Daily life of a teacher in the martial arts department

But halfway through her writing, she hesitated again.

"Is disguise... reliable? I mean, does this skill even exist?"

Nocturne waved her fan and chuckled, "Martial artists have techniques like bone shrinking, so changing their body shape isn't difficult. Magicians have 'deceptive appearances,' and even without those, a woman is confident she can do a lot just by using makeup and voice imitation skills... What's so difficult about disguise?"

-

In the snow-capped mountains, Yu Xietian followed behind Mu Nandong.

He knew why Mu Nandong had come; the two parties had signed a contract, which included Mu Nandong's specific purpose.

"Snow Running Fox"

A low-level magical beast living in the Saint Lotus Mountains, it has a violent temper and a fragile life. Someone once tried to capture or keep this reasonably good-looking little fox, but the person ended up crashing into the cage and dying – essentially killing themselves. Even with proper cages, it is almost impossible to keep it as a pet.

Mu Nandong needed to extract a substance from the other party's spinal fluid. However, this substance was extremely perishable, and even if it were airlifted over, it would be too late. The extraction process was also very difficult, and it required specific preservation conditions, so Mu Nandong had no choice but to come himself.

Mu Nandong is neither a martial artist nor a magician. Although he has some combat ability thanks to his alchemical equipment, this ability is like a child with a gun—it's really not good at capturing animals. So he needs some help.

Yu Xietian is the one who can help. With his strength, as long as he can find the Snow Fox, nothing else will be a problem.

But... they're hard to find.

"Snow foxes are irritable and their cubs have a low survival rate. Their numbers have been decreasing in recent years, and they may become endangered in 30 to 50 years."

Mu Nandong stopped in his tracks.

He and Yu Xietian searched all morning but couldn't find a single snow fox. Yu Xietian looked somewhat dejected, but Mu Nandong's expression remained unchanged.

When Yu Xietian saw him stop, her spirits lifted. She wondered if he was planning to go back and have a meal before coming to find her again. That would be a good thing.

As a result, Mu Nandong reached into his bag, rummaged around for a bit, and pulled out two packs of compressed biscuits. He opened one pack himself and handed the other pack to Yu Xietian.

"Eat first, then continue."

Yu Xietian: "..."

Although he felt helpless, he maintained his professional ethics and quickly composed himself, then started eating compressed biscuits.

"That cloud-suppressing stone," Yu Xietian asked, "what kind of effect does its radiation have on people?"

“Many,” Mu Nandong said coldly. “Loss of appetite, insomnia, endocrine disorders. If it goes on for a long time, it will affect the internal organs and cause them to become diseased. It will also distort the meridians and affect the flow of internal energy. You asked this question because you think they put it on by chance. Well, let me tell you now, if it was by chance, they would definitely find that their condition was not right after wearing this thing, and they would keep checking the factors that made them feel unwell, and eventually find it on this thing.”

"I just asked casually..." Yu Xietian thought to himself, but said aloud, "I understand."

"Be careful of those two, but don't be too afraid. We have no grudge against them, and besides, they don't look like madmen."

"That's true."

After Mu Nandong and Yu Xietian stuffed the compressed biscuits into their stomachs, they set off again.

However, finding a snow fox with pure white fur, a natural camouflage in this icy and snowy landscape, is no easy feat.

As dusk approached, Mu Nandong finally relented.

Let's stop here for today.

As he spoke, he took out a small square plate, which he called a locator.

One of the creations of the Imperial Alchemy Department is that it is basically not sold to the public. Mu Nandong can make a similar one himself, but it is impossible for him to sell it on the market.

Its specific effect can be seen from its name. You can set a "starting point" and then roughly display the distance and direction between yourself and the starting point on a plane.

Without this thing, everyone in this vast snow-covered mountain would be like the Qin Pass.

Mu Nandong looked at the locator and frowned slightly.

The image on the locator was distorted, like a television with a poor signal, with black and white static appearing intermittently, making the image extremely distorted.

With his extensive experience, Mu Nandong immediately recognized the reason why the locator had become like this.

Not only him, but even Yu Xietian could see it at this moment.

The two said in unison, "Reverse separation!"

The most powerful crystal in the world, it can counter all alchemical equipment. As long as you get close enough, it can disable the miniature arrays engraved on alchemical equipment. It is simply the nemesis of all alchemical equipment.

So the question is, what's the most awesome aspect of alchemy equipment?

—Strike beyond visual range.

Are you crazy?! I'm already this close, why don't I just blow that alchemical equipment up with a rocket launcher?! Why would I use this idiot's thing?!

This thing is utterly useless. You could say it's useless, but it's incredibly powerful, capable of countering all modern alchemical equipment. You could also say it's useful, but that's complete nonsense. However, it's undeniable that... this thing is indeed a low-priority strategic resource that various countries are vying for.

Chapter Fourteen: Beneath the Solid Ice

Anti-destruction is indeed useless at the moment, but the future development direction of all countries is alchemy technology. Although anti-destruction is not useful for the time being, its characteristics are really too outrageous. In the words of martial arts masters, although no one can master this martial art at present, its concept is extremely high. Once mastered, one will be invincible.

That's the status of the anti-separation body. If a country could really expand the influence of the anti-separation body and turn it into armor, allowing a martial artist to wear it and forcefully break into the enemy's military base on the battlefield... it would be a disaster, even more unbearable than the god of war that the opponent pulls out in a solo match.

