After a short interval, the friend requests for private messages gradually became active.
Su Mo emptied some unrelated private message requests into the recycle bin. Looking at the small red number on the upper right, Su Mo patiently waited.
In the blink of an eye, the number changed from 1 to 3, and continued to rise steadily. Almost every few seconds, new requests would appear.
“It’s no wonder that, in the ancient times on Earth, those aristocrats or overlords, and even those heroes, all valued fame so much.”
“Even in this doomsday wasteland, reputation is also important!”
Seeing the rapidly increasing numbers, Su Mo was full of emotion.
If he had been just an unknown person today, his message on the World Channel would have been submerged in the flurry of messages in seconds.
However, with the honor of being the number one person in the world, and having the title of the strongest disaster-resistant shelter, his words were law.
Countless people crazily pursued Su Mo to obtain a sliver of interest or profit that might have slipped past his fingers.
Seeing that the number of friend requests finally exceeded ten, Su Mo started to open the private message panel to check the information in these people’s applications.
[Zhang Tianzhi: I’m the sixty-seventh generation descendant of the Wing Chun martial arts school, and possess great skill. Although Wing Chun is not that strong in actual combat, it is effective in small-scale combat situations. If Mr. Su Mo is willing to join our school, I could pass on the knowledge of Wing Chun.]
[Dong Bo: Yellow Flower Spear technique; with a long spear, wielded as if painting, stirring waves like a dragon and attacking like diving geese. No matter if you are fighting monsters or fighting people, you can take the initiative. We can talk about the terms in detail.]
[Sun Ruijin: Thunder Spear technique; to draw the spear with the agility of wild horses, reflect blows like a mirror and entangle enemies like pythons in the trees. It can be light or heavy, fast or slow. If Mr. Su Mo can pay respects to our ancestors with the three prayers and nine bows, the skill can be passed on from us to you.]
…
If he had never seen the messages, he would have never known. Su Mo was shocked when he saw them.
These masters of ancient martial arts were very verbose about their abilities, so they wrote down the characteristics of their techniques as much as possible in the friend request, and named their requirements at the same time.
Su Mo was not particularly resistant against the tradition of three prayers and nine bows before being accepted into a school. However, what he was afraid of was that the other party might continue to have requests under the pretext of brotherhood and sisterhood of the same affiliation of martial arts.
If he did not give in to their requests given their nominal brotherhood relationship, Su Mo, who had tasted the benefits of fame, was wary that it would damage his reputation in the wasteland.
If he did give in to their requests, if these people kept begging like bloodsucking worms, it would cause him endless headaches.
Without approving the friend requests of these people, Su Mo continued to wait patiently.
After waiting for half an hour, there were still no changes in the number of requests.
Just as Su Mo was about to choose from one of the previous requests, a new request was received.
Just looking at the introduction that accompanied the request, Su Mo gave up the idea of continuing to wait in an instant and simply accepted the request.
On the private message panel, the other party’s avatar slowly appeared, flashing with a bright light.
In the chat panel, the introductory message of the friend request was simultaneously displayed in the first few lines.
The wording was very simple.
[Yue Fa: Descendant of Yue Family Spear technique, former head of the 13th Division of the Armed Forces, champion of the Army’s 7-year military competition. Killing skills will only be passed on to individuals of pure-heartedness.]
Simple sentences like these were much more reliable in Su Mo’s eyes than those who had boasted about their skills from before.
The ancient martial arts were described magnificently, and sounded as magical as the miraculous movements of the universe and the Nine Yang Divine Skill described in the martial arts novels.
In fact, to put it bluntly, these techniques on Earth were variants of fighting techniques.
The people who developed these techniques had spent their entire lives studying how to use the shortest time and least effort to destroy the enemy. They were techniques that specialized in posture, force, and killing.
Besides, after so many generations, the power and reputation of each style were not determined just by the exaggerated words used to describe the technique. The strength of a technique was proven not by its fanciful description or great reputation, but rather by its end result.
Ancient martial arts techniques without any record of results were like the reflection of moonlight in the well, flowers floating on the water, the master himself not understanding it, let alone passing it on to others to practice.
Successfully adding Yue Fa as a friend, Su Mo was still in deep thought when the other party’s video call came in.
“Huh? Why does everyone have to video call for all kinds of matters in the wasteland these days? It is not very friendly to someone with social anxiety like me!”
Looking at the video invitation with a headache, Su Mo had to accept the call for the sake of the Yue Family Spear technique.
Buzz~
The familiar electric current hum sounded and, on the opposing video screen, a man with an ordinary face, but a sense of firmness and righteousness, appeared.
If thrown into a crowd, the appearance of the other party would have easily been submerged.
However, Su Mo did not dare to look down upon him at this time.
“Hello?”
Grumble…
“Hmm! Hello Su Mo!”
Yue Fa’s reply was very simple but, when he spoke, a groaning sound came from his belly embarrassingly.
In an instant, Yue Fa, who had still been wearing a stern expression, broke his pretense, with a trace of embarrassment present on his face.
