National destiny: Global tower climbing skills have decreased by 10,000 times.

Chapter 112 Prostrating in Admiration

(Due to various reasons, some plot points in the previous chapter have been revised. To avoid affecting your reading experience, it is recommended that you reread the previous chapter before reading this chapter.)

—Continuing from the previous day, the banquet ended and the guests left.

The restaurant was a mess of cups and plates. The former captains were rolling up their sleeves and cleaning up the tables. Some were wiping tables, some were moving chairs, and some were carrying plates and hurrying through the corridor.

Without exception, all five of them ultimately chose to become handymen.

Although it was frustrating and exhausting, at least it wasn't exposed, which was much better than being in jail.

Xingyuan leaned against a pillar in the corridor, her cheeks slightly flushed and her eyes somewhat unfocused.

He had drunk quite a bit, but not to the point of being completely drunk. Ye Fei stood next to him; he had also drunk quite a bit, but acted as if nothing had happened.

"Oh, by the way, I've always wanted to ask," Xingyuan turned his head and patted Ye Fei's shoulder, "what exactly does that name you chose—'Hundred Links'—mean?"

Ye Fei hesitated for a moment before coming up with a suitable answer: "Um—it's actually very simple, it just means climbing the tower for a hundred consecutive wins."

Xingyuan paused for a second, then burst into laughter, his voice hearty, patting the pillar: "You're quite good at making wishes, aren't you?"

"A hundred-game winning streak? When did you start saying such nice things?"

Ye Fei didn't intend to reply. Xing Yuan straightened up, his drunkenness seemingly subsiding somewhat.

At this moment, Xiang Chu was carrying a bucket of swill with his head down, hurrying past them with quick steps, not daring to look up at anyone.

Xingyuan turned his head, waved his hand at the busy figures in the restaurant, and said in a loud voice, "You guys, hurry up and finish today! Come to work at five o'clock tomorrow morning!"

"yes!"

"knew!"

"Definitely! Definitely!"

A few disjointed responses came from inside the restaurant. Xiang Chu, at the end of the corridor, carrying a garbage can, bowed his head and responded, without stopping.

In the days that followed, Ye Fei rarely appeared in the public eye.

He spends most of his time in the office; once the door is closed and the computer is on, he's busy trying to climb the Dragon Slayer Ranking.

Occasionally, Xingyuan would push open the door, hand over a document, and say a few words about matters that required his approval. He only needed to issue the order, and the rest was left to Xingyuan to handle.

Because Xingyuan had professional experience, and since he was the manager and team leader in name only, Ye Fei entrusted him with most of the external affairs, while he stayed behind the scenes.

These past few days, Xingyuan has been extremely busy.

With the organization newly opened, visitors came in droves, many of them prominent figures, and Xingyuan had to meet them one by one.

Wealthy businessmen from Fukuyama Province came to discuss cooperation and sponsorship, while public officials from the e-sports association came to register and inspect the facilities with documents in hand.

Some of Xingyuan's former friends or colleagues from other professions came to offer their congratulations, while many well-known figures from the general public came to visit.

Xingyuan spent most of his daytime providing support, and it was also during these few days that he gradually built up the organization's personnel structure.

From receptionists, security guards, and sanitation workers to professional spies, accountants, lawyers, data analysts, and network engineers—and so on.

All positions are configured to match the setup of the Zixia organization where he used to work; everything that Zixia had, is available here, in a complete and comprehensive manner.

During this same period, the newly recruited members of the five major teams were also given new training plans.

During the day, Xingyuan personally acts as the head coach, explaining one or two practical games in the training room, and then letting them practice on their own. He also stipulates performance evaluations.

That evening, Ye Fei used the materials he had obtained from the Dragon Slayer Ranking to explain each game to Xing Yuan.

Xingyuan then wrote it down, converted it into a simplified version, and taught it to the team members the next day.

The content taught was very brief; each time I only explained a little bit, letting them figure it out on their own.

