Chapter 51: This Meal Is Not So Easy to Eat

"Let's do this! Although our martial arts gym's admissions are generally targeted at regular trainees,"

"if a trainee demonstrates outstanding performance, we recruit them according to the standards of a professional fighter."

"Your performance qualifies you for a tuition waiver, but there is one thing: while our Elite Martial Arts Gym has many trainees who are professional fighters, there is no base salary."

"We can register everyone for domestic matches and purchase insurance for you. The prize money earned from matches is typically split on a seventy-thirty basis—thirty percent for the gym, and seventy percent for the fighter!"

"The gym provides free accommodation, meals are available at the cafeteria buffet, and personal living expenses are your own responsibility."

"Since you are new, you can apply to stay in a double room. If you achieve honors, such as placing in the top four or higher in a domestic Class B match or above, the gym will award you an additional bonus."

"You can review the specific terms in the contract. What do you think?"

With that, Wang Chuxiong took a contract agreement out of his office drawer.

Chen Jie took it and glanced through it.

Relatively speaking, the gym's compensation was already quite low!

There was no base salary, and income relied entirely on tournament prize money.

If one's skill was poor, it would be difficult even to make a living.

Furthermore, prize money across almost all domestic matches was generally very low, unless it was a Class A tournament like *Wu Lin Feng* or *Kunlun Fight*, where the appearance fees and prize money were slightly higher.

However, not everyone was qualified to fight in Class A tournaments.

For instance, at various provincial Sanda King Championships, even the prize money for winning the championship was only around fifty thousand yuan.

Therefore, the path of becoming a professional fighter was extremely arduous.

This way of making a living was not easily sustained!

The period before making a name for oneself was nothing short of a trial by fire.

Most importantly, one had to avoid sustaining serious injuries at all costs.

Otherwise, a professional career would essentially be ruined; not only would one fail to make money, but one might even face destitution for the rest of one's life.

Additionally, if a professional career lacked brilliant achievements, even becoming a coach after retirement would not yield a high salary.

Take Xu Dachi, the bald coach at the Elite Martial Arts Gym, who retired and became a coach in his thirties.

He had not achieved any notable honors during his professional career, so his salary was only a few thousand yuan, barely breaking ten thousand with bonuses.

"Right! Do you currently have a job? After joining our Elite Martial Arts Gym, you'll need to undergo intensive training for a period, preferably on a full-time basis!"

Wang Chuxiong suddenly remembered something and asked.

Chen Jie shook his head and said, "There were some issues at home recently, so I've already resigned!"

With the "Blood Dragon Jade" in his mind that allowed him to travel between two worlds, how could he possibly continue wasting time at a regular job?

If it weren't for the sake of efficiently acquiring [Martial Dao Merit Points], Chen Jie would never have come to a martial arts gym to practice fighting.

"Alright! As long as you can arrange sufficient time, there's no problem!"

"Go ahead and sign the contract agreement; it mainly deals with matters of liability."

"Since there is no base salary, the relationship between the gym and all fighters is one of cooperation, and neither side imposes heavy restrictions on the other!"

"The training facilities and grounds within the gym can be used free of charge!"

Following Wang Chuxiong's introduction, Chen Jie carefully read through the contract agreement twice.

Confirming there were no issues, he picked up a pen from the side and signed his name.

Just as Wang Chuxiong had said, the two parties were not in an employment relationship, but rather a cooperative one.

In truth, for fighters, such contract agreements were unfair.

Once a fighter suffered a severe injury or even became crippled in the ring, the gym would bear no responsibility, and everything would be covered by the insurance company.

However, most domestic gyms operated this way. To avoid bearing greater liability, they avoided signing employment contracts in favor of cooperative agreements.

And in essence, the two parties could indeed only be considered cooperative partners.

Seeing that Chen Jie had signed and confirmed the contract, Wang Chuxiong shook hands with him.

From today onward, Chen Jie was officially a member of the Elite Martial Arts Gym.

What Chen Jie cared about most was fighting matches!

