Chapter 85 Deep Mountains

Chapter 85: Chapter 85: Deep Mountains

Having finished their dojo challenge, Feng Yin and Xiao Yu sat together in the sedan.

Beside him, Senior Sister Xiao Yu eagerly reported the battle’s outcome to their master over the phone. In her telling, the two of them had practically transformed into gods of war, carving a bloody path in and out of the Flower of Battle club Seven times over.

Xie Jingyuan listened helplessly to Xiao Yu’s boasting, then seized a gap in her chatter to say directly, "Give the phone to Feng Yin."

"What!" Xiao Yu puffed out her cheeks, but obediently handed the phone over anyway.

Feng Yin took the phone. "Master."

Xie Jingyuan chuckled. "I figured you would win, but I didn’t expect you to win so quickly. Tell me, what are your thoughts?"

Feng Yin thought for a moment and answered honestly, "Master, his fundamentals were actually very strong. However, he seemed to be the same type of fighter as me. I just happened to counter him in his area of expertise and took advantage of that..."

He briefly explained the sparring process with Chu Ming and his train of thought during the battle.

Xie Jingyuan couldn’t help but smile upon hearing this. "So you avoided a battle of fundamentals and instead baited your opponent into a decisive clash using Fixed Forms... To think you won like that. I thought he would stall you for at least two days. Feng Yin, your combat IQ is quite good.

"However, if that’s the case, my plan to let you familiarize yourself with countering Ousu Long Swordsmanship has been ruined. I’ll have to find another Ousu Long Swordsmanship expert to be your sparring partner."

Xie Jingyuan pondered for a moment, then added, "Here’s what we’ll do. The next opponent I’ve arranged for you is in the suburbs of Coastal City. Before you go challenge them, have Xiao Yu find a Fierce Level Ousu Swordsmanship expert to spar with you."

Before Feng Yin could say anything, Xiao Yu, who was secretly pressing her ear close to the phone to listen, muttered:

"Master, if you had said earlier that we could arrange sparring partners, I could have easily found experts from all sorts of popular Sects for Junior Brother."

Xie Jingyuan laughed heartily. "I thought you understood my intentions best, Xiao Yu. The people I sent Feng Yin to challenge are all old fogeys who used to brag to me about their genius disciples for no reason.

"Those old geezers relied on having taken in good disciples to constantly rub it in my face. Now, I’m going to rub it in theirs."

Feng Yin was speechless.

He hadn’t expected his master, who looked so refined and serious, to be so... well, humorous.

Xie Jingyuan continued, "Therefore, Feng Yin’s practical combat exercises are essential, but don’t delay the dojo challenges either. Help your master beat them one by one and show them what a true genius is."

Xiao Yu let out an "Oho!", her expression growing excited. "I knew you definitely had an ulterior motive, Master! Aren’t you afraid they’ll fly into a humiliating rage and bully Junior Brother?"

Xie Jingyuan burst out laughing. "This isn’t a foreign country. In Celestial Essence, who would dare touch my, Xie Jingyuan’s, disciple? I have no objections if they defeat Feng Yin fairly; that’s meant to be a tempering experience for him anyway.

"But if someone tries to use underhanded methods just to save face, then they shouldn’t blame me for not showing any mercy.

"Feng Yin, when the time comes, just fight boldly."

The last sentence was directed at Feng Yin.

"Understood," Feng Yin agreed obediently.

He had to admit that having an overpowered master was indeed very reassuring.

Xie Jingyuan said, "Alright, Xiao Yu’s father and I still have things to do on our end. I’ll let you know once the sparring time is arranged later. Just practice well and adjust your condition these next few days..."

After giving a few more instructions, he hung up the phone.

Feng Yin looked at Xiao Yu. "So, what should I do next?"

Xiao Yu thought for a moment. "Eldest Senior Sister and her husband have already been scheduled for scar Repair and minor plastic surgery, so they need to spend some time in Recovery at the hospital. Those useless Direct Disciples at the Sword Hall are only there for me. Every time I go to practice Swordsmanship, they deliberately try to curry favor with me. It’s too boring..."

Her eyes flashed as she stole a sneaky glance at Feng Yin. "Junior Brother, since we have nothing to do anyway, how about accompanying me shopping?"

Feng Yin nodded slightly. "I’ll follow your lead."

***

Nine o’clock at night.

Feng Yin’s figure appeared deep in the mountains outside the suburbs of Coastal City.

Based on the information he had searched for on the internet over the past few days, he had essentially confirmed many of this world’s circumstances.

From his perspective as an Earthling, this world seemed entirely illogical in every aspect.

Under the dominance of a few superpowers, the hundred or so large and small countries on this planet called the Central Celestial Star were divided into several major coalitions:

The Pan-Tianyuan Cultural Circle, balanced and led by the Celestial Essence Country.

The Angsa Alliance, jointly governed by a council formed by numerous top-tier corporations.

The Ousu and Soviet Countries, a community jointly controlled by several powerful nations.

Of course, there were also many other independently governed national forces.

The world order had developed peacefully on this foundation for many years, but secret frictions were increasing, with everything from trade wars to arms races becoming increasingly intense.

Then there was the level of technology.

There were cell phones, computers, the internet, airplanes, trains, cars, and ships. Generally speaking, it didn’t look much different from Earth.

Judging from these aspects, this was not some futuristic sci-fi world.

However, in quite a few Domains, there were generational gaps that could only be described as black technology.

For example, Adjusters, exoskeleton technology, or the Xuan Guang Group’s Enhanced Clothing technology...

Then came the cultural and sports aspect. This world had a very special characteristic that was vastly different from Earth—a reverence for Martial prowess.

Whether it was unarmed or armed combat, one-on-one duels or team battles, with or without rules...

The major governments and factions of the world seemed to be intentionally guiding the public to focus on and revere "primal individual combat power."

Various major Martial arts tournaments emerged endlessly, accounting for more than seventy percent of the world’s sporting events.

This was what Feng Yin found illogical.

As the saying goes, the masses use Martial force to violate bans. This was a principle that any person in power couldn’t possibly be ignorant of.

To achieve social stability, the most important thing was to restrict the amount of Martial power the public could possess.

Yet the major factions all preferred to spend more resources and take greater risks to manage powerful Martial Artists, just to promote individual Martial prowess.

This was clearly very problematic.

Of course, these issues had little to do with Feng Yin at the moment.

His second purpose for looking up information was to find out if there were any deep mountains and old forests near Coastal City, so he could conduct a new experiment.

He was preparing to hunt Wild Beasts.

His goal was simple—to see if he could restore his Armor’s health.

Having slain a large number of felons on the Border Prison Island, he had already confirmed that killing living beings in the real world could also trigger Durability Recovery for his Armor.

But now that he had left that lawless land, if he still wanted to rely on hacking people to death to restore his health in a civilized society, he would inevitably be hunted down.

Most importantly, he wasn’t some homicidal maniac and had no intention of slaughtering the innocent.

Moreover, he couldn’t find a job right now, and it was temporarily unsuitable to do slaughtering work like a butcher in the city.

After all, to some extent, he was currently being "kept" by the Gangrou Sect, or rather, by the Rich Lolita.

As an amnesiac, suddenly coming up with the idea of getting a part-time job was too abrupt, let alone taking up a profession slaughtering live animals. He even felt that with the level of modernization in this world, the butchery trade probably didn’t exist in the traditional sense.

After mulling it over, the only thing he could think of was coming to the wilderness to "poach."

***