It was incredible that someone would pay a thousand dollars for an autograph. Qin Fen was starting to believe that if his address became known, some fans would hire an assassin just for the chance to kill him.

That particular auction listing had stopped ticking, though the others were still counting down.

Qin Fen suddenly realized his heart wasn't as strong as he had imagined; the final hammer price for those thirty-plus signatures was going to be astronomical.

To avoid being kept awake that night, Qin Fen simply closed the auction interface, shifting his attention to Zhang Xiangyang, who had already returned to his own bunk.

Someone possessing super-calculating abilities, coupled with login credentials and the URL for the Black Market—could that person truly be ordinary? Qin Fen rested his chin on one hand, observing Zhang Xiangyang, who was engrossed in a magazine, with intense scrutiny.

Why was he helping me? Is he deliberately trying to get close to me? Qin Fen was utterly perplexed, unable to find any thread of logic, even applying the psychology skills Instructor Hao had taught him proved useless at this moment.

Fighting continuously, combined with the rigorous martial arts fusion training, had pushed Qin Fen's body and spirit to the absolute limit. Before he realized it, he had fallen asleep right there in his seated position.

Inboundless darkness, a Master of the Analytical School emerged slowly, a faint smile gracing his features, a hint of appreciation lingering around his brow.

"Young man, you did well today."

The Master's words were always unhurried, his calm and collected voice perfectly complementing his demeanor.

"Master, do you have any advice for me regarding the fusion of Jingang Wu (Diamond Dance) with Long Zheshen (Dragon Concealment)?"

Qin Fen cherished these conversations with the Master. Every deep, all-night discussion brought a clearer perspective to his wavering path in martial arts.

"Advice?" The Master smiled faintly and shook his head repeatedly. "I have no advice for you this time. You have your own path, and I do not wish to constrain you entirely within mine. For certain mistakes that are unnecessary to make, I will discuss them with you and offer counsel. But for some things, even if they clearly lead toward a setback, I must let you experience them so that you can truly grow."

A flicker of surprise crossed Qin Fen’s eyes. "What? Master, are you saying I’ve taken the wrong path this time?"

The Master smiled for a long moment before responding, "What do you think?"

Qin Fen sank into deep contemplation. Since beginning his talks with the Master, the Master had never been wrong. In the Master's presence, Qin Fen felt like an absolute novice. Faced with the Master's counter-question, he had to think carefully.

One minute, ten minutes, an hour, two hours…

Qin Fen slowly raised his head. The confusion in his eyes had vanished completely, replaced by the very composure and resolve that the Master possessed.

"Master, thank you."

"Thank me for what? I offered nothing."

Qin Fen shook his head earnestly. "I always believed I held my own conviction regarding the martial path, but the moment you posed that counter-question, I wavered. Because you have never erred, I began to doubt whether that fusion and creation were truly mistaken. I thought for a long time, I reflected seriously, and only just now did I understand: you were teaching me that the future of martial arts is always uncertain, but a martial artist must possess a resolute heart! A heart capable of shattering all confusion..."

The Master spread his hands, shrugging, a smile woven into his expression. "You said all that. I didn't say a word."

"Thank you," Qin Fen bowed deeply. "It was you who just told me that in martial arts, there is no right or wrong. Only people are wrong, only the human heart is wrong."

Clap, clap, clap, clap

The Master began to applaud softly. "Kid, your enlightenment surpasses my imagination. I thought you would only grasp whether it suited you personally, but you, with only four-star strength, have grasped an insight far beyond the four-star level. Good, very good!"

The word 'good' left his lips just as the Master flashed forward, his speed sharp as lightning, two extended fingers aimed directly at the center of Qin Fen's brow!

Four-star strength? How was this possible? Qin Fen felt the same helplessness as the opponents he had previously struck down; facing the Master's four-star power, he hadn't the slightest chance to resist.

The world went dark before his eyes, and Qin Fen sank completely into slumber.

In the last instant before losing consciousness, he heard the Master's voice drift through the void: "Kid, get some good rest."

That night, Qin Fen’s comrades found no peace, subjected to his snores, which sounded like rolling thunder.

"Old Qin's snoring is louder than his battle cries."

"Well, that explains why Old Qin is so formidable. If his fighting roars are that intense, his snoring is bound to match."

"Yeah, let him sleep. That sumo wrestler from Hezhou has been showing up every day looking for him; Old Qin probably can't avoid him much longer. Better save his strength for the new sumo challenge from Hezhou."

"Sigh! I don't know if Old Qin is lucky or unlucky. Beating Park Jong-hwan earned him the title of Martial Arts King among the new recruits in our battalion. But now, young masters from other regions are coming to cause trouble. I heard that a young Thai boxing expert from Taizhou is also inquiring about Old Qin."