It is certain that although the hope seems slim at present, countries have been committed to this and hope to achieve some results. Anti-isolated materials are prohibited from being mined by private individuals. If an anti-isolated mineral is discovered, there will be a reward if it is reported to the state—but not much, because as a strategic resource, anti-isolated materials have the lowest priority. It is estimated that a token reward of ten pounds will be given.

“There are anti-isolated minerals in this area.”

Mu Nandong, being experienced, took out his other instruments and confirmed the existence of the anti-isolated mineral.

"Unfortunately, it has nothing to do with us." Yu Xietian shrugged. He was too lazy to make a special trip for those ten pounds. The government would be interfering, which would be troublesome. As for illegally mining this stuff, firstly, it's illegal; secondly, we don't need it; thirdly, it would be checked on the plane; and fourthly, although it's rare, it's actually available on the market, not expensive, just in small quantities. It's the kind of stuff that the government tacitly releases for you to study.

Mu Nandong didn't care much about the matter. He stood up, randomly picked a direction, and walked in that direction.

After a period of time, the locator, freed from the influence of the anti-detached minerals, returned to normal, and the two returned to the snow mountain hotel.

Yu Xietian pushed open the door and saw Ying Qin Guan and Jiu Yi playing cards in the living room.

These two are absolutely insane; for them, traveling is just like playing cards in a different place.

Yu Xietian glanced around and, not seeing Chu Hui and Qiu Fei, changed his shoes, quickened his pace, and patted Ying Qin Guan on the shoulder.

"What about the other two?"

Ying Qin Guan didn't even turn his head, but took out a small bottle from his bosom and handed it to Yu Xietian.

"He went skiing early this morning and hasn't come back yet."

Jiu Yi remained silent. Yu Xietian glanced at the card table... Ying Qin Guan was the God of War again, and Jiu Yi was so numb from being beaten that he had no time to pay attention to their conversation.

No temper, no temper.

-

The next day, in the evening.

Chu Hui and Qiu Fei didn't return until it was almost dark. They looked like they had been skiing all day, covered in dust. Qiu Fei even had some skiing injuries on his face—if he had injuries on his face, who knows how many more he had on his body.

After finishing dinner, Ying Qin Guan went to the hot spring again. He was starting to like the feeling and was thinking about installing a bathtub in his dormitory. But he didn't know how to do it or who to ask... He decided to ask the Nephalem for help.

When there's nothing to do, the dog is there; when there's trouble, it's not up to fate. One of these two is a tool, and I won't say who it is.

"If only the water temperature were a little higher..." Ying Qin closed his eyes and exhaled a breath of stale air.

Suddenly, the sound of water splashing rang in his ears. Ying Qin Guan opened his eyes and saw that the person who came was Mu Nan Dong.

Ying Qin Guan knew that the other party had been wandering around outside all day, and sighed, "You've really worked hard. Yu Xietian is a martial artist, so he can walk all day without any problems. Can your body handle this?"

Mu Nandong said coldly, "That's why I'm here now."

Mu Nandong meant that soaking in hot springs could promote blood circulation and relieve fatigue, which was why he spent his time on it. Ying Qin Guan understood the general idea, which was that "soaking in hot springs is good for the body," but he didn't know exactly why.

The two remained silent for a moment, the steam rising from the hot spring creating a very quiet atmosphere.

There was an awkward silence in the room, so Ying Qin Guan casually brought up a topic.

Are you going tomorrow?

"of course."

"Until you finish your important business?"

"of course."

"and then?"

"Go back to school."

"Hmm..." This matter-of-fact and distinctly Mu Nandong-style remark left Ying Qin Guan speechless for a moment. He could only manage to say, "Don't you think... this is tiring and boring?"

Mu Nandong said coldly, "No one forced me to do this. Since it was my own choice, talking about how hard or boring it was is just being pretentious."

Ying Qin Guan fell silent, recalling what Nocturne had said to him that night.

A glass of wine called revenge—Mu Nandong will use this wine to numb his future...

Ying Qin Guan's early life was mediocre, but it left him with something to reminisce about late at night, something to enjoy with a drink. That's how he managed to climb out of the mire. But Mu Nan Dong... how will he get out?

We can only rely on those outside the quagmire.

So Ying Qin Guan said softly, "Don't you think some things are more important?"

Mu Nandong's expression remained unchanged. "For example?"

"For example... the scenery along the way," Ying Qin Guan said. "Perhaps it's a bit cliché, but to be honest, I can't think of anything better to say: delicious food, friends, beautiful scenery, and so on..."

"You probably meant games," Mu Nandong said calmly, closing his eyes. "I have no interest in sensual pleasures, and I can suppress my physical desires. I might be able to appreciate about 70% of the world's art, but I'm not interested in it. As for friends... humph, who would want to be friends with someone who always has this expression on their face?"

Ying Qin Guan squinted and said, "Then why don't you change your expression?"

It's not worth changing yourself for some mediocre people.

"Is that so..."

Ying Qin Guan fell silent, and the two stopped talking.

Amidst a world of ice and snow, steam rises from the hot spring, disappearing into the air.

After leaving the hot spring, they had nowhere to go.

Ying Qin Guan suddenly said, "Me."

"?" Mu Nandong didn't understand what Ying Qin Guan meant by this sudden "I" and frowned slightly.

“If you feel there’s nothing worth stopping for along the way, then let me give it a try. I mean…” Ying Qin Guan’s voice was calm at first, but after being looked at by Mu Nan Dong, his voice grew softer and softer, “I can… become your friend.”

Mu Nandong turned back.

Ying Qin Guan felt uneasy. He had spoken impulsively just now... and was a little embarrassed.