten bottles of S-rank nutritional potions — no matter how you looked at it, the math didn't add up.

After all, the whole point of getting the Green God Company's invitation was to buy S-rank nutritional potions and other new potions. They weren't even sure how many they'd be able to purchase at the auction, yet they'd already be down ten bottles. The investment was simply too steep.

"That's right. At least ten bottles to have any confidence," Shi Feng said honestly. "If it's a money problem, I can cover half. But my name has to be on the Green God Company's invitation list."

The extreme use of the Void Steps placed an enormous burden on the brain. Without the deep healing provided by S-rank nutritional potions, it would literally burn through one's lifespan. That was why, whenever the few core guild members learned the technique, he always warned them of the consequences. Without S-rank nutritional potions, pushing past their limits during Void Steps practice was absolutely forbidden.

"Cover half?" Xiao Yu thought it over, then agreed. "Fine. I'll find a way to get ten bottles of S-rank nutritional potions. The price will be higher than market rate, though."

Each invitation allowed two people to attend, so giving up one spot wasn't a big deal.

Right now, the Beidou Group had poured massive funds into a new training facility as part of its expansion, and advertising costs had been steep as well. Cash was tight. If Shi Feng was willing to cover half the cost — just as they'd once been willing to spend five million to buy the Green God Company's invitation — it was worth a shot. The only difference was that last time, even spending five million hadn't given them any real opportunity. Now, though, the odds were considerably better.

As for worrying whether Shi Feng could afford his share — he'd already had Liang Jing look into that.

Divine Realm had been growing increasingly popular lately, and plenty of big players had entered the game. There was serious money to be made. Through Liang Jing, he'd learned that the studio Shi Feng had established was far from small, and the investment kept growing. They'd already begun recruiting full-time players on a large scale. It was obvious that Shi Feng was making good money — covering a few million Credit Points at once shouldn't be any problem.

With Divine Realm booming the way it was, he'd even considered setting up a studio of his own.

He'd heard through the grapevine that studios established in Divine Realm were more profitable than those in previous virtual games, and the player base was far larger. But for now, expanding the Beidou Group took priority. Once the group grew further, it would undoubtedly be far more lucrative than building a studio or guild in a virtual game.

After all, thanks to Divine Realm's full-dive virtual reality technology, more and more people wanted to get into fitness and combat training.

What Xiao Yu didn't know, however, was that the studio Shi Feng had built was even more profitable than he could have imagined...

After settling the S-rank nutritional potion deal with Xiao Yu, Shi Feng headed straight back to the Zero Wing training room. Only members of Zero Wing Studio were allowed to use the facility. Many of the training devices inside had been specially ordered by Shi Feng through Liang Jing — equipment designed to sharpen physical reflexes and evasive movement.

"Hei Zi, get in touch with Jian Ying and Ban Jiu. Have them get to Jinhai City as fast as possible. Travel expenses are on the studio," Shi Feng instructed, watching Hei Zi, who was in the middle of basic training.

Both Jian Ying and Ban Jiu had been students at a training facility before joining Zero Wing, neither over twenty years old. Once they officially became core members of the Zero Wing guild, though, Shi Feng had them leave the facility. As core members of Zero Wing, they effectively had real jobs — Divine Realm came first, combat training second.

Now that both had left their old training facility, they spent their days either playing Divine Realm or working out at the fitness center, devoting themselves entirely to the game. But since Zero Wing's official company hadn't been established yet, and Bai Qingxue's acquisition of the training center was still pending, they hadn't been brought over to train together.

"Bring them over now?" Hei Zi looked at Shi Feng with curiosity, a hint of excitement crossing his face. "Does that mean things with the training center are settled?"

He'd heard about it from Shi Feng before.

That training center was a place specifically designed to cultivate gaming experts. Setting aside the facilities themselves, it even had a highly advanced virtual training system for players. It wasn't quite as good as the simulation system offered by the Pavilion of Heavenly Secrets, but it was far better than the current situation where a whole crowd of people fought over black cards.

Most importantly, it would give Zero Wing its own headquarters. No more relying on the goodwill of others. Even just saying it aloud would be a source of pride — like the core members of those first-rate guilds who walked in and out of the lavish training towers in the city center every day.

"You've got the wrong idea." Shi Feng shot Hei Zi a look. "Bai Qingxue is still negotiating the acquisition. I'm calling them over for a different matter."

Now that the Black Water guild had been defeated, the major enterprises that had backed the Snake of the Body took a significant hit. But buying out the remaining shares of the training center wasn't going to be easy. If those enterprises caught wind of what the Zero Wing guild was after, the price could easily multiply several times over.

Unless something happened to force those companies into a hasty sale, all they could do was let Bai Qingxue keep working on it from her end.

Hei Zi felt a brief pang of disappointment, but then suddenly remembered something. "Brother Feng, while you were at the meeting, someone came by the studio looking for you. I told him you were at a meeting, so he's been waiting in the reception room this whole time. Want to see him?"

"Who?" Shi Feng asked.

"That young guy Huo Wu took out with a single move last time. I think his name was You Ziping." Hei Zi wasn't entirely sure.

"He's showing up now, of all times? Interesting. I've got nothing else to do — let's go see him." Shi Feng remembered the bait he'd thrown out before. He hadn't expected the hook to be taken so quickly.

But then again, it made sense. With Xie Qiwen suddenly appearing in Jinhai City, You Ziping — his biggest rival — couldn't very well sit around doing nothing. If he didn't act soon, the end result would be Xie Qiwen walking away with the girl. This was his only chance.

The only thing was, the timeline was deviating further and further from what he'd known in his previous life.

Shi Feng made his way to the training facility's reception room.

Inside, You Ziping was sitting on the sofa, bouncing his leg nonstop. He looked thoroughly anxious.

"What did you want to see me about?" Shi Feng asked calmly, looking at You Ziping.

"Last time, you said that if I joined Zero Wing Studio, you'd tell me the method to get stronger. Do you still stand by those words?" You Ziping shot to his feet, a flicker of anxiety in his eyes as he stared at Shi Feng.

Director Jiang had already shown signs of encouraging his daughter Jiang Lingyu to get closer to Xie Qiwen. If You Ziping didn't prove himself soon, it really would be too late.