Full-time master: I have a spirit behind me.

I get up at seven o'clock sharp in the morning and wash up.

Start jogging.

For professional athletes, a good physique is also a crucial factor.

Arrive at the entrance of Chuncheng University, then turn back, completing the two-kilometer warm-up.

Back at the club, we went to the restaurant for breakfast.

The restaurant wasn't too crowded at this time, which was unusual, as Zhang Jiale also got up around this time.

"Yawn... Da Sun, could you carry me on your back next time? How come there's an 8 AM start time in college?" Zhang Jiale yawned and sighed helplessly.

"Get lost." Sun Zheping's response was very simple.

Zhang Jiale rolled her eyes, ran to get two steamed buns and a cup of soy milk: "I've noticed that our relationship is starting to drift apart, you know? Don't you love me anymore?"

"Don't say such disgusting things so early in the morning. I've never loved you," Sun Zheping said disdainfully. "What? Did Xiao Li dump you?"

"Um..." Zhang Jiale scratched his cheek a little embarrassedly, "It hasn't started yet, it's just..."

"Oh." Sun Zheping nodded and continued eating his breakfast.

“…Ugh, wait, aren’t you going to ask me how things are going?” Now it was Zhang Jiale’s turn to feel bad.

"Do not want to."

The seventh rule of survival in the embers: Don't respond to people's tantalizing questions, don't be curious, just wait, they will eventually be unable to resist revealing everything themselves.

Sun Zheping ate his breakfast calmly.

As expected, Zhang Jiale rattled off every detail of the progress so far, his anxious and uncertain demeanor making everyone laugh.

"I've eaten, I'm going to train." Sun Zheping nodded.

"Huh?" Zhang Jiale was stunned for a moment: "Wait, I haven't finished speaking yet!"

The ninth and eleventh rules of survival in the embers.

You can only believe the first three minutes of what most players on the Ember team say; after that, their credibility drops drastically.

The team leader, except for Qiu Fei.

"Good morning, Zheping! Went out for another run today?" Bai Shu waved at Sun Zheping while yawning and holding a towel. "Don't we have a training room? It's fine to train there."

“Going out for a run gives me a good feeling. I’ll have your favorite food for breakfast today.” Sun Zheping nodded.

"Damn, I'd better hurry up and run for a bit. The guys on the night shift from last night will be off work soon, I don't want to miss out!" Bai Shu immediately perked up and hurriedly ran towards the stairs.

"Slow down." Sun Zheping nodded.

The second rule of survival in the embers is that all members of the club have their own duties, and there is no distinction between high and low status.

Sun Zheping slowed his pace and glanced at the situation in the training room of the youth training camp. Some children had already gotten up to train.

Sun Zheping frowned, pushed open the door and went in, looking at each person one by one.

"Senior Sun Zheping!" A child who had just finished a round of practice was stunned.

"Being a Berserker doesn't necessarily mean charging recklessly. In the early stages, you need to always leave yourself some leeway so you can control your moves and forcefully overwhelm your opponent at the most opportune moment," Sun Zheping advised.

The Berserker trainee nodded excitedly. It was guidance from the Mad Lord!
"Have you had breakfast?"

"Uh, not yet."

"Go eat quickly."

Sun Zheping didn't offer any guidance to the others. These children had already passed the initial basic assessment, and the rest would involve targeted training. Sun Zheping wouldn't presumptuously meddle in this matter. He simply noted down their professions, intending to discuss them during the routine meeting.

The fifth rule of survival in the embers: Do not presume to give advice on things you do not understand, even if your intentions are good.

After sending the children off to eat, Sun Zheping smiled.

Looking at them, I always... well, I don't think of my past self, I just simply envy their youth and vitality.

Sun Zheping stretched out his hand, looked at it, then shook it, and sighed helplessly.

I can only play for two more years at most, and I'll be retiring soon anyway. I'm thinking of playing for two more years...

It's not that I'm unwilling to accept it, but the retired players of the Ember team can continue their studies through the club's partnership with Spring City University. Zhang Jiale has just entered Spring City University, and I will also be able to study at Spring City University after retiring in two years...

By the time……

Sun Zheping was certain that the guy would come to the school to find him from time to time and call him his junior.

Four years from now, I won't see him at school anymore.

Sun Zheping sighed deeply. This guy has become more and more annoying since he retired. How come I didn't notice it before?

Shaking his head, Sun Zheping walked towards the training room, ready to begin his training session for the day.

