Nie Yan pushed the door open. The conference room wasn't that large. There was a long, rectangular table at the center with a dozen people seated around it. The lighting was dim, but he could still make out everyone's faces. His gaze landed on Lei Su. He had watched videos of Lei Su's bouts in international competitions before. So, he recognized him immediately. As for the others, he didn't know any of them.
Nie Yan gazed over at the front of the room. Sitting at the head of the table was a middle-aged man with a dignified expression. He wore an ashen coloured blazer.
Nie Yan could feel a domineering pressure coming from him, one that came from having stood in a high position for a long time. He had an austere air about him. A trace of doubt flashed in Nie Yan's mind. Could he be part of the military?
After spending so much time with his father, Nie Yan was quite familiar with the disposition of a soldier. His judgement was most likely correct.
The middle-aged man seemed to hold the highest authority in this room. Seated to his left and right were several other men in their later years. They were all likely heavyweights in the Top Military Academy.
Nie Yan and the middle-aged man met eyes. The two nodded at each other.
The middle-aged man opened his mouth, "Why don't you take a seat first? Sit next to Lei Su. I'll start with the introductions. I'm Mo Yuntian, a member of Heavenly Kings." He pointed at a youth to his far right. "He's the current president of the club, Xiao Yu. He'll take it from here."
Nie Yan walked over to the empty seat next to Lei Su and unhurriedly sat down. He swept his gaze over everyone in the room.
Xiao Yu smiled at Nie Yan. "I'll be giving you a run-down on the history of Heavenly Kings as well as its rules. If you're willing to join, we can begin right away."
"I'm willing." Nie Yan nodded solemnly. Numerous people dreamed of joining Heavenly Kings but would never get the chance in their lifetime. He naturally wouldn't let this opportunity slip by. As his knowledge of the club grew deeper, he understood him joining would be a huge boon to World Bloc.
Xiao Yu nodded and started explaining the club's history as well as introducing its current members. The more Nie Yan listened, the more his shock grew. The people here included high-level officials, high-rank military officers, and bigshots in the business world. Their power was astonishing. They could call the winds and summon the rains. Though the club only had 26 people, their influence wasn't limited to their current members. Some former members had to withdraw from the club due to various circumstances but still continued to watch over it. On top of this, they also had powerful external contacts. If they wanted to, they could even influence the political sphere of the entire nation.
"Back in the day, your father and I shared a bit of friendship. But he was discharged later on." Mo Yuntian smiled.
"Yes, my father's mentioned you before," Nie Yan hurriedly replied. A thought crossed his mind. Since his father and Mo Yuntian had that connection, perhaps the reason he could join Heavenly Kings was related to his father calling in a few favours. His father was in a fairly prominent position. He had helped the nation secure a large quantity of polonium and other strategic resources. If one didn't have backing, how could they dare to run this kind of operation? He had an inkling of what was going on. Once politics were involved, everything became complicated. Him joining Heavenly Kings represented the merging of two powers.
As for why Nie Yan was selected over everyone else, Heavenly Kings had likely considered many factors.
After being introduced to all the members, Nie Yan hurriedly greeted each of them. He didn't dare to be impetuous. At present, he occupied the lowest position, and he wielded no authority so to speak. Every person here represented a major power. By making connections with them, it would be that much easier to do business later on.
Lei Su brought over the youths and started chatting, allowing Nie Yan to jump in. Since they were all roughly in the same age range, there was plenty to talk about. The older folks also wanted to get to know their newest member and walked up to greet him.
Heavenly Kings didn't have many strict rules; comparatively speaking, they were fairly lax. There was only one rule everyone had to abide by, and that was no infighting. If it did occur, the ones at fault would be harshly punished or even excommunicated. As long as you adhered to this rule, everything else would be easy. This was why the vast majority of members didn't dare to stir up trouble.
Even though Nie Yan was pretty much a nobody despite being the heir to World Bloc, no one dared to look down on him. After all, being able to enter Heavenly Kings was a symbol of power in itself. They started talking to Nie Yan about different cooperative partnerships.
"My family invests in heavy metals. We'll probably have a chance to work together in the near future," a youth called Ling Yu said.
"Alright, that would be great!"
Nie Yan chatted with everyone. He didn't expect to secure so many lucrative business deals for World Bloc with just a few short conversations. He understood these people were expressing their goodwill. Since it was mutually beneficial, he naturally wouldn't let these good things go to others. Behind each person here was an astonishing power. He definitely couldn't let any opportunity slip by. This was going to be the start of World Bloc's rise to prominence!
