As soon as the Human Emperor Banner came out, I became the Lord of the Old Ones

Chapter 141 The Demands of Long-Term Members
Xu Yan spoke with absolute certainty, but Xiong Ruyue remained skeptical, feeling uncertain and anxious.

She was worried that all her staff would be poached by the Shattered Star Club, just like the senior coach, leaving her all alone.

They were also worried that no members would come in today, or that they would come and ask for a refund.

To her surprise, before eight o'clock in the morning, seven or eight employees arrived at the club one after another and clocked in for work.

Although everyone looked somewhat uneasy, their morale was far from high.

In the end, no one submitted a resignation letter; they all remained silent and continued doing their jobs.

Even the Kuangtie team had several reserve members left behind.

Without a coach to guide them, they looked somewhat lost as they stared at the punching bag and punching pad.

Of course.

Xu Yan told Xiong Ruyue that the Shattered Star Club had poached experienced senior coaches and team members of higher ranks.

The remaining people are mostly ordinary coaches responsible for teaching teenagers, as well as substitutes and sparring partners in the team.

These days, finding a job that matches your major isn't easy.

The reason why the employees of the Kuangtie Club focused on the "no-card style" was not because they agreed with the philosophy of the Absolute God Path, but simply because they came from poor families and had neither the resources nor the connections to support them in practicing single-card and multi-card styles.

These employees must have thought about it seriously all night, knowing that if they left the Kuangtie Club, they would definitely not be able to find a stable job with the same treatment in a short period of time.

Therefore, as long as Kuangtie Club doesn't fire them, they are absolutely willing to live and die with Kuangtie.

Xiong Ruyue breathed a slight sigh of relief.

He patted his chest and cheered everyone on, promising that the Kuangtie Club would only expand, never shrink, and had no intention of closing down. He said that everyone who was willing to stay today would become the pillars or even the core of the Kuangtie Club, and that the future was bright.

She's not entirely stupid.

They knew that simply making empty promises wouldn't reassure people.

Gritting their teeth, they managed to squeeze out some cash from their precarious financial situation and settled everyone's wages for the month ahead of schedule, barely stabilizing the situation.

Next, there's the issue of membership.

Before nine o'clock in the morning, a large group of members had already gathered at the entrance of the club. They were all familiar faces who came and went often, and were old members who had been training with Xiong Tieshan since the "Kuang Tie Martial Arts School" days.

Xiong Ruyue's heart was pounding with nervousness.

They were afraid that as soon as they opened the door, these long-time members would all be clamoring for refunds.

Fortunately, although the veteran members all looked angry and indignant, their anger was not directed at Kuangtie Club, but at Chu Zhifeng, who betrayed them, the unethical Suixing Club, and the despicable media outlets.

"These bastards are talking complete nonsense!"

Wang Dali, covered in dragon and phoenix embroidery, swung his arms, thicker than an average person's thigh, and slammed a stack of newspapers down with a loud "slap slap." "He even took things out of context and completely twisted my meaning. If I find out which bastard wrote the report, I'll kill him!" Many long-time members were present at yesterday's conflict and were also interviewed by various media outlets.

This morning, after reading the newspaper, I finally understood what it means to be unable to distinguish right from wrong, to distort the truth, and to spew nonsense.

They were all indignant on behalf of the Kuangtie Club.

He was even more worried that the Kuangtie Club would collapse, disrupting his training habits that he had cultivated for seven or eight years, or even more than ten years.

As for the refund issue—many people are friends with Xiong Tieshan, and they already had a 70% or 80% discount on top of the friendly price. Even if they could get a refund, they would only have a pittance left, so there's no rush.

All everyone wanted to know was whether Kuang Tie could hold on and whether they could continue cultivating here.

Xu Yan took the opportunity to gather Wang Dali and other familiar members together and convey their demands to Xiong Ruyue.

He did not hide the current predicament of the Kuangtie Club.

However, they also wanted Xiong Ruyue to know the reasons why the old members chose Kuang Tie in the first place, and under what circumstances they would continue to support Kuang Tie.

"Brother Wang, you wouldn't happen to be a follower of the Absolute God Path, would you? Why don't you chat for a bit first?"

Xu Yan smiled.

After receiving his guidance, Wang Dali suspended his strength training last night, but this morning he felt a swelling sensation in his arms, as if his blood vessels and meridians were growing silently inside, and he would soon be able to break through the limit of 1,000 kilograms in punching power.

He was very grateful to Xu Yan, and being the kind of person who wasn't shy or reserved, he immediately started chatting away.

Like most citizens of Dawn City, he was originally an employee of Dawn Heavy Industry, a diligent grassroots miner.

However, despite his physical strength, he was not simple-minded. He had foreseen the impending depletion of the mine early on and resigned before Dawn Heavy Industry showed any signs of decline. He used his hard-earned savings to open a small shop and became a middleman, specializing in all sorts of rare items from the wilderness.

Essentially, Wang Dali and the night market in Rolling Stone Fortress are no different from those black market dealers who sell contraband.

The competition in this line of work is naturally fierce; you have to face all sorts of physical attacks, both overt and covert.

Whether it's the menacing tattoos or the muscular physique, it's all a persona that Wang Dali deliberately created to intimidate people.

"In business, harmony brings wealth. Powerful battle cards are certainly good, but they have no deterrent effect if they are not activated. Activating them can easily escalate conflicts. If the other party also activates a battle card, the two guardian spirits will collide fiercely, easily leading to a stalemate that will last until one of them dies. The loser will end up in a coffin, and the winner will go to jail."

Wang Dali readily agreed, "The cardless style is better. Whether it can fight or not is another matter. At least the appearance is fierce enough and scary enough. If you really swing your fist, at most you will beat someone until their head is bleeding, but there is no danger to their life!"

"As for our demands, there's really nothing to them. We long-time members have been with Kuangtie for so many years, and many coaches haven't been here as long as we have."

"We are just ordinary people trying to make a living. We don't want to cultivate to the silver, gold, or even legendary level. We just want to find a familiar place, chat with old friends, do some exercise, stay healthy, energetic, and happy."

"Those senior coaches originally focused their attention on the Kuangtie team. If you want them to give you some pointers, you have to pay extra for private coaching. As for the Kuangtie team's performance or how good Chu Zhifeng is, what does it have to do with us?"
"So, as long as the Kuangtie Club can stay open, we're definitely willing to continue training here. Of course, if they could cut down on all those fancy stuff and lower the membership fee a bit more, we'd be even more satisfied, hahaha!"

(End of this chapter)