"Good morning, Zheping!" Li Wen, who was organizing documents, paused for a moment, smiled and nodded at Sun Zheping. Seeing Sun Zheping frown slightly, he quickly added, "I've exercised and had breakfast."

Sun Zheping's brows relaxed. The most worry-free kids in the entire club were Xiao Wen and Xiao Qiu. Bai Shu... although he was also one of the former three little ones, and he was fine when he first arrived, after hanging out with Lao Wei and Lü Liang for so long, he became a completely irreversible person...

It's perfectly reasonable for Bai Shu to call Yu Wenzhou and Huang Shaotian "senior brother".

The first rule of survival in the embers: stay away from Lao Wei, stay away from Lü Liang, and stay away from Fang Rui!

"By the way, Brother Zheping, I overheard Sister Yunxiu and Sister Xue chatting yesterday. Did you... find us a sister-in-law yet?" Li Wen stopped completely, looking at Sun Zheping with curiosity.

Sun Zheping was taken aback: "You, you're only finding out now? I already told them about it a month ago..."

"Um..." Li Wen scratched his head somewhat embarrassedly, "I've been dealing with a lot of trivial matters lately..."

Sun Zheping sighed helplessly and patted Li Wen on the shoulder: "Take care and get plenty of rest. I'll introduce you to her whenever you have time."

"Okay!" Li Wen laughed.

The fourth rule of survival for the embers: Li Xiaowen tends to overthink things outside the competition. It's best to tell him directly what's on his mind.

"Hahahaha! My night fishing trip yesterday was worth it! Look, all of you, look! Have you ever seen such a big grass carp?" A boastful voice rang out.

You should have closed the door first...

Sun Zheping sighed. "Hey? The door's not closed? What's going on? Let me see! Oh, Little Wen and Big Sun, come on, come see how my fish turned out!" Old Wei's eyes lit up as he showed off his big fish outside the door: "This guy was a real pain to catch, you know how those guys next to me who didn't even get a chance..."

"Brother Wei is amazing! Are you having extra food for lunch today?!"

"Add it, we absolutely must add it! Save the best parts for Wen!"

Sun Zheping walked to his usual spot without looking back, put on his headphones, and breathed a sigh of relief.

The ninth rule of survival in the embers: No one may bring anything unrelated into the training room, especially water, cigarettes, cell phones, etc.

The twentieth rule of survival in the embers: Ignore everything Lao Wei says, especially anything about fishing.

Even after becoming one of the top professional players, Sun Zheping still doesn't neglect basic training, which is a daily must-do until the final intensive training and team practice sessions.

After completing all the training, everyone headed towards the cafeteria.

The cafeteria was quite crowded: guild members, clerks, team members, youth training camp members...

You can see Zhang Jiale, who has no classes in the afternoon and comes back to freeload lunch; you can see Lü Liang, who is standing in front with a dark face and doesn't know what's going on; Fang Shijing, who has just finished get off work from the Silver Weapon production department; Lao Wei, the head and deputy head of the Ember Dynasty, and Lin Jingyan...

"Everyone's here today. Oh, right, I heard from Samsara that Fang Minghua is planning to have a baby..." Chu Yunxiu looked around, her eyes shining as she whispered, her gaze lingering on Lao Wei, Sun Zheping, and Li Wen: "Do you prefer a boy or a girl?"

Li Wen kept his head down and ate his food attentively. He never talked while eating, but judging from his slightly flushed face, he was still listening.

"Of course we want a daughter, who wants a son!" Old Wei muttered as he divided the fish soup.

"Exactly, girls are so much better!" Bai Shu suggested, "But we have to be careful of that blond guy, he can be a bit of a nuisance."

"Dare? Let's get him!" Old Wei's expression immediately changed: "Even though we're cultured people now, we used to be hooligans, right, brothers!"

"Oh!" A chorus of cheers came from over there. They were all guild members who had followed Lao Wei for a long time. How could they not support Boss Wei?
Sun Zheping was somewhat speechless: "Pay attention to your image."

"Image?! What image? Someone's trying to kidnap my daughter, why should I care about my image?! You godfathers, uncles, and aunts, are you just going to watch like this?" Old Wei got a little agitated and kicked Fang Shijing's stool: "Right, the child's godfather?"

Fang Shijing rolled his eyes: "Can't you eat properly?! You talk like you have a daughter already. Hypothetically, hypothetically, you know? I don't have one yet! You'd better hope my godson and godson look like your sister-in-law, otherwise you don't need to worry so much."

