44 Shock!
“Ding! You have collected a [Thunderflash Skill Essence (Dark Blue) ], [Thunderflash Skill] Experience +566!”
Qin Huai looked at Hong San, who was already dead. He went forward and touched the corpse up and down, finding only a hundred silver from the Pingnan bank. There was nothing else.
“‘What a pity. They didn’t bring anything of value with them when they went to the mines.” Qin Huai said, then glanced at his personal panel.
Name: Qin Huai
[ Vitality ]: 27.581
[Cultivation Methods]: [Eternal Qi technique (level 24, 2014/3000) ], [Rumbling Thunder skill (level 10, 1047/2000)], [Breath Control technique (level 13, 875/1000) ], [Spirit Eye technique (level 10, 633/1000) ],
[Skills]: [Alchemy (advanced, 571/1600) ], [Forging (intermediate, 199/400)]
[Stage: Level 2 Blood Refinement]
“If I want to improve my thunder skill, I’ll have to see the reaction of the Thunderbolt Dojo. But a few days ago, I saw Master’s reaction when he heard about my plan. There will be some friction, but I think I’ll get back on the right track soon. After all, the common theory of the villains was that a dead genius was no longer a genius.”
These words were very suitable here.
“The only two people we need to be wary of are Hong San’s uncle, Gu He, and his master, Qin Laoliu. Gu He is on the third refinement…”
Qin Huai looked at his breathing technique. According to the usual practice, the experience points required for each bottleneck at level 10 would increase by 1,000 points.
Level 30 required 4,000 points, and he would need 20,000 points to break through the third refinement. He could earn 2,000 experience points a day, which was equivalent to ten days.
“It seems I’ll have to ask Senior Brother Fang Han and Master for help.”
If it really didn’t work, he would see if he could find a job for the three of them in the dojo to avoid the limelight.
Qin Huai stood up and ran in the direction of the Changshan Dojo. This place was still within the middle line of the Thunderbolt Dojo, so it was not good to stay for long.
…
Changshan Dojo
Ever since Sun Ziyao started organizing this tea party, many people in the dojo followed suit and gathered their good friends to organize similar gatherings. They could use this opportunity to exchange news, experiences, and martial arts in the dojo.
Among the group of senior and junior brothers, the most ‘virtuous and respected’ and the most ‘approachable’, was Li Bowu, who was ranked 19th on the eight martial roll.
Today, Li Bowu was teaching martial arts to everyone on the drill ground. A Senior Brother Hao simply asked everyone to stay after he finished practicing, then they held a tea party on the spot.
“I’ve been in the dojo for around five years, and I’ve realized there’s a pattern to our master accepting personal disciples,” said Senior Brother Hao.
In the Changshan Dojo, the most eye-catching topic was none other than who could become the master’s disciple.
“What pattern?”
“Senior Brother Hao, tell us more about it!”
The disciples perked up their ears. Not far away, Li Bowu was also sitting upright and still, holding a teacup as if he was thinking about the philosophy of life, but also seemed to be in a trance.
However, those who were more observant would notice that when he heard Senior Brother Hao mention the words ‘personal disciple,’ his ears had obviously moved.
“Our head instructor, Senior Brother Rong Li, was the first personal disciple Master took in twenty years ago. The second was a deceased senior brother who was accepted by Master fifteen years ago. The third one is Senior Brother Fang Han. He was accepted ten years ago. As for the face of our Changshan Dojo’s younger generation, Senior Brother Qi Yangbing was from five years ago…”
When everyone heard Senior Brother Hao’s words, they suddenly came to a realization.
“You mean, this year it’ll be…”
Senior Brother Hao coughed lightly. “Every time Master takes in a disciple, it’s still in this cold autumn. There’s a high chance that these five autumns have some special meaning to Master.”
“Oh~”
Everyone responded, and Li Bowu’s ears perked up.
“Of course, there’s definitely a barrier to this. For example, the age of entry, the talent for martial arts… Of course, the most important thing is still to make contributions to the dojo. Although our master is not young, the way he does things is extremely… You don’t have to stick to one pattern.
“Two years ago, when Qin Laoliu from the Thunderbolt Dojo was making a scene in the mine, Master gave Senior Brother Fang Han five bags of bone-softening powder and aphrodisiacs, asking him to go to the mine to teach Qin Laoliu a lesson.
“I seem to have some impression of this matter. Sixth Brother Qin barged into the immortal fragrance tower in a hurry for a year and didn’t come out for a full seven days and seven nights.”
“Hiss… That’s not right. How did you know about this?” some people questioned.
“I was the one who grabbed the medicine for Master! They said it in front of me!” Senior Brother Hao confirmed.
