However, the strict requirements for joining Heavenly Kings posed an obstacle. Only one or two people were recruited every year. The Top Military Academy was vast, with geniuses abound. There were bound to be people just as if not more qualified than Nie Yan. Qin Han was one of those.

Just like Father Nie said, joining Heavenly Kings wasn’t something that could be forced. One could only let fate decide.

Since Nie Yan wasn’t a student of the Top Military Academy in his past life, he was clueless about its circumstances. He planned to ask Undying Scoundrel or one of the others at some point.

Nie Yan had his father help him collect data related to Heavenly Kings. With a deeper understanding of them, he would be better prepared to meet them when the time came.

While Nie Yan and Xie Yao were back at the villa, a group of people gathered in a secret conference room in the Top Military Academy.

26 people altogether sat around a long square table deep in discussion. Their ages varied greatly, with the oldest being nearly 60 years old and the youngest being 23. They would convene here at the start of every year to talk about new recruits. This had become a tradition. They were all current or former students of the Top Military Academy. Now many of them were already big shots in the military, political, or business world.

“Between Nie Yan and Qin Han, who do you think is more suitable?” a tall, middle aged man in a military uniform asked. He was sitting at the head of the table and looked quite imposing. His epaulets were decorated with five stars. He was a general.

“Qin Han has an edge in terms of family background, which will be more beneficial to us. The Monet Financial Group is quite influential in South America. Meanwhile, World Bloc is only an upstart in China. Even if we nurture them up, they’ll only amount to so much,” an old fattie sitting at the side of the table voiced his opinion. Even though he was in his later years, he still looked hale and hearty. He wore a Chinese suit and looked quite shrewd and capable.

These two held the greatest influence here. One was a higher up in the military, while the other was an important official in the government. They normally didn’t reveal their names. However, if one were say them out loud, it would definitely cause quite a stir.

“I’m afraid Nie Yan doesn’t only have World Bloc behind him. From what I heard, the little princess of the Dragonsoar and Glory Financial Groups is currently living together with him. If Xie Jun didn’t approve of Nie Yan, he definitely wouldn’t let his daughter stay with him. If you add the Dragonsoar and Glory Financial Groups into the equation, things are completely different,” a 23 year old youth said. Family background, connections, and so on would all be taken into consideration when reviewing a potential recruit for Heavenly Kings.

“It seems like Xiao Yu approves of Nie Yan more. Since Nie Yan and Qin Han are sworn enemies, why don’t we see who comes out on top in the end?” the general chuckled. Xiao Yu was currently responsible for all affairs in Heavenly Kings. After Nie Yan and Qin Han were nominated, they required two thirds of the votes to become members. Right now, the selection process was only just beginning.

“I recently found something interesting. Take a look yourselves,” Xiao Yu said. He pressed a few buttons on the screen in front of him. Before long, a video of Nie Yan in the gym appeared on the large monitor at the front of the room.

Nie Yan’s every movement was captured on camera.

“You little brat, you installed cameras in the gym?” Several people shot gloomy looks at Xiao Yu. They were regular visitors of the gym. Some even brought their girlfriends over for a little fun in the storage room.

“Xiao Yu, after the meeting is over, we need to have a little chat.” A tall and muscular youth cracked his knuckles and gazed at Xiao Yu menacingly.

Xiao Yu felt all the hairs on his body stand up. That youth was a fourth year senior, older than him by a year. He was called Lei Su, a famous character in the Top Military Academy as well as the heir to the Sky International Financial Group. He was the champion of the school’s fighting competition three years in a row and winner of the federation’s FG fighter pilot tournament. He also held many other accolades that would make people gasp in admiration. Lei Su was a person overflowing with talent. He also valued loyalty greatly. Perhaps his only flaw was his lust for sex. He visited the gym quite often, regularly bringing his lady friends in with him. Xiao Yu’s deepest impression was when Lei Yu brought five women together with him into the gym. What happened next couldn’t be described with words. However, he still watched with relish, granted he was breaching privacy rules and enjoying the dirty free of charge. The cameras he installed were the size of pinholes. They could enlarge and shrink at will. He could look wherever he wanted.

Xiao Yu inwardly grumbled. He knew he was going to get it later. However, with so many big shots present, he still chose to press forward, “This is a recording of Nie Yan testing himself in the gym from earlier in the day.”

The admiral looked at the video, then turned to Xiao Yu and asked, “How are his new results?”