“This… I already know your character, Su Mo. I just want to ask you three questions…”
“Please ask!” Keeping the words to a minimum to maintain his facial expression, Su Mo did not lose his posture, sitting on a chair with a firm disposition as well.
The Yue Family Spear Technique had both a name and a reputation. Su Mo was not surprised by Yue Fa’s test.
In the video, after Su Mo uttered the words “Please ask!”, Yue Fa burst into a shout, his eyes gleaming.
“Answer me!”
“Do you have a history of committing crimes?”
In an instant, it was as if an endless murderous aura gushed out from across the screen and struck at him.
Seated upright, Su Mo yelled out the word “No” loudly and clearly, his blood still surging from the constant fighting with the kobolds over many days. .
“Do you regret that you have killed your kind?”
Concerning this question, Su Mo did not hesitate either and once again replied, “No”.
Hearing Su Mo’s first two firm answers, a trace of “gladness” appeared on Yue Fa’s face.
Just when Su Mo thought that the questioning session was coming to an end, the next second, the sensation of a furious beast attacking came through the screen.
At this moment, even Su Mo could not bear the magnitude and threatening aura of Yue Fa’s sudden technique.
As if benefiting from the fidelity of the video call on the game panel, at this time, in front of Su Mo, it looked as if Yue Fa was right in front of him in an attacking posture.
This feeling was very astonishing, but also very strange.
Su Mo told himself in his heart that this man could not attack him through the screen, but his body’s reaction could not be hidden, trembling at the experience!
“Answer me! Have you ever killed innocent people?”
When the momentum accumulated to its highest peak, Yue Fa finally could not hold back his energy, and he burst out with a loud voice that shook Su Mo’s eardrums.
It was hard to imagine that this kind of sound could be made by a person who had not been eating properly.
“No! My behavior is upstanding and upright. I do things with a clear conscience. Good is good, evil is evil; distinct and clear cut. This is the truth for me now and it will always be the same way!”
Su Mo got up in the same way and took a defensive fighting posture, resisting the threat from Yue Fa, while slowly spitting out his answer.
In the next second, with an uncontrollable smile on Yue Fa’s face, the two of them relaxed their postures at the same time, and the tension suddenly eased.
“Who would have thought that Su Weiyi, that old fella, who had never done anything major in his life, had taught his son quite well!”
Yue Fa waved his hand in a lonely manner as if remembering something, his expression showing nostalgia and sentimentality.
Hearing this, Su Mo was taken aback.
“Do you… know my dad?”
Su Weiyi, Su Mo’s father.
He was also a well-known engineer in the army, but because of his age, he switched over to a clerical position.
Years later, his father retired and went to sea to do business and started to enjoy life with his mother.
Regarding the military career of his younger days, Su Mo had only heard of it when his father boasted about it while drunk.
Su Mo was surprised when he suddenly heard his father’s name coming out of someone else’s mouth!
“Huh, your dad was the one who watched my martial arts competitions in the audience. I know him? Were it not for the time that he came to me to learn some self-defense moves, I would not have known him!”
Yue Fa looked arrogant, but there were a lot of emotions in his tone as if he was missing their interactions from those years.
After a while, smacking his lips, Yue Fa continued to speak, “Su Mo, lad, I won’t involve you in my friendship with your dad. About my Yue Family Spear technique, you can name a price yourself. I, your Uncle Yue, have not eaten a full meal for over ten days.”
After saying this, Yue Fa could no longer bear the sourness in his stomach. He swallowed the saliva in his mouth, and looked at the steamed buns behind Su Mo in the video with light in his eyes.
Had he passed the test?
Hearing Yue Fa’s words, Su Mo was overjoyed. Just now the Yue Family Spear technique shown by Yue Fa was but a posture, and the threatening aura that came out from that alone was enough to suffocate him.
This kind of good stuff, if he could learn a few moves, he would never be at a disadvantage anymore in close-quarters combat in the future!
After thinking for a while, Su Mo smiled while looking at Yue Fa’s “hungry” gaze, and said tentatively, “How about this? I will be fully responsible for the courier fee for the next transaction. For items within 12 kg, flour, rice, whatever you want to eat, I will make it for you on the spot and send it via express delivery!”
The weight of the materials, 2 points for every 3 kilograms, divided into multiple transactions, with 8 points for express delivery costs; to others at this stage, this was a huge sum of money, but for Su Mo, it was not worth mentioning.
He had received 632 points previously, plus the subsequent 500 points for destroying the Lion people’s shelter, so the balance he had on hand was still a lot.
Yue Fa, who was on the opposite side, heard this and could not help himself anymore. He shouted directly, “Fine! Enough, enough! Just send me all the big white steamed buns behind you first, and you can convert the rest into raw rice for me.”
It was a transaction that made both parties very “satisfied” and was quickly completed in a harmonious atmosphere.
Watching the steamed buns and rice enter the storage space and then disappear, the words “Successful Transaction” slowly appeared floating up after.
There was a flash of light, and a booklet recording the Yue Family Spear technique appeared in Su Mo’s hands.
Without opening it, Su Mo focused his attention on the booklet in his mind. The next second, he looked at the attributes that appeared on the booklet.
Su Mo was shocked!
“This thing can also be upgraded?”
