However, Qi Xu reconsidered—it seemed that highly skilled players did face some in-game sanctions regarding loot drops.
Battle Wolf 009 could never pull healing items, and Watch Me Cut You Down was even worse off—no one had worse luck than her. Meanwhile, players like the notoriously lucky Bian, Blessed by Luck, and Retired Magical Boy were all fairly average in terms of combat prowess...
The survival game always seemed to balance things out based on a player’s strength, ensuring a somewhat fair setup.
But there were exceptions. Take Cursed by Misfortune, for example—weak in skill and cursed with terrible luck.
If his stats had been above 60, he would’ve signed up for the event, especially since he was always starving...
Qi Xu added Song Peifeng to the candidate list. Someone that strong was worth getting to know—assuming their personalities clicked, of course.
He needed to prepare thoroughly before guild mechanics were introduced.
Only three players, including Song Peifeng, had cleared all 10 challenges, earning a total of 300 vehicle upgrade card fragments.
Qi Xu finalized the list:
Watch Me Cut You Down, Old White Dragon in the Waves, Battle Wolf 009, Golden Bell Armor Iron Shirt, Breaking Cocoon into Butterfly, Swimming & Fitness Coach Chen, Blessed by Luck, Song Peifeng, and himself—nine in total.
One spot remained.
Just as he was about to review other players’ replay footage, he noticed Chinese Master Chef was still stuck in his instance.
Violent Bear had already been exhausted to death, so now he was up against Fire-Spitting Wolf, whose throat sounded scorched as it stared despairingly at Chinese Master Chef.
Meanwhile, Chinese Master Chef sat calmly inside his protective barrier, locking eyes with the wolf through the shield—their mental states were polar opposites.
Master Chef was practically dozing off from boredom, while Fire-Spitting Wolf looked ready to explode in frustration.
Master Chef was even debating whether to ask his leader to pull him out.
Qi Xu’s eyes lit up—powerful gear was a form of strength too.
Fire-Spitting Wolf’s attacks were among the strongest at this stage, yet they couldn’t even scratch Chinese Master Chef. Throwing him into the arena might yield unexpected results!
Win or lose, he definitely wouldn’t go down easily.
Qi Xu immediately assigned the last slot to Chinese Master Chef.
Then he terminated the instance—he couldn’t bear to watch Master Chef’s food stream anymore. The way he ate was downright mouthwatering.
Qi Xu created a new group chat. Since he was out of small group cards, he had to use a medium-sized one that accommodated 100 players.
He added the other nine and renamed the group "Cross-Server Challenge."
Straight to the point, he asked, "There’s a cross-server challenge tomorrow at 8 AM. Can everyone make it?"
Old White Dragon in the Waves: "Absolutely!"
Watch Me Cut You Down: "I’m in!"
Golden Bell Armor Iron Shirt: "Count me in!"
Blessed by Luck: "Wait, I made the cut?! Leader Qi, am I in your inner circle now? Hahaha, of course I’ll join! I’ll charge in fearlessly—no pain, no death, just full send!"
Battle Wolf 009: "Ready and waiting!"
Chinese Master Chef: "Uh… Leader, did you add me by mistake? Why am I here? Did you miscount?"
Breaking Cocoon into Butterfly: "So hyped! I thought since I didn’t clear the final challenge, I’d miss out!"
Song Peifeng: "What’s the incentive? What are the rewards for winning?"
Swimming & Fitness Coach Chen: "I’m in! Is this an offline meetup? How long will the challenge last? Do we need to finish our daily mileage before 8 AM?"
Replies flooded in the moment Qi Xu sent the message.
He addressed the key points first. "It won’t take long—just 10 battles, probably one per person.
All I know is that it’s a cross-server challenge with rich rewards for winning, but I don’t have specifics yet."
Song Peifeng: "If we win, I want 900 vehicle upgrade card fragments. I’ll pass on other rewards—just need to upgrade my ride. These things never drop for me, and hardly anyone trades them."
Qi Xu agreed without hesitation.
Early in the game, 900 fragments would’ve been a fortune. Now?
With Qi Xu’s luck, it was just a matter of opening a few more loot boxes.
Invincible Black Whirlwind: "You sure? Even the worst cross-server rewards should be better than 900 fragments."
Song Peifeng: "Positive. What’s useful is what’s best. I just want to upgrade my vehicle."
Invincible Black Whirlwind: "Got it. Any other questions? If not, I’ll submit the roster."
Chinese Master Chef: "Wait, wait! Leader, are you sure you didn’t misclick? This is a combat tournament, not a cooking showdown. What am I supposed to do—chop vegetables?!"
Invincible Black Whirlwind: "No need for modesty! You cleared nine stages—you’re plenty strong."
Watch Me Cut You Down: "Whoa, Master Chef’s leveled up! Nice, little bro! I’ll give you some pointers when we meet!"
Chinese Master Chef: "(°ο°)"
At first, Master Chef thought it was a mistake, but now that he realized he’d been intentionally picked, he calmed down… and grinned.
So I’ve actually grown this strong?! All those pills I chugged weren’t for nothing! Time to show off and bring glory to Team Three Dishes!
With the cross-server challenge settled, Qi Xu quickly finished his daily 100km run, then used an Instance Teleport Card to head straight to the gym.
Last-minute training still counted for something.
With over 10,000 survival coins to burn, now was the time to splurge.
The moment he pushed open the door, a familiar voice greeted him.
"Welcome to Bunny Muscle Monster’s Gym! Oh? It’s you—the, uh, generous… I mean, esteemed player!"
Bunny Muscle Monster hopped over excitedly, eyes practically sparkling at the sight of Qi Xu.
Qi Xu nodded. "Sign me up, handsome Bunny Boss. Let’s start with 500 coins."
Bunny Muscle Monster froze, struggling to process the number.
How much?! That ridiculously wealthy human player just said… what?!
..........
