Building a sect from scratch.

Chapter 171 Investigation Mission
"Huff... Huff... Huff..."

After finishing his spin class, Shen Yun was panting heavily, looking like he had been pulled out of the water, his whole body "soaked" in sweat.

"Not bad, Xiao Shen! Today marks exactly one month since you started losing over 40 pounds, and your body fat percentage has dropped significantly!"

The coach, who was recording data, happened to be standing next to Shen Yun, who had collapsed on the ground, and encouraged him, "Keep it up! At this rate, you'll be in great shape in two months!"

Shen Yun, panting, grinned.

The training camp had a very regular schedule, from around 9 a.m. to 8 p.m., almost all day long. Unlike others who would wait until the weekend to go home or go out for a big meal to reward themselves, Shen Yun maintained his training routine even on weekends. He hadn't touched barbecue, sugary drinks, or any other kind of food for almost a month!

Such hard work paid off. In just one month, his weight dropped from over 200 pounds to below 200 pounds, and his physique transformed from a round, fat man into a standard strong northern man. His arms became toned and muscular, and his biceps were faintly visible.

A classmate from the training camp patted Shen Yun on the back and asked, "Hey, Yun-ge, it's finally the weekend. We're planning to go out for a celebratory dinner. Do you want to come?"

Shen Yun replied, "I think I'll pass. I've made plans to play games with someone tonight."

The classmate shook his head in disappointment: "Hey, why don't you ever come?"

The coach, who was flipping through a data record book, chimed in jokingly, "Hey! Your coach is right there on your faces! It's not appropriate to be discussing what to eat like this!"

"Don't worry, Coach! What are we working so hard for all week? It's just for a meal! We can just eat less!"

"Exactly! I'll just drink sugar-free soda!"

"Hilarious! You think sugar-free soda isn't still soda? It's not the sugar that hurts you, it's the carbonation, you silly goose!"

"I don't care, as long as I'm reserved, I'm practically self-disciplined!"

The coach waved his hand with a smile: "Alright, alright, I know you guys have been looking forward to this day. Eat less, or you'll gain three pounds on Monday!"

"understood!"

"See you later, Coach!"

The group chatted and laughed as they left the training room.

Shen Yun deliberately walked at the very back. He lived in a two-person dormitory, and his roommate usually went to shower first. His roommate was from Guangdong and was used to showering every day. After training, he would rush to the bathroom without delay, showering at least four or five times a day. He would even take a shower as soon as he got up in the morning. In Shen Yun's opinion, it seemed like he had OCD.

However, the other person could finish washing in three minutes each time. By the time Shen Yun leisurely bought a bottle of ice water to cool off and then strolled back to the dormitory, it was just her turn.

Sure enough, when Shen Yun opened the dormitory door, he saw his roommate dressed and ready to leave.

My roommate was very helpful and asked, "Yun-ge, we're going yo-yoing, do you need anything to bring us?"

Shen Yun quickly replied, "No need, no need, have fun!"

"Okay! I'll take pictures of the food for you later! Hehe!"

"Screw you!"

After showering while humming a song, Shen Yun glanced at the chat message that Chai Gou Cai Cai had sent two minutes earlier, hesitated for a moment, and then turned around and crawled into the game pod.

As soon as I logged on, a private message popped up from Chai Gou Cai Cai: "Hey! You're finally online! I called Green Bubble but you didn't reply. I thought you were busy today!"

Shen Yun forced down his smile, which was even harder to suppress than AK's, and deliberately said, "Sorry, I was just at the gym and didn't see it, but I usually go online every night!"

Shiba Inu Cai Cai seemed quite surprised: "Wow! So disciplined, you even work out!" Shen Yun replied vaguely: "Yeah, to lose some weight, I've gained weight recently..."

"Okay, okay, only I'm a true couch potato! I'm so touched!"

Bai Chenxue made an exaggerated joke, then sent a new message: "Senior Sister has assigned a new mission, it's an investigation and decryption type. My master and the others have organized a team, do you want to come?"

Shen Yun initially wanted to remain reserved, but after thinking it over, she decided against it and asked, "Of course I went! What mission?"

"Come on, join the group, I'll share it with you!"

[The Secret of Groundwater]: [Many villages within the jurisdiction of Guangcheng Sect and Taiyin Sect have long suffered from well pollution. Simply relying on exorcism and purification rituals is only a temporary solution. Senior Sister Baili Shuang has entrusted everyone to investigate this matter thoroughly. (Shareable, can be participated in as a team) (Rewards: 15000 Exp, 500 Sect Contribution Points, 500 Sect Prestige Points, Random Items)]

Shen Yunzai carefully read through the mission instructions, somewhat bewildered: "There wasn't even a hint!"

Bai Chenxue replied, "That's right! And it's related to NPCs! But mainly, this mission doesn't seem too dangerous, so my master and the others plan to take the little boy on a training mission!"

"Little Kid?"

"Oh, it's Bian Yuanzhi! Old Zhen's NPC apprentice!"

Shen Yun suddenly realized, "Oh—I remember now! Can he team up with us?"

"Of course not! So we had no choice but to bring him along! But mainly because he's familiar with things in the village and town, and he just started cultivating his qi, which took a lot of effort. Old Zhen said he'd reward him by taking him home, and then we could do this task together!"

"What's so great about this as a reward!"

"You just don't understand! Returning home in glory is like wearing fine clothes at night! Especially since the kid's aptitude is ridiculously poor, it was only through our hard work and shaving off the Taiyin essence we managed to scrape together, along with all sorts of spiritual materials and foods we swindled from Senior Bamboo Immortal and the others, that we managed to push him to his full potential! This speed is already almost on par with ordinary dual-spiritual-roots or even single-spiritual-roots! That's quite impressive!"

As the two were chatting, Zhen Junzi's voice came through the team channel: "We're full. Um... I have something I'd like to ask for your help with!"
"Here's the thing, my apprentice is going home tomorrow, so we need to make something that looks respectable, like some kind of otherworldly immortal. I remember Cai Cai has that new silk dress she made, all sorts of colors, so put it on. I also borrowed Lani's little flying boat that they developed that can change size. We have to make a grand entrance! A grand entrance, you understand?"
"By the way, Lao Jia, how about you dress up as one of those old men with white eyebrows and a white beard? Like the Venus type! What do you think?"

Jia Xiaoren, speechless, angrily retorted, "Can't you be a little more sensible? Is it really that serious? It's just going home, why is it being treated like a wedding ceremony? Enough already!"

Zhen Junzi said matter-of-factly, "Then I have to stand up for my apprentice! You don't have an apprentice and you don't understand!"

Jia Xiaoren snorted twice and said, "How can I not have apprentices! My apprentices are the luckiest people in the entire server! Come on, Cai Cai! Bring out all your golden cabbages and white cabbages, and make Old Zhen green with envy!"

While Zhen Junzi and Jia Xiaoren were bickering, Bai Chenxue privately messaged Shen Yun, "Hey! Don't pay attention to them! They always argue when they meet, but they'll be fine in a bit!"

Then, she spoke up, saying, "Master! Mistress! Stop fooling around! I'm here to recruit people for this mission! Can we focus on this mission first? Mistress, I promise I'll bring a whole van full of people to support you tomorrow!"

Zhen Junzi immediately raised his voice: "Who the hell is the master's wife! Even if she is, I'm still the master's father!"

Bai Chenxue deliberately drew out the last syllable of her sentence, saying, "Hitting is a sign of affection, scolding is a sign of love. You two are arguing so fiercely, it's all out of love!"

"Get lost! I'm not gay!"

"Hui—tui!"

Zhen Junzi and Jia Xiaoren felt a chill run down their spines after Bai Chenxue's words, and Mai Li finally quieted down.

Bai Chenxue then sent Shen Yun a smug private message: "See, the two of them have stopped arguing! It worked immediately!"

(End of this chapter)