Wang Cheng and Wu Chuan didn't say anything outright, but the disdain on their faces said it all. If Manager Xiao hadn't been standing right there, they probably would have given Shi Feng a proper lesson to teach him his place.
The reason they held back wasn't because of Manager Xiao's position at the Beidou Fitness Center—it was because of his personal strength.
Manager Xiao's real name was Xiao Yan, and he was something of a celebrity in Jinhai City. Back in his younger days, he'd been a professional fighter who won a championship before retiring at his peak and throwing himself into developing the Beidou Fitness Center.
Even now, well past forty, Xiao Yan regularly sparred with the city's top fighters—and made every single one of them concede defeat.
"Uncle Xiao, why that surprised look?" Zhao Ruoxi's lips curved into a smile as she watched his expression. "If you don't believe me, why not make a bet?"
The charming smile Zhao Ruoxi flashed left Xiao Yan completely puzzled. He had no idea what she was up to, but if she wanted to play, he was happy to oblige. He and Ruoxi's father were old friends, and he'd been spoiling this little princess since she was a child.
"Seems you're quite confident about your classmate Shi Feng," Xiao Yan said with a laugh. "Since you've put it that way, I can hardly refuse. Name your terms—though I'll say upfront, your Uncle Xiao doesn't have enough clout to get you access to browse the Celestial Pavilion's intelligence files."
Xiao Yan chuckled, already resigned to losing.
When the Celestial Pavilion was mentioned, Wang Cheng and Wu Chuan behind him both stiffened in surprise.
What was the Celestial Pavilion?
Every player who'd ever touched a virtual game knew.
One scroll lists all the wind-and-cloud experts under heaven, and not a single prodigy escapes its net. The Celestial Pavilion's intelligence-gathering capability across the entire virtual gaming world was beyond compare, and they were said to know everything. In the virtual gaming world, they held an almost transcendent status.
Besides publishing the Wind and Cloud Expert Rankings, you could also look up all sorts of information on the Celestial Pavilion's official website—though the cost varied depending on the type of intelligence.
If your relationship with the Celestial Pavilion ran deep enough, you might gain different levels of browsing access. For virtual game players, that was the stuff of dreams.
Even Shi Feng, who was about to undergo his strength test, was surprised—he'd had no idea Beidou had connections to the Celestial Pavilion.
"Fine, fine. I wasn't talking about browsing access anyway," Zhao Ruoxi said, though a flicker of disappointment crossed her heart. She quickly grinned. "Then let's bet three bottles of S-rank nutrient solution. I happen to know you recently stocked up on some, Uncle Xiao."
Xiao Yan's face twisted into a bitter smile. "You little girl, always eyeing my stash. It took me enormous effort to get my hands on just a few bottles of S-rank nutrient solution. I was planning to award them to the most outstanding students this round."
Wang Cheng and Wu Chuan, standing nearby, felt their hearts surge with excitement, almost certain they'd misheard.
Even C-rank nutrient solution was a luxury for ordinary people, let alone S-rank.
S-rank nutrient solution—money alone couldn't buy it. Its effects on healing and physical enhancement were remarkable, and it was even credited with significant anti-aging properties. It was hailed as the Water of Life in the real world. And even if you could somehow purchase it, the price was a million credit points per bottle. An ordinary person could bankrupt themselves and still not afford one. Only an organization as wealthy as Beidou was willing to use these as rewards.
If he got even a single bottle of S-rank nutrient solution, he could make significant progress before the provincial youth fighting championship—his chances of placing would improve dramatically.
"Uncle Xiao, are you going to welsh on the bet?" Zhao Ruoxi said with a giggle. "If so, I'm going to tell Sister Bingyu that you've been bullying me."