Old Wei paused, scratching his head: "Hiss, yeah... wait, no, what's wrong with me? I was a handsome young man in the surrounding villages back in the day, okay? Marrying my sister-in-law was a huge win..."

It started again.

Sun Zheping sighed helplessly. His sister-in-law was a very quiet girl. She and Lao Wei were a perfect example of the old saying that a good woman is afraid of being pestered by a man. When Lao Wei first mentioned it, no one believed him because of the rules. Even when he brought her over, everyone thought it was just out of politeness.

Even after they got their marriage certificate, Lü Liangfang, Rui Baishu, and others spent half a day examining its authenticity.

It wasn't until all the members of Ember attended Lao Wei's wedding that everyone began to have some doubts.

"Grandson, do you prefer a boy or a girl?" Chu Yunxiu looked over with some curiosity, the word "gossip" practically etched into her eyes.

The fifteenth rule of survival in the embers: When it comes to gossip about Chu Yunxiu, try to answer quickly and concisely, otherwise the consequences will be troublesome.

“It would be good if the girl resembled her mother,” Sun Zheping said briefly.

"Tsk tsk tsk." Chu Yunxiu rested her chin on her hand and clicked her tongue in amazement: "My sister said before that Xiao Wen also likes girls... We Yu Jin people are all doting fathers to our daughters!"

"Then I think I should raise a son in the future, and he'll have to come to our Bai..." Bai Shu laughed happily.

Three streams of murderous intent instantly pressed in.

Bai Shu shivered and gave a dry laugh: "Ahem, well, brothers, everyone, I... well..."

Old Wei sat down, waved for Xiao Qiu to sit next to him, and then sat down casually, putting his arm around Bai Shu's shoulder: "Come on, Xiao Bai, repeat what you just said."

"Um, this..." The pleading look received no response; everyone pretended not to see it and continued chatting.

The seventh rule of survival in the embers: Bai Shu intermittently courts death, which can be ignored most of the time, but should be dealt with directly on a small scale.

After lunch, we took a nap. After a short rest, we continued training. Most of the afternoon training involved practicing new tactics, teamwork, and developing new two-person teamwork tactics.

No one wants to face Bai Shu and Fang Rui's ultimate CD style; even Li Wen and Qiu Fei don't want to encounter it.

Most of the time, the two of them can only find first-year or second-year students to play against, ostensibly to make up for their weaknesses, and they are not allowed to complain. What if someone uses this tactic against them one day?
They seemed to have never considered that almost no one in the entire professional league, except for the two of them, would play like that.

I heard that after a painful season last year, some teams have already petitioned higher authorities to ban certain professional team pairings.

Not the Paladin and Priest combo, which is disgusting on the leaderboard, but the Paladin and Force Master combo...

Sun Zhe ignored Bai Shu and Fang Rui's challenge with a blank expression.

They usually eat dinner together, but today, Sun Zheping didn't plan to join them.

Back in the room, I took a shower and changed my clothes, which Chu Yunxiu and the others had helped me pick out when we were in Zurich.

Looking at myself in the mirror, I felt a little uncomfortable, but I took a deep breath, opened the door, looked around and, seeing nothing unusual, went down to the underground parking garage.

His motorcycle was parked there.

He put on his helmet and wandered through the city, where maps were no longer necessary, until he saw that figure and stopped.

She handed him the helmet, smiled, put it on, and wrapped her arms around Sun Zheping's waist: "Where to?"

"I don't know." Sun Zheping thought for a moment, then hesitated. "Would you like me to introduce you to the others? They're all here today, and they've been wanting to meet you for a while. Afterwards, we can have dinner together..."

"Okay." The woman smiled. "I'll do whatever you say today."

"Hmm." Sun Zheping nodded, preparing to return the way he came, but quickly stopped.

"What's wrong?" the woman asked, somewhat puzzled.

“It seems we don’t need to go back.” Sun Zheping sighed.

The last rule of survival in the embers is: if one day everyone becomes unusually normal, be careful, they are probably about to do something.

For example, tracking.

Sun Zheping looked helplessly at the two cars behind him. On both sides of the cars, the members of the Ember team were all peeking out like curious children, each holding their own snacks.

The woman laughed and waved at them.

Sun Zheping took a deep breath and tapped his helmet twice: "Keep up, you bunch of bastards, I'm treating you to dinner today."

(End of this chapter)