Chapter 50: Shadowing
"There's no need for that." Li Pin helped Shan Hu up. "I'm only at Core Formation. Your Force has already changed from Overt Force to Covert Force, and the next step is to move into Transformative Force. After you've reached the peak of Force training, you'll then make preparations for condensing qi to form a Core. I might not be able to teach you much."
One reason he agreed to teach Shan Hu was to repay Fang Lingjue's favor, and another was that Shan Hu often helped him out in his daily life. Therefore, he'd naturally help her if it was within his means.
Of course, the prerequisite was that it wouldn't affect his own training.
Moreover, he wouldn't put in the same tremendous amount of effort he had put in while teaching Li Yunyao and Lin Xiaolu.
"I trust you, Master. I'll listen to your arrangements," Shan Hu said with determination.
"Just call me by my name," said Li Pin.
He wasn't planning on acknowledging this master-student relationship.
Shan Hu seemed to understand Li Pin's intention and was a little hesitant. "This…."
Fang Lingjue interjected, "Just do as Li Pin says."
In the end, Shan Hu nodded and said to Li Pin, "Then I'll address you as Master Li[1]."
"Okay," Li Pin said. "I'll feel your bones first. This will give me a detailed understanding of your physique."
"Feel my bones?" Shan Hu's face flushed up a little, but she knew this was a necessary process for martial arts practitioners. She immediately replied, "Yes Master, I'll listen to your arrangements."
Li Pin brought Shan Hu to a room at the side.
Li Yunyao circled around Lin Xiaolu, asking her all sorts of questions about how mysterious Force was.
Fang Lingjue looked at the two young ladies and couldn't help but once again have the feeling that the younger generation was surpassing the older generation.
Zhang Le and Xu Huan were hesitant to speak as they watched Li Pin and Shan Hu leave.
However, at the thought of how Li Pin started off being a coach just like them and that Shan Hu's actual master—Fang Lingjue—was standing right there, they couldn't put aside their pride and ask Li Pin to teach them as well.
***
Compared to how giggly Li Yunyao was during the bone-feeling process, as a martial artist, Shan Hu had a stronger resistance toward itch and pain, so she didn't let out much of a noise. In addition, she was very cooperative, so it didn't take Li Pin long before he was done. He managed to get an understanding of her cultivation situation and came up with a training plan based on her current condition.
After everything was done, Shan Hu extended an invitation, "Master Li, I'll be troubling you to give me guidance moving forward. Furthermore, we should also celebrate Miss Lin's attainment of Force. Can I treat you, Xiaolu, and Yaoyao to a meal?"
Li Pin didn't refuse.
"You can make the arrangements."
***
Very soon, the group took the lift to the parking in basement 2.
Shan Hu's family was considered well-to-do and she had purchased a car long ago. It was worth around 200 thousand and was a bright fiery red Cloudz E300.
When Li Yunyao saw the car, she couldn't hold back her cry. "Wow, it's so beautiful!"
Shan Hu smiled and said, "You like it? I'll gift you one."
"Don't, don't, don't! I can't accept such an expensive gift." Li Yunyao quickly waved her hand. "Moreover, I don't have a license."
"License..." Li Pin glanced at her. "Find some time to go take the test for one."
He had thought of buying a car before but had yet to actually do it, and that was because he didn't like to drive. After Li Yunyao learned to drive, he could get her to be his chauffeur.
However, at the next moment, he thought of Li Yunyao's casual and carefree character....
He immediately turned toward Lin Xiaolu. "You should go take the test for one too."
Compared to Li Yunyao, Lin Xiaolu was a lot more reliable.
Lin Xiaolu nodded a little nervously. "Mmhmm."
Her response made Li Pin recall something.
How did I forget that this lass was very timid?
Judging by the situation, he'd have to look for someone to specially chauffeur him.
Maybe he should take in one last disciple?
The bright red Cloudz sedan drove out of the car park and quickly entered the traffic, heading for the restaurant Shan Hu had placed a reservation for.
Li Pin, who was seated in the front passenger seat, made some observations.
