Disband Squad

That night, Chen Yuan added two extra hours of training before returning to his room to rest.

Of course, what Chen Yuan called rest was actually meditation; he had gradually grown accustomed to this rhythm of cultivation.

Perhaps because of Qin Wei, Qin Zhan did not feel comfortable contacting him for the next few days.

Chen Yuan was happy for the peace, training according to his schedule every day and watching the data on his panel slowly improve.

There was a small interlude, however: a phone call from Qin Wei, telling him that she had broken through to become an Advanced Trainee and was about to receive the Purple Light Dew to become a Martial Artist.

Chen Yuan offered his congratulations over the phone, which angered Qin Wei so much that she hung up immediately and didn't call again afterward.

Time passed, and in the blink of an eye, it was October.

"I don't agree!" Qin Zhan looked at his daughter with a stern expression. "You cannot enter the Wilderness Zone right now."

Qin Wei looked stubborn. "I am already an official Martial Artist; why can't I go?"

Qin Zhan laughed in anger. "An entry-level warrior who hasn't even mastered the Five Hearts Toward Heaven, and you're in such a rush to go to the Wilderness Zone to throw your life away? This is pure nonsense!"

"Qin Wei, have I been spoiling you too much lately?"

Hearing her father call her by her full name, Qin Wei subconsciously shivered, realizing that her father was truly angry this time.

The cause of the matter stemmed from a phone call Qin Zhan had made just moments ago; he was gathering the members of his Wilderness Zone squad to set a time to enter the Wilderness Zone to hunt Monsters.

It just so happened that Qin Wei had recently been promoted to an official Martial Artist, and after purchasing a long-desired secret manual from Limit Home, she had been eager to put it to the test.

So, just as Qin Zhan was preparing to call Chen Yuan, he was intercepted by Qin Wei, who informed him of her intention to go to the Wilderness Zone as well.

That was how this dispute between father and daughter began.

Facing her angry father, Qin Wei gathered her courage to retort: "You aren't entering the Wilderness Zone immediately anyway. Give me a few days, and I will be able to master the Five Hearts Toward Heaven very soon."

"According to the dojo instructor's estimation, given my aptitude, my first absorption of cosmic energy will likely increase my strength by a thousand kilograms, at which point I will be an Intermediate Warrior." Qin Wei argued persuasively, "You are even willing to take Chen Yuan to the Wilderness Zone. Once I break through to Intermediate Warrior, combined with the Thunder Blade manual, how could I be any worse than someone practicing a C-grade manual?"

"You bought the Thunder Blade?!" Qin Zhan's voice rose an octave.

The Thunder Blade was a secret manual created by one of the three strongest people on Earth, "Thor," originally named the Nine-Fold Thunder Blade.

However, because Thor's strength had increased in recent years, the original Nine-Fold Thunder Blade now had fifteen levels, making the name Nine-Fold Thunder Blade no longer appropriate, so the manual was simply renamed the Thunder Blade.

Though the Thunder Blade was powerful, it was also hailed as the most difficult blade technique in the world to learn, causing many confident geniuses to fail and give up.

"In recent years, although high-level manuals have seen price cuts across the board, the first level of the Thunder Blade still costs five million Huaxia Coins." Qin Zhan felt a sense of frustration at her lack of progress. "You only had ten million in startup capital, and you wasted half of it on a Thunder Blade you don't even know if you can learn?"

"It wasn't five million; it was ten million." Qin Wei corrected him very seriously. "Besides, I get a half-price discount on my first purchase, so I used ten million to buy the first three levels of the Thunder Blade."

Qin Wei had her own reasons: "The dojo instructors all say I have extremely high talent for blade techniques and recommended that I purchase a more powerful manual. Plus, I needed to take advantage of the first-time half-price offer; this is my only chance to access high-level manuals."

"So you just went and bought the Thunder Blade?" Qin Zhan laughed in disbelief. "You should look at your own capabilities first."

"I will definitely be able to learn it." Qin Wei gritted her teeth. "So please don't stop me from entering the Wilderness Zone. I desperately need a large amount of actual combat to practice the blade technique. You wouldn't want to see me fail to learn the Thunder Blade because I lack practice, would you?"

After saying this, Qin Wei didn't give Qin Zhan time to argue back; she turned around and stomped upstairs. "I'm going to train! You must wait for me before going to the Wilderness Zone!"

Watching his daughter's back, Qin Zhan stood in silence for a long time before taking out his phone. "Hello, Yang? Tell the others to hold off on entering the Wilderness Zone. I'll notify you of the specific time later."

Chen Yuan knew nothing about the affairs between Qin Zhan and his daughter. For him, day-after-day training had become a habit, and watching his strength climb bit by bit brought him an indescribable sense of accomplishment.

Time quickly reached mid-October. On this day, two uninvited guests arrived at Chen Yuan's home.

Chen Yuan looked at the two young men in black uniforms outside his courtyard gate, and memories surfaced in his mind.

They were members of Qin Zhan's Wilderness Zone squad, named Yang Fan and Wang Meng, both of whom were Advanced Warriors.

