Chapter 45 Sponsorship

"Then I'll call you Amo, since I heard William call you that."

Angela actually spoke a sentence in Chinese with perfect pronunciation, then she hesitated for a moment: "You must never tell anyone what I taught you today. Even if someone finds out, say you learned it from your Wiltonshire family, it has nothing to do with me."

Li Mochen raised an eyebrow: "Is it a secret technique of the Medici family? In this day and age, is it necessary?"

"Of course it's necessary. Don't think that just because various meditation methods and ancient supreme scriptures are everywhere now, they're all old stuff. After thousands of years, especially recent developments, how could there be no progress? So the great families of America still have many secret teachings that outsiders can't access. Isn't your Wiltonshire family the same?"

After speaking, Angela added with a serious look: "What I'm teaching you today includes a part our Medici ancestors improved from yoga. If you leak it, I'll be in trouble, big trouble, understand?"

Seeing Li Mochen nod solemnly, Angela began the lesson. She first knelt on the yoga mat, then extended her right leg back, pressing it to the ground almost in a full split, while arching her torso backward, pressing the back of her head against her right calf. This displayed unparalleled flexibility while accentuating her curvaceous figure with explosive visual effect.

"First, this pose is called the Crescent Moon. You don't need to do it like me the first time; take it slow. I'll teach you the basic posture and breath guidance. It starts from below the abdomen, passes through the middle and upper abdomen. Have you studied Eastern meridian theory? It goes from Qihai to Danzhong to Xuanji, then the energy channel diverges—"

But before she finished, Li Mochen sneered: "Disgraceful! At such a young age, dressed so indecently, barely covered—utter moral decay. Listen carefully, don't flaunt your figure in front of me again."

Then came a loud bang. When Angela looked up, Li Mochen had slammed the door and left, leaving only some suspicious bloodstains.

Angela was stunned. She looked at her outfit, thinking it was quite modest. She was a conservative woman; this yoga suit covered everything. How was it indecent? How was she barely covered? How was she flaunting her figure? What was wrong with this Andrea?

...

Shortly after storming out, Li Mochen exited the Heavenly Mind state and immediately regretted it.

He shouldn't have spoken harshly. That Angela meant well and did nothing wrong. Even if her presence stirred his inner Lust (one of the seven deadly sins) and annoyed him, he shouldn't have insulted her—it was so undignified.

But then he grew serious, realizing the severity. In the Heavenly Mind state, he should regard no one with importance. Even a peerless beauty or a fallen celestial would be no better than a skeleton of yellow earth in his eyes.

So normally, he should have dismissed her, treating the black-haired girl as a passerby too insignificant to bother with. Yet in their three meetings, he had repeatedly lashed out with harsh words while in the Heavenly Mind state.

This likely meant that even in the 'Heavenly Mind' state, he feared this girl.

What was he afraid of? Fear of losing control further? Fear of succumbing to Lust? Fear of losing his Dao heart?

At this thought, Li Mochen rubbed his temples in frustration. He had hoped the ice-blood stone pendant might help, but he was still on the verge of losing control.

With that, he lost all desire to continue training. He changed clothes in the locker room, grabbed the Darkfire Dragon he had hidden in his locker, and hurried out of the gymnasium. He felt he most needed some peace and quiet.

But as soon as he stepped out of the gym, three men in neat suits approached him.

"Hello, Li Mochen. Do you have time to talk now?"

Li Mochen looked puzzled but shook hands with them: "I have time. Who are you?"

"We're from Nathan Sports Group. I'm Carl Holton, assistant to Mr. Payton, CEO of Nathan Sports' Eastern Division. These two are colleagues from our marketing and legal departments."

The youngest of the three smiled and introduced himself: "We're here to discuss sponsorship with you. We hope to become your brand sponsor. Are you interested, Li Mochen?"

"Sponsorship?"

Li Mochen's eyebrows lifted as he searched his memory for relevant information. Then, after a moment, his eyes lit up: "Is it about sports equipment sponsorship?"

He recalled that this was common in American sports.

Major sports equipment manufacturers, to boost their brand influence, cast wide nets in the NHSAA (National High School Athletic Association) and NCAA (National Collegiate Athletic Association), seeking out talented sports stars to sponsor.

And combined cold weapon combat and combined unarmed combat were the main battlegrounds for these manufacturers.

Especially the former, due to the prevalence of magical professions, all related equipment—such as helmets, boots, training magical armor, training magical weapons, and various training gear—had a vast and huge market.

The stars of combined cold weapon combat events, with their immense influence and appeal among audiences and fans, greatly boosted sales for major sports equipment manufacturers and even military enterprises, making them targets for these businesses. Each year, manufacturers invested huge sums to secure these stars as product endorsers.

The combined cold weapon combat events hosted by NHSAA and NCAA, with larger audiences and higher popularity than the NMOSA (National Combined Cold Weapon Combat Alliance), made their top players even more favored by businesses than those in the official professional league. The influence and sales-driving ability of high school and college stars were no less than those of professional superstars.

However, since these two sports associations were non-commercial institutions for high schools and colleges, they mandated that all participants could not accept commercial endorsements or have any financial ties with the school's commercial entities.

Fortunately, 'sponsorship' was allowed. These manufacturers could provide non-cash support to their chosen athletes, such as custom-made armor, boots, weapons, etc.

Nathan Sports Group was one of the top sports equipment manufacturers in the country, with a market value of over 900 billion gold shields.

As Li Mochen knew, this year's Atlanta regional combined cold weapon combat competition was sponsored by Nathan Group, providing equipment for all participants who couldn't afford armor.

"Specifically for combined cold weapon combat. Our company is very optimistic about your future in this event."

The young man named Carl Holton smiled broadly: "I assume you know about sponsorship matters? If you're interested, how about we find a place to discuss it in detail?"