Tracking

"No need for that."

Li Pin helped Shanhu to her feet. "I'm only at Embrace Dan myself. Your force has already progressed from the overt to the hidden stage. The next step is for your force to enter transformation, completing your force training, after which you'll prepare to Embrace Qi into Dan. I may not necessarily have much to teach you."

He had agreed to teach Shanhu partly to repay Fang Lingjue's favor.

On the other hand...

Shanhu had also helped him quite a bit in daily life. Naturally, he would offer whatever help he could.

Of course, the prerequisite was that it did not affect his own cultivation.

Moreover, he clearly would not pour the same amount of effort into teaching Shanhu as he had Li Yunyao and Lin Xiaolu.

"I believe in Master. I'll follow all of Master's arrangements."

Shanhu said firmly.

"Call me by my name."

Li Pin said.

He had no intention of acknowledging this master-disciple relationship.

"This..."

Shanhu seemed to understand what Li Pin meant and hesitated somewhat.

Fang Lingjue, standing nearby, added, "Do as Li Pin says."

Seeing this, Shanhu nodded and said to Li Pin, "Then I'll call you Teacher Li."

"That works."

Li Pin said, "First, I'll feel your bones and gain a detailed understanding of your physique."

"Feel my bones..."

A faint blush flashed across Shanhu's face, but she knew this was a necessary process for martial artists. She promptly said, "I'll follow Teacher Li's arrangements."

Li Pin immediately brought Shanhu to a quiet room nearby.

Meanwhile, Li Yunyao hovered around Lin Xiaolu, endlessly asking about the wonders of force.

Watching the two young women, Fang Lingjue could not help but feel once again that the waves behind in the Yangtze River drove those before onward.

Nearby, Zhang Le and Xu Huan watched Li Pin leave with Shanhu, clearly wanting to speak but holding back.

But recalling that Li Pin had initially been an instructor just like them, and with their proper master Fang Lingjue right beside them, they ultimately could not bring themselves to ask for guidance.

Compared to Li Yunyao's laughing, squealing bone-feeling session, Shanhu, as a martial artist, had far greater resistance to pain and ticklishness.

Coupled with her active cooperation, Li Pin quickly finished examining her. He now had a clear grasp of her cultivation condition and formulated a training plan based on her current state.

When it was over, Shanhu invited him, "Teacher Li, I'll be relying on your guidance from now on. And Miss Lin has cultivated force, which is worth celebrating. May I treat Teacher Li, Xiaolu, and Yaoyao to a meal?"

"Then make the arrangements."

Li Pin did not decline.

Before long, the group took the elevator down to the second basement parking level.

Shanhu's family circumstances were not bad, so she had bought a car early on—a fiery scarlet Yunchi E300 worth over two hundred thousand.

Li Yunyao could not help exclaiming at the sight of it, "Wow, it's so pretty."

"You like it? I'll give you one."

Shanhu said with a smile.

"No, no, no, I can't accept something this expensive."

Li Yunyao hurriedly waved her hands. "Besides, I don't have a driver's license."

"As for a driver's license..."

Li Pin glanced at her. "Find time to get one."

He had considered buying a car, but had yet to act on it because he did not like driving.

Once Li Yunyao learned to drive, she could be his driver.

But a moment later, he thought of Li Yunyao's carefree personality...

He immediately turned to Lin Xiaolu. "You should get one too."

Compared with Li Yunyao, she was much more reliable.

"Mm."

Lin Xiaolu nodded somewhat nervously.

That reaction made Li Pin realize something.

How had he forgotten that this girl was timid?

At this rate, would he have to find someone specifically to drive for him?

Or perhaps...

Take in a final disciple?

The bright-red Yunchi sedan drove out of the underground parking lot, quickly merging into traffic as it headed toward the restaurant Shanhu had booked.

Li Pin, seated in the front passenger seat, observed the surroundings along the way.

It was not just Jiangzhou City whose migrant population had grown; even Canglong City's pedestrian traffic had increased.