Jiang Province City wasn't the only city with an influx of new people. Zanglong City was the same too. There were even some homeless people wandering the streets.
Li Pin recalled the news he read on the martial arts website not long ago. "It seems that... the Degenerate Temple's demonic creatures haven't been taken down yet."
Even though demonic creatures may not be stronger than ferocious beasts, their greatest trait was that they possess intelligence. The presence of intelligence allowed demonic creatures to create a preliminary societal structure for themselves. They would distribute work and cooperate, each taking on different roles and increasing efficiency.
In addition, some demonic creatures would also successfully attain special abilities after studying their body's unique structure. This caused demonic creatures to be a much greater threat to humans than ferocious beasts.
The Death Valley was riddled with cracks, and ferocious beasts—as well as demonic creatures—would dart out from the cracks in the ground and attack humans. This made eradicating the ferocious beasts and demonic creatures that lived inside challenging....
The Degenerate Temple's core existed within a natural maze that had fended off countless attacks initiated by the Tianyuan Federation.
Li Pin thought back to a post he had read online about the previous expedition.
Even though Nanli Country had gone all out in a previous attempt to neutralize the issue, they were defeated by that maze. Over one hundred High-Class Astral Cultivators were trapped in the maze. They were slowly split up. Those lucky enough to pass through the maze would find themselves landing in an ambush. The number of casualties was extremely high....
Li Pin thought back to the horrible scene of the carnage caused by the demonic creatures he saw on the video.
This world was never a peaceful one.
This could be seen through how humans had to move out from the mountains and plains, losing two-thirds of their territory.
However, the Taibai Kingdom, that Li Pin resided in, happened to be located in the center of the Tianyuan Federation, which was one of the Six Extremities in the world.
Li Pin came back to his senses.
"Hmmm?"
Suddenly, he noticed something, and his gaze turned to the rearview mirror.
There was a black sedan reflected in the mirror, and it seemed to have been following them since they had left the mall?
Li Pin watched quietly and didn't say a word.
Shan Hu drove the red sedan for twenty or so minutes and stopped in front of a small courtyard that imitated a classical feel and was located in a graceful environment.
That black sedan, on the other hand, stopped in front of an open-air car park.
The group of four quickly entered the small courtyard.
There was no need to comment on their looks and attire, especially for Li Yunyao and Li Pin. Even Shan Hu and Lin Xiaolu respectively had a healthy, valiant, as well as soft, gentle, and neighborly beauty. When they alighted from the car, they attracted a lot of gazes.
After they entered the private room Shan Hu had reserved, Li Pin said, "I'll go to the washroom."
He then left the courtyard.
At this moment, one of the two men in the black sedan seemed to want some fresh air and was planning to roll down the window to smoke.
Seeing that Li Pin had come out, he quietly withdrew his gaze and didn't reveal any abnormality. However, Li Pin headed straight for them after leaving the small courtyard.
Arriving by their car, Li Pin sized them up.
Seeing that they had been compromised, the man smoking dropped the pretense and stared back at Li Pin with an indifferent look on his face.
"Peregrine Team?" probed Li Pin.
Li Pin looked at man smoking and then quickly moved his gaze to the front passenger seat. The person sitting there looked at him calmly.
"You guys have crossed the line," said Li Pin.
The man smoking smirked coldly. He knew what Li Pin was referring to. They didn't go to look for the Five Elements Sect but came to him instead. Moreover, they didn't do this openly but chose to privately shadow him.
The guy puffed out a cloud of smoke and said calmly, "So?"
Li Pin stared at him silently.
Moments later, Li Pin turned his gaze back to the front passenger seat. "Why are you just shadowing and surveillance, but not making a move?"
Li Pin looked at the man, whom he could feel a hint of uniform feeling coming from. "Can shadowing and surveillance scare one to death?
Wang Daoyi died at my hands. Why are the two Core Formation experts who are here to seek revenge for their teammate not coming out of the car to kill me?
1. The 'Master' here refers to a teacher. ☜
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