The morning sun was bright and pleasant, with a gentle breeze drifting through the air.
The moment Shi Feng stepped out of his virtual reality capsule, he contacted Liang Jing and brought her along to sign the contract for a training center in the city center that was being put up for sale.
In this day and age, everyone was focused on fitness. Combat fighters were far more dazzling than entertainment stars, and the number of people who dreamed of becoming combat celebrities was astronomical. As a result, training centers, martial arts dojos, and fitness gyms were everywhere.
But precisely because of this, it was extremely difficult for training centers, dojos, and fitness gyms to survive in major cities. The competition was brutal — one might even call it cruel.
Setting aside the latest training equipment and advanced medical devices that were updated on a near-daily basis, the nutrition plans developed by the training centers alone were a considerable expense. Better equipment meant better training results, and proper nutrition made the whole process twice as effective.
It was an industry that burned through money at an alarming rate. Without proper management and sufficient capital, it was perfectly normal to go under within two or three years. In a first-tier city like Fenglin City, the situation was even worse — every year, training centers and dojos from smaller cities flocked in, hoping to establish themselves, which meant just as many ended up shutting their doors.
Over the past few days, besides continuously crafting Aura of Azure and advanced magic armor pieces in the Divine Realm and leading team members through boss encounters on the first floor of the Bottomless Abyss, Shi Feng had spent most of his daytime hours evaluating training centers, dojos, and fitness gyms that were on the market.
After several days of searching, he had finally settled on a Century Training Center located not far from the combat sports stadium.
The Century Training Center's equipment was somewhat outdated, but its location was excellent. Most importantly, it was large enough — the entire building had a full fifty-one floors. It had only been open for a little over a year, making it relatively new. While it was far from comparable to Zero Wing's current training facility, it was more than sufficient for nearly ten thousand people to train daily, meeting Zero Wing's current needs for its internal members.
Moreover, the Century Training Center's price was quite reasonable — only 8.9 billion. Shi Feng could even skip the renovation costs and simply purchase the latest training and medical equipment. It was essentially move-in ready.
Before long, Shi Feng spent the better part of the day signing a series of contracts and completing the paperwork, purchasing the entire Century Training Center outright. Afterward, he contacted Xiao Yu.
"Chairman Xiao, the training center has been secured. Would you like to come see it?" Shi Feng said with a smile.
"It's already done?" Xiao Yu was taken aback.
In his estimation, it should have been nearly impossible for Shi Feng to settle the training center matter in less than two or three months. Raising the funds alone would have been a major problem, and in his view, Shi Feng purchasing an entire building in the heart of Fenglin City's downtown was nothing short of a fantasy.
Such a sum of money — unless the Bai Family Group behind Shi Feng sold off all of their existing fixed assets, it was simply impossible to come up with that kind of liquid capital. Even with the Beidou Group's liquid resources added in, it still wouldn't be nearly enough.
How could it possibly be settled in just a few days?
"That's right, it's done. All that's left is purchasing the equipment," Shi Feng nodded.
"Good! I'll head over right now!" Xiao Yu looked at Shi Feng's earnest expression and, still somewhat unable to believe it, decided to go confirm for himself.
A few hours later, Xiao Yu stood in front of the training center building, his mind reeling.
"Century Training Center? How is this possible?" Xiao Yu stared at the fifty-one-story training center, his eyes filled with shock.
As the chairman of the Beidou Group, which was looking to break into Fenglin City, he was familiar with several of the city's well-known training centers, and the Century Training Center was one of them. However, because the Century Training Center had never produced outstanding students or earned any notable rankings, its business had been declining steadily. That was why it had been trying to sell off the property to recoup funds and consolidate their position in second-tier cities.
But purchasing the entire Century Training Center would have cost close to ten billion — anything less was out of the question.
Nearly ten billion!
Even three Beidou Groups combined couldn't scrape together that kind of money.
"Chairman Xiao, is this scale acceptable?" Shi Feng gestured toward the Century Training Center and asked casually.
"Acceptable? It's more than acceptable! With a place like this, a little publicity, and the latest equipment, attracting a flood of students will be a piece of cake." Xiao Yu couldn't help but grow excited, his mind already racing through a series of plans.
"That's great. I'll leave the rest to you, Chairman Xiao. As for the equipment purchase and publicity funding, I'll transfer it to you shortly." Shi Feng looked at the confident Xiao Yu and knew the matter was settled. All that remained was to wait for the training center to supply Zero Wing with high-quality members.
As long as the training center could guarantee a sufficient number of internal members, Star Ring would find it much harder to impede Zero Wing's advance. After all, Zero Wing's current advantage was enormous.
If they didn't press that advantage now and push further, once the player levels caught up, Zero Wing would find itself in a passive position. At the end of the day, what truly mattered most for a guild was the number and quality of its top players — and that was something the current Zero Wing simply could not rival the superpowers on.
"As long as the funding isn't a problem, I can contact the equipment suppliers immediately. I estimate everything could be delivered within a day or two." Xiao Yu nodded. Seeing how decisively Shi Feng handled the money, he felt a growing sense of surprise and mystery about the man.
He thought he knew Shi Feng quite well — after all, the man was his niece's classmate — and he had looked into Shi Feng's background thoroughly. He knew just about everything there was to know.
He had previously considered Shi Feng a combat genius, but ultimately one who had just started out — no connections, no family backing. Making a name for himself would take at least another decade.
But now, what he had thought was a thorough understanding of Shi Feng had turned out to be anything but. Over these past few days, he felt that Shi Feng was becoming more and more unfathomable.
First, partnering with the Bai Family Group in Fenglin City, and now purchasing the Century Training Center — and it was clearly Shi Feng calling the shots on all of it…
"So the equipment can arrive within two days? If that's the case, then we'll open in three days. As for coaches and management staff, I'll trouble you with that, Chairman Xiao," Shi Feng said after a moment's thought. Time was of the essence — replenishing their internal member pool had to happen as fast as possible.
"No problem. What name do you want for the training center? It'll help with the publicity." Xiao Yu asked.
"Tiandou Training Center," Shi Feng said.
He had originally considered using Zero Wing, but the name Zero Wing was too conspicuous these days and too likely to draw the targeted hostility of the major powers. A more understated name would be better.
"Alright, I'll go make the arrangements." Xiao Yu nodded.
Xiao Yu then threw himself into the work of setting up the Tiandou Training Center, and news that Zero Wing was opening the Tiandou Training Center soon spread throughout all of Fenglin City.