Alright! I'll Come Clean—I'm a Spirit Master

The others heard Wu Fan's attempt at self-comfort, and pity filled their eyes.

For a martial artist, a crippled body meant the end of the martial path.

Wu Fan said that only because he did not want the others to feel guilty over his injury.

As a young man with the best years of his life still ahead of him, no one would be willing to accept such an outcome.

Seeing everyone in low spirits, Wu Fan suddenly looked at Chen Lin and asked suspiciously, "A Lin, are you a Spirit Master?"

Chen Lin was startled by the question and sighed inwardly. His trump card really had been exposed after all.

He knew that the moment he controlled the flying knives to save Wu Fan, it meant exposing his identity as a Spirit Master.

Seeing the astonished looks on everyone's faces, Chen Lin gave a helpless, bitter smile. "Alright! I'll come clean—I'm a Spirit Master!"

As he spoke, he controlled the flying knives at his waist, sending them circling around his body.

Zhu Wei, He Yanjun, and the others stared at the sight before them, dumbfounded.

Wang Ming even rubbed his eyes, afraid that he was seeing things.

"Spirit Sense Power... it's Spirit Sense Power. This is the mark of a Spirit Master!" Li Fei muttered.

"A Lin is actually a Spirit Master! That's truly unexpected!" He Yanjun clicked his tongue in amazement.

Zhu Wei froze for a moment, then burst into delighted laughter. "Hahaha, A Lin, I knew I hadn't misjudged you!

"By the way, A Lin, why have you kept the fact that you're a Spirit Master hidden all this time?" Wang Ming suddenly asked curiously.

"Mainly because I wanted to keep a trump card for myself. Everyone knows how formidable Spirit Masters are. When facing enemies, being a Spirit Master is my greatest confidence in turning the tables! Of course, another reason is that I'm still too weak right now. If people discovered my identity as a Spirit Master, many things afterward might no longer be under my control. I'm naturally a freedom-loving person—I don't like having my life controlled by others!" Chen Lin shook his head as he explained.

He Yanjun looked at Chen Lin with admiration in his eyes. "A Lin's approach is indeed a mature one. According to the rule that Spirit Masters are a level stronger than ordinary martial artists, so long as an enemy isn't more than one major realm above A Lin, once A Lin uses his Spirit Sense Power, the outcome will absolutely be a complete crushing defeat. Naturally, hiding his identity as a Spirit Master while he is still weak is indeed the wisest choice."

The others nodded in agreement. Everyone knew just how despairing it was to face a Spirit Master as an enemy.

No matter how skilled your saber art, swordsmanship, spear techniques, or movement arts were, even being one major realm above a Spirit Master was useless.

A Spirit Master could simply fly into the sky and remotely control weapons to attack you. You could only passively defend and take the blows, with no way to fight back. In the end, you could only die with bitter resentment beneath the Spirit Master's unceasing attacks.

Making an enemy of a Spirit Master was guaranteed to be an incomparably stifling death.

At present, the only martial artists who could cause harm and trouble for Spirit Masters in their early stages were Archer Martial Artists.

Before a Spirit Master had fully matured, facing martial artists with long-range attack capabilities greatly weakened the Spirit Master's advantage of attacking from midair, making an absolute crushing victory impossible.

This was the fundamental reason why so many Monster Slaying Squads always included an Archer Martial Artist.

And why did He Yanjun say that hiding his identity as a Spirit Master while he was weak was a wise move?

It was because very few humans awakened Spirit Sense Power. Yet whether it was beast taming or Talisman Crafting, humanity could not do without these exceptionally gifted Spirit Masters. As a result, most Spirit Masters who were discovered were forced into beast taming or Talisman Crafting.

And once they were pinned into a beast-taming or Talisman Crafting role, a Spirit Master could forget about freedom for the rest of their life! As for achieving success in martial arts, they could stop dreaming about it.

Most famous Spirit Masters on the market only dared reveal their identities after they had achieved success on the martial path.

Otherwise, they would not have any chance to grow at all.

As for why the major powers did this, part of it was for humanity's safety. After all, humanity had a great need for beast taming and Talisman Crafting. But the greater reason was their fear of the Spirit Masters' talent for fighting above their level. They feared that at some point in the future, Spirit Masters would replace their families' current positions.

After all, on the martial path, as long as one was willing to spend time, work diligently, and obtain exceptional cultivation manuals, one would eventually achieve something worthwhile.

Spirit Masters were different. If you could not awaken it, then no matter how much wealth or effort you poured in later, it would be useless.

Under the overt and covert suppression of the major powers, more and more Spirit Masters did not dare reveal their identities lightly while they were still weak.

As soon as He Yanjun finished speaking, Zhu Wei said with a face full of admiration, "This time, we also have A Lin to thank for taking out two of their members. Otherwise, our squad's losses would probably have been even greater!"

"Indeed. Otherwise, I'd be dealing with more than just the loss of one arm right now." Wu Fan let out a soft sigh.

"Brother Wu, if there's ever anything you need in the future, just come to me. We've met by fate, so don't stand on ceremony with me. No matter what, this conflict with Duan Hengyuan's squad was partly caused by me." Chen Lin forced out a smile, his expression earnest.

"Alright!" Wu Fan nodded with a smile.

"Brothers, I hope you can help me keep the secret that I'm a Spirit Master." Chen Lin first made the request solemnly, then added in a half-joking tone, "After all, you wouldn't want me to leave the squad either, right?"

"Of course. We just love keeping secrets for you, A Lin!" He Yanjun laughed heartily.

"Right. Our Monster Slaying Squad has a Spirit Master, while other squads don't. From now on, whether we face demon beasts or other Monster Slaying Squads, heh heh... showing weakness to the enemy and playing the pig to eat the tiger will definitely feel amazing!" Zhu Wei said happily.

"Whether we face demon beasts or enemies in the future, Boss can hold them off head-on while A Lin launches sneak attacks with his flying knives. Catching them off guard, at the Martial Grandmaster squad level, we'll absolutely be invincible." Wang Ming nodded in agreement.

Li Fei, standing nearby, said excitedly as well, "That's right. From now on, A Lin can first fight others as a martial artist, then launch a sudden attack with his flying knives at the decisive moment. Those enemies who oppose us definitely won't even have time to cry!"

The group's discussion gradually shifted from Wu Fan's injury to Chen Lin's future role in the squad, and every one of them was brimming with excitement.

Although Wu Fan wore a smile on his face as he watched them, the trace of loneliness in his eyes never faded.

As the squad leader, Zhu Wei clearly noticed Wu Fan's mood.

Sitting beside him, he patted Wu Fan's shoulder. "Ah Wu, if you ever run into something you can't handle, just come find me. We've been brothers who have faced life and death together for so many years. You can't stand on ceremony with me, understand?"

"Mm!" Wu Fan nodded happily. "Don't worry, Boss. If I run into trouble in the future, I definitely won't be polite with you!"