Chapter 38

"Just ten minutes, isn't that too short? Can you master the technique in such a short time?" Old Xu turned to Zhuo Chuan and asked. He was naturally pleased to hear that they could buy time, as soul crystals were too precious for underground residents, and saving them was a must. However, he didn't want Zhuo Chuan to fail the duel because of the time constraint and inability to master the technique.

"As long as it's proven effective once, that's enough," Zhuo Chuan replied confidently.

The "Sigh of Time and Space" combines time stasis and spatial positioning teleportation. Once its effectiveness is proven, the opponent will be unable to resist.

"Alright then," Old Xu agreed and then asked the beautiful female robot, "What's the price for ten minutes of guidance?"

"The minimum is one hundred, and the maximum is around two hundred," the female robot explained. "The price varies because the citizens we invite each time have different levels and abilities. However, the highest we can pay a citizen for an hour is two thousand. If the citizen is unsatisfied and unwilling to come down for guidance, we will choose another citizen who accepts this price."

"Shall we go for ten minutes then?" Old Xu asked Zhuo Chuan.

Zhuo Chuan nodded; he only needed one chance to face the opponent directly.

Old Xu clarified the payment method and then paid two hundred low-grade soul crystals. Both parties had only a verbal agreement, but with the Earth Mother monitoring, the contract was valid, so no one bothered with inefficient written guarantees.

"The two of you can familiarize yourselves with our fighting arena. I'll show you around. In three hours, a citizen will come down for guidance. This session is 11 hours and 10 minutes long, and you are scheduled for the last ten minutes. However, as a customer, you can observe the citizen's guidance of others for free if you get permission," the female robot explained patiently.

The two naturally followed her arrangement and spent the next three hours touring the "Heavenly Splendor" private fighting training arena, which was open to the public.

The place was enormous, and Zhuo Chuan couldn't help but marvel at it. Most of the underground resources were directed towards cultivating citizens, and the land allocated for such specialized facilities was quite generous, similar in size to their school, which was comparable to a modern high school.

It didn't seem large, but considering the trillions of people, the land area was incredibly valuable.

In contrast, ordinary underground residents lived in tiny single rooms of about ten square meters, mostly in communal dormitories.

The training facilities were more professional than those in the school Zhuo Chuan had previously attended. In one fighting arena, he even saw someone training with a high-level robot.

High-level robots required soul crystals to operate and had human-like thinking patterns and action capabilities, combining the high computational power and absolute calm judgment of robots with the adventurous spirit of humans.

The person training with the robot was a young man, no more than twenty years old.

This young man was quick and powerful, evident from the destruction around him. The specially set obstacles were often shattered during his battles.

Zhuo Chuan estimated that the young man had about one-twentieth of his destructive power.

Zhuo Chuan's body, inherited from a B-level citizen, was at the peak of this new world. For the young man to have five percent of his destructive power at this age was impressive.

He asked the female robot, who checked and found that the young man was willing to share his information publicly.

Of course, Zhuo Chuan understood that this was to attract the attention of higher-level citizens. Every year, citizens came down to evaluate and select promising individuals to join their organizations. His upcoming opponent, Jie Cheng, an E-level citizen, was one such person who came down annually to select talent.

"Xie Hui Tian, 21 years old, H-level citizen soul successor, ..."

Zhuo Chuan was very interested. He was glad he had asked, as this person's situation was similar to his, though the other had been a citizen for two years.

Two months ago, Zhuo Chuan would not have been a match for him, as although the other's destructive power was far lower, his technique and reaction were superior.

But now, even without using the soul skill "Sigh of Time and Space," Zhuo Chuan could rely on his physical strength to overwhelm the other.

He silently noted this person and continued to follow the female robot on the tour.

Three hours passed quickly. The female robot received a notification that a citizen had come down to start guiding in Arena 2, and all sessions today allowed others to observe.

The female robot happily told the two, "Congratulations, you can watch the entire session today. I'm sure it will be very helpful for you."

"Thank you," Zhuo Chuan nodded and then asked, "By the way, I haven't asked your name yet?"

Old Xu was a bit surprised; few people cared about the names of robots. However, he didn't mind, as this might be Zhuo Chuan's first time seeing this model of robot.

The female robot's expression paused for two or three seconds before she continued with a smile, "My designation is Z703."

"Understood, thank you, Z703," Zhuo Chuan noted the detail but didn't have time to dwell on it. He followed Z703 to Arena 2.

...

Arena 2 was large, similar in size to the fighting training arena at Zhuo Chuan's school, with a circular center and surrounding stands. However, the stands had much better protection.

Under Z703's guidance, Zhuo Chuan and Old Xu went up to the stands and looked down at the center of the arena.

Two people were already standing in the center, a tall middle-aged man and a white-haired old man.

Z703 informed them that the old man was the citizen they had invited for guidance, the easiest to invite, and the cheapest, at just one thousand per session.

Of course, his strength was not lacking, and he was experienced, ranking in the upper-middle among all the citizens they could invite.

Clearly, this old citizen was very dedicated to guiding the growth of the younger generation.

Of course, if citizens had the time and were reasonably compensated, they would not refuse to guide potential citizens.

The arrogant Jie Cheng was the same, but he had more stringent requirements.

The tall middle-aged man was the manager of the arena, also a citizen, but at the lowest rank of 24th-level citizens, a Z-level citizen, and his strength had not improved in decades.

Zhuo Chuan nodded; this made sense, otherwise, it would be difficult to invite someone of a higher status.

The two men talked in the arena for a while, and the stands had sound transmission facilities, so they could hear clearly.

"Old Fang, this time you are guiding for 11 hours and 10 minutes. I hope you will take care," the tall middle-aged man said politely, but not humbly.

"Oh, there's a bit of extra time again," the old man, called Old Fang, said casually.

"Yes, just like before, it's pieced together," the tall middle-aged man replied.

"Ah, the guidance price is still too high. It's too difficult for potential citizens to accumulate soul crystals. Without regular channels, they might miss important growth opportunities by trying to save up for an hour of effective guidance," Old Fang sighed. "I'll take a look. If I have time, I'll be more lenient."

"Thank you very much," the tall middle-aged man said gratefully. Although he was also a citizen, he was not skilled at guiding others, and the old man could earn two to three times more in other places but still came here to give more talented individuals a chance.