The assessment match just now had given him a taste of the sweet fruits of victory.

To acquire more [Martial Dao Merit Points], he had to fight in more matches.

At the same time, his strength had to grow increasingly powerful.

"Gym Master! I have no other requests; I just want to start actual combat training as soon as possible. I want to enter tournaments!"

Chen Jie said straight to the point:

"I remember there are still more than fifty days until the Xiangnan Sanda King Championship!"

"If I undergo actual combat training during this period, can I participate in this year's Sanda King Championship?"

"When does registration begin? Is there still enough time?"

Chen Jie had come to understand one thing: the core of [Martial Dao Merit Points] lay in the three characters "Merit Points"!

A single assessment match had yielded 326 [Martial Dao Merit Points]!

In that case, by participating in the Xiangnan Sanda King Championship, every match he won would grant even more [Martial Dao Merit Points].

Hearing this, Wang Chuxiong was momentarily stunned.

"You want to participate in this year's Xiangnan Sanda King Championship? Isn't that too rushed?"

Although Chen Jie possessed great physical talent, he had no actual combat training experience after all.

"The entry list for this year's Xiangnan Provincial Sanda King Championship isn't submitted until next month. Our Elite Martial Arts Gym does have slots, but—!"

For a moment, Wang Chuxiong didn't know how to express it.

Normally, rookie fighters needed about a year of training and had to meet the qualification criteria before they were eligible to register for a competition.

Even though Chen Jie's talent was exceptional and his physical fitness was top-notch, the gym's competition slots were still subject to competition.

One had to understand that although fighters and the gym were in a cooperative relationship, once they entered the Sanda King Championship, they were representing the Elite Martial Arts Gym.

If they could not represent the gym's utmost strength, how could they convince the others?

Once someone went to the Sanda King Championship, got eliminated in the first round, and was swept away by an opponent, the Elite Martial Arts Gym would not only lose face, but it would even impact student recruitment!

Therefore, under normal circumstances, any participating trainee had to train at the gym for over a year to be qualified to represent the gym in combat.

Although there was no written rule, it was practically an unwritten convention across all domestic martial arts gyms.

Unless it was an expert specifically poached from elsewhere for the purpose of elevating the gym's reputation, fighters were rarely sent into battle so quickly.

Chen Jie's physical conditioning was remarkable, but at a single glance, it was obvious his actual combat experience was far too lacking.

That had been abundantly clear during the assessment match just now.

Chen Jie completely crushed Luo Yang in every aspect, yet he had chosen to resort to the most savage offensive style, brutally knocking Luo Yang out with the rawest blows.

This fighting style had major drawbacks, consuming an immense amount of stamina.

If he encountered an opponent of the exact same tier who managed to withstand a single heavy blow from him, he could easily be counter-killed in a single move!

"You're not seriously thinking about entering this year's Xiangnan Provincial Sanda King Championship, are you?"

Seeing the expectant look in Chen Jie's eyes, Wang Chuxiong couldn't help but offer a bitter smile.

Then, shaking his head, he said:

"You've only just joined our Elite Martial Arts Gym and haven't even started actual combat training yet!"

"However, your talent is indeed very good. There are still fifty-six days left until the opening of the Sanda King Championship."

"If you can break into the top three of the welterweight division during next month's gym tryouts, we can certainly give you a slot."

"Though I must warn you, opponents in the welterweight division are completely different from those in the featherweight division!"

"Breaking into the top three of the welterweight division at our Elite Martial Arts Gym is no easy feat!"

Hearing that there was a chance, Chen Jie's eyes immediately lit up.

The gym tryouts weren't until next month, and the goal was to place in the top three of the welterweight division within the gym.

Surely—this couldn't be very challenging, right?

Once he started practicing actual combat and went over to find Liu Bamei for sparring sessions, backed by the dual assistance of medicinal baths and nutritional tonics, his combat power would skyrocket by a massive margin in no time.

By the time the gym's tryouts rolled around next month, securing a top-three spot would be an absolute breeze!