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

Chapter 145 A Last Stand

In order to make a splash in this Dawn Cup, Xiong Ruyue has spent a whole year investing heavily in the Kuangtie team, especially in Chu Zhifeng, buying all kinds of high-end training facilities and top-quality enhancement potions that can rival the three major clubs without batting an eye.

In addition to the high prize money for the champion and runner-up, if the club performs well, it may also have the opportunity to be favored by Liming Heavy Industry and get a share of the profits in the upcoming large-scale development of new mineral veins.

You have to understand, that's a big corporation that's famous throughout the entire border region. Even if they only take on the training business for one department, it would be enough to make Kuangtie Club very rich.

Of course, high bonuses come with fierce competition.

This year's Dawn Cup is three times larger than in previous years. In addition to the promising newcomers from Dawn City, future stars from several surrounding border cities have also been invited. More than a dozen established clubs are sharpening their knives, ready to stage a fierce battle.

Limited by the inherent disadvantages of the cardless style, apart from Chu Zhifeng, the main players of the Kuangtie team are all mediocre, and their best result in recent years is only the top 32.

Not to mention that all of these key players were poached by the Shattered Star Club along with Chu Zhifeng, leaving behind several even more mediocre sparring partners and substitutes.

Xiong Ruyue racked her brains but couldn't figure out how to lead them out of the encirclement.

Just as he was racking his brains, the same group of "premium customers" who had caused trouble yesterday returned to the Kuangtie Club, surrounded by reporters, demanding a refund.

They didn't expect Xiong Ruyue to be prepared. Without arguing, she returned all the membership fees in full, as stipulated in the contract.

The "premium customers" and the reporters, who seemed eager to stir up trouble, looked at each other for a long time. Seeing the orderly and bustling scene inside the Kuangtie Club, they couldn't find any loopholes to exploit and could only leave dejectedly.

This matter has been resolved satisfactorily.

However, this depleted the last of Kuangtie Club's working capital.

Several bank loans are about to expire.

If several members of the Kuangtie team are eliminated one after another in the Dawn Cup, causing DeepBlue Pharmaceuticals to terminate its sponsorship and become unable to repay its loans...

The Kuangtie Club will be plunged into an abyss of no return.

Xiong Ruyue spent the long afternoon fidgeting.

Today's evening paper is here.

The evening paper is twice as thick as the morning paper.

Several media outlets have conducted in-depth analyses of the Kuangtie Club's predicament and Chu Zhifeng's choice.

Of course, the bias is still obvious, with much denigration and even slander directed at the Kuangtie Club.

In contrast, several influential media outlets prominently featured reports about the grand induction ceremony held by the Shattered Star Club for Chu Zhifeng and others.

Taking this opportunity, Shattered Star Club announced to the entire Dawn City that it would field an unprecedentedly luxurious lineup to compete in the Dawn Cup, aiming for the championship and vowing to fight until victory!

Looking at the newspaper, Chu Zhifeng was adorned with red ribbons, raising his fist, the card reader on his arm gleaming.

Seeing the owner of the Shattered Star Club brimming with confidence, as if the championship was already in his grasp, Xiong Ruyue trembled with anger.

She immediately lodged a protest with the organizers of the Dawn Cup—the Dawn City Lingka Association—pointing out that there was a major controversy surrounding the affiliation of Chu Zhifeng and others.

The other party replied that registration for this year's Dawn Cup has not yet been officially completed.

Although Kuangtie Club, as a participant in the Dawn Cup over the years, has accumulated a large number of ranking points and automatically qualifies for three spots in this year's Dawn Cup, Chu Zhifeng is not fully tied to the Kuangtie team until the official roster is submitted.

If there is a contractual dispute between the two parties, they can certainly follow the procedures and file a formal lawsuit.

However, they cannot disqualify Chu Zhifeng from the competition until the outcome of the lawsuit is determined.

In the past, Xiong Ruyue would have been furious and cursed after hanging up the phone.

Xu Yan's words made her realize that getting angry or complaining was pointless.

Ultimately, there is an irreconcilable conflict between the Spirit Card Association and the no-card strategy.

The former's power and profits both come from the sealed cards.

The cardless faction firmly believes that there is no need for sealing cards, and that humans can survive by relying on their own fists.

Why would they possibly side with you?
In fact, if it weren't for the fact that the Absolute God Path hadn't used the cardless method to defeat numerous ancient remnants of the past that were superior to humans during the later stages of the "Ten Commandments War," allowing humanity to regain control of civilization and establishing a precedent, then...

Whether a cardless playstyle can participate in the Spirit Master Tournament is a big question mark.

"To forge iron, one must be strong oneself. Now we only have one path left to take, which is to defeat every opponent who stands in front of us fair and square on the Dawn Cup stage, even Chu Zhifeng!"

In the elite training room, Xiong Ruyue, with a do-or-die spirit, forcefully swung her fists at the three remaining young members of the Kuangtie team.

Hou Zhijian, 21 years and 9 months old, barely meets the standard for participating in the Dawn Cup.

With dark skin and a thin build, he couldn't even reach Xiong Ruyue's chin when he stood up straight. His emaciated limbs were covered with scars, and his ears had become bowl-shaped from years of friction. There were also bruises on the corners of his mouth and eyes. He looked like a silent, broken piece of metal.

At the age of ten, he came from a slum and entered the Kuangtie Martial Arts School with the goal of not being bullied.

He trained under Xiong Tieshan for five whole years, putting in more pain and sweat than Chu Zhifeng.

However, due to a complete lack of talent, aside from developing thick skin and being able to withstand beatings like a sandbag, he completely lacked the decisive output essential for a no-card playstyle.

Because of their poverty, and the fact that their mother had to take medicine all year round, which cost a lot of money.

Xiong Tieshan, feeling sorry for his mediocre disciple, gave him a job as a sparring partner in the Kuangtie team.

After Xiong Ruyue took over the Kuangtie Club, she spent money to send him outside to learn "single card style" and "multi-card style" so that he could play the role of "imaginary enemy" and simulate the opponent's routines and styles for key players like Chu Zhifeng in daily training.

Hou Zhijian also showed no talent in other schools of thought.

The training ground cannot simulate even half the intimidation of elite players from various schools of thought.

Aside from its ever-growing health bar and even more tenacious vitality than a cockroach, its only commendable trait is its down-to-earth work ethic and gratitude.

“My mom said that my master and senior sister have taken care of our family for so many years. When she had a relapse last year, it was my master who paid for her treatment.”

Hou Zhijian put the newspaper reporting Chu Zhifeng's joining the Shattered Star Club aside, his scarred face expressionless. "She told me to stay in the team obediently, and if I dared to have any thoughts of leaving Kuang Tie, she would break my legs herself."

(End of this chapter)