As Nie Yan chatted more and more, he gradually became familiar with everyone. He got along with Lei Su and Xiao Yu best.
"Nie Yan, don't pay attention to that guy Xiao Yu. He's full of evil tricks. Why else would Mo Yuntian let him become the president of Heavenly Kings?" Lei Su said, throwing an irritated side glance at Xiao Yu.
Xiao Yu rolled his eyes, then smiled at Nie Yan.
Nie Yan chuckled. Compared to Lei Su, Xiao Yu was a bit more earnest. His personality was similar to Nie Yan's. So, the two got along pretty well. As for Lei Su, his personality was extremely straightforward, and he valued loyalty more than anything. He was also pretty easy to associate with. Apart from Xiao Yu and Lei Su, Nie Yan also chatted with Ling Yu a bit more. After learning about Ling Yu's background, he was completely shocked. Ling Yu was the heir to the Ling Family, an immensely influential family with a long history and deep ties to both the business and political world.
Lei Su came from an influential military family. Meanwhile, Xiao Yu was Mo Yuntian's nephew. His mother was a high official, and his father was a high rank officer in the army.
Nie Yan sucked in a cold breath of air. Everyone here came from extraordinary backgrounds. He paled in comparison.
"From now on, you're a member of Heavenly Kings. If there's anything you need, you can directly contact me," Mo Yuntian said.
"Alright, thank you General Yuntian." Nie Yan nodded.
Mo Yuntian gazed at Nie Yan. He ruminated for a moment, then said, "I want to ask you a question."
"Ask away, General," Nie Yan politely replied. He wasn't blind. He could naturally tell Mo Yuntian was the person in Heavenly Kings that shouldn't be provoked the most.
"Did you recently experience tremendous growth? I'm talking about your fighting strength," Mo Yuntian asked.
Nie Yan was confused. Why would Mo Yuntian ask this kind of question? However, he answered without skipping a beat, "Correct."
"And you recently advanced to a Shadow Dancer, yes?" Mo Yuntian gazed deeply at Nie Yan.
Nie Yan's heart trembled. Ever since becoming a Shadow Dancer, he had seen rapid growth in his fighting strength, and it was showing no signs of stopping. Additionally, he discovered that many Shadow Dancer skills shared similarities with real world fighting techniques. After realizing this, he seemed to comprehend an entire new realm. This left him extremely baffled. Why did a fantasy video game seem connected to the real world?
Could it be that Mo Yuntian knew more about this?
Nie Yan sensed there was a deeper story to all this. However, he didn't dare to openly ask. Nothing good could come from poking his nose too deep. If Mo Yuntian wanted him to know, he would have already spoken.
"Yes..."
Hearing Nie Yan's reply, Mo Yuntian seemed to confirm something and nodded. "Alright, that's all I wanted to know."
Nie Yan noticed a peculiar flicker in Mo Yuntian's eyes.
Xiao Yu, Lei Su, and the others were bewildered. Nie Yan and Mo Yuntian's conversation made no sense at all. What did fighting strength have to do with becoming a Shadow Dancer? Only a few senior members among them understood what was being talked about. The rest weren't qualified to know.
"I have a favour to ask of you. Are you willing to help me? Naturally, you can refuse," Mo Yuntian said in a mild tone.
Despite not knowing what Mo Yuntian was planning, Nie Yan still quickly replied, "Please ask away, General. I'd be happy to help."
"I have a group of several dozen youngsters with me, a fairly talented bunch. They're also all Level 100 in Conviction, but they haven't started their class advancement quests yet. Considering you've already passed yours, I wonder if you could teach them a thing or two. After they succeed, I also hope you can guide them on the mastery of their respective Master Classes. Of course, I'm not asking you to do this for free. If you help me, you can count it as me owing you a favour," Mo Yuntian said.
Everyone stared at Nie Yan in astonishment. They all understood Mo Yuntian's disposition. He was a man of his word, never going back on a promise. His word was worth its weight in gold. They were all perplexed. The favour he was asking, it couldn't just be this, right? Never in their wildest dreams did they think he had an interest in expanding into Conviction. Nie Yan must've really been born under a lucky star. If it were them, they would definitely agree without hesitation. They understood how valuable a favour from Mo Yuntian was.
Nie Yan sank into deep thought. He was extremely puzzled. Was nurturing a group of Master Class players really that important to Mo Yuntian?