"Brother Yang, Brother Wang, what brings you here today? Is there something you need to notify me about?" Chen Yuan greeted them using the names from his memories while opening the courtyard gate.

"Chen Yuan, we won't come in. We're here to inform you of something." Yang Fan looked at Chen Yuan, his expression somewhat stiff.

"Oh, please go ahead." Chen Yuan responded with a smile, seemingly unaware of the coldness in Yang Fan's tone.

Seeing this, Yang Fan exchanged a look with his companion and then said, "We want you to withdraw from the Wilderness Zone squad."

As he spoke, he stared intently at Chen Yuan, trying to exert pressure.

"I see. I have no objections; I can withdraw." Chen Yuan nodded, then asked curiously, "However, have you asked the captain about this?"

"We'll talk to the captain. You just need to agree." Seemingly not expecting Chen Yuan to agree so easily, Yang Fan relaxed, his expression no longer so stern.

He smiled at Chen Yuan, and perhaps fearing he might change his mind, he said in a soothing tone, "Chen Yuan, the Wilderness Zone is very dangerous. To be honest, everyone was very dissatisfied with your performance last time."

"How about this: you continue to train for a while, and once you become an Advanced Warrior, you can join us again. Then no one will have any objections."

Chen Yuan didn't care about this at all. He hadn't intended to enter the Wilderness Zone through the squad again anyway; after all, the secrets he carried were too significant, and it would be easy for others to discover something unusual.

So, hearing Yang Fan's words, he just nodded casually. "Mm, I understand."

Seeing Chen Yuan agree so readily, Yang Fan glanced at his companion, Wang Meng. Seeing that he had nothing to say, he said, "Since that's the case, there's nothing else. We've disturbed your training, so we'll be leaving now."

"Take care." Chen Yuan closed the courtyard gate.

As Yang Fan and Wang Meng walked along the path, gradually moving away from Chen Yuan's house, Yang Fan whispered to his companion, "Old Wang, don't you think that kid Chen Yuan agreed a bit too easily?"

Wang Meng had a strange look on his face. "What does it matter to us whether he agreed easily or not? Isn't it good that the goal was accomplished?"

"I'm just worried the kid is up to something." The more Yang Fan thought about it, the more he felt Chen Yuan's behavior was off; there was a sense of mystery about him that he couldn't quite grasp. "Should we secretly investigate what he's been doing lately?"

Wang Meng couldn't understand Yang Fan's train of thought and turned his head sharply to stare at his companion. "Yang Fan, it doesn't matter how Chen Yuan is doing. We were just entrusted by Miss Qin Wei to kick Chen Yuan out of the squad."

"Now that the goal has been achieved, I am warning you: do not create any unnecessary complications."

Just a few days ago, Qin Wei had finally mastered the basics of the Five Hearts Toward Heaven, and just as she had claimed, her first absorption of cosmic energy increased her strength by 1,000 kilograms, allowing her to promote to an Intermediate Warrior on the spot.

Therefore, Qin Zhan had no reason to prevent Qin Wei from joining the squad, and once the news of her joining spread, it caused the several young men in the team to cheer with excitement.

After all, in this day and age, female Martial Artists were already rare, especially one as young and beautiful as Qin Wei. Aside from Qin Zhan, the captain, everyone else in this Wilderness Zone squad was in their twenties; everyone had a little crush on Qin Wei, a fact that went unspoken among them.

However, before joining the team, Qin Wei had made a request to Qin Zhan in secret—she did not want to be in the same squad as Chen Yuan.

Now that both were Intermediate Warriors, one was a beautiful female Martial Artist with a bright future practicing the ultimate secret manual, Thunder Blade, while the other was Chen Yuan, who practiced a C-grade manual and could not even defeat a Primary Beast Soldier in actual combat; even a fool knew how to choose.

Except for Qin Zhan, who was still being kept in the dark, the rest of the squad had unanimously decided to kick Chen Yuan out of the team, which was why Yang Fan and his companion had come to persuade Chen Yuan to quit.

"Is it because of Qin Wei? Very well." In the courtyard, Chen Yuan, who was practicing his swordplay, paused for a moment before continuing his training as if nothing had happened.

It was not that he had intentionally eavesdropped, but his recent training in the Spirit Wind Sword Art had made Chen Yuan increasingly sensitive to his surroundings. Even though Yang Fan and his companion had already walked away, their conversation had drifted into Chen Yuan's ears with the wind, allowing him to understand the cause and effect.

However, Chen Yuan did not care about these things; if anything, the other party had provided him with an excellent reason to leave the team, saving him from having to consider how to persuade Qin Zhan.

Sure enough, in the days that followed, Chen Yuan heard by chance that Qin Zhan's squad had already departed for the Wilderness Zone, and no one had contacted him.

Chen Yuan was not in a hurry, continuing his training step by step as usual.

On October 16th, the proficiency of the Hibernation Method crossed the threshold of the introductory stage, and Chen Yuan mastered the second stage of Deep Sleep.

On October 21st, the Muscle-Tendon Changing and Marrow Cleansing Classic reached perfection.