“Much higher than when he tested for the Top Military Academy entrance exam. He has a 915.28 kg squat, 622.81 kg lat pulldown, 721.35 kick, and a punch force as high as 1036.28 kg.” Xiao Yu turned to Lei Su. “I guess you won’t have to complain about not having any competition anymore.”

“Damn, what a freak. His punch and kick are even stronger than mine. The only thing left to see is if his fighting techniques are up to snuff.” Lei Su licked his lips. His blood was boiling after finally finding a worthy rival.

“His scores weren’t that high during the Top Military Academy entrance exam. That can only mean two things. His strength improved greatly during this short span of time, or he held back before,” Xiao Yu said. He gazed at the several big shots. Seeing the pensive looks on their faces, he knew he had succeeded in attracting their interest.

“He’s probably already close to becoming a Shadow Dancer in Conviction, right?” the general asked.

Xiao Yu was caught off guard. He didn’t understand why the topic had shifted to Conviction.

“World Bloc purposefully leaked to us that Nie Yan is already Level 97. He isn’t far off from becoming a Shadow Dancer,” Xiao Yu snapped out of his daze and replied.

“Damn, Level 97? What a freak!” Several of the youths in the room were surprised. They understood how difficult it was to level up in Conviction. Even the strongest among them had only just broken past Level 80.

“This kid’s comprehension is pretty good. That punch just now is a technique learned by Ace mech fighters in the army,” Mo Yunfeng said, glancing at the several big shots.

Xiao Yu was bewildered. How were these two things related? He noticed the expressions of the big shots. They seemed to understand what Mo Yunfeng was talking about.

“Observe Nie Yan closely,” Mo Yunfeng said.

“Alright.” Xiao Yu nodded. He could only set aside the doubts in his hearts for later. Asking Mo Yunfeng and the other higher-ups wasn’t a wise idea.

Unbeknownst to Nie Yan, while he was trying to figure out how to get into Heavenly Kings, the big shots there were already watching him closely. Compared to Qin Han, some of the older members seemed to approve of him more.

Nie Yan and Xie Yao spent the afternoon enjoying each other’s company out in town. As evening arrived, they both entered Conviction.

Nie Yan continued to train his skills in the prairie. Apart from the five Freedom Skills, he also placed Steal to the front. He wanted to see if he could gain 50x skill proficiency for it here.

Seeing a Barbarian Warrior roaming around in the distance, Nie Yan slowly snuck up from behind, then struck it with Backbreaker.

The Barbarian Warrior was stunned for five seconds.

Nie Yan quickly targeted it with Steal.

Steal successful! You have obtained 76 silver. You have obtained 50 skill proficiency.

Steal also gained 50x skill proficiency in this map!

Nie Yan couldn’t help but get excited. It would be extremely beneficial to him if he could raise the rank of Steal. His Steal skill was currently Rank 4. This was considered the most rudimentary level. Even though the success rate was greatly increased, it was still fairly low. It only succeeded once in every nth attempts. Even then, the items stolen would usually only be money. The chance of obtaining a piece of equipment or something valuable was extremely low.

Nie Yan had once heard a Shadow Dancer say that the Steal skill at Rank 7 or lower was basically worthless. However, if you could raise it to Rank 8 or higher, it would be like a different skill. At Rank 10, it became godly and potent enough to anger an enemy into vomiting blood.

In the previous timeline, Nie Yan had spent an entire month training Steal non-stop yet only managed to raise it to Rank 3. The higher it went, the harder it was to train and the more time it required. He couldn’t believe that someone had trained Steal to Rank 8. Just how much time would that take!? You would practically need to have the patience of a saint!

A matter that seemed impossible in the previous timeline was a very real possibility now.

Nie Yan was determined to train his Steal to Rank 10!

Nie Yan was suddenly overtaken by a strong desire. He wanted to know just what kind of effect Rank 10 Steal would have. How could it anger an enemy enough to vomit blood?

Steal’s cooldown was very short, but the failure rate was high. He would be lucky to succeed once in every 10 attempts against these Level 120 Barbarian Warriors.

When the Barbarian Warriors were incapacitated by Backbreaker, Nie Yan would spam Steal on them. When they recovered from the stun five seconds later, he would activate Extreme Intimidate, immobilizing them again.

Nie Yan chained one control skill after another, not allowing the Barbarian Warrior to move.

You have obtained 50 skill proficiency.

You have obtained 50 skill proficiency.

...

Before long, a notification jingle rang out.

Your Steal skill has advanced to Rank 5.