There were also homeless people mingling among the crowds on the streets.

"It seems... the Demonic Beasts of the Fallen Temple still haven't been defeated."

Li Pin recalled the news he had seen on the Martial Arts Website not long ago.

Demonic Beasts might not necessarily be stronger than ferocious beasts, but compared with ferocious beasts, their greatest trait was intelligence.

The existence of intelligence allowed Demonic Beasts to initially form social structures of their own.

They divided their labor and cooperated, each performing its own duties to speed up operational efficiency.

Furthermore, some Demonic Beasts had developed special abilities based on their unique body structures, making them far more threatening to humanity than ferocious beasts.

"Death Valley is riddled with fissures. Ferocious beasts and Demonic Beasts occasionally burst out from underground cracks to attack humans, making the beasts entrenched within extremely difficult to exterminate. As for the Fallen Temple... at its core lies a natural maze. That maze has blocked who knew how many Tianyuan Federation offensives."

Li Pin remembered a post on the website about the last punitive campaign.

"The last time Nanli Kingdom rallied the strength of the entire nation to strike back, it too was defeated before that maze. Over a hundred High-level Star Refiners were trapped within it, scurrying everywhere like headless flies before being isolated and picked off one by one. Those fortunate enough to pass through the maze plunged headfirst into an ambush circle, suffering grievous losses..."

He thought of the scenes in the videos, of Demonic Beasts laying waste across a thousand miles...

This world had never been peaceful.

The fact that humanity had withdrawn from mountains, wildernesses, and forests, losing two-thirds of its territory, revealed the truth of this world.

It was only because the Taibai Kingdom where he lived happened to lie at the center of one of the Six Poles of the World—the Tianyuan Federation.

With that thought, Li Pin withdrew his attention.

"Hmm?"

At that moment, he seemed to notice something and suddenly glanced into the rearview mirror.

That black sedan in the mirror...

Had it been following them ever since they left the mall?

He watched quietly without showing anything.

Shanhu drove the red sedan for over twenty minutes before stopping outside a small courtyard with an elegant environment and an antique style.

That black sedan also stopped at an open-air parking lot across the street.

The group of four soon entered the courtyard.

There was no need to mention Li Yunyao and Li Pin's looks and attire.

Even Shanhu and Lin Xiaolu each possessed their own beauty—one healthy and valiant, the other delicate and charming like a girl from a modest household—so they naturally drew many gazes when they stepped out of the car.

After entering the private room Shanhu had reserved and familiarizing himself with the route, Li Pin said, "I'm going to the restroom."

Then he left the courtyard again.

At that moment, one of the two people in the black sedan seemed to want some fresh air and was opening the window to smoke.

Seeing Li Pin emerge, he gave him a glance, then calmly withdrew his gaze without revealing the slightest abnormality.

But...

After leaving the courtyard, Li Pin headed straight toward him.

When he arrived before them, he looked them over carefully.

Seeing that he had clearly been exposed, the smoking man stopped pretending. He simply stared back at Li Pin, his expression indifferent.

"The Peregrine Falcon squad?"

Li Pin glanced at him before quickly shifting his gaze to the front passenger seat.

That person looked back at him as well, entirely calm and composed.

"You've crossed the line."

Li Pin said.

The smoking man let out a cold laugh.

He knew what Li Pin meant. Instead of seeking out the Five Elements Sect, they had come after him? And rather than openly visiting him, they had resorted to following him in secret?

But...

He exhaled a ring of smoke and said flatly, "And then?"

"..."

Li Pin glanced at him.

Several seconds later, his gaze turned once more to the front passenger seat.

"Why follow and monitor me from nearby without making a move?"

Looking at this man, who remained calm yet still gave Li Pin a faint sense of perfect, all-encompassing harmony, he said, "Can following and watching someone scare them to death? Wang Daoyi died by my hand. As Embrace Dan masters seeking to avenge your teammate, why don't you two simply get out of the car and beat me to death?"