However, the performance evaluation is very strict and the standards are very high. If you fail to meet the requirements once or twice, you will receive extra training. If you fail to meet the requirements multiple times, you will be dismissed.

Fairness and impartiality; merit determines who stays and who goes.

Many people also knew that if they wanted to stay under the protection of the "Star Abyss" tree, they had to adapt to the changes, so they didn't have any complaints.

After all, as a team formed by a former legendary player, its future is definitely bright, and many people want to join but can't.

By then, even if you really wanted to get in, you wouldn't be able to squeeze in no matter how hard you tried.

The goal is simple: to correct their previous unambitious, lazy, and undisciplined habits.

At the same time, they are also preparing for an "assessment" that will determine their final fate.

The standard for this assessment is to achieve an A8 ranking on the "Dragon Slayer Ranking" and accumulate 3000 points.

And this goal is exactly the same as the task Ye Fei gave Chu Liang back then!

This was Ye Fei's test, not only for the team members, but also for Chu Liang alone.

He just wanted to see if Chu Liang could get ahead of these people and achieve his goal.

If he can't even do this, then it just means he's misjudged him.

Then he is no longer qualified to keep his position in the team.

Meanwhile, it was also during these few days.

In the land of cherry blossoms, ever since "Sakura's Second Slash" defeated Hanada Meijin, the entire country has been engulfed in a kind of collective frenzy, boiling with excitement.

The professional gaming community was abuzz.

When the news that "'Sakura no Dier Dao' is not any active professional player" was made public, the entire Japanese e-sports community was engulfed in a "search frenzy".

Top professional esports teams and organizations are vying to offer huge salaries and send out invitations, frantically searching for the whereabouts of this "Second Sakura Swordsman".

The conditions offered were increasingly outrageous, with some promising annual salaries of over 100 million yuan, others offering lifetime benefits, and some even promising that "as long as you're willing to come, the conditions are negotiable."

It started as a hot topic within the esports community, then spread to social media, and later even convenience stores on the streets were discussing it.

People repeatedly played the recording of that match, analyzing every frame of the second strike, trying to decipher some kind of "divine will" from it.

Due to his mysterious and powerful image, interpretations and speculations about him quickly became popular online.

Someone drew a two-dimensional image of him—a swordsman wearing a straw hat, a robe with cherry blossom petal patterns, and two swords hanging crossed on his back.

He lowered his head and crossed his arms, obscuring his face. Only a stern jawline and a tuft of the classic mustache of a Japanese samurai were visible in the shadow of his straw hat.

This image quickly spread across the internet, and was made into illustrations, emojis, and even figurines made specifically for this image!

As a result, numerous derivative comics and merchandise have emerged. "Sakura's Second Slash" is no longer just a game ID, but has become a cultural symbol.

In the general populace, his worship was almost fanatical.

People regard "Sakura's Second Sword" as a national hero, believing that he can lead Sakura's e-sports to prosperity and victory on the battlefield of national destiny.

A commercial plaza in Tokyo.

The sun was shining brightly, and a brand-new bronze statue stood in the center of the square.

The bronze statue depicts the fictional figure wearing a straw hat, a robe, and carrying two swords. Four large characters are inscribed on the base:

"Lord Sword God"!

Hundreds of people stood around the bronze statue, each wearing a straw hat and with two wooden molded cherry blossom swords strapped to their backs.

They were dressed in matching white checkered shirts with their own custom logos printed on the chest, their expressions solemn, as if they were attending a religious ceremony.

"today--"

The leader stood before the bronze statue, hands raised above his head, and declared in a booming voice: "Our 'Two-Knife Sect' is officially established!"

After he finished speaking, he raised his two swords, and the crowd erupted in enthusiastic applause and cheers.

"We swear to dedicate every effort to finding the true form of the Sword God!"

"I will forever follow in the footsteps of the Sword God!"

"Long live the Sword God!"

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