“Then according to what you’re saying, if Master is going to take in a personal disciple this year, who will it be?” someone asked.
Senior Brother Hao thought for a moment. “I think… There are two candidates. One of them is Qin Huai, who has recently become very famous. Let’s not talk about talent. His breath control technique reached level 20 in half a month. You can’t find another person like that in the entire Changshan Dojo in the past ten years.
“There are at least twenty to thirty people who went to the mine. He’s also popular among the senior and junior brothers. He’s hardworking and climbed the wall to observe and learn all day long.”
“Indeed…” Everyone nodded in agreement.
Li Bowu, who was not far away, frowned when he heard this.
Senior Brother Hao seemed to intentionally or unintentionally glance at Li Bowu. He then changed the topic. “Although Qin Huai is talented and popular, he is still too inexperienced. I think the second candidate is our Senior Brother Li!”
“Me?” Li Bowu looked at everyone’s gazes, his face full of ‘shock’ and humility. He waved his hands and said, “I’m not worthy, I’m not worthy. What can I offer?”
“Senior Brother Li is a genius ranked 19th on the eight martial roll!”
“The tenth place Senior Brother Qi Yangbing was a personal disciple five years ago. It should be Senior Brother Li’s turn now!”
“That’s right. Senior Brother Li has been working hard and conscientiously for so many years… Two years ago, he was also someone who had a fierce battle with Reihom…” The man’s voice suddenly lowered. “Although we’ve never fought.”
Li Bowu’s expression was obviously unnatural. He was in the second refinement, so he didn’t have any impressive achievements against the people from the Thunderbolt Dojo.
“But who is Reihom? You can’t say that Senior Brother Li is useless if you can’t beat him. It’s just that that grandson Reihom is too abnormal.”
“That’s right …” Everyone agreed.
This made Li Bowu’s face flush red, and his heart felt as if it had eaten honey. Didn’t he think the same way?
Li Bowu also took note of the person who spoke up for him. When he became his master’s fifth personal disciple, he would guide him well.
However, he still appeared very humble. “I think Junior Brother Qin is better than me.”
“Junior Brother Li, you have good eyes. We think so too.”
Suddenly, a travel-worn figure walked in. It was Qi Yangbing.
In the past two days, he had gone out of the city to eliminate a group of bandits who had dared to rob the Changshan Dojo. As soon as he returned, he saw a group of people sitting together and chatting, so he went to them. However, he didn’t hear the first part, only the last part of Li Bowu’s praise for Qin Huai.
“Senior Brother Qi!”
“Senior Brother Qi is back!”
The group stood up and greeted Qi Yangbing.
“Sit, sit.” Qi Yangbing waved his hand and motioned for everyone to sit down.
“Senior Brother, what did you mean by that?” Senior Brother Hao suddenly reacted. “Who’s the ‘we’ you mentioned earlier?”
“Eldest Senior Brother, Senior Brother Fang… You can say we’re all giving advice on who’s going to be Master’s next personal disciple.”
Everyone looked at Qi Yangbing in confusion.
Qi Yangbing looked at the confused eyes and suddenly understood. “Master hasn’t said anything about this?”
Li Bowu’s heart skipped a beat. Could it be that Qin Huai had really become a personal disciple?
“What is it?” he asked, unwilling to give up.
“Nothing, nothing …” Qi Yangbing got up and was about to leave. However, he was stopped by a group of senior and junior brothers.
“Senior Brother, please tell us. We promise not to tell anyone.”
Qi Yangbing looked helpless, knowing that it was too late to continue lying. “Qin Huai is already Master’s personal disciple. Master took him in before I left.”
“On what basis?” Li Bowu almost blurted out. He was filled with dissatisfaction.
Qi Yangbing looked at Li Bowu’s reaction and felt a headache. He also knew the reason why his master wanted to hide it for two days.
Li Bowu had talent and experience, but he was petty and pretended to be kind. In short, he was a hypocrite.
In the past few years, when they had conflicts with the Thunderbolt Dojo, this kid had never put in any effort and only took advantage of the situation. He was also a little perfunctory with the apprentices of the dojo.
He thought he had concealed it very well, but his master and his senior brothers had seen it all. That was why his master had been unwilling to accept him as his fifth personal disciple.
“If you want to be my master’s direct disciple, you must at least kill a few of those bastards from the Thunderbolt dojo, right?”
Li Bowu wanted to force himself to calm down, so he also began to find excuses to suppress Qin Huai. However, the resentment on his face was almost irrepressible.
“Something big has happened! Something big has happened!” An apprentice barged into the courtyard in a panic. “The news from the city says that more than twenty people from the Thunderbolt Dojo died in the mine. It’s all over the place!”