Daily life of a teacher in the martial arts department

Although he can no longer actively use the card, the skill level of the Ring of Truth is amazing. Now Jiu Yi can't even survive anymore and was directly cut down to one point of maximum health by Ying Qin Guan in just a few hits.

—Coincidentally, he is an awakened hero, awakening when he has only one point of maximum stamina. If it were a voice card, he would probably have the awakening voice line, "Inheriting the late emperor's will, supporting the empire from collapse and turning the tide," and then he would be interrupted halfway through the line with the death voice line.

'Heaven's will... is hard to defy'

It's quite a vivid image to think about.

Jiu Yi looked calm as he took out his remaining general cards, wondering which one to use to take the beating next. Suddenly, Shen Xin jumped down from the window and poked Ying Qin Guan with a small blackboard.

"They're back!"

Ying Qin Guan's smile vanished. He put down the cards, stood up, and looked out the window... It was the four people. After Chu Hui Qiu Fei followed Yu Xie Tian Mu Nan Dong, they paused for a moment, seemingly having found their bearings, and then headed towards the vast snow-capped mountains.

Last night, when all was quiet, Yu Xietian knocked on his window and said that the two of them had a big problem... They were most likely looking for anti-isolated minerals.

He said this was Mu Nandong's guess. Although the two had been skiing, the intensity of their skiing... wasn't entirely wrong, but it was somewhat exaggerated, like someone playing cards for a whole day and night without eating—it was a bit over the top. Mu Nandong suspected they were looking for something. And what they could find by wandering around at that speed... was only anti-debris ore.

At high speeds, the world before your eyes becomes completely blurred. If you're looking for animals or even plants, you'll basically be looking at nothing at all. You can't see anything clearly anyway, but it's different with anti-displacement minerals.

If you carry alchemical equipment and it doesn't work, it's basically a sure sign that it's anti-external ore. This method can quickly detect its existence. Mining this stuff has always been illegal.

The poor should focus on their own well-being, while the successful should help others. Although Mu Nandong always has a stern face, he is not without a sense of justice.

He suspected the two men were trying to mine anti-detached ore illegally and planned to do something. But before taking action, he needed to consider the worst-case scenario, so he asked Yu Xietian, "Can the three of you together reliably defeat these two while protecting us?"

This question really stumped Yu Xietian. He proudly replied, "Of course! I, Ying Qin Guan, and Jiu Yi are all experts. If the three of us join forces, we can defeat even a God of War!"

Mu Nandong wasn't a martial artist, nor did he quite understand the specific differences in strength between martial artists throughout history. However, he figured that with Ying Qin Guan's martial arts instructor, Jiu Yi Huang Yuan's dean, and the exceptionally skilled Yu Xietian, things shouldn't be too difficult. So, he devised a simple fishing plan.

—That is, the scene right now.

As it turns out, fishing is truly a simple art; it doesn't require any detailed plan. As long as the fish is interested in your bait, it will naturally take the bait.

Of course, it's useless if they don't take the bait. If these two haven't made any obvious moves by the time they come down the mountain, Mu Nandong will probably send a report to the Bingning government. Whether the Bingning government believes it or not is their business.

In any case... they've taken the bait now.

Yu Xietian said that if they returned with the two of them shortly after they set off, it would mean that they had taken the bait, and Ying Qin Guan and Jiu Yi should follow them and keep an eye on them secretly.

—As for taking the initiative, that's not a good idea. After all, without solid evidence, the principle of "innocent until proven guilty" applies. Taking action rashly without actual evidence could only get you into trouble.

However, as the saying goes, "If you're a thief for a thousand days, you can't guard against thieves for a thousand days," so...

I still need to go fishing.

Chapter Twenty-Five: Each with Their Own Thoughts

It's harder to be a good person than a bad person, because good people usually have to consider many things, such as laws, ethics, and morality, while bad people don't have to consider anything.

Just like now, Chu Hui and Qiu Fei want to kill someone. They only think about whether their plan will succeed after the killing, and whether the killing will actually succeed. They don't care about anything else. They don't care if you are right or wrong, good or bad. As long as killing you will succeed, then they will kill you. On Mu Nandong's side, even though he is very confident that the other party is not a decent person, he still has to test the waters first.

Ying Qin Guan stood at the window, watching the four figures disappear into the distance.

Jiu asked curiously, "Aren't you going to follow them?"

Ying Qin Guan shook his head and said, "Wait a little longer."

— Jiu Yi and Shen Xin also knew the whole story, but Ye Qu, Gan Xingyao, Feng Yunke, and others were unaware of it.

Mu Nandong speculated that if things really developed to this point, they would take action on their return journey after finding the anti-detached ore.

First of all, they definitely need Mu Nandong and Yu Xietian to find the anti-isolated ore. Otherwise, they wouldn't have come knocking on their door; finding the anti-isolated ore is essential.

But they won't act there, because if they really wanted to mine anti-extraterrestrial minerals privately, they would definitely divert the police's attention away from that area. If they did act there... don't think that the snow-capped mountains can bury all your criminal traces. The investigative abilities of magicians combined with alchemical instruments are unimaginable to the illiterate. Even a random murder on a rainy night is nothing special these days.

—This is all contingent on being in a large, established nation like Ice Lemon or Seven Stars. If you're in a small, war-torn country, then honestly, if you die, you die; nobody cares.

Qiu Fei and Chu Hui were always focused on murder; they never considered hiding their identities or the "locked room mystery" scenario. Nowadays, many mystery novelists set the story a thousand years ago because only then can "deduction" be reasonably applied. Setting the story in modern times demands extremely high levels of professional skill and criminal ability from the author, and it's common for the writer to end up in jail. Setting the story in a technologically underdeveloped small country might be plausible, but it's essentially no different from setting it a thousand years ago.

Therefore, Mu Nandong concluded that they wouldn't make a move at the anti-detached mine. Moreover, he felt that if these two were to actually make a move, it would most likely be somewhere not far from the Snow Mountain Hotel, but still some distance away.

The fact that it's not far from the Snow Mountain Hotel is easy to understand: it's to focus the police's attention on the hotel, quickly solve the case, and identify the culprit, preventing them from accidentally discovering the anti-extraterrestrial mineral. As for why there's a distance... it's obviously to prevent Yu Xietian, Jiu Yi, and Ying Qin Guan from joining forces.

—In fact, Mu Nandong made a slight misjudgment here. He subconsciously included Ying Qin Guan in his calculations. In reality, given Chu Hui Qiu Fei's level, he couldn't even tell that Ying Qin Guan was a martial artist. This was proof of overwhelming strength. Many martial arts teachers in the Imperial Academy had experienced this firsthand; no one could clearly judge someone's level. But at first, everyone thought it was some kind of special breath-holding cultivation method, until Ji Fa Ju Yong's A-rank attack.

Like when the gray-haired man encountered Ying Qin Guan during the midterm commission, he immediately realized that Ying Qin Guan could take him away, and in a moment of desperation, he created a tradition in the martial arts department...

Mu Nandong believed that if these two were really going to make a move, it would most likely be somewhere not far from the Snow Mountain Inn, but also some distance away—a distance from which he and Yu Xietian wouldn't be able to call for reinforcements even if they shouted themselves hoarse. If they didn't make a move even when they reached that distance, then they should be wary of them poisoning the place. If all else failed, they would have to strike first. After all, the four of them, Mu Yegan and Shen, were not easy to protect.

Although Feng Yunke has some skill, he can't withstand more than a few moves in a real fight. However, since he has some martial arts ability, he is usually not targeted.

Having guessed the other party's course of action, Mu Nandong's plan became very simple and clear.

Using himself and Yu Xietian as bait, and having Ying Qin Guan and Jiu Yi follow along, certainly carried a certain degree of danger. However, it would be a grave mistake to believe that Mu Nan Dong, as the head of the Alchemy Department of the Imperial Academy, lacked the ability to protect himself.

It would be inappropriate if someone else had proposed this plan. But since Mu Nandong proposed it himself, there's no problem.

Ying Qin watched their figures disappear into the distance, then turned around and said to Jiu Yi, "Let's follow them."

Jiu Yi could barely make out the figures of the four people. He squinted slightly, his inner energy surging, and only then could he barely make out a rough outline. He was extremely anxious. Upon hearing Ying Qin Guan's words, he cleanly and decisively jumped out of the window and chased after them.

Ying Qin's inner energy surged, and a faint purple glint appeared in his eyes. He could see clearly, yet he remained completely unhurried. He shrugged, even having the leisure to bid farewell to Shen Xin.

"Then I'll go too."

Shenxin raised the small blackboard.

"Be careful in everything."

"Oh.."

-

Mu Nandong has an exceptional memory, but he doesn't have hyperthymesia. Since all the snow-covered mountains look pretty much the same, he can practically recall his location that day with his eyes closed, relying solely on his sense of direction.

After stumbling along for a long time, taking some wrong turns and detours, just when Yu Xietian was about to give up, and Chu Hui and Qiu Fei also felt that the plan might fail... the instrument malfunctioned.

Although it was only slightly unstable, it undoubtedly gave everyone a boost of confidence, as it meant they had officially entered the influence range of the anti-detached ore.

Sure enough, as they went deeper, the instruments became increasingly unstable, eventually failing completely, which meant they had entered the core area of ​​the anti-displacement ore.

"There's no mistake... Without any other factors, for it to suddenly go from being perfectly fine to failing like this, it must be anti-detached ore!"

At first, a smile appeared on her face, but she quickly suppressed it, revealing only a slight, subtle smile—a smile that seemed to be merely a pleasant surprise.

"It's true... Then when we go down the mountain, we can report this to the government. Thank you both so much. How about we split the money 40/60, you get 60% and we get 40%?"

Women are indeed natural actors. At their first meeting, she didn't give Qiu Fei a friendly look. But now, with the mission nearing success, she didn't even forget about dividing the spoils—something completely outside the plan—all to further lower Mu Yu's guard, making it easier to strike decisively later. After all, without knowing Ying Qin Guan's true strength, Yu Xie Tian was already the biggest obstacle in the plan.

Chu Hui's acting was good, and Mu Nandong's acting was not bad either. When it came to "playing Mu Nandong," Mu Nandong's steady Sima face never had any problems. He said coldly, "A little money is nothing to me. It's just a pity that I still didn't get to see Xue Benhu."

"Maybe we'll just happen to see him on the way back," Chu Hui prayed sincerely.

So, each with their own thoughts, the group embarked on their journey back.

Chapter Twenty-Six: The Snow Fox!

In March of last year, all countries confirmed their votes, contributed their own funds, and jointly launched the ultimate alchemical weapon 'Doomsday', which destroyed the Black Dragon Empire's last remaining capital, 'Dragon's Nest', with a single shot.

There's really no other way.

Almost all cities within the Black Dragon Empire, except for Dragon's Nest, were captured in a rapid manner. The Black Dragon Empire completely abandoned other cities and focused all its efforts on defending the capital.

Despite the natural defenses of the Dragon's Nest, and the remaining forces of the Heavenly Army, the various nations suffered heavy losses, yet they still failed to capture it.

Of course, it's not that it's impossible to conquer. After all, if all the countries in the world united to deal with a Black Dragon Empire that only has one city left, taking it would be a certainty. It's just that no one is willing to be the scapegoat.

The Jue Tian Army is fearless and has terrifying combat power. Coupled with the natural defenses of the Dragon's Nest, ordinary alchemical weapons are completely useless. They can only fight head-on.

Everyone wanted the Black Dragon Empire's technology, the Half-Owl's bloodline technology, the full-body armor, and even the techniques used to brainwash the Heavenly Army. They wanted it all.

Clever people are too clever; they are wary of each other and scheming against one another. They are not in a hurry to attack, but instead try to find ways to infiltrate their spies, hoping to steal something.

But not everyone is so greedy; some are not so clever. But those who truly care about the world can see clearly that the existence of these things is not necessarily a good thing.

Some things exist, and one day war will break out again.

While blaming these technologies is utterly unreasonable, there's a saying: "He who harbors a weapon will surely kill." Some things, appearing in this world, in this era unsuitable for them, must be destroyed.

Thus, the apocalypse was triggered.

The best choice is one that no one else can have.

However, the apocalypse did not completely destroy the Black Dragon Empire; some things were still unearthed from the ruins.

Sometimes, people wonder... if that giant black dragon is still quietly waiting in some corner.

Some people think this way, and some people write this way.

"You...you've made the remnants of the Black Dragon Empire the final boss?"

In the living room, Nocturne asked Gan Xingyao a question.

“Yes,” Gan Xingyao said, “I think the Black Dragon Empire might have a group of elite special forces or something similar who happened to be on a special mission outside, escaping the apocalyptic attack, leaving them a main path to restore their kingdom... It’s just that now, although they’ve been set as the final boss, I don’t know exactly how to do it…”

Gan Xingyao looked troubled and said, "Currently, it seems there's absolutely no character who can become the 'final boss.' I'm not referring to the organization, but the individual. There's no character who can truly fight Ji Li. But if we don't have a final showdown, I feel the whole book won't be complete..."

“This is indeed a big problem…” Nocturne nodded gently.

Like the God of War, the nameless swordsman of Southern Qin represents the pinnacle of individual martial prowess. If the final battle against the villainous organization didn't feature a single fight that fully showcased his individual strength, then... it would indeed be a bit of a pity.

Heroes should have their heroic farewell; that is in line with the aesthetics of the world.

"Does Miss Nocturne have any suggestions?" Gan Xingyao asked Nocturne.

She used to be a student at the Royal Academy, but she never took a nocturne class, so she wasn't called a nocturne teacher.

"The woman thought..." Nocturne shook her fan. She was wearing a pale yellow dress today, looking radiant and beautiful. A playful expression appeared on her face as she said, "Perhaps we could consider starting from the angle of resurrection... The abilities of the Primordial Alien Race are mysterious and unpredictable, making them the first choice for deus ex machina writers. Perhaps we could fabricate a Primordial Alien Race, saying he has resurrection abilities. Then we could put the God of War Ye Jiao into the Ring of Truth and test him against the Demon Burner..."

"Resurrection..." Gan Xingyao frowned slightly and said, "This setting is a bit sudden..."

"The best time to add a setting would have been a hundred chapters ago, the second best time would have been now." Nocturne walked to the window with a faint smile on her face.

"Speaking of which... Professor Ying and the dean were both here when I went to the restroom. Where did they go?"

Nocturne shrugged and laughed, "Who knows? Maybe he went to save the world."

-

A vast expanse of snow stretched out before them; a breath of air sent wisps of mist rising. This mountain lodge was hardly a good choice; the food and lodging were mediocre, the skiing experience was ordinary, and it was right in the wilderness. Although monsters had been squeezed out of their habitat by humans, this place was directly connected to the Saint Lotus Mountains—who knew what kind of monster might suddenly appear...

People who come here... are either there randomly, or they have ulterior motives.

For example, Mu Nandong, Chu Hui, and Qiu Fei.