"I heard that too. And I heard a young master of Kyokushin Karate is also asking about Old Qin’s whereabouts."

The men exchanged silent glances, seeing the worry reflected in each other's eyes. None of these young masters, personally invited to join the army by the military region command, were pushovers. If a real fight broke out, predicting the outcome would be difficult.

After a while, the others grew accustomed to Qin Fen’s snoring and gradually drifted off to sleep.

At the first light of dawn, the reveille sounded precisely on time.

Qin Fen stretched, and his bones cracked audibly—the sound of complete recovery after extreme fatigue was met with ample rest.

The other new recruits getting up were universally awestruck by Qin Fen's capacity for recovery.

The man who yesterday lacked the strength to open his eyes was now radiant and energetic the next morning. Comparing people really was like comparing life to death.

Having missed several days of group activities, Qin Fen happily joined his comrades for a strenuous training session.

Not having trained for several days, Qin Fen noticed the intensity of the new recruit training had significantly increased, yet his comrades seemed to handle the drills much more easily than before.

At that moment, Qin Fen realized he wasn't the only one improving; his comrades were progressing too.

Looking towards Instructor Hao nearby, Qin Fen once again felt deep admiration for the legendary architect of their training schedule.

In this camp, there were no standardized metrics like in other training facilities; as long as one met the standard, it was sufficient. Here, there was only one standard: the soldiers with the lowest training scores must be punished!

After experiencing the pain of punishment, everyone was compelled to fight fiercely to excel in training just to avoid being singled out.

It doesn't matter if you can’t outrun the tiger; just make sure you outrun the person next to you! This ancient adage, cleverly adapted by Instructor Hao into the training regimen, yielded remarkably obvious results.

Putting aside top-tier recruits like Qin Fen and Du Peng, the rest of the new soldiers, while inferior to the absolute best in other camps, could generally outperform the average new recruit elsewhere.

When lunchtime arrived, Qin Fen did not head to the mess hall with his comrades; the repulsive "delicacies" meticulously prepared by the head chef were still waiting for him.

Instructor Hao was waiting for Qin Fen on his usual path. As they walked side-by-side toward the chef's kitchen, they heard Instructor Hao say, "Kid, I have good news and bad news for you. Which do you want to hear first?"

Qin Fen stared at Instructor Hao’s face for a long moment, then sighed. "Sigh! I still can't figure out how to use your lie to execute a counter-deception strategy against you."

"A lie? I haven't lied," Instructor Hao’s eyes shone with a purity comparable to an infant's. "How could you suspect an instructor who is like a father, like an older brother? You wound me deeply..."

"Like a father, like an older brother?" Qin Fen smiled with resignation. "What father constantly tricks his son? What older brother constantly plays games with his younger sibling? Since the good news and the bad news are the same piece of information, what choice is there?"

Instructor Hao’s baby-like innocent gaze vanished, replaced by a smile tinged with satisfaction. "Not bad, not bad. It seems your field training these past few days hasn't meant you neglected your psychology studies. But don't be complacent; you haven't tricked me yet."

"Trick you?" Qin Fen was highly skeptical. Instructor Hao had studied psychology for so many years; even if his brother, Qin Zhan, reappeared, it was doubtful he could successfully deceive this Master of Psychology.

"The higher-ups have approved a few slots," Instructor Hao shifted to a serious expression. "Simply put, East Asia's results in consecutive New Recruit Exchange Competitions haven't been impressive. This time, I hear Africa and West Asia are boasting about improving their rankings. The top brass in the East Asia Military Region is afraid this last scrap of dignity will be stripped away, so they are taking this seriously."

"And so?" Qin Fen inquired. "The solution they came up with is a special intensive training? That’s why there are these so-called slots?"

Instructor Hao clapped his hands forcefully with delight. "Exactly! Smart! They have indeed organized a short-term training camp this time. While not every East Asian young elite will attend, it will certainly include the true elite. Honestly, this kind of opportunity is rare. The instructors at those few training camps, while perhaps not as skilled as us, are far more severe and ruthless than we are."

Qin Fen glanced sideways, re-examining Instructor Hao. These instructors usually looked down on everyone, calling newcomers 'rookies,' yet today they offered praise for the instructors at that short-term camp. This suggested they would genuinely learn something valuable.

Gaining more knowledge before the New Recruit Competition would increase their chances of winning awards during the event. Thinking this, Qin Fen’s interest was instantly ignited. "I'm in! Just one question: am I the only one from our camp going?"

"Du Peng is going too," Instructor Hao grinned slyly. "This kid seems to come from a military family. He probably got a tip-off from home and actually came to me demanding a slot—that truly surprised me. Usually, orders come straight down from above; we never have children petitioning for slots themselves. With something so strange happening, I'm happy to oblige and see how events unfold. I wonder what this kid's real background is."