In the world of martial arts, one works tirelessly to attain enlightenment.

Chapter 3, The Emergence of Cults

Training ground

"Okay, now practice with me."

Chang Fei's gaze swept across the area, and his eyes lit up when he saw Lin Ran.

With his discerning eye at the lower level of the Divine Fire Realm, he couldn't find any fault with it!

"First move..."

Forty minutes passed, and everyone stumbled and struggled to complete the round, except for Lin Ran, who finished it smoothly.

Lin Ran breathed a sigh of relief, feeling very comfortable, her whole body warm and cozy.

[Ascension Ritual, Experience +5]

Chang Fei clapped his hands, and everyone looked over.

"Good, let's practice one more time. Lin Ran, you lead the team."

Lin Ran walked to the front of the line.

"Ready to begin, first move..."

As everyone continued practicing, they noticed a significant difference in skill level.

Lin Ran, who was at the very front, moved in a manner exactly like Chang Fei!

The cat people also noticed Lin Ran, but they weren't too surprised. Such things were all arranged in advance, and the cat people's arrangements were the same.

Chang Fei went through the process again and was very satisfied with Lin Ran's performance.

"There's still an hour left before get out of class ends. You can practice freely from now on. If you have any questions, come and ask me."

Lin Ran walked straight to a corner and began practicing by herself.

At seven o'clock, the school bell rang to signal the end of the school term.

Lin Ran slowly withdrew her stance.

[Ascension Ritual, Experience +10]

That concludes today's lesson. get out of class dismissed!

Chang Fei glanced at Lin Ran, considered for a moment, and shook his head slightly. It was only the second week, so there was no rush.

Lin Ran couldn't help but smile when she saw the dejected Chen Fei.

"Old Chen, how are you feeling?"

"Brother, Brother Lin, can we switch seats?"

Chen Fei's smile was forced, as he was immersed in the pain of his beautiful dream being shattered.

Lin Ran chuckled silently.

"You chose your own seat, and we agreed to put you next to a cat-person. If you dare to make any more demands, I think the teacher might slap you twice."

"What should I do? He seems interested in me!"

Chen Fei covered his face forcefully.

Lin Ran shrugged.

"I remember you have a cousin? How does he compare to this adorable and witty cat-person?"

"That's true, but..."

"Alright, enough with the 'buts.' You're so young and your grades aren't even that great. You're always thinking about these nonsense things. Don't you realize that most of the students selected for exchange programs are troublemakers? If you were given a female cat-person as your deskmate, could you resist her?"

Lin Ran picked up her coat and left.

Chen Fei fell into deep thought.

……

On the way,

Lin Ran took a longer route by running to gain experience in the [Fitness] skill. The slow jogging pace was just right, and he could gain one point per minute on average.

The chosen route was from the Third Middle School towards the Cat People's Embassy.

News reports suggest that cult members may have entered the city; this stretch of road is the safest, but also the most dangerous.

Cults worship evil gods and corrupt people's hearts with promises of wealth and longevity. The more people know about them, the more people will be unable to resist and eventually be brainwashed and lose their sense of self.

Therefore, a cult is an organization that seeks abnormal popularity.

For example, sabotaging the formal establishment of diplomatic relations between the two groups would be major news that would shake the entire alliance!

On the way,

Lin Ran looked at the four people blocking her way and fell into deep thought.

The two people in front are white-collar workers in suits, one of whom is bald and unemployed. The two people behind him are probably students.

The white-collar worker smiled and took out a business card.

"Hello, Lin Ran, I am the general manager of Lingwen Company. I am officially certified, and the company can be found on the terminal."

"That's right. We've received a secret order from above to accelerate the integration of the cat people into the human race. We can't say any more, as this involves the overall plans of the human race."

"Your deskmate is a cat-person, which means cat-people have a good sense of you."

"So, the company wants to hire you as an external staff member. All you need to do is build a relationship with the cat people, and you'll get a monthly operating fund of one million, but it can only be used for the cat people."

The white-collar worker waved, and the bald man opened a box, revealing a box full of red items.

"This is the deposit for the first month. If you can marry the cat-man, you'll receive a bonus of ten million, which you can use as you please."

"..."

Lin Ran seemed to understand why cults had always existed.

If this were an ordinary teenager, he would probably already be fantasizing about it.

The impact of cash is far greater than that of numbers!

Silence for two seconds.

Lin Ran suddenly opened the terminal and found the map.

It's only 300 meters from the Cat People's Embassy!

Lin Ran made up her mind and said,

"I want to see if it's real or fake."

Please make yourself at home.

The white-collar worker and the bald man stepped back, leaving the cash behind.

Lin Ran's heart sank; she was afraid she was about to take a risk. So she walked to her suitcase and grabbed a handful of cash.

Ready, go!

Lin Ran dashed to the side of the road. It wasn't a remote spot, but no one passed by.

The opponent clearly used some kind of concealment method, but it couldn't be very strong, otherwise the cat-people's powerful members would have already discovered it.

The smiles of the white-collar man and the bald man froze; they hadn't expected Lin Ran to be so decisive.

"Chase!"

All four of them worked together.

Lin Ran clutched the cash, her body trembling slightly, but her mind remained extremely calm as she strode toward the Cat-People's Embassy.

The white-collar man took off a button from his tie, frowned, and pressed it.

"The jammer has ten minutes left; we must take him away."

The bald man and the two boys remained silent and sprinted away.

Lin Ran was not slow either; his skill panel ensured that he would not fall due to accidents and maintained his speed for a short period of time.

as well as,

"You bunch of idiots, you really think I can't tell? You stink worse than rat droppings, a bunch of... *%*%*%"

Lin Ran unleashed a barrage of attacks, diverting the attention of the four people and making them furious, their faces turning red with anger.

However, the bald man was a trained fighter and quickly overtook the two teenagers, closing the distance to within ten meters.

Lin Ran threw the banknotes backhand, only managing to stop the bald man for a moment.

He approached Lin Ran with a sinister grin.

"You little brat, I'll show you the worst fate you can face!"

"drink!"

The bald man roared, his skin turning red, and his speed suddenly doubled as he punched Lin Ran in the back.

When Lin Ran turned around, the fist was already inches away.

He calmly jumped and turned, crossing his arms in front of his chest and arching his body.

Bang! Crack!

Lin Ran's face twitched, she lost sensation in both arms, and flew more than ten meters away, crashing to the ground and rolling around.

The bald man slowed down and gave a cold laugh.

"Kid, you know what's coming to you?"

Then he saw Lin Ran get up and rush into a strange, tall building.

Next second,

boom!

The sound of breaking apart rang out, followed by a cacophony of noise and the blaring of ship horns.

The bald man realized what had happened, his face turned pale instantly, and he subconsciously turned around, only to see the three white-collar workers locked onto by dozens of supernatural weapons.

Lin Ran, supported by a cat-like figure, coughed as she walked out the door, a bright smile on her face.

"You cult bastards, keep chasing us if you dare!"

"Didn't you want to...cough cough...force me to lure the cat people out? Continue...cough cough...ah! Why are you afraid now!"

"You dare to tempt students? You really are... cough cough... deserving of death."

Lin Ran's face contorted in pain, and she could only stand by leaning on the cat-girl beside her. She glared at the four cult members with resentment until she was arrested by their guards.

He relaxed, his vision blurred rapidly, and before he passed out, he spoke to the person beside him.

"Thanks."

The cat-girl stared into thought as she watched Lin Ran talking to thin air.

(End of this chapter)