Daily life of a teacher in the martial arts department

Chapter Fifty-Four: How to Win

The Poincaré neighborhood is quite remote in terms of location, and it took Ying Qin Guan and Shi Jiu Xiu quite some time to get here.

They went up to Building 3 and then stopped at the door of number 142.

Ying Qin Guan thought about it more and more and felt that his guess was reliable. This was outrageous. He didn't bring anyone and just charged in alone. If the person on the other side wasn't Shi Jiu Xiu's lover, Ying Qin Guan would punish himself by playing the number eight position of the Ring of Truth in the identity game!

Nineteen Xiu looked somewhat nervous, but it was clearly not the kind of nervousness one feels when facing drug dealers. Ying Qin understood this perfectly and remained unmoved.

He walked to the door, glanced at Nineteen Xiu, and the other person nodded.

So Ying Qin Guan gripped the doorknob and applied slight force.

-

Zhong Hongyu pushed open the door and took a breath of the fresh morning air.

"call.."

She got up very early, just as dawn was breaking.

Zhong Hongyu picked up her practice sword and headed towards her training ground. However, while changing her shoes, she noticed that Zhong Yu's shoes were missing.

Zhong Hongyu got up at 5:30, which means that Zhong Yu got up and left home before 5:30.

This is hardly a remarkable achievement for a middle-aged man. Keep in mind that even Zhong Hongyu's mother wouldn't get up for an hour to prepare breakfast for herself and Zhong Hongyu.

Zhong Hongyu felt even more pressure. She knew that the family business was facing some problems. Although they could still make ends meet, it would be difficult to afford to send Zhong Hongyu to the martial arts department of the Imperial Academy and hire a tutor of Yu Xietian's caliber.

"I wish I could get a scholarship from the school..."

The Martial Arts Department does offer scholarships, and those who receive them have their tuition and fees waived for the following semester. They even receive various weekly stipends, similar to those given to teachers. Of course, this is a minor aspect; the main benefit is the tuition waiver.

The tuition for the martial arts department is designed to discourage students from enrolling. It's essentially like a philosophy department: if you don't have money, or if you're not from a wealthy family with no worries about food or clothing, you should probably skip it to avoid ending up with health problems instead of developing the skills you need.

Fu Feihan had always been the recipient of the scholarship for Class A in the second year. He was exceptionally intelligent and quick-witted, learning everything he was taught. All the teachers who taught Class A in the second year, including Ying Qin Guan, liked him. Moreover, his abilities were indeed outstanding, so no one objected to him receiving the scholarship.

"It must be because I haven't tried hard enough..."

Zhong Hongyu stood in the training ground and exhaled a breath of stale air.

Lure the enemy, turn around, and face a life-or-death battle.

The longsword thrust out, its cold light flashing, reflecting in Zhong Hongyu's unchanging eyes.

She kept asking herself, "Is this the end? Is this all for today? Can I really not keep going for even a second longer?"

She kept asking herself, "Can't we start yet? Should I stay in bed? What will I gain even if I rest for another hour?"

Day after day, through cold and heat, they dared not stop.

At the same time, Fu Feihan yawned and returned to the bamboo house.

He had dark circles under his eyes and looked very tired.

Ju Qiuming was still asleep at this hour, but Fu Feihan's master had gotten up sometime earlier. He stood at the door of the bamboo house, his hands behind his back, and said with a faint smile, "Practicing all night again?"

"Ha, I've thought of an interesting tactic!" Fu Feihan's spirits lifted, as if he wanted to show off. "Master, listen to me! It's called 'The Pine Tree Welcoming Guests, Shocking a Hundred Miles.' At that moment, I can suddenly throw away my sword and kick them directly. Most people won't be able to react in time, and even if they do, it'll be difficult for them to mount an effective counterattack..."

He had dark circles under his eyes, but his expression was excited and his tone was impassioned, like a player recommending a game to a friend.

How can someone like that possibly win?

-

House of Everything.

Shen Xin and Yu Xietian arrived at the Imperial Court and first went to Ye Qu, expressing their desire to visit Mu Huai Ren. This request was somewhat unreasonable. Mu Huai Ren was a criminal of the Empire and was imprisoned in the Heavenly Prison. Mu Nan Dong was a family member, and Ye Qu was a government employee. That was one thing, but these two guys, who were theoretically unemployed, actually wanted to go in and take a look.

But in the eyes of the gods, Miss Nocturne is a god, all-powerful and omnipotent—this is the experience she gained after being instantly killed by a single strike that took away five lives.

Sure enough, Nocturne showed Divine Heart a clear path.

"Little Shenxin, you've really put a difficult problem on my mind... Here's what we'll do: go to the board game arcade and tell the owner that you were introduced by me, and see what he says. But to be honest, I don't recommend you go. That Mu Huai Ren might really be crazy."

So, the two of them made their way to the board game arcade. To be honest, even though Ying Qin Guan had been in the Imperial Court for so long, he probably didn't know the area as well as these two. Anyway, as of now, there was only one way for Ying Qin Guan to find Nocturne: to wait for her at the statue of the goddess.

Their timing was perfect. Ying Qin Guan and Shi Jiu Xiu had just left, and Jiu Yi was still in a state of "maybe I should wait a bit longer, maybe some students will come." As for the boss, he was, of course, just sitting there playing with his cat.

Shenxin ran to the bar and picked up the small blackboard.

"Boss, two bowls of warm wine, and a dish of fennel... Oh, I mean, I was introduced by Miss Nocturne."

The boss looked up and glanced at him, then calmly asked, "What is it?"

This nonchalant, pretentious demeanor made Shenxin think there was a chance, so he immediately picked up the blackboard.

"It's like this, we've been gathering information about fear lately and want to meet with Mu Huai-ren..."

"See him?" The boss shook his head and said, "It's not difficult, but I recently sent a Nocturne in. The prison isn't my home, so it's inconvenient to send people in these days. Unless you're his family members... which is of course impossible, but you're lucky."

As he spoke, he took out the documents from the drawer and handed them to Shenxin.

"This is something I found out recently; it's all related to fear... Anyway, it's just a photocopy, here you go."

Shen Xin took the document and became embarrassed.

"I can't accept this..."

—If she hadn't snatched the documents away so quickly, the boss would have taken her polite words seriously.

Just then, she felt a longing gaze, turned around, and saw it was Jiu Yi.

Although he didn't say anything, Shenxin understood and immediately coldly and ruthlessly raised the small blackboard.

"I'm not playing!"

Jiu Yi: "╥﹏╥"

Shen Xin glanced at the documents her boss had given her, and her expression changed several times after just a few glances.

"Yu Xietian... Let's go see Miss Ye Qu again and show her these things; perhaps they can give her new inspiration."

Yu Xietian looked at Shenxin, and the expression on the other's face made him feel that perhaps Shenxin already had a guess, but just needed to go to Yequ to confirm it.

He nodded and said, "Let's go."

Chapter 55 The Mastermind

Ying Qin Guan pushed open the door.

The interior was a completely unfinished house, which could also be described as Syrian style. The interior was empty except for a desk placed in the center, behind which sat a person facing Ying Qin Pass.

The person was dressed in a large black robe, but from the general outline of her body and her height, it could still be guessed that she was most likely a woman, and she wore a ferocious golden mask on her face.

She sat in the chair, gazing at Ying Qin Pass.

Ying Qin Guan's memory is flawless only when it comes to the Time-Space Kill; he recognizes that golden mask.

That is... the mask of longing eyes.

There are three martial artists and three magicians in the Investiture of the Gods. The three martial artists are Fighting God, Ye Jiaofang, and Ying Qinguan, while the three magicians are Ring of Truth, Burning Demon, and Wang Qiushui.

These six individuals are considered to be at the pinnacle of individual human combat strength.

Among them, one person is considered a 'strongman who will not be eliminated by the times' and 'the most dangerous madman in history'.

That is gazing at the autumn waters.

What does it mean to not be eliminated by the times?

For example, Ying Qin Guan and the God of War, no matter how strong they are, there will always be stronger weapons. And the path of martial arts has an upper limit. The limits of the human body are there. This world is not a high-martial-arts world. One day, martial artists will reach their limits and be eliminated.

The same applies to the Ring of Truth and the Burning Demon; it's just that mages might be phased out a little later. This is because mages have a higher skill ceiling and greater potential for development than martial artists. In modern warfare, martial artists are typically relegated to assassins or spies, infiltrating to complete special missions. Powerful mages, however, can still directly influence the outcome of a war. But it's foreseeable that they too will eventually be eliminated.

There was only one exception: Wang Qiushui.

Because she is the most powerful spatial mage in the world. And apart from her, no one else in the world can truly master those spells, so she is considered to be a progenitor of the alien race.

Is her power to influence a war? Yes, but that's not all. She can easily infiltrate any place, easily destroy any alchemical equipment, and easily take the life of any ordinary person.

The "ordinary people" here do not refer to status or wealth, but to ability. And how many of those in high positions are truly capable?

This isn't some fantasy world. Kings and dukes are just ordinary people, at most with more and stronger bodyguards. But even if those bodyguards are numerous and strong... how could they possibly stop her?

She can do it, and sometimes she does, so that's what we call her.

But wasn't Wang Qiushui supposed to have disappeared without a trace, chasing after immortality with Marquis Mingxuan?! How could she be here?!

Ying Qin Guan tensed up and narrowed his eyes slightly.

A person's name, a tree's shadow—even he had to take it seriously.

At the same time, he figured some things out.

"No wonder she didn't bring bodyguards, no wonder she insisted on coming after being specifically asked, no wonder she insisted on bringing me along."

Wang Qiushui was the most skilled assassin among the Investiture of the Gods in history. If a bodyguard could stop him, then that bodyguard could only be Ying Qin Guan.

If Shi Jiuxiu doesn't go to her, she'll probably come to him. So, all things considered... is she really just longing for him?

Ying Qin Guan couldn't say for sure, but he had a general idea in his mind.

"No wonder Nineteen Xiu only asked me to protect her. Now you want me to capture her? I don't know how to do it..."

Ying Qin Guan was actually quite eager to try it out. His style was called the "Illusory Time Exquisite Sword," with "exquisite" referring to his skills, and "Illusory Time"... well, let's just say, the Consciousness Slash was only a small branch of the "Illusory Time" skills.

But given the current situation, he naturally cannot act rashly.

"You've come..." The woman wearing a golden mask, who seemed to be gazing into the distance, spoke. Her voice was light and clear, and the mask did not seem to affect her voice.

She paused slightly, then her voice suddenly changed, "But I don't think I invited any extra guests..."

As the saying goes, "a trade is like a mountain," meaning that martial artists and mages are not in the same system, and each can only guess the other's level based on their previous experience. However, Ying Qin Guan had almost never seen a high-level mage. Moreover, he himself usually had a scattered gaze and a loose stance. If anyone could judge his level based on experience, that would be truly strange.

But this woman wasn't stupid. Nineteen Xiu hadn't brought anyone else with him, but instead brought Ying Qin Guan here. This left her no choice but to think things through.

Ying Qin Guan did not speak. Shi Jiu Xiu smiled slightly, stepped forward, but still stood behind Ying Qin Guan. She said, "I really dislike it when the initiative is completely in someone else's hands."

Before arriving here, she had realized that the mastermind was likely Wang Qiushui, and had already prepared herself mentally. Therefore, even now, facing this legendary figure, she showed no fear whatsoever.

As for Ying Qin Guan... he himself is a legend.

"Heh...can he do it?" The woman suddenly made a move while she was talking. She uttered a mysterious and ancient syllable, as if it were a substitute for chanting!

If there were any doubts before, now it's completely confirmed. Wang Qiushui's unique chanting, those enigmatic chanting